This past Tuesday night, I went to Occupy Cal to show my support for a short while. I arrived just as the students were finishing their general assembly and they had decided to set up tents on the steps of Sproul Hall later. After the violence that had been done to them the week before, I found that to be a brave decision. What I had expected to be a short visit became an all night thing.
After the general assembly, it was time for the Mario Savio lecture and Young Activist Award, an annual event that was combined with Occupy Cal. As members of the Savio family spoke there was a moment where the crowd quieted down all at once. I looked around and saw 3,000 people of many different ages and walks of life. This in itself was a victory of support for the young student protestors. It was one of those remarkable moments, poignantly linking the activism of the past with the present, and it was something I will never forget. Later I learned others had felt that moment too, that it was collectively shared, and reached into many hearts that night.

Once the lecture was done, a lot of people left, but a fair amount stayed as the students set up tents on the steps to Sproul Hall. As the crowd began to thin out, the police came out and announced over a bullhorn that it was illegal to camp and that the campers would be subject to arrest.

Earlier I had walked around while Robert Reich spoke, and found police going in and out of the basement of Sproul Hall, as well as the building directly across from it. It made me uneasy, it hinted at the possibility of another raid. Around 5 AM many of us decided a raid wasn't going to happen, and we were correct. However, at 3:30 AM Thursday morning, a surprise visit by riot police did clear out the encampment and they arrested two protestors.

Wednesday afternoon a group of students and SF Occupiers marched through SF, and at one point occupied a Bank Of America, even setting up a tent inside. Police slowly and non violently removed and arrested them. Thursday night Occupy Cal met again, and decided to not set up camp, at least not until possibly next week.

I'm fascinated by what's happening at Berkeley as it is void of many of the  alleged justifications authorities have tried to use for all the recent raids. It's a student camp, it's not trying to incorporate the homeless. Occupy Cal is not a health hazard. The students look like typical students, there's nothing there to scare people or turn them off. Still, void of those makeshift justifications they have received the same treatment all the other Occupy encampments have been getting these past several weeks, including the unnecessary and unprovoked police violence.

This indicates to me that the most dangerous part of the Occupy Movement, the real reason we're watching a collective national action to remove this movement, is not because of mostly mythical rats or misplaced hypodermic needles. It is more probably because the messages the movement says are something the powers that be would like to silence. Although a majority of the country doesn't support the form of protest the Occupiers have chosen, a majority does agree with what the Occupiers are protesting about. And that must scare the crap out of the people in power.

This past month I've been in a center of turmoil, I've touched a movement of social change, and it reached out and touched me back. I have been permanently altered. I at once have more hope for the future and am more discouraged about it. I'm exhilarated, renewed and exhausted all at the same time.

Sometimes I feel shaken and am not sure of who I am anymore. Other times I feel more like myself then ever. I never expected to experience anything like this. More often then not, I am in awe that it's happening. And that it keeps happening. And growing. In spite of all the attacks, all the disapproval, all the arrests and raids, it keeps growing and being. I am honored to be there, and to have it grow inside me.

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