I had a fun afternoon tabling for the A.W.A.R.E. (Always Working for Animal Rights and Equality) club on the quad on Wednesday. I appreciated seeing the various campus clubs and resources that were represented there and all the people who came together around common interests. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to table with Martha Devine, a well known activist for animal and environmental issues in our community. It was great to hear some of her views and knowledge on current animal rights issues, including some research she has been doing on the effects of methane gas produced by cows in rural areas.
We had several people stop by who were interested in joining A.W.A.R.E. and also got some ideas for future projects. One major concern that came up was discrimination by HSU towards students who are morally opposed to animal dissection and experimentation. Apparently, science students are not given the right to chose an alternative (i.e. virtual, cruelty-free) dissection assignment, resulting in lowered grades (and feelings of discrimination by professors) if they chose not to participate. This sparked conversation about possibly getting involved in helping to organize students who feel that alternatives should be offered (whether they would use them or not).
Later in the day, my roommate and I attended a CopWatch training hosted by some of the organizers of Redwood Curtain CopWatch. They introduced the formal and informal history of "copwatching" and showed us how we could participate as active community members.
While only some groups officially use the name "CopWatch", many others, including the Black Panthers and forest defenders, have used similar tactics to keep their communities safe from injustices committed by law enforcement. One point that was emphasized by our trainers was the peoples' "right to observe" all public actions by law enforcement so long as they do not interfere with police duties. Observation can include videotaping, photographing, or simply standing and watching- all of which can help prevent acts of injustice as officers may be more cautious of their actions if they know they are being watched. They also shared a very powerful documentary with us called
These Streets are Watching which illustrated the importance of community accountability in protecting groups that are often targeted, such as people of color and houseless people, from police brutality.
I highly recommend this film, which you can watch for free at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2298191316209203092# I found the message of the CopWatch training to be very much in line with what we have been learning in class and from readings about grassroots community organizing which essentially aims to give 'power to the people' who might otherwise feel powerless.
"Community organizing is that process by which the people...organize themselves to 'take charge' of their situation and thus develop a sense of being a community together. It is a particularly effective tool for the poor and powerless as they determine for themselves the actions they will take to deal with the essential forces that are destroying their community and consequently causing them to be powerless"
