Occupied Communique #6

December 08, 2011


Dear Unity,

I had the opportunity to run on the march that put a homeless family into an abandoned, foreclosed home. It was very exiting to be a part of that -- of standing up to the robber banks and claiming our inalienable right to shelter for this family. After the march and a joyous block party, the Occupiers got down to the nitty-gritty of an extreme makeover for the neglected house. I have been one of the medics assigned to the Occupied Real Estate at 702 Vermont Avenue. Our job is to be on site for any construction-type injuries, to be there for the Occupiers in case the police assault the house, and to provide security at the front door. I am proud to be helping the Occupiers fix up this house so it can be a good home for a needy family who were forced onto the streets by the predatory and criminal practices of the banks. The Occupiers, who rotate in and out in shifts to cover the 24-hour day, are without homes themselves. They do not know where they will sleep from day to day, yet they are working hard and risking arrest and injury for a family they don't know . . . but they do know that the family is part of the 99%, and that is all that matters. We are the 99%.

Last night I had just returned to the medic safe house from being on duty all day and evening at Vermont Avenue when the call came in that the police were going to arrest everyone in the Vermont Avenue house. I joined a couple other medics, one who is down here from Maine helping us out, and made the long trip by train and foot back out to East Brooklyn in the cold rain. By the time we got there the situation had been diffused by the local political representative. It now seems that we have a few days to fix up the house before having to worry about the police shooting tear gas through the windows and then breaking down the doors to brutalize us for helping a homeless family fight back against a robber bank.



Best Regards,

Ed Mortimer

"Only when the last tree has died
 and the last river been poisoned
   and the last fish been caught
             will we realize
      we cannot eat money."
  
            -Cree Wisdom-