Equalize, an active supporter of the communist Kasama project, has been deeply involved in Occupy Portland from the beginning.
by Equalize
This weekends events stood in a context of a coordinated effort by the city, local media, and other forces to discredit the occupation.
The occupation and the homeless
The occupation has been overwhelmed since soon after its beginning with a huge presence of the city’s homeless and the associated social problems of drug addiction and mental illness. Our occupation opened our arms to these broken, cast aside and ignored victims of capitalism and attempted to provide support and space for them. It is ironic, that, our attempt to shed light and address, to the humble extent we were able, became a way to paint the occupation as, somehow, the cause of these problems. The main excuse to shut down the occupation was the drug addiction and violent behavior of some of the people that took refuge in our camp.
Saturday:
After frenzied activity for a couple of days after the ‘eviction notice’ we were all very apprehensive on Saturday morning. And early signs that day were a bit disappointing.
