Urban Village of Pasadena

Seven people carpooled from Pasadena, including two Urban Villagers: Bob and me.

We arrived in Long Beach just before 5:00 a.m. There seemed to be several hundred protesters (when we marched, we looked like a thousand; when we were clumped together, we looked like 250). We gathered at Harry Bridges park and marched to one of the entrances to a terminal of the port.

Apparently we were supposed to be routed into a "designated protest area," but port security didn't get the memo and refused us access there, so we marched onto an access road and then backed up and began picketing at the entrance of a parking lot. Eventually, the police started warning people to go over to the designated protest area (which was far too small to accommodate all of us). Most of us from Pasadena went to the protest area but also walked around outside of it. Most of the other protesters did not go to the protest area, probably because it was not entirely clear where it was, given that it was such a small area. The protest area and the site of the picket were virtually adjacent to each other.

After 40 minutes or so, the police formed a line, with batons in hand, and slowly began pushing us back. Eventually we decided to march to another intersection. The police then raced ahead of us and blocked it off before we could. Some protesters began erecting a barrier in a place that the police had not blocked off (but where there was no traffic either). We hung around for a while, and more police started pouring in from various directions, blocking off streets. At that point, it looked to some of us like the police had basically done our work for us and we saw no point in being swept up by them (I later learned that they had brought in buses in preparation to arrest lot of people), so we left.

Apparently, we only succeeded in blocking one entrance to one terminal of the port. I've heard conflicting reports about whether workers turned back and went in by a different entrance (we did see them turn back). The idea was that they would respect the picket line. Their contract forbids them to openly support us, but they are allowed to respect the picket line.

The actions in Portland and Oakland were more successful; they shut down those ports. Our port is a much larger, sprawling complex that is logistically impossible to close down without tens of thousands of people.

The media is full of conflicting reports about support and opposition from port workers and truckers. While some reports have them opposing our actions, others have them supporting it and thanking us for it. Here is an open letter from truckers in support of the action: http://cleanandsafeports.org/blog/2011/12/12/an-open-letter-from-america...

The one organizing meeting for this action that I went to had port workers in attendance. They were fully engaged and led us in planning the action.

Anyway, I believe that this is the kind of action that Jesus calls us to: confronting the powers and authorities of this world that destroy the earth, grind the face of the poor, and fuel war.