This Saturday: Occupy Against Service Cuts/Fare Increases!

February 24th, 2012 · Josh G · Events 5 comments

Saturday, February 25, at noon, members of Occupy Boston will rally and march from Copley Square against the MBTA’s proposed fare hikes, service cuts, and layoffs.For years, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has failed to fund public transportation adequately, and forced the MBTA to borrow exorbitant sums. Now the MBTA is trying to balance its books on the backs of those who can afford it the least. Drastic fare hikes, service cuts, and layoffs will devastate students, seniors, low-income communities, and everyone who must rely on the T. The MBTA’s proposals will also force between 55,000 and 92,000 more cars on the road each day, creating traffic nightmares, and 50,000 tons of additional carbon dioxide emissions.

It’s time to show the general public that we, the 99%, will not accept these proposals and that we demand to find a more sensible way of addressing the MBTA’s financial situation. Join us on Saturday at noon!

For more information, please visit http://www.facebook.com/events/155333684580789/

Occupy 4 Prisoners, Rally for Tarek Mehanna

February 25th, 2012 · BrianK · Events, News and Announcements One comment

Occupy 4 Prisoners National Day of Action

O4P Boston Occupy 4 Prisoners, Rally for Tarek Mehanna

On Monday, February 20, members of Occupy Boston, Ocupemos El Barrio, the Jericho movement, Committe of Friends and Relatives of Prisoners, and others led a protest against the Prison Industrial Complex in front of the Nashua Street Jail. A speak-out across the street from the jail included voices from the Black, Puerto Rican, Muslim, Palestinian, Trans communities and many of the prisoners inside displayed signs saying “HELP” “Free Us” and “99%”. It was a moving experience as the 150 or so protestors raised their fists in solidarity with prisoners, communicating non-verbally with them throughout the protest.

A video and picture slideshow from the event is available here.

Livestream Video from the event is available here and also here.

More info on the Feb 20 National Day of Action is available at Occupy 4 Prisoners.

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Rally for Tarek Mehanna: Sat Feb 25

2-4pm Boston Common

On Saturday, February 25, from 2-4pm, members of Occupy Boston will join a rally by the Gazebo on the Boston common for Tarek Mehanna and against the Islamophobia and government-sponsored political persecution that his case demonstrates.

Imagine being in solitary confinement for 856 days and counting.

Why was Tarek Mehanna targeted by the government? Tarek has been outspoken against US foreign policy, specifically in regards to Muslim countries. He has voiced his beliefs that Muslims should protect their religion and their brethren from being attacked. He has worked to raise consciousness about Muslim prisoners like Aafia Siddiqui and to build support for them. He has encouraged others to fulfill their obligations as Muslims to struggle against oppression. In doing so he is seen as an obstacle in the government’s effort to fight Islam by redefining it into a meek, submissive shadow of itself.

By refusing to submit to the FBI’s coercive demands that he become an informant, and by speaking out against US policies, Tarek set an example that the government could not tolerate. The government and top 1%-owned media is persecuting him and countless others under bogus “terrorism” charges and insinuations as part of a broader policy of intimidating and silencing the Muslim community. According to Abdul Malik Mujahid of the Muslim Peace Coalition, Since September 11 2001, and the launching of long-term US wars and military occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq, more than 700,000 Muslims have been interviewed by the FBI, and some 75 percent of young Muslims report that they’ve been personally discriminated against or their friends are being harassed and profiled.

It’s time to show the general public that we will not accept political repression, racist scapegoating, and relentless persecution of the Arab and Muslim sections of the 99%!

Please come to learn more, show solidarity, and take a stand against injustice on Saturday Feb 25!

For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/141188742666716/

and

http://www.freetarek.com/

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The OB Media Rundown for 2/25/12

February 25th, 2012 · johnm · Daily Media Rundown One comment

Occupy the Food System: Construction or Protest?

Historically, successful movements for social change walk on two legs: construction and protest. The former builds the alternative world. The latter tries to make room for it by pulling down the old structures holding the new world back. Most movements start (and many finish) hopping on one leg. Finding the other leg — and then getting both to walk together — requires a sustained and concerted effort. However, as evidenced by the Civil Rights, Anti-apartheid and Indian Independence movements, there is no other way to travel the road of transformation.

The steady rise of food activism over the last 20 years (organic farming, community and urban gardens, Community Supported Agriculture, Farm to School, Food Policy Councils, Slow Food, etc.) and the more recent explosion of Occupy movements across the U.S. are textbook examples of construction and protest. While both are expressions of profound dissatisfaction with the ravages of unbridled monopoly capitalism — specifically regarding the food and financial systems — from the perspective of transformation they are in many ways, separately “hopping on one leg.”

http://tinyurl.com/6r2oygm

Occupy Cape Cod Targets Foreclosure Auction

Vacation destination Cape Cod may seem like a bizarre place for an Occupy protest, but that didn’t stop demonstrators from rallying in the area known for beaches and lobster.

A group of protesters gathered outside a foreclosed home that was being auctioned off earlier this week to demonstrate against foreclosures that they argue were the result of the 2008 financial crisis, according to the Cape Cod Times. But despite the protest, the auctioneers still found a buyer; a bank bought the house for slightly more than $200,000.

http://tinyurl.com/7sjgncp

Infiltration to Disrupt, Divide and Misdirect Is Widespread in Occupy

These scattered reports seem to be the tip of the iceberg. As a result of experiencing extreme divisive tactics and character assassination on Freedom Plaza, we began to hear from Occupiers across the country about similar incidents in their encampments. We decided to survey people about infiltration.

Recently we toured occupations on the West Coast, where we spoke to many participants and have attended General Assemblies at Occupy Wall Street and Philadelphia. We heard stories in Arizona of someone with website administrative privileges deleting the live stream archive that included video that was to be used in defense of some who were arrested. In Lancaster, Pa., someone took control of the email list, making it an announce-only list, and when the police threatened to close the camp, that person put out a statement that the Lancaster Occupiers had decided to go without any conflict. In fact, no such decision had been made and 30 Occupiers had planned to risk arrest when the police tried to remove them. The false email resulted in no resistance.

http://tinyurl.com/78akdtb

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 2/25/12” »

This Monday’s Community Gathering: “Decolonize our Minds, our Movement & our Food Supply”

February 24th, 2012 · Josh G · Events, Press Releases One comment

On Monday, February 27th from 6pm – 9pm, at Christ Church in Cambridge (map), members of the Decolonize to Liberate Working Group will host an Occupy Boston Community Gathering. The Working Group invites the rest of Occupy Boston and members of the public to join in an ongoing discussion of how the goals and roots of the Occupy movement are related to the history of ongoing indigenous resistance to colonialism and corporate exploitation. Please join us to learn what it means to “Decolonize Occupy” and how we can better create a global movement that works for everyone.

“Unless we each decolonize our minds, and together decolonize this movement, unless we dismantle the deeply-ingrained systems of oppression that we inherited with colonialism, we risk merely creating a new version of an unjust society,” said Martin Dagoberto, a member of the working group. The Decolonize to Liberate Working Group has been hosting weekly discussion meetings since it formed and introduced one of the first proposals passed by the Occupy Boston General Assembly, the “Statement of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples.”

Working group member Laurie Leyshon emphasized that the Community Gathering will not only provide a movement-building experience, but also present “a renewed call to action for the benefit of all people and all Life.” The gathering coincides with “#F27 Occupy the Food Supply and attendees will also have an opportunity to join in on this international day of action. Added Leyshon, “The privatization, control and manipulation of our food supply is the ultimate form of conquest. What Monsanto and the like are doing is a continuation of a long history of colonialism – the commodification of life.”

To learn more about the meaning of “decolonization,” people are encouraged to listen to a recent radio broadcast produced by Decolonize to Liberate working group member Ukumbwa Sauti: “Ancestral Continuum – Decolonization. The working group has also assembled a collection of articles and materials at decolonizeboston.org.

If you are a dedicated catalyst at Occupy Boston, a supporter, or just curious or completely new to the movement, we invite you to please join us for a unique community learning experience. This will be a great opportunity to connect, share food, words, and build. If you would like to take advantage of free child care during the event, please email decolonizeboston@gmail.com.

Occupy Boston’s Community Gatherings are held every Monday evening and are free and open to the public. The Gatherings are designed to build and strengthen the Occupy Boston community through ongoing dialogues, presentations, workshops, and facilitated conversations, in order to build a resilient, widespread and inclusive social movement.

The OB Media Rundown for 2/24/12

February 23rd, 2012 · johnm · Daily Media Rundown One comment

South Essex Register of Deeds: Mortgage Settlement Fails to Address Banking Criminal Enterprise

I will continue to pursue my request for Federal and State grand juries to be impaneled to hold the CEO’s of these banks liable for the crimes that have been committed under their watch. The only thing missing in this illegal scheme that MERS and the big banks came up with was a gun and a mask. I will continue to expose this fraud and work everyday to make sure that the taxpayers are fully reimbursed for the over $44 million dollars in lost recording fees in my district alone by institutions who still believe fees are “for thee but not for me.” A message needs to be sent to these banks that they may think that you are too big to fail but they are not too big to go to jail.

http://tinyurl.com/6olhfnz

Harvard: The Dilemma of the Radical – On-Campus Activism in the Age of Occupy

Even within activist organizations like the EAC, convincing students to get out and protest isn’t easy. “A lot of people show up to meetings and not to events. Others go to one or two rallies but don’t sustainably involve themselves,” he explains.
12:03 p.m. Stepping out of the Park Street station, Chaudhary joins about 25 people who are gathered for the rally. Most are well out of college, but there are a few other students from Brandeis and Tufts as well.

http://tinyurl.com/6r9kwhd

What if Occupy Created a Movement so Big it Couldn’t Control it?

Essentially, something can only be considered an “official” statement or action by Occupy Wall Street if it gains approval by the group’s general assembly in New York. It’s a cumbersome process, and most Occupy-related actions don’t go through it — but they’re done in “good faith” with the guidelines the group ratified in its Statement of Autonomy, so there’s usually no problem. Lately, though, more such Occupy-branded actions that diverge from the group’s ethos have been popping up. Remember the Occupy Super PAC last week and quickly drew the ire of the movement? Or the Occupy candidates, who’ve emerged despite the fact that the group has specifically pledged not to endorse parties or candidates? Or that delegation from Zuccotti Park that nearly (gasp) met with Congress before thinking better of it?

http://tinyurl.com/7na6v87

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 2/24/12” »