http://occupywallst.org/
It is a better day for the 99% in Ohio. Yesterday on Tuesday, November 8, Ohio voters overwhelmingly Repealed Senate Bill 5. The bill, just passed by the Ohio legislature in March, removed the ability of public employees to engage in one of the most fundamental rights known to working people — collective bargaining.Read More...
At 7PM EST this evening, November 9th, occupiers around the globe are invited to call +1 (712) 432-9945 and listen to a moderated discussion with Dr. David Korten and #ows occupier, Harrison Schultz. Dr. Korten will speak to the Federal Reserve's role in the corrupt and dysfunctional systems of financial malfeasance that caused the global depression and discuss alternative systems to serve the American people. Throughout the discussion listeners will be invited to ask Dr. Korten questions via the hashtag #askFed on Twitter Read More...
For as long as public space has existed, women and LGBTQ people have been trying to “occupy” it safely -- with distressingly little success. Harassing comments, groping, flashing and assault are a daily, global reality for women and LGBTQ individuals. Too often, these injustices are met with little or no response, regarded simply as “the price you pay” for being female, trans, or gay in public. As supporters of the Occupy movement, we believe that a world where everyone has the right to occupy public space safely is not only possible - it is essential to building a strong and lasting movement. Read More...
Guerrilla gardening is the occupation of ill-used land to support the communities and ecosystems to which that land rightfully belongs. As the Occupy movement "puts down roots" in public and private spaces across the world, guerilla gardening is essential to growing a sustainable movement free from dependance on corporate systems. Read More...
Before the General Assembly of Occupy Dallas,
Whereas the General Assembly of Occupy Dallas stands in support of Occupy Wall Street which started September 17, 2011 at Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District. The movement has now spread across the country and is influencing the world. Occupy Dallas is a horizontally organized resistance movement to counteract the unprecedented consolidation of wealth and power in the world today. The Occupy movement does not have a hierarchy or a formalized structure. The Occupy movement represents those that feel disenfranchised from the current socioeconomic system because of policy passed by our political institutions and the actions of those in control of the unprecedented consolidation of wealth;
Whereas by consensus we view that for the first time in American history, current generations will not be as prosperous as preceding generations. This denial of the American Dream is at the heart of Occupy Movement.
Whereas by consensus we view that the social system has become tilted against us by:
b. the elimination of traditional pension and retirement arrangements in favor of 401 (k) investment vehicles.
c. outsourcing of jobs
d. failing or eliminating paid sick leave
e. failing or eliminating paid maternity leave
f. relying on part-time workers rather than investing in full time employees
g. scheduling work hours to insure that employees cannot obtain offered benefits
h. failing to provide a livable wage
i. reducing and eliminating employer based health care coverage
There are no stoplights, the only gas station closed years ago and there is not a single multinational corporation within five miles. With a population of just 430, Mosier, Oregon will become the smallest U.S. town to have an active Occupy camp. Participants from Mosier and other small communities of the Columbia Gorge are working to highlight their vision for a family-friendly camp that includes music, movies and round-table discussions with the community. While the group has stressed its solidarity with Occupy camps in urban cities across the United States, Occupy Mosier is adopting tactics and strategies they say reflect Wasco County’s rural community values.
“Rural communities have been hit harder than anyone by the policies the Occupy movement has formed to fight,” said Corie Lahr, Mosier resident. “If we do this right, we can attract a lot of rural people to the movement.”
Multiple speakers, workshops and movies are being planned in Mosier on a range of issues from reining in corporate control over U.S. politics and an shrinking an oversized military budget to supporting local credit unions, fighting plans to ship coal through the Columbia Gorge to China, and addressing wage inequality and related issues.
“People have asked us if we are getting a permit,” said Lahr. “We had to laugh because we don’t have sidewalks, let alone a city park where people could gather on city property for a protest. We are doing everything we can to communicate with the City of Mosier, public safety officials and the public about what we are planning and our goals.”
The group expects 15 or more tents to be set up with hundreds of people visiting the camp over the next week. The group has also invited local area Tea Party activists to the camp to share tea and round-table discussion about areas where the Tea Party and Occupy movements can agree.
“We think planning a 7-day camp and allowing for the possibility of another camp in a nearby town is a good way to spread awareness about the issues Wasco County cares about, such as Wall Street’s control of our economy and corporate power in our government.,” says ten-year Mosier resident Brent Foster.
Cara Shufelt, director of the Rural Organizing Project, is working with over 30 rural communities across Oregon who are involved organizing around the Occupy movement. ““Rural and small town Oregonians are indentifying with the message of the occupy movement. As far as we can tell, Oregon has more rural communities involved in Occupy actions than any other state. The Occupy Mosier camp is really unique,” said Shufelt. “We believe Mosier is the smallest U.S. town with an Occupy camp.”
Bo Vanderkloot lives across the Columbia River from Mosier in Bingen, WA. Vanderkloot is a single father motivated to join the Occupy Mosier camp because of his banks refusal to refinance his home loan following his divorce. “When the bank told me I was going to lose the home my son was born in, it was a real motivator to get involved,” says Vanderkloot. “I know I don’t agree with many of the National Tea Party’s positions, but I think some of my Tea Party neighbors would agree that kicking me and my son out of our house even though I make every mortgage payment isn’t right.”
As with other Occupy protests, the Occupy Mosier and Occupy the Gorge participants have a diversity of primary interests. Most participants share goals such as reducing corporations’ power over politics and communities, prioritizing spending on health care and education over runaway military spending, increasing environmental protections, and reforming national trade, monetary and financial policies to better support all people in our communities, regardless of race, class or gender.
While Mosier will serve as a base camp, activities are being planned throughout the Gorge from November 4 -11. Saturday, November 5 at AM, Occupy Mosier will travel to the “Break Up With Your Bank” event at the Dalles Bank of America where people will close their accounts in protest of policies that bankrupt and foreclose on local community members. “If we can organize an Occupy event in Mosier, anyone in any community can be a part of this movement,” says Lahr.
For more information: http://occupythegorge.org/ 
Yesterday New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg alleged that Occupy Wall Street participants at Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park) are chasing criminals out of the park instead of reporting them to police. In reality, Occupy Wall Street has its own well-trained internal security force, but this team does not substitute for the police when it comes to criminal activity that threatens our community or local residents. Occupy Wall Street participants have called upon police on occasions when people with predatory intentions have come into the park and engaged in illegal and destructive behavior, and have in fact turned over criminals to the NYPD.
“Bloomberg lied yesterday when he claimed that a sexual assault suspect was merely kicked out of the park, when in fact OWS security personnel forcibly removed the individual and handed him directly to the NYPD,” said Andrew Smith, a member of OWS’s overnight Community Watch. “The Mayor should get his facts straight before he calls responsible citizens protecting our community ‘despicable.’”
The occupation at Liberty Square is a civic space, where concerned citizens are raising pressing issues facing our nation. The mayor should be lauding this renaissance of civic participation, but instead he has been consistently demonizing participants.
“Occupy Wall Street exists in a public space in a major metropolis, and of course there are problems that come with that, but we have systems and our own common sense to deal with those problems,” said Bill Dobbs, a volunteer with Occupy Wall Street. “Mayor Bloomberg is pandering to fear. What we’re seeing is a lot of effort to undermine and suppress the movement and divert from the damage the mayor and his billionaire friends are doing to the country.”
Interviews available by request with members of Occupy Wall Street’s Security Team, Community Watch, Mediation Team, and other volunteers working to ensure the safety and security of everyone who comes to Liberty Square.
On November 3rd, the People, the 99 percent, will hold A People’s Hearing of Goldman Sachs in Liberty Square Park and march on Goldman Sachs! The people will bring to justice perhaps the single most egregious perpetrator of economic fraud and corruption in the United States. The Hearing will include testimonials from individuals directly affected by Goldman’s fraudulent manipulation of financial markets, including victims of housing foreclosures, pension losses, public lay-offs and untenable student debt.
The proceedings will also include expert analysis from Ralph Nader, Cornel West and Chris Hedges. Following the 99-minute hearing the people will decide on a fair and deliverable verdict via our own process of consensus-based direct democracy – and we intend to deliver it ourselves – to the headquarters of Goldman Sachs at 200 West Street, eight blocks from Liberty Square. We will ask for something our judicial and legislative systems have so far failed to deliver – the return of billions of taxpayer dollars to the 99 percent and criminal sentences for those Goldman Sachs executives who carried out the fraud. The event will be broadcast live via the Occupy Wall Street Livestream, among other public media outlets.
The People’s Hearing will examine the collapse of regulations and political and economic controls that permitted Goldman Sachs to loot the U.S. Treasury. It will look at how we came to live in a country where it became impossible to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs. It will ask why Goldman Sachs was allowed to enrich itself not only at the expense of millions of small investors but through its control of the bailouts and the regulatory process. It will demand to know why Goldman Sachs, one of the prime culprits in the destruction of the global economy, is permitted to continue to bankrupt countries such as Greece, creating massive human suffering, without oversight or control. The People’s Hearing will finally give Goldman Sach’s victims a voice.
Rolling Stone columnist Matt Taibbi described Goldman Sachs as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." The broad outlines of Goldman Sachs’ massive fraud are well documented. It put together a collaterized debt obligation (CDO) from mortgage-backed securities that the company assumed would fail. It sold these CDOs as assets and secure investments to pension and mutual funds as well as institutions and banks while betting against them through credit default swaps (CDS). A credit default swap, or CDS, is an insurance policy where the issuer makes up a loss if an asset goes bad. Goldman Sachs, in essence, sold toxic garbage to investors and when this garbage was exposed as garbage, wiping out tens of millions of individual investors who had put away money for retirement or college, Goldman Sachs raked in money from insurers. AIG, which insured these worthless CDOs, lacked sufficient funds to pay Goldman Sachs during the financial meltdown of 2008, a meltdown that evaporated some $ 40 trillion in worldwide wealth. Goldman Sachs, with numerous former officials ensconced in the Treasury department and government, simply looted the U.S. Treasury to pay itself. And they are sitting on our money to this day.
The firm has committed numerous acts of fraud that extend beyond our shores. Goldman Sachs was instrumental in helping Greek authorities hide its mounting government budget deficit by selling swaps to the Greek government in return for future revenue streams. The Greek government was able through this arrangement to mask the loan which would have raised its budget deficit above euro zone limits. The sleights of hand now threaten to see Greece go into default and could trigger a massive banking crisis through Europe. The crisis has seen the Greek government unleash draconian austerity measures that are taken out on the backs of students, the poor and the working class. Goldman Sachs is a global criminal syndicate.
Goldman Sachs, while its victims suffer from foreclosures and bankruptcy, has set aside $ 10 billion in compensation and bonuses for its chief executives this year. These bonuses are being paid out even as Goldman Sachs dismissed 1,300 employees with another 1,000 employees expected to lose their jobs by the end of the year. No one is safe from our oligarchic elite, not even the underlings at Goldman Sachs. We invite the newly unemployed from Goldman Sachs to join us.
The median paycheck in the United States, even while these corporate heads pulled in salaries that often equate to $ 900,000 an hour, fell by 1.2 percent to $ 26,364. The number of poor and unemployed is swelling while the number of Americans making $ 1 million or more climbed to 94,000, a 20 percent increase from 2009. Corporate profits now account for 88 percent of all income growth while wages account for 1 percent. The top one percent has, through fraud and the corporate control of the judiciary and regulatory agencies, accounted for about half of all income growth since the 1970s.
How is it possible that in a democracy the bottom 99 percent sees only half of economic growth? How is it possible that the economy does not work on behalf of the 99 percent? How is it possible that financial swindlers and liars continue to run our economy and our government?
Its time to bring justice to Goldman Sachs!
Outline of Event:
09:45 Guests and Panel are seated
10:00 Introduction to A People’s Hearing, Tony and Sandra Nurse, Occupy Wall Street
10:10 Opening Statement, Dr. Cornel West
10:20 Background of Goldman Sachs, Mr. Chris Hedges
10:20 Witness Testimonials
11:00 Proposal of Verdict
12:00 A Call to Action – March to Goldman Sachs 
Occupy Wall Street, with its defiant style of non-violent protest, has consistently clashed with the NYPD’s obsession with order maintenance, resulting in hundreds of mostly unnecessary arrests and a significant infringement on the basic rights of free speech and assembly.
Prior to the massive protests at the WTO in Seattle, protest policing in the U.S. was a largely casual affair punctuated with isolated outbursts of police misconduct. After Seattle, police departments embarked on a major rethinking of how to handle increasingly large and militant protests and, most importantly, how to handle the growing use of large coordinated direct actions. Without too much concern for First Amendment rights, police departments have tended to take one of two approaches and sometimes a bit of both.
The first is the strategic repression of direct action movements in particular. Beginning with the Miami police’s aggressive response to the FTAA protests in 2003, many departments resorted to using surveillance, agents provocateurs and negative publicity before an event, followed by massive deployments, “less lethal” weaponry and restriction on protest permits, including the creation of isolated “protest pits.”
Similar problems emerged in 2004, during the Republican National Convention in New York City. Permits were denied to use Central Park and other traditional protest locations; barricades were used extensively at peaceful, permitted demonstrations; and over a thousand people were preemptively arrested, with all the charges eventually dropped by the Manhattan DA.
The other approach has been to attempt to micromanage demonstrations in such a way that dissent becomes a tightly controlled and dispiriting experience. This is accomplished through the use of large numbers of officers, extensive restrictions on access to demonstrations through choke points, penning in and subdividing crowds with barricades, heavily restricting march permits, and making multiple arrests, sometimes using excessive force for minor violations.
This latter strategy is especially common in New York City, which has an almost limitless supply of police officers (upwards of 30,000) to use for controlling crowds. During the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, we have seen a gross overreaction to peaceful demonstrators engaging in minor violations of the law, such as using a megaphone, writing on the sidewalk with chalk, marching in the street (and across the Brooklyn Bridge), standing in line at a bank to close an account, and occupying a public park past closing hours.
The effect of this has been a low-level criminalization of dissent that serves only a limited legitimate public safety function. The important thing to keep in mind here is that while some protests have been illegal and disruptive, they have been consistently nonviolent in character. This raises the question of whether the tight and expensive control of these demonstrations is an unwarranted interference in people’s right to free expression that exceeds any legal objective.
By Alex S. Vitale
photo: Adrian Kinloch
Originally printed in the Occupied Wall Street Journal 
What it is, the demand the 1% can’t comprehend, is us. It is the individuals and villages, the cities and peoples across the world who are seeing each other on the far side of appeals and petition. It is the world we are becoming.
Establishment polls confirm what everyone in the street already knows: a clear majority of New Yorkers, three of every four, support the occupation and get the “demand” in their gut. The epicenter of the October 15 international day of action was Times Square, barricaded by police insistent to demonstrate their control. But our town is only one center. The world is round.
In the south, thousands streamed onto the avenues of Buenos Aires and Santiago. In Brazil, Peru and Colombia, in more than 20 cities of Mexico and all through our Americas, people came out. There was noise. More like a song.
In the East, demonstrators supporting the occupation emerged on the streets of Hong Kong and Seoul, Manila and Jakarta, Auckland and Melbourne. Days earlier, astonishingly, a solidarity rally in Zhengzhou, China supported the “Great Wall Street Revolution.” China has rallied for our human rights. Imagine.
In Africa, protestors gathered in Nairobi and Johannesburg. The heroes of Tahrir Square in Cairo have returned to battle the military regime that did not follow Mubarak into infamy.
Germany and Greece, ruled by the same banks, rose up with Spain and a lost generation of Europeans to claim a future from the dust of faded empire. Everywhere the lack of demands let us see each other clearly. Across the world, as if for the first time.
And in our own backyard, in thousands of backyards, from Augusta and Jackson, Springfield and Sioux Falls, Vegas and Santa Rosa and Green Bay: Americans celebrated the occupation in its infancy. Jobs with dignity. Housing fit for families. Education. Health care. Pensions. The very air we breathe. What can those who want democracy demand from the king, except his crown? Regime change is in the air. America is looking at itself, it’s place in the world and who we are to be.
This is not a demonstration. It’s participation. Creation. This is a movement where we can be ourselves, together. In Liberty Square. In New York City. In America. A new world.
By Jed Brandt AND Michael Levitin
Originally printed in the Occupied Wall Street Journal 
Procession of veterans starts at 11:00amat Vietnam Veterans Plaza, 55 Water Street, New York, NY Will march to Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park)
Military veterans will walk in uniform to join the Occupy Wall Street protests this Wednesday (Nov. 2nd). As the 99% movement spreads across the United States, the presence of veterans at rallies, marches, and occupations is becoming increasingly visible. Veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and even World War II have participated in the movement, speaking out for the 99%, and raising the movement’s visibility in the process. Most recently, the unconscionable treatment of Marine veteran Scott Olsen in Oakland has drawn national attention to veterans’ participation in the Occupy Wall Street movement.
‘Veterans of the 99%’ hope to draw attention to the ways veterans have been impacted by the economic and social issues raised by Occupy Wall Street. They hope to help make veterans’ and service members’ participation in this movement more visible and deliberate.
On Wednesday morning starting at 11:00am, members of the New York City Chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War and other veterans will come together at Wall Street with other Veterans of the 99%. They will march in uniform from Vietnam Veterans Plaza to Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park)—the heart of the Occupy Wall Street movement—and hold a "people's mic" to discuss reasons why a growing number of veterans are supporting the 99% movement. They will tell their stories and talk about issues that are important to them as veterans, within the larger economic and democratic crises. These issues include the challenges of veterans re-entering civilian life after war and trauma and during economic recession, and looming cuts to veterans’ health care and VA services. They will talk about their outrage at the treatment of Marine veteran Scott Olsen last week in Oakland. And they will call on other veterans and service members to join the Veterans of the 99%.
Veterans who would like to participate should contact veteransofthe99@gmail.com
Call to action
Below is the proposal passed by the Occupy Oakland General Assembly on Wednesday October 26, 2011 in reclaimed Oscar Grant Plaza. 1607 people voted. 1484 voted in favor of the resolution, 77 abstained and 46 voted against it, passing the proposal at 96.9%. The General Assembly operates on a modified consensus process that passes proposals with 90% in favor and with abstaining votes removed from the final count.
We propose a city wide general strike and we propose we invite all students to walk out of school. Instead of workers going to work and students going to school, the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city.
All banks and corporations should close down for the day or we will march on them.
While we are calling for a general strike, we are also calling for much more. People who organize out of their neighborhoods, schools, community organizations, affinity groups, workplaces and families are encouraged to self organize in a way that allows them to participate in shutting down the city in whatever manner they are comfortable with and capable of.
The whole world is watching Oakland. Let’s show them what is possible. 
TO THE VILLAGE: With a large college and high school student contingent, occupiers from all over the city have repeatedly marched to Washington Square where at least two general assemblies have convened. PHOTO: Stephen O’Byrne
On August 2, 2011 at the very first meeting of what was to become Occupy Wall Street, about a dozen people sat in a circle in Bowling Green. The self-appointed “process committee” for a social movement we merely hoped would someday exist, contemplated a momentous decision. Our dream was to create a New York General Assembly: the model for democratic assemblies we hoped to see spring up across America. But how would those assemblies actually operate?
The anarchists in the circle made what seemed, at the time, an insanely ambitious proposal. Why not let them operate exactly like this committee: by consensus.
It was, in the least, a wild gamble, because as far as any of us knew, no one had ever managed to pull off something like this before. Consensus process had been successfully used in spokes-councils — groups of activists organized into separate affinity groups, each represented by a single “spoke” — but never in mass assemblies like the one anticipated in New York City. Even the General Assemblies in Greece and Spain had not attempted it. But consensus was the approach that most accorded with our principles. So we took the leap.
Three months later, hundreds of assemblies, big and small, now operate by consensus across America. Decisions are made democratically, without voting, by general assent. According to conventional wisdom this shouldn’t be possible, but it is happening — in much the same way that other inexplicable phenomena like love, revolution, or life itself (from the perspective of, say, particle physics) happen.
The direct democratic process adopted by Occupy Wall Street has deep roots in American radical history. It was widely employed in the civil rights movement and by the Students for a Democratic Society. But its current form has developed from within movements like feminism and even spiritual traditions (both Quaker and Native American) as much as from within anarchism itself. The reason direct, consensus-based democracy has been so firmly embraced by and identified with anarchism is because it embodies what is perhaps anarchism’s most fundamental principle: that in the same way human beings treated like children will tend to act like children, the way to encourage human beings to act like mature and responsible adults is to treat them as if they already are.
Consensus is not a unanimous voting system; a “block” is not a No vote, but a veto. Think of it as the intervention of a High Court that declares a proposal to be in violation of fundamental ethical principles — except in this case the judge’s robes belong to anyone with the courage to throw them on. That participants know they can instantly stop a deliberation dead in its tracks if they feel it a matter of principle, not only means they rarely do it. It also means that a compromise on minor points becomes easier; the process toward creative synthesis is really the essence of the thing. In the end, it matters less how a final decision is reached—by a call for blocks or a majority show hands—provided everyone was able to play a part in helping to shape and reshape it.
We may never be able to prove, through logic, that direct democracy, freedom and a society based on principles of human solidarity are possible. We can only demonstrate it through action. In parks and squares across America, people have begun to witness it as they have started to participate. Americans grow up being taught that freedom and democracy are our ultimate values, and that our love of freedom and democracy is what defines us as a people—even as, in subtle but constant ways, we’re taught that genuine freedom and democracy can never truly exist.
The moment we realize the fallacy of this teaching, we begin to ask: how many other “impossible” things might we pull off? And it is there, it is here, that we begin enacting the impossible.
This article was written by David Graeber for the Occupied Wall Street Journal.
Last night hundreds marched through the streets of NYC, chanting "New York is Oakland, Oakland is New York." We circled City Hall, ran in the streets, refused to be kettled or have our voices silenced, marched up broadway, North on 6th Ave, circled around on Bleecker, and marched south against traffic on 6th ave, running past police barricades, running past our fear, running in solidarity with each other and #occupyoakland.
A second march split off and rushed past police, marching against traffic on Broadway, to make our way to Union Square, where we read a message of solidarity with Oakland and held an impromptu forum on police brutality. We marched, ran, chanted and drummed for hours, and took our streets back on the way home to Liberty Square.
We will not be afraid, we will not be silenced, we will not stand quietly while police brutalize peaceful occupiers. We fight for true democracy, and we fight to end the tyranny of the 1%. This is only the beginning. We are all Scott Olsen.
Today at Occupy Wall Street we are looking across the country to the city of Oakland, where last night our fellow Americans were subjected to violence at the hands of their own government for exercising the constitutional freedoms their government is sworn to protect. Last night police forces violently raided Occupy Oakland, arresting 85 people and brutalizing many peaceful participants, using excessive physical force, tear gas, and dangerous projectile rounds.
“Scott is in stable but serious condition as the neurologists decide whether to take him into surgery or the ICU,” said Joshua Shepherd, a friend of Olsen’s. “Oakland Police Department fired a tear gas canister at his head, fracturing his skull.”
Video of the incident with Scott Olsen: http://tinyurl.com/3vqlsv3
It is unconscionable that American government officials would sanction the use of such extreme force against peaceful citizens.
Occupy Oakland has been a public forum, set up on public land, concerned with critical public issues about the nation’s financial crisis, consolidation of wealth and power, and the ability of citizens to meaningfully participate in the democratic process. This brutality carried out on the orders of city government, sends a chilling message to those who want to engage in civic processes to work for social change.
Over a month ago, we went to the doorstep of Wall Street to say "enough!" That message has resonated across the country and around the world. Occupy Wall Street continues to build, and a national movement of peaceful occupations and civic engagement has sprung up in every corner.
Public officials must listen to the grievances of this popular movement. It is absolutely unacceptable to attempt to dissuade civic engagement through the use of brutality, repression and retaliation against movement participants. This is America. All Americans have the freedom to peacefully protest our government. That right defines who we are as a country and a people, and when it is denied, all of America is the poorer for it.
The Mayor of Oakland — and mayors and city governments across the country — should get on the right side of history and honor all Americans' freedom to peacefully assemble and to civically engage.
We call on all concerned people to send Oakland Mayor Quan a message that the actions she sanctioned are unconscionable. We ask supporters to please sign this petition to Mayor Quan and to forward it:
http://www.change.org/petitions/demand-mayor-jean-quan-stop-the-police-repression-of-occupy-oakland
Supporters can also call Mayor Quan at +1 (510) 238-3141 to register disapproval.
Tonight in Manhattan, we will hold a march in solidarity with Occupy Oakland (9:00pm. Details to be announced.)
We will continue to build a movement to empower the 99% and to hold Wall Street and government accountable.
Wall Street’s control of health care is exposed in a march/speak-out today that starts at the offices of Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield, a subsidiary of WellPoint, the largest publicly-traded health insurance company. We are gathering at Liberty Square at 3pm and marching at 4:30pm!
Empire is housed across the street from the OWS encampment in the same building as Brookfield Properties, the multinational that owns Liberty Square (formerly Zuccotti Park). WellPoint’s CEO, Angela Braley, was compensated $13.1 million dollars last year.
Other targets include WellCare, the for-profit company that administers Medicaid and MedicareAdvantage programs in New York and other states, currently being investigated for illegally siphoning $400-$600 million from programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
The march will end at St Vincent’s Hospital in the West Village, closed earlier this year due to bankruptcy, and seen as a casualty of profit-driven insurers. There are now no hospitals on the West side below 57th St.
“We need a healthcare system that meets human needs, not the insurance company’s bottom line,” said Dr. Elizabeth Rosenthal of Physicians for a National Health Program. “People can’t get care they need because of unaffordable co-pays and deductibles that line the pockets of insurance CEOs and shareholders.”
“I have a health insurance plan with a $15,000 deductible, so our family has to ration healthcare,” said Katie Robbins of Healthcare-NOW! NYC. “We have to get Wall Street out of our healthcare system.”
The march was initiated by an OWS Working Group called Healthcare for the 99%, which is composed of healthcare workers and people who seek to end inequality in our healthcare system and our society.
WHEN: Wednesday, October 26, 3pm - 7pm
WHERE: Starting at Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park), Broadway and Cedar
SPEAK-OUT 4pm – Liberty Square
MARCH 4:30pm – Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield / One Liberty Plaza
ARRIVE 5:30pm - WellCare / 110 5th Ave
6pm – St Vincent’s Community Hospital / 12th St & 7th Ave 
Occupy the Boardroom!
Life gets awfully lonely for those at the top. What can we do to let them know someone's thinking of them? Maybe they need some new friends! We've thought of two ways we can help them with that:
Option 1: Pen Pals
Make your voice heard by the Wall Street elites who wrecked the economy and made the rest of us pay. Click on someone below and tell them a story that you think they should listen to. Just got a college degree and nothing to show for it? Just got evicted while your banker gets bonuses? Share your special story with someone who ought to know.
Find a pen pal!
Option 2: Best Friends Forever
If you're feeling even more generous, why not reach out in a more creative way? Click on a banker below, then read the instructions and examples to get inspired. Maybe your banker needs some kind words, or maybe an intervention. Most importantly, use your imagination! The best, funniest, most revelatory interactions win prizes.If you're feeling even more generous, why not reach out in a more creative way? Click on a banker below, then read the instructions and examples to get inspired. Maybe your banker needs some kind words, or maybe an intervention. Most importantly, use your imagination! The best, funniest, most revelatory interactions win prizes.
Find a BFF! 
The Occupied Wall Street Journal came out with its 3rd edition and launched a new site. Check them out!
Download Issue 3 | View Occupiedmedia.org
The occupation of Liberty Square is a symbol of the growing international movement fighting against neoliberal economic practices, the crimes of Wall Street and the resulting income inequality, unemployment, and oppression of people at the front lines of the economic crisis. More than a week ago we successfully rallied to defend our occupation from eviction. Knowing that the neighborhood we built was important to our movement, occupiers reorganized the space and prepared for eviction defense, community board and local elects pressuredBrookfield Properties, and local organizations and unions mobilized their members in defense of Liberty Square. Brookfield and Bloomberg backed down in the face of this joint effort. #ows has international support, and is part of a global movement for economic and social justice that is only just starting to take form. It is within this context that we must drill down, look inward and converse with each other about our actions in this space.
For weeks, occupiers, working groups, individuals from the community board, and neighbors have approached the drummers on the west side of Liberty Square in an effort to involve them in conversations revolving around their constant presence. The drummers have been asked to stop drumming during quiet hours, to not drum during GA, and to allow other music to enter the square. The drummers, who feel that they are bringing rhythm to the revolution and have a voice that must be heard have felt disrespected and disparaged. The situation has been heated. A division grew within the square as well as with our neighbors. On Oct 13th, the General Assembly of Liberty Square passed a resolution to limit drumming times to 2 hours a day, between the hours of 11 and 5 as part of a good neighbor policy. Many drummers rejected this. A group of mediators began to work with the drummers and reached an agreement that they would instead drum for 4 hours per day, from 12pm - 2pm and 4pm - 6pm. The OWS Community Relations team, drummers, mediators, and several local residents from the community board spent weeks listening, building trust, and figuring out ways for drummers to work in solidarity with the occupation. As a result, drumming dropped from consistent 10 + hours a day, but is occurring more than the 2 hours consensed to by the General Assembly, and more then the 4 hours consensed to by the drummers.
In the spirit of consensus and community, mediation is still in process. The working group Pulse has been formed by the drummers and is working to bring forward proposals to the General Assembly of Liberty Square. This issue has been talked about in the park, at the General Assembly, on forums, and emails for weeks. This is an example of how we as a community share space and how we mobilize together to build consensus between all members of a conversation. Drumming has a loud voice in Liberty Square. Pulse is an important piece of our movement - they are integral to marches, morale, and the general mood of energy we have created. But many within Liberty Square feel as though their voice is being drowned out by the drumming, that it has become difficult to have the conversations that they think are important. We have created a small, vibrant and diverse community within the Square - it is natural that some issues would and will arise, but we hope to work together and continue to effect positive change in this place and in this world.
OWS is fighting to strengthen democracy, and to end the domination of big money interests. Fracking is a clear example of how the power of money trumps common sense and controls our democracy. Fracking is incredibly destructive to the environment and human health.
On Thursday, October 20th at five in the afternoon the residents of Liberty Square will march to the FERC hearing on the Spectra Pipeline at P.S. 41, located at 116 West 11th Street (between 6th and 7th avenues).
Shortly before the hearings begin at seven in the evening we will stage a die-in to illustrate the likely results of this disasterous proposal by a disreputable corporation intent on infecting our drinking water with by-products from fracking. After the die-in members of #ows will enter the hearing and respectfully engage in participatory direct action against this catastrophic project.
Do not let the destruction and death that occured due to corporate negligence in San Bruno, California last year happen in the West Village.
Come and speak for #ows, come and speak for yourself. We will see you there.
Submit comments to FERC online or by mail prior to Oct. 31st if you cannot attend the hearing
http://occupywallstreetcarepackages.tumblr.com/
Liberty Square, NY — Today we want to spotlight the tens of thousands of people from across the United States and around the world who are supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement by contributing blankets, clothing, food, money, and other needed supplies. The support has truly been overwhelming.
Over one month ago, hundreds, and then thousands, gathered in Liberty Square to protest unprecedented consolidation of wealth and power, plummeting household income, skyrocketing school debt, and a broken political system. In the weeks since, hundreds of thousands have rallied and occupied in cities and towns around the world. And people from every corner of the United States have sent donations of tarps, home baked pies, hand-knit mittens, and pizzas — with personal notes of solidarity and support.
OWS has compiled notes from supporters on a Tumblr site called Occupy Wall St. Care Packages:
http://occupywallstreetcarepackages.tumblr.com/
This new site features only a tiny fraction of the thousands of packages and letters of support we have received. It includes messages like this one from Elora and Monte, supporters who live on a farm in West Virginia:
"We stand ready to help #OWS in any way we can, from out here 'Just Off the One-Lane Road...' And we are so grateful for all of you involved in this defense of America. We firmly believe this is "it." If we can't grab this democracy this time, we'll sink and it will be a long time before we will have this opportunity again. Thank you for taking time from your busy life to be there and to email us. Whatever we can do, we are pleased to be a part of this incredible Movement."
We know from history that social movements grow when they have a broad base of support. We are thankful that this movement has attained such a dramatic level of support in a short amount of time. We are hopeful that this people's movement will continue to grow.
Liberty Square is a space created for culture and civics, for eduction, and building solidarity. A place to mint revolutionary thought, where the next generation of freedom fighters, organizers and artists will be raised. On Thursday, October 20th, at ten in the morning we will be reorganizing the square. Sanitation, and Town Planning are calling for #OWS to come out, grab a broom, a mop, and work to make the Square beautiful. This is a space for individuals of every age, race, creed and religion to enjoy. On Friday From 4pm - 11am there will be a Family sleep over. We need to create space and to welcome them into the #OWS!
Liberty Square, New York, NY — One month ago today about 2,000 people rallied in Lower Manhattan and marched up Broadway. Stopping at Zuccotti Park an estimated 150 stayed the night and began an encampment. Renaming the space “Liberty Square,” we kicked off a protest against bank bailouts, corporate greed, and the unchecked power of Wall Street in Washington. In the last month, the message of “We are the 99%” has won the hearts and minds of over half of Americans (according to a recent Time survey) and is gaining ground globally, with 1500 protests in 82 countries this past Saturday (October 15).
“I am here to celebrate the 30th day of this protest against corporate power,” said Karanja Gacuca from Liberty Square, a former Wall Street analyst who now organizes with Occupy Wall Street. “Concerned about the egregious Wall Street bonuses — particularly after the industry accepted a tax-payer bailout and the middle class continues to be squeezed — I believe it's time for a fairer system that provides health care, education, and opportunity for all, and rejects corporate influence over government.”
Inspired by the uprisings across the Arab world, and fueled by the feelings of anger and helplessness of everyday Americans, in the past month Occupy Wall Street has:
Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future.
From Liberty Square to Chase
We will then march to student meet up at Wash. Sq. Park
Facebook
moveyourmoneyproject.org
11AM - OCCUPY THE BRONX MEET-UP
Facebook
12PM - ANTI-WAR MARCH AND TEACH-IN
Wall Street And Broadway
Facebook
12PM - MASS STUDENT GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Washington Square Park -
Student meet up and student loan lender bank action
Facebook
1PM - #SankofaDay
Sponsered by the Malcolm X Grass Roots Movement
Liberty Plaza/Zuccotti Park
Facebook
3:30PM - ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION AGAINST MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL
New York Public Library Main Entrance
42 and 5th avenue
4PM - OCCU-PIE TIMES SQUARE RECRUITMENT CENTER
Facebook
5PM - TAKE TIME SQUARE CONVERGENCE/ OCCUPATION PARTY
The Occupation Party & Facebook
Starting at midnight through tomorrow morning, we will hold our ground against police aggression and assert the right of the people to peaceful assembly. The following are links to resources on using nonviolent tactics to defend Liberty Plaza.
Basic Strategy: Sit down, link arms and do not let go! If the police drag you away, you can comply or go limp (both calmly and silently) which is arguably not resisting arrest. Please also respect a diversity of tactics.
For those of you who plan to stick around PAST MIDNIGHT—which we hope will be all of you—make sure you understand the possible consequences. Be prepared to not get much sleep. Be prepared for possible arrest. Make sure your items are together and ready to go (or already out of the park.) We are pursuing all possible strategies; this is a message of solidarity.
In April 2011, the Chinese government prohibited on TV and films and in novels all stories that contain alternate reality or time travel. This is a good sign for China. It means that people still dream about alternatives, so you have to prohibit this dream. Here we don’t think of prohibition. Because the ruling system has even suppressed our capacity to dream. Look at the movies that we see all the time. It’s easy to imagine the end of the world. An asteroid destroying all life and so on. But you cannot imagine the end of capitalism. So what are we doing here? Let me tell you a wonderful old joke from communist times.
A guy was sent from East Germany to work in Siberia. He knew his mail would be read by censors. So he told his friends: Let’s establish a code. If the letter you get from me is written in blue ink ,it is true what I said. If it is written in red ink, it is false. After a month his friends get a first letter. Everything is in blue. It says, this letter: everything is wonderful here. Stores are full of good food. Movie theaters show good films from the West. Apartments are large and luxurious. The only thing you cannot buy is red ink.
This is how we live. We have all the freedoms we want. But what we are missing is red ink. The language to articulate our non-freedom. The way we are taught to speak about freedom war and terrorism and so on falsifies freedom. And this is what you are doing here: You are giving all of us red ink.
There is a danger. Don’t fall in love with yourselves. We have a nice time here. But remember: carnivals come cheap. What matters is the day after. When we will have to return to normal life. Will there be any changes then. I don’t want you to remember these days, you know, like - oh, we were young, it was beautiful. Remember that our basic message is: We are allowed to think about alternatives. The rule is broken. We do not live in the best possible world. But there is a long road ahead. There are truly difficult questions that confront us. We know what we do not want. But what do we want? What social organization can replace capitalism? What type of new leaders do we want?
Remember: the problem is not corruption or greed. The problem is the system that pushes you to give up. Beware not only of the enemies. But also of false friends who are already working to dilute this process. In the same way you get coffee without caffeine, beer without alcohol, ice cream without fat. They will try to make this into a harmless moral protest. They think (??? unintelligible). But the reason we are here is that we have enough of the world where to recycle coke cans…
Mic check
We can see that for a long time we allowed our political engagement also to be outsourced. We want it back. We are not communists. If communism means the system which collapsed in 1990, remember that today those communists are the most efficient ruthless capitalists. In China today we have capitalism which is even more dynamic than your American capitalism but doesn’t need democracy. Which means when you criticize capitalism, don’t allow yourselves to be blackmailed that you are against democracy. The marriage between democracy and capitalism is over.
The change is possible. So, what do we consider today possible? Just follow the media. On the one hand in technology and sexuality everything seems to be possible. You can travel to the moon. You can become immortal by biogenetics. You can have sex with animals or whatever. But look at the fields of society and economy. There almost everything is considered impossible. You want to raise taxes a little bit for the rich, they tell you it’s impossible, we lose competitivitiy. You want more money for healthcare: they tell you impossible, this means a totalitarian state. There is something wrong in the world where you are promised to be immortal but cannot spend a little bit more for health care. Maybe that ??? set our priorities straight here. We don’t want higher standards of living. We want better standards of living. The only sense in which we are communists is that we care for the commons. The commons of nature. The commons of what is privatized by intellectual property. The commons of biogenetics. For this and only for this we should fight.
Communism failed absolutely. But the problems of the commons are here. They are telling you we are not Americans here. But the conservative fundamentalists who claim they are really American have to be reminded of something. What is Christianity? It’s the Holy Spirit. What’s the Holy Spirit? It’s an egalitarian community of believers who are linked by love for each other. And who only have their own freedom and responsibility to do it. In this sense the Holy Spirit is here now. And down there on Wall Street there are pagans who are worshipping blasphemous idols. So all we need is patience. The only thing I’m afraid of is that we will someday just go home and then we will meet once a year, drinking beer, and nostalgically remembering what a nice time we had here. Promise ourselves that this will not be the case.
We know that people often desire something but do not really want it. Don’t be afraid to really want what you desire. Thank you very much!
(Thank you to everyone who offered transcripts, we had multiple offers)
A victory for the 99% in Ohio
Posted 12 hours ago on Nov. 9, 2011, 2:56 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
It is a better day for the 99% in Ohio. Yesterday on Tuesday, November 8, Ohio voters overwhelmingly Repealed Senate Bill 5. The bill, just passed by the Ohio legislature in March, removed the ability of public employees to engage in one of the most fundamental rights known to working people — collective bargaining.Read More...
Occupy Wall Street and Teamsters to Occupy Sotheby’s Tonight
Posted 13 hours ago on Nov. 9, 2011, 2:41 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Biggest Art Auction of the Year Draws Protest in Support of the 99%
Union Art Auction Handlers Have Been Locked in a 3-Month Battle Against Wage Cuts while Sotheby’s CEO Takes Home $60K a day
About 100 protesters from Occupy Wall Street will join a Teamsters picket line at the Sotheby’s auction house in Manhattan tonight (Wed,, Nov. 9) to back the union in an important battle to fight wage cuts. The action, called OCCUPY SOTHEBY'S, will picket the 1% in support of locked-out Teamsters art handlers at one of the biggest art auctions of the year.
WHEN: TODAY, Wednesday, November 9th, 6:00pm
WHERE: 1334 York Avenue (between 71st and 72nd St.) *A contingent of NYU students, faculty and alumni will meet at 5pm, by the fountain in Washington Square Park
VIDEO: Occupy Wall St. Protesters Crash Sotheby's Auction:
Read More...
Union Art Auction Handlers Have Been Locked in a 3-Month Battle Against Wage Cuts while Sotheby’s CEO Takes Home $60K a day
About 100 protesters from Occupy Wall Street will join a Teamsters picket line at the Sotheby’s auction house in Manhattan tonight (Wed,, Nov. 9) to back the union in an important battle to fight wage cuts. The action, called OCCUPY SOTHEBY'S, will picket the 1% in support of locked-out Teamsters art handlers at one of the biggest art auctions of the year.
WHEN: TODAY, Wednesday, November 9th, 6:00pm
WHERE: 1334 York Avenue (between 71st and 72nd St.) *A contingent of NYU students, faculty and alumni will meet at 5pm, by the fountain in Washington Square Park
VIDEO: Occupy Wall St. Protesters Crash Sotheby's Auction:
Read More...
Federal Reserve Global Phonecast
Posted 13 hours ago on Nov. 9, 2011, 2:19 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
At 7PM EST this evening, November 9th, occupiers around the globe are invited to call +1 (712) 432-9945 and listen to a moderated discussion with Dr. David Korten and #ows occupier, Harrison Schultz. Dr. Korten will speak to the Federal Reserve's role in the corrupt and dysfunctional systems of financial malfeasance that caused the global depression and discuss alternative systems to serve the American people. Throughout the discussion listeners will be invited to ask Dr. Korten questions via the hashtag #askFed on Twitter Read More...
OccupyWallSt.org User Survey
Posted 14 hours ago on Nov. 9, 2011, 12:54 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
If you are over 18 years old, please take the time to tell us a little more about yourself and your opinions by completing this voluntary anonymous survey being administered by a researcher at the City University of New York. The purpose of the survey is to better understand the characteristics and opinions of users of the website. The survey will take approximately twenty minutes to complete. Click here to begin.
Join the "Occupy Your Block" Sidewalk Chalk Campaign
Posted 1 day ago on Nov. 8, 2011, 10:22 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
The Outreach Group of the NYC General Assembly has an idea inspired by this story of unity between strangers using the original social media: chalk. It's a creative, anonymous and exciting way for supporters of all ages to show support everywhere. Read More...
Urgent Help: Occupy Edmonton In Need Of Winter Equipment
Posted 1 day ago on Nov. 8, 2011, 6:28 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Occupy Edmonton has a strong and growing community of supporters. Over the past 21 days we have been able to set-up and serve the needs, not only of our community, but many others as well. We have been giving clothing donations to many members disenfranchised by our society and have provided an active food service. We also provide a base of resistance in Alberta, generally referred to as the “Texas of the north” and less than 200 km from the tar sands the largest and one of the most destructive energy developments on the planet.
Donation Link
Read More...
Donation Link
Read More...
Everyone has the Right to Occupy Space, Safely
Posted 1 day ago on Nov. 8, 2011, 4:07 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
For as long as public space has existed, women and LGBTQ people have been trying to “occupy” it safely -- with distressingly little success. Harassing comments, groping, flashing and assault are a daily, global reality for women and LGBTQ individuals. Too often, these injustices are met with little or no response, regarded simply as “the price you pay” for being female, trans, or gay in public. As supporters of the Occupy movement, we believe that a world where everyone has the right to occupy public space safely is not only possible - it is essential to building a strong and lasting movement. Read More...
Planting Change: Guerrilla Gardening and the Occupy Movement
Posted 1 day ago on Nov. 8, 2011, 1:35 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Guerrilla gardening is the occupation of ill-used land to support the communities and ecosystems to which that land rightfully belongs. As the Occupy movement "puts down roots" in public and private spaces across the world, guerilla gardening is essential to growing a sustainable movement free from dependance on corporate systems. Read More...
Tonight: A Dialogue with Occupy El Bario & OWS
Posted 2 days ago on Nov. 7, 2011, 9:02 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
A Dialogue with Occupy El Barrio & OWS
“Dignity is an Echo in the Heartbeat of the People”
(Unanimously Endorsed by the General Assembly of Occupy Wall St, The People of Color working group (POCCUPY), Immigrant/worker working group, Outreach working group, Spanish working group (OWS en Español), Labor Outreach Committee & the Anti- Racism Allies Group)
The humble and simple community of El Barrio (East Harlem), NYC opens its arms to all the good-hearted people of Occupy Wall St. and invites them to join us in our corner of the world for an evening of dialogue. We will share our stories of resistance and memories of victory, as we bring to life our dreams of a world of justice, dignity, and democracy.
Movement for Justice in El Barrio is an immigrant- and people of color-led, grassroots community organization that fights for dignity and against neoliberal displacement from East Harlem to Chiapas and beyond.
For seven years, Movement has built a 700-member-strong, local movement for dignity that has taken on and defeated multi-national corporations and corrupt politicians. Committed to the principles of autonomy and self-determination, Movement practices participatory democracy and horizontal decision-making on a community-wide scale. As part of the Zapatista-initiated The Other Campaign, Movement fights for liberation of all marginalized groups from below and to the left.
Monday, November 7th, 7pm
Julia De Burgos Latino Cultural Center
1680 Lexington Ave
Between 105TH & 106TH ST
(6 Train to 103rd ST.)
For more information contact Movement for Justice in El Barrio at movementforjusticeinelbarrio@riseup.net
Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=255406524510441
“Dignity is an Echo in the Heartbeat of the People”
(Unanimously Endorsed by the General Assembly of Occupy Wall St, The People of Color working group (POCCUPY), Immigrant/worker working group, Outreach working group, Spanish working group (OWS en Español), Labor Outreach Committee & the Anti- Racism Allies Group)
The humble and simple community of El Barrio (East Harlem), NYC opens its arms to all the good-hearted people of Occupy Wall St. and invites them to join us in our corner of the world for an evening of dialogue. We will share our stories of resistance and memories of victory, as we bring to life our dreams of a world of justice, dignity, and democracy.
Movement for Justice in El Barrio is an immigrant- and people of color-led, grassroots community organization that fights for dignity and against neoliberal displacement from East Harlem to Chiapas and beyond.
For seven years, Movement has built a 700-member-strong, local movement for dignity that has taken on and defeated multi-national corporations and corrupt politicians. Committed to the principles of autonomy and self-determination, Movement practices participatory democracy and horizontal decision-making on a community-wide scale. As part of the Zapatista-initiated The Other Campaign, Movement fights for liberation of all marginalized groups from below and to the left.
Monday, November 7th, 7pm
Julia De Burgos Latino Cultural Center
1680 Lexington Ave
Between 105TH & 106TH ST
(6 Train to 103rd ST.)
For more information contact Movement for Justice in El Barrio at movementforjusticeinelbarrio@riseup.net
Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=255406524510441
Occupy The Highway: The 99% March to Washington
Posted 2 days ago on Nov. 7, 2011, 5:30 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
On November 23rd, the Congressional Deficit Reduction Super-Committee will meet to decide on whether or not to keep Obama's extension to the Bush tax-cuts - which only benefit the richest 1% of Americans in any kind of significant way. Luckily, a group of OWS'ers are embarking on a two-week march from Liberty Plaza to the Whitehouse to let the committee know what the 99% think about these cuts. Join the march to make sure these tax cuts for the richest 1% of Americans are allowed to die!
More information:
The 20 mile a day/2 week march from Liberty Square to DC is set to leave this Wednesday, November 9 at noon. On Wednesday we'll be leaving Liberty Square and marching to the New York Waterway/Hudson River Ferry and onward to Elizabeth, NJ. This is our first stop. Everyone is welcome to join this two week march. If you'd like to participate, but can't commit for two weeks you're welcome to join us for the day or help send us off!
The march is being organized by a few of us here at OWS. We will be in DC by Nov 23 for the Congressional Super Committee meeting. This committee has the power to keep the Bush tax cuts (that only benefit the top 1%) or let them expire. We want to be there to fight for the 99%! We will also be connecting with Occupy Philly and Occupy Baltimore along the route, and, of course, Occupy DC!
A major draw for this march is to encourage more people in rural communities to get involved as well as bring spreading the word along the highway. We are hoping people will join the march along the way; whether for an hour, a day, or the full two weeks, we feel its imperative for OWS to be involved in the historical significance of long distance marches to support, promote, and encourage economic and social equality. We will be walking from 9am to to 5pm (banker hours) and will hold nightly GA's and/or discussions at 7pm in each town where we camp. We will be spending two days off at Occupy Philly and Occupy Baltimore. We are hoping a few people from these occupations will join us in the march to the White House and Occupy DC!
Our route is as follows:
More information:
The 20 mile a day/2 week march from Liberty Square to DC is set to leave this Wednesday, November 9 at noon. On Wednesday we'll be leaving Liberty Square and marching to the New York Waterway/Hudson River Ferry and onward to Elizabeth, NJ. This is our first stop. Everyone is welcome to join this two week march. If you'd like to participate, but can't commit for two weeks you're welcome to join us for the day or help send us off!
The march is being organized by a few of us here at OWS. We will be in DC by Nov 23 for the Congressional Super Committee meeting. This committee has the power to keep the Bush tax cuts (that only benefit the top 1%) or let them expire. We want to be there to fight for the 99%! We will also be connecting with Occupy Philly and Occupy Baltimore along the route, and, of course, Occupy DC!
A major draw for this march is to encourage more people in rural communities to get involved as well as bring spreading the word along the highway. We are hoping people will join the march along the way; whether for an hour, a day, or the full two weeks, we feel its imperative for OWS to be involved in the historical significance of long distance marches to support, promote, and encourage economic and social equality. We will be walking from 9am to to 5pm (banker hours) and will hold nightly GA's and/or discussions at 7pm in each town where we camp. We will be spending two days off at Occupy Philly and Occupy Baltimore. We are hoping a few people from these occupations will join us in the march to the White House and Occupy DC!
Our route is as follows:
- 11/9/11: Liberty Square to Elizabeth, NJ
- 11/10/11: Elizabeth, NJ to New Brunswick, NJ
- 11/11/11: New Brunswick, NJ to Trenton, NJ
- 11/12/11: Trenton, NJ to Andalusia, PA
- 11/13/11: Andalusia, PA to Occupy Philly
- 11/14/11: DAY OFF AT OCCUPY PHILLY
- 11/15/11: Occupy Philly to Wilmington, DE
- 11/16/11: Wilmington, DE to Newark, DE
- 11/17/11: Newark, DE to Rising Sun, MD
- 11/18/11: Rising Sun, MD to Bel Air, MD
- 11/19/11: Bel Air, MD to Occupy Baltimore
- 11/20/11: DAY OFF AT OCCUPY BALTIMORE
- 11/21/11: Occupy Baltimore to Laurel, MD
- 11/22/11: Laurel, MD to Occupy DC
- 11/23/11: Occupy DC to The White House for Super Committee meeting
Spokes Council Meeting Tonight
Posted 2 days ago on Nov. 7, 2011, 5:14 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
The Spokes Council will take place tonight at Murry Bergtraum High School 411 PEARL STREET (Just East of City Hall) at 7:30PM. Please be on time. We have the space until 10:30pm.
Dallas Calls for General Strike: Nov. 30th
Posted 2 days ago on Nov. 7, 2011, 2:07 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Before the General Assembly of Occupy Dallas,
Whereas the General Assembly of Occupy Dallas stands in support of Occupy Wall Street which started September 17, 2011 at Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District. The movement has now spread across the country and is influencing the world. Occupy Dallas is a horizontally organized resistance movement to counteract the unprecedented consolidation of wealth and power in the world today. The Occupy movement does not have a hierarchy or a formalized structure. The Occupy movement represents those that feel disenfranchised from the current socioeconomic system because of policy passed by our political institutions and the actions of those in control of the unprecedented consolidation of wealth;
Whereas by consensus we view that for the first time in American history, current generations will not be as prosperous as preceding generations. This denial of the American Dream is at the heart of Occupy Movement.
Whereas by consensus we view that the social system has become tilted against us by:
- Unfair treatment and discrimination against individuals based on Gender, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Race, National Origin, Physical Ability or any other factor that minimizes any person’s individual worth
- The commoditization of individual privacy
- Profit driven news sources with individual agendas
- Narrow definitions of what constitutes a family;
- Widespread deregulation that has eliminated common sense regulations that have insured long term prosperity and protection from predatory business practices
- A Tax code that is cumbersome and rife with loopholes and language that favors an economic minority at the expense of the majority of wage earners
- A Supreme Court decision that has put into place the unprecedented concept of extending first amendment protections to political donations
- Jeopardizing the future of social security through investiture and privatization schemes
- By reducing funding to our education system our future generations are provided a lesser education that previous generations received because of increased class size and reduced resources
- Because of decreasing funding individuals are saddled with higher student loan debt
- A political system where even the most perfunctory tasks of government are partisan battles;
- A general degradation of the employer and employee relationship namely
b. the elimination of traditional pension and retirement arrangements in favor of 401 (k) investment vehicles.
c. outsourcing of jobs
d. failing or eliminating paid sick leave
e. failing or eliminating paid maternity leave
f. relying on part-time workers rather than investing in full time employees
g. scheduling work hours to insure that employees cannot obtain offered benefits
h. failing to provide a livable wage
i. reducing and eliminating employer based health care coverage
- Incredible income disparity between management and employees.
- Active discouragement and intimidation of unionization of the workforce
- Instituting illogical accounting practices
- Engaging in unethical business practices that jeopardize the long term financial stability of the country
- Viewing financial profit as more important than the individual worth of a people.
- Refrain from Buying or Selling any goods or services including but not limited to, any petroleum products, consumer goods or bank transactions; starting at 12:01 am to 11:59pm on November 30th, 2011.
- Refrain from working for a wage starting at 12:01 am to 11:59pm on November 30th, 2011 excluding those individuals that provide emergency and necessary functions including but not limited to Police, Fire and Medical personnel.
- Join or form local groups to peacefully protest against the above stated elements.
OWS Teams Up with the Street Vendor Project
Posted 2 days ago on Nov. 7, 2011, 9:23 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
New Partnership Allows OWS Supporters to Purchase Food from Local Street Vendors, to Donate to the Protest
http://streetvendor.org/ows
In the wake of the NYPD's escalating harassment of street cart vendors, Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and the Street Vendor Project have teamed up to create an online donation platform for street vendors who call Liberty Square (aka Zuccotti Park) their home. Through the website, supporters across the country and around the world can view vendor profiles and purchase food to be donated to the People's Kitchen at OWS.
New York City street vendors, as small business entrepreneurs, represent a diverse cross-section of the 99%. Through this platform, vendors will be able to participate in the growing excitement of the OWS movement and contribute to sustaining it.
"City street vendors are no strangers to police harassment and excessive fines," said Sean Bazinski of the Street Vendor Project, which advocates for the city's 10,000 vendors. "Last week the FDNY abruptly seized a generator from a legally-permitted street vendor in Zuccotti Park — that’s just one example of an all-too-common trend of harassment of vendors that hampers their ability to pursue their own livelihood and make an honest living."
The Street Vendor Project (http://streetvendor.org/), part of the non-profit Urban Justice Center, organizes and represents the thousands of people that sell food and merchandise on our city's streets and sidewalks.
http://streetvendor.org/ows
In the wake of the NYPD's escalating harassment of street cart vendors, Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and the Street Vendor Project have teamed up to create an online donation platform for street vendors who call Liberty Square (aka Zuccotti Park) their home. Through the website, supporters across the country and around the world can view vendor profiles and purchase food to be donated to the People's Kitchen at OWS.
New York City street vendors, as small business entrepreneurs, represent a diverse cross-section of the 99%. Through this platform, vendors will be able to participate in the growing excitement of the OWS movement and contribute to sustaining it.
"City street vendors are no strangers to police harassment and excessive fines," said Sean Bazinski of the Street Vendor Project, which advocates for the city's 10,000 vendors. "Last week the FDNY abruptly seized a generator from a legally-permitted street vendor in Zuccotti Park — that’s just one example of an all-too-common trend of harassment of vendors that hampers their ability to pursue their own livelihood and make an honest living."
The Street Vendor Project (http://streetvendor.org/), part of the non-profit Urban Justice Center, organizes and represents the thousands of people that sell food and merchandise on our city's streets and sidewalks.
"End to End for 99%" — 11-mile Neighborhood March of the 99%
Posted 2 days ago on Nov. 7, 2011, 9:17 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
TODAY, Monday, Nov. 7th, 10:30am
Starting at 181st Street & St. Nicholas Avenue
New York, NY – This morning (Monday, Nov. 7, starting at 10:30am) local elected officials and leaders from diverse communities as well as labor union representatives, and grassroots activists will march eleven miles to connect New York’s communities with the Occupy Wall Street Movement. The “End to End for 99%” march will launch in Washington Heights (181st and St. Nicholas) at 10:30am and work South through Harlem on its way to Zuccotti Park, where it will join Occupy Wall Street protesters in solidarity.
“Our communities have been devastated by the economic assault on middle class and poor families, even as Wall Street has enjoyed a historic financial bonanza,” said State Senator Adriano Espaillat (Manhattan/Bronx). “We are marching together because we want to stand up for the 99% who have been left behind in this economy and build a stronger society that works for all Americans, not just the select few.”
Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez said: "When we march on Monday, we're marching for jobs, we're marching for affordable housing, we're marching for a millionaire's tax. On Monday we are marching to let the city know that the 99% in Northern Manhattan are calling for justice.”
Tyler Combelic, a volunteer with Occupy Wall Street said: “We're proud to stand with our brothers and sisters from diverse communities around New York. We know that communities of color have been especially hard hit by a system that promotes inequality and punishes everyday Americans in favor of Big Banks and the Corporate Elite. We are ready to work together to build a stronger, more equitable America."
New Yorkers from all walks of life will join the march at various points in its 11-mile route. The march will culminate in a solidarity protest at Zuccotti Park, where activists have been gathered to call for fundamental changes to economic policies and our political system.
"Profits and CEO pay are up on Wall Street and in corporate board rooms, but the recession hasn’t ended in our neighborhoods or in working class communities across America," said Wilfredo Larancuent, a leader in the Working Families Party, and in Workers United. “We need to stand together. We are the 99%."
The march announcement was joined by various local non-profit groups who are supporting the Occupy Wall Street Movement, including United NY, New York Communities for Change Project, NAACP, Alianza Dominican, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, Community Board 12, Centro Altragracia, and many others.
Starting at 181st Street & St. Nicholas Avenue
New York, NY – This morning (Monday, Nov. 7, starting at 10:30am) local elected officials and leaders from diverse communities as well as labor union representatives, and grassroots activists will march eleven miles to connect New York’s communities with the Occupy Wall Street Movement. The “End to End for 99%” march will launch in Washington Heights (181st and St. Nicholas) at 10:30am and work South through Harlem on its way to Zuccotti Park, where it will join Occupy Wall Street protesters in solidarity.
“Our communities have been devastated by the economic assault on middle class and poor families, even as Wall Street has enjoyed a historic financial bonanza,” said State Senator Adriano Espaillat (Manhattan/Bronx). “We are marching together because we want to stand up for the 99% who have been left behind in this economy and build a stronger society that works for all Americans, not just the select few.”
Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez said: "When we march on Monday, we're marching for jobs, we're marching for affordable housing, we're marching for a millionaire's tax. On Monday we are marching to let the city know that the 99% in Northern Manhattan are calling for justice.”
Tyler Combelic, a volunteer with Occupy Wall Street said: “We're proud to stand with our brothers and sisters from diverse communities around New York. We know that communities of color have been especially hard hit by a system that promotes inequality and punishes everyday Americans in favor of Big Banks and the Corporate Elite. We are ready to work together to build a stronger, more equitable America."
New Yorkers from all walks of life will join the march at various points in its 11-mile route. The march will culminate in a solidarity protest at Zuccotti Park, where activists have been gathered to call for fundamental changes to economic policies and our political system.
"Profits and CEO pay are up on Wall Street and in corporate board rooms, but the recession hasn’t ended in our neighborhoods or in working class communities across America," said Wilfredo Larancuent, a leader in the Working Families Party, and in Workers United. “We need to stand together. We are the 99%."
The march announcement was joined by various local non-profit groups who are supporting the Occupy Wall Street Movement, including United NY, New York Communities for Change Project, NAACP, Alianza Dominican, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, Community Board 12, Centro Altragracia, and many others.
Too Small to Fail: Occupy Mosier
Posted 3 days ago on Nov. 6, 2011, 5:27 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
There are no stoplights, the only gas station closed years ago and there is not a single multinational corporation within five miles. With a population of just 430, Mosier, Oregon will become the smallest U.S. town to have an active Occupy camp. Participants from Mosier and other small communities of the Columbia Gorge are working to highlight their vision for a family-friendly camp that includes music, movies and round-table discussions with the community. While the group has stressed its solidarity with Occupy camps in urban cities across the United States, Occupy Mosier is adopting tactics and strategies they say reflect Wasco County’s rural community values.
“Rural communities have been hit harder than anyone by the policies the Occupy movement has formed to fight,” said Corie Lahr, Mosier resident. “If we do this right, we can attract a lot of rural people to the movement.”
Multiple speakers, workshops and movies are being planned in Mosier on a range of issues from reining in corporate control over U.S. politics and an shrinking an oversized military budget to supporting local credit unions, fighting plans to ship coal through the Columbia Gorge to China, and addressing wage inequality and related issues.
“People have asked us if we are getting a permit,” said Lahr. “We had to laugh because we don’t have sidewalks, let alone a city park where people could gather on city property for a protest. We are doing everything we can to communicate with the City of Mosier, public safety officials and the public about what we are planning and our goals.”
The group expects 15 or more tents to be set up with hundreds of people visiting the camp over the next week. The group has also invited local area Tea Party activists to the camp to share tea and round-table discussion about areas where the Tea Party and Occupy movements can agree.
“We think planning a 7-day camp and allowing for the possibility of another camp in a nearby town is a good way to spread awareness about the issues Wasco County cares about, such as Wall Street’s control of our economy and corporate power in our government.,” says ten-year Mosier resident Brent Foster.
Cara Shufelt, director of the Rural Organizing Project, is working with over 30 rural communities across Oregon who are involved organizing around the Occupy movement. ““Rural and small town Oregonians are indentifying with the message of the occupy movement. As far as we can tell, Oregon has more rural communities involved in Occupy actions than any other state. The Occupy Mosier camp is really unique,” said Shufelt. “We believe Mosier is the smallest U.S. town with an Occupy camp.”
Bo Vanderkloot lives across the Columbia River from Mosier in Bingen, WA. Vanderkloot is a single father motivated to join the Occupy Mosier camp because of his banks refusal to refinance his home loan following his divorce. “When the bank told me I was going to lose the home my son was born in, it was a real motivator to get involved,” says Vanderkloot. “I know I don’t agree with many of the National Tea Party’s positions, but I think some of my Tea Party neighbors would agree that kicking me and my son out of our house even though I make every mortgage payment isn’t right.”
As with other Occupy protests, the Occupy Mosier and Occupy the Gorge participants have a diversity of primary interests. Most participants share goals such as reducing corporations’ power over politics and communities, prioritizing spending on health care and education over runaway military spending, increasing environmental protections, and reforming national trade, monetary and financial policies to better support all people in our communities, regardless of race, class or gender.
While Mosier will serve as a base camp, activities are being planned throughout the Gorge from November 4 -11. Saturday, November 5 at AM, Occupy Mosier will travel to the “Break Up With Your Bank” event at the Dalles Bank of America where people will close their accounts in protest of policies that bankrupt and foreclose on local community members. “If we can organize an Occupy event in Mosier, anyone in any community can be a part of this movement,” says Lahr.
For more information: http://occupythegorge.org/
Guest Post from an Arrestee of the 99%
Posted 4 days ago on Nov. 6, 2011, 1:29 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Nature itself is the beautiful expression of order and balance arising out of chaos. Time and time again, nature has demonstrated its ability to naturally grow this order and peace out of the random noise that makes its very basis. The myth of true order comes from human attempts to impose it where it does not naturally occur. While there may be order, its cause is incorrectly perceived.
By definition, imposed order is unstable. It must be forcibly maintained in order to continue to exist. People are as a whole intelligent enough to devise such structures but not intelligent enough to override our most fundamental sense of natural order. As a whole, our species' attempt to engineer its own order has been slowly successful. We created kingdoms, handing ourselves to a monarch. This is an extreme deviation from natural order, because there are in that case only a handful of people globally who matter. It leaves the commoner entirely outside the global order. Out of our natural human desire to move towards natural order, we devised a new structure of governments commonly known as republics. These were closer to something which we could naturally live at ease with. The commoner, despite not having a direct say in the larger global order was in some way involved, or at least believed this to be so. More recently, through the rapid development of communications technologies which allow any one commoner's voice to find itself suddenly amplified and repeated around the world in moments we have grown into an entirely new method of global order. As trivial as much of the social networking conversation is, through social networking borders have fallen, lines have blurred, and a kind of collective consciousness representing its participants equally has arisen from it. However, we find ourselves in a unique situation. The people have moved on from the easily corruptible pseudo-free societies of the past, yet the forces enforcing those societies have attempted to simply ignore this transition. Through force, violence, and illegitimate law which passed without the consent of the commoner, they have attempted to extinguish the phoenix, the collective society which has arisen from the ashes of the republics.
Government by definition creates order, whether natural or imposed. A government exists within the borders of some defined region, and exists to represent the people of that region. Therefore, by definition the only possible government is that which exists by the consent of those who represent the people. A government which is operating without that consent is no longer a valid government. It is a criminal enterprise which exists to serve only itself. It in this case has moved from an entity which serves and fears the people to an entity which is served by and is feared by the people. For the people to accept such a criminal takeover of their land is a violation of their core drives, it is a violation of the natural progression from imposed global order towards natural order on a global scale. In the case where a criminal takeover has occurred, it is not only the natural right, but the obligation of that region's people to raise themselves in great numbers against that criminal enterprise which seeks to exploit them. Fundamental human dignity demands it unambiguously. It is unfortunate, but an unavoidable conclusion that yesterday's republics have on a grand scale violated their purpose and made the transition from representatives of the people towards criminal slave enterprise which holds the people in bondage, extracting value and joy from them, forever unhappy with their current holdings. The organs and systems which we the people devised not long ago to serve and represent us have been hijacked by a select few individuals, making the commoner irrelevant despite numerous legal guarantees and protections against this. The methods used in these criminal takeovers vary and are too numerous to list in the context of this document, but they are well documented by many members of the newly arisen collective consciousness.
There are many and varied voices which have erupted from captivity which suggest methods by which we the people can reclaim our rightful place as our own rulers and each other's subject at once. In order to reclaim our human dignity and make progress towards natural order, a collective state where the people live in harmony with one another in naturally organized chaos, it is useful to examine the birth of the republics which today have become something grotesque and unrecognizable. Attempt after attempt was made to force monarchs to dictate the will of their subjects, but these attempts were made in ignorance of the fact that the very nature and structure of the kingdoms was not compatible with what the people desired. Facing a global order which could not advance any farther and had reached the end of its useful lifespan, individuals began to realize the increasingly undeniable fact that an entirely new order had to be devised to replace the old kingdoms. We have reached a similar point today. Society's process of collective consciousness and consensus has advanced beyond the point that the republics can follow. In response to this, a select few have hijacked the republics in order to bring them backwards while the people march forwards. As difficult as it is to accept, the time has indeed come to tearfully say goodbye to the republics. They are artifacts of a beautiful age, yet in their age have become irrelevant to the progress of society, and in fact have become a snarling, grotesque weight which fights progress at every turn.
The form of the global order's replacement is not mine to decide. It is not yours, it is not your neighbor's. The global order's form is for the globe to decide collectively. For this reason, my identity will not be disclosed. I will present no idea for the future's form other than the fact that society has advanced beyond the point where the republics can exist in their current form. Go forth, and reclaim your dignity. If you fear the republics, imagine this. You are no longer represented in the republics. Therefore, their laws, their edicts, their decrees have no legitimate authority over you. They are just as illegitimate as if I attempted to dictate the terms of your life from behind my keyboard. They have become little more than bullies with guns, and if there is anything the Arab Spring has taught us, it is that guns are utterly useless against an idea.
By definition, imposed order is unstable. It must be forcibly maintained in order to continue to exist. People are as a whole intelligent enough to devise such structures but not intelligent enough to override our most fundamental sense of natural order. As a whole, our species' attempt to engineer its own order has been slowly successful. We created kingdoms, handing ourselves to a monarch. This is an extreme deviation from natural order, because there are in that case only a handful of people globally who matter. It leaves the commoner entirely outside the global order. Out of our natural human desire to move towards natural order, we devised a new structure of governments commonly known as republics. These were closer to something which we could naturally live at ease with. The commoner, despite not having a direct say in the larger global order was in some way involved, or at least believed this to be so. More recently, through the rapid development of communications technologies which allow any one commoner's voice to find itself suddenly amplified and repeated around the world in moments we have grown into an entirely new method of global order. As trivial as much of the social networking conversation is, through social networking borders have fallen, lines have blurred, and a kind of collective consciousness representing its participants equally has arisen from it. However, we find ourselves in a unique situation. The people have moved on from the easily corruptible pseudo-free societies of the past, yet the forces enforcing those societies have attempted to simply ignore this transition. Through force, violence, and illegitimate law which passed without the consent of the commoner, they have attempted to extinguish the phoenix, the collective society which has arisen from the ashes of the republics.
Government by definition creates order, whether natural or imposed. A government exists within the borders of some defined region, and exists to represent the people of that region. Therefore, by definition the only possible government is that which exists by the consent of those who represent the people. A government which is operating without that consent is no longer a valid government. It is a criminal enterprise which exists to serve only itself. It in this case has moved from an entity which serves and fears the people to an entity which is served by and is feared by the people. For the people to accept such a criminal takeover of their land is a violation of their core drives, it is a violation of the natural progression from imposed global order towards natural order on a global scale. In the case where a criminal takeover has occurred, it is not only the natural right, but the obligation of that region's people to raise themselves in great numbers against that criminal enterprise which seeks to exploit them. Fundamental human dignity demands it unambiguously. It is unfortunate, but an unavoidable conclusion that yesterday's republics have on a grand scale violated their purpose and made the transition from representatives of the people towards criminal slave enterprise which holds the people in bondage, extracting value and joy from them, forever unhappy with their current holdings. The organs and systems which we the people devised not long ago to serve and represent us have been hijacked by a select few individuals, making the commoner irrelevant despite numerous legal guarantees and protections against this. The methods used in these criminal takeovers vary and are too numerous to list in the context of this document, but they are well documented by many members of the newly arisen collective consciousness.
There are many and varied voices which have erupted from captivity which suggest methods by which we the people can reclaim our rightful place as our own rulers and each other's subject at once. In order to reclaim our human dignity and make progress towards natural order, a collective state where the people live in harmony with one another in naturally organized chaos, it is useful to examine the birth of the republics which today have become something grotesque and unrecognizable. Attempt after attempt was made to force monarchs to dictate the will of their subjects, but these attempts were made in ignorance of the fact that the very nature and structure of the kingdoms was not compatible with what the people desired. Facing a global order which could not advance any farther and had reached the end of its useful lifespan, individuals began to realize the increasingly undeniable fact that an entirely new order had to be devised to replace the old kingdoms. We have reached a similar point today. Society's process of collective consciousness and consensus has advanced beyond the point that the republics can follow. In response to this, a select few have hijacked the republics in order to bring them backwards while the people march forwards. As difficult as it is to accept, the time has indeed come to tearfully say goodbye to the republics. They are artifacts of a beautiful age, yet in their age have become irrelevant to the progress of society, and in fact have become a snarling, grotesque weight which fights progress at every turn.
The form of the global order's replacement is not mine to decide. It is not yours, it is not your neighbor's. The global order's form is for the globe to decide collectively. For this reason, my identity will not be disclosed. I will present no idea for the future's form other than the fact that society has advanced beyond the point where the republics can exist in their current form. Go forth, and reclaim your dignity. If you fear the republics, imagine this. You are no longer represented in the republics. Therefore, their laws, their edicts, their decrees have no legitimate authority over you. They are just as illegitimate as if I attempted to dictate the terms of your life from behind my keyboard. They have become little more than bullies with guns, and if there is anything the Arab Spring has taught us, it is that guns are utterly useless against an idea.
Solidarity,
(this space intentionally left blank)
Sunday: Global Uprisings--Egypt, Tunisia, Iran & Activists @ OWS
Posted 4 days ago on Nov. 6, 2011, 12:35 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
GLOBAL REVOLUTIONS: The U.S., Middle East and North African Uprisings
Sunday, November 6th, 5pm
Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park) - under the red sculpture
(directly after the multi-faith service.)
We are honored that three Middle Eastern and North African activists: Esraa Abdel Fattah - Egypt, Jamel Bettaieb - Tunisia, Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh - Iran, will be with us at OWS.
Esraa Abdel Fattah - Cyber activist and creator of the April 6th Facebook page which called for the first successful Egyptian general strike in 2008. Jailed for her efforts, she quickly became one of the most recognizable and prominent spokespersons for the Egyptian opposition. She was short listed for the 2011 Nobel Peace prize.
Jamel Bettaieb - Tunisian activist and labor leader from the birth city of the Arab Spring - Sidi Bouzid. He recently won the 2011 NED Democracy award.
Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh - Iranian women’s rights activist, journalist, and filmmaker - one of the founders of the Iranian Green Movement, the Stop Stoning Forever campaign, the Iranian Women's Charter Movement, and the coordinator for Meydan Zanan Network, Former Director of the women's NGO Training Centre (NGOTC), and editor-in-chief of Farzaneh Women’s Studies Journal.
For further information please contact: Kobi Skolnick, kskolnickATgmail.com
Sunday, November 6th, 5pm
Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park) - under the red sculpture
(directly after the multi-faith service.)
We are honored that three Middle Eastern and North African activists: Esraa Abdel Fattah - Egypt, Jamel Bettaieb - Tunisia, Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh - Iran, will be with us at OWS.
Esraa Abdel Fattah - Cyber activist and creator of the April 6th Facebook page which called for the first successful Egyptian general strike in 2008. Jailed for her efforts, she quickly became one of the most recognizable and prominent spokespersons for the Egyptian opposition. She was short listed for the 2011 Nobel Peace prize.
Jamel Bettaieb - Tunisian activist and labor leader from the birth city of the Arab Spring - Sidi Bouzid. He recently won the 2011 NED Democracy award.
Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh - Iranian women’s rights activist, journalist, and filmmaker - one of the founders of the Iranian Green Movement, the Stop Stoning Forever campaign, the Iranian Women's Charter Movement, and the coordinator for Meydan Zanan Network, Former Director of the women's NGO Training Centre (NGOTC), and editor-in-chief of Farzaneh Women’s Studies Journal.
For further information please contact: Kobi Skolnick, kskolnickATgmail.com
The 99% visit Governor Walker
Posted 5 days ago on Nov. 4, 2011, 10:16 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Transforming Harm & Building Safety: Confronting Sexual Violence At Occupy Wall Street & Beyond
Posted 5 days ago on Nov. 4, 2011, 7:22 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Statement by members of sexual assault survivor’s team at OWS
New York, November 4, 2011: We are writing this statement to inform our fellow occupiers about an incident of sexual assault at Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and the response to it. We are also writing this statement to respond to media accounts that blame the survivor, and that attempt to use this horrific incident to attack OWS. We write this statement as supporters of OWS, as fellow survivors, and as allies.
On the morning of October 29, a woman participating in OWS was sexually assaulted at Liberty Square. The person who she identified as having assaulted her was arrested on November 1 for a previous assault and is currently incarcerated.
On the morning of the assault, the survivor was accompanied to the hospital by a group of women from OWS, including a social worker, to support her and act as advocates. From the moment the incident was discovered to the present time, the survivor has been surrounded by a network of allies and trained advocates offering resources to provide emotional, medical, and legal support. At every step of the process, and in line with the core principles of survivor support, her wishes as to how she wanted to proceed have been honored, and information from a range of sources has been provided to her about her options. The survivor knew immediately that she wanted to make sure that the person who assaulted her did not harm anyone else at OWS. Community members honored this demand by asking that this person to stay off site, and, when he refused, monitored his activity and ejected him from the space.
These efforts provided the survivor with the time and space to carefully review the options available to her. Following two days of discussion with family, friends, supporters, and anti-violence advocates, the survivor decided to make a report to the police and to push for a criminal investigation and prosecution. Supporters from OWS accompanied her to the police station, and will continue to support her throughout the legal process.
We have been saddened and angered to observe some members of the media and the public blame the survivor for the assault. A survivor is never at fault. It is unacceptable to criticize a survivor for the course of action they chose to take or their community for supporting them in that choice. Additionally, we were troubled at the time of her report that responding police officers appeared to be more concerned by her political involvement in OWS than her need for support after a traumatic incident of sexual violence. A survivor is not at fault for being assaulted while peacefully participating in a public protest to express their political opinions. We are aware that this is one of several known cases of sexual assault that have occurred at OWS. We are dismayed by these appalling acts and distressed by the fear among many Occupiers that they have caused, as well as their negative impact on our ability to safely participate in public protests. We have the right to participate in peaceful protests without fear of violence.
We are also concerned that segments of the media have attempted to use this incident as another way to disingenuously attack and discredit OWS. It is reprehensible to manipulate and capitalize on a tragedy like this to discredit a peaceful political movement. OWS exists within a broader culture where sexual assault is egregiously common: someone in the US is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes, most assaults are never reported, and most rapists are never held to account. We live in a culture of violence in which sexual assault is often ignored, condoned, excused and even encouraged. We note that it is particularly difficult for survivors of assault at OWS to feel confident in reporting crimes to the NYPD – the NYPD’s unjustifiably aggressive and abusive policing of OWS has undermined trust in the police force amongst protesters.
As individuals and as a community, we have the responsibility and the opportunity to create an alternative to this culture of violence. Advocates, some of whom are survivors themselves, have worked for decades to address sexual violence generally. We are working for an OWS and a world in which survivors are respected and supported unconditionally, where they are supported to come forward, and where every community member takes responsibility for preventing and responding to harm. We are redoubling our efforts to raise awareness about sexual violence. This includes taking preventative measures such as encouraging healthy relationship dynamics and consent practices that can help to limit harm.
We are creating and sharing strategies that educate and transform our community into a culture of consent, safety, and well-being. At OWS, these strategies currently include support circles, counseling, consent trainings, safer sleeping spaces, self-defense trainings, community watch, awareness campaigns, and other evolving community-based processes to address harm. We encourage survivors to connect with support and advocates, and to access medical, legal, and social services, as well as available community-based options, many of which are listed below. We stand together as a community to work towards the prevention of sexual violence and harassment, and to provide unwavering support for anyone who has been assaulted. We commit to creating a culture of visibility, support, and advocacy for survivors, and of accountability for people who have committed harm.
With hope and solidarity,
Members of the survivor’s support team at Occupy Wall Street
Below we have included a list of trusted local resources that provide a range of options for survivors and allies. We recommend the services of these organizations, but we have not contacted them for endorsement of this statement.
Contact the Safer Spaces Working Group: saferspaceows@gmail.com
Audre Lorde Project's Safe Outside the System Collective: http://www.alp.org/community/sos
Center for Anti-Violence Education: http://www.caeny.org
CONNECT NYC: http://www.connectnyc.org
NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault: http://www.svfreenyc.org/resource_list2_New_York.html
New York City Anti-Violence Project: http://www.avp.org
Rape Crisis Providers in NY:http://www.health.ny.gov/community/adults/women/violence/rape_crisis/rape_crisis_provider_report.htm
RightRides: http://www.rightrides.org
Rock Dove Collective: http://www.rockdovecollective.org
Safe Horizon: http://www.safehorizon.org
STEPS to End Family Violence: http://www.egscf.org/services/steps/
Streetwork Project: http://www.safehorizon.org/streetwork
Support New York: http://www.supportny.org
New York, November 4, 2011: We are writing this statement to inform our fellow occupiers about an incident of sexual assault at Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and the response to it. We are also writing this statement to respond to media accounts that blame the survivor, and that attempt to use this horrific incident to attack OWS. We write this statement as supporters of OWS, as fellow survivors, and as allies.
On the morning of October 29, a woman participating in OWS was sexually assaulted at Liberty Square. The person who she identified as having assaulted her was arrested on November 1 for a previous assault and is currently incarcerated.
On the morning of the assault, the survivor was accompanied to the hospital by a group of women from OWS, including a social worker, to support her and act as advocates. From the moment the incident was discovered to the present time, the survivor has been surrounded by a network of allies and trained advocates offering resources to provide emotional, medical, and legal support. At every step of the process, and in line with the core principles of survivor support, her wishes as to how she wanted to proceed have been honored, and information from a range of sources has been provided to her about her options. The survivor knew immediately that she wanted to make sure that the person who assaulted her did not harm anyone else at OWS. Community members honored this demand by asking that this person to stay off site, and, when he refused, monitored his activity and ejected him from the space.
These efforts provided the survivor with the time and space to carefully review the options available to her. Following two days of discussion with family, friends, supporters, and anti-violence advocates, the survivor decided to make a report to the police and to push for a criminal investigation and prosecution. Supporters from OWS accompanied her to the police station, and will continue to support her throughout the legal process.
We have been saddened and angered to observe some members of the media and the public blame the survivor for the assault. A survivor is never at fault. It is unacceptable to criticize a survivor for the course of action they chose to take or their community for supporting them in that choice. Additionally, we were troubled at the time of her report that responding police officers appeared to be more concerned by her political involvement in OWS than her need for support after a traumatic incident of sexual violence. A survivor is not at fault for being assaulted while peacefully participating in a public protest to express their political opinions. We are aware that this is one of several known cases of sexual assault that have occurred at OWS. We are dismayed by these appalling acts and distressed by the fear among many Occupiers that they have caused, as well as their negative impact on our ability to safely participate in public protests. We have the right to participate in peaceful protests without fear of violence.
We are also concerned that segments of the media have attempted to use this incident as another way to disingenuously attack and discredit OWS. It is reprehensible to manipulate and capitalize on a tragedy like this to discredit a peaceful political movement. OWS exists within a broader culture where sexual assault is egregiously common: someone in the US is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes, most assaults are never reported, and most rapists are never held to account. We live in a culture of violence in which sexual assault is often ignored, condoned, excused and even encouraged. We note that it is particularly difficult for survivors of assault at OWS to feel confident in reporting crimes to the NYPD – the NYPD’s unjustifiably aggressive and abusive policing of OWS has undermined trust in the police force amongst protesters.
As individuals and as a community, we have the responsibility and the opportunity to create an alternative to this culture of violence. Advocates, some of whom are survivors themselves, have worked for decades to address sexual violence generally. We are working for an OWS and a world in which survivors are respected and supported unconditionally, where they are supported to come forward, and where every community member takes responsibility for preventing and responding to harm. We are redoubling our efforts to raise awareness about sexual violence. This includes taking preventative measures such as encouraging healthy relationship dynamics and consent practices that can help to limit harm.
We are creating and sharing strategies that educate and transform our community into a culture of consent, safety, and well-being. At OWS, these strategies currently include support circles, counseling, consent trainings, safer sleeping spaces, self-defense trainings, community watch, awareness campaigns, and other evolving community-based processes to address harm. We encourage survivors to connect with support and advocates, and to access medical, legal, and social services, as well as available community-based options, many of which are listed below. We stand together as a community to work towards the prevention of sexual violence and harassment, and to provide unwavering support for anyone who has been assaulted. We commit to creating a culture of visibility, support, and advocacy for survivors, and of accountability for people who have committed harm.
With hope and solidarity,
Members of the survivor’s support team at Occupy Wall Street
Below we have included a list of trusted local resources that provide a range of options for survivors and allies. We recommend the services of these organizations, but we have not contacted them for endorsement of this statement.
Contact the Safer Spaces Working Group: saferspaceows@gmail.com
Audre Lorde Project's Safe Outside the System Collective: http://www.alp.org/community/sos
Center for Anti-Violence Education: http://www.caeny.org
CONNECT NYC: http://www.connectnyc.org
NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault: http://www.svfreenyc.org/resource_list2_New_York.html
New York City Anti-Violence Project: http://www.avp.org
Rape Crisis Providers in NY:http://www.health.ny.gov/community/adults/women/violence/rape_crisis/rape_crisis_provider_report.htm
RightRides: http://www.rightrides.org
Rock Dove Collective: http://www.rockdovecollective.org
Safe Horizon: http://www.safehorizon.org
STEPS to End Family Violence: http://www.egscf.org/services/steps/
Streetwork Project: http://www.safehorizon.org/streetwork
Support New York: http://www.supportny.org
Occupy Wall Street: Improving Quality of Life for the 99%
Posted 5 days ago on Nov. 4, 2011, 2:53 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
The participants of Occupy Wall Street are working for a better quality of life for the 99%. We are everyday Americans who want our voices and every voice to count in the political process. We want policy that looks out for all of our health and economic well-being — not a system that's rigged to look out for only the interests of the very wealthy and powerful.
While we work for these goals, we also occupy a physical space in lower Manhattan, and we work hard to create a safe, secure, and positive environment for everyone who comes to Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park). We have been working diligently to be good neighbors to area residents and businesses. Here are some of the ways we have been making measurable progress on quality of life issues:
While we work for these goals, we also occupy a physical space in lower Manhattan, and we work hard to create a safe, secure, and positive environment for everyone who comes to Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park). We have been working diligently to be good neighbors to area residents and businesses. Here are some of the ways we have been making measurable progress on quality of life issues:
- Toilets: Installed. Despite denials of permits by the City, Occupy Wall Street participants have worked diligently with the help of local officials to secure 24/7 access to toilets within reasonable distance of Liberty Square. Starting today, OWS is providing access to porta-potties in a private, well-lit space with 24-hour security, only 2 blocks away from the square. The portable toilets will be maintained by a professional service, and OWS volunteers are blanketing Liberty Square with fliers directing people to the facilities.
- Sanitation: Active and effective. Occupy Wall Street has a volunteer sanitation working group that has included hundreds of participants who maintain the park, making sure that anything left discarded is disposed of, sweeping, and cleaning. Their work is particularly important after rainstorms. At any given moment, a visitor to Liberty Square will find volunteers engaged in maintenance and cleaning throughout the park.
- Security/Community Watch: Active and delivering results. Occupy Wall Street is in a public space in a major metropolis. We acknowledge that there are security challenges that accompany that fact. We have a multi-stakeholder Security Team versed in nonviolence and de-escalation tactics, as well as an overnight Community Watch, whose job is to ensure that everyone is safe. There have been cases of individuals with predatory intentions coming to the space and assaulting Occupy Wall Street participants. OWS security and volunteers has expelled such individuals, and when there was criminality involved, turned the individual over to the police.
- Noise Level: Reduced and time-limited. We recognize that the drumming the first few weeks of Occupy Wall Street was excessive for many local residents. Stakeholders throughout the OWS community, including the activist-drummers, worked to provide guidelines and Pulse—the drummers working group—has self-regulated for the past week and a half to limit drumming to a total of four hours per day (12pm-2pm, 4pm-6pm). When new people arrive without knowledge of our drumming hours, a member of Pulse now approaches them to explain the policy to them.
- NYPD Barriers to Business: Down. Some local businesses have been glad to have Occupy Wall Street in the area, and have reported a boom in their business because of OWS participants, and massively increased visitors to Liberty Square. Other businesses have complained about losses, mostly blaming the barricades erected by police after the occupation started. OWS and the neighborhood have requested a removal of these barricades, and thankfully many are now coming down after Community Board 1 and local officials made it clear they were a problem. Additionally, OWS has launched local business outreach initiatives, including the Street Vendor Project, which will encourage supporters of Occupy Wall Street to remotely purchase food from local vendors for OWS participants: http://streetvendor.org/ows
Don't Be Big Banks' Puppet; No Immunity Deal for Crooks
Posted 5 days ago on Nov. 4, 2011, 11:28 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
To help expose the looming cash-for-immunity deal between the Obama administration and big banks, there will be a march from Liberty Square to the U.S. Court House Building at Foley Square on November 5th.
The march will gather at 2:00pm on the east side steps at Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park), and will arrive at Foley Square at 3:00pm. Join the Facebook event page
President Obama is on the brink of cutting a backroom deal that would give bankers broad immunity for illegally throwing tens of thousands of Americans out of their homes. The Administration is pressuring state attorneys general to abandon an ongoing investigation into the massive "robo-signing" fraud, in exchange for a relatively small payoff by the banks.
Numerous investigations by state and federal authorities have demonstrated that banks used illegal procedures to make tens of thousands of foreclosures over the past decade. Rushing to a settlement before the full extent of the fraud is known would be a grave injustice to those who were illegally foreclosed upon and those still struggling to stay in their homes.
“This is a clear, moral issue that cuts to the core of why we occupy,” said Max Berger, an Occupy Wall Street participant helping to plan the event. “Instead of throwing corrupt bankers in jail, the administration is pushing to give them a get-out-of jail-free card.”
“President Obama and the attorneys general have a choice: do they stand with Wall Street, or do they stand with the 99%?” he said.
The Occupy movement has spread throughout the country because the American people will no longer stand by while corporate and government elites strike back room deals to sell out the 99%. On a day when tens ofthousands across America will take their money out of big banks, Occupy Wall Street will hold the political class accountable for doing Wall Street's bidding.
“We will not stand for a system that gives campaign contributors a right to immunity, while serving foreclosure papers to the 99%,” said Beth Bogart, a volunteer with Occupy Wall Street. “We will not stand for a country where bankers that issued deadly mortgage-backed securities are bailed out, but homeowners with mortgages are illegally thrown out on the street.”
At New York’s Foley Square, the Occupy movement will stand with those on the front lines of the economic collapse in their struggle against the banks and the politicians who do the banks' bidding. We will join in solidarity with those who have lost their homes to Wall Street greed and political corruption.
We won't let Obama get away with being Wall Street's puppet.
The march will gather at 2:00pm on the east side steps at Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park), and will arrive at Foley Square at 3:00pm. Join the Facebook event page
President Obama is on the brink of cutting a backroom deal that would give bankers broad immunity for illegally throwing tens of thousands of Americans out of their homes. The Administration is pressuring state attorneys general to abandon an ongoing investigation into the massive "robo-signing" fraud, in exchange for a relatively small payoff by the banks.
Numerous investigations by state and federal authorities have demonstrated that banks used illegal procedures to make tens of thousands of foreclosures over the past decade. Rushing to a settlement before the full extent of the fraud is known would be a grave injustice to those who were illegally foreclosed upon and those still struggling to stay in their homes.
“This is a clear, moral issue that cuts to the core of why we occupy,” said Max Berger, an Occupy Wall Street participant helping to plan the event. “Instead of throwing corrupt bankers in jail, the administration is pushing to give them a get-out-of jail-free card.”
“President Obama and the attorneys general have a choice: do they stand with Wall Street, or do they stand with the 99%?” he said.
The Occupy movement has spread throughout the country because the American people will no longer stand by while corporate and government elites strike back room deals to sell out the 99%. On a day when tens ofthousands across America will take their money out of big banks, Occupy Wall Street will hold the political class accountable for doing Wall Street's bidding.
“We will not stand for a system that gives campaign contributors a right to immunity, while serving foreclosure papers to the 99%,” said Beth Bogart, a volunteer with Occupy Wall Street. “We will not stand for a country where bankers that issued deadly mortgage-backed securities are bailed out, but homeowners with mortgages are illegally thrown out on the street.”
At New York’s Foley Square, the Occupy movement will stand with those on the front lines of the economic collapse in their struggle against the banks and the politicians who do the banks' bidding. We will join in solidarity with those who have lost their homes to Wall Street greed and political corruption.
We won't let Obama get away with being Wall Street's puppet.
Occupy Wall Street to Mayor Bloomberg: Get Your Facts Straight; Stop the Fear Mongering
Posted 6 days ago on Nov. 4, 2011, 12:42 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Yesterday New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg alleged that Occupy Wall Street participants at Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park) are chasing criminals out of the park instead of reporting them to police. In reality, Occupy Wall Street has its own well-trained internal security force, but this team does not substitute for the police when it comes to criminal activity that threatens our community or local residents. Occupy Wall Street participants have called upon police on occasions when people with predatory intentions have come into the park and engaged in illegal and destructive behavior, and have in fact turned over criminals to the NYPD.
“Bloomberg lied yesterday when he claimed that a sexual assault suspect was merely kicked out of the park, when in fact OWS security personnel forcibly removed the individual and handed him directly to the NYPD,” said Andrew Smith, a member of OWS’s overnight Community Watch. “The Mayor should get his facts straight before he calls responsible citizens protecting our community ‘despicable.’”
The occupation at Liberty Square is a civic space, where concerned citizens are raising pressing issues facing our nation. The mayor should be lauding this renaissance of civic participation, but instead he has been consistently demonizing participants.
“Occupy Wall Street exists in a public space in a major metropolis, and of course there are problems that come with that, but we have systems and our own common sense to deal with those problems,” said Bill Dobbs, a volunteer with Occupy Wall Street. “Mayor Bloomberg is pandering to fear. What we’re seeing is a lot of effort to undermine and suppress the movement and divert from the damage the mayor and his billionaire friends are doing to the country.”
Interviews available by request with members of Occupy Wall Street’s Security Team, Community Watch, Mediation Team, and other volunteers working to ensure the safety and security of everyone who comes to Liberty Square.
Eviction Defense!
Posted 6 days ago on Nov. 3, 2011, 7:25 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Sign up for the eviction defense text blast!
Send a text to the number 23559, with the the message @occupyalert
This will be used for emergency alerts and announcements.
Three weeks ago NYPD delivered what was effectively a notice of eviction, telling residents of Liberty Square that Brookfield, with the help of the city, was going to clean the park. Instead, #OWS mobilized, organizing a mass clean up, mobilizing thousands of supporters, and flooding the mayors office with phone calls. An amazing pre-dawn defence packed the square with thousands of people. Brookfield stood down and the eviction was averted.
Today rumors are rampant that the city is again considering action to end the occupation. Labor leaders, local elected officials, and news outlets are hearing the rumblings of eviction. We know that when the next eviction attempt comes, we will not get advanced warning. NYPD could move in as early as tonight, or it could be next week. We know that our adversaries are trying to build political cover for eviction by demonizing us in the press.
We need to be ready to defend the occupation. Be prepared!
Send a text to the number 23559, with the the message @occupyalert
This will be used for emergency alerts and announcements.
Three weeks ago NYPD delivered what was effectively a notice of eviction, telling residents of Liberty Square that Brookfield, with the help of the city, was going to clean the park. Instead, #OWS mobilized, organizing a mass clean up, mobilizing thousands of supporters, and flooding the mayors office with phone calls. An amazing pre-dawn defence packed the square with thousands of people. Brookfield stood down and the eviction was averted.
Today rumors are rampant that the city is again considering action to end the occupation. Labor leaders, local elected officials, and news outlets are hearing the rumblings of eviction. We know that when the next eviction attempt comes, we will not get advanced warning. NYPD could move in as early as tonight, or it could be next week. We know that our adversaries are trying to build political cover for eviction by demonizing us in the press.
We need to be ready to defend the occupation. Be prepared!
Stephen Colbert's Plot to Co-opt Occupy Wall Street Foiled by Ketchup and Justin
Posted 6 days ago on Nov. 3, 2011, 12:55 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Part one:
Part two:
Part two:
Liberty Square Adopts a Spokes Council
Posted 6 days ago on Nov. 3, 2011, 10:21 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
This past Friday, the General Assembly of Liberty Square voted to adopt an additional coordinating body called a Spokes Council.
The proposal was put forth by the Structure Working Group, which was born out of numerous discussions in the GA on the need for a more accountable body for operational decisions around the occupation. The main challenges the Spokes Council aims to address are: effective coordination between Operations Groups and Caucuses; making responsible, accountable and holistic budgetary decisions; and the ability for the GA to engage in broader movement discussions, rather than being bogged down with time consuming, uncoordinated funding requests.
A spokes council is a directly democratic structure that was inspired by the Quakers and numerous indigenous cultures and used widely in the Women’s Movement, the Anti-Nuclear Movement, and the Global Justice Movement.
The spokes council structure that the GA adopted can be reviewed at http://www.nycga.net/spokes-council/. This structure will evolve as our movement grows and our needs change. Join an Operations Group or Caucus if you would like to participate in the Spokes Council. The Spokes Council will also be open for unaffiliated folks to observe. All are welcome.
The first spoke council assembly will meet this Friday at 7pm, location TBA. This information will be posted on the NYCGA website as soon as we are able to confirm it.
The proposal was put forth by the Structure Working Group, which was born out of numerous discussions in the GA on the need for a more accountable body for operational decisions around the occupation. The main challenges the Spokes Council aims to address are: effective coordination between Operations Groups and Caucuses; making responsible, accountable and holistic budgetary decisions; and the ability for the GA to engage in broader movement discussions, rather than being bogged down with time consuming, uncoordinated funding requests.
A spokes council is a directly democratic structure that was inspired by the Quakers and numerous indigenous cultures and used widely in the Women’s Movement, the Anti-Nuclear Movement, and the Global Justice Movement.
The spokes council structure that the GA adopted can be reviewed at http://www.nycga.net/spokes-council/. This structure will evolve as our movement grows and our needs change. Join an Operations Group or Caucus if you would like to participate in the Spokes Council. The Spokes Council will also be open for unaffiliated folks to observe. All are welcome.
The first spoke council assembly will meet this Friday at 7pm, location TBA. This information will be posted on the NYCGA website as soon as we are able to confirm it.
The People vs. Goldman Sachs - Trial and March!
Posted 1 week ago on Nov. 3, 2011, 12:08 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
On November 3rd, the People, the 99 percent, will hold A People’s Hearing of Goldman Sachs in Liberty Square Park and march on Goldman Sachs! The people will bring to justice perhaps the single most egregious perpetrator of economic fraud and corruption in the United States. The Hearing will include testimonials from individuals directly affected by Goldman’s fraudulent manipulation of financial markets, including victims of housing foreclosures, pension losses, public lay-offs and untenable student debt.
The proceedings will also include expert analysis from Ralph Nader, Cornel West and Chris Hedges. Following the 99-minute hearing the people will decide on a fair and deliverable verdict via our own process of consensus-based direct democracy – and we intend to deliver it ourselves – to the headquarters of Goldman Sachs at 200 West Street, eight blocks from Liberty Square. We will ask for something our judicial and legislative systems have so far failed to deliver – the return of billions of taxpayer dollars to the 99 percent and criminal sentences for those Goldman Sachs executives who carried out the fraud. The event will be broadcast live via the Occupy Wall Street Livestream, among other public media outlets.
The People’s Hearing will examine the collapse of regulations and political and economic controls that permitted Goldman Sachs to loot the U.S. Treasury. It will look at how we came to live in a country where it became impossible to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs. It will ask why Goldman Sachs was allowed to enrich itself not only at the expense of millions of small investors but through its control of the bailouts and the regulatory process. It will demand to know why Goldman Sachs, one of the prime culprits in the destruction of the global economy, is permitted to continue to bankrupt countries such as Greece, creating massive human suffering, without oversight or control. The People’s Hearing will finally give Goldman Sach’s victims a voice.
Rolling Stone columnist Matt Taibbi described Goldman Sachs as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." The broad outlines of Goldman Sachs’ massive fraud are well documented. It put together a collaterized debt obligation (CDO) from mortgage-backed securities that the company assumed would fail. It sold these CDOs as assets and secure investments to pension and mutual funds as well as institutions and banks while betting against them through credit default swaps (CDS). A credit default swap, or CDS, is an insurance policy where the issuer makes up a loss if an asset goes bad. Goldman Sachs, in essence, sold toxic garbage to investors and when this garbage was exposed as garbage, wiping out tens of millions of individual investors who had put away money for retirement or college, Goldman Sachs raked in money from insurers. AIG, which insured these worthless CDOs, lacked sufficient funds to pay Goldman Sachs during the financial meltdown of 2008, a meltdown that evaporated some $ 40 trillion in worldwide wealth. Goldman Sachs, with numerous former officials ensconced in the Treasury department and government, simply looted the U.S. Treasury to pay itself. And they are sitting on our money to this day.
The firm has committed numerous acts of fraud that extend beyond our shores. Goldman Sachs was instrumental in helping Greek authorities hide its mounting government budget deficit by selling swaps to the Greek government in return for future revenue streams. The Greek government was able through this arrangement to mask the loan which would have raised its budget deficit above euro zone limits. The sleights of hand now threaten to see Greece go into default and could trigger a massive banking crisis through Europe. The crisis has seen the Greek government unleash draconian austerity measures that are taken out on the backs of students, the poor and the working class. Goldman Sachs is a global criminal syndicate.
Goldman Sachs, while its victims suffer from foreclosures and bankruptcy, has set aside $ 10 billion in compensation and bonuses for its chief executives this year. These bonuses are being paid out even as Goldman Sachs dismissed 1,300 employees with another 1,000 employees expected to lose their jobs by the end of the year. No one is safe from our oligarchic elite, not even the underlings at Goldman Sachs. We invite the newly unemployed from Goldman Sachs to join us.
The median paycheck in the United States, even while these corporate heads pulled in salaries that often equate to $ 900,000 an hour, fell by 1.2 percent to $ 26,364. The number of poor and unemployed is swelling while the number of Americans making $ 1 million or more climbed to 94,000, a 20 percent increase from 2009. Corporate profits now account for 88 percent of all income growth while wages account for 1 percent. The top one percent has, through fraud and the corporate control of the judiciary and regulatory agencies, accounted for about half of all income growth since the 1970s.
How is it possible that in a democracy the bottom 99 percent sees only half of economic growth? How is it possible that the economy does not work on behalf of the 99 percent? How is it possible that financial swindlers and liars continue to run our economy and our government?
Its time to bring justice to Goldman Sachs!
Outline of Event:
09:45 Guests and Panel are seated
10:00 Introduction to A People’s Hearing, Tony and Sandra Nurse, Occupy Wall Street
10:10 Opening Statement, Dr. Cornel West
10:20 Background of Goldman Sachs, Mr. Chris Hedges
10:20 Witness Testimonials
11:00 Proposal of Verdict
12:00 A Call to Action – March to Goldman Sachs
Rule of Law vs. the Forces of Order
Posted 1 week ago on Nov. 2, 2011, 7:52 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Occupy Wall Street, with its defiant style of non-violent protest, has consistently clashed with the NYPD’s obsession with order maintenance, resulting in hundreds of mostly unnecessary arrests and a significant infringement on the basic rights of free speech and assembly.
Prior to the massive protests at the WTO in Seattle, protest policing in the U.S. was a largely casual affair punctuated with isolated outbursts of police misconduct. After Seattle, police departments embarked on a major rethinking of how to handle increasingly large and militant protests and, most importantly, how to handle the growing use of large coordinated direct actions. Without too much concern for First Amendment rights, police departments have tended to take one of two approaches and sometimes a bit of both.
The first is the strategic repression of direct action movements in particular. Beginning with the Miami police’s aggressive response to the FTAA protests in 2003, many departments resorted to using surveillance, agents provocateurs and negative publicity before an event, followed by massive deployments, “less lethal” weaponry and restriction on protest permits, including the creation of isolated “protest pits.”
Similar problems emerged in 2004, during the Republican National Convention in New York City. Permits were denied to use Central Park and other traditional protest locations; barricades were used extensively at peaceful, permitted demonstrations; and over a thousand people were preemptively arrested, with all the charges eventually dropped by the Manhattan DA.
The other approach has been to attempt to micromanage demonstrations in such a way that dissent becomes a tightly controlled and dispiriting experience. This is accomplished through the use of large numbers of officers, extensive restrictions on access to demonstrations through choke points, penning in and subdividing crowds with barricades, heavily restricting march permits, and making multiple arrests, sometimes using excessive force for minor violations.
This latter strategy is especially common in New York City, which has an almost limitless supply of police officers (upwards of 30,000) to use for controlling crowds. During the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, we have seen a gross overreaction to peaceful demonstrators engaging in minor violations of the law, such as using a megaphone, writing on the sidewalk with chalk, marching in the street (and across the Brooklyn Bridge), standing in line at a bank to close an account, and occupying a public park past closing hours.
The effect of this has been a low-level criminalization of dissent that serves only a limited legitimate public safety function. The important thing to keep in mind here is that while some protests have been illegal and disruptive, they have been consistently nonviolent in character. This raises the question of whether the tight and expensive control of these demonstrations is an unwarranted interference in people’s right to free expression that exceeds any legal objective.
By Alex S. Vitale
photo: Adrian Kinloch
Originally printed in the Occupied Wall Street Journal
General Strike Shuts Down Oakland. Watch Live!
Posted 1 week ago on Nov. 2, 2011, 1:22 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Call To Action - Join The Month Of Global Uprising
Posted 1 week ago on Nov. 1, 2011, 7:28 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
On November 1st, Israel organized a general strike to fight back against the global neoliberal machine.
On November 2nd, Oakland will join the month of global uprising with a city-wide general strike during which the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city and its port.
While these assemblies are calling for general strikes, they are also calling for much more. Schools, community organizations, affinity groups, workplaces and families are encouraged to self-organize to shut down their cities and rebuild their communities in whatever manner they are comfortable with and capable of.
Following Israel and Oakland's example, we join this month of global uprising. We stand in solidarity with those who are organizing the actions that are creating the fabric of our new movement.
It is time for us to come together and build a new world through the power of the individual and the community. We are not here to make requests of a corrupt political system - we are here to take our lives back into our own hands. We are not acknowledging subservience. There is no higher power than the power of the people. We are not asking for assistance. We are declaring independence. Our demand is not to those in power, it is to those individuals still silenced. Join us.
We are the 99%. We are not afraid. We are not waiting. We are working to make a better world.
Occupy Wall Street. Occupy Everywhere.
On November 2nd, Oakland will join the month of global uprising with a city-wide general strike during which the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city and its port.
While these assemblies are calling for general strikes, they are also calling for much more. Schools, community organizations, affinity groups, workplaces and families are encouraged to self-organize to shut down their cities and rebuild their communities in whatever manner they are comfortable with and capable of.
Following Israel and Oakland's example, we join this month of global uprising. We stand in solidarity with those who are organizing the actions that are creating the fabric of our new movement.
It is time for us to come together and build a new world through the power of the individual and the community. We are not here to make requests of a corrupt political system - we are here to take our lives back into our own hands. We are not acknowledging subservience. There is no higher power than the power of the people. We are not asking for assistance. We are declaring independence. Our demand is not to those in power, it is to those individuals still silenced. Join us.
We are the 99%. We are not afraid. We are not waiting. We are working to make a better world.
Occupy Wall Street. Occupy Everywhere.
A New World
Posted 1 week ago on Nov. 1, 2011, 5:30 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
What it is, the demand the 1% can’t comprehend, is us. It is the individuals and villages, the cities and peoples across the world who are seeing each other on the far side of appeals and petition. It is the world we are becoming.
Establishment polls confirm what everyone in the street already knows: a clear majority of New Yorkers, three of every four, support the occupation and get the “demand” in their gut. The epicenter of the October 15 international day of action was Times Square, barricaded by police insistent to demonstrate their control. But our town is only one center. The world is round.
In the south, thousands streamed onto the avenues of Buenos Aires and Santiago. In Brazil, Peru and Colombia, in more than 20 cities of Mexico and all through our Americas, people came out. There was noise. More like a song.
In the East, demonstrators supporting the occupation emerged on the streets of Hong Kong and Seoul, Manila and Jakarta, Auckland and Melbourne. Days earlier, astonishingly, a solidarity rally in Zhengzhou, China supported the “Great Wall Street Revolution.” China has rallied for our human rights. Imagine.
In Africa, protestors gathered in Nairobi and Johannesburg. The heroes of Tahrir Square in Cairo have returned to battle the military regime that did not follow Mubarak into infamy.
Germany and Greece, ruled by the same banks, rose up with Spain and a lost generation of Europeans to claim a future from the dust of faded empire. Everywhere the lack of demands let us see each other clearly. Across the world, as if for the first time.
And in our own backyard, in thousands of backyards, from Augusta and Jackson, Springfield and Sioux Falls, Vegas and Santa Rosa and Green Bay: Americans celebrated the occupation in its infancy. Jobs with dignity. Housing fit for families. Education. Health care. Pensions. The very air we breathe. What can those who want democracy demand from the king, except his crown? Regime change is in the air. America is looking at itself, it’s place in the world and who we are to be.
This is not a demonstration. It’s participation. Creation. This is a movement where we can be ourselves, together. In Liberty Square. In New York City. In America. A new world.
By Jed Brandt AND Michael Levitin
Originally printed in the Occupied Wall Street Journal
Military Veterans Join the 99% on Wall Street
Posted 1 week ago on Nov. 1, 2011, 2:27 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Procession of veterans starts at 11:00amat Vietnam Veterans Plaza, 55 Water Street, New York, NY Will march to Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park)
Military veterans will walk in uniform to join the Occupy Wall Street protests this Wednesday (Nov. 2nd). As the 99% movement spreads across the United States, the presence of veterans at rallies, marches, and occupations is becoming increasingly visible. Veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and even World War II have participated in the movement, speaking out for the 99%, and raising the movement’s visibility in the process. Most recently, the unconscionable treatment of Marine veteran Scott Olsen in Oakland has drawn national attention to veterans’ participation in the Occupy Wall Street movement.
‘Veterans of the 99%’ hope to draw attention to the ways veterans have been impacted by the economic and social issues raised by Occupy Wall Street. They hope to help make veterans’ and service members’ participation in this movement more visible and deliberate.
On Wednesday morning starting at 11:00am, members of the New York City Chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War and other veterans will come together at Wall Street with other Veterans of the 99%. They will march in uniform from Vietnam Veterans Plaza to Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park)—the heart of the Occupy Wall Street movement—and hold a "people's mic" to discuss reasons why a growing number of veterans are supporting the 99% movement. They will tell their stories and talk about issues that are important to them as veterans, within the larger economic and democratic crises. These issues include the challenges of veterans re-entering civilian life after war and trauma and during economic recession, and looming cuts to veterans’ health care and VA services. They will talk about their outrage at the treatment of Marine veteran Scott Olsen last week in Oakland. And they will call on other veterans and service members to join the Veterans of the 99%.
Veterans who would like to participate should contact veteransofthe99@gmail.com
Call to action
Occupy Oakland Calls For City-Wide General Strike, Nov 2
Posted 1 week ago on Oct. 30, 2011, 9 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Below is the proposal passed by the Occupy Oakland General Assembly on Wednesday October 26, 2011 in reclaimed Oscar Grant Plaza. 1607 people voted. 1484 voted in favor of the resolution, 77 abstained and 46 voted against it, passing the proposal at 96.9%. The General Assembly operates on a modified consensus process that passes proposals with 90% in favor and with abstaining votes removed from the final count.
Propuesta
We as fellow occupiers of Oscar Grant Plaza propose that on Wednesday November 2, 2011, we liberate Oakland and shut down the 1%.We propose a city wide general strike and we propose we invite all students to walk out of school. Instead of workers going to work and students going to school, the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city.
All banks and corporations should close down for the day or we will march on them.
While we are calling for a general strike, we are also calling for much more. People who organize out of their neighborhoods, schools, community organizations, affinity groups, workplaces and families are encouraged to self organize in a way that allows them to participate in shutting down the city in whatever manner they are comfortable with and capable of.
The whole world is watching Oakland. Let’s show them what is possible.
Urgent: Winter Donation Needs
Posted 1 week ago on Oct. 29, 2011, 10:54 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
It's been dumping snow here in NYC all day, high winds and 3 inches of slush on the ground. With the NYPD and FDNY confiscating six generators on Friday and this unprecedented October snow, those occupying Liberty Plaza in downtown NYC are in need of emergency supplies crucial for cold weather survival (and occupation).
We've made a lot of headway on getting winter gear here in the last 48 hrs but definitely need more. Please help by purchasing or donating supplies directly. Winter gear and other necessities can be dropped off in person, delivered, or shipped.
After 9pm at the OWS Comfort Station on the east side of Liberty Square (aka Zuccotti Park)
118a Fulton St
PO Box 205
New York, NY 10038
Please show your support for the stalwart occupiers who are braving the winter storm!
We've made a lot of headway on getting winter gear here in the last 48 hrs but definitely need more. Please help by purchasing or donating supplies directly. Winter gear and other necessities can be dropped off in person, delivered, or shipped.
Needs
- insulated gloves, wool hats, scarves
- long underwear / smart wool thermal socks
- 300 hand warmers, 300 foot warmers
- waterproof boots in all sizes
- disposable shoe covers
- winter coats
- hot beverages
- thermal heaters
- all weather sub-thermal sleeping bags
- tarps
- all-weather tents
- foam padding / insulation for inside of tents
- wooden pallets to get tents off the ground
- cots to get people off the ground (don't currently have any - could really use these)
Dropping Off In Person In NYC
Daily until 9pm at the OWS storage space at 52 Broadway Ave, ground floor.After 9pm at the OWS Comfort Station on the east side of Liberty Square (aka Zuccotti Park)
Where To Ship
Occupy Wall Street118a Fulton St
PO Box 205
New York, NY 10038
Please show your support for the stalwart occupiers who are braving the winter storm!
Enacting the Impossible (On Consensus Decision Making)
Posted 1 week ago on Oct. 29, 2011, 9:55 p.m. EST by David-Graeber
TO THE VILLAGE: With a large college and high school student contingent, occupiers from all over the city have repeatedly marched to Washington Square where at least two general assemblies have convened. PHOTO: Stephen O’Byrne
On August 2, 2011 at the very first meeting of what was to become Occupy Wall Street, about a dozen people sat in a circle in Bowling Green. The self-appointed “process committee” for a social movement we merely hoped would someday exist, contemplated a momentous decision. Our dream was to create a New York General Assembly: the model for democratic assemblies we hoped to see spring up across America. But how would those assemblies actually operate?
The anarchists in the circle made what seemed, at the time, an insanely ambitious proposal. Why not let them operate exactly like this committee: by consensus.
It was, in the least, a wild gamble, because as far as any of us knew, no one had ever managed to pull off something like this before. Consensus process had been successfully used in spokes-councils — groups of activists organized into separate affinity groups, each represented by a single “spoke” — but never in mass assemblies like the one anticipated in New York City. Even the General Assemblies in Greece and Spain had not attempted it. But consensus was the approach that most accorded with our principles. So we took the leap.
Three months later, hundreds of assemblies, big and small, now operate by consensus across America. Decisions are made democratically, without voting, by general assent. According to conventional wisdom this shouldn’t be possible, but it is happening — in much the same way that other inexplicable phenomena like love, revolution, or life itself (from the perspective of, say, particle physics) happen.
The direct democratic process adopted by Occupy Wall Street has deep roots in American radical history. It was widely employed in the civil rights movement and by the Students for a Democratic Society. But its current form has developed from within movements like feminism and even spiritual traditions (both Quaker and Native American) as much as from within anarchism itself. The reason direct, consensus-based democracy has been so firmly embraced by and identified with anarchism is because it embodies what is perhaps anarchism’s most fundamental principle: that in the same way human beings treated like children will tend to act like children, the way to encourage human beings to act like mature and responsible adults is to treat them as if they already are.
Consensus is not a unanimous voting system; a “block” is not a No vote, but a veto. Think of it as the intervention of a High Court that declares a proposal to be in violation of fundamental ethical principles — except in this case the judge’s robes belong to anyone with the courage to throw them on. That participants know they can instantly stop a deliberation dead in its tracks if they feel it a matter of principle, not only means they rarely do it. It also means that a compromise on minor points becomes easier; the process toward creative synthesis is really the essence of the thing. In the end, it matters less how a final decision is reached—by a call for blocks or a majority show hands—provided everyone was able to play a part in helping to shape and reshape it.
We may never be able to prove, through logic, that direct democracy, freedom and a society based on principles of human solidarity are possible. We can only demonstrate it through action. In parks and squares across America, people have begun to witness it as they have started to participate. Americans grow up being taught that freedom and democracy are our ultimate values, and that our love of freedom and democracy is what defines us as a people—even as, in subtle but constant ways, we’re taught that genuine freedom and democracy can never truly exist.
The moment we realize the fallacy of this teaching, we begin to ask: how many other “impossible” things might we pull off? And it is there, it is here, that we begin enacting the impossible.
This article was written by David Graeber for the Occupied Wall Street Journal.
#ows and #occupythehood March In Solidarity With Those Foreclosed On By Criminal Banks
Posted 1 week ago on Oct. 28, 2011, 5:39 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Jamaica Queens, NY—On Saturday, October 29th Occupy Wall Street, in solidarity with Occupy the Hood, will take action against the homelessness forced upon innocent Americans through criminal foreclosure practices. At 10:00am we will gather at Liberty Square and march to the J train, which we will take to Jamaica, Queens, the foreclosure capital of New York. Metro fare will be provided for those who need it. On the subway we will hold democratic forums on the intolerable hardships Americans have been suffering because of bank foreclosures.
“According to the Mortgage Bankers Association and the FDIC, one child in every classroom in America is losing their home because banks are foreclosing on their parents. In Queens, the reality is even worse,” said Michael Premo, a volunteer who is helping with Saturday's event.
At noon, we will gather in Jamaica Center and march through the neighborhood, winding through foreclosed homes. As we pass by foreclosed homes we will visually reclaim them with banners and signs in windows and yards, and by tracing a map of the foreclosed homes of Jamaica, Queens using our bodies.
“There are five thousand homes in Queens that are being foreclosed upon. This is a pandemic. Jamaica is ground zero for foreclosures in New York,” said Patrick Bruner, a volunteer with Occupy Wall Street.
#OccupyWallStreet is a people powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to sustained occupations in over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,700 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality that is foreclosing our future.
#OccupytheHood’s mission is to encourage individuals & community-based organizations to be involved. We are present at General Assembly's, sit-ins, marches and rallies. We also initiate our own protests and boycotts. We will be seen and heard on our own, along-with and in unison with all the occupy-the-world movements until we bring forth a viable solution.... no matter how long it takes. Numbers speak volumes but the most important number to note at this time is the number one... Our voices are going to blend as one.
“According to the Mortgage Bankers Association and the FDIC, one child in every classroom in America is losing their home because banks are foreclosing on their parents. In Queens, the reality is even worse,” said Michael Premo, a volunteer who is helping with Saturday's event.
At noon, we will gather in Jamaica Center and march through the neighborhood, winding through foreclosed homes. As we pass by foreclosed homes we will visually reclaim them with banners and signs in windows and yards, and by tracing a map of the foreclosed homes of Jamaica, Queens using our bodies.
“There are five thousand homes in Queens that are being foreclosed upon. This is a pandemic. Jamaica is ground zero for foreclosures in New York,” said Patrick Bruner, a volunteer with Occupy Wall Street.
#OccupyWallStreet is a people powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to sustained occupations in over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,700 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality that is foreclosing our future.
#OccupytheHood’s mission is to encourage individuals & community-based organizations to be involved. We are present at General Assembly's, sit-ins, marches and rallies. We also initiate our own protests and boycotts. We will be seen and heard on our own, along-with and in unison with all the occupy-the-world movements until we bring forth a viable solution.... no matter how long it takes. Numbers speak volumes but the most important number to note at this time is the number one... Our voices are going to blend as one.
Occupy Wall St. And Allies Rally & March United for Civil Rights
Posted 1 week ago on Oct. 27, 2011, 8:46 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
In a demonstration of the broadening base of the Occupy Wall Street / 99% movement, a rally will be held this coming Saturday, October 29 at City Hall Park in New York City, co-sponsored by the Coalition Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), the National Action Network (NAN) and the NY State and NYC City Chapters of the NAACP.
Saturday, October 29th
City Hall Park, New York City
Rally: 12:00pm Noon
March to Liberty Square: 2:00pm
Afterward: Screenings of SING YOUR OWN SONG and discussion with Harry Belafonte
Three screenings: 3PM - 5:30PM; 6:30PM - 9PM; 10PM - 12AM
Speakers at the Rally already include Terrence Melvin of CBTU, Sonia Ivany of LCLAA, Pres. Sid Ryan of Ontario Federation of Labor, Anthony Harmon of APRI, Chris Provost - Chair of Univ Student Senate, CUNY, members of Transit Workers Union Local 100 and SEIU Local 1199.
Earlier this week the NAACP put out a statement in support of the Occupy Wall Street / 99% movement:
“For over 102 years the NAACP has supported, and continues to support, policies which create, preserve and expand living wage jobs, increase economic opportunity and protect the desire of every American to build and retain wealth and equity,” said Ben Jealous, NAACP President and CEO. President Jealous went on to say that the largely peaceful protests are true to “the non-violent traditions and philosophies upon which the NAACP is based and has operated under for our entire existence.”
At 2:00pm, the entire rally will march to Liberty Square in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the shared ideals of equality for all, individual dignity, economic and social justice, and the right to peacefully demand change of a broken system.
"This will be a significant and inspirational day for Occupy Wall Street and the movement as whole. The 99% is made up of all us. We are united behind the fundamental ideals of equality, and economic and social justice. Our country isn't broke, it is broken. United, we cannot fail to bring the change so urgently needed,” said Kanene Holder, a Harlem-based educator and volunteer with Occupy Wall Street.
Afterward, Occupy Wall Street and SEIU Local 1199 will co-host a Civil Rights Event with Harry Belafonte.
Occupy Wall Street and SEIU Local 1199 will co-host the showing of a new documentary SING YOUR OWN SONG, directed by Susanne Rostock for HBO, about Harry Belafonte's civil rights career followed by discussions with Mr. Belafonte. The event will be held at the Borough of Manhattan Community College 950 seat theater on West and Canal.
Most people know the lasting legacy of Harry Belafonte, Jr, the entertainer. This film unearths his significant contribution to and his leadership in the Civil Rights movement in America and to social justice globally. Mr. Belafonte was a confidante of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., bailing King out of the Birmingham City Jail and raising thousands of dollars to release other Civil Rights protesters. He financed the Freedom Rides, and supported and helped to organize the March on Washington, DC in 1963. He also helped organize the "We Are the World" effort, is one of the leading prison reform advocates, as well as a vocal thought leader and advocate in dozens of other civil rights causes.
Belafonte on Occupy Wall Street: Through its choice of non-violence “this movement is instantly struck with a sense of great genius,” Belafonte boldly pronounced, noting core strengths and values, and courage, as attributes of the movement’s identity. “It has attracted the rest of us to become greatly involved in any way that we can serve it.”
Saturday, October 29th
City Hall Park, New York City
Rally: 12:00pm Noon
March to Liberty Square: 2:00pm
Afterward: Screenings of SING YOUR OWN SONG and discussion with Harry Belafonte
Three screenings: 3PM - 5:30PM; 6:30PM - 9PM; 10PM - 12AM
Speakers at the Rally already include Terrence Melvin of CBTU, Sonia Ivany of LCLAA, Pres. Sid Ryan of Ontario Federation of Labor, Anthony Harmon of APRI, Chris Provost - Chair of Univ Student Senate, CUNY, members of Transit Workers Union Local 100 and SEIU Local 1199.
Earlier this week the NAACP put out a statement in support of the Occupy Wall Street / 99% movement:
“For over 102 years the NAACP has supported, and continues to support, policies which create, preserve and expand living wage jobs, increase economic opportunity and protect the desire of every American to build and retain wealth and equity,” said Ben Jealous, NAACP President and CEO. President Jealous went on to say that the largely peaceful protests are true to “the non-violent traditions and philosophies upon which the NAACP is based and has operated under for our entire existence.”
At 2:00pm, the entire rally will march to Liberty Square in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the shared ideals of equality for all, individual dignity, economic and social justice, and the right to peacefully demand change of a broken system.
"This will be a significant and inspirational day for Occupy Wall Street and the movement as whole. The 99% is made up of all us. We are united behind the fundamental ideals of equality, and economic and social justice. Our country isn't broke, it is broken. United, we cannot fail to bring the change so urgently needed,” said Kanene Holder, a Harlem-based educator and volunteer with Occupy Wall Street.
Afterward, Occupy Wall Street and SEIU Local 1199 will co-host a Civil Rights Event with Harry Belafonte.
Occupy Wall Street and SEIU Local 1199 will co-host the showing of a new documentary SING YOUR OWN SONG, directed by Susanne Rostock for HBO, about Harry Belafonte's civil rights career followed by discussions with Mr. Belafonte. The event will be held at the Borough of Manhattan Community College 950 seat theater on West and Canal.
Most people know the lasting legacy of Harry Belafonte, Jr, the entertainer. This film unearths his significant contribution to and his leadership in the Civil Rights movement in America and to social justice globally. Mr. Belafonte was a confidante of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., bailing King out of the Birmingham City Jail and raising thousands of dollars to release other Civil Rights protesters. He financed the Freedom Rides, and supported and helped to organize the March on Washington, DC in 1963. He also helped organize the "We Are the World" effort, is one of the leading prison reform advocates, as well as a vocal thought leader and advocate in dozens of other civil rights causes.
Belafonte on Occupy Wall Street: Through its choice of non-violence “this movement is instantly struck with a sense of great genius,” Belafonte boldly pronounced, noting core strengths and values, and courage, as attributes of the movement’s identity. “It has attracted the rest of us to become greatly involved in any way that we can serve it.”
#ows Takes The Streets In Solidarity With #occupyoakland
Posted 1 week ago on Oct. 27, 2011, 2:53 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Last night hundreds marched through the streets of NYC, chanting "New York is Oakland, Oakland is New York." We circled City Hall, ran in the streets, refused to be kettled or have our voices silenced, marched up broadway, North on 6th Ave, circled around on Bleecker, and marched south against traffic on 6th ave, running past police barricades, running past our fear, running in solidarity with each other and #occupyoakland.
A second march split off and rushed past police, marching against traffic on Broadway, to make our way to Union Square, where we read a message of solidarity with Oakland and held an impromptu forum on police brutality. We marched, ran, chanted and drummed for hours, and took our streets back on the way home to Liberty Square.
We will not be afraid, we will not be silenced, we will not stand quietly while police brutalize peaceful occupiers. We fight for true democracy, and we fight to end the tyranny of the 1%. This is only the beginning. We are all Scott Olsen.
Occupy The DOE
Posted 1 week ago on Oct. 27, 2011, 12:53 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Please visit the Occupy the DOE Facebook Page.
Tonight: Vigils Across America for Scott Olsen, Marine Veteran Critically Injured by Police Projectile at #OccupyOakland
Posted 1 week ago on Oct. 27, 2011, 12:13 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
This morning Occupy Oakland and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) put out a call for occupations across America and around the world to hold solidarity vigils for Scott Olsen, a former Marine and two time Iraq War veteran. Olsen sustained a skull fracture after being shot in the head on October 25 with a police projectile while peacefully participating in an Occupy Oakland march.
Occupy Oakland and IVAW — an organization that Scott Olsen is a member of — are organizing the Oakland vigil. It will be held today, Thursday, October 27, 7:00pm PST, during the General Assembly of Occupy Oakland at 14th St. and Broadway.
They are also calling on other occupations that are part of the 99% movement to take time to vigil for Scott this evening. Some occupations will take a few moments during their General Assembly to hold Scott in their thoughts, to honor his commitment to social justice, and to hope for his strong recovery.
Scott joined the Marines in 2006, served two tours in Iraq, and was discharged in 2010. Scott moved to California from Wisconsin and currently works as a systems network administrator in Daly City.
Scott is one of an increasing number of war veterans who are participating in America’s growing Occupy movement. Said Keith Shannon, who deployed with Scott to Iraq, “Scott was marching with the 99% because he felt corporations and banks had too much control over our government, and that they weren’t being held accountable for their role in the economic downturn, which caused so many people to lose their jobs and their homes.”
People across the country reacted with outrage yesterday to the police brutality unleashed against peaceful people engaged in protest in Oakland — and particularly to the injury of Scott Olsen. Occupy Oakland has been a public forum, set up on public land, concerned with critical public issues about the nation’s financial crisis, consolidation of wealth and power, and the ability of citizens to meaningfully participate in the democratic process. The brutality they were met with sends a chilling message to those who want to serve their country by working for social change.
Scott is currently sedated and in critical condition at a local hospital.
Occupy Oakland and IVAW — an organization that Scott Olsen is a member of — are organizing the Oakland vigil. It will be held today, Thursday, October 27, 7:00pm PST, during the General Assembly of Occupy Oakland at 14th St. and Broadway.
They are also calling on other occupations that are part of the 99% movement to take time to vigil for Scott this evening. Some occupations will take a few moments during their General Assembly to hold Scott in their thoughts, to honor his commitment to social justice, and to hope for his strong recovery.
Scott joined the Marines in 2006, served two tours in Iraq, and was discharged in 2010. Scott moved to California from Wisconsin and currently works as a systems network administrator in Daly City.
Scott is one of an increasing number of war veterans who are participating in America’s growing Occupy movement. Said Keith Shannon, who deployed with Scott to Iraq, “Scott was marching with the 99% because he felt corporations and banks had too much control over our government, and that they weren’t being held accountable for their role in the economic downturn, which caused so many people to lose their jobs and their homes.”
People across the country reacted with outrage yesterday to the police brutality unleashed against peaceful people engaged in protest in Oakland — and particularly to the injury of Scott Olsen. Occupy Oakland has been a public forum, set up on public land, concerned with critical public issues about the nation’s financial crisis, consolidation of wealth and power, and the ability of citizens to meaningfully participate in the democratic process. The brutality they were met with sends a chilling message to those who want to serve their country by working for social change.
Scott is currently sedated and in critical condition at a local hospital.
Deliver Your Message To The 1%
Posted 1 week ago on Oct. 27, 2011, 12:08 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Thousands of #OccupyWallStreet protesters to barrage bank CEO's with 6,000 angry letters from the 99%
WHAT: Mass march to deliver 6,000 letters from the 99% to the 1%
WHEN: 1pm, Friday, October 28
WHERE: Meet-up at Bryant Park (6th Ave. & 42nd St.), march to Bank of America headquarters, Morgan Stanley headquarters, Wells Fargo headquarters, Citigroup headquarters, JP Morgan Chase headquarters.
See map for target locations.
WHO: Foreclosure victims, unemployed New Yorkers, students with debt, Occupy Wall Street protesters, members of Strong Economy for All, UnitedNY, New York Communities for Change, ALIGN, The Yes Men
WHAT: Thousands will march to the headquarters of five major banks to deliver over 6,000 letters to the 1% submitted to occupytheboardroom.org, concluding with a general assembly at which a foreclosure victim from Southeast Queens will read a letter through the people’s mic inviting Jamie Dimon to tour her neighborhood.
VISUALS: Thousands of people trying to throw paper airplane letters up to the top floor of the BofA building, thousands of people delivering a singing telegram to Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit led by a choir and marching band, poster oard blowups of letters from the 99%, giant mailbag full of letters from march participants.
(2) Group 1 and 2 march to first banks, at which we will have a mass paper airplane throwing event. (Postmasters to instruct crowd in paper airplane folding and throwing via people's mic.) After airplanes are thrown, postmasters will help crowd collect all planes and put them in a big mailbag, which will be left in the lobby of the bank.
(3) Groups 1 and 2 march to second bank at which the choir leads everyone in a unison singing of one of the letters. The text for that letter will be printed on the "mailing instructions" handout and on giant (6' x 8') posterboard blow-ups so that everyone can sing along. At the end of the song, we attempt to leave the giant letters in the lobby of the banks.
(4) Groups 1 and 2 converge on Chase HQ at which we sit down and convene a special reading and writing GA. Austin will (tentatively) MC. The main event will be three letter-writers reading their letters to Jamie Dimon over the people's mic. After the letters are read, there will be a brief writing exercise in which the crowd is given 5 minutes to write a letter to the 1% on a detachable portion of their "mailing instructions" sheet. After 5 minutes, we will leave all our letters in or outside of Chase's lobby and leave.
Group 2: Meet 1pm at Bryant Park, march to Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Chase
Groups 1 & 2: 3pm converge on Chase for 3:30pm letter reading
WHAT: Mass march to deliver 6,000 letters from the 99% to the 1%
WHEN: 1pm, Friday, October 28
WHERE: Meet-up at Bryant Park (6th Ave. & 42nd St.), march to Bank of America headquarters, Morgan Stanley headquarters, Wells Fargo headquarters, Citigroup headquarters, JP Morgan Chase headquarters.
See map for target locations.
WHO: Foreclosure victims, unemployed New Yorkers, students with debt, Occupy Wall Street protesters, members of Strong Economy for All, UnitedNY, New York Communities for Change, ALIGN, The Yes Men
WHAT: Thousands will march to the headquarters of five major banks to deliver over 6,000 letters to the 1% submitted to occupytheboardroom.org, concluding with a general assembly at which a foreclosure victim from Southeast Queens will read a letter through the people’s mic inviting Jamie Dimon to tour her neighborhood.
VISUALS: Thousands of people trying to throw paper airplane letters up to the top floor of the BofA building, thousands of people delivering a singing telegram to Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit led by a choir and marching band, poster oard blowups of letters from the 99%, giant mailbag full of letters from march participants.
ACTION DESCRIPTION:
(1) Throughout the march a flyering team will be handing out copies of the letters that have links to the website at the bottom. Both marches will be accompanied by (a) a team of bicycling pirates, (b) a choir, (c) a marching band, (d) a set of "postmasters" with stenciled OTBR logos to guide the march and lead group activities. At the top of the march, postmasters will distribute "mailing instruction" 8.5x11 sheets with (a) the march route, (b) description of activities, (c) song lyrics, (d) a space for marchers to write their own letter.(2) Group 1 and 2 march to first banks, at which we will have a mass paper airplane throwing event. (Postmasters to instruct crowd in paper airplane folding and throwing via people's mic.) After airplanes are thrown, postmasters will help crowd collect all planes and put them in a big mailbag, which will be left in the lobby of the bank.
(3) Groups 1 and 2 march to second bank at which the choir leads everyone in a unison singing of one of the letters. The text for that letter will be printed on the "mailing instructions" handout and on giant (6' x 8') posterboard blow-ups so that everyone can sing along. At the end of the song, we attempt to leave the giant letters in the lobby of the banks.
(4) Groups 1 and 2 converge on Chase HQ at which we sit down and convene a special reading and writing GA. Austin will (tentatively) MC. The main event will be three letter-writers reading their letters to Jamie Dimon over the people's mic. After the letters are read, there will be a brief writing exercise in which the crowd is given 5 minutes to write a letter to the 1% on a detachable portion of their "mailing instructions" sheet. After 5 minutes, we will leave all our letters in or outside of Chase's lobby and leave.
TIMELINE:
Group 1: Meet 1pm at Bryant Park, march to Citigroup, Wells Fargo, end at ChaseGroup 2: Meet 1pm at Bryant Park, march to Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Chase
Groups 1 & 2: 3pm converge on Chase for 3:30pm letter reading
We are all Scott Olsen: Occupy Oakland #OWS
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 26, 2011, 8:53 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Late last night, Scott Olsen, a former Marine, two-time Iraq war veteran, and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, sustained a skull fracture after being shot in the head with a police projectile while peacefully participating in an Occupy Oakland march. He remains unconscious in critical condition at Oakland's Highland Hospital.
Olsen was hit at close range. After demonstrators rush to Olsen's aid, an Oakland cop waits a few beats before lobbing a second tear-gas canister at the crowd. They are attending to Olsen when the canister explodes, sending smoke everywhere.
Press release from Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Our hearts and prayers go out to Scott and his family.
Please share this video and take action!
Call Mayor Quan's office and demand that she investigate this incident and allow peaceful protests to continue: +1 (510) 238-3141
Olsen was hit at close range. After demonstrators rush to Olsen's aid, an Oakland cop waits a few beats before lobbing a second tear-gas canister at the crowd. They are attending to Olsen when the canister explodes, sending smoke everywhere.
Press release from Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Our hearts and prayers go out to Scott and his family.
Please share this video and take action!
Call Mayor Quan's office and demand that she investigate this incident and allow peaceful protests to continue: +1 (510) 238-3141
#ows Response To Government Violence At #occupyoakland | Solidarity March At 9PM From Liberty Square
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 26, 2011, 3:47 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Today at Occupy Wall Street we are looking across the country to the city of Oakland, where last night our fellow Americans were subjected to violence at the hands of their own government for exercising the constitutional freedoms their government is sworn to protect. Last night police forces violently raided Occupy Oakland, arresting 85 people and brutalizing many peaceful participants, using excessive physical force, tear gas, and dangerous projectile rounds.
Peaceful Protest is An American Birthright, Not a Crime
Among those injured is Scott Olson, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq. Olsen is in the hospital with a fractured skull.“Scott is in stable but serious condition as the neurologists decide whether to take him into surgery or the ICU,” said Joshua Shepherd, a friend of Olsen’s. “Oakland Police Department fired a tear gas canister at his head, fracturing his skull.”
Video of the incident with Scott Olsen: http://tinyurl.com/3vqlsv3
It is unconscionable that American government officials would sanction the use of such extreme force against peaceful citizens.
Occupy Oakland has been a public forum, set up on public land, concerned with critical public issues about the nation’s financial crisis, consolidation of wealth and power, and the ability of citizens to meaningfully participate in the democratic process. This brutality carried out on the orders of city government, sends a chilling message to those who want to engage in civic processes to work for social change.
Over a month ago, we went to the doorstep of Wall Street to say "enough!" That message has resonated across the country and around the world. Occupy Wall Street continues to build, and a national movement of peaceful occupations and civic engagement has sprung up in every corner.
Public officials must listen to the grievances of this popular movement. It is absolutely unacceptable to attempt to dissuade civic engagement through the use of brutality, repression and retaliation against movement participants. This is America. All Americans have the freedom to peacefully protest our government. That right defines who we are as a country and a people, and when it is denied, all of America is the poorer for it.
The Mayor of Oakland — and mayors and city governments across the country — should get on the right side of history and honor all Americans' freedom to peacefully assemble and to civically engage.
We call on all concerned people to send Oakland Mayor Quan a message that the actions she sanctioned are unconscionable. We ask supporters to please sign this petition to Mayor Quan and to forward it:
http://www.change.org/petitions/demand-mayor-jean-quan-stop-the-police-repression-of-occupy-oakland
Supporters can also call Mayor Quan at +1 (510) 238-3141 to register disapproval.
Tonight in Manhattan, we will hold a march in solidarity with Occupy Oakland (9:00pm. Details to be announced.)
We will continue to build a movement to empower the 99% and to hold Wall Street and government accountable.
Solidarity with Oakland | Exposing Police Lies
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 26, 2011, 3:14 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Yesterday evening, and throughout the night, the city of Oakland and its police department continued their crusade against free assembly. Protesters who went to reoccupy the space at the Oakland Library were met with heavily armed riot police, with tear gas, with rubber bullets and with flashbang grenades.
The Oakland Police Department treated attempts by the occupation medics as an excuse to throw more firepower, shooting a flashbang at a group of people trying to evacuate a protester who had been knocked out in the fighting.
This is what the Oakland PD stated after the action
The wounds these bullets can cause are far more serious than their non-lethal designation implies, and they can, in fact, be lethal; rubber bullets, especially, are merely regular bullets coated with rubber.
The Oakland city hall claims that this is a "peaceful dispersion". To the mayor we respond that this is an unqualified lie. In solidarity with the protestors of Occupy Oakland, for further information we recommend their website www.occupyoakland.org.
The Oakland Police Department treated attempts by the occupation medics as an excuse to throw more firepower, shooting a flashbang at a group of people trying to evacuate a protester who had been knocked out in the fighting.
This is what the Oakland PD stated after the action
Q. Did the Police deploy rubber bullets, flash-bag grenades?The Oakland police department fired shotgun bean bags and rubber coated bullets at the crowd, leading to at least one person being hospitalized in a critical condition and someone with a serious head fracture.
A. No, the loud noises that were heard originated from M-80 explosives thrown at Police by protesters. In addition, Police fired approximately four bean bag rounds at protesters to stop them from throwing dangerous objects at the officers.
The wounds these bullets can cause are far more serious than their non-lethal designation implies, and they can, in fact, be lethal; rubber bullets, especially, are merely regular bullets coated with rubber.The Oakland city hall claims that this is a "peaceful dispersion". To the mayor we respond that this is an unqualified lie. In solidarity with the protestors of Occupy Oakland, for further information we recommend their website www.occupyoakland.org.
Occupy Wall Street Takes On Health Insurance Industry
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 26, 2011, 1:28 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Wall Street’s control of health care is exposed in a march/speak-out today that starts at the offices of Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield, a subsidiary of WellPoint, the largest publicly-traded health insurance company. We are gathering at Liberty Square at 3pm and marching at 4:30pm!
Empire is housed across the street from the OWS encampment in the same building as Brookfield Properties, the multinational that owns Liberty Square (formerly Zuccotti Park). WellPoint’s CEO, Angela Braley, was compensated $13.1 million dollars last year.
Other targets include WellCare, the for-profit company that administers Medicaid and MedicareAdvantage programs in New York and other states, currently being investigated for illegally siphoning $400-$600 million from programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
The march will end at St Vincent’s Hospital in the West Village, closed earlier this year due to bankruptcy, and seen as a casualty of profit-driven insurers. There are now no hospitals on the West side below 57th St.
“We need a healthcare system that meets human needs, not the insurance company’s bottom line,” said Dr. Elizabeth Rosenthal of Physicians for a National Health Program. “People can’t get care they need because of unaffordable co-pays and deductibles that line the pockets of insurance CEOs and shareholders.”
“I have a health insurance plan with a $15,000 deductible, so our family has to ration healthcare,” said Katie Robbins of Healthcare-NOW! NYC. “We have to get Wall Street out of our healthcare system.”
The march was initiated by an OWS Working Group called Healthcare for the 99%, which is composed of healthcare workers and people who seek to end inequality in our healthcare system and our society.
WHEN: Wednesday, October 26, 3pm - 7pm
WHERE: Starting at Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park), Broadway and Cedar
MARCH DETAILS:
ASSEMBLE 3pm - Liberty Square (corner of Bway and Cedar)SPEAK-OUT 4pm – Liberty Square
MARCH 4:30pm – Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield / One Liberty Plaza
ARRIVE 5:30pm - WellCare / 110 5th Ave
6pm – St Vincent’s Community Hospital / 12th St & 7th Ave
The 1% have Addresses. The 99% have Messages.
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 25, 2011, 6:43 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Occupy the Boardroom!
Life gets awfully lonely for those at the top. What can we do to let them know someone's thinking of them? Maybe they need some new friends! We've thought of two ways we can help them with that:
Option 1: Pen Pals
Make your voice heard by the Wall Street elites who wrecked the economy and made the rest of us pay. Click on someone below and tell them a story that you think they should listen to. Just got a college degree and nothing to show for it? Just got evicted while your banker gets bonuses? Share your special story with someone who ought to know.
Find a pen pal!
Option 2: Best Friends Forever
If you're feeling even more generous, why not reach out in a more creative way? Click on a banker below, then read the instructions and examples to get inspired. Maybe your banker needs some kind words, or maybe an intervention. Most importantly, use your imagination! The best, funniest, most revelatory interactions win prizes.If you're feeling even more generous, why not reach out in a more creative way? Click on a banker below, then read the instructions and examples to get inspired. Maybe your banker needs some kind words, or maybe an intervention. Most importantly, use your imagination! The best, funniest, most revelatory interactions win prizes.
Find a BFF!
Solidarity Statement From Cairo
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 25, 2011, 2:39 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
To all those in the United States currently occupying parks, squares and other spaces, your comrades in Cairo are watching you in solidarity. Having received so much advice from you about transitioning to democracy, we thought it's our turn to pass on some advice.
Indeed, we are now in many ways involved in the same struggle. What most pundits call “The Arab Spring” has its roots in the demonstrations, riots, strikes and occupations taking place all around the world, its foundations lie in years-long struggles by people and popular movements. The moment that we find ourselves in is nothing new, as we in Egypt and others have been fighting against systems of repression, disenfranchisement and the unchecked ravages of global capitalism (yes, we said it, capitalism): a System that has made a world that is dangerous and cruel to its inhabitants. As the interests of government increasingly cater to the interests and comforts of private, transnational capital, our cities and homes have become progressively more abstract and violent places, subject to the casual ravages of the next economic development or urban renewal scheme.
An entire generation across the globe has grown up realizing, rationally and emotionally, that we have no future in the current order of things. Living under structural adjustment policies and the supposed expertise of international organizations like the World Bank and IMF, we watched as our resources, industries and public services were sold off and dismantled as the “free market” pushed an addiction to foreign goods, to foreign food even. The profits and benefits of those freed markets went elsewhere, while Egypt and other countries in the South found their immiseration reinforced by a massive increase in police repression and torture.
The current crisis in America and Western Europe has begun to bring this reality home to you as well: that as things stand we will all work ourselves raw, our backs broken by personal debt and public austerity. Not content with carving out the remnants of the public sphere and the welfare state, capitalism and the austerity-state now even attack the private realm and people's right to decent dwelling as thousands of foreclosed-upon homeowners find themselves both homeless and indebted to the banks who have forced them on to the streets.
So we stand with you not just in your attempts to bring down the old but to experiment with the new. We are not protesting. Who is there to protest to? What could we ask them for that they could grant? We are occupying. We are reclaiming those same spaces of public practice that have been commodified, privatized and locked into the hands of faceless bureaucracy , real estate portfolios, and police ‘protection’. Hold on to these spaces, nurture them, and let the boundaries of your occupations grow. After all, who built these parks, these plazas, these buildings? Whose labor made them real and livable? Why should it seem so natural that they should be withheld from us, policed and disciplined? Reclaiming these spaces and managing them justly and collectively is proof enough of our legitimacy.
In our own occupations of Tahrir, we encountered people entering the Square every day in tears because it was the first time they had walked through those streets and spaces without being harassed by police; it is not just the ideas that are important, these spaces are fundamental to the possibility of a new world. These are public spaces. Spaces forgathering, leisure, meeting, and interacting – these spaces should be the reason we live in cities. Where the state and the interests of owners have made them inaccessible, exclusive or dangerous, it is up to us to make sure that they are safe, inclusive and just. We have and must continue to open them to anyone that wants to build a better world, particularly for the marginalized, excluded and for those groups who have suffered the worst .
What you do in these spaces is neither as grandiose and abstract nor as quotidian as “real democracy”; the nascent forms of praxis and social engagement being made in the occupations avoid the empty ideals and stale parliamentarianism that the term democracy has come to represent. And so the occupations must continue, because there is no one left to ask for reform. They must continue because we are creating what we can no longer wait for.
But the ideologies of property and propriety will manifest themselves again. Whether through the overt opposition of property owners or municipalities to your encampments or the more subtle attempts to control space through traffic regulations, anti-camping laws or health and safety rules. There is a direct conflict between what we seek to make of our cities and our spaces and what the law and the systems of policing standing behind it would have us do.
We faced such direct and indirect violence , and continue to face it . Those who said that the Egyptian revolution was peaceful did not see the horrors that police visited upon us, nor did they see the resistance and even force that revolutionaries used against the police to defend their tentative occupations and spaces: by the government's own admission; 99 police stations were put to the torch, thousands of police cars were destroyed, and all of the ruling party's offices around Egypt were burned down. Barricades were erected, officers were beaten back and pelted with rocks even as they fired tear gas and live ammunition on us. But at the end of the day on the 28 th of January they retreated, and we had won our cities.
It is not our desire to participate in violence, but it is even less our desire to lose. If we do not resist, actively, when they come to take what we have won back, then we will surely lose. Do not confuse the tactics that we used when we shouted “peaceful” with fetishizing nonviolence; if the state had given up immediately we would have been overjoyed, but as they sought to abuse us, beat us, kill us, we knew that there was no other option than to fight back. Had we laid down and allowed ourselves to be arrested, tortured, and martyred to “make a point”, we would be no less bloodied, beaten and dead. Be prepared to defend these things you have occupied, that you are building, because, after everything else has been taken from us, these reclaimed spaces are so very precious.
By way of concluding then, our only real advice to you is to continue, keep going and do not stop. Occupy more, find each other, build larger and larger networks and keep discovering new ways to experiment with social life, consensus, and democracy. Discover new ways to use these spaces, discover new ways to hold on to them and never givethem up again. Resist fiercely when you are under attack, but otherwise take pleasure in what you are doing, let it be easy, fun even. We are all watching one another now, and from Cairo we want to say that we are in solidarity with you, and we love you all for what you are doing.
Comrades from Cairo.
24th of October, 2011.
Indeed, we are now in many ways involved in the same struggle. What most pundits call “The Arab Spring” has its roots in the demonstrations, riots, strikes and occupations taking place all around the world, its foundations lie in years-long struggles by people and popular movements. The moment that we find ourselves in is nothing new, as we in Egypt and others have been fighting against systems of repression, disenfranchisement and the unchecked ravages of global capitalism (yes, we said it, capitalism): a System that has made a world that is dangerous and cruel to its inhabitants. As the interests of government increasingly cater to the interests and comforts of private, transnational capital, our cities and homes have become progressively more abstract and violent places, subject to the casual ravages of the next economic development or urban renewal scheme.
An entire generation across the globe has grown up realizing, rationally and emotionally, that we have no future in the current order of things. Living under structural adjustment policies and the supposed expertise of international organizations like the World Bank and IMF, we watched as our resources, industries and public services were sold off and dismantled as the “free market” pushed an addiction to foreign goods, to foreign food even. The profits and benefits of those freed markets went elsewhere, while Egypt and other countries in the South found their immiseration reinforced by a massive increase in police repression and torture.
The current crisis in America and Western Europe has begun to bring this reality home to you as well: that as things stand we will all work ourselves raw, our backs broken by personal debt and public austerity. Not content with carving out the remnants of the public sphere and the welfare state, capitalism and the austerity-state now even attack the private realm and people's right to decent dwelling as thousands of foreclosed-upon homeowners find themselves both homeless and indebted to the banks who have forced them on to the streets.
So we stand with you not just in your attempts to bring down the old but to experiment with the new. We are not protesting. Who is there to protest to? What could we ask them for that they could grant? We are occupying. We are reclaiming those same spaces of public practice that have been commodified, privatized and locked into the hands of faceless bureaucracy , real estate portfolios, and police ‘protection’. Hold on to these spaces, nurture them, and let the boundaries of your occupations grow. After all, who built these parks, these plazas, these buildings? Whose labor made them real and livable? Why should it seem so natural that they should be withheld from us, policed and disciplined? Reclaiming these spaces and managing them justly and collectively is proof enough of our legitimacy.
In our own occupations of Tahrir, we encountered people entering the Square every day in tears because it was the first time they had walked through those streets and spaces without being harassed by police; it is not just the ideas that are important, these spaces are fundamental to the possibility of a new world. These are public spaces. Spaces forgathering, leisure, meeting, and interacting – these spaces should be the reason we live in cities. Where the state and the interests of owners have made them inaccessible, exclusive or dangerous, it is up to us to make sure that they are safe, inclusive and just. We have and must continue to open them to anyone that wants to build a better world, particularly for the marginalized, excluded and for those groups who have suffered the worst .
What you do in these spaces is neither as grandiose and abstract nor as quotidian as “real democracy”; the nascent forms of praxis and social engagement being made in the occupations avoid the empty ideals and stale parliamentarianism that the term democracy has come to represent. And so the occupations must continue, because there is no one left to ask for reform. They must continue because we are creating what we can no longer wait for.
But the ideologies of property and propriety will manifest themselves again. Whether through the overt opposition of property owners or municipalities to your encampments or the more subtle attempts to control space through traffic regulations, anti-camping laws or health and safety rules. There is a direct conflict between what we seek to make of our cities and our spaces and what the law and the systems of policing standing behind it would have us do.
We faced such direct and indirect violence , and continue to face it . Those who said that the Egyptian revolution was peaceful did not see the horrors that police visited upon us, nor did they see the resistance and even force that revolutionaries used against the police to defend their tentative occupations and spaces: by the government's own admission; 99 police stations were put to the torch, thousands of police cars were destroyed, and all of the ruling party's offices around Egypt were burned down. Barricades were erected, officers were beaten back and pelted with rocks even as they fired tear gas and live ammunition on us. But at the end of the day on the 28 th of January they retreated, and we had won our cities.
It is not our desire to participate in violence, but it is even less our desire to lose. If we do not resist, actively, when they come to take what we have won back, then we will surely lose. Do not confuse the tactics that we used when we shouted “peaceful” with fetishizing nonviolence; if the state had given up immediately we would have been overjoyed, but as they sought to abuse us, beat us, kill us, we knew that there was no other option than to fight back. Had we laid down and allowed ourselves to be arrested, tortured, and martyred to “make a point”, we would be no less bloodied, beaten and dead. Be prepared to defend these things you have occupied, that you are building, because, after everything else has been taken from us, these reclaimed spaces are so very precious.
By way of concluding then, our only real advice to you is to continue, keep going and do not stop. Occupy more, find each other, build larger and larger networks and keep discovering new ways to experiment with social life, consensus, and democracy. Discover new ways to use these spaces, discover new ways to hold on to them and never givethem up again. Resist fiercely when you are under attack, but otherwise take pleasure in what you are doing, let it be easy, fun even. We are all watching one another now, and from Cairo we want to say that we are in solidarity with you, and we love you all for what you are doing.
Comrades from Cairo.
24th of October, 2011.
Protect Occupy Baltimore
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 25, 2011, 2:10 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
UPDATE: CITY DEFERS OCCUPY BALTIMORE PERMIT REQUEST
OCCUPATION CALLS FOR PUBLIC SUPPORT
Occupy Baltimore has been peacefully gathering in McKeldin Square on the corner of Pratt & Light Streets since October 4th, 2011. Today marks the start of the fourth week of the encampment. Early last week, after pressure from the Baltimore City police department and the department of parks and recreation, Occupy Baltimore filed an application for a permit to continue the encampment indefinitely.
On Monday, Occupy Baltimore received word that the Department of Parks & Recreation Department has not approved their permit application, and instead suggested a compromise that would allow Occupy Baltimore to continue to occupy McKeldin Square indefinitely without a permit during the daytime hours, but limit overnight presence to a maximum of 2 people, and restrict the encampment as a whole to a smaller corner of the Square. The city has asked for an answer to the proposed deal by Wednesday Oct 26th and stated that if Occupy Baltimore agrees, they will not be removed from the park for failing to obtain a permit. Should Occupy Baltimore refuse to comply with the requests to limit the overnight presence, then the city "has the right to terminate these special accommodations," though no specific date for termination has been announced. In preparation for any possible intervention by the city, Occupy Baltimore participants are issuing a general call for all allies to join the encampment starting tonight to support and protect the group sustaining the occupation at McKeldin Square.
Over the course of the past three weeks, Occupy Baltimore has begun a directly democratic dialogue, and considering their peaceful and respectful assembly, the group requests that the city allow them to maintain this peaceful democratic space, as city government counterparts have in Philadelphia and Washington DC. Representatives of Occupy Baltimore, assisted by the Maryland chapter of the ACLU, are currently in discussion with the Department of Parks and Recreation about possible negotiations on the proposed deadline and the overnight stay limitations. These limitations present a clear concern for the Occupation, which has a complex and pre-existing infrastructure, including dedicated teams for media, food, direct action, outreach, security, and other working groups that require consultation and consideration, as well as physical space onsite.
Occupy Baltimore is committed to maintaining a vibrant, safe space in McKeldin Square as the movement continues to grow an organic infrastructure of democratic representation, arts, culture, and Political debate while still allowing the public to pass through McKeldin Square, and inviting them to join in the occupation and associated activities.
Occupy Baltimore recognizes that their requests are outside of the box for the city's existing permit system, but encourages the city to work alongside peaceful and respectful demonstrators to create a legal space where all voices can be heard.
The Occupation remains hopeful that the City of Baltimore will continue to work with the movement in the coming days and weeks to ensure the continued existence of this peaceful gathering. Participants state, however, that they are closely monitoring police presence in the area as the city's deadline approaches. They encourage supporters to maximize presence in the Square starting today, and continuing throughout the week, should the authorities decide to clear the area on or after the Wednesday, October 26 deadline.
For more information, or to schedule a time to visit the occupation movement in Baltimore, please visitwww.occupybmore.org
OCCUPATION CALLS FOR PUBLIC SUPPORT
Occupy Baltimore has been peacefully gathering in McKeldin Square on the corner of Pratt & Light Streets since October 4th, 2011. Today marks the start of the fourth week of the encampment. Early last week, after pressure from the Baltimore City police department and the department of parks and recreation, Occupy Baltimore filed an application for a permit to continue the encampment indefinitely.
On Monday, Occupy Baltimore received word that the Department of Parks & Recreation Department has not approved their permit application, and instead suggested a compromise that would allow Occupy Baltimore to continue to occupy McKeldin Square indefinitely without a permit during the daytime hours, but limit overnight presence to a maximum of 2 people, and restrict the encampment as a whole to a smaller corner of the Square. The city has asked for an answer to the proposed deal by Wednesday Oct 26th and stated that if Occupy Baltimore agrees, they will not be removed from the park for failing to obtain a permit. Should Occupy Baltimore refuse to comply with the requests to limit the overnight presence, then the city "has the right to terminate these special accommodations," though no specific date for termination has been announced. In preparation for any possible intervention by the city, Occupy Baltimore participants are issuing a general call for all allies to join the encampment starting tonight to support and protect the group sustaining the occupation at McKeldin Square.
Over the course of the past three weeks, Occupy Baltimore has begun a directly democratic dialogue, and considering their peaceful and respectful assembly, the group requests that the city allow them to maintain this peaceful democratic space, as city government counterparts have in Philadelphia and Washington DC. Representatives of Occupy Baltimore, assisted by the Maryland chapter of the ACLU, are currently in discussion with the Department of Parks and Recreation about possible negotiations on the proposed deadline and the overnight stay limitations. These limitations present a clear concern for the Occupation, which has a complex and pre-existing infrastructure, including dedicated teams for media, food, direct action, outreach, security, and other working groups that require consultation and consideration, as well as physical space onsite.
Occupy Baltimore is committed to maintaining a vibrant, safe space in McKeldin Square as the movement continues to grow an organic infrastructure of democratic representation, arts, culture, and Political debate while still allowing the public to pass through McKeldin Square, and inviting them to join in the occupation and associated activities.
Occupy Baltimore recognizes that their requests are outside of the box for the city's existing permit system, but encourages the city to work alongside peaceful and respectful demonstrators to create a legal space where all voices can be heard.
The Occupation remains hopeful that the City of Baltimore will continue to work with the movement in the coming days and weeks to ensure the continued existence of this peaceful gathering. Participants state, however, that they are closely monitoring police presence in the area as the city's deadline approaches. They encourage supporters to maximize presence in the Square starting today, and continuing throughout the week, should the authorities decide to clear the area on or after the Wednesday, October 26 deadline.
For more information, or to schedule a time to visit the occupation movement in Baltimore, please visitwww.occupybmore.org
Occupied Wall Street Journal's New Site
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 25, 2011, 4:13 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
The Occupied Wall Street Journal came out with its 3rd edition and launched a new site. Check them out!
Download Issue 3 | View Occupiedmedia.org
Drumming and the Occupation
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 24, 2011, 6:57 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
The occupation of Liberty Square is a symbol of the growing international movement fighting against neoliberal economic practices, the crimes of Wall Street and the resulting income inequality, unemployment, and oppression of people at the front lines of the economic crisis. More than a week ago we successfully rallied to defend our occupation from eviction. Knowing that the neighborhood we built was important to our movement, occupiers reorganized the space and prepared for eviction defense, community board and local elects pressuredBrookfield Properties, and local organizations and unions mobilized their members in defense of Liberty Square. Brookfield and Bloomberg backed down in the face of this joint effort. #ows has international support, and is part of a global movement for economic and social justice that is only just starting to take form. It is within this context that we must drill down, look inward and converse with each other about our actions in this space.
For weeks, occupiers, working groups, individuals from the community board, and neighbors have approached the drummers on the west side of Liberty Square in an effort to involve them in conversations revolving around their constant presence. The drummers have been asked to stop drumming during quiet hours, to not drum during GA, and to allow other music to enter the square. The drummers, who feel that they are bringing rhythm to the revolution and have a voice that must be heard have felt disrespected and disparaged. The situation has been heated. A division grew within the square as well as with our neighbors. On Oct 13th, the General Assembly of Liberty Square passed a resolution to limit drumming times to 2 hours a day, between the hours of 11 and 5 as part of a good neighbor policy. Many drummers rejected this. A group of mediators began to work with the drummers and reached an agreement that they would instead drum for 4 hours per day, from 12pm - 2pm and 4pm - 6pm. The OWS Community Relations team, drummers, mediators, and several local residents from the community board spent weeks listening, building trust, and figuring out ways for drummers to work in solidarity with the occupation. As a result, drumming dropped from consistent 10 + hours a day, but is occurring more than the 2 hours consensed to by the General Assembly, and more then the 4 hours consensed to by the drummers.
In the spirit of consensus and community, mediation is still in process. The working group Pulse has been formed by the drummers and is working to bring forward proposals to the General Assembly of Liberty Square. This issue has been talked about in the park, at the General Assembly, on forums, and emails for weeks. This is an example of how we as a community share space and how we mobilize together to build consensus between all members of a conversation. Drumming has a loud voice in Liberty Square. Pulse is an important piece of our movement - they are integral to marches, morale, and the general mood of energy we have created. But many within Liberty Square feel as though their voice is being drowned out by the drumming, that it has become difficult to have the conversations that they think are important. We have created a small, vibrant and diverse community within the Square - it is natural that some issues would and will arise, but we hope to work together and continue to effect positive change in this place and in this world.
"Where Do We Go From Here?"
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 23, 2011, 9:32 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
On the one month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, Ed David went to Liberty Plaza to find out where the movement will go next.
Director ED DAVID
Producer DANA SALVATORE
Cinematography ED DAVID & ANDREW MCMULLEN
Editors LILY HENDERSON & ED DAVID
Assistant Producer JILLIAN MASON
Music: "I Drive" by Cliff Martinez
ED - kittyguerrilla.com
ANDREW - andrewmcmullen.com
LILY - thinplacepictures.com
Director ED DAVID
Producer DANA SALVATORE
Cinematography ED DAVID & ANDREW MCMULLEN
Editors LILY HENDERSON & ED DAVID
Assistant Producer JILLIAN MASON
Music: "I Drive" by Cliff Martinez
ED - kittyguerrilla.com
ANDREW - andrewmcmullen.com
LILY - thinplacepictures.com
Occupy Chicago Being Dispersed / Arrested By Police Presently
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 23, 2011, 2:31 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Right now our sisters and brothers on the ground are in trouble and need your help!
If you can't make it in person, you can do the following:
Please follow:
- 15 have been arrested so far
- 120+ are in the process of being arrested tonight
If you can't make it in person, you can do the following:
Please follow:
- Livestream
- www.OccupyChi.org
- Twitter Hashtag #occupychi
- Twitter @occupyt
- Chicago Police Department: 312-744-4000
- Mayor's Office: 312-744-5000
- Governer's Office: 312-787-0244
STOP & FRISK HAS GOT TO GO! Solidarity with #occupyharlem.
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 22, 2011, 6:35 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
A new uncompromising movement against NYPD's notorious Stop & Frisk program began yesterday as hundreds of demonstrators marched from the Harlem State Office Building to Harlem’s 28th precinct. At the station, Cornel West, author and Princeton professor, Carl Dix of the Revolutionary Communist Party, Rev. Stephen Phelps, interim senior minister of Riverside Church, and dozens of others were arrested in an act of non-violent civil disobedience. Among those arrested and protesting was a large contingent from downtown’s Occupy Wall Street.
“We are here today to put our bodies on the line to stop this racist, immoral, illegitimate and unjust ‘new Jim Crow’ from the gateway of stop and frisk to the wholesale mass incarceration of Black and Brown people," said Dix to the assembled marchers. "We are serious and we will continue until we Stop Stop & Frisk!” The crowd chanted, “Stop & Frisk don’t stop the crime, Stop & Frisk IS the crime,” as arrestees were carried to waiting police vans. A solidarity march to 33rd Precinct ensused, where arrestees were said to be held.
The fight continues with Saturday’s 2:00 pm rally at Union Square, part of a National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation.
According to a New York Civil Liberties Union study, the NYPD is on pace to stop and frisk over 700,000 people in 2011, or more than 1,900 people each day. More than 85% of those stopped and frisked are Black or Latino, and more than 90% of them were doing nothing wrong when the police stopped them.
The action was organized in solidarity with #occupyharlem, which will begin on October 28th.
“We are here today to put our bodies on the line to stop this racist, immoral, illegitimate and unjust ‘new Jim Crow’ from the gateway of stop and frisk to the wholesale mass incarceration of Black and Brown people," said Dix to the assembled marchers. "We are serious and we will continue until we Stop Stop & Frisk!” The crowd chanted, “Stop & Frisk don’t stop the crime, Stop & Frisk IS the crime,” as arrestees were carried to waiting police vans. A solidarity march to 33rd Precinct ensused, where arrestees were said to be held.
The fight continues with Saturday’s 2:00 pm rally at Union Square, part of a National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation.
According to a New York Civil Liberties Union study, the NYPD is on pace to stop and frisk over 700,000 people in 2011, or more than 1,900 people each day. More than 85% of those stopped and frisked are Black or Latino, and more than 90% of them were doing nothing wrong when the police stopped them.
The action was organized in solidarity with #occupyharlem, which will begin on October 28th.
Occupy Columbus Circle
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 21, 2011, 5:18 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Demands Working Group
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 21, 2011, 3:01 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
A group claiming to be affiliated with the General Assembly of Liberty Square and #ows has been speaking to the media on behalf of our movement.
This group is not empowered by the NYC General Assembly.
This group is not open-source and does not act by consensus.
This group only represents themselves.
While we encourage the participation of autonomous working groups, no single person or group has the authority to make demands on behalf of general assemblies around the world.
We are our demands. This #ows movement is about empowering communities to form their own general assemblies, to fight back against the tyranny of the 1%. Our collective struggles cannot be co-opted.
This group is not empowered by the NYC General Assembly.
This group is not open-source and does not act by consensus.
This group only represents themselves.
While we encourage the participation of autonomous working groups, no single person or group has the authority to make demands on behalf of general assemblies around the world.
We are our demands. This #ows movement is about empowering communities to form their own general assemblies, to fight back against the tyranny of the 1%. Our collective struggles cannot be co-opted.
As We Gather Together
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 21, 2011, 12:55 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Occupy Wall Street Survey
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 21, 2011, 9:48 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Please take some time to fill out our survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VSN6VW9
Stop The Spectra Pipeline | Meet-Up at Liberty Square at 5 P.M. For Die-In at P.S. 41
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 20, 2011, 2:15 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
OWS is fighting to strengthen democracy, and to end the domination of big money interests. Fracking is a clear example of how the power of money trumps common sense and controls our democracy. Fracking is incredibly destructive to the environment and human health.
On Thursday, October 20th at five in the afternoon the residents of Liberty Square will march to the FERC hearing on the Spectra Pipeline at P.S. 41, located at 116 West 11th Street (between 6th and 7th avenues).
Shortly before the hearings begin at seven in the evening we will stage a die-in to illustrate the likely results of this disasterous proposal by a disreputable corporation intent on infecting our drinking water with by-products from fracking. After the die-in members of #ows will enter the hearing and respectfully engage in participatory direct action against this catastrophic project.
Do not let the destruction and death that occured due to corporate negligence in San Bruno, California last year happen in the West Village.
Come and speak for #ows, come and speak for yourself. We will see you there.
Submit comments to FERC online or by mail prior to Oct. 31st if you cannot attend the hearing
Parents for Occupy Wall Street Family Sleepover
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 20, 2011, 12:13 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Families Plan Sleepover on Friday, October 21, Growing Support for Occupy Wall Street Community
http://www.parentsforoccupywallst.com/
Liberty Square, NY — A second try.
The parent founded and run group, “Parents for Occupy Wall Street,” will be hosting a Family Sleepover, from 4 PM, Friday, October 21st until 11 AM the following Saturday morning—a second try after being forced to cancel their planned sleepover last weekend because of a threatened eviction. With the Family Sleepover rescheduled for this weekend, parents and families in the greater New York City area are excited to demonstrate their support for this growing movement creating real change for our children’s futures.
Occupy Wall Street is a place for everyone, including families. At the Family Sleepover, families and children will find arts and crafts, a children’s music sing along, a pizza party, and a bed time story. With the help of various teacher and parent groups, such as the “School for the 99%,” and the Occupy Wall Street Outreach team, the Family Sleepover will have a sectioned off Child and Family Only area at Liberty Plaza.
Safety is the first measure on everyone’s mind. Security and strict involvement rules will be taken at the event including a check in and check out system with parent’s ID with a Parents for Occupy Wall Street security person and an hourly headcount. All parents will be required to wear an identifying T-shirt while working shifts around the hour. The police are already aware of the group and will be checked in with hourly on the group’s size and location.
The group’s goal is to raise awareness of the diversity of people supporting the movement. In the press, there is an assumption that the only people supporting the movement are solely homeless or unemployed when that couldn’t be further from the truth. With even a short visit to Liberty Plaza, you will see all walks of life supporting the movement, including middle class working families.
With the Family Sleepover, Parents for Occupy Wall Street are Occupying to speak up for the ones without a voice and make real change, change for their children’s futures.
http://www.parentsforoccupywallst.com/
Liberty Square, NY — A second try.
The parent founded and run group, “Parents for Occupy Wall Street,” will be hosting a Family Sleepover, from 4 PM, Friday, October 21st until 11 AM the following Saturday morning—a second try after being forced to cancel their planned sleepover last weekend because of a threatened eviction. With the Family Sleepover rescheduled for this weekend, parents and families in the greater New York City area are excited to demonstrate their support for this growing movement creating real change for our children’s futures.
Occupy Wall Street is a place for everyone, including families. At the Family Sleepover, families and children will find arts and crafts, a children’s music sing along, a pizza party, and a bed time story. With the help of various teacher and parent groups, such as the “School for the 99%,” and the Occupy Wall Street Outreach team, the Family Sleepover will have a sectioned off Child and Family Only area at Liberty Plaza.
Safety is the first measure on everyone’s mind. Security and strict involvement rules will be taken at the event including a check in and check out system with parent’s ID with a Parents for Occupy Wall Street security person and an hourly headcount. All parents will be required to wear an identifying T-shirt while working shifts around the hour. The police are already aware of the group and will be checked in with hourly on the group’s size and location.
The group’s goal is to raise awareness of the diversity of people supporting the movement. In the press, there is an assumption that the only people supporting the movement are solely homeless or unemployed when that couldn’t be further from the truth. With even a short visit to Liberty Plaza, you will see all walks of life supporting the movement, including middle class working families.
With the Family Sleepover, Parents for Occupy Wall Street are Occupying to speak up for the ones without a voice and make real change, change for their children’s futures.
America Supports #OWS
Posted 2 weeks ago on Oct. 20, 2011, 11:06 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Supplies and Support Pour into Occupy Wall Street from Every Corner of the US
Occupiers Launch Tumblr Website Today: Gallery of Personal Notes of Support from Farmers, Veterans, Grandparents and "Knitters for Occupy Wall St"http://occupywallstreetcarepackages.tumblr.com/
Liberty Square, NY — Today we want to spotlight the tens of thousands of people from across the United States and around the world who are supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement by contributing blankets, clothing, food, money, and other needed supplies. The support has truly been overwhelming.
Over one month ago, hundreds, and then thousands, gathered in Liberty Square to protest unprecedented consolidation of wealth and power, plummeting household income, skyrocketing school debt, and a broken political system. In the weeks since, hundreds of thousands have rallied and occupied in cities and towns around the world. And people from every corner of the United States have sent donations of tarps, home baked pies, hand-knit mittens, and pizzas — with personal notes of solidarity and support.
OWS has compiled notes from supporters on a Tumblr site called Occupy Wall St. Care Packages:
http://occupywallstreetcarepackages.tumblr.com/
This new site features only a tiny fraction of the thousands of packages and letters of support we have received. It includes messages like this one from Elora and Monte, supporters who live on a farm in West Virginia:
"We stand ready to help #OWS in any way we can, from out here 'Just Off the One-Lane Road...' And we are so grateful for all of you involved in this defense of America. We firmly believe this is "it." If we can't grab this democracy this time, we'll sink and it will be a long time before we will have this opportunity again. Thank you for taking time from your busy life to be there and to email us. Whatever we can do, we are pleased to be a part of this incredible Movement."
We know from history that social movements grow when they have a broad base of support. We are thankful that this movement has attained such a dramatic level of support in a short amount of time. We are hopeful that this people's movement will continue to grow.
10 a.m. All Hands on Deck for Square Reorganizing!
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 20, 2011, 12:31 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Liberty Square is a space created for culture and civics, for eduction, and building solidarity. A place to mint revolutionary thought, where the next generation of freedom fighters, organizers and artists will be raised. On Thursday, October 20th, at ten in the morning we will be reorganizing the square. Sanitation, and Town Planning are calling for #OWS to come out, grab a broom, a mop, and work to make the Square beautiful. This is a space for individuals of every age, race, creed and religion to enjoy. On Friday From 4pm - 11am there will be a Family sleep over. We need to create space and to welcome them into the #OWS!
OWS Snapshot
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 19, 2011, 3:30 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
OWS vibrates with activity. In every corner of Liberty Square people are organizing against corporate greed, refusing to be afraid, to be silenced. The local community center, the nearby atrium, the surrounding parks and cafes pulse with working groups planning actions, coordinating with community groups, engaging with the press, supporting each other, and strengthening solidarity within the movement. We are growing change in the shadow of the wealth, greed, and thievery that is Wall Street.
Good Neighbors: The community relations committee has been in hyperdrive. The General Assembly passed a Good Neighbor Policy 5 days ago and has been working nonstop to fully implement the agreement, distributing the policy via flyers, prominently displayed posters around the square, and by word of mouth. Drumming has been reduced drastically from the ten hours a day barrage a week earlier. We see drumming as a top priority and continue to work with the drummers, utilizing mediation, common sense, and mutual respect to implement the 2 hours a day policy.
No Hate: Many people from different places have been affected by the greed of the 1% and by the false solutions of corporate greed, union busting, and the slashing and privatization of social services. The 99% is varied and broad - but we have principles of solidarity, and we are working together to make a better world - a world of inclusion, dignity, love and respect. #OWS has no space for racism, sexism, transphobia, anti-immigrant hatred, xenophobia, and hatred in general.
Demands: A group claiming to be on the verge of issuing demands for #OWS has gotten the attention of a story hungry media. We are our demands. #OWS is conversation, organization, and action focused on ending the tyranny of the 1%. On Saturday we marched in solidarity against corrupt banking systems, against war, and against foreclosure. We discussed how to break up the "too big to fail" financial companies and end excessive wall street executive bonuses, we were arrested while trying to remove our money from the grasp of these dangerous institutions, we occupied the boardrooms of the 1% so they wouldn't feel so sad and alone, weoccupied foreclosure court rooms where they use a broken system to legally steal the homes of the 99%, rallied in front of military recruitment centers demanding an end to US wars, and tens of thousands of us marched into the times square, the neon heart of consumerism, demanding economic justice.
Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power major banks and unaccountable multinational corporations wield against democracy, and the role of Wall Street in creating the economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in nearly a century. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and around the world, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people are writing the rules of a dangerous neoliberal economic agenda that is stealing our future.
Highlights
Anniversary Night, OCT 17: The square was beautiful. It sparkled under the city lamp light. Occupiers flowed quietly through the clean passages, socializing in the new spaces designed by the town planning committee. We lit candles and sang "We Shall Not Be Moved." We shared our one month occupy cake. One month! A medical tent was raised, and when dozens of police lined up to take it down they were meet by hundreds of occupiers. Joined by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, arms linked, occupiers faced down the NYPD, and the medical tent remained in place. An amazing way to welcome the second month!Good Neighbors: The community relations committee has been in hyperdrive. The General Assembly passed a Good Neighbor Policy 5 days ago and has been working nonstop to fully implement the agreement, distributing the policy via flyers, prominently displayed posters around the square, and by word of mouth. Drumming has been reduced drastically from the ten hours a day barrage a week earlier. We see drumming as a top priority and continue to work with the drummers, utilizing mediation, common sense, and mutual respect to implement the 2 hours a day policy.
No Hate: Many people from different places have been affected by the greed of the 1% and by the false solutions of corporate greed, union busting, and the slashing and privatization of social services. The 99% is varied and broad - but we have principles of solidarity, and we are working together to make a better world - a world of inclusion, dignity, love and respect. #OWS has no space for racism, sexism, transphobia, anti-immigrant hatred, xenophobia, and hatred in general.
Demands: A group claiming to be on the verge of issuing demands for #OWS has gotten the attention of a story hungry media. We are our demands. #OWS is conversation, organization, and action focused on ending the tyranny of the 1%. On Saturday we marched in solidarity against corrupt banking systems, against war, and against foreclosure. We discussed how to break up the "too big to fail" financial companies and end excessive wall street executive bonuses, we were arrested while trying to remove our money from the grasp of these dangerous institutions, we occupied the boardrooms of the 1% so they wouldn't feel so sad and alone, weoccupied foreclosure court rooms where they use a broken system to legally steal the homes of the 99%, rallied in front of military recruitment centers demanding an end to US wars, and tens of thousands of us marched into the times square, the neon heart of consumerism, demanding economic justice.
Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power major banks and unaccountable multinational corporations wield against democracy, and the role of Wall Street in creating the economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in nearly a century. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and around the world, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people are writing the rules of a dangerous neoliberal economic agenda that is stealing our future.
70% of #OWS Supporters are Politically Independent
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 19, 2011, 2:11 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Two weeks ago we conducted an anonymous poll on this website to learn more about our visitors. We asked Héctor R. Cordero-Guzmán Ph.D, sociologist of the City University of New York to look at the data, which he analyzed to create an original academic paper titled "Mainstream Support for a Mainstream Movement".
His analysis shows that the Occupy Wall Street movement is heavily supported by a diverse group of individuals and that "the 99% movement comes from and looks like the 99%." Among the most telling of his findings is that 70.3% of respondents identified as politically independent.
Dr. Cordero-Guzmán's findings strongly reinforce what we've known all along: Occupy Wall Street is a post-political movement representing something far greater than failed party politics. We are a movement of people empowerment, a collective realization that we ourselves have the power to create change from the bottom-up, because we don't need Wall Street and we don't need politicians.
Since our humble beginning a few short weeks ago, we've helped inspire people around the world to organizedemocratic assemblies in their own communities to take back public spaces, meet basic needs, make their own demands, and begin building a better world today.
Below is Dr. Cordero-Guzmán's executive summary of his findings along with a link to his full academic paper.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has galvanized the attention of the world by organizing the largest demonstrations in this country as a response to the Great Recession caused by our financial and political leaders. Data from a survey of 1,619 respondents from a survey placed on occupywallst.org suggests that there is a huge undercurrent of mainstream dissatisfaction with traditional political party affiliations as well a huge amount of support for radical change in the United States of America.
Full Paper: Mainstream Support for a Mainstream Movement (PDF)
His analysis shows that the Occupy Wall Street movement is heavily supported by a diverse group of individuals and that "the 99% movement comes from and looks like the 99%." Among the most telling of his findings is that 70.3% of respondents identified as politically independent.
Dr. Cordero-Guzmán's findings strongly reinforce what we've known all along: Occupy Wall Street is a post-political movement representing something far greater than failed party politics. We are a movement of people empowerment, a collective realization that we ourselves have the power to create change from the bottom-up, because we don't need Wall Street and we don't need politicians.
Since our humble beginning a few short weeks ago, we've helped inspire people around the world to organizedemocratic assemblies in their own communities to take back public spaces, meet basic needs, make their own demands, and begin building a better world today.
Below is Dr. Cordero-Guzmán's executive summary of his findings along with a link to his full academic paper.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has galvanized the attention of the world by organizing the largest demonstrations in this country as a response to the Great Recession caused by our financial and political leaders. Data from a survey of 1,619 respondents from a survey placed on occupywallst.org suggests that there is a huge undercurrent of mainstream dissatisfaction with traditional political party affiliations as well a huge amount of support for radical change in the United States of America.
- 92.5% of respondents either somewhat or strongly supported the protests with most respondents indicating strong support.
- 1/4th of the sample (or 24.2%) participated in the Occupy Wall Street protests as of October 5, 2011.
- 91.8% of the sample thinks that the Occupy Wall Street Protests will continue to grow.
- 64.2% of respondents were younger than 34 years of age.
- While the sample is relatively young, one in three respondents is older than 35 and one in five respondents is 45 and older.
- 7.9% of respondents have a high school degree or less.
- 92.1% of the sample has some college, a college degree, or a graduate degree.
- 27.4% have some college (but no degree), 35% have a college degree, 8.2% have some graduate school (but no degree), and close to 21.5% have a graduate school degree.
- This is a highly educated sample.
- 26.7% of respondents were enrolled in school and 73.3% were not enrolled in school.
- 50.4% were employed full-time and an additional 20.4% were employed part-time.
- 13.1% of the sample are unemployed.
- 2.6% of respondents were retired, 1.3% disabled, 2.6% homemakers and 9.7% are full-time students.
- 47.5% of the sample earns less than $24,999 dollars a year and another quarter (24%) earn between $25,000 and $49,999 per year.
- 71.5% of the sample earns less than $50,000 per year.
- 15.4% of the sample earned between $50,000 and $74,999.
- The remainder 13% of the sample earn over $75,000 with close to 2% earning over $150,000 per year.
- 27.3% of respondents considered themselves Democrats, another 2.4% said they were Republican.
- Interestingly, a very large proportion of the sample, close to 70.3%, considered themselvesIndependents.
- 66.4% in the sample agree somewhat or strongly that they regularly use Facebook.
- 28.9% in the sample agree somewhat or strongly that they regularly use Twitter.
- 73.9% in the sample agree somewhat or strongly that they regularly use YouTube.
- Our data suggest that the 99% movement comes from and looks like the 99%.
Full Paper: Mainstream Support for a Mainstream Movement (PDF)
Occupy Wall Street Marks One Month
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 17, 2011, 8:20 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Occupations Spread to Over 100 US Cities
Movement For Economic Justice Gains Global MomentumLiberty Square, New York, NY — One month ago today about 2,000 people rallied in Lower Manhattan and marched up Broadway. Stopping at Zuccotti Park an estimated 150 stayed the night and began an encampment. Renaming the space “Liberty Square,” we kicked off a protest against bank bailouts, corporate greed, and the unchecked power of Wall Street in Washington. In the last month, the message of “We are the 99%” has won the hearts and minds of over half of Americans (according to a recent Time survey) and is gaining ground globally, with 1500 protests in 82 countries this past Saturday (October 15).
“I am here to celebrate the 30th day of this protest against corporate power,” said Karanja Gacuca from Liberty Square, a former Wall Street analyst who now organizes with Occupy Wall Street. “Concerned about the egregious Wall Street bonuses — particularly after the industry accepted a tax-payer bailout and the middle class continues to be squeezed — I believe it's time for a fairer system that provides health care, education, and opportunity for all, and rejects corporate influence over government.”
Inspired by the uprisings across the Arab world, and fueled by the feelings of anger and helplessness of everyday Americans, in the past month Occupy Wall Street has:
- Gone Global: On October 15th, protests were held from North and South America to Asia, Africa and Europe, with over 1,500 events in 82 countries, as part of a global day of action.
- Flourished with Diversity: Occupiers of different ages, races, walks of life, and political beliefs have joined the movement. The mix grew quickly to include students, elderly people, families with children, construction workers on their lunch breaks, unemployed Wall Street executives, Iraq & Afghanistan veterans, moms, and many others.
- Gained Support in the Heartland: Occupy actions are happening all across middle America, from Kethcum, ID to Kalamazoo, MI, from Orlando to Anchorage. Every day financial contributions arrive along with clothes, food, and notes of support from all across the country. A couple from West Virginia who have been sending supplies to Liberty Square occupiers writes: “We are so grateful for all of you involved in this defense of America. We firmly believe this is ‘it.’ If we can't grab this democracy this time, we'll sink and it will be a long time before we will have this opportunity again. Thank you for taking time from your busy life to be there.”
- Changed the Conversation: The people-powered force of shared anger at a broken system that profits the top 1% at the expense of the rest of us has shifted our national dialogue. The Occupy Wall Street protest has become a cultural phenomenon, mentioned everywhere from jokes on Saturday Night Live to the solemn dedication the national memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by President Obama Sunday. We, the occupiers, have shown our country how to come together and respect differences while working together to build a movement for change.
Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future.
From Tahrir Square to Times Square: Protests Erupt in Over 1,500 Cities Worldwide
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 16, 2011, 1:08 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tens of Thousands in Streets of Times Square, NY
Tens of Thousands Flood the Streets of Global Financial Centers, Capitol Cities and Small Towns to "Occupy Together" Against Wall Street Mid-Town Manhattan Jammed as Marches Converge in Times Square
New York, NY -- After triumphing in a standoff with the city over the continued protest of Wall Street at Liberty Square in Manhattan's financial district, the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread world wide today with demonstrations in over 1,500 cities globally and over 100 US cities from coast to coast. In New York, thousands marched in various protests by trade unions, students, environmentalists, and community groups. As occupiers flocked to Washington Square Park, two dozen participants were arrested at a nearby Citibank while attempting to withdraw their accounts from the global banking giant.
"I am occupying Wall Street because it is my future, my generations' future, that is at stake," said Linnea Palmer Paton, 23, a student at New York University. "Inspired by the peaceful occupation of Tahrir Square in Cairo, tonight we are are coming together in Times Square to show the world that the power of the people is an unstoppable force of global change. Today, we are fighting back against the dictators of our country - the Wall Street banks - and we are winning."
New Yorkers congregated in assemblies organized by borough, and then flooded the subway system en mass to join the movement in Manhattan. A group calling itself Todo Boricua Para Wall Street marched as a Puerto Rican contingent of several hundred playing traditional music and waving the Lares flag, a symbol of resistance to colonial Spain. "Puerto Ricans are the 99% and we will continue to join our brothers and sisters in occupying Wall Street," said David Galarza Santa, a trade unionist from Sunset Park, Brooklyn. "We are here to stand with all Latinos, who are being scapegoated by the 1%, while it is the bankers who have caused this crisis and the banks who are breaking the law."
While the spotlight is on New York, "occupy" actions are also happening all across the Midwestern and the Southern United States, from Ashland, Kentucky to Dallas, Texas to Ketchum, Idaho. Four hundred Iowans marched in Des Moines, Iowa Saturday as part of the day of action:
"People are suffering here in Iowa. Family farmers are struggling, students face mounting debt and fewer good jobs, and household incomes are plummeting," said Judy Lonning a 69-year-old retired public school teacher. "We're not willing to keep suffering for Wall Street's sins. People here are waking up and realizing that we can't just go to the ballot box. We're building a movement to make our leaders listen."
Protests filled streets of financial districts from Berlin, to Athens, Auckland to Mumbai, Tokyo to Seoul. In the UK over 3,000 people attempted to occupy the London Stock Exchange. "The financial system benefits a handful of banks at the expense of everyday people," said Spyro Van Leemnen, a 27-year old public relations agent in London and a core member of the demonstrators. "The same people who are responsible for the recession are getting away with massive bonuses. This is fundamentally unfair and undemocratic."
In South Africa, about 80 people gathered at the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, Talk Radio 702 reported. Protests continued despite police efforts to declare the gathering illegal. In Taiwan, organizers drew several hundred demonstrators, who mostly sat quietly outside the Taipei World Financial Center, known as Taipei 101.
600 people have begun an occupation of Confederation Park in Ottawa, Canada today to join the global day of action. "I am here today to stand with Indigenous Peoples around the world who are resisting this corrupt global banking system that puts profits before human rights," said Ben Powless, Mohawk citizen and indigenous youth leader. "Native Peoples are the 99%, and we've been resisting the 1% since 1492. We're marching today for self- determination and dignity against a system that has robbed our lands, poisoned our waters, and oppressed our people for generations. Today we join with those in New York and around the world to say, No More!"
In Australia, about 800 people gathered in Sydney's central business district, carrying cardboard banners and chanting "Human need, not corporate greed." Protesters will camp indefinitely "to organize, discuss and build a movement for a different world, not run by the super-rich 1%," according to a statement on the Occupy Sydney website.
The movement's success is due in part to the use of online technologies and international social networking. The rapid spread of the protests is a grassroots response to the overwhelming inequalities perpetuated by the global financial system and transnational banks. More actions are expected in the coming weeks, and the Occupation of Liberty Square in Manhattan will continue indefinitely.
Occupy Wall Street is a people powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations.The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality that is foreclosing our future.
Tens of Thousands Flood the Streets of Global Financial Centers, Capitol Cities and Small Towns to "Occupy Together" Against Wall Street Mid-Town Manhattan Jammed as Marches Converge in Times Square
New York, NY -- After triumphing in a standoff with the city over the continued protest of Wall Street at Liberty Square in Manhattan's financial district, the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread world wide today with demonstrations in over 1,500 cities globally and over 100 US cities from coast to coast. In New York, thousands marched in various protests by trade unions, students, environmentalists, and community groups. As occupiers flocked to Washington Square Park, two dozen participants were arrested at a nearby Citibank while attempting to withdraw their accounts from the global banking giant.
"I am occupying Wall Street because it is my future, my generations' future, that is at stake," said Linnea Palmer Paton, 23, a student at New York University. "Inspired by the peaceful occupation of Tahrir Square in Cairo, tonight we are are coming together in Times Square to show the world that the power of the people is an unstoppable force of global change. Today, we are fighting back against the dictators of our country - the Wall Street banks - and we are winning."
New Yorkers congregated in assemblies organized by borough, and then flooded the subway system en mass to join the movement in Manhattan. A group calling itself Todo Boricua Para Wall Street marched as a Puerto Rican contingent of several hundred playing traditional music and waving the Lares flag, a symbol of resistance to colonial Spain. "Puerto Ricans are the 99% and we will continue to join our brothers and sisters in occupying Wall Street," said David Galarza Santa, a trade unionist from Sunset Park, Brooklyn. "We are here to stand with all Latinos, who are being scapegoated by the 1%, while it is the bankers who have caused this crisis and the banks who are breaking the law."
While the spotlight is on New York, "occupy" actions are also happening all across the Midwestern and the Southern United States, from Ashland, Kentucky to Dallas, Texas to Ketchum, Idaho. Four hundred Iowans marched in Des Moines, Iowa Saturday as part of the day of action:
"People are suffering here in Iowa. Family farmers are struggling, students face mounting debt and fewer good jobs, and household incomes are plummeting," said Judy Lonning a 69-year-old retired public school teacher. "We're not willing to keep suffering for Wall Street's sins. People here are waking up and realizing that we can't just go to the ballot box. We're building a movement to make our leaders listen."
Protests filled streets of financial districts from Berlin, to Athens, Auckland to Mumbai, Tokyo to Seoul. In the UK over 3,000 people attempted to occupy the London Stock Exchange. "The financial system benefits a handful of banks at the expense of everyday people," said Spyro Van Leemnen, a 27-year old public relations agent in London and a core member of the demonstrators. "The same people who are responsible for the recession are getting away with massive bonuses. This is fundamentally unfair and undemocratic."
In South Africa, about 80 people gathered at the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, Talk Radio 702 reported. Protests continued despite police efforts to declare the gathering illegal. In Taiwan, organizers drew several hundred demonstrators, who mostly sat quietly outside the Taipei World Financial Center, known as Taipei 101.
600 people have begun an occupation of Confederation Park in Ottawa, Canada today to join the global day of action. "I am here today to stand with Indigenous Peoples around the world who are resisting this corrupt global banking system that puts profits before human rights," said Ben Powless, Mohawk citizen and indigenous youth leader. "Native Peoples are the 99%, and we've been resisting the 1% since 1492. We're marching today for self- determination and dignity against a system that has robbed our lands, poisoned our waters, and oppressed our people for generations. Today we join with those in New York and around the world to say, No More!"
In Australia, about 800 people gathered in Sydney's central business district, carrying cardboard banners and chanting "Human need, not corporate greed." Protesters will camp indefinitely "to organize, discuss and build a movement for a different world, not run by the super-rich 1%," according to a statement on the Occupy Sydney website.
The movement's success is due in part to the use of online technologies and international social networking. The rapid spread of the protests is a grassroots response to the overwhelming inequalities perpetuated by the global financial system and transnational banks. More actions are expected in the coming weeks, and the Occupation of Liberty Square in Manhattan will continue indefinitely.
Occupy Wall Street is a people powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations.The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality that is foreclosing our future.
October 15th - Global Day Of Action
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 15, 2011, 6:12 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
NYC Live Updates
- 12:40 a.m. Police are barricading Washington Square Park from the public. Property not people.
- 12:12 a.m. Police are advancing on bystanders standing outside the South side of Washington Square Park.
- 12:09 a.m. Police have sealed the North and South side of Washington Square Park.
- 11:54 p.m. Police in riot gear are advancing on peaceful occupiers in Washington Square Park.
- 11:34 p.m. Police are massing at Washington Square Park. Police are moving on #occupychicago
- 9:48 p.m. 3,000 at Washington Square now, about to have a General Assembly, 70 arrests total for today.
- 9:02 p.m. 42 arrests on 47th.
- 8:50 p.m. 700 reported in Washington Square Park. Music and food there.
- 8:30 p.m. Scanner says riot cops in full gear, nets out, headed to the crowd, 47th and 6th.
- 8:11 p.m. White shirt just ordered #NYPD line AWAY from barricades. Crowd ROARS
- 8:08 p.m. Tension escalating, police ordering protesters to step away from barricades.
- 8:02 p.m. Mario: 4 paddy wagons and arrests at 46 and 6th ave.
- 8:00 p.m. Police are arresting occupiers at 46th and 6th.
- 7:30 p.m. Unconfirmed estimates ranging as high as 50,000 people in Times Square.
- 6:45 p.m. Police have trapped people in times square with barricades.
- 6:35 p.m. A horse just went down. Crowd is going wild. NYPD says anyone near barricade is going to jail. This is is inexcusable. (Source)
- 6:22 p.m. Police on horseback arrive. Police pulling people out of crowd and attacking them. Protesters are rushing barricades.
- 6:10 p.m. Police in riot gear retreat.
- 6:05 p.m. Police are in riot gear.
- 6:00 p.m. Backup has arrived. Estimated 15,000 in Times Square
- 5:49 p.m. Orange nets along Broadway.
- 5:45 p.m. Five thousand more on their way from Liberty Square and other locations.
- 5:30 p.m. Thousands arrive in Time Square. Now livestreaming:http://www.livestream.com/occupywallstnyc
- 5:13 p.m. March now 7 blocks from Times Square.
- 4:18 p.m. March from Washington Square Park is at 20th St and 6th Ave.
- 3:40 p.m. March from Washington Square Park is at 11th St and 6th Ave. At least five thousand strong.
- 3:36 p.m. It appears that Twitter is censoring our updates.
- 3:26 p.m. General Assembly of Washington Square Park marches on Times Square. 8th st and 6th ave.
- 3:19 p.m. Zombie group arriving in Washington Square Park. Hundreds march from Liberty Square to Citibank at 555 La Guardia Place in solidarity with arrested occupiers.
- 2:43 p.m. Around four thousand in Washington Square Park. Around three thousand in Liberty Square.
- 2:28 p.m. Police at 555 La Guardia Place are arresting occupiers in Citibank who are attempting to close their accounts.
- 2:23 p.m. At least 22 arrested in Citibank.
- 2:19 p.m. Citibank action 555 La Guardia Place. Occupiers are inside and currently being arrested.
- 1:57 p.m. March from Liberty Square reaches Washington Square Park. Thousands in the General Assembly meet them chanting, "Wall Street, no thanks - we don't need your greedy banks."
- 1:49 p.m. March from Liberty Square passes Waverly Place, nears Washington Square Park.
- 1:29 p.m.. Two thousand are gathered for General Assembly in Washington Square Park. Thousands more are marching to meet them.
- 1:23 p.m. At least twenty NYPD vehicles heading to Washington Square Park.
- 1:16 p.m. March from Liberty Square to Washington Square Park passes 6th and Broome.
- 1:05 p.m. Poetry cipher broke out during the Bronx General Assembly on the 4 train.
- 12:54 p.m. Bronx Police hold entrance to subway open for Bronx General Assembly - march heads downtown for free, filling two entire cars.
- 12:35 p.m. March from Liberty Square to Washington Square Park passes Church and Chambers - numbers more than a thousand.
Schedule
11AM - MARCH ON THE BANKSFrom Liberty Square to Chase
We will then march to student meet up at Wash. Sq. Park
moveyourmoneyproject.org
11AM - OCCUPY THE BRONX MEET-UP
12PM - ANTI-WAR MARCH AND TEACH-IN
Wall Street And Broadway
12PM - MASS STUDENT GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Washington Square Park -
Student meet up and student loan lender bank action
1PM - #SankofaDay
Sponsered by the Malcolm X Grass Roots Movement
Liberty Plaza/Zuccotti Park
3:30PM - ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION AGAINST MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL
New York Public Library Main Entrance
42 and 5th avenue
4PM - OCCU-PIE TIMES SQUARE RECRUITMENT CENTER
5PM - TAKE TIME SQUARE CONVERGENCE/ OCCUPATION PARTY
The Occupation Party & Facebook
Media
Washington Square Park, NYC
Times Square, NYC
Bronx, NYC
Madrid
Hong Kong
London
Rome
Berlin
Tel Aviv
Amsterdam
Los Angeles
The 1% Have Addresses. The 99% Have Messages
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 15, 2011, 11:43 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Life sure is tough for those at the top and it must get awfully lonely. Working day and night to ravage the global economy through neoliberal policy is a thankless job. The following website lists the names of many powerful financial executives and it's time we all sent them a warm thank you for the hard work they've been doing ;)
http://www.occupytheboardroom.org/
http://www.occupytheboardroom.org/
October 15th Call to Action
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 14, 2011, 11:08 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Over the last 30 years, the 1% have created a global economic system - neoliberalism - that attacks our human rights and destroys our environment. Neoliberalism is worldwide - it is the reason you no longer have a job, it is the reason you cannot afford healthcare, education, food, your mortgage.
Neoliberalism is your future stolen.
Neoliberalism is everywhere, gutting labor standards, living wages, social contracts, and environmental protections. It is "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." It is a system that ravages the global south and creates global financial crisis - crisis in Spain, in Greece, in the United States. It is a system built on greed and thrives on destablizing shocks.
It allows the 1% to enrich themselves by impoverishing humanity.
This has to stop!
We must usher in an era of democratic and economic justice.
We must change, we must evolve.
On October 15th the world will rise up as one and say, "We have had enough! We are a new beginning, a global fight on on all fronts that will usher in an era of shared prosperity, respect, mutual aid, and dignity."
Actions in NYC
October 15th: Occupy Banks from Mary Matthews on Vimeo.
Actions worldwide
Take The Square
Neoliberalism is your future stolen.
Neoliberalism is everywhere, gutting labor standards, living wages, social contracts, and environmental protections. It is "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." It is a system that ravages the global south and creates global financial crisis - crisis in Spain, in Greece, in the United States. It is a system built on greed and thrives on destablizing shocks.
It allows the 1% to enrich themselves by impoverishing humanity.
This has to stop!
We must usher in an era of democratic and economic justice.
We must change, we must evolve.
On October 15th the world will rise up as one and say, "We have had enough! We are a new beginning, a global fight on on all fronts that will usher in an era of shared prosperity, respect, mutual aid, and dignity."
Actions in NYC
October 15th: Occupy Banks from Mary Matthews on Vimeo.
Actions worldwide
Take The Square
#OWS VICTORY: The people have prevailed, gear up for global day of action
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 14, 2011, 8:51 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
People power triumphs over Wall Street’s bid to end the protests mayor bloomberg and Brookfield Inc. back down on eviction world prepares for day of action Saturday October 15 in 950+ cities in 82 countries. We Are Winning!
NEW YORK, NY – Over 3,000 people gathered at Liberty Plaza in the pre-dawn hours this morning to defend the peaceful Occupation near Wall Street. The crowd cheered at the news that multinational real estate firm Brookfield Properties will postpone its so-called “cleanup” of the park and that Mayor Bloomberg has told the NYPD to stand down on orders to remove protesters. On the eve of the October 15 global day of action against Wall Street greed, this development has emboldened the movement and sent a clear message that the power of the people has prevailed against Wall Street.
“We are winning and Wall Street is afraid,” said Kira Moyer-Sims, a protester from Portland, Oregon. “This movement is gaining momentum and is too big to fail.”
“Brookfield Properties is the 1%. They have invested $24 billion in mortgage-backed securities, so as millions face foreclosure and eviction due to predatory lending and the burst of the housing bubble that Wall Street created, its not surprising they threatened to evict Occupy Wall Street,” said Patrick Bruner, an organizer with Occupy Wall Street from the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn. “But Brookfield and Bloomberg have backed down and our movement is only growing as the 99% take to the streets world wide to call for economic justice.”
The early morning announcement from the Mayor’s office in New York came after 300,000+ Americans signed petitions to stop the eviction, and flooded the 311 phone network in solidarity with those in Liberty Square. At 6 AM this morning, 3,000+ New Yorkers, unions, students, and others joined the occupiers in the square to send a clear message to the 1% who want to silence this peaceful assembly of the 99%. Donations poured into the protesters from Italy, England, Mexico and many other countries by everyday people hoping to help the movement grow.
“For too long the 99% have been ignored as our economic system has collapsed. The banks got bailouts and we’ve been sold out, ” said Harrison Schultz, business analyst from Brooklyn . “Wall Street’s greed has corrupted our country and is killing our planet. But today we celebrate victory and vow to keep fighting for justice and change on Wall Street, and in over 100 cities in the US and over 950 cities globally.”
On October 15th, Occupy Wall Street will demonstrate in concert over 951 cities in 82 countries and counting as people around the globe protest in an international day of solidarity against the greed and corruption of the 1%.
Occupy Wall Street is a people powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations on the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy and are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality.
NEW YORK, NY – Over 3,000 people gathered at Liberty Plaza in the pre-dawn hours this morning to defend the peaceful Occupation near Wall Street. The crowd cheered at the news that multinational real estate firm Brookfield Properties will postpone its so-called “cleanup” of the park and that Mayor Bloomberg has told the NYPD to stand down on orders to remove protesters. On the eve of the October 15 global day of action against Wall Street greed, this development has emboldened the movement and sent a clear message that the power of the people has prevailed against Wall Street.
“We are winning and Wall Street is afraid,” said Kira Moyer-Sims, a protester from Portland, Oregon. “This movement is gaining momentum and is too big to fail.”
“Brookfield Properties is the 1%. They have invested $24 billion in mortgage-backed securities, so as millions face foreclosure and eviction due to predatory lending and the burst of the housing bubble that Wall Street created, its not surprising they threatened to evict Occupy Wall Street,” said Patrick Bruner, an organizer with Occupy Wall Street from the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn. “But Brookfield and Bloomberg have backed down and our movement is only growing as the 99% take to the streets world wide to call for economic justice.”
The early morning announcement from the Mayor’s office in New York came after 300,000+ Americans signed petitions to stop the eviction, and flooded the 311 phone network in solidarity with those in Liberty Square. At 6 AM this morning, 3,000+ New Yorkers, unions, students, and others joined the occupiers in the square to send a clear message to the 1% who want to silence this peaceful assembly of the 99%. Donations poured into the protesters from Italy, England, Mexico and many other countries by everyday people hoping to help the movement grow.
“For too long the 99% have been ignored as our economic system has collapsed. The banks got bailouts and we’ve been sold out, ” said Harrison Schultz, business analyst from Brooklyn . “Wall Street’s greed has corrupted our country and is killing our planet. But today we celebrate victory and vow to keep fighting for justice and change on Wall Street, and in over 100 cities in the US and over 950 cities globally.”
On October 15th, Occupy Wall Street will demonstrate in concert over 951 cities in 82 countries and counting as people around the globe protest in an international day of solidarity against the greed and corruption of the 1%.
Occupy Wall Street is a people powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations on the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy and are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality.
Parents bring Children to #ows tonight
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 14, 2011, 6:29 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Families are joining the movement to reclaim our future from Wall Street tonight by joining a child-friendly camp out at Liberty Square. The presence of children and youth in the occupation highlights the threat Wall Street's greed poses to future generations. Parents are bringing their sons and daughters to Occupy Wall Street to educate them about our broken economic system, and alternatives that could help save the planet and provide a future for the next generation.
Family Sleep Over @ Occupy Wall Street Press Conference When: Friday, Oct. 14, 8 p.m. Where: 60 Wall Street (public atrium)
Who should come? Families who are ready to join the 99% conversation Bloomberg's plans to remove protestors against their will from Zuccotti Park/Liberty Plaza for cleaning, have forced Parents for Occupy Wall Street to cancel our Friday night Family Sleep Out, but we will not be silenced.
We invite parents to come to 60 Wall Street, Friday night at 8 p.m. with their children to share the message that families are a central part of the Occupy Wall Street conversation. We welcome you to join the assembly, and bring your issues to light. There is nothing less attractive to the Bloomberg administration and other pols than to see parents and their children so invested in Occupy Wall Street that they would spend the night in a public park with their children.
The presence of parents and children at Occupy Wall Street is a direct challenge to the misconception that this is a movement that only represents the young, the radical and the broke. It does, in fact, represent all of those parties – but it's also made up of families and children who are ready to join the conversation with a list of issues, including home foreclosures, slashed public school budgets, lack of jobs, insufficient health care insurance and more. Show your kids – and our city – what democracry REALLY looks like. What is the 99% School?
The 99% School is here to represent the children and families whose voices are too often disregarded. We will contribute to sustained efforts at Occupy Wall Street with weekly teach-ins for children about the issues facing the 99%. We also seek to build alliances with other families groups supporting Occupy Wall Street. We will not be moved, and our children will be heard!
http://www.parentsforoccupywallst.com/
Family Sleep Over @ Occupy Wall Street Press Conference When: Friday, Oct. 14, 8 p.m. Where: 60 Wall Street (public atrium)
Who should come? Families who are ready to join the 99% conversation Bloomberg's plans to remove protestors against their will from Zuccotti Park/Liberty Plaza for cleaning, have forced Parents for Occupy Wall Street to cancel our Friday night Family Sleep Out, but we will not be silenced.
We invite parents to come to 60 Wall Street, Friday night at 8 p.m. with their children to share the message that families are a central part of the Occupy Wall Street conversation. We welcome you to join the assembly, and bring your issues to light. There is nothing less attractive to the Bloomberg administration and other pols than to see parents and their children so invested in Occupy Wall Street that they would spend the night in a public park with their children.
The presence of parents and children at Occupy Wall Street is a direct challenge to the misconception that this is a movement that only represents the young, the radical and the broke. It does, in fact, represent all of those parties – but it's also made up of families and children who are ready to join the conversation with a list of issues, including home foreclosures, slashed public school budgets, lack of jobs, insufficient health care insurance and more. Show your kids – and our city – what democracry REALLY looks like. What is the 99% School?
The 99% School is here to represent the children and families whose voices are too often disregarded. We will contribute to sustained efforts at Occupy Wall Street with weekly teach-ins for children about the issues facing the 99%. We also seek to build alliances with other families groups supporting Occupy Wall Street. We will not be moved, and our children will be heard!
http://www.parentsforoccupywallst.com/
EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION: Keep Bloomberg and Kelly From Evicting #OWS
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 13, 2011, 2:14 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
EMERGENCY #OWS EVICTION DEFENSE:
Prevent the forcible closure of Occupy Wall Street
Tell Bloomberg: Don't Foreclose the Occupation.
Occupy Wall Street is gaining momentum, with occupation actions now happening in cities across the world.
But last night Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD notified Occupy Wall Street participants about plans to “clean the park”—the site of the Wall Street protests—tomorrow starting at 7am. "Cleaning" was used as a pretext to shut down “Bloombergville” a few months back, and to shut down peaceful occupations elsewhere.
Bloomberg says that the park will be open for public usage following the cleaning, but with a notable caveat: Occupy Wall Street participants must follow the “rules”.
NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said that they will move in to clear us and we will not be allowed to take sleeping bags, tarps, personal items or gear back into the park.
This is it—this is their attempt to shut down #OWS for good.
2) Come to #OWS TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT to defend the occupation from eviction.
For those of you who plan to help us hold our ground—which we hope will be all of you—make sure you understand the possible consequences. Be prepared to not get much sleep. Be prepared for possible arrest. Make sure your items are together and ready to go (or already out of the park.) We are pursuing all possible strategies; this is a message of solidarity.
Click here to learn nonviolent tactics for holding ground.
Occupy Wall Street is committed to keeping the park clean and safe—we even have a Sanitation Working Group whose purpose this is. We are organizing major cleaning operations today and will do so regularly.
If Bloomberg truly cares about sanitation here he should support the installation of portopans and dumpsters. #OWS allies have been working to secure these things to support our efforts.
We know where the real dirt is: on Wall Street. Billionaire Bloomberg is beholden to bankers.
We won't allow Bloomberg and the NYPD to foreclose our occupation. This is an occupation, not a permitted picnic.
Prevent the forcible closure of Occupy Wall Street
Tell Bloomberg: Don't Foreclose the Occupation.
NEED MASS TURN-OUT, SHOW UP NO LATER THAN 6 A.M.
This is an emergency situation. Please take a minute to read this, and please take action and spread the word far and wide.Occupy Wall Street is gaining momentum, with occupation actions now happening in cities across the world.
But last night Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD notified Occupy Wall Street participants about plans to “clean the park”—the site of the Wall Street protests—tomorrow starting at 7am. "Cleaning" was used as a pretext to shut down “Bloombergville” a few months back, and to shut down peaceful occupations elsewhere.
Bloomberg says that the park will be open for public usage following the cleaning, but with a notable caveat: Occupy Wall Street participants must follow the “rules”.
NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said that they will move in to clear us and we will not be allowed to take sleeping bags, tarps, personal items or gear back into the park.
This is it—this is their attempt to shut down #OWS for good.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION
1) Call 311 (or +1 (212) NEW-YORK if you're out of town) and tell Bloomberg to support our right to assemble and to not interfere with #OWS.2) Come to #OWS TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT to defend the occupation from eviction.
For those of you who plan to help us hold our ground—which we hope will be all of you—make sure you understand the possible consequences. Be prepared to not get much sleep. Be prepared for possible arrest. Make sure your items are together and ready to go (or already out of the park.) We are pursuing all possible strategies; this is a message of solidarity.
Click here to learn nonviolent tactics for holding ground.
Occupy Wall Street is committed to keeping the park clean and safe—we even have a Sanitation Working Group whose purpose this is. We are organizing major cleaning operations today and will do so regularly.
If Bloomberg truly cares about sanitation here he should support the installation of portopans and dumpsters. #OWS allies have been working to secure these things to support our efforts.
We know where the real dirt is: on Wall Street. Billionaire Bloomberg is beholden to bankers.
We won't allow Bloomberg and the NYPD to foreclose our occupation. This is an occupation, not a permitted picnic.
How To Hold Your Ground
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 13, 2011, 2:12 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Basic Strategy: Sit down, link arms and do not let go! If the police drag you away, you can comply or go limp (both calmly and silently) which is arguably not resisting arrest. Please also respect a diversity of tactics.
For those of you who plan to stick around PAST MIDNIGHT—which we hope will be all of you—make sure you understand the possible consequences. Be prepared to not get much sleep. Be prepared for possible arrest. Make sure your items are together and ready to go (or already out of the park.) We are pursuing all possible strategies; this is a message of solidarity.
GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY
Posted 3 weeks ago on Oct. 13, 2011, 2:10 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Following respectful and good-faith dialogue with members of the local community which has been rebuilding since the trauma of 9/11, Occupy Wall Street hereby announces the following Good Neighbor Policy:
OWS has zero tolerance for drugs or alcohol anywhere in Liberty Plaza;
Zero tolerance for violence or verbal abuse towards anyone;
Zero tolerance for abuse of personal or public property.
OWS will limit drumming on the site to 2 hours per day, between the hours of 11am and 5pm only.
OWS encourages all participants to respect health and sanitary regulations, and will direct all participants to respectfully utilize appropriate off-site sanitary facilities.
OWS will display signage and have community relations and security monitors in Liberty Plaza, in order to ensure awareness of and respect for our guidelines and Good Neighbor Policy.
OWS will at all times have a community relations representative on-site, to monitor and respond to community concerns and complaints.
Occupy Wall Street October 13, 2011
Note: In conjunction with local community members and their representatives, OWS is also working to establish off-site sanitary facilities such as port-a-potties.
OWS has zero tolerance for drugs or alcohol anywhere in Liberty Plaza;
Zero tolerance for violence or verbal abuse towards anyone;
Zero tolerance for abuse of personal or public property.
OWS will limit drumming on the site to 2 hours per day, between the hours of 11am and 5pm only.
OWS encourages all participants to respect health and sanitary regulations, and will direct all participants to respectfully utilize appropriate off-site sanitary facilities.
OWS will display signage and have community relations and security monitors in Liberty Plaza, in order to ensure awareness of and respect for our guidelines and Good Neighbor Policy.
OWS will at all times have a community relations representative on-site, to monitor and respond to community concerns and complaints.
Occupy Wall Street October 13, 2011
Note: In conjunction with local community members and their representatives, OWS is also working to establish off-site sanitary facilities such as port-a-potties.
Mr. Auctioneer! New Yorkers Call for Moratorium on Foreclosures. Organizing for Occupation and Occupy Wall Street visit the courts!
Posted 4 weeks ago on Oct. 13, 2011, 2:13 a.m. EST by anonymous
New Yorkers will gather outside the Kings County Supreme Court on Thursday, October 13 at 3 pm to raise awareness of the foreclosure auctions that take place there each week.
Every week in New York City, in all five boroughs, homes are put up for auction and sale. Speculators purchase homes at discounted rates and flip them. Banks buy back homes to balance their books, evicting the homeowners and letting the homes lie vacant.
Wall Street is the cause of this systematic displacement of New Yorkers. Wall Street bankers turned mortgages into “securitized instruments” and sold them for profit. Their greed demanded the creation of more and more mortgage-backed securities. Without blinking, they used predatory loans to lure homeowners into mortgages with impossible—and unseen—interest rates.
Occupy Wall Street and Organizing for Occupation (the group that led the eviction blockade at Mary Lee Ward’s Bed-Stuy home on August 19, 2011) have teamed up to raise awareness about the weekly auctions and to hold Wall Street accountable for the foreclosure crisis!
OCCUPY WALL STREET and ORGANIZING FOR OCCUPATION calls for an IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON ALL FORECLOSURES IN NEW YORK STATE until loans are made fair and sustainable!
Thursday, October 13, 2011, at 2:30 pm Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn Rally in Columbus Park (next to Borough Hall) 2/3 and 4/5 to Borough Hall, N/R to Court Street, A/C/F to Jay Street
Organizing for Occupation web site: http://www.o4onyc.org
Every week in New York City, in all five boroughs, homes are put up for auction and sale. Speculators purchase homes at discounted rates and flip them. Banks buy back homes to balance their books, evicting the homeowners and letting the homes lie vacant.
Wall Street is the cause of this systematic displacement of New Yorkers. Wall Street bankers turned mortgages into “securitized instruments” and sold them for profit. Their greed demanded the creation of more and more mortgage-backed securities. Without blinking, they used predatory loans to lure homeowners into mortgages with impossible—and unseen—interest rates.
Occupy Wall Street and Organizing for Occupation (the group that led the eviction blockade at Mary Lee Ward’s Bed-Stuy home on August 19, 2011) have teamed up to raise awareness about the weekly auctions and to hold Wall Street accountable for the foreclosure crisis!
OCCUPY WALL STREET and ORGANIZING FOR OCCUPATION calls for an IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON ALL FORECLOSURES IN NEW YORK STATE until loans are made fair and sustainable!
Thursday, October 13, 2011, at 2:30 pm Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn Rally in Columbus Park (next to Borough Hall) 2/3 and 4/5 to Borough Hall, N/R to Court Street, A/C/F to Jay Street
Organizing for Occupation web site: http://www.o4onyc.org
October 15th Global Day Of Action
Posted 4 weeks ago on Oct. 12, 2011, 3:57 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Hi, we write you from the International Commission of Sol, in Madrid (Spain). We know that you have a lot to do in the USA, as we have here in Spain, but the 15O is coming and we need you to make a milestone in history out of it. It's the great chance we expected to start a real global revolution! This is what we are doing, and could be wonderful if you join us:
Please spread the web page of the call http://15october.net/, the graphic materialhttp://15october.net/spread-it/ and the videos http://15october.net/category/video/. And please send us your videos, banners, posters to contact.takethesquare@gmail.com so that we can compile them and put them in common. Send all of this through your mailing lists, to all your contacts, but also to all your friends.
Explain to everybody that this is not just one mobilization. It's more of "we are reinventing ourselves". Tell the occupiers how the movement is popping all over the world that extend from the streets of the Middle East to Wall Street. Also tell the occupiers that over 650 cities have already confirmed they will do an event on October 15th . You can check in http://map.15october.net/ and if a city plans to do an event invite; tell them to add it to the map. http://map.15october.net/reports/submit Explain to them that 15O is the moment to wake up all of us together and especially tell them that it is in their hands to make it a success. It's not any more about parties, organizations or unions. The call should come from all of the organizations and from the people of the world like you. There is a text that could be very useful to send this last message: "who are you?"http://map.15october.net/page/index/1
It would be great to tell your friends abroad to spread it through their countries. We need one revolution in each single city of the world.
For a further explanation about the mobilization and a more specific plan there is a document written by the international network takethesquare. http://takethesquare.net/2011/09/24/15th-october-whats-the-plan-15oct/
In order to promote and discuss the activities for October 15th, everyone is encouraged to participate and to organize local meetings to plan the details and discuss the preparation of the events for the 15th. There will also be a chat http://webchat.freenode.net/?randomnick=1&channels=15october&prompt=1 , an audio-chat (mumble: Download in http://mumble.sourceforge.net/ Host:tomalaplaza.net Port:64738, see the tutorial inhttp://takethesquare.net/2011/10/04/mumble-setup-walkthrough/) and a collaborative document padhttp://titanpad.com/15october open to everybody, so during the 48 hours people from all the world will be able of talking about the ideas and activities decided in their squares with every other occupation in the world! All the channels will be open for everybody...just participate!
Please spread the web page of the call http://15october.net/, the graphic materialhttp://15october.net/spread-it/ and the videos http://15october.net/category/video/. And please send us your videos, banners, posters to contact.takethesquare@gmail.com so that we can compile them and put them in common. Send all of this through your mailing lists, to all your contacts, but also to all your friends.
Explain to everybody that this is not just one mobilization. It's more of "we are reinventing ourselves". Tell the occupiers how the movement is popping all over the world that extend from the streets of the Middle East to Wall Street. Also tell the occupiers that over 650 cities have already confirmed they will do an event on October 15th . You can check in http://map.15october.net/ and if a city plans to do an event invite; tell them to add it to the map. http://map.15october.net/reports/submit Explain to them that 15O is the moment to wake up all of us together and especially tell them that it is in their hands to make it a success. It's not any more about parties, organizations or unions. The call should come from all of the organizations and from the people of the world like you. There is a text that could be very useful to send this last message: "who are you?"http://map.15october.net/page/index/1
It would be great to tell your friends abroad to spread it through their countries. We need one revolution in each single city of the world.
For a further explanation about the mobilization and a more specific plan there is a document written by the international network takethesquare. http://takethesquare.net/2011/09/24/15th-october-whats-the-plan-15oct/
In order to promote and discuss the activities for October 15th, everyone is encouraged to participate and to organize local meetings to plan the details and discuss the preparation of the events for the 15th. There will also be a chat http://webchat.freenode.net/?randomnick=1&channels=15october&prompt=1 , an audio-chat (mumble: Download in http://mumble.sourceforge.net/ Host:tomalaplaza.net Port:64738, see the tutorial inhttp://takethesquare.net/2011/10/04/mumble-setup-walkthrough/) and a collaborative document padhttp://titanpad.com/15october open to everybody, so during the 48 hours people from all the world will be able of talking about the ideas and activities decided in their squares with every other occupation in the world! All the channels will be open for everybody...just participate!
#OWS Stands In Solidarity With 100 Arrested At Occupy Boston
Posted 4 weeks ago on Oct. 11, 2011, 11:52 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Occupy Wall Street would like to express our support and solidarity with both the people of Boston and the 100+ arrested at Occupy Boston last night. We commend them for their bravery in standing their ground at great personal cost to assert the right of the people to peaceful assembly in public spaces.
http://occupyboston.com/2011/10/11/boston-police-brutally-assault-occupy-boston/
We condemn the Boston Police Department for their brutality in ordering their officers to descend upon the Occupy Boston tent city in full riot gear to assault, mass arrest, and destroy the possessions of these peaceful women and men. We condemn them for ordering this attack in the middle of the night. These people were not simply protesters holding a rally, it was their home, it was their community and it was violated in the worst possible way by the brutal actions of the BPD. Furthermore:
http://occupyboston.com/2011/10/11/boston-police-brutally-assault-occupy-boston/
We condemn the Boston Police Department for their brutality in ordering their officers to descend upon the Occupy Boston tent city in full riot gear to assault, mass arrest, and destroy the possessions of these peaceful women and men. We condemn them for ordering this attack in the middle of the night. These people were not simply protesters holding a rally, it was their home, it was their community and it was violated in the worst possible way by the brutal actions of the BPD. Furthermore:
The Boston Police Department made no distinction between protesters, medics, or legal observers, arresting legal observer Urszula Masny-Latos, who serves as the Executive Director for the National Lawyers Guild, as well as four medics attempting to care for the injured.[emphasis mine]These actions go beyond unconscionable, they're unthinkable. If this was war, the BPD could be found guilty of war crimes:
Chapter IV, Article 25 of the Geneva Convention states that "Members of the armed forces specially trained for employment, should the need arise, as hospital orderlies, nurses or auxiliary stretcher-bearers, in the search for or the collection, transport or treatment of the wounded and sick shall likewise be respected and protected if they are carrying out these duties at the time when they come into contact with the enemy or fall into his hands.Every day the actions of the BPD, NYPD, etc. continue to remind us that the police no longer fight to "protect and serve" the American people, but rather the wealth and power of the 1%. With each passing day, as the violence of the state continues to escalate, the myth of American "democracy" becomes further shattered.
THIS IS WHAT A POLICE STATE LOOKS LIKE
And we are what democracy looks like. We do not fear your power and we will continue to fight for a better world. We will never stop growing and each day we'll continue to expand, block by block and city by city. We call upon others to join us, to take a stand against these ever encroaching threats to our liberty. We commend the brave actions of our sisters and brothers in Boston and condemn the BPD leadership. We call upon the rank-and-file police officers of this country to disobey such orders and remember that they protect and servethe people. You are one of us, the 99% and we're too big to fail.Sign Language
Posted 1 month ago on Oct. 9, 2011, 10:38 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Today Liberty Plaza had a visit from Slavoj Zizek
Posted 1 month ago on Oct. 9, 2011, 6:04 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Transcripts
Part One
…2008 financial crash more hard earned private property was destroyed than if all of us here were to be destroying it night and day for weeks. They tell you we are dreamers. The true dreamers are those who think things can go on indefinitely the way they are. We are not dreamers. We are awakening from a dream which is tuning into a nightmare. We are not destroying anything. We are only witnessing how the system is destroying itself. We all know the classic scenes from cartoons. The cart reaches a precipice. But it goes on walking. Ignoring the fact that there is nothing beneath. Only when it looks down and notices it, it falls down. This is what we are doing here. We are telling the guys there on Wall Street – Hey, look down! (cheering).In April 2011, the Chinese government prohibited on TV and films and in novels all stories that contain alternate reality or time travel. This is a good sign for China. It means that people still dream about alternatives, so you have to prohibit this dream. Here we don’t think of prohibition. Because the ruling system has even suppressed our capacity to dream. Look at the movies that we see all the time. It’s easy to imagine the end of the world. An asteroid destroying all life and so on. But you cannot imagine the end of capitalism. So what are we doing here? Let me tell you a wonderful old joke from communist times.
A guy was sent from East Germany to work in Siberia. He knew his mail would be read by censors. So he told his friends: Let’s establish a code. If the letter you get from me is written in blue ink ,it is true what I said. If it is written in red ink, it is false. After a month his friends get a first letter. Everything is in blue. It says, this letter: everything is wonderful here. Stores are full of good food. Movie theaters show good films from the West. Apartments are large and luxurious. The only thing you cannot buy is red ink.
This is how we live. We have all the freedoms we want. But what we are missing is red ink. The language to articulate our non-freedom. The way we are taught to speak about freedom war and terrorism and so on falsifies freedom. And this is what you are doing here: You are giving all of us red ink.
There is a danger. Don’t fall in love with yourselves. We have a nice time here. But remember: carnivals come cheap. What matters is the day after. When we will have to return to normal life. Will there be any changes then. I don’t want you to remember these days, you know, like - oh, we were young, it was beautiful. Remember that our basic message is: We are allowed to think about alternatives. The rule is broken. We do not live in the best possible world. But there is a long road ahead. There are truly difficult questions that confront us. We know what we do not want. But what do we want? What social organization can replace capitalism? What type of new leaders do we want?
Remember: the problem is not corruption or greed. The problem is the system that pushes you to give up. Beware not only of the enemies. But also of false friends who are already working to dilute this process. In the same way you get coffee without caffeine, beer without alcohol, ice cream without fat. They will try to make this into a harmless moral protest. They think (??? unintelligible). But the reason we are here is that we have enough of the world where to recycle coke cans…
Part Two
….Starbucks cappuccino. Where 1% goes to the world’s starving children. It is enough to make us feel good. After outsourcing work and torture. After the marriage agencies are now outsourcing even our love life, daily.Mic check
We can see that for a long time we allowed our political engagement also to be outsourced. We want it back. We are not communists. If communism means the system which collapsed in 1990, remember that today those communists are the most efficient ruthless capitalists. In China today we have capitalism which is even more dynamic than your American capitalism but doesn’t need democracy. Which means when you criticize capitalism, don’t allow yourselves to be blackmailed that you are against democracy. The marriage between democracy and capitalism is over.
The change is possible. So, what do we consider today possible? Just follow the media. On the one hand in technology and sexuality everything seems to be possible. You can travel to the moon. You can become immortal by biogenetics. You can have sex with animals or whatever. But look at the fields of society and economy. There almost everything is considered impossible. You want to raise taxes a little bit for the rich, they tell you it’s impossible, we lose competitivitiy. You want more money for healthcare: they tell you impossible, this means a totalitarian state. There is something wrong in the world where you are promised to be immortal but cannot spend a little bit more for health care. Maybe that ??? set our priorities straight here. We don’t want higher standards of living. We want better standards of living. The only sense in which we are communists is that we care for the commons. The commons of nature. The commons of what is privatized by intellectual property. The commons of biogenetics. For this and only for this we should fight.
Communism failed absolutely. But the problems of the commons are here. They are telling you we are not Americans here. But the conservative fundamentalists who claim they are really American have to be reminded of something. What is Christianity? It’s the Holy Spirit. What’s the Holy Spirit? It’s an egalitarian community of believers who are linked by love for each other. And who only have their own freedom and responsibility to do it. In this sense the Holy Spirit is here now. And down there on Wall Street there are pagans who are worshipping blasphemous idols. So all we need is patience. The only thing I’m afraid of is that we will someday just go home and then we will meet once a year, drinking beer, and nostalgically remembering what a nice time we had here. Promise ourselves that this will not be the case.
We know that people often desire something but do not really want it. Don’t be afraid to really want what you desire. Thank you very much!
Last Note
This is only a part of the entire speech he gave today, and if it was recorded in its entirety we'd be very glad to have a copy for transcription purposes.(Thank you to everyone who offered transcripts, we had multiple offers)
#ows Second General Assembly Of Manhattan Meets At 3PM In Washington Square Park - Anti-Flag To Play Set In Solidarity at Liberty Square
Posted 1 month ago on Oct. 8, 2011, 1:30 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
#ows is growing. We will be in a thousand cities in this country by the end of the month - hundreds of cities in other countries. We will see General Assemblies on six continents.
Liberty Square has grown exponentially over the last three weeks. It is time to form a second General Assembly in Manhattan. We expect more to follow.
On October eighth at three in the afternoon a General Assembly will convene in Washington Square Park. At the same time Anti-Flag will play an acoustic set in Liberty Square in solidarity with our movement's expansion.
We are growing. Block by block – city by city. We will see change in this country, in this world. It will happen sooner than you can imagine.
Liberty Square has grown exponentially over the last three weeks. It is time to form a second General Assembly in Manhattan. We expect more to follow.
On October eighth at three in the afternoon a General Assembly will convene in Washington Square Park. At the same time Anti-Flag will play an acoustic set in Liberty Square in solidarity with our movement's expansion.
We are growing. Block by block – city by city. We will see change in this country, in this world. It will happen sooner than you can imagine.
AFT fully endorses Occupy Wall Street
Posted 1 month ago on Oct. 6, 2011, 4:48 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
The American Federation of Teachers Local 1839 fully endorses Occupy Wall Street.
In solidarity on behalf of our Local,
Ivan S. Steinberg, President AFT Local 1839
William Calathes, Executive Vice President AFT Local 1839
In solidarity on behalf of our Local,
Ivan S. Steinberg, President AFT Local 1839
William Calathes, Executive Vice President AFT Local 1839
This Site Has Nothing To Do With Us
Posted Oct. 6, 2011, 11:48 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
#ows Takes Foley Square With Union Brothers And Sisters
Posted Oct. 6, 2011, 4:03 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Right Here All Over
Posted Oct. 5, 2011, 10:29 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Police Use Pepper Spray And Batons On Protesters - At Least Twenty Arrested
Posted Oct. 5, 2011, 9:24 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Αλληλεγγύης
Posted 1 month ago on Oct. 5, 2011, 5:14 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Today in Greece thousands took the streets in general strike, fighting the same anti-democratic program of social cuts and bankster bailouts that we are fighting on Wall Street. Today, people power shut Greece down.
Occupy Wall Street stands in solidarity with the people of Greece, and we are inspired by their bravery and resilience. We pledge friendship and mutual support with all people across the world fighting for democracy and economic justice. In a global economy, the struggle of the 99% is necessarily a global struggle.
Together, we are changing the world.
Αλληλεγγύης (Solidarity)
Σήμερα στην Ελλάδα, χιλιάδες πήραν τους δρόμους σε μια γενική απεργία, πολεμόντας το ίδιο αντι-δημοκρατικό πρόγραμμα των κοινωνικών περικοπών και διάσωσης τραπεζίτολαμόγιων που πολεμάμε στην Wall Street. Σήμερα ο λαός διακόπτει όλη την Ελλάδα.
Η κίνηση Κατάληψη της Wall Street (Occupy Wall Street) στέκεται σε αλληλεγγύη με τον λαό της Ελλάδας, και είμαστε όλοι εμπνευσμένοι απο το θάρρος και την ανθεκτικότητά τους. Δεσμευόμασε την φιλία μας και την κοινή υποστήριξη με όλους τους ανθρώπους σε όλο τον κόσμο που πολεμάνε για δημοκρατία και οικονομική δικαιοσύνη. Σε μια παγκόσμια οικονομία, η πάλη των 99% είναι αναγκαστικά μια παγκόσμια πάλη.
Αλληλεγγύης
Occupy Wall Street stands in solidarity with the people of Greece, and we are inspired by their bravery and resilience. We pledge friendship and mutual support with all people across the world fighting for democracy and economic justice. In a global economy, the struggle of the 99% is necessarily a global struggle.
Together, we are changing the world.
Αλληλεγγύης (Solidarity)
Σήμερα στην Ελλάδα, χιλιάδες πήραν τους δρόμους σε μια γενική απεργία, πολεμόντας το ίδιο αντι-δημοκρατικό πρόγραμμα των κοινωνικών περικοπών και διάσωσης τραπεζίτολαμόγιων που πολεμάμε στην Wall Street. Σήμερα ο λαός διακόπτει όλη την Ελλάδα.
Η κίνηση Κατάληψη της Wall Street (Occupy Wall Street) στέκεται σε αλληλεγγύη με τον λαό της Ελλάδας, και είμαστε όλοι εμπνευσμένοι απο το θάρρος και την ανθεκτικότητά τους. Δεσμευόμασε την φιλία μας και την κοινή υποστήριξη με όλους τους ανθρώπους σε όλο τον κόσμο που πολεμάνε για δημοκρατία και οικονομική δικαιοσύνη. Σε μια παγκόσμια οικονομία, η πάλη των 99% είναι αναγκαστικά μια παγκόσμια πάλη.
Αλληλεγγύης
#OccupyWallStreet Union March From Foley Square on Wall Street
Posted Oct. 4, 2011, 8:36 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Occupation Blues
Posted Oct. 4, 2011, 3:19 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
No Comment: Art Exhibit Inspired By Occupy Wall Street Oct 8th
Posted Oct. 4, 2011, 2:37 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
On Our Way To Brooklyn
Posted Oct. 3, 2011, 12:37 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Brooklyn Bridge Occupied
Posted Oct. 1, 2011, 4:56 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
"We are the 99%" Solidarity March with #OccupyWallStreet at 3 PM
Posted Oct. 1, 2011, 9:09 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Radiohead will NOT be playing
Posted Sept. 30, 2011, 4:30 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Take Back Boston!
Posted Sept. 30, 2011, 12:20 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Greetings from Occupied Wall Street,
Posted Sept. 30, 2011, 5:06 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Day 12
Posted Sept. 29, 2011, 10:26 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
A Message From Occupied Wall Street (Day Eleven)
Posted Sept. 28, 2011, 9:53 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Cornel West, Philosopher and Activist, to Speak at Occupy Wall Street Tonight At Seven
Posted Sept. 27, 2011, 5:28 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
A Message From Occupied Wall Street (Day Ten)
Posted Sept. 27, 2011, 2:31 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Immortal Technique
Posted Sept. 27, 2011, 4:20 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Noam Chomsky Announces Solidarity With #occupywallstreet
Posted Sept. 26, 2011, 6:57 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Officer Bologna
Posted Sept. 26, 2011, 3:53 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
A Message from Occupied Wall Street (Day Nine)
Posted 1 month ago on Sept. 26, 2011, 4:03 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
This is the ninth communiqué from the 99 percent. We are occupying Wall Street. The police barricades that have been surrounding the Stock Exchange help.
Sunday has been decreed, once again, a day of rest. We didn't march. We have made a new world, a new city within the city. We are working on a new sky for where the towers are now.
Throughout the day our sisters and brothers arrested yesterday came back home to Liberty Plaza. They greeted the new faces that have joined us here. They shared their stories of imprisonment, of medical care denied and delayed. We welcomed them and listened.
We had visitors.
Immortal Technique
Reverend Billy
Yesterday was a day of action, and today was one of healing, discussion, and preparation. Working groups met in small circles around the plaza, planning their work and preparing to report back to the General Assembly as a whole. The Assembly debated, as always, the hows and whys of being here. In the morning, we talked about the occupations rising up in cities around the United States, joining us in what we're doing, as people begin rediscovering the power in themselves against the powers looming over them in buildings. We talked of calling more people to do what we're doing. In the evening we talked about staying, or leaving, and what this space means for us. We love it, we're almost addicted to it, but what we are is more than this.
We strolled around the plaza. We wrote songs with new friends. We argued about politics with each other, but not a politics of puppets: a politics for us. We fed the hungry and gave sleeping bags to the cold. We roughhoused. We talked to the world on our livestream. Most of all, we kept on organizing ourselves. Our library grew.
Drums blared for hours into the night when the Assembly wasn't in session, until the time came for quiet. The drummers ended by reciting from the Principles of Solidarity we approved in Friday's General Assembly, in the rain. Before the police lined along the Broadway side of the plaza, they cried together, "We are daring to imagine a new socio-political and economic alternative that offers greater possibility of equality." And more.
"Safety in numbers!" a sign by them says. "Join us."
Sunday has been decreed, once again, a day of rest. We didn't march. We have made a new world, a new city within the city. We are working on a new sky for where the towers are now.
Throughout the day our sisters and brothers arrested yesterday came back home to Liberty Plaza. They greeted the new faces that have joined us here. They shared their stories of imprisonment, of medical care denied and delayed. We welcomed them and listened.
We had visitors.
Immortal Technique
Reverend Billy
Yesterday was a day of action, and today was one of healing, discussion, and preparation. Working groups met in small circles around the plaza, planning their work and preparing to report back to the General Assembly as a whole. The Assembly debated, as always, the hows and whys of being here. In the morning, we talked about the occupations rising up in cities around the United States, joining us in what we're doing, as people begin rediscovering the power in themselves against the powers looming over them in buildings. We talked of calling more people to do what we're doing. In the evening we talked about staying, or leaving, and what this space means for us. We love it, we're almost addicted to it, but what we are is more than this.
We strolled around the plaza. We wrote songs with new friends. We argued about politics with each other, but not a politics of puppets: a politics for us. We fed the hungry and gave sleeping bags to the cold. We roughhoused. We talked to the world on our livestream. Most of all, we kept on organizing ourselves. Our library grew.
Drums blared for hours into the night when the Assembly wasn't in session, until the time came for quiet. The drummers ended by reciting from the Principles of Solidarity we approved in Friday's General Assembly, in the rain. Before the police lined along the Broadway side of the plaza, they cried together, "We are daring to imagine a new socio-political and economic alternative that offers greater possibility of equality." And more.
"Safety in numbers!" a sign by them says. "Join us."
Block By Block, City By City
Posted Sept. 25, 2011, 5:56 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
March Guidelines
Posted Sept. 25, 2011, 12:23 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
A Message From Occupied Wall Street (Day Eight)
Posted Sept. 25, 2011, 5:09 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
At least four arrested, one for shooting photos UPDATE: at least eighty arrested, five maced | RETRACTION: no tear gas used
Posted 1 month ago on Sept. 24, 2011, 8:11 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
We have at least four arrests today during a community march, a fifth arrest is suspected but police will not confirm.
A legal observer attempting to contact an arrested member was not allowed to due to “an emergency situation,” we are currently unsure of what this means. At least one arrest was due to a protester taking photographs. At least one protester's possessions have not been returned.
Please call the first precinct, central booking and the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information and urge them to release these peaceful protesters.
First precinct: +1 (212) 334-0611
Central booking: +1 (212) 374-3921
Deputy Commissioner of Public Information: +1 (646) 610-6700
NYPD Switchboard: 1-646-610-5000
UPDATE: We are now receiving reports that at least 80 protesters have been arrested. The National Lawyer's Guild puts the number at around one hundred. Liberty square is currently full with an ongoing discussion on how to respond to this unprecedented level of police aggression. Police are currently surrounding the square. There is nearly one police officer for every two protesters.
Earlier today we had reports of police kettling protesters with large orange net, using tasers, at least five protesters have been maced.
UPDATE: @pulseofprotest was posting live from a police van. It appears as though he has stopped.
UPDATE: Some pictures http://twitpic.com/6pzd48
http://twitpic.com/6pzcf6
http://twitpic.com/6pzbxi
http://twitpic.com/6pza9z
Video: http://www.twitvid.com/ZCB5U
UPDATE: About 50 protesters marched two by two silently on Police plaza. Police have barricaded protesters from reaching Police plaza.
RETRACTION: Reports of tear gas being fired into the crowd turned out to be false.
A legal observer attempting to contact an arrested member was not allowed to due to “an emergency situation,” we are currently unsure of what this means. At least one arrest was due to a protester taking photographs. At least one protester's possessions have not been returned.
Please call the first precinct, central booking and the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information and urge them to release these peaceful protesters.
First precinct: +1 (212) 334-0611
Central booking: +1 (212) 374-3921
Deputy Commissioner of Public Information: +1 (646) 610-6700
NYPD Switchboard: 1-646-610-5000
UPDATE: We are now receiving reports that at least 80 protesters have been arrested. The National Lawyer's Guild puts the number at around one hundred. Liberty square is currently full with an ongoing discussion on how to respond to this unprecedented level of police aggression. Police are currently surrounding the square. There is nearly one police officer for every two protesters.
Earlier today we had reports of police kettling protesters with large orange net, using tasers, at least five protesters have been maced.
UPDATE: @pulseofprotest was posting live from a police van. It appears as though he has stopped.
UPDATE: Some pictures http://twitpic.com/6pzd48
http://twitpic.com/6pzcf6
http://twitpic.com/6pzbxi
http://twitpic.com/6pza9z
Video: http://www.twitvid.com/ZCB5U
UPDATE: About 50 protesters marched two by two silently on Police plaza. Police have barricaded protesters from reaching Police plaza.
RETRACTION: Reports of tear gas being fired into the crowd turned out to be false.
Call of Solidarity for Comrades Held in Van Outside 1st Precinct
Posted 1 month ago on Sept. 24, 2011, 6:09 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
This report just came in a half hour ago from the chair of the NYC IWW chapter:
Protesters arrested today (including the NYC IWW chair) are being locked inside a police van outside the:
1st Precinct Police Station
16 Ericsson Pl.
New York, NY 10013
+1 (212) 334-0611
They've been there for over an hour. One has a very bad concussion, possibly life threatening.
Right now the NYC IWW chair he is calling on us to send people NOW for help out and to demand medical care for our comrades.
If you can't make it in person then please call these numbers:
1st Precinct - (212) 334-0611 - 16 Ericsson Place
6th Precinct - (212) 741-4811 - 233 West 10 Street
NYPD Switchboard: 1-646-610-5000 Central booking: +1 (212) 374-3921
Deputy Commissioner of Public Information: +1 (646) 610-6700
Protesters arrested today (including the NYC IWW chair) are being locked inside a police van outside the:
1st Precinct Police Station
16 Ericsson Pl.
New York, NY 10013
+1 (212) 334-0611
They've been there for over an hour. One has a very bad concussion, possibly life threatening.
Right now the NYC IWW chair he is calling on us to send people NOW for help out and to demand medical care for our comrades.
If you can't make it in person then please call these numbers:
1st Precinct - (212) 334-0611 - 16 Ericsson Place
6th Precinct - (212) 741-4811 - 233 West 10 Street
NYPD Switchboard: 1-646-610-5000 Central booking: +1 (212) 374-3921
Deputy Commissioner of Public Information: +1 (646) 610-6700
A Message From Occupied Wall Street (Day Seven)
Posted 1 month ago on Sept. 24, 2011, 12:02 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
This is the seventh communiqué from the 99 percent. We are occupying Wall Street.
On September 23rd, 2011, it rained. We organized what shelter the police would allow us and thought. We thought about everything that is wrong with this country, with this world. We talked. We talked about everything that is wrong in this world. There has been no real conversation in this country and this world about wealth and the way it is misused. We are that conversation. Join us and make your voice heard. What is your one demand?
Our voice will no longer be ignored. There are too many things wrong with this world for our voices to be silenced. You know this. We know this. This is why we are here, why we grow every day.
Occupy your homes. You own your home, a callous bank that split ownership of your home into hundreds of parts, redistributing them across the world under false ratings does not own your home. Fifty times as much speculative trading as commercial trading goes on each day in America. You are in debt to people who make money by moving money from place to place using computers.
You have a right to shelter. No one can take that right from you.
Banks are able to restructure settlements constantly, they receive billions and billions of dollars so that they can stay afloat for long enough to steal your property from you. Do not let them. Do not leave your house. If the police come to steal your house and deliver it to the 1 percent film them and show the world and then join us. If we are not already occupying your city, your town, bring a sleeping bag, a pillow, and contact us. We will help you find food. We will help you sue for shelter. We will find each other. We will grow. We will build - city by city, block by block.
We stand in solidarity with homeowners across the country and the world whose homes are in the process of being stolen by faceless conglomerations motivated only by profit. We are the 99 percent. We will not let you steal our homes. We will not let you deprive us of a basic right, shelter, so that you can buy a home you do not use. We are here. We are growing. And we will not be moved.
We stand in solidarity with Madrid, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Madison, Toronto, London, Athens, Sydney, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Milan, Amsterdam, Algiers, Tel Aviv, Portland, Chicago and Palestine. Soon we will stand with Phoenix, Montreal, Cleveland, Atlanta, Kansas City, Dallas, Orlando and Miami. We're still here. We are growing. We intend to stay until we see movements toward real change in our country and the world.
On September 23rd, 2011, it rained. We organized what shelter the police would allow us and thought. We thought about everything that is wrong with this country, with this world. We talked. We talked about everything that is wrong in this world. There has been no real conversation in this country and this world about wealth and the way it is misused. We are that conversation. Join us and make your voice heard. What is your one demand?
Our voice will no longer be ignored. There are too many things wrong with this world for our voices to be silenced. You know this. We know this. This is why we are here, why we grow every day.
Occupy your homes. You own your home, a callous bank that split ownership of your home into hundreds of parts, redistributing them across the world under false ratings does not own your home. Fifty times as much speculative trading as commercial trading goes on each day in America. You are in debt to people who make money by moving money from place to place using computers.
You have a right to shelter. No one can take that right from you.
Banks are able to restructure settlements constantly, they receive billions and billions of dollars so that they can stay afloat for long enough to steal your property from you. Do not let them. Do not leave your house. If the police come to steal your house and deliver it to the 1 percent film them and show the world and then join us. If we are not already occupying your city, your town, bring a sleeping bag, a pillow, and contact us. We will help you find food. We will help you sue for shelter. We will find each other. We will grow. We will build - city by city, block by block.
We stand in solidarity with homeowners across the country and the world whose homes are in the process of being stolen by faceless conglomerations motivated only by profit. We are the 99 percent. We will not let you steal our homes. We will not let you deprive us of a basic right, shelter, so that you can buy a home you do not use. We are here. We are growing. And we will not be moved.
We stand in solidarity with Madrid, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Madison, Toronto, London, Athens, Sydney, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Milan, Amsterdam, Algiers, Tel Aviv, Portland, Chicago and Palestine. Soon we will stand with Phoenix, Montreal, Cleveland, Atlanta, Kansas City, Dallas, Orlando and Miami. We're still here. We are growing. We intend to stay until we see movements toward real change in our country and the world.
Food fund will be used as a general fund
Posted 1 month ago on Sept. 23, 2011, 8:03 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Occupy Wall Street is elated to announce that, through the efforts of our brothers and sisters in the upcoming October 6th occupation of DC (october2011.org), we have today acquired fiscal sponsorship through the Alliance for Global Justice, a registered 501C3 non-profit (afgj.org).
Over the past month and a half, occupywallst.org has been assisting with the collection of monetary donations for food purchases, spearheaded by the Food Committee. These funds have been collected through wepay.com and to this point have remained inaccessible due to bureaucratic difficulties. Through the generosity of The Alliance for Global Justice and October 2011 we have expedited the process for accessing the funds that we desperately need.
We, the Occupation are touched and eternally grateful for mass outpouring of prepared food donations that we receive daily. Despite our bureaucratic challenges, we have been able to feed our numbers comfortably with what we have on-site. Consequently, it was put forth by this afternoon’s General Assembly, that what is currently the online Food Fund be re-purposed as the General Infrastructure Fund, by which working groups may request funding from the G.A. To oversee these funds and prevent any misappropriation the G.A. supported the formation of a Finance Committee with independent auditors.
It is the utmost importance to this occupation that we remain completely transparent and accountable for our actions, both on location and off-site. We would like to provide anyone who has donated to the Food Fund 36 hours to determine whether they would like to continue to support us, or whether they would prefer to withdraw their donations as is possible via wepay.com.
Now that these funds are being made accessible to us, we would like to clarify that we are still in desperate need of donations. Your support keeps the occupation going strong – it keeps us warm, it keeps us fed, it keeps us healthy. Any contributions are much appreciated and will be used soon! Please check in atwww.occupywallst.org for a direct donation link via Alliance for Global Justice- COMING SOON!
Separately, we are weak, but together we are the 99 percent and together we are unstoppable.
We are now able to receive packages. The UPS store 118A #205 New York, New York 10038 RE: Occupy Wall Street. Money orders only please, cannot cash checks yet. Non-perishable goods only. We can accept packages of any size. We are currently low on food.
Lemon Grass Grill +1 (212) 809-8038
Toloache Taqueria +1 (212) 809-9800
Alfanoose +1 (212) 528-4669
Over the past month and a half, occupywallst.org has been assisting with the collection of monetary donations for food purchases, spearheaded by the Food Committee. These funds have been collected through wepay.com and to this point have remained inaccessible due to bureaucratic difficulties. Through the generosity of The Alliance for Global Justice and October 2011 we have expedited the process for accessing the funds that we desperately need.
We, the Occupation are touched and eternally grateful for mass outpouring of prepared food donations that we receive daily. Despite our bureaucratic challenges, we have been able to feed our numbers comfortably with what we have on-site. Consequently, it was put forth by this afternoon’s General Assembly, that what is currently the online Food Fund be re-purposed as the General Infrastructure Fund, by which working groups may request funding from the G.A. To oversee these funds and prevent any misappropriation the G.A. supported the formation of a Finance Committee with independent auditors.
It is the utmost importance to this occupation that we remain completely transparent and accountable for our actions, both on location and off-site. We would like to provide anyone who has donated to the Food Fund 36 hours to determine whether they would like to continue to support us, or whether they would prefer to withdraw their donations as is possible via wepay.com.
Now that these funds are being made accessible to us, we would like to clarify that we are still in desperate need of donations. Your support keeps the occupation going strong – it keeps us warm, it keeps us fed, it keeps us healthy. Any contributions are much appreciated and will be used soon! Please check in atwww.occupywallst.org for a direct donation link via Alliance for Global Justice- COMING SOON!
Separately, we are weak, but together we are the 99 percent and together we are unstoppable.
We are now able to receive packages. The UPS store 118A #205 New York, New York 10038 RE: Occupy Wall Street. Money orders only please, cannot cash checks yet. Non-perishable goods only. We can accept packages of any size. We are currently low on food.
Lemon Grass Grill +1 (212) 809-8038
Toloache Taqueria +1 (212) 809-9800
Alfanoose +1 (212) 528-4669
At Sotheby's, Finally, the 99 Percent Were the Highest Bidder
Posted Sept. 23, 2011, 4:11 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
A Message From Occupied Wall Street (Day Six)
Posted Sept. 23, 2011, 3:30 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
At Least Six Arrested In Solidarity March For Troy Davis
Posted Sept. 22, 2011, 8:50 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Life at Liberty Plaza
Posted 1 month ago on Sept. 22, 2011, 2:20 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
So far, all that many of you from across the world have seen are the big events like arrests, marches, general assemblies, etc. One thing people don't often get a chance to see is what everyday life is like in the square. This video does an excellent job of showing what it feels like, occupying wall street:
A Message From Occupied Wall Street (Day Five)
Posted Sept. 22, 2011, 3:51 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Retractions
Posted Sept. 22, 2011, 1:45 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Four arrests on Wednesday
Posted Sept. 21, 2011, 1:42 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
A Message From Occupied Wall Street (Day Four)
Posted Sept. 21, 2011, 11:08 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by easilydistr
An Invitation for the Weekend
Posted Sept. 21, 2011, 10:27 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Taking a moment to invite people in Northern California
Posted 1 month ago on Sept. 20, 2011, 8:44 p.m. EST by anonymous
There is a modest occupation going on in San Francisco and growing. They started out 6 and are growing exponentionally, are at 555 California Street, and will have some communications up tomorrow. They're throwing an invite to everyone who wants, everyone who can, and everyone at all who is around San Francisco.
Actions are also being organized for LA if you're in SoCal, but it's not ready yet. They're using the chatroom at tinychat.com/tr7ah for temporary organizing until they start going public, and cordially inviting people to join them to help organize.
Actions are also being organized for LA if you're in SoCal, but it's not ready yet. They're using the chatroom at tinychat.com/tr7ah for temporary organizing until they start going public, and cordially inviting people to join them to help organize.
Day 4: At least five arrested, one may be in critical condition
Posted Sept. 20, 2011, 1:01 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Third Communiqué: A Message From Occupied Wall Street
Posted Sept. 20, 2011, 8:50 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Second Communiqué: A Message From Occupied Wall Street
Posted Sept. 19, 2011, 8:50 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
First Communiqué: We Occupy Wall Street
Posted 1 month ago on Sept. 19, 2011, 8:48 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
This is the first communiqué from the 99 percent. We are occupying Wall Street.
On September 17th, 2011, approximately 2,000 of us marched on the Financial District. At twelve noon, a detachment of us marched on the head of Wall Street and formed a spontaneous blockade, prompting the New York Police Department to threaten arrest. Speakers including the Reverend Billy Talen of the Church of Stop Shopping, and actress Rosanne Barr spoke on the steps of the American Indian Smithsonian Museum to the crowd, which included conscious rappers Lupe Fiasco and Immortal Technique.
Over 1,000 of us marched from Bowling Green Park amid heavy police presence, across the Financial District and chanting “Wall Street is our street” and “power to the people, not to the banks.” Many stayed at One Liberty Plaza, where later in the evening a meal was served and water was distributed. Song, dance, puppetry, and other art added cheer across the plaza.
Two thousand strong, we held a general assembly, based upon a consensus-driven decision-making process. Decisions were made for the group to occupy One Liberty Plaza in the Wall Street corridor through the evening, bedding down in sleeping bags and donated blankets. By 7 AM ET Sunday morning, we still held the plaza under constant police presence. Another assembly is scheduled for 10 AM ET today.
We speak as one. All of our decisions, from our choices to march on Wall Street to our decision to camp at One Liberty Plaza were decided through a consensus process by the group, for the group.
On September 17th, 2011, approximately 2,000 of us marched on the Financial District. At twelve noon, a detachment of us marched on the head of Wall Street and formed a spontaneous blockade, prompting the New York Police Department to threaten arrest. Speakers including the Reverend Billy Talen of the Church of Stop Shopping, and actress Rosanne Barr spoke on the steps of the American Indian Smithsonian Museum to the crowd, which included conscious rappers Lupe Fiasco and Immortal Technique.
Over 1,000 of us marched from Bowling Green Park amid heavy police presence, across the Financial District and chanting “Wall Street is our street” and “power to the people, not to the banks.” Many stayed at One Liberty Plaza, where later in the evening a meal was served and water was distributed. Song, dance, puppetry, and other art added cheer across the plaza.
Two thousand strong, we held a general assembly, based upon a consensus-driven decision-making process. Decisions were made for the group to occupy One Liberty Plaza in the Wall Street corridor through the evening, bedding down in sleeping bags and donated blankets. By 7 AM ET Sunday morning, we still held the plaza under constant police presence. Another assembly is scheduled for 10 AM ET today.
We speak as one. All of our decisions, from our choices to march on Wall Street to our decision to camp at One Liberty Plaza were decided through a consensus process by the group, for the group.
Monday
Posted Sept. 19, 2011, 4:09 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Day 2 coverage
Posted Sept. 19, 2011, 3:51 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
A Modest Call to Action on this September 17th
Posted Sept. 17, 2011, 9:46 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
LiveStream of Wall St. Occupation
Posted Sept. 17, 2011, 1:27 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Call (516) 708-4777 for Help & Directions
Posted Sept. 16, 2011, 1:30 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Schedule information for the New York FUN Exchange
Posted Sept. 16, 2011, 8:32 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Orientation Guide
Posted Sept. 15, 2011, 3:41 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Occupy Wall Street Flyer
Posted 1 month ago on Sept. 15, 2011, 2:31 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Here's the latest flyers which were graciously contributed by New Yorkers Against Budget Cuts. Print and distribute everywhere!
For more details or to contact organizers in New York, please contact: 9.17occupywallstreet@gmail.com
Click here for the poster above in PDF form.
For more details or to contact organizers in New York, please contact: 9.17occupywallstreet@gmail.com
Click here for the poster above in PDF form.
Print and online media
Posted Sept. 14, 2011, 5:22 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by drew
Sign Up Sheet for Brothers and Sisters Who Need a Place To Rest
Posted Sept. 13, 2011, 10:41 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Lead up to occupation
Posted 1 month ago on Sept. 13, 2011, 5:18 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
There is a lot going on this week in the lead up to September 17th. First off, for some inspiration check out all the solidarity movements around the world.
Meetings & Training:
Meetings & Training:
- USDOR is hosting non violent civil disobedience training Friday @ 6:30. See the details and location on the calendar page or on USDOR calendar.
- There will be a Tactical Committee Meeting Wednesday, 7pm Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn
- There will be Art & Culture meetings Tuesday and Thursday to discuss activities. Learn more on thecalendar page
- Time's Up will be hosting critical mass style ALL NIGHT rides though the Wall st. area. Meet at Tompkins sq park at 7pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (9/16-18) to join the ride. More info on their calendar page
- There is an event for NY Students Rising September 16, Friday 5:00pm Hunter College
- NYC General Assembly calendar
- There will be a Open General Assembly September 17th, Saturday 3:00pm at Chase Manhattan Plaza.
- NYCGA - September 17th Legal Fact Sheet - Download PDF flyer
- USDOR has created an crowd source map for the occupation.
- USDOR also has legal information reviewed by the National Lawyers Guild. Check out the USDOR resources page. Also take a look at their tactics cheat sheet
- The General Assembly, in association with a number of activists around the world, has set up a live "TV" channel called Global Revolution
- The New York City General Assembly has a website up with minutes from the 9/10 meeting.
- Check out the Occupy Wall Street subreddit for discussion and info.
- HOTLINE FOR ARRESTS September 17, National Lawyers Guild: (212) 679-6018. If you will be at the action write this down on your arm. It was recommended to call them if you hear of an arrest or if you are arrested
- The Food Committee is working on feeding people at the occupation, if you can PLEASE DONATE. Contact CunderscoreG@gmail.com to see how you can help food committee
- If you are in the NYC area and can host fellow brothers and sisters, someone is gathering volunteers to help provide access to board & bathe logistical spaces for out-of-towners click here to view the google doc
- Contact the NYCPD expressing your solidarity with the protesters and urging the police to exercise restraint. Also, tell them the world is watching. And thank them for all their hard work. Email form for the NYPD police commissioner. Contact the mayor
- Spread the word! Media kits: Print fliers (PDF) & Online fliers (PDF)
#OCCUPYWALLSTREET will begin @12pm at Bowling Green Park, NYC
Posted Sept. 13, 2011, 9:53 a.m. EST (1 month ago) by OccupyWallSt
Where to Order Food to Help the Occupation
Posted Sept. 12, 2011, 11:27 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by chris
Why?
Posted Sept. 12, 2011, 10:58 p.m. EST (1 month ago) by chris
US Day of Rage's Tactical Plan for Sept 17th
Posted Sept. 8, 2011, 9:41 p.m. EST (2 months ago) by OccupyWallSt
99 Percent Project Now Live!
Posted Sept. 8, 2011, 9:24 p.m. EST (2 months ago) by OccupyWallSt
Nine Arrested & Released Without Charge in Occupy Wall Street Test Run (Video)
Posted Sept. 8, 2011, 12:30 p.m. EST (2 months ago) by OccupyWallSt
Ten days until #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Posted 2 months ago on Sept. 7, 2011, 10:53 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet-less-two-weeks-away.html
Hey you jammers, dreamers, patriots and revolutionaries out there,
Our occupation of Wall Street is less than two weeks away … do we have it together?
The perpetrators of the massive financial fraud have been allowed to slip quietly from the scene and continue business as usual. Our elected representatives in Washington have become so tightly intertwined with the financiers and bankers that public accountability has all but vanished.
#OCCUPYWALLSTREET is all about breaking up that cosy relationship between money and politics and bringing the perpetrators of the financial crash of 2008 to justice.
On September 17, 20,000 of us will descend on Wall Street, the iconic financial center of America, set up a peaceful encampment, hold a people's assembly to decide what our one demand will be, and carry out an agenda of full-spectrum, absolutely nonviolent civil disobedience the likes of which the country has not seen since the freedom marches of the 1960s.
From our encampment we will launch daily smart mob forays all over lower Manhattan … peaceful, creative happenings in front of Goldman Sachs; the SEC; the Federal Reserve; the New York Stock Exchange … and maybe even, if we can figure out where they're being held, at the sites of Obama's private $38,500 per person fundraising events happening somewhere in Manhattan on Sept. 19 and 20.
Our strategy will be that of the master strategist Sun Tzu: "appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected."
With a bit of luck, and if fate is on our side, we may be able to turn all of lower Manhattan into a site of passionate democratic contestation – an American Tahrir Square.
We will do all this with peace in our hearts. Our unshakable commitment to nonviolence will give us the spiritual strength we need to inspire the nation and to ultimately triumph in the weeks and maybe months of struggle that will unfold after September 17.
for the wild, Culture Jammers HQ
occupywallstreet.org / occupywallst.org / Reddit / Facebook
PS. Last week Anonymous endorsed #OCCUPYWALLSTREET with a video that attracted over 70,000 views. The Department of Homeland Security has warned the nation's bankers to be prepared. Corporate owned media is taking notice. Yesterday, a columnist for MarketWatch.com posted a rousing portrait of what may now unfold:
"Listen closely. This is not another internecine political squabble. These revolutionaries are pushing America back to its roots. You sense they're drafting a new Declaration of Independence, driven by the same powerful motivations as the 57 original signers who wrote: 'Whenever any form of government becomes destructive … it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government.' Back in 1776 King George III was the destructive force far away. Today greed is the corruptor, from within."
S17 occupations of financial districts are also being planned in Milan, Madrid, Valencia, London, Lisbon, Athens, San Francisco and hopefully many other cities still to be announced. S17 could well be the catalyst that ushers in a new global economic order.
Hey you jammers, dreamers, patriots and revolutionaries out there,
Our occupation of Wall Street is less than two weeks away … do we have it together?
The perpetrators of the massive financial fraud have been allowed to slip quietly from the scene and continue business as usual. Our elected representatives in Washington have become so tightly intertwined with the financiers and bankers that public accountability has all but vanished.
#OCCUPYWALLSTREET is all about breaking up that cosy relationship between money and politics and bringing the perpetrators of the financial crash of 2008 to justice.
On September 17, 20,000 of us will descend on Wall Street, the iconic financial center of America, set up a peaceful encampment, hold a people's assembly to decide what our one demand will be, and carry out an agenda of full-spectrum, absolutely nonviolent civil disobedience the likes of which the country has not seen since the freedom marches of the 1960s.
From our encampment we will launch daily smart mob forays all over lower Manhattan … peaceful, creative happenings in front of Goldman Sachs; the SEC; the Federal Reserve; the New York Stock Exchange … and maybe even, if we can figure out where they're being held, at the sites of Obama's private $38,500 per person fundraising events happening somewhere in Manhattan on Sept. 19 and 20.
Our strategy will be that of the master strategist Sun Tzu: "appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected."
With a bit of luck, and if fate is on our side, we may be able to turn all of lower Manhattan into a site of passionate democratic contestation – an American Tahrir Square.
We will do all this with peace in our hearts. Our unshakable commitment to nonviolence will give us the spiritual strength we need to inspire the nation and to ultimately triumph in the weeks and maybe months of struggle that will unfold after September 17.
for the wild, Culture Jammers HQ
occupywallstreet.org / occupywallst.org / Reddit / Facebook
PS. Last week Anonymous endorsed #OCCUPYWALLSTREET with a video that attracted over 70,000 views. The Department of Homeland Security has warned the nation's bankers to be prepared. Corporate owned media is taking notice. Yesterday, a columnist for MarketWatch.com posted a rousing portrait of what may now unfold:
"Listen closely. This is not another internecine political squabble. These revolutionaries are pushing America back to its roots. You sense they're drafting a new Declaration of Independence, driven by the same powerful motivations as the 57 original signers who wrote: 'Whenever any form of government becomes destructive … it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government.' Back in 1776 King George III was the destructive force far away. Today greed is the corruptor, from within."
S17 occupations of financial districts are also being planned in Milan, Madrid, Valencia, London, Lisbon, Athens, San Francisco and hopefully many other cities still to be announced. S17 could well be the catalyst that ushers in a new global economic order.
September 3rd General Assembly at Tompkins Square Park
Posted 2 months ago on Sept. 1, 2011, 10:13 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
The next meeting of the NYC General Assembly will be held this upcoming Saturday at the same time and location:
Saturday, September 3rd · 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Tompkins Square Park (map)
7th St. and Avenue A
New York, NY
Please check our calendar page for information about other events and sub-committee meetings.
For further details please contact: 9.17occupywallstreet@gmail.com
Saturday, September 3rd · 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Tompkins Square Park (map)
7th St. and Avenue A
New York, NY
Please check our calendar page for information about other events and sub-committee meetings.
For further details please contact: 9.17occupywallstreet@gmail.com
The 99 Percent Project
Posted 2 months ago on Aug. 29, 2011, 5:01 p.m. EST by chris
Hi there,
One thing we were thinking of going as part of the buildup to Sept. 17 is the 99 Percent Project. It's a promotion that we're hoping will pick up some more steam as we get closer to the occupation date that will highlight the various ways that a society which prioritizes the upper 1 percent is having a deleterious impact on, well, everyone else. It's a way to focus the message and really bring the human side to the fore by calling attention to the real human costs of our current economic setup. Here's how we're hoping it will work:
1) People will take a picture of themselves with a sign. The sign will describe a problem that the person is going through, such as:
"I am a student with $25,000 in debt."
"I am a homeowner who just got foreclosed upon."
"I am someone with thousands in medical bills and no insurance."
After below that, a single line:
"I am the 99 percent."
And, below that:
"Occupy Wall Street -- Sept. 17."
They can then submit this photo through the link on the left ("Get Known") and have it appear on the tumblr located at http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/. As you can see, we're still looking for submissions, so if any of you have a camera and a piece of cardboard and want to let people know why it is YOU'RE frustrated with the 99 Percent world we seem to be living in, make a submission and let your voice be heard.
Once again, it's at http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
One thing we were thinking of going as part of the buildup to Sept. 17 is the 99 Percent Project. It's a promotion that we're hoping will pick up some more steam as we get closer to the occupation date that will highlight the various ways that a society which prioritizes the upper 1 percent is having a deleterious impact on, well, everyone else. It's a way to focus the message and really bring the human side to the fore by calling attention to the real human costs of our current economic setup. Here's how we're hoping it will work:
1) People will take a picture of themselves with a sign. The sign will describe a problem that the person is going through, such as:
"I am a student with $25,000 in debt."
"I am a homeowner who just got foreclosed upon."
"I am someone with thousands in medical bills and no insurance."
After below that, a single line:
"I am the 99 percent."
And, below that:
"Occupy Wall Street -- Sept. 17."
They can then submit this photo through the link on the left ("Get Known") and have it appear on the tumblr located at http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/. As you can see, we're still looking for submissions, so if any of you have a camera and a piece of cardboard and want to let people know why it is YOU'RE frustrated with the 99 Percent world we seem to be living in, make a submission and let your voice be heard.
Once again, it's at http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
Organizers' Weather Report: Hurricane can't stop the organizing!
Posted 2 months ago on Aug. 27, 2011, 10:17 p.m. EST by debordwalk
The hurricane approached and preparations were completed, activity of the residents of New York City began to dissipate. Traffic was slow and sparse and there was a lack of pedestrians, even for a rainy day in New York City. Downtown Manhattan had been entirely evacuated by 5 pm, the subway system closed at noon; even the parks closed due to hurricane conditions, forcing the postponement of the New York General Assembly scheduled at 5pm in Tompkins Square.
And yet, even as the residents' activities curtailed and slowed, the activity of the organizers increased in direct proportion to the shut down. Each one of us, sheltered in our individual apartments, focused our efforts and solidified our plans. Hurricane or not, the occupation of Wall Street will not be stopped.
From People who Plan to Occupy Wall Street! (aka PPOWS!)
And yet, even as the residents' activities curtailed and slowed, the activity of the organizers increased in direct proportion to the shut down. Each one of us, sheltered in our individual apartments, focused our efforts and solidified our plans. Hurricane or not, the occupation of Wall Street will not be stopped.
From People who Plan to Occupy Wall Street! (aka PPOWS!)
Aug 27 General Assembly Cancelled
Posted 2 months ago on Aug. 27, 2011, 5:16 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
The August 27th meeting of the NYC General Assembly has been cancelled.
Tompkins Square Park and the New York public transit system have been shut down due to hurricane conditions.
This meeting might be rescheduled early next week. We will post the time and date as soon as consensus has been reached on the mailing lists.
Tompkins Square Park and the New York public transit system have been shut down due to hurricane conditions.
This meeting might be rescheduled early next week. We will post the time and date as soon as consensus has been reached on the mailing lists.
Food Committee needs YOU!
Posted 2 months ago on Aug. 24, 2011, 11:12 p.m. EST by chris
Hi everyone,
My name is Chris and I am a member of the Food Committee. Last night I went over, in exhaustive detail, where we are as far as getting people fed. I won't recount everything here, frankly because I'm right about to go to bed, but you can read the post here:
https://occupywallst.org/forum/logistics-food/
I figured I'd make a new post, because I don't want this to get lost at the bottom, but the Food Committee has just set up a WePay account where we are currently accepting donations. Any support would be great.
https://www.wepay.com/donate/99275
My name is Chris and I am a member of the Food Committee. Last night I went over, in exhaustive detail, where we are as far as getting people fed. I won't recount everything here, frankly because I'm right about to go to bed, but you can read the post here:
https://occupywallst.org/forum/logistics-food/
I figured I'd make a new post, because I don't want this to get lost at the bottom, but the Food Committee has just set up a WePay account where we are currently accepting donations. Any support would be great.
https://www.wepay.com/donate/99275
Anonymous joins #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Posted 2 months ago on Aug. 24, 2011, 10:44 a.m. EST by LupeFiascoConcert
Source: Adbusters
Hey jammers, dreamers, patriots,
Anonymous has just released a video communique endorsing #OCCUPYWALLSTREET. Using language from our first Tactical Briefing, the video calls on protestors to adopt the nonviolent Tahrir-acampadas model. On the 17th of September, it says, "flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months … Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices."
See also signs of support for S17 on Anonymous's Twitter and websites.
Meanwhile S17 is surging ahead internationally. Simultaneous occupations of financial districts are now being planned in New York City, Madrid, Milan, London, Paris and San Francisco. With a bit of luck, this list of participating cities will grow.
If we can pull together just the right mix of nonviolence, tenacity and strategic smarts, S17 could be the beginning of the global revolution we've all been dreaming about for so long … wouldn't that be lovely.
for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ
occupywallstreet.org
Hey jammers, dreamers, patriots,
Anonymous has just released a video communique endorsing #OCCUPYWALLSTREET. Using language from our first Tactical Briefing, the video calls on protestors to adopt the nonviolent Tahrir-acampadas model. On the 17th of September, it says, "flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months … Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices."
See also signs of support for S17 on Anonymous's Twitter and websites.
Meanwhile S17 is surging ahead internationally. Simultaneous occupations of financial districts are now being planned in New York City, Madrid, Milan, London, Paris and San Francisco. With a bit of luck, this list of participating cities will grow.
If we can pull together just the right mix of nonviolence, tenacity and strategic smarts, S17 could be the beginning of the global revolution we've all been dreaming about for so long … wouldn't that be lovely.
for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ
occupywallstreet.org
FDR's 1944 State of the Union Address, better known as the Second or Economic Bill of Rights
Posted 2 months ago on Aug. 20, 2011, 8:36 a.m. EST by agnosticnixie
In 1944, for his state of the union address, president Franklin D. Roosevelt presented a social and economic program which would have expanded on the original bill of rights. Most of it was a radio address, as he had the flu, but part of it was filmed (the footage was found recently). Similar programs are found in modern constitutions, and part of it would inspire the universal bill of rights. Obviously, it didn't pass. FDR would die barely a year later, and this would die with him. Their inspiration can be found in the writings of enlightenment philosophers, already, but also in early socialist thought, up to the current day.
As an example, the language and the rights used could be found in the principles of the old french socialist party, who had formed the government before WW2, and whose principles would end up being part of the preambles of the 4th and 5th republics' constitutions, but also in the, admittedly symbolic, soviet constitution of 1936. These sentiments were repeated in the modern constitutions of Peru, Spain, Finland, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria.
This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.
As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.
We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.”[2] People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among these are:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.
For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.
As an example, the language and the rights used could be found in the principles of the old french socialist party, who had formed the government before WW2, and whose principles would end up being part of the preambles of the 4th and 5th republics' constitutions, but also in the, admittedly symbolic, soviet constitution of 1936. These sentiments were repeated in the modern constitutions of Peru, Spain, Finland, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria.
The speech
It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.
As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.
We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.”[2] People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among these are:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.
For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.
#OCCUPYWALLSTREET update from Adbusters
Posted 2 months ago on Aug. 12, 2011, 11:52 a.m. EST by LupeFiascoConcert
http://www.occupywallstreet.org
http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet-update.html
Hey you rebels, radicals and utopian dreamers out there,
We are living through a rare crisis and moment of opportunity. Western industrialized nations are now being masticated by the financial monster they themselves created. This is triggering a mood that alternates between angry denial and sudden panic. It looks like something is about to break, opening the space for a necessary transformation and a total rethink of global economic affairs. Events are playing perfectly into our September 17 occupation of Wall Street.
So … can we on the left learn some new tricks? Can we head off to lower Manhattan with a fresh mindset and a powerful new demand?
Strategically speaking, there is a very real danger that if we naively put our cards on the table and rally around the "overthrow of capitalism" or some equally outworn utopian slogan, then our Tahrir moment will quickly fizzle into another inconsequential ultra-lefty spectacle soon forgotten. But if we have the cunning to come up with a deceptively simple Trojan Horse demand … something profound, yet so specific and doable that it is impossible for President Obama to ignore … something that spotlights Wall Street's financial capture of the US political system and confronts it with a pragmatic solution … like the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act … or a 1% tax on financial transactions … or an independent investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the corporate corruption of our representatives in Washington … or another equally creative but downright practical demand that will emerge from the people's assemblies held during the occupation … and if we then put our asses on the line, screw up our courage and hang in there day after day, week after week, until a large swath of Americans start rooting for us and President Obama is forced to respond … then we just might have a crack at creating a decisive moment of truth for America, a first concrete step towards achieving the radical changes we all dream about unencumbered by commitments to existing power structures.
So, let's learn the strategic lessons of Tahrir (nonviolence), Syntagma (tenacity), Puerta del Sol (people's assemblies) and lay aside adherence to political parties and worn-out lefty dogmas. On September 17, let's sow the seeds of a new culture of resistance in America that fires up a permanent democratic awakening.
See you on Wall St. Sept 17. Bring Tent.
for the wild, Culture Jammers HQ
http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet-update.html
Hey you rebels, radicals and utopian dreamers out there,
We are living through a rare crisis and moment of opportunity. Western industrialized nations are now being masticated by the financial monster they themselves created. This is triggering a mood that alternates between angry denial and sudden panic. It looks like something is about to break, opening the space for a necessary transformation and a total rethink of global economic affairs. Events are playing perfectly into our September 17 occupation of Wall Street.
So … can we on the left learn some new tricks? Can we head off to lower Manhattan with a fresh mindset and a powerful new demand?
Strategically speaking, there is a very real danger that if we naively put our cards on the table and rally around the "overthrow of capitalism" or some equally outworn utopian slogan, then our Tahrir moment will quickly fizzle into another inconsequential ultra-lefty spectacle soon forgotten. But if we have the cunning to come up with a deceptively simple Trojan Horse demand … something profound, yet so specific and doable that it is impossible for President Obama to ignore … something that spotlights Wall Street's financial capture of the US political system and confronts it with a pragmatic solution … like the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act … or a 1% tax on financial transactions … or an independent investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the corporate corruption of our representatives in Washington … or another equally creative but downright practical demand that will emerge from the people's assemblies held during the occupation … and if we then put our asses on the line, screw up our courage and hang in there day after day, week after week, until a large swath of Americans start rooting for us and President Obama is forced to respond … then we just might have a crack at creating a decisive moment of truth for America, a first concrete step towards achieving the radical changes we all dream about unencumbered by commitments to existing power structures.
So, let's learn the strategic lessons of Tahrir (nonviolence), Syntagma (tenacity), Puerta del Sol (people's assemblies) and lay aside adherence to political parties and worn-out lefty dogmas. On September 17, let's sow the seeds of a new culture of resistance in America that fires up a permanent democratic awakening.
See you on Wall St. Sept 17. Bring Tent.
for the wild, Culture Jammers HQ
August 13th General Assembly at Tompkins Square Park
Posted 3 months ago on Aug. 11, 2011, 11:14 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
The next meeting of the General Assembly will be held:
Saturday, August 13 · 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Tompkins Square Park (map
7th St. and Avenue A
New York, NY
Facebook Event
PDF Flyer
Please check our calendar page for information about other events and sub-committee meetings.
For further details please contact: 9.17occupywallstreet@gmail.com
Saturday, August 13 · 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Tompkins Square Park (map
7th St. and Avenue A
New York, NY
Facebook Event
PDF Flyer
Please check our calendar page for information about other events and sub-committee meetings.
For further details please contact: 9.17occupywallstreet@gmail.com
August 9th General Assembly at the Irish Potato Famine Memorial
Posted 3 months ago on Aug. 4, 2011, 9:51 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Thank you everyone who took the time to show up at the general assembly last Tuesday. The next will be held:
Tuesday, August 9 · 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Irish Potato Famine Memorial
Vesey Street and North End Ave
New York, NY
Facebook Event
Please show up and let your voice be heard as we work together to plan the September 17th occupation of Wall Street. For those interested in attending, we recommend reading this quick guide on group dynamics in people’s assemblies. For more information please contact isham@occupywallst.org or join our Google Discussion Group.
Tuesday, August 9 · 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Irish Potato Famine Memorial
Vesey Street and North End Ave
New York, NY
Facebook Event
Please show up and let your voice be heard as we work together to plan the September 17th occupation of Wall Street. For those interested in attending, we recommend reading this quick guide on group dynamics in people’s assemblies. For more information please contact isham@occupywallst.org or join our Google Discussion Group.
August 2nd General Assembly on Wall Street
Posted 3 months ago on July 26, 2011, 12:44 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
From: New Yorkers Against Budget Cuts
The people who brought you the Bloombergville Occupation.
isham.christie@gmail.com
In response to the Sept. 17th Occupy Wall St. call, we decided to incorporate the organizing for the event with a New Yorkers Against Budget Cuts General Assembly on Wall St. on Aug. 2nd. In order to build the Sept. 17th call, we will use this opportunity to have the first NYC meeting for the Sept. 17th event.
Here is the link to the facebook event: http://tinyurl.com/4y8qczk
Come To A People's General Assembly On Wall Street
Oppose Cutbacks And Austerity Of Any Kind
Plan For The September 17 Occupation Of Wall Street
Gather at 4:30: Meet At The Bull, Just South Of Broadway And Morris Street, At The North End Of Bowling Green Park
As the two U.S. political parties unite to dismantle Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, it's clear:
The bankers are looting decades-old peoples' programs and the Democrats can't help us. Obama can't help us. Elected officials can't help us.
It's time for the people to meet and take the bull by the horns!
The students, union activists, and others who organized "Bloombergville" -- the three-week anti-austerity occupation on Wall Street's doorstep -- have called for an August 2 General Assembly/Speakout on Wall Street, at the bull, from 4:30 to 7, to protest the ongoing pro-bank, anti-people cutbacks and gather into working groups to plan for the September 17 occupation of Wall Street.
This is a call for every teacher, home health aid, parent, student, tenant, librarian, city/state employee, childcare provider, nurse, patient, employed or unemployed worker or recipient of Social Security or any type of public assistance: on August 2 come to Wall Street--the scene of the crimes now being perpetrated on the people -- and make your voice heard!
The current depression-level crisis is not due to lack of revenue. It's due to theft. The trillions that the banks are sitting on right now? That's our money. Whether through taxes; the looting of pension and social security contributions; or the wealth we created from our labor -- all of that belongs to us. Come to Wall Street August 2 and strategize -- on how to get that back!
The people who brought you the Bloombergville Occupation.
isham.christie@gmail.com
In response to the Sept. 17th Occupy Wall St. call, we decided to incorporate the organizing for the event with a New Yorkers Against Budget Cuts General Assembly on Wall St. on Aug. 2nd. In order to build the Sept. 17th call, we will use this opportunity to have the first NYC meeting for the Sept. 17th event.
Here is the link to the facebook event: http://tinyurl.com/4y8qczk
Event Details
On Tuesday, August 2 (The Bankers' "Debt-Ceiling Deadline")Come To A People's General Assembly On Wall Street
Oppose Cutbacks And Austerity Of Any Kind
Plan For The September 17 Occupation Of Wall Street
Gather at 4:30: Meet At The Bull, Just South Of Broadway And Morris Street, At The North End Of Bowling Green Park
As the two U.S. political parties unite to dismantle Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, it's clear:
The bankers are looting decades-old peoples' programs and the Democrats can't help us. Obama can't help us. Elected officials can't help us.
It's time for the people to meet and take the bull by the horns!
The students, union activists, and others who organized "Bloombergville" -- the three-week anti-austerity occupation on Wall Street's doorstep -- have called for an August 2 General Assembly/Speakout on Wall Street, at the bull, from 4:30 to 7, to protest the ongoing pro-bank, anti-people cutbacks and gather into working groups to plan for the September 17 occupation of Wall Street.
This is a call for every teacher, home health aid, parent, student, tenant, librarian, city/state employee, childcare provider, nurse, patient, employed or unemployed worker or recipient of Social Security or any type of public assistance: on August 2 come to Wall Street--the scene of the crimes now being perpetrated on the people -- and make your voice heard!
The current depression-level crisis is not due to lack of revenue. It's due to theft. The trillions that the banks are sitting on right now? That's our money. Whether through taxes; the looting of pension and social security contributions; or the wealth we created from our labor -- all of that belongs to us. Come to Wall Street August 2 and strategize -- on how to get that back!
Flyer
Who We Are
Posted 4 months ago on June 14, 2011, 12:20 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
On July 13, 2011, "Culture Jammers HQ" at Adbusters issued a call to action: Occupy Wall Street! The goal stated is to gather 20,000 people to Wall Street, in New York, NY on September 17, 2011, beginning a popular occupation of that space for two months and more. Inspired by the popular assemblies of Egypt, Spain, Oaxaca and worldwide, those gathered will work to find a common voice in one clear, unified demand.
This is why we've created OccupyWallSt.org. Technology has made it easier than ever before for the people to stay in close contact and assist one another in acheiving a collective goal. Our aim is to make these tools available so our users--the true organizers of this event--can make an occuptation of Wall St. successful. We may not be able to teach a person to fish, or do it on their behalf, but we can build a damn good fishing pole.
But it isn't enough to simply make these tools freely available, they must also belong to the people. So we've taken the time to release our work as an open source project. This way others may use and build upon our work freely without any dependence on our leadership.
This is why we've created OccupyWallSt.org. Technology has made it easier than ever before for the people to stay in close contact and assist one another in acheiving a collective goal. Our aim is to make these tools available so our users--the true organizers of this event--can make an occuptation of Wall St. successful. We may not be able to teach a person to fish, or do it on their behalf, but we can build a damn good fishing pole.
But it isn't enough to simply make these tools freely available, they must also belong to the people. So we've taken the time to release our work as an open source project. This way others may use and build upon our work freely without any dependence on our leadership.
The sovereign people of any nation have the power, the right, and the duty, of guiding the destiny of their nation. Most just do not realize this. An organizer brings the process of realization.
Why occupy Wall Street? Because it belongs to us! Because we can!
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