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People’s Park Rejects University Takeover
by Doniphan Blair
A girl enjoying a concert at the 45th anniversary of People's Park, Berkeley, 2014. photo: D. BlairPEOPLE'S PARK, A COLORFUL AND
contentious symbol of Berkeley radicalism, is being re-claimed yet again by the University of California, after 49 years of enjoyment by local families, homeless people, Frisbee players and dog walkers.
About a dozen protesters and quadruple that number of police, according to eyewitness accounts, confronted each other on the rainy morning of Tuesday, January 15th, as crews removed "five diseased trees," on top of almost 50 culled in December. On January 7th, a large eucalyptus tree, about a half a mile away and not tagged for removal, came down during a storm, killing 32-year-old Alexander Grant, from Novato, California.
In addition to tree clearing, UC Berkeley has a plan, announced last year, to build housing for about one thousand students on the site. Indeed, little has changed since 1969, when UC student James Rector was shot and killed by police in a similar protest. There were also protests in 1991.
Although the University claims the new building, which they hope to complete by late 2020, will have some housing for the homeless and veterans, and a monument to the park’s history, protestors feel that is patently unfair.
Diana Soline, one of the eight camping protestors trying to save People's Park, and her dog, Pancho Villa. photo: D. Soline“For me occupying People’s Park was not just about saving trees, or the park,” I was told by Diana Soline Chornenkaya, 47, one of the protestors camping out, who had her possessions, including her hundred-year-old violin, confiscated. “It was about saving our humanity.”
Given the grassy, tree-dotted space is only a half a block from Telegraph Avenue, the main shopping drag next to campus, it remains an important resting or play place for homeless, students and other residents.
Moreover, it features a stage, where there are periodic shows, a basketball court and a toilet. It is also used for food distribution by restaurants, which donate leftover food, or the organization Food Not Bombs.
“I am a UC Berkeley graduate, I have a bachelors in Computer Science,” continued Soline, who was born in Russia and moved to the US in her teens. “I used to make over $100K [a year] consulting for Charles Schwab. Then I became disabled by PTSD—I was the victim of a crime. Combined with depression from several deaths in my family, divorce, bankruptcy and the loss of my home, that left me unable to provide for myself.”
“There are many homeless women in Berkeley who do not have access to shelters, they are forced to sleep on the streets by our inhumane system,” Soline said. “Some of them get raped. That’s why I put a women-only tent at People’s Park.”
Another protestor, who was arrested Tuesday morning around 6 am and held overnight, is Jesse Timms, AKA Cactus WildCat, 36 and a member of the Cherokee Nation.
A lot of people joined in building the original People's Park, back in the more activist days of 1969. photo: Clay GerdeesAccording to Soline, a Berkeley cop by the name of Sean Aranas (badge number 76), “came up to Cactus, while he was lying on the ground in handcuffs, squeezed his testicles, twisted his arm and said, if he tells anybody, he will break his arm. [Cactus] screamed loudly, and the cop let go.”
A US Navy veteran, Timms served on a nuclear submarine in Middle East war zones and, as a result, also suffers from PTSD. After several years homeless and three applying for disability, Social Security and Veteran Services officials are denying him assistance, claiming he is not disabled, or his PTSD is not service-related.
“There is a reason why twenty veterans commit suicide in the US every day,” Soline told me. “Cactus WildCat is determined to speak up and protest for those who no longer can. For a Native American, Cactus being denied a right for housing is a double insult. ‘No Bread! No Land! No Peace!’ was one of his slogans during this occupation.”
Timms has been arrested multiple times, including in St. Paul, Minnesota, during protests of the murder of Philando Castile, the Montessori school nutritionist shot in front of his fiancé and her 5-year-old daughter.
“[Timms] has lost all of his belonging many times already,” noted Soline, “that’s part of being homeless.”
“Following the arrests and clearance of our personal belongings,” Soline continued, “I went to UC Berkeley police to file a formal complaint and request my property back. Then I saw Officer Aranas, who participated in the raid.”
Jesse Timms, AKA Cactus WildCat, after arrest and booking by the UC Berkeley police. photo: D. Soline“Why did you do it? Don’t you see, it’s inhumane?” she asked him.
“‘I was just doing my job,’ he answered," Soline said. "‘But that’s what Nazis were saying when they killed 6 million Jews!’ I said. The officer didn’t appreciate being compared to a Nazi.”
“We said we are going to cut the trees and we did it,” was his explanation.
Attempts to build at People’s Park will "inevitably be met with incandescent violence," Wikipedia quoted an unnamed Berkeley radical as saying, "a shit show that will make the 1969 and 1991 riots look like an afternoon soiree of tea and crumpets."
But the small number of protesters, compared with one and two generations ago, and the massive number of striving, often overseas, students not that interested in activism, suggest otherwise.
The Counsel of People’s Park, the ad hoc group overseeing the protest, recommends remaining peaceful. Its demands include: no buildings on this land ever, amnesty for those arrested, the planting of two trees for every one removed, the dishonorable discharge of Officer Aranas, upgraded restrooms, a fire pit for sacred rituals, solar and wind harnessing equipment to power the park, and an "unregulated" community garden.
“Just hours before UC Berkeley police did its arrests, I was playing J.S. Bach on my violin," Soline recounted. "A couple of folks asked if they can play, and I let them. There was laughter and joy.”
“UC Berkeley has plenty of land to build new dorms,” she said. “Yet they insist on getting rid of People’s Park, a refuge, and a source of clothes and food for the homeless, for decades. For those of us who are on the bottom of our society, the richest society in the world, such treatment feels inhumane. And what about you?”
Sadly, Timms was feeling suicidal, so Soline took him by BART to the Veterans Hospital in SF.
“Many people supported our occupation,” Soline said, at the end of our conversation, “bringing us food, clothes, camping gear and some cash, I want to say a personal ‘Thank You,’ to all who acted out of their humanity to help us.”
Doniphan Blair is a writer, film magazine publisher, designer, musician and filmmaker ('Our Holocaust Vacation'), who can be reached .
Posted on Jan 17, 2019 - 09:23 AM
by Doniphan Blair
A girl enjoying a concert at the 45th anniversary of People's Park, Berkeley, 2014. photo: D. Blaircontentious symbol of Berkeley radicalism, is being re-claimed yet again by the University of California, after 49 years of enjoyment by local families, homeless people, Frisbee players and dog walkers.
About a dozen protesters and quadruple that number of police, according to eyewitness accounts, confronted each other on the rainy morning of Tuesday, January 15th, as crews removed "five diseased trees," on top of almost 50 culled in December. On January 7th, a large eucalyptus tree, about a half a mile away and not tagged for removal, came down during a storm, killing 32-year-old Alexander Grant, from Novato, California.
In addition to tree clearing, UC Berkeley has a plan, announced last year, to build housing for about one thousand students on the site. Indeed, little has changed since 1969, when UC student James Rector was shot and killed by police in a similar protest. There were also protests in 1991.
Although the University claims the new building, which they hope to complete by late 2020, will have some housing for the homeless and veterans, and a monument to the park’s history, protestors feel that is patently unfair.
Diana Soline, one of the eight camping protestors trying to save People's Park, and her dog, Pancho Villa. photo: D. SolineGiven the grassy, tree-dotted space is only a half a block from Telegraph Avenue, the main shopping drag next to campus, it remains an important resting or play place for homeless, students and other residents.
Moreover, it features a stage, where there are periodic shows, a basketball court and a toilet. It is also used for food distribution by restaurants, which donate leftover food, or the organization Food Not Bombs.
“I am a UC Berkeley graduate, I have a bachelors in Computer Science,” continued Soline, who was born in Russia and moved to the US in her teens. “I used to make over $100K [a year] consulting for Charles Schwab. Then I became disabled by PTSD—I was the victim of a crime. Combined with depression from several deaths in my family, divorce, bankruptcy and the loss of my home, that left me unable to provide for myself.”
“There are many homeless women in Berkeley who do not have access to shelters, they are forced to sleep on the streets by our inhumane system,” Soline said. “Some of them get raped. That’s why I put a women-only tent at People’s Park.”
Another protestor, who was arrested Tuesday morning around 6 am and held overnight, is Jesse Timms, AKA Cactus WildCat, 36 and a member of the Cherokee Nation.
A lot of people joined in building the original People's Park, back in the more activist days of 1969. photo: Clay GerdeesA US Navy veteran, Timms served on a nuclear submarine in Middle East war zones and, as a result, also suffers from PTSD. After several years homeless and three applying for disability, Social Security and Veteran Services officials are denying him assistance, claiming he is not disabled, or his PTSD is not service-related.
“There is a reason why twenty veterans commit suicide in the US every day,” Soline told me. “Cactus WildCat is determined to speak up and protest for those who no longer can. For a Native American, Cactus being denied a right for housing is a double insult. ‘No Bread! No Land! No Peace!’ was one of his slogans during this occupation.”
Timms has been arrested multiple times, including in St. Paul, Minnesota, during protests of the murder of Philando Castile, the Montessori school nutritionist shot in front of his fiancé and her 5-year-old daughter.
“[Timms] has lost all of his belonging many times already,” noted Soline, “that’s part of being homeless.”
“Following the arrests and clearance of our personal belongings,” Soline continued, “I went to UC Berkeley police to file a formal complaint and request my property back. Then I saw Officer Aranas, who participated in the raid.”
Jesse Timms, AKA Cactus WildCat, after arrest and booking by the UC Berkeley police. photo: D. Soline“‘I was just doing my job,’ he answered," Soline said. "‘But that’s what Nazis were saying when they killed 6 million Jews!’ I said. The officer didn’t appreciate being compared to a Nazi.”
“We said we are going to cut the trees and we did it,” was his explanation.
Attempts to build at People’s Park will "inevitably be met with incandescent violence," Wikipedia quoted an unnamed Berkeley radical as saying, "a shit show that will make the 1969 and 1991 riots look like an afternoon soiree of tea and crumpets."
But the small number of protesters, compared with one and two generations ago, and the massive number of striving, often overseas, students not that interested in activism, suggest otherwise.
The Counsel of People’s Park, the ad hoc group overseeing the protest, recommends remaining peaceful. Its demands include: no buildings on this land ever, amnesty for those arrested, the planting of two trees for every one removed, the dishonorable discharge of Officer Aranas, upgraded restrooms, a fire pit for sacred rituals, solar and wind harnessing equipment to power the park, and an "unregulated" community garden.
“Just hours before UC Berkeley police did its arrests, I was playing J.S. Bach on my violin," Soline recounted. "A couple of folks asked if they can play, and I let them. There was laughter and joy.”
“UC Berkeley has plenty of land to build new dorms,” she said. “Yet they insist on getting rid of People’s Park, a refuge, and a source of clothes and food for the homeless, for decades. For those of us who are on the bottom of our society, the richest society in the world, such treatment feels inhumane. And what about you?”
Sadly, Timms was feeling suicidal, so Soline took him by BART to the Veterans Hospital in SF.
“Many people supported our occupation,” Soline said, at the end of our conversation, “bringing us food, clothes, camping gear and some cash, I want to say a personal ‘Thank You,’ to all who acted out of their humanity to help us.”
Doniphan Blair is a writer, film magazine publisher, designer, musician and filmmaker ('Our Holocaust Vacation'), who can be reached .
Posted on Jan 17, 2019 - 09:23 AM
