About Bella Eiko
Jessica 'Bella' Eiko (Hollie) Orta, is a Oakland, California native, fierce debater, activist for social justice, mother, friend & human. She first discovered her passion for justice when attending rallys, marches and strikes with her father in her youth. Her educational path has taken her everywhere from Computer Programming, Psychology, Phlebotomy and Women in Skilled Trades, but she excelled when she reached Chabot College in Hayward California in 2009. By 2010 she was the Top Speaker in Open Level Parliamentary Debate for the State of California. With a 3.5 GPA and 9 credits away from her degree, the financial aid department cut her funding right as the Occupy Movement fighting money in politics was picking up steam.
With her ability to afford school being threatened, Jessica took to the streets to protest injustice and participate in a historic General Strike at the Port of Oakland. With her college professor and classmates in tow, she went to her first protest since childhood. While the event was peaceful, as the night went on, police violently descended onto the crowds of protesters who had come to support the strike. The violence that she witnessed on the street motivated her to come back. Over the years, he participation in Occupy became noted as she filmed with her signature Hello Kitty backpack "full of facts" and battery packs. Fiercely, relentlessly she refused to be violently denied her First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble and to document the historic events that were taking place in her hometown. Over time, she gained notoriety for her streaming and standing side by side with the most militant activists on the front line. As more and more people began to see her consistently, watch her stream and start organizing with her, she became Bella Eiko, her Twitter handle at the time which was made to pay homage to her deceased Grandmother who spent years helping to raise her. With so many people unsure on how to pronounce Eiko, she just became known as Bella, the Occupy Oakland Livestreamer.
In 2013, she had her one and only baby boy, and by the time he was 1 years old the trauma of being on the front line had taken hold. She was experiencing PTSD as a result of being shot at by riot police and Post Partum Depression from having her whole life change so dramatically. From being on the front line of the struggle to in the house on bed rest. During this time, Bella learned that she didn't have to keep sacrificing herself to the front line as there was still work to be done. She started the Operation Mobile Cafe to address the growing issue with accessibility to healthy foods in East Oakland neighborhoods. Despite doing all she could, going back to work one month after having the baby because of not being granted Maternity Leave, she was forced to move to Stockton, California where she could afford to pay rent and raise her son alone. Then, in August of 2104, Mike Brown was murdered in Ferguson, Missouri. After waking up crying and holding her son, apologizing to him for the world's hatred of his skin color, she decided she needed to return to the front lines again. With a lot of help from her brother and comrades from Occupy Oakland, Bella was able to go to Ferguson to make connections with activists on the ground in Missouri. She stayed in Missouri until October of 2014 when her mother passed away and she was once again forced to remove herself from the front lines. She went back to the West Coast, buried her mother, attended several solidarity acts from Oakland to Las Vegas and then hung up her streaming hat to focus on healing and transitioning into motherhood.
January 16, 2016 WITNESS, Harlem Copwatch and WeCopwatch . Photo by: Adriel Antonnio Dante Rozsahegyi-Gonzalez Bella Eiko, Ramsey Orta, Kevin Moore, Julien A Terrel, Yvette Alberdingkthijm
In 2015, she met Jacob Crawford, Ramsey Orta & Kevin Moore through Chad Jackson, a Missouri resident she had met during the Hands Up Don't Shoot protests. By December of 2015, she had worked with We Cop Watch in St. Louis, Missouri and multiple areas in New York. Her Independent Journalist endeavors merging with the We Cop Watch agenda, she made handouts and attended workshops & strategy sessions for the We Cop Watch College while attending interviews, solidarity actions & events with Ramsey & on the 20th she was married.
After enduring several instances of mental, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her new husband in under tow months, Bella found herself with her back against the wall and desperate to keep herself and her son safe from any further abuses. As she made it to Las Vegas and began to speak out about the abuses she faced, she was shunned and a wall of silence in the activist world was built around her to support the narrative that her husband and abuser. She found herself with a new battle to combat: accountability within the movement, starting with her own husband.
After enduring several instances of mental, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her new husband in under tow months, Bella found herself with her back against the wall and desperate to keep herself and her son safe from any further abuses. As she made it to Las Vegas and began to speak out about the abuses she faced, she was shunned and a wall of silence in the activist world was built around her to support the narrative that her husband and abuser. She found herself with a new battle to combat: accountability within the movement, starting with her own husband.
In 2020, Bella is still fighting. She is fighting for every Black life on this planet, including hers and her now 7 year old son. Both on the path to healing and finding their circles of support. All while she continues working on restorative justice processes in movement and marginalized communities. Her story is still unfolding. Make sure to keep following.