Resistance @ Port of Oakland Sunday, June 20, 2010

What a great way to great a new birth year--with resistance and a re-dedication to liberation! All I could hear was Paul Robeson's voice: "No more auction block for me, no more, no more." This is what it is, telling the multinationals that the people are willing to so without rather than support industry that kills and maims and robs nations, as well as, individuals of their sovereign and human rights, such as, the right to peace and justice, land, homes, work and education.

We blocked all three entrances to the Port of Oakland. The Israeli ship which was to come in this morning has been delayed and time is money, lots of it. If the ship decides to go to another port, that is even more money, but definitely the operators know San Francisco Bay Area is out en masse.

I'd awakened at about 4:30 AM and at 6 AM made it to West Oakland BART where volunteers were shuttling folks to the port. I saw Tureeda Mikell when I arrived which I took as a good sign. I'd been kind of worries about the march. Port police are known to be brutal to those that get in the way of multinationals ability to keep making that money. I remember the rubber bullets that met many protesters in the past and tear gas. One person was blinded in such an altercation--the protest against the War in Iraq.

So I was leery, and not necessarily down for martyrdom--who would help my daughter with the mortgage? I have to go to work June 21. Today is my birthday and I kind of wanted to celebrate at a party I am throwing for myself at Stern Grove this afternoon. Hum?

Everyone came out--Israel had overstepped its bounds and really lost its ind when it attacked the Gaza Freedom Flotilla May 31, 2010, shooting and killing many unarmed volunteers, most from Turkey. I remember when they conficated the aide when Cynthia McKinney was aboard last year in her peace mission. She and others aboard the vessel were arrested and imprisoned.

Clarence Thomas, ILWU, said that the longshoremen can't refuse to work on principle, but they can say that it is a safety issue and that their health is threatened if they handle the cargo. So with the possibility of not having a crew, the ship might dock later today, but it won't get unloaded if the SF Bay has anything to say about it.

As I was leaving, a longshoreman in a forklift a bit further away tooting his horn in solidarity--it's looking good on our political end, thus far.


Later this morning, ILWU met and decided to send workers home--a victory for the people!

On the eve of the Summer Solstice and the day after Juneteenth and the National Day of Mourning for the Africans who died as a result of the Middle Passage, and the ritual in Key West, Florida this morning at 5:30 AM ET for the ancestors...this action couldn't have come at a spiritually more fortuitous time.

Juneteeth in Oakland yesterday was awesome as usual. Wanda Ravenell and Omnira Productions is to be commended for bringing to together such a diverse body of people to remember Africa and its children spread throughout the Diaspora in the European Slave Trade. It is gathering such as this that show how interconnected the trauma truly is, trauma if not benefits.