blood cape

These moments burn within us, within me, hiding and falling into memories softening wash

the occupation has shown me~

homeless Anarchists standing in the snow~ handing my two sons fresh cold soda pops while in the other hand they, and the group of them, hold torches and laugh while my kids sat in sleds and looked for MLK

i've walked home from churches after all day marches to take and hold bridges against the rain pouring night walking up the hill with 10 blackbloc brothers and sisters with black and red flags and blood capes flying tired of walking but happily take the streets, back to Camp
while cars gently just drive around us, the police ignore us and let us peacefully walk home in the street not chanting~ but together like a slow black car
on fire

Mic checking some Lt. while he is trying to give orders to his SWAT team, while he tries to tell our occupiers that this is the last chance to come out, out of a home that has been empty for seven years and full of ghosts~ and recently remodeled to become Water, a straightedge, artists residence~
When the Lt. tells the people inside that this is their last warning i shout back at him, this is your last warning, and some cop turns to stare at me and i stare back until he turns away

And Cami relentlessly talks and talks to a wall of blue, officers and talks until two of them break down and cry, because they are here to evict homeless youth on Christmas eve steal their backpacks and tents and lock their food inside houses nobody else can afford, and the cops cry and i cry and have to walk away

while inside the house laying on the top stairs Shanti and Ben Zen sit in fear, because they don't know what's going to happen to them, for hours all they can hear is the police and see the spot lights, surrounded
Until we, finally arrive with a hundred others to surround the police and witness this eviction
and when we start Mic Checking, they can hear us and they tell me later, that that is when they knew they'd be alright, they wouldn't be killed, shot or beaten

and the swat team opens the door with a turn of the knob because it's unlocked and thirty five police officers walk in with assault rifles, shotguns and handguns

to arrest ghosts

while i freeze in the dusk, standing on the corner of 23 and cherry with a huge mass of blackbloc fighters waiting for the speeches to end so we can march to the police precinct to condemn their actions on the streets

while watching the smiles spread across people's eyes as the ACAB banner is thrown over street lights

enlightened at the top of the hill when we are met with buckets full of torches and we march down hill to the precinct~ because we are going to burn it down

standing back to back with Thomas, Halloween night stopping drunks from destroying our dreams of a new world with homes /shelter and food for everyone

which i walked away from and swore i'd never go back until DW and P and R hand built the ART and Armory tent which grew to three stories and five bedrooms and was going to grow constantly outward to encompass the camp~ the city~ the world !

the Monday morning phone calls screaming for help as the police destroy our beautiful 500 tent wonderland~ and voices telling me that they were trying to save the art~
as the parks department loads all their gear, backpacks and crushed tents into garbage trucks

parked inside the U10 building with everyone painting and singing and riding conveyer-belt, skating the basement floors and building this NOW ! how happy i was running home to get more paint / wanted to get a mop and bucket to paint a huge floor piece
walls came down and lights came up and we cleaned and organized and ate diner and heard knocks on the door, cut holes in the roof and rewrote the words to the world ~on walls for free forever

but i had to go home and didn't take pictures and I left you there

to build a new world

for at least one night

NE!L~

Art from the Occupy

https://www.facebook.com/events/233454126742815/


http://reactionaryabsurdistparty.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/occupy-the-walls/

OCCUPY THE WALLS!

Creating art is a revolutionary act. Art can open eyes, unite people, challenge authority, comment on the past, change the present, and shape the future. You can unlearn but you cannot unsee. 



And now Reactionary Absurdist Party presents Occupy the Walls! A group show featuring works by Neil Vandervloed, Jennifer Zwick, Julie Fisco, Eric Carson, PETE, and yours truly hanging at Gainsbourg for the month of February. Fuck you, oligarchy.

This is from the Reactionary Absurdists they are hosting an art event this friday~ i will be outside on the street~ will you join me ?

NE!L~

freedom fighter marries U10 building

Drinkwater doesn't know i copy his black book when i find it~ too good !
the newest wall ~
locate at the bus stop~ Yesler and 17 Th ~ to brighten your day ~unfinished shots
The U10 building was being demolished~ when Babylonia proposed to her beautiful edifice
a deathbed wedding
get to the roof with floating messages
the maid's of honor


thought they were going to a funeral
the two brides



now protesters come with protesters~ yeah !
the train vs the rain and streets

NE!L~

the anti-occupation of oakland

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/30/1060020/-What-Really-Happened-at-Occupy-Oakland-on-Jan-28

"If you only remember one detail be it this: Tonight’s mass arrest occurred without a dispersal order. No law was broken. The only order given was: “You are under arrest. Submit to your arrest.” 300 peaceful protesters walking down a street were trapped and arrested unlawfully.

A note about police militarization: I saw some big guns and scary gear tonight. Alameda County Sheriff seems to have an endless budget for that shit. But tonight I saw something much scarier, that I’ve never seen before. First, I saw that the police have a printed profile books of protesters. I saw a cop flipping through pictures with descriptions, talking about who on their list they’ve seen today. When resting in Oscar Grant Plaza, a cop was filming the plaza from a rooftop in an adjacent building. They’re always filming, some have cameras on their bodies now, but this was clear spying and sophisticated intelligence gathering and analysis. Second, a very large tank on wheels, with a water cannon on top, rolled on scene. Someone said it was called a “grizzly”, but I can’t find a photo anywhere. Help? It was massive, and I stood right next to it before they brought it behind police lines. It was a hardcore, modern urban tank. The police are funded and prepared to use a water cannon on protesters, if need be. Know that.

The thing about Occupy, and especially Occupy Oakland, is it refuses to exclude. We are the 99%, and we mean it. The homeless and disenfranchised were welcome in the camp from day 1. The crime rate in Downtown Oakland went down, and some people finally had a safe place to sleep. Idealistic youth, Google techies, students, teachers, parents, children, poor, homeless, workers, all coming together. It rekindled hope for a lot of people. Occupy changed the conversation. The idea is more important than any one protest. An idea cannot be stopped. It is no longer about occupations; instead, it’s about bringing people together."

Videos and complete text at

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/30/1060020/-What-Really-Happened-at-Occupy-Oakland-on-Jan-28

"For the internet, here’s a first-hand account of Occupy Oakland on Jan. 28, 2012, because the news never tells the full story. I’ll tell you about the street battle, the 300+ arrests, the vandalism, the flag burning, all in the context of my experience today. This is deeper than the headlines. No major news source can do that for you. "

"If you only remember one detail be it this: Tonight’s mass arrest occurred without a dispersal order. No law was broken. The only order given was: 'You are under arrest. Submit to your arrest.' 300 peaceful protesters walking down a street were trapped and arrested unlawfully."

right to oblivian

against the wall
diversity of tactics
peaceful protesters
arguing the definition of non-violence
FIRCLAW
FIR NOT FUR
flesh colored crown~ FCC
RTO
bombs not food



NE!L~

the art of the house~ WATER

to shut down seattle steam leathal generators
walking banner
rise and decolonize~ WCPSD
the home occupied by the artists, builders and musicians existed in freedom for twelve days~ things happen fast in this vortex of creation~ the people needed blankets and food first~ beds~ water books second, the art was happening on the streets through outreach to the community~ with whom support was building~ at least five mural projects are on stack

the artist~ Drinkwater
where the history of indigenous people* will be painted
before ~
after~
Olmec head and temple~
this wall was painted with the express encouragement of the building occupants~ surrounded on three sides by churches ~ the people walking passed all say ~ "paint them all !"

locate ~Fir Street between 14 Th and 15 Th ~ Central District


NE!L~ in solidarity


*not the actual name~ i just made that up~ will clarify later

the story behind ~ water

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/12/24/the-story-behind-the-occupy-seattle-artist-house-raided-last-night-by-a-swat-team


The Story Behind the Occupy Seattle Artist House Raided Last Night by a SWAT Team
Posted by Jen Graves on Sat, Dec 24, 2011 at 2:25 PM

Cammi Morgan with the key anonymously given to occupiers

Cammi Morgan with the key anonymously given to occupiers

As Central District News reported, police last night raided a house at 19th and Spruce, arresting three men for charges including "Criminal Trespassing, Property Damage and weapons violations. Other criminal charges may be forthcoming."

According to the SPD's account, the raid was in response to a 911 call that afternoon that alerted them about "multiple male and female subjects who had unlawfully entered and occupied a residence. ...Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspects entered the house and subsequently damaged the interior of the house with graffiti. They also left garbage, open containers of food, and were cooking inside the house on a portable, gas-operated stove."

The house had been bought out of foreclosure in August by Mountaincrest Credit Union, according to CDN. The way the CDN story reads, the house was under renovation and the occupiers were interrupting progress and damaging it—and they'd broken in.

This mural on Fir Street between 14th and 15th was painted yesterday, by Drinkwater, the same Occupy artist who created the Rise & Decolonize banners for the recent port action.

Neil Vandervloed
This mural on Fir Street between 14th and 15th was painted yesterday, by Drinkwater, the same Occupy artist who created the Rise & Decolonize banners for the recent port action.

But that story doesn't match what I learned in a meeting just now with two of the 10 or 12 occupiers who had been in the house for about two weeks.

They held up the house key. An anonymous "elf" had come by the Occupy Seattle encampment at SCCC a few weeks ago and handed them the key and the address, they said. (A different anonymous donor also gave them a sailboat that they'll begin using and painting in the spring.) Inside, they'd begun painting a forest landscape, and planned a waterfall down the staircase; they titled the house "Water." They denied doing damage or being a haven for any kind of destructive activity and said they didn't know of any complaints from neighbors. Instead, they saw the house as a home base for adding art to the immediate neighborhood. To that end, they'd completed a mural nearby yesterday, on Fir Street between 14th and 15th, on a garage wall offered to them by a resident. Also yesterday, another donor gave them furniture: a futon, bookcases.

Two of their fellow occupiers are still in jail, set to be released on bail this afternoon. The third person arrested was not part of the occupation and never had lived in the house, they say. He, along with about 50 other protesters against the raid, had come to show his support, and when he stepped onto the grass, he was arrested, the occupiers say. He is the one charged with weapons violations, they say: He had a pocket knife in his pants pocket, which he then offered to the police, for which they booked him on the weapons charge.

Another painting made by Drinkwater during the occupation at the house at 19th and Spruce.

Neil Vandervloed
Another painting made by Drinkwater during the occupation at the house at 19th and Spruce.

The police did not give the squatters 72 hours eviction notice, and when Cammi Morgan, one of the occupiers, asked whether the police had any contact with the property owner, they said no, she says. It is unclear why the scenario at 19th and Spruce is so different from the other house where Occupy Seattle is squatting, at 23rd and Alder—where anarchist squatters have a court date December 28 and have had plenty of notice of removal.

"This house wasn't about anti-police at all," Morgan says. "Our intention was to show that we could give back to the community. It wasn't about having a roof over our heads—we're all pretty resourceful. We were excited to use the house as a pathway to create art for everyone. We'd offered to touch up the fading murals at the food bank at Saint Mary's. I wanted to offer guitar lessons at the boys and girls club near there."

Neil Vandervloed, creator of the cartoon hand signs that have been the most visible graphic for Occupy Seattle, was bringing community dinners cooked by his wife to the house each night.

"I'm really disappointed," Vandervloed said. "Especially this type of reaction. There were something like 13 cop cars and 30 cops there, with assault rifles, shotguns, and handguns out and drawn—to arrest two artists on Christmas Eve. The neighbors made us hot coffee and stood in solidarity with us as the police raided."



Thanks to Jen Graves and happy holidays to all
NE!L~

seattle police swat team raids artist residence

with overwhelming tactical fire power and well over thirteen squad cars thirty police officers and the SWAT team loaded with hand guns, shotguns and assault rifles~ the much beleaguered Seattle Police Department~ and DOJ reprimanded~ raided the Artist collective named ~
WATER
a group of homeless Artists / musicians and economic refugees~ a group attempting to establish a straightedge environment of creation
peaceful protesters arrested ~ 2
illegally detained citizen ~ 1

artists in handcuffs
Seattle Police Department can't help but give and give this holiday season~ merry Christmas homeless citizens~ get back on the streets~ in the cold and rain~ 'tis the season
the police must have been embarrassed they wouldn't tell anyone their names or divulge their badge numbers~ and then we made one of them cry his eyes out~

we had just furnished this house /brought in more blankets / cooked some french-fries and set up some wicked book shelves for the library w/piranha

then the fire department showed up to board up the doors and lock out our freedom

when i got home~ a friend called to tell me that we had opened the doors again



Thank you so much K & G ! thank you Alder street Turritopsis Nutricula and thank you OS brothers and sisters for support, witness and solidarity

NE!L~ with tears

taking pictures of people taking pictures of people taking pictures of people taking pictures of ~

12D WCPSDWest Coast Port Shut Down
before we arrived there was a lot of trash to pick up and odd juxtaposing
the Port of Seattle's number two trade is human traffic / slave trade / exploitation
the unions asked us to join them on this day of protest~ and then pulled out~ through pressure from above~ at the international level~ the crowd was full of union workers anyway
our people live beneath these super structures
and sleep under concrete clouds

because we wont go home and shut up. . .
because we stopped shopping
because we don't stop when men with guns command
because these are, our streets to peacefully protest upon
to find joy in taking pictures of people taking pictures of people taking pictures of. . .
just in case we decided to jump into the frozen waters of the sound and start boarding cargo ships
because we wont run home crying in the face of pepper spray, stun grenades and mounted Calvary charges, men in medieval body armor with shields and bright worked batons, against unarmed girls in knit wear and seventy year old priests, who hold their ground, bloodied
because we dare to question the corporations abuse
because they create lines in the street that they stand behind and taunt us from behind helmet sunglasses and hatred~ because we want equality, economic justice and freedom
they have branded us, with the acquiescence of their media the most violent peaceful protesters in the USA
the most dangerous terrorists / anarchist / activists threatening the nation
because we want to be free and brave for you /for us/ for them /who stay home/ and think that they are safe

while we are beaten in the streets ~for talking to each other about the possibilities

NE!L~