Public Comment

Saluting the Berkeley PO Occupation: The Struggle 'Must Go On'

Gar Smith
Thursday April 28, 2016 - 04:52:00 PM
April 23: Funky Nixons at the BPO
Gar Smith
April 23: Funky Nixons at the BPO
All you need in love.
Gar Smith
All you need in love.

The ramshackle tent, free box and sleeping bags may be gone from the steps of the Berkeley Main Post Office but the spirit of the long-standing (and squatting) grassroots protest encampment remains. 

Originally prompted as a protest against plans to sell off Berkeley's historic landmark Main Post Office Building, the protest village soon expanded to address the plight of the homeless. 

During its 17-months as a People's Republic mini-state, the site also became the official campaign headquarters of "Mike" Lee, who is running for local office under the slogan "Old Bum for Mayor." 

Gone but not forgotten. That was the message brought to the PO's steps last Saturday as a small band of musicians—Dave Welsh and the Funky Nixons—set up instruments and amplifiers in front of the building (and under the watchful gaze of a uniformed security officer). 

This was prep for a 1PM rally dubbed the "Must Go On!" celebration. An ad hoc fete cobbled together by the Berkeley Post Office Defenders and First They Came for the Homeless, the expressed purpose was to "say Thank You! to everyone who sustained the occupation. Though our occupation has been torn down, the fight to preserve public resources, free speech, and the rights of homeless people must continue 

After the occupiers were rousted early on the morning of April 12, the sidewalk was power-washed to erase a variety of "people's slogans." If you have any doubts about the resilience of the resistance, just check out the new set of messages scratched on the sidewalk—the People's Chalkboard—in the aftermath of the April 23 salute. 

"This is where the Free Box was to share clothing." 

"This is where food was shared." 

"This is where first they came for the homeless who protected your rights." 

"At this location, a disabled activist was violently dragged over fifty feet for organizing for the homeless." 

"That which you do to the least of them, you do to God." 

"All you need is Love is all you need. R.I.P. BPOD." 

Why We 'Must Go On' 

Here is the text of a handbill that was circulated during the April 23 event: 

Though the Main Berkeley Post Office is not currently up for sale, the USPS continues to pursue a “shrink to survive” strategy by reducing and outsourcing services, chiseling away at union employment, and selling post offices around the country. Management of this huge enterprise is neglected with only three Governors on the Board that is chartered for eleven. The Postal Service continues to ignore the strong recommendations of its own Inspector General to correct anti-competitive practices in its real estate division and to pursue financial viability by offering banking services to its customers. 

Allowing the USPS to wither in this way threatens the citizenry with the loss of universally accessible mail service, with a devastating injury to organized labor, with the elimination of public space on Main Streets throughout the country, and with the abdication of the Constitutional mission to provided a vehicle for the transmission of free speech. 

During our 17-month occupation of the Main Berkeley Post Office, we expanded our mission to protest the criminalization of homeless people. Solving the widespread social problems that result in homelessness is not, nor can it be, the job of the police. We will continue to raise awareness of this strategic miscalculation by city officials and to demand that truly affordable housing be created for the homeless so they can spend more time putting their lives in order and less time shifting their belongings from pillar to post. 

Our press conference will review the course of our 17-month occupation. We will thank everyone who played a role in sustaining our presence on the grounds of the post office. And we will discuss our strategies going forward: 

– To organize community members to call out the USPS for not using the Main Berkeley Post Office to its full potential, and for not heeding their Inspector General’s recommendations to crack down on their real estate division and to institute postal banking. 

– To invite candidates for election in November to use the Main Berkeley Post Office as a backdrop for supporting union labor, for Main Street Not Wall Street, and for attacking the predatory fringe finance industry. 

– To retain and build on the way we’ve used public space for free expression. No matter how one might speculate as to the reasons why the Postal Police tolerated our occupation for so long, we demonstrated that public officials may not have absolute control over the use of spaces they administer, but that communities can override authorities without relying on permits, petitions, lawsuits, lobbyists, threats, or bribes. We can just use those spaces. 

– To continue to nurture the community garden that we planted on neglected post office property over a year ago, and to which we are currently denied access by US Postal Police. 

Berkeley Post Office Defenders: https://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/ 

First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999?ref=br_tf 

BPOD is affiliated with Strike Debt Bay Area: http://strike-debt-bay-area.tumblr.com/ 

For more on the privatization of the USPS

Saving the United States Postal Service as a Public Enterprise: http://tinyurl.com/ltqq7ng 

Privatization Is Social Cancer; Saving the US Postal Service: http://tinyurl.com/mbcbzrf 

Allies in the fight: 

Save the Berkeley Post Office www.savethebpo.com 

Save the Post Office (a national movement) www.savethepostoffice.com 

National Post Office Collaborate www.nationalpostofficecollaborate.com