Occupy the Farm

I wrote a long post a few days ago, but somehow it got lost it before I got it published. Here's the short version. Tuesday May 1, we visited Occupy the Farm, which is in Albany, CA on land owned by the University of California. This area is sometimes used for bio-testing of crops, and other times seems to lie fallow. It's currently being gardened by some people interested in the Occupy concept. A university spokeswoman arrived and warned us of arrest, but the police assured us we would not be arrested that day. We continued sketching as the sun was slowly falling behind the horizon. 

Occupy UC Berkeley!

DAY & NIGHT AT OCCUPY UC BERKELEY

I attended the Occupy UC Berkeley Strike on November 15. I planted myself at the Sproul Plaza Fountain while marchers, students, community organizers, and others swirled around. Eventually, there were thousands (est. range from 5 to 10 thousand). It was difficult to sketch (the movement deserves better), but I felt an obligation to document history in the making and provide another visual perspective in contrast to main media. I have to note that the space-ship looking item was actually a small tent on a pole, symbolizing the tents that had previously been removed). There was also a Che flag that served to link the past and present.

Later, the festive atmosphere changed to a more serious mood as information came out about a (unrelated) shooting at another part of the campus and the assembly process began. There were calls for non-violence and the need to decide on what actions undertake. More people moved into the plaza and the presence of helicopters and police on the ground became more insistent.

During the course of my afternoon and early evening, I repeatedly heard the need for a peaceful demonstration, from students, veteran Viet Nam War era demonstrators (who were now checking out what was happening on campus), folks from the Berkeley Zen Center, and a policeman (who volunteered that his mother sketched).

For more info, please visit www.Berkeleycuts.org. You may also want to see Occupy Oakland artwork at www.anthonyholdswork.com. And my sketching friend Michaela has posted her wonderful work earlier on this blog.