Forum Post: First OWS death reported.
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 1, 2011, 8:59 a.m. EST by dantes44
(431)
from Alexandria, VA
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
A man thought to be a protester was found dead Monday inside a tent at Kerr Park, police said. The man's name has not been released by police, but he was thought to be in his 20s, Oklahoma City police Capt. Dexter Nelson said.
The man is part of Occupy OKC, a group of protesters who have been camping since Oct. 10 in Kerr Park near Robinson and Broadway avenues.
Organizers refer to the man as “Street Poet,” a homeless man provided with food, clothing and shelter by others involved in Occupy OKC, according to a news release written by Mark Faulk, who referred to himself as a moderator for the group. “At a candlelight vigil last night to honor first responders, Street Poet delivered a powerful poetic commentary about the complexities of homelessness and drug abuse, and the system's failure to adequately deal with these issues,” Faulk wrote.
I heard someone died when they fell off a bridge hanging a sign in San Diego. Anyway, it is his own fault.
John Donne wrote:
"No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as a manor of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
Health emerges out of a health-minded community. It is both a matter of individual responsibility and a matter of community engagement and infrastructure.
Even someone dying hanging a sign might not have been risking their life unless things were so messed up at the community level they felt they needed to do something risky to improve things for everyone.
Condolences to his parents and other family.
A possible cause of sudden death like that can be from vitamin D deficiency. A lot of people have made a lot of money from scaring people about the sun or creating amusements or workplaces that keep us out of the sun. Another factor is from eating too many refined grains, sugar, oils, salt, and processed factory farmed animal products (common on a poor diet for the homeless) and too few vegetables, fruits, and beans (and missing out on nuts, seeds, whole grains, omegas 3s, a high quality multivitamin with B-complex and iodine, etc.).
Here are some ways to prevent much ill health or sudden early death for others by getting enough vitamin D and eating healthier:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/how-to-get-your-vitamin-d/vitamin-d-supplementation/
http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/foodpyramid.aspx
But there is sadly little profit in helping people be healthy in our privatized medical system:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2007/11/the-subsidized-food-pyramid.html
http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/PCI_angioplasty_article.aspx
So, we have to look out for each other. And hopefully enlighten some medical professionals along the way.
Ultimately, individual health emerges out of a healthy community, and Street Poet was living in a sick society. The odds were stacked against him, as they are for the rest of us in the USA. Nothing can bring back Street Poet, even as he may live on in the hearts of everyone who knew him. But we can at least try to prevent more such tragedies by building healthier communities for everyone (young and old, rich and poor).
Some ideas that may echo his final points about the interwoven nature of health and society and addition, with ideas on building healthier communities:
http://www.bluezones.com/
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03075/Dr-Weils-Book-Why-Our-Health-Matters.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/opinion/blow-americas-exploding-pipe-dream.html
And on overcoming addiction:
http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/article16.aspx
http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park
One can be glad at least that he died doing what he loved, poetry. But it is sad he did not have many more years to do that. Thank you, Street Poet. Life is short; let us be reminded to make the most of each moment and each relationship. And "the woods would be pretty quiet if no bird sang there but the best", so let us all do what we can, while we can, even if it not perfect or even "the best".
Here are some resources on thinking about death and consciousness for those of us trying to make sense of it all on this plane of existence and move beyond "scientistic" materialism in our beliefs about the universe as well as the economy (however useful science can be): http://www.noetic.org/search/?q=death