G.A. Minutes 6-18-13
The Christian youth group has returned as they promised they would last Tuesday. However, there’s a lot more of them and there’s something different about them. A counselor explains this is another group of kids; it’s only the counselors who will be in Duluth for the summer. These kids are from the Twin Cities and they’re not as wide eyed and unsophisticated as last week’s youth from South Dakota. They’re not at all impressed that we’re Occupy Duluth; to them we’re just another bunch of grownups. Boring. The counselors have a general idea of what Occupy is all about and they have even heard of Idle No More. They ask questions and we explain the urgency of halting climate change, fighting the financiers, oil companies and such. They say, “Well thanks for doing that”. They want to meet some homeless people. We say, “Homeless people probably won’t come into the Memorial until you are gone. They are used to being harassed by people who look like you; they don’t know you so will be suspicious. It took us a good while to establish trust around here.” They gather up the young people and leave. No one says good bye.

A middle aged man who has visited in the past sits down. Tonight he’s talking about the amount of homeless people who gravitate to Duluth. He says the services in our city are superior to any place he has ever lived. An Occupier responds, “We know the provisions for homeless folks in Duluth are insufficient so it’s very sad that many people tell us other places have much less.” The man tells us our city is the only place he knows of that provides anything for single homeless men. He has grown up in the south and says down there, the solution to homelessness is arrest and placement on a chain gang.

Our regular visitor from Mississippi arrives and then, the pregnant woman who stayed at our camp. Tonight she has a man with her and they both appear to be drunk. She smells our burning sage and asks to be smudged. We say,” We’re not Native so don’t really have the power to smudge”. She responds, “I have that power. I’ll talk you through it.” An Occupier does as she instructs him. She then tells her male partner they have enough money for one last 40 ounce. To us she says, “I’ll be back in a while.”

Another Occupier reports that Water Legacy has put in a request for Occupiers to assist them in getting petition signatures for their petition to protect our waterways and to deny PolyMet’s plea for a sulphide mining permit on the Iron Range. Everyone agrees to help. The petition drive is to take place next Saturday afternoon and evening so we know we’ll have to cancel our G.A. So be it.

As we are having this discussion we notice our main “problem child” has come to sit on the back ledge. This is another woman who lived at our camp. She has a serious drinking problem and severe mental health issues. When she drinks she becomes angry, aggressive and obnoxious. Tonight she is very drunk. After our camp closed, we didn’t see her for a while but when she returned, she returned with the belief that one of the Occupiers had ripped her shirt off, killed the baby she was carrying in her womb and then sent the father of her unborn baby to prison. From what we know of her life, these things probably did happen but of course, the Occupiers had nothing to do with it. She starts again with the same rant, “You tore off my shirt! You killed my baby! You sent my baby’s daddy to prison!” When this happens, the accused Occupier generally just hangs his head. Another Occupier has said, “We need to confront her when she does this. We need to tell she is wrong”. Tonight this Occupier gives it a try. She says, “You need to stop saying these things! You know they’re not true. Maybe all these things happened to you but they weren’t caused by him.” The ranting woman stops for a minute and then starts yelling again. As usual, her friends drag her off and apologize for her behavior. Oh well, we’ll just have to keep trying. When she’s not drinking, which isn’t very often, one can actually talk with her.

Now a couple of men we haven’t met get some coffee and sit down. They are residents of a nearby group home. The younger man says, “If the evil spirits are getting too close, you can always ask the butterfly for help”. We wonder what he means but decide not to go there tonight. We can only handle so much insanity at one time.

The older man chats with us about capitalism and such. He tells us he is content in the home where he is currently living. However, he tells of bad experiences he had while living in a home owned by one of the biggest companies in town. His stories jibe with what we had heard via the grapevine about this big company. He looks and his watch and says he needs to get the younger man back before curfew. “Will you guys be here another night? I’d like to come back”. We tell him when we hold our meetings and encourage him to return.

A regular man from the street comes walking rather rapidly. He’s the one we call the intelligent man. He knows the street well but never seems drunk or drugged and generally appears to be helping others. He calls to all the people on the corner, “Don’t go down there. Don’t go down there.” Everyone listens to him, turns and walks the other way. An Occupier takes a peek and says, ”Oh, they’re all fighting down there”. Squad cars go whizzing by. Same old, same old.

Another young man runs up to us. “Is that sage?” An Occupier hands him the burning bundle, he smudges himself, says thank you and runs off.

It’s time to leave. Everyone helps clean up. The Occupier couple are the last ones to go. The man says, “Why do they fight each other?” The woman replies, “They have a lot of anger and stress. If they take it out on anyone else, they’ll go to jail”.

Just then, a squad car roars up and squeals on to the Memorial. Our friend, the former camper and her man are drinking their 40 ounce on the back ledge. They capture the two and throw them on the car. They are both all too familiar with this routine so they “assume the position”. Another squad pulls up and then another. The Occupier couple are across the street and have finished loading up. They decide to stay and watch and witness. After much talk and body searching, the cops pour out the 40 ounce and let the drinkers go. After 5-0 leaves, the Occupier woman gives the drinkers a few cigarettes and says, “Too much drama”. They appear a little shaken and say,”Yeah too much drama”. Another night in the hood.

G.A. Minutes 6-15-13

The street and the Memorial are completely empty when we arrive. There was a big Juneteenth celebration up at the Community Center this afternoon, so we figure people are still there or are sleeping off the effects of a huge free meal.

As we’re setting up, our old friend from our former camp walks up. It’s really good to see him. He talks a mile a minute and tells the most wild and entertaining stories. The stories always seem to be based on things that actually happened in his life but they contain obvious embellishments. We think our friend is a much damaged veteran of the 1st Gulf War. He hasn’t come around for at least half a year and we ask him what he’s been up to. The fun begins. The yarn he spins is delightful. The part about losing his apartment, being homeless now and camping up the hill somewhere is probably true. The part about having top of the line camping equipment along with a detailed description of each item, leaving tonight with his new girlfriend for a bike trip to the southern U.S. and then finding a way to Hawaii where he has a job measuring lava flow for the National Science Foundation are probably not true. He gets a cup of coffee and takes off to begin his new adventure. Hopefully, it won’t too long before we see him again.

A young man who has attended several of our meetings over the winter arrives. This is his first time ever at the Memorial. He asks questions about the old burned down Kozy building across the street. We explain the history of our connection to the building and the history of the building itself. We tell him of our former homeless camp in the courtyard of the Kozy. Many of the people on the street of the Memorial were residents of our camp, so although this neighborhood is rough, when we hold our meeting here people either leave us alone or sit down to join us.

The young man speaks about a new branch of the BDS which is being formed in Duluth. Some of us know the branch organizer well and have been lending some support to his efforts. We all support divestment in Israel and the right of the Palestinians to have whatever they want to have. He tells us a story about an interaction with police officers. It seems he has had little experience in interacting with 5-0 so we explain a bit about police behavior. One of the basics is: police continuously lie so always be polite (that keeps them calmer) but never take anything they say as the truth.

The young guy then says he believes people in Duluth should form coalitions instead of having many separate groups around different issues. An Occupier comments we don’t form a lot of official coalitions and give them names but we know most of the other organizers and activists. We regularly work with each other and offer support for each other’s direct actions. He hasn’t lived in the Twin Ports for very long and we encourage him to stay involved. We promise him things are really “cooking” around here.

An Occupier asks another to start up the fire, she hands him her pink lighter. He jokingly says, “Oh I’m a man, I can’t use that. You do it” and hands her back the lighter. She says, “Well, because you just said such a scandalous thing, you have no choice but to use this to light the fire.” They both laugh and he lights the fire.

A couple, who are probably not homeless or from the neighborhood arrive and sit down. The woman says they have received a rare break from their young children. Their grandparents are babysitting and they are cruising around town trying to find out what’s going on. The man says, “So what’s Occupy up to these days?” We tell him what we’ve been doing lately and speak of our concerns related to climate change and the destruction of our planet. We speak about the importance of treaty rights and the kinship we feel with Idle No More.

A man pushing a shopping cart comes into our circle. He is a friend of one of the Occupiers. He says he has just had his individual camp on the hill torn down by the DPD. He is on his way to set up camp in the Graffiti Graveyard. This camp is unofficially sanctioned by the DPD. We tell him we think the police want to have all the homeless congregated in a few large camps where they can be easily watched and controlled. He agrees with us. He says he knows he has many treaty rights which the police regularly violate. He speaks about something called the LaPointe Treaty. He says it is a treaty which covers many of the Ojibwe tribes in the north central U.S. We make a note to do some research concerning this treaty. We ask him if he is familiar with INM and he says he is not but mentions there is no separation between Natives of the U.S. and those of Canada. Native nations are not the same as nations made by the white man. This man has to leave as he needs to set up his new camp before dark. He promises to return and we hope he will do so.

A woman, who had been a speaker at the anniversary commemoration of the CJM Memorial the previous day, arrives. She is doing a doctoral thesis on various types of memorials throughout the country and had been introduced to one of the Occupiers. She’s come to observe and participate. We welcome her.

A very drunk woman comes to sit. She is crying and talking about the death of her husband. She says she is the victim of much abuse by her husband and other men. She points to her glass eye and her shattered cheek bone. She does look quite battered. An Occupier remembers they have not fired up a sage bundle yet so she does this. The smell of sage seems to calm the drunken woman. Her friend arrives, accepts the sage but says, “I’m really not supposed to smudge when I’ve been drinking”. Then the two friends throw their arms around each other and sob about past abuse and some man who has recently been arrested. Stopping our political discussions and ministering to the neighborhood street folks is the price we pay for using the Memorial.

Another man calls from across the street, “Do you still have free coffee?” When we say yes he comes over to get some. He’s a little confused by the sugar we have. We tell him it’s just the same as regular sugar except it’s fair trade and unrefined. He says, “I may be just making this up but I think the reason Native people have the highest diabetes rate in the nation is because they were forced to eat all that commodity food”. We assure him he is not making it up. The drunken woman continues to sob. We know we cannot solve her problems so begin to pack up. We give her some cigarettes and ask her to join us again next Tuesday.

G.A. Minutes 6-11-13

We arrive at the CJM Memorial this evening and find a rather large group of junior high school students hanging out. They’re very friendly and tell us they are members of a non-denominational youth group from South Dakota. They’re in Duluth for the summer doing some type of volunteer work. When we explain about our bi-weekly Occupy meetings, they are absolutely thrilled. Go figure.

We have noticed over the last half year or so, the general public seems quite favorable toward Occupy. The youth help us unload everything from our truck. One of their leaders sits down with us for a chat. We ask her about the oil and gas drilling in her state. She tells us, “All of that is going on in North Dakota, not in South Dakota. However, I’ve noticed oil company trailers being parked all around. I haven’t heard anything but I’m thinking maybe some of that stuff will be starting where I live”.

She has no knowledge whatsoever about fracking. We explain what it is and the damage it will bring to her water supply. We remind her that clean water is necessary for life. It appears the things we are explaining are new concepts to her but she does not seem resistant. The other group leaders are gathering up the kids so she joins them. Everyone says, “See you next week”.

The temperature is still in the 70s. We agree to wait to start a fire until the sun goes behind the buildings. One of the Occupiers was unable to go to the Penokee Harvest Camp on Saturday. He’s very anxious to hear what we found. We inform him we were impressed by the camp. It covers a good sized area of pristine forest and has a river flowing alongside. The chief and about 10-15 regular campers run an efficient encampment complete with kitchen, dishwashing, gardens, fire pit and socialization area, many nature trails and guides, Native arts and crafts and plenty of tents for guests. They have the approval of all the woodland neighbors and many supporters across Wisconsin and Minnesota.

While we were at camp, the chief explained some of the intricate details of the legal battle with the government and the mining company. Many people are fighting the proposed mine and the possibility of a victory is real. The main mission of the camp is to educate visitors about the precious area and to keep watch on the activities of the mining company. We received word this morning that the company had begun exploratory drilling. A call was put out for as many supporters as possible to come to camp and serve as witnesses. We have many commitments this week but Idle No More folks headed over today. We are attempting to send a news reporter to the camp a.s.a.p.

An Occupier expresses his frustration with the 1%, with their blindness and their greed. He bemoans the extreme poverty and suffering of so many of the world’s people. “Why can’t they see that people need a means to survive?” Another Occupier says jokingly, “You mean austerity is not the answer?” Everyone laughs. He sighs and we move on.

A woman who has been sitting on the ledge comes over. She says, “You’re Occupy Duluth ain’t ya? Remember me? I was at your camp”. We do indeed remember her. She was extremely skinny, always drunk and looking for a fight. Now she has put on 30 or 40 pounds and is talking in a friendly and intelligent manner.

“I’m not homeless anymore. I got into treatment, jumped through all them hoops they make ya do and got myself a little place to stay. I still hang out with all these guys’ cuz they’re still my friends but I’m pregnant now and I got a kid to take care of. I’m acting different these days.” We are genuinely pleased to see her; we congratulate her and give her encouragement.

Another man sits down. He is talking a mile a minute and although we listen to him carefully we have no idea what he is talking about. He says he’s from San Francisco but that’s about all we understand. He’s using regular English words and has an intelligible accent but we have no clue what he’s trying to say. We hear him for a while; he thanks us for our hospitality and leaves. After he is gone an Occupier says, “I guess with some people, style is more important than content.”

An Occupier reminds us tomorrow night there will be an important panel discussion at UMD about the proposed Polymet mine in Northern Minnesota. We have been asked by one of the organizers to arrive a little early to help him plan for questions and answers. Most of us will be able to make it to this event. Somebody asks what the position of our local Native tribes are. We know Protect Our Manoomin is an ally but there’s a lot that remains to be seen. Many people are opposed to this sulphite mine. We know the health of our land and water takes precedence over a few promised jobs for a few people. It looks as though most government officials and regulators have been purchased by the corporation. Tomorrow night may get heated.

Someone mentions an ordinance was passed by the City Council yesterday and it had something to do with synthetic drugs. Another explains the ordinance made being under the influence of synthetic classified as a crime. It’s called internal possession. Everyone thinks this is really funny. The ordinance also said any store selling synthetic drugs must have a license to do so. We wonder how “internal possession” will be determined as we know drug tests for synthetic are very expensive and police and treatment centers don’t have them. We wonder if there is such a thing as a license to sell synthetic drugs. It’s obvious to us that synthetic is a real problem in our city but we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.

As our meeting was going on, the street scene was very loud. We weren’t paying much attention but were aware there was a lot of yelling and people running around. At one point we fired up a small bundle of sage and let it drift over the area. Things became quiet and calm immediately. The entire ruckus went somewhere else. Now a pair of DPD officers walk up. One of them says, “Have you been having any trouble?” “Everything’s fine here,” we say. One officer says, “Is this a cooking fire or a warming fire?” It seems like he thinks he needs to appear to be in authority. We choose one and say, “A warming fire.” He says, “Well that’s o.k. then” and they walk away. The mysteries of the DPD….

Nightfall is arriving; we have many things to do this week. We’ll keep in touch and meet back here on Saturday.

G.A. Minutes 5-28-13
It’s cloudy and somewhat cool at the Memorial this evening. Things start out strangely, is this an omen as to what the night will bring?

As we drive up we notice quite a few people sitting on the back ledge. By the time we have unloaded a few things from our vehicles, a squad car has pulled right onto the Memorial and all the folks on the ledge quickly leave. The place is empty as we uncomfortably enter. Everything is unusually clean and it appears as if the place has been cleared out so the white folks can have their fire. We don’t like that.

A few more Occupiers roll up, everybody greets each other, we put the coffee out and as we start up the fire some street people begin to arrive. This is better. A woman from the ledge shouts out, “Occupy Duluth!” and gives a power salute. Many of the men from the ledge come over, introduce themselves and shake hands with all the Occupiers. A few sit down at the fire.

An exceptionally intelligent man who we remember from our fires last fall sits down also. He says, “So what’s the conversation about tonight?” An Occupier begins to explain about INM, treaty rights, the evils of the Canadian Harper government and the worldwide struggle to save our Mother Earth from destruction by the corporations. The man is listening with interest when suddenly a small group of street people, unknown to the Occupiers, comes walking up the avenue. The people on the ledge certainly know them.

The two groups begin yelling at each other and all the people, including most of the men sitting with us at the fire, take off running down the street. A few of the men stay, they say,”Ain’t none of my business. I’m staying where it’s peaceful.”

Squad cars squeal up from all directions, then the fire truck and finally an ambulance. The Occupiers attempt to stay focused around the fire. Some people start drifting back, they are very excited. After a little while all the people from the ledge return. No one from their group has been arrested. Apparently, this is a victory of sorts.

Everyone begins to reenact the event again and again. There is much laughter; things get so loud we can’t hear ourselves at the fire. A DPD officer pulls up, gets out and talks to the people. It appears he has the beginning of a black eye. They laugh and tease him about it. He does not look pleased. A man at the fire says, “They should not tease the officer like that. They may find themselves alone in a dark alley with him some night”.

One Occupier appears to be very upset by the violence being laughed about and another Occupier says to him, “Most of these folks lead very boring lives. They have nothing to do but hang around, get drunk or high, go to the feeding centers for meals and try to keep out of detox or jail. A big fight is something that relives their boredom.”

Eventually the excited people wander off and things quiet down. We get many more visitors. An older gentleman who had been a regular at our fires last year arrives. We are very happy to see him again. A young man who has just moved to Duluth from a small town in Wisconsin sits down, our friend from Mississippi stops by and a street man tells us his story.

He had a problem with drugs a few years back and now is going through the court system. He expects to be sent to prison. He believes this is unfair. He appears to be in his late 20s and states this is the first time he has ever been arrested for anything. “It seems like they should give me a slap on the wrist and tell me not to do it again. If I do it again then they could rightfully punish me. I should at least be given a chance,” he tells us.

We agree with him and talk about the corruption of our justice system and the fact that rich people don’t pay the same price for crime as the rest of us do. We all know corporations are making a lot of money from running our prison system, this is why many people are sent to prison for minor offenses.

A group of three young men and one young woman arrive. We recognize one of the men from somewhere. He says, “You guys are Occupy aren’t you? I’m Idle No More.” We realize he is one of the young INM drummers. He tells us that all in his group are members of the same biological family. Another of the young men gets a chair for the young woman and says, “This here is my sister and nobody had better touch her”. The drummer laughs and says, “What’s wrong with you man? This is Occupy, they’re non-violent.”

An Occupier says, “You know, we were just talking about treaty rights and how they may be our only means of defense when it comes to saving the land, air and water from the corporate polluters”.

The drummer and an Occupier, who is also a drummer of European tradition, have a lengthy discussion about the types of material used for drum skins, the origins of the particular type of drum Native people are playing these days and many other things related to drumming. We all talk about Native fire rituals and one Occupier says she has tried some of these rituals and found they had no effect.

The drummer says gently, “That’s probably because they are not meant for you”.

She says, ”Yeah, I figured that’s probably what it was”.

We notice it’s getting dark, check the time and realize it’s very close to our imaginary curfew. We ask everyone to please come back and talk with us again. “Every Tuesday and Saturday night at 6pm unless it’s raining”.

G.A. Minutes 5-25-13
There are a moderate amount of Occupiers at the Memorial tonight. Everyone is exhausted but some of us feel the need for a fire.

The March On Monsanto was a big success and we spend some time talking about it. At least 100 people showed up, many had great costumes and signs. Occupy was able to contribute our 2 faced CEO puppet, our Corn Monster costume and a large banner. The response from the general public was rewarding and we were impressed by the number of people who were aware of what the struggle for control of our world’s food sources is all about.

The first hour or so was spent chanting and waving to the traffic and passersby on Lake and Superior, then the Howling for Wolves people arrived and we spent an hour joining them in howling for the wolves, protesting their removal from the endangered species list and their government sanctioned killing by those who hunt for sport. The response from the general public was pretty good for the wolves too.

We listened to a short speech by Jamie Harvie of the Institute for a Sustainable Future in which he listed the many things that people are doing and/or can do to insure a safe and healthy food supply. Next it was off for a march down and through Canal Park and back to People’s Plaza. Upon return, a little more working of the crowd, then packing up and leaving, feeling energized for all the work ahead of us.

Someone asks, “So what are we going to do next?” Juneteenth is coming up in just a few weeks and we still haven’t heard what we are supposed to do to help. An Occupier volunteers to make contact and see what he can find out.

The older woman from Mississippi who has been visiting us regularly since last Fall stops by. As usual she is full of goodwill and blessings for us. However, this time she is carrying some type of case and asks us if we would like to buy some recordings of gospel music. We believe she has an apartment and is not homeless but as with all the people of the street she is very poor. She has never asked us for money in the past so we know things must be very rough for her right now.

The Occupiers have very little personal money although most have a little more than the street folks. We never carry any money with us when we come to the Memorial as we know the need is huge among our street friends and we can’t possibly take care of everyone. We refuse to pick and choose. Our job is to force the 1% to give up their ill-gotten gains and to allow all the people of the world to meet their basic needs.

Many people stop by; some have personal property they are trying to sell. It’s the end of the month and people on various types of fixed incomes routinely come up short at this time. A woman we haven’t met before gets some coffee and sits down. She complains about the treatment she has received from the Gimajii Center. We have heard complaints about Gimajii previously and tell her so. One of our Occupiers is currently meeting with some Native people who are attempting to make changes at the Center.

The woman says, “Why did they make this place for them?” She points to the portraits of the 3 African American men who were lynched in Duluth in the 1920s and to whom the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial is dedicated. “Don’t they know what was done to our people?” She then describes some of the many appalling acts perpetrated upon Native people by the colonizers. We would like to say to her that both Native and African American people have been severely wronged but instead we just listen.

After she leaves an Occupier says, “I see this so frequently. Native people complain that black people are given more than they deserve and black people complain that Native folks get all the breaks. If the 2 groups would ever make amends and join together, their power would be unstoppable.”

The sun is going down, the fire is dying and we are all very tired. There are hugs all around and we go off for the night. If it doesn’t rain, we’ll be back on Tuesday.

G.A. Minutes 5-21-13
We’ve been meeting at the Occupy couple’s house this past week. It’s been raining a lot and we have needed to make a few things for the worldwide March Against Monsanto. The event will happen around the world on May 25th. In Duluth the action starts at 11am in the People’s Power Plaza. There will be music and speeches, a march will leave from the Plaza at 1pm.
Occupy will be playing a supporting role for this occasion. We have fixed up the 2-faced CEO so he can play a Monsanto executive; we’ve made a Corn Monster and a different sort of banner. The Corn Monster was a real struggle with many stops, starts and unsuccessful experiments. It looks like it’s going to work now.
As we work, there has also been some discussion. Among the topics are a long standing case of institutional racism perpetrated by a very large and well-known local organization. It looks like those who are being discriminated against are going to finally bring things out in the open. We’ll be doing whatever we can to support them. One of the Occupiers believes Facebook has been attempting to censor posts about the March Against Monsanto and we have just received word there was a recent attempt to shut down our website. Hmmm……. We know these things are to be expected.

Life goes on. If we’re not all completely exhausted after the Monsanto rally, we should be meeting at CJM Saturday at 6pm.

G.A. Minutes 5-14-13
We sure started things off with a bang this evening. We had just arrived, got the chairs and the burner out when a big fire truck pulls up, all its lights flashing and parks in the middle of the street in front of the Memorial. One guy gets out, he’s probably the head dude, and walks over to us. He says, “What’s going on? I got a call saying there was a bonfire in progress.” We laugh because we hadn’t even put the wood in the burner yet.

The fireman picks up our burner and turns it around a few times like he’s inspecting it and says, “Well seeing as this is a city park and…” An Occupier interrupts him saying, “Actually it’s not a city park and…” He gives her a look that says just hears me out then says, “In a city park a person can make a small safe fire in a personal receptacle designed for fires until 10pm. Your receptacle is just fine and I don’t see any problems here. Go ahead with what you were doing and have a good evening.”

While he was talking, 2 cops pulled up. They jump out of their car looking like they’re ready to spring into action. The fire guy says, “Nothing wrong here. Everything is in order.” He and his crew drive off. The cops look kinda disappointed but they drive off too.

We start up the fire and hope that’s the biggest drama we will encounter tonight. You never know. One of our City official friends arrives. Everyone is delighted to see him. We joke back and forth and then carry on a discussion about the state of the Duluth public school system. Our friend is an expert on matters concerning education. He tells us that the current graduation rate for white senior high school students is 75%, for black seniors it’s 39.5% and for native students 27%. We are shocked! We knew it wasn’t what it should be but we had no idea it was this bad.

He says, “Have you ever seen those statistics publicized anywhere?” We have not. Our friend has some good ideas about how to improve our schools. He thinks all teachers should be given more yearly training sessions, more collaborations between schools and businesses need to be developed, student to teacher ratios must be reduced, more elective course options are needed, all students should be required to enroll in and pass at least one honors level course and curriculum needs to be reviewed and improved to meet changing employment opportunities. We also talk about the harm created by out of school suspension and incorporation of the criminal justice system into the school system. It’s called The Pipeline to Prison.

We tell our friend we think he should run the Duluth school system and we will back him if he will give it a try. He laughs and says, “I don’t think publicly listing Occupy as one of my major supporters will help me much.” Then he is off to his next stop.

An Occupier who has been living out of town is trying to rent a place in the Twin Ports and he tells us about the trouble he’s been having. He has a guaranteed monthly income but his credit score is not very high so no one wants to rent to him. He says, “I don’t see why having a low credit score should mean you can’t have a place to live. Housing is a human right.”

In the middle of this discussion a person who can best be described as a wild woman bounces over. She’s talking very loud and fast, asks for a glass of water, drinks it down, asks for another, is making homophobic remarks and asking for meth and bath salts, starts throwing her water all over, sits down and begins to let loose with some very vulgar descriptions of something.

An Occupier says, “You’re being very vulgar and we don’t like that sort of thing. Could you please just sit and enjoy the fire with us?” She says, “Sorry” and bounces off down the almost empty street.

Someone asks if there has been any more news about the May 25th rally against Monsanto. The Occupiers who are working on this say major event announcements will be out very shortly. A discussion begins concerning GMOs and corporations that are trying to patent things that have been given to us by Mother Nature. We have a good few Occupiers who are of a scientific nature and they begin talking deep science. After we get past the topic of sustainable energy the rest of the Occupiers don’t really know what they’re talking about but it sounds real good.

As this is going on a young woman arrives, she is very drunk and apologizes for being so. We offer her a cup of strong coffee and a chair. She says,”Miigwetch. Miigwetch. I’m sorry for being so fu**ed up.” The conversation continues, it’s getting dark, the fire is dying. Some of the Occupiers say good night and the rest begin to pack up when we notice that the young woman is passed out cold.

We can’t wake her, we don’t know who she is, we can’t just leave her there and we’re not going to call 911. An Occupier offers to go down to the Casino and look for someone from the neighborhood who might know her. Then just in the nick of time, Wild Woman reappears. She’s a little calmer now and says she knows the passed out woman. She is able to shake her awake and the two of them walk off arm and arm.

From all directions, people are starting to appear. It looks like the street is coming alive. The weather is forecasting rain for Saturday. If it rains we’ll meet at the Occupy couple’s home. If not, we’ll be back to interact with our people of the hood.

G.A. Minutes 5-11-13
It’s somewhat chilly and very windy this evening. It takes a couple of tries before we get the fire going. There are many people here, all the chairs are in use and some folks are standing. We have many of the regulars, an occasional Occupier, an Occupier who hasn’t been around for at least a year and several who are here for the first time.
A group of 5 or 6 street people are at the Memorial when we arrive. They are talking and laughing loudly and appear to be very drunk. They notice us, toss a friendly glance our way and continue with their conversation. One young man comes over and sits by the fire. He doesn’t say anything, he’s possibly too drunk to speak but he’s clearly attracted to the fire. His friends finish their beverage and are ready to leave. It looks as though he wants to stay near the flame but his friends won’t allow him to remain so he staggers off.
A regular Occupier tells us an international day of protest against Monsanto is planned for May 25th. A group of Duluthians would like to organize a demonstration for that day and ask if the Occupiers will participate. We will. We are still a little exhausted from the May Day event so offer to play a supporting role. There is a brief discussion of possible venues, the Occupier says he will be meeting later in the evening with people who are initiating this event and get back to us with details.
An occasional Occupier tells us about the environmental group Water Legacy. We all know the issue of the proposed Polymet nonferrous mine is of major importance in northern Minnesota. We also know only 3% of the water on the earth is suitable for drinking. This water is rapidly being polluted by various corporations in their quest to extract profits from the Earth’s natural resources. The task of stopping the corporations from destroying the earth and all those who live on it is a daunting task however; it is a task we must take on. All around the world people are fighting corporate attempts to destroy the natural resources of the planet. The corporations rob these resources in an attempt to satisfy an insatiable need for more and more profits. In impoverished countries this theft if accomplished by the barrel of a gun. In wealthier countries it is accomplished by bribes to those in power and lies and false promises to those living on the coveted land. In northern Minnesota, the Polymet Company is proposing to build a copper mine near Hoyt Lakes. There has never been a nonferrous (not iron) mine anywhere in the world that has not severely polluted the water in and around the area of the mine. Northern Minnesota is home to many rivers and streams of clean water. These waterways empty into Lake Superior, the world’s largest source of fresh water. Well, guess what…….. according to Polymet, their mine is not going to pollute. They are engaged in a serious smoke and mirrors campaign in an attempt to convince people of northern Minnesota their mine will bring no pollution, only good jobs. Their claims are false but many are being tricked by their promises. The Water Legacy and many other environmental groups are engaged in a most important battle to save our water for ourselves and for generations to come. We are all fully aware of the life and death issues involved here. The occasional Occupier invites us join the fight and we accept his invitation.
An occasional Occupier has been to an international conference of longtime organizers. He tells us about the people he met and the ideas they presented. We are engrossed by his story. Included in the advice given by the conference presenters were recommendations for young organizers to seek the council of older organizers so they may learn what tactics have worked in the past and a suggestion for all organizers to take the time to establish a solid base of support and to make long range plans.
Some of the Occupiers must leave in order to meet with those planning the anti-Monsanto event. The rest of us throw more wood on the fire and begin talking with a homeless man who lives in a small homeless camp about a half a mile from CJM. He and one of the homeless Occupiers start a conversation about some of the secret homeless camps around town. The man says he and his friends don’t dare make a small safe fire to cook food on. If they do, the police show up, spray their food with a fire extinguisher and then knock everything to the ground. They say, “This is for your own safety you know”. Just then a squad car pulls up to the Memorial, 2 officers get out and walk over to us. These are officers we have not seen before. One of them says, “What do you think you are doing here? You can’t have a fire here. This is a city park and you can’t a fire have in a city park”. An Occupier says pleasantly, “Actually this isn’t a city park. If you look on the official Duluth list of city parks you will find the Memorial is not listed there. However, if it were it would still be legal for us to be having a fire like this. The legislative code for fires in city parks says one may make a fire in any of the fire receptacles provided by the park or in any personal receptacle that is designed for fires. The policemen look at the Occupier like she is out of her mind. The Occupier asks, “Were you guys working in this neighborhood last fall?” The officers look up and down the street with distain and say no. She tells them, “We went through all this stuff with Officer Tuscan last fall. It was determined we were within our legal rights by having a small safe fire at the CJM Memorial.” One cop says, “You mean Deputy Chief Tuscan! I think we will call him right now.” At that moment another squad pulls up. It is driven by one of the regular neighborhood policemen. The 2 officers walk over to his car and we hear the officer in the car say, “When they had a fire here last fall…………blah,blah,blah”. The 2 officers walk back to their car and drive away. They don’t look at us or say goodbye. After they leave, many of the street folks come over to sit and talk. Some we remember from our previous fires. One woman we have met several times remembers us. She is visibly drunk as she has been all the other times she has sat with us. She introduces us to a much younger woman who is her daughter and they talk about her other daughter who also lives on the street and has been badly beaten by a group of women earlier that day. Some of the street people begin to pull out bottles and blatantly pass and wave them around. Perhaps they have become emboldened by watching us “defeat” the police. We wish to share our fire with the people of the neighborhood but we’re not interested in encouraging rowdy drunken behavior. That would be boring, counterproductive and would give the DPD a legitimate reason to close us down. We quietly put out the fire, pack up and say a pleasant good night to everyone. On Tuesday we will begin to establish a code of behavior for those sitting at the fire.

G.A. Minutes 5-7-13

We’re back at the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial tonight and we’re glad to be here. Although we’ve only been gone for 5 months it seems much longer than that. Winter lasted forever; Spring arrived quietly less than a week ago.

We begin by cleaning up the place, it’s not too bad considering how long it’s been unattended. It appears the neighborhood is just coming out of hibernation. A group of two men and one woman walk past, sit down on the back wall and watch us with idle curiosity. One of them is the older black man who harassed us last year. “Your granddaddy done hung those boys!”, he would say. Eventually we figured out he was angry as he thought we were interfering with his street business. One of the Occupiers calmly confronted him with this theory, after that he didn’t harass us anymore. Tonight he doesn’t appear angry; he acts as if we’d never met. The female comes over to get a few of our paper cups and they sit and share a beverage.

We get things set up, we’re ready to light the fire and an Occupier starts to dial 911. We’d started off doing that last year so as to counteract any hysterical phone calls claiming the Memorial was on fire. After a while they told us we needn’t bother as they knew when our meetings were. Another Occupier says he doesn’t think we should call as it’s too much like sucking up to” the man”. Some Occupiers agree and others don’t. Some say it’s counterproductive to challenge “the man” for no serious reason. A tranquil discussion ensues, each Occupier expresses his opinion and it is decided to start up the fire and call.

There are several occasional Occupiers with us tonight. They haven’t been to a meeting at CJM so ask about our history at this space. We explain the lengthy mental battle with the DPD. They showed up almost every meeting, making threats and telling lies. We knew our legal rights and politely stood our ground. After many months they backed down and our last meetings before we went in for winter were allowed to proceed without harassment.

An Occupier reports one of the union guys stopped by her house earlier to pick up the half of the donations from May Day. They were pleasantly surprised that we decided to split our contributions. The Occupiers are just trying to be fair.
Somebody asks what we should do next. Someone else mentions the Lake Superior Days event which happens every year in Duluth. Another states she thinks it’s an event mainly involving Chamber of Commerce types. No one knows much about it so we agree to check it out and report back.

The street has been rather quiet, a squad has driven by several times, looked at us and then drove off. We’ve had only a few visitors. As always happens, a man stops by and angrily complains about being not allowed to use the bathroom at the Casino. He then complains homeless people have no place where they can go to the bathroom. We know this is a very real and serious issue. The CHUM center closes at 4pm so if one is not going to sleep there for the night there are no public bathrooms available anywhere on the Hillside. If one is caught relieving themselves outside, they will be ticketed. Too many tickets will send you to jail for a while. It shouldn’t be a crime to need to go to the bathroom. When meeting at the Memorial, the Occupiers routinely go to the Casino to use the bathrooms. The security people don’t appear to even notice us. We generally don’t appear to be homeless but a few of us are homeless. We are all human beings.

Another visitor says he is a working man with an alcohol problem. He says when he gets paid he covers his bills and then tries to spend the rest of his money as fast as he can so he can avoid going on a drinking binge. This visitor is amazed we are giving him a cup of coffee free of charge. “And it’s good coffee at that!” He knows what Occupy is and believes he may have stumbled onto something very interesting. We tell him we’ll be here every Tuesday and Saturday at 6pm if it’s not raining. Maybe he will come back again.

The sun is setting, as usual, the fire is hypnotic. Somebody sighs; we look at each other and smile. It’s so good to be back in the hood.