THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S RESPONSE TO THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES
Para Todos Todo, Para Nosotros Nada
"For Everyone, Everything, For Us, Nothing"
"For Everyone, Everything, For Us, Nothing"
The following is a group-authored response by the Occupy Los Angeles General Assembly. It was consented upon (Nov. 23, 2011) and is thus ready to be disseminated as a press release, and "mic-checked," in person, by the Occupiers themselves, on Tuesday 29th November 2011 in the City Council Meeting of that date)As a collective, Occupy Los Angeles would like to express its rejection of the City of Los Angeles’ alleged proposal that we leave City Hall by November 28th, 2011, in exchange for an apparently now rescinded offer of a 10,000 square foot building, farmland, and 100 SRO beds for the homeless.
Occupy Los Angeles believes that as part of a global movement advocating direct, participatory democracy, as well as challenging economic and social injustices, our position is such that we cannot, in good faith, accept further material benefit from City Hall at the taxpayer’s expense without seriously compromising our beliefs, our desire for global change, and our commitment to our inherent human rights to free speech and assembly protected in this country by the First Amendment. The 1 percent should be paying for any services used by the Occupy Movement, not taxpayers.
In the spirit of inclusivity and transparency, so dear to our movement, Occupy Los Angeles extends an invitation to Mayor Villaraigosa and the City Council to attend our General Assemblies at the City Hall Occupation if he wishes to discuss these and other matters in a direct, democratic, and horizontal way.
Mayor Villaraigosa must speak out against the violent actions towards our brothers and sisters, declare the actions of other cities to be unjust, and stand before us equally at a General Assembly [if he wishes to negotiate or be heard]. Occupy Los Angeles believes that until this happens, we should have no more closed-door discussions regarding our continuing occupation of City Hall.
The City Council -- in line with government in general -- is an authority which has become more accountable to developers and corporations than the public. The very act of the Los Angeles City Council requesting the physical removal of Los Angeles Occupiers without redressing the grievances specifically referenced in the inclusion of our adopted "Declaration of the Occupation of New York City" and in the City Council’s "1st Amendment Rights / Occupy Los Angeles / Responsible Banking Resolution" -- is in effect supporting the removal of all Occupations from public space by any means.
We cannot negotiate with such an institution without undermining our sister occupations across the globe who are suffering from oppressive force and attacks upon their inherent human rights to free speech and assembly, protected in this country under the First Amendment. We refer here to episodes in Oakland, Boston, New York, Portland, UC Davis, and San Francisco, to name but a few. We refer to those further afield, in Tahrir Square in Egypt, in Madrid, Greece, London, and elsewhere.
Teargas, pepper spray, beatings, jail, suppression, and intimidation have been used as a coercive method of silencing our movement and our desire for global change. We reject outright the City’s attempts to lure us out of City Hall and into negotiations by suggesting nebulous, non-transparent, and unconfirmed offers which fail to even begin to address our local grievances. We will continue to occupy this space, in solidarity with our global movement, until the forces of the few are forced to capitulate to the power of the people.
Teargas, pepper spray, beatings, jail, suppression, and intimidation have been used as a coercive method of silencing our movement and our desire for global change. We reject outright the City’s attempts to lure us out of City Hall and into negotiations by suggesting nebulous, non-transparent, and unconfirmed offers which fail to even begin to address our local grievances. We will continue to occupy this space, in solidarity with our global movement, until the forces of the few are forced to capitulate to the power of the people.
When the following grievances have been addressed -- grievances which we have agreed upon as a movement through our General Assembly as advancing our cause and providing for the people of Los Angeles -- we as a movement will be happy to initiate dialogue with the Mayor and Los Angeles City Council.
An office space of 10,000 square feet would not have addressed these grievances. While the grievances listed below are localized, we believe that they promote the underlying foundations and principles of our movement, which include, but are not limited to: providing for basic, fundamental and inalienable human rights such as shelter, food, healthcare, freedom of choice, sexual orientation, gender equality, and education -- and the right most paramount to a free and democratic society-- the right to self-govern.
Detailed demands which encompass our greater world view will be released at a later date by our Demands and Objectives Committee through the General Assembly.
GRIEVANCES NOT [YET] ADDRESSED
1. A moratorium on all foreclosures in the City of Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles to divest from all major banks, and money to be removed from politics.
2. A citywide effort undertaken to solve the homelessness problem which has led to 18,000 homeless people sleeping on Skid Row every night. Rehabilitation and housing must be provided for all homeless people.
3. South Central Farm to be returned to the same LA community from which it was taken, and all other vacant and distressed land be open for the community use, and money to the tune of one million dollars -- taken from Skid Row and given to a multi-million dollar NFL firm -- to be returned to Skid Row.
4. Los Angeles to be declared a sanctuary city for the undocumented, deportations to be discontinued, and cooperation with immigration authorities be ended -- including the turning in of arrestees’ names to immigration authorities.
5. All forms of weaponry used by multiple law enforcement officials -- including but not limited to rubber bullets, pepper spray, verbal abuse, arrest, foam batons, long-range acoustic devices, and more -- are not to be used on those exercising their First Amendment Rights to petition our government for redress of grievances. We do not accept interference with freedom of the press and the public to document police actions in public spaces. We will not tolerate brutality.
6. We assert our right to an open plaza on the South Side of City Hall for people to peacefully assemble, voice grievances, speak freely, hold our General Assembly, and come to the people’s consensus 24 hours a day if needed.
7. The City of Los Angeles to pressure the State to start a convention, as provided for in the Constitution, to remove corporate personhood and money from politics at a national level.
8. The City of Los Angeles to begin a dialogue at the State and Federal level on the issues of student debt and tuition hikes.
9. No cutbacks in city services or attacks on the wages, work conditions, and pensions of city employees.
10. A world-class transit system which addresses our debilitating traffic problem and restores the quality of life in Los Angeles.
We conclude, as a General Assembly, by hereby renaming City Hall Park SOLIDARITY PARK.
1. A moratorium on all foreclosures in the City of Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles to divest from all major banks, and money to be removed from politics.
2. A citywide effort undertaken to solve the homelessness problem which has led to 18,000 homeless people sleeping on Skid Row every night. Rehabilitation and housing must be provided for all homeless people.
3. South Central Farm to be returned to the same LA community from which it was taken, and all other vacant and distressed land be open for the community use, and money to the tune of one million dollars -- taken from Skid Row and given to a multi-million dollar NFL firm -- to be returned to Skid Row.
4. Los Angeles to be declared a sanctuary city for the undocumented, deportations to be discontinued, and cooperation with immigration authorities be ended -- including the turning in of arrestees’ names to immigration authorities.
5. All forms of weaponry used by multiple law enforcement officials -- including but not limited to rubber bullets, pepper spray, verbal abuse, arrest, foam batons, long-range acoustic devices, and more -- are not to be used on those exercising their First Amendment Rights to petition our government for redress of grievances. We do not accept interference with freedom of the press and the public to document police actions in public spaces. We will not tolerate brutality.
6. We assert our right to an open plaza on the South Side of City Hall for people to peacefully assemble, voice grievances, speak freely, hold our General Assembly, and come to the people’s consensus 24 hours a day if needed.
7. The City of Los Angeles to pressure the State to start a convention, as provided for in the Constitution, to remove corporate personhood and money from politics at a national level.
8. The City of Los Angeles to begin a dialogue at the State and Federal level on the issues of student debt and tuition hikes.
9. No cutbacks in city services or attacks on the wages, work conditions, and pensions of city employees.
10. A world-class transit system which addresses our debilitating traffic problem and restores the quality of life in Los Angeles.
We conclude, as a General Assembly, by hereby renaming City Hall Park SOLIDARITY PARK.
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