Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: Pink slime, GMOs, and soup are on the menu today. Occupy Maine, which decamped from a city park last month, showed it’s still active with a noisy demonstration Friday evening outside a fundraiser for President Barack Obama at the Portland Museum of Art. Holding a banner that said “Occupy Everywhere,” demonstrators handed out free soup while Obama’s supporters paid $5,000 or more to dine with the president. For more, click here. And between “mechanically separated chicken” and “pink slime,” I’ve lost my appetite. Now three factories that made pink slime have shut down since public outcry about the ammonia-treated substance began last month. For more, click here. The scientist who coined the term “pink slime” was a reluctant whistleblower, and it has taken 10 years for the public to become aware of the issue! For his story, click here. And Occupy Monsanto ran this story: One Million Americans Tell FDA: We Have a Right to Know What’s in Our Food. For more, click here.

Other Occupies/Protests: 

• On Saturday April 7th at 12:30 p.m. at Ruggles Station, there will be a rally in support of justice for Trayvon Martin. The march will go from RUGGLES to DUDLEY, ending in front of the Police Station, with a speakout near the old B2 barracks grounds. Please come and stand up against racism, racial profiling and corruption! For more information, click here.
• MA Unite Against the War on Women Rally: April 28, 10am-2pm, Boston City Hall Plaza. Help defend women’s rights and pursuit of equality. Join Americans all across the United States on April 28th, 2012, as we come together as one to tell members of Congress in Washington DC and legislators in all 50 states, “Enough is enough!” All Americans have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, including contraception, without interference from government, business or religious institutions.Please join us as we gather together and show both state and federal legislative bodies that we won’t stand silently by as they propose and pass laws that will impact women’s choices, health, and wellbeing. We need everyone’s voice! These decisions affect all genders, races, and socio-economic statuses!!! Everyone is invited to join, plan, and rally as we unite to demand that every person be granted equal opportunities, equal rights, and equal representation. For more information, click here.

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” Krishnamurti

Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements: 

Did you know? Occupy Boston’s own newspaper, The Boston Occupier, is available online! Support free press!

• Have you entered the Occupier’s Haiku Contest yet? I did! Send submissions to submit@occupier.com by April 7, no more than 3 haikus per person. For rules, click here. Prizes!

Upcoming Events:

Monday, April 2, 6 pm-8:30 pm (doors open 5:30), Occupy Boston Open House at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 138 Tremont St., Boston. All WGs are welcome to attend, the idea is to make it like a job fair so that people can learn about what the working groups do. Please bring fliers/literature relevant to your group if you have it, and please make a sign with your group’s name on it. Please tell us in advance if your group plans to attend, you can contact me at AnnaC@OccupyBoston.org.

Wednesday, April 4, 3pm-11:30pm Occupy Boston – National Day of Action for Public Transportation, Massachusetts State House

Public transportation is a right and must be accessible to all. Service cuts and fare hikes will have a devastating and disproportionate impact on low-income communities, communities of color, students, workers, seniors and the environment. We say NO TO PRIVATIZATION of our common resources and NO MORE EXCUSES! We will not accept any funding strategies that attempt to divide the 99% against each other or shift the burden onto the backs of the 99%: the poor and working classes. End the wars and tax the rich! On April 4th, we will stand together to demand public transportation for the 99%. If our call is not answered and the necessary funds redirected, it will only add to the growing body of evidence that our government no longer represents us.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Event Highlight:

Sunday, April 1, 12 noon-11 pm, Take Back Dewey, Dewey Square, at South Station, Boston

• 12:00pm – Lunch (Bring some to share).
• 1:00pm – April’s Fools March – The theme is to sarcastically invoke the ideas and thoughts that Occupy Boston are fighting against.
• 3:00pm – Livestream training (meet by Gandhi)
• 3:00pm – Clothing Swap (Got stuff you don’t wear anymore? Bring your clothes, and trade with friends! Surplus clothes will be going to a worthy cause).
• 4:30pm – Open Mic/Stack
• 5:30pm – Occupy Boston’s General Assembly
• 8:00pm – Direct Action Planning Meeting: On the agenda: How to institute anti-oppression? How can we organize without endangering others? Creating a decentralized model(spokes, affinities, etc)

Calendar for Sunday, April 1, 2012

Given the large attendance expected at the events listed above, other regularly scheduled meetings may not be taking place today. Check out our Daily Calendar for full descriptions of events at Occupy Boston.

For more information on Occupy Boston’s General Assembly, including passed resolutions, click here!