Occupy Boston: This Is What Democracy Looks Like

In the wake of mass arrests and reports of police brutality at Occupy Boston last night, it feels important to do two things: reiterate why people are occupying Dewey Square and highlight the incredible ways in which they are doing so. Occupy Boston is part of an inspiring movement, just one of the offshoots of Occupy Wall Street that are now under way throughout the country. I witnessed this movement firsthand when I visited the Occupy Boston camp on Sunday and Monday. What I saw — a rousing and poignant UU-led service and solidarity vigil; the impressive process of Occupy Boston's general assembly; a spirited march of hundreds, maybe thousands, of labor supporters, students, and occupiers together in solidarity — made it clear to me that this is a strong movement dedicated to economic justice and nonviolent protest.

Let's underscore that — people are occupying Dewey Square in the name of economic justice. They are using nonviolent action and exercising their constitutional right to peaceful assembly to call attention to corporate greed, to undue influence of corporations on the political process, and to the ways that the 99 percent that have been disenfranchised by this country's broken systems. For further elucidation of this movement's concerns, check out the clip of Keith Olbermann reading the Occupy Wall Street protesters' declaration below.

Further, the people of Occupy Boston are carrying out their nonviolent protest in powerful — and incredibly well organized — ways. There are at least 12 working groups in action, addressing everything from safety and food to facilitation and arts. As you walk through the camp, you see tents for logistics, media, medical services, sign making, outreach, spirituality, and more.

Occupy Boston is governed by horizontal democracy based on consensus. On Sunday night, I took part in the general assembly. As one of the facilitators explained, "The general assembly is a decision-making body that uses consensus. Our definition [of this] is a process of nonviolent conflict resolution. The expression of concern and conflicting ideas is valuable and important." After an explanation of the people's mic, consensus process and accompanying hand signals, and updates from the working groups, proposals are made and the consensus process begins.

That night, an ad hoc working group made a proposal to dedicate Friday's general assembly to anti-racism and anti-oppression training, a proposal that was met with vast support. The consensus process is long, hard, thorough work. But it ensures that concerns are addressed — one of the concerns about this proposal was the effect of not having the usual decision-making time that general assembly offers — and that there is group support and buy-in for all decisions made. The proposal passed; support for the essential work of addressing oppression and privilege in the movement was clear.

Today, I'm tired from staying up till after 1:00 a.m. refreshing my Twitter feed (great alternative and complement to mainstream coverage for all things #occupy) for on-the-ground updates from Occupy Boston in Dewey Square. But while I may be physically tired, I am truly energized by what I've witnessed. The Occupy movement is powerful nonviolent collection action and a momentous call for economic justice that cannot be ignored.