Something has shifted in this country! Maybe greed and buying influence are not so fashionable anymore... Maybe a positive tide for reason and restoring a true democracy is beginning to build from the grassroots...

UC Davis Chancellor Katehi walks to her car

On Friday, police officers at the University of California, Davis doused students with pepper spray for sitting together with locked arms. This act was perceived as a “threat,” according to the officers. Last night, students lined the way between UC Davis Chancellor Katehi’s office and her car, and sat in silence as she walked out of the building to go home. The silence is deafening in the video

It has been both incredibly moving and saddening to see the polarized reactions on this message board. I am shocked and disheartened at the hate speech that people carelessly flick around. I hope that the people who are touched by this personal and vulnerable film also express themselves and I hope that the people understand the pain that was inflicted that day was also emotional. This was the first time I have witnessed violence in this form. This is the first time I have felt this helpless. I have never screamed in horror before- this is what you are hearing here.

I was horrified, I was helpless, my friends were being assaulted by the people (the police) who I always trusted to protect us.

They (The police and the administration) claim that public health and safety was a risk by setting up the tents, they say that we are at risk because of our Health and Safety if we were camping, they say that they cannot "watch over us" if we live on campus in a tent.

The police department and the UC Davis administration say all this and yet they are the ones who injure us.

We created a community and protected it, we protected each other, we sat together, ate together, spoke together, cared for each other, made music, laughed, educated one another, held workshops on social justice, held workshops on the politics of OW, held one another in respect and compassion. This camp was a space for addressing and discussing the complicated systemic issues that we are all facing. This was a space for listening to everyone.

We are not all given equal opportunities to speak as our race, gender, nationality, physical ability and sexual orientation often prevent us from being heard. This is why I want this film to be public. I want everyone to see what happened. I am not interested in debating or arguing the points of OWS or commenting on why we were protesting a proposed 81% fee increase in the UC System. If you are interested in understanding the damaging effects that privatizing the University will have, please search for "Wendy Brown: Saving the University Part 6"

Here is what matters: I am interested in creating community spaces on college campuses or elsewhere, where everyone has an opportunity to speak and all of our voices are heard because together we are stronger.

I am disgusted by this violence, I am disgusted that UC Davis administration allowed this to happen, I am disgusted that people sitting in the comfort of their homes can write such hateful messages, I am disgusted by this entire situation.

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See also:
http://www.alternet.org/story/153136/ows_continues_to_dominate_the_zeitgeist%3A_outcry_over_abuse_of_students_at_uc_davis_grows%2C_right-wing_plan_to_smear_protests_exposed?page=entire

http://www.salon.com/2011/11/20/the_roots_of_the_uc_davis_pepper_spraying/ - The roots of the UC-Davis pepper-spraying BY GLENN GREENWALD

Something has shifted in this country! Maybe greed and buying influence are not so fashionable anymore... Maybe a positive tide for reason and restoring a true democracy is beginning to build from the grassroots...
Hope so...   Monte