Occupy was an answer to my prayers. I’ve been on the
activist path for a long time and consistently frustrated by the apathy that I
witnessed, so when Occupy came along, it was just like, “Finally, people give a
shit and are willing to do something about it.” When it started, I was very
under employed. I had been looking for a job for a year, so I was spending a
lot of time on Facebook, like all day, everyday. I was sharing activism stuff.
I had actually started an activism page on Facebook looking for that community.
People started sharing about Occupy on Facebook. Then, I saw that Occupy LA was
going to start on October 1st. I had been sharing information for
about a week preceding that and started trying to get some food donations for
the occupiers and things like that. I was involved about a week before that,
and then I attended the first march in Los
Angeles on October 1st, where we marched from Pershing Square to
City Hall and started to occupy that public space.
One of the beautiful things about Occupy is how it empowers
people. It helps them find their voice. There are a number of ways that people
become empowered. One of the many, many ways that I became empowered was, when
Occupy first started, I had just finished yoga teacher training, and I was
looking to develop myself as a yoga teacher, so I became the point person for
yoga and meditation for Occupy LA.
I set-up a meditation temple, a big room where a lot of people, including
myself, really found a sacred, sane space in all the chaos that was being at
City Hall and camping there. I started a committee, and we had daily yoga in
the south plaza at City Hall at five o’clock, and we did some meditation
classes as well. On 11/11/11, we did a big silent meditation.
That’s really where I started my yoga teaching career. For
the most part, I’ve only been teaching occupiers. I’ve been teaching outside of
Occupy a little bit. I’ve been traveling around to the national gatherings and
the inter-occupies. I’ve taught at a lot of them. I did a spontaneous class
here in Philadelphia today, and a guy from San Diego was there, and
he said, “Hey, didn’t you do this at Inter-Occupy San Diego?” “I said, “Yeah.”
“He was like, “I was there.” At Chicago , I
taught people from ten different occupies, and on the road trip to Chicago for NATO, we took
the buses, and we stopped at a lot of different towns, and I would do mini yoga
classes to get people to breathe and get centered. It’s just been such a gift
to be able to teach to occupiers because there’s a real need for people to stop
and breathe and get centered in the movement, and I think it really helps to re-energize
people and center people. Many people in the movement already do yoga, and some
have never done any yoga. It’s their first introduction to it. That’s one of
the beautiful ways that Occupy has empowered me.
I started streaming for
Occupy LA when I saw the oppression in Oakland, and I knew LA wouldn't be far
behind. That was a couple weeks before the LAPD raided Occupy LA. I streamed the
raid all night long and into the next day. Since then I've travelled the country
streaming various Occupy related gatherings and actions. I enjoy being able to
provide a virtual experience for the people who are engaged but can't be there
in person. The MSM (mainstream media) is not going to tell an accurate story,
so we as citizens needs to step up to fill that void. The revolution will not
be televised, but it will be livestreamed!
We’ve got a world to save. We’re on the Titanic. We need as
many of us jumping on and turning that wheel as possible. We all have to get on
that chain and just be pulling that wheel and trying to steer clear of the
iceberg. There’s a whole ocean of icebergs right in front of us. We’re on the
Titanic, and we’re very close. It’s past the eleventh hour. It’s eleven
fifty-nine, and we need to be waking people up. We need to be educating ourselves
and each other. Humanity was not brought here to be greedy, to kill the planet
and live in greed. We need to love each other and create a heaven on earth.
Occupy is a means to that end, as I see it.
A tagline that I’ve been using for many years through a
couple of businesses I had was, “What’s your wish for the world?” I would put
that out consistently to people to try and activate them into thinking about
what kind of world they want to live in, and my answer to that question has
always been broad but accurate, which is, “I want a world that works for
everyone.” I’ve never been a huge fan of the 99% message. I think it makes
sense for the movement, but I’m more of a 100% person. I want to live in a
world where 100% of the people are getting their needs met, and that all
sentient beings are being loved and respected. I hope that the movement will
help awaken people to the point where we can get closer to that. Lord knows it
will take a long time. We’ve got a long way to go, but really, for me, the eye on
the prize is creating a world that works for everyone.
You can view Freedom's livestream at http://www.ustream.tv/occupyfreedomla, follow her on Twitter at @occupyfreedomla or view her website at occupyfreedomla.org.
Interview by Stacy Lanyon
http://buildingcompassionthroughaction.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/stacylanyon
https://instagram.com/stacylanyon/
https://twitter.com/StacyLanyon
http://stacylanyon.com/
Interview by Stacy Lanyon
http://buildingcompassionthroughaction.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/stacylanyon
https://instagram.com/stacylanyon/
https://twitter.com/StacyLanyon
http://stacylanyon.com/