we celebrate it as the birth of a new one in the family
Yesterday I was in the financial district. I don't usually walk around there, but when I do, the past is present for me. I got out at Cortlandt and walked through Zuccotti Park. Everything shifting all the time. It still eeks me out a little being down there like the dust still hasn't settled from 9/11. I guess it hasn't for me. Can't pay me enough to ever hang out in the oculus. What happened to that oral history project I was part of? I can't remember that person's name. They took recordings of a few of us walking around and sharing our memories of how it was then. I still see the kitchen and the bike-powered generators, the media area, sanitation. It's all still there for me, but of course it has changed. So many surveillance cameras, everywhere in all directions. I laughed out loud when I saw them.
I passed by the McDonald's where we peed, Trinity where we had morning meetings, UFT where we had offices. There were crowds of people milling around the Stock Exchange and the Charging Bull, vendors selling trash to anyone who'll buy it. Crowds don't seem to know why they're there, maybe there's an energetic pull that draws them in. Feels like there might be.
The sculpture that used to be under one of the only trees left after 9/11 was relocated off Broadway. I almost forgot I had a studio there for awhile (thanks again, LMCC!). Internets let me know that The Double Check Businessman was relocated there in 2018 – 7 years ago. I didn't notice. That's how infrequently I go there.
I was in that part of town for a medical appointment. Not really why I wanted to post, but it brought up memories. Not nostalgia exactly, but something. Reminded me that I meant to post this letter. The tape is yellowed, the paper a bit torn, but there it was against the wall at the back of my closet, a letter to the People's Library at Occupy Wall Street from Acampada Sol Library in Spain. I can't remember who printed it out and taped it to cardboard, but we did have it displayed in the library. It really meant a lot to me, still does all these years later.
"Letter From Acampada Sol Library
People’s Library at Zuccotti Square – Occupy Wall Street.
Hi, People’s Library!
Cheers from the public library of the Spanish revolution occupation at Madrid!
We are the Acampada Sol Library, the library that was formed during the May 2011 occupation of the Puerta del Sol Square here in Madrid, Spain. We have been following OWS from the very first day. Let’s say we’re glad to see you found out how to organize yourselves up in almost the same way we did while we camped at the city hall square in Puerta del Sol. What we saw in the pics of OWS was quite impressive, but you can’t imagine how surprised we were when we learned that OWS also has a library. It may sound stupid but when we found that out, we celebrated it as the birth of a new one in the family.
Why? Well, it’s difficult to explain, but during the nearly seven weeks we lived there, hearing rain fall on the plastic sheet that barely covered our books (but not us), we had a lot of time to think about what we were going through. The media described us a bums, and the government as the most dangerous kind of terrorists (the pacifist kind). We slept always waiting for the final police riot that would tear everything down. We had time for joy, and also for despair. We never knew what we were doing, we only knew that it was right.
People said it was useless to demand a U-turn in local politics in a country with a globalized economy. We replied that if so, then we expected to make our demands go global. They said it was a childish dream and they laughed…
We only want to thank all of you for being there. You may not realize it, but you’re making our dream come true. Obviously, doing the right thing, far from being a utopia or related to culture, is a matter of common sense.
We should say that none of us decided to open up a library during our occupation, it appeared by itself. People who came to support us wanted us to have some of their books; they wanted us to read and take care of them. We started out with only forty titles. People came by to rest from the everyday routine, trying to find shelter in the written word under our blue tent. Poets showed up to read them their works and free thinkers their essays. Authors showed up to dedicate their recent publications to us. Unknown writers from everywhere found inspiration in what they saw at the occupation, and brought us their thoughts on paper, asking us to publish them, and we did so.
The manager of one of the major corporate libraries in town gave us book-carts and everything we needed. “Just don’t tell anyone” he asked. One donation came after another and in a few weeks we reached nearly four thousand titles at our outdoor library.
A funny heritage to have considering that from one minute to the next, we were waiting to be bludgeoned and evicted. Happily, the police didn’t have the chance to destroy our library as some of their predecessors accomplished two thousand years ago in Alexandria (though they wouldn’t have minded, I’m sure) This time the classics were moved to a safe place.
As a strategy, the occupation ended on June 12th. We found a new shelter for our creatures at a squatted social centre where we have our spot. And actually we are working to give people what government cannot, a free-of-charge public library. We expect our opening within a month or so.
We would love to hear from you and to know how all of you guys are doing, and we hope you’ll find inspiration in our little story, to realize that you are not alone in this. –Bibliosol"