October 13, 2011

"We were suddenly enlivened again, bolstered by your support, your words, your mere presence.."

Veterans forPeace,

I am writing to thank you for your courageous actions at the Occupy Boston encampment on Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

You arrived in the middle of our General Assembly. The energy prior to your arrival was frankly a bit low — most of us had been marching, chanting, singing and standing since noon and we were exhausted, yet committed to remaining. When you arrived, however, there was a significant shift in the energy of our group. We were suddenly enlivened again, bolstered by your support, your words, your mere presence. The very act, the theater, of your entrance conjured up an image of knights in shining armor, riding in, proud and brave with your flags held high flapping behind you — and let me tell you, as an ardent feminist I don’t think I’ve ever referred to a group of mainly men as knights in shining armor!

Further, I had the chance to speak with a few of you as we waited for the police to arrive. Your encouraging words, and again your mere presence, emboldened and bolstered me. Having never been in such a fear charged, potentially violent situation, somehow, I felt safer because you were there. Frankly, I was not expecting you to stand with us as we defended our encampment; I figured you would stand to the side, supportive but removed. But when the police arrived to disperse us and I realized you all had no plans to move from your position in front of our chain, again, I felt strengthened. From my position in the chain, I could not see fully what was occurring, but watching your proud, beautiful flags held tall, waiver and fall due to the police actions against you my heart wrenched. I could not believe what I was seeing. You all deserve so much more respect than that. And then I watched one of your members be forcefully pushed to the ground. At that moment, something inside me snapped and I was overwhelmed with the deepest feeling of determination I have ever felt. I was filled with fear, but also with pride, knowing that we were all in this together. There was no question in my mind that what I, what we, were doing was right and just.

So again, I want to thank you for your actions and presence. I don’t think that words can accurately convey my deep appreciation for you all, and what it meant to me to have you with us that night. I will never forget it.

Thank you,

Sefira Bell-Masterson