We came back to Woodruff Park on Monday night around seven, for the first time since the General Assembly last Friday, to see what had become of the protest. It was drizzling rain on and off all day, which put a damper on the atmosphere – much less energy than last Friday – and people were huddled in close to hear and see each other.

I was startled to see the new look of the park. I estimated between thirty-five and forty tents had been set up, ranging around a central greenspace. I expected to see a tent city; this actually felt more like a tent village. At two of the corners of the park, a massive shelter of bright fabric has been propped up to cover tables and chairs and food resources; on Sunday, when it began to rain, a warehouse on the south side donated a hot air balloon (no longer sky-worthy). The park’s new residents worked together to cut it into large pieces to make into shelters.

The Process

My first conclusion: they’ve gotten much, much better at what they are doing. The Occupy Atlanta protesters have cowboyed up and started taking things far more seriously than they seemed to be last Friday night.

For one thing, they’ve improved on the People’s Mic – a system by which all those who can hear the speaker echo what the speaker has said, and then those further out echo them, and so on. It’s a sort of DIY low-tech sound system, which you’ve probably seen in YouTube videos or on the news as zombie-like repetition. The People’s Mic is much snappier and on the ball now; speakers manage longer and more complex sentences, and the crowd quickly amplifies it out and moves onward.

The moderator and facilitator roles appear to be atrophying. When I arrived, a fellow said that he was going to try to act as moderator – and treated that like it was something unusual. Then again, the crowd was smaller – maybe 75 people – but to achieve an orderly discussion of 75 people without a distinct moderator is impressive.

I’ve also noticed that the crowd has found its own way to defuse anger and opinions that it disagrees with. While we were there, one fellow loudly ridiculed people who were unwilling to stay and be arrested; the next speaker quickly jumped in and rephrased his points in a way that was kinder, yes, but also ridiculed the ridicule, breaking that tension. I spoke to a young woman named Eva who was coming by to deliver signs; she said that she had noticed that when people were droning on too long or voicing wildly unpopular opinions, the People’s Mic simply faded out – effectively silencing them.

Arrests?

When I came in, the protesters were discussing the police – particularly, whether they wanted to stick around when the police showed up at eleven. This had been a topic of discussion at the General Assembly on Friday night, when Occupation was decided upon; I wondered whether this had been a discussion topic every night. No, I was told; rumors had filtered down that the Atlanta PD intended to clear out the protesters entirely at eleven, and they now had to decide what to do.

At the first planning meeting I attended, back in September, most people said that of course they didn’t want to do anything that could get them arrested. That’s changed; last night, the Occupiers addressed the question of arrest directly, and rather than spending long on whether they were okay with it, immediately moved on to formulating tactics to use in the event of their arrests.

The Assembly decided to split into Affinity Groups – which is a fancy term for a group of the friends that you’ve made at the protest, the people that you’re close to and you can trust – and to brainstorm tactics for arrest together. An affinity group allows individual planning; it allows “creative action and increased security in the interrogation room”. No one strategy will be used by the entire group arrested; each will handle their arrest in their own way.

I spent the time that people met with their Affinity Groups wandering around, looking at the site, and talking to people. When we all came back together, they seemed much firmer on the subject of arrests.

I was surprised to see Rynelle there – he’s a high-energy kind of guy who I discussed the rejection of John Lewis with on Friday. Rynelle was pretty disgusted with what had happened, and I didn’t expect to see him in the park again. Well, there you go: he’s there, and he’s more enthusiastic and involved than before. Rynelle said that being arrested is a worthy tactic.

Sharpies were passed out and people wrote phone numbers for legal aid on their bodies, so that they’d have easy access to them if they were arrested.

“Getting arrested is not a moral question – it is a strategic one.”

Consensus was achieved. Those who felt that they could afford to be arrested would form a stable circle in the center of the park. Those who did not would do what they could to provide aid and support. They would mop standing water from the walkways so that there would be dry, non-slippery pathways. Those who stayed to be arrested would hold the park as long as they could.

One man asked how much they could expect to pay if they were arrested, and how long they’d be in jail – and, especially, what would happen if they couldn’t afford it. Legal answers were hard to find – people settled on the idea that it would cost about two hundred bucks, and that they’d be out by morning.

“We have the possibility to reconvene ourselves regardless of what happens tonight – and come back with more people, and retake the park.”

Everyone cheered.

