A general assembly of Occupy Houston at Tranquility Park
Mic check?
Mic check!
MIC CHECK!
MIC CHECK!!!
Such is the call-and-response that kicks off every General Assembly at Occupy Houston. Organizers have chosen to forego the permitting process which would allow for amplified sound in favor of this technique, where speakers talk slowly, one short phrase at a time, and the crowd repeats those snippets of sentences to amplify that voice using “the people’s microphone.” It makes communication a little slower, a lot more painstaking, but that’s part of the point---democracy is a slow process.
From there, the meeting’s facilitators run through a quick primer on the consensus-based facilitation process. Participants are given a handout that explains the hand gestures to indicate approval, reservations, questions or pertinent information regarding the proposal on the table, or outright disapproval.
The meetings all follow the same basic outline. After the process primer, each of the volunteer workgroups are given time to report on their latest activities and make proposals to the larger body. Some examples of workgroups are Outreach, Logistics, Legal, Media, Facilitation, Diversity, and Medical.
After workgroups have reported back on their activities and made their proposals, individuals are given the opportunity to do likewise. Last Wednesday, as one individual was discussing his proposal to add the word “non-violent” to the Occupy Houston’s mission statement, more urgent business required an interruption.
Mic check! yelled a breathless participant as he ran over from the Walker Street side of Hermann Square Park.
MIC CHECK! repeated the gathering.
If you drive a tan Toyota, you are about to get towed!
IF YOU DRIVE A TAN TOYOTA, YOU ARE ABOUT TO GET TOWED!
Some hubbub followed, then the proceedings continued for a bit before another...mic check!
MIC CHECK!
Now it was a Volkswagen getting towed.
FAHRVERGNÜGEN! Yelled a witty camper, eliciting wry laughter.
The discussion continued for a few minutes before a third interruption. Mic check!
MIC CHECK!
If you drive a black Pontiac...
IF YOU DRIVE A BLACK PONTIAC...
Following proposals, time was allotted for announcements. One man announced that he had a list of locations where participants can shower. Another announced that he would be leading a workshop on passive resistance techniques for those who might choose to take part in civil disobedience. I made an announcement for the talent show I organized. A representative from the Houston Peace and Justice Center offered a statement of support for Occupy Houston on his organization’s behalf. A man named Noah gave information on how participants can get involved with National Sleepout Saturday, an annual campaign for solidarity with homeless people. Another man who had brought games like bocce, Frisbee, and various sports equipment invited people to make use of them.
The final segment of the General Assembly allowed for people to share their opinions on any topic. This was their chance to be heard---the most vital, necessary component in any democratic process, and also the most tedious.
Critics say Occupy Wall Street and its spinoffs have no clear set of goals, and few supporters would dispute this claim. For the participants, though, this lack of “goals” or “demands” is not problematic. What they have created is a space, a transparent and egalitarian process by which goals and demands can emerge democratically through consensus. Goals and demands WILL emerge, organically, from the ground up---they will not be imposed from outside and above.
This lack of space for ordinary people to speak and to be heard, to actively participate in the decisions that affect their lives, is much clearer in Houston than in other cities. We have no commons. Parks are not integrated into neighborhoods and so they are not used as gathering places. Few people take public transportation. The places where you’ll find the largest groups of people sitting or walking slow enough that a stranger might engage them in a conversation are shopping malls---which are privately owned and do not allow for political solicitation, i.e. “free speech.” The same goes for Discovery Green---it’s a great space, something akin to a commons, but it, too, is managed by a non-profit and people have been asked to leave for passing out fliers. Even METRO transit centers, which are publicly owned and routinely rent space in kiosks and on sides of publicly-owned buses for corporate advertising, even that space is not available for overtly political speech and METRO police will remove any citizen exercising her First Amendment rights on METRO (public) property.
Indeed, finding a physical space to accommodate this process, this “occupation,” was the main topic of the first General Assembly I attended, in Market Square on Sunday, October 2. The occupation was set to begin on October 6, and organizers had found through research and discussions with the legal team that the only public space open between 11 pm and 7 am is Hermann Square Park---the park in front of City Hall. Unfortunately, that space had been reserved for the Bayou City Arts Festival for the weekend of the 8th-9th.
The decision was made to go ahead with Hermann Square Park, though, and the decision as to how to share that space with the festival was postponed. With the mayor’s support, Occupy Houston spent its first two nights in Hermann Square Park, then moved down the bayou to Eleanor Tinsley Park for the weekend. After weathering last weekend’s rainstorms, protestors returned to Hermann Square on Monday, the 10th. This weekend, in order to make space for TXU’s “Energy Day,” the occupation moved across the street to Tranquility Park. Where it will go from there remains to be seen.
Like many OffCite readers, I have some reservations and questions about Occupy Houston---what it is, what it represents, what it hopes to accomplish. All these things remain to be seen. What I can say, unequivocally, is that it is open to anyone and everyone, and so I encourage you all to stop by Tranquility Park (or check occupyhouston.org for the latest location update) and see for yourself, and don’t just “see” for yourself---take part, speak up, this is YOUR movement if you want it to be.
This is what democracy looks like.
P.S. Think about leaving your car at home--as you can see, parking can be a problem.
Further Reading
Where’s the Revolution? The Changing Landscape of Free Speech in Houston (Cite 80, Winter 2009)
by Raj Mankad
Pursuing the Unicorn: Public Space in Houston
by Phillip Lopate (Cite Winter 1984)
