Thursday, November 10, 2011

Occupy Portland update

Because I'm a supporter of the Occupy Wall Street movement and specifically Occupy Portland, I need to provide an update here as to my current thoughts about the Occupy Portland encampment.

I live downtown and am able to stop by the camp regularly.  My guess is that 300-400 people are camping there each night.  Out of this group, perhaps 20% represent Occupy Portland (activists motivated to create change in our society and economic system) with the remainder comprised of homeless folks, street youth, mentally ill citizens, and a variety of others.

Because of this, the camp only partially represents Occupy Portland.  The camp is a landmark and a physical space for us but the spirit of the Occupy movement goes well, well, well beyond the camp.

And this word just in as I was writing - Mayor Sam Adams has given the camp until Sunday top vacate of risk arrest.

I for one hope we vacate peacefully and on our terms as we come up with Occupy Portland v2.  Stay tuned.

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