So I was in Bekeley, and I'd heard that the day before somebody was doing a new tree sit on campus, near a particular gate near Sproul Plaza, which is a big plaza on one edge of campus. Since I was there, I went a little out of my way to see if I could find the right tree. I had zero idea what they were protesting specifically, but it really wasn't far out of my way.
Well, there's the gate. Where's the tree...
Ah, that wasn't so hard.
OK, so they want to return native remains, they support the main oak protest, and they're against nukes. Check. But is it really a tree sit or just a big banner?
Well, OK, there's stuff up there... I think maybe a hammock and a poo bucket and stuff, so probably somebody spent the night.
...including a tree sitter. Reading a book.
The gal on the left with the tie dye skirt and the guy on the right with the purple shirt are doing a bit of a performance - having a super loud "conversation" - "Did you know there's nuke research going on?" "Why, no I didn't, tell me more!" I was the only one paying attention.
I remember he was calling her Marcella, and Googling their organization (see below) there's a Marcella Sadlowski who's active with them, so I'm pretty sure my memory is correct. If not, my apologies.
Note the flower in his hair, also the poster with the stick. There were several scattered around.
More of the tree sitter.
OK, they're promoting a lecture tonight. And hey, there's a URL. Now I can figure out who these guys are. Just from a quick glance at their website they've been active since April 2007, they've done a tree sit or two, a hunger strike. But it looks like this may be the first thing they've done since May 2007. Since they're plugging something this evening, I'm not sure if the sit is really ongoing or what. They may just have called a mostly defunct name out for this event. But maybe they just aren't very good about updating their website. If you scan the list of student speakers from different organizations you may get the idea that there's basically one student organization per student.
Researching this a bit more, the founder or co-founder (they're a bit vague on the details) who registered their domain is one of these guys writing a book about the Oaks protest so no surprise they're supporting that along with a huge laundry list of leftie demands.
Not that anybody really is paying much attention. You have to understand, big banners in trees aren't exactly unusual here, or tree sits for that matter. The main oaks tree sit isn't that far away, and this same organization had a one week long tree sit not far from here last year.
Just a parting shot on the way out - big chunks of the campus are landscaped in oaks and redwoods. So if they go on and on about some particular oak grove, they're all over the place on campus.
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