Good Morning from Occupy Boston!
Stories of the Day: In reaction to OWS, NYC Property Owners Want All Public Plazas Closed at Night. More Americans Went Without Medicine Last Year Because They Couldn’t Afford It: Report. Monsanto Threatens to Sue Vermont if Legislators Pass a Bill Requiring GMO Food to Be Labeled. And see this review of three books on Occupy. And check out this great 8-minute video – Occupy, we’re still free!
Other Occupies/Protests: OWS and Occupy Student Debt are having an NYC Kiss-In! Saturday, April 7th, at 1 pm. If the banks can make out like bandits, so can we. Students and folks with student debt in groups around the country will kiss in public spaces to protest the out of control tuition hikes and education cuts that are plaguing the country. This is a creative and effective way that we as students can bring awareness to this issue that is so often ignored. Find out more at http://occupystudentdebtcampaign.org and http://1tday.org. April 7 is the day student loan debt passes the $1 trillion mark.
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anaïs Nin
Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements:
Help support Camp Charlie! Protesters need healthy food, water, hand warmers, sweaters, blankets, duct tape, and you!
The following proposal was passed by the Occupy Boston General Assembly on April 5th:
The genesis of the State House occupation was an autonomous action by members of Occupy Boston. Moving forward, Occupy Boston as a community endorses the continuation of the occupation at the State House until April 14th as an Occupy Boston action. Occupy Boston stands in solidarity with actions nationally that attempt to secure public transportation as a right.
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!
For a partial listing of Working Groups looking for volunteers, please click here!
Upcoming Events:
The State House is Occupied and we’re calling it Camp Charlie! See below for more info.
- Camp Charlie Potluck and Teach-In Saturday, April 7, 1pm – 4pm, at Camp Charlie at the State House. Join us at Camp Charlie for a pot-luck lunch. Bring a dish to share (we’ll also have some food donated by our friends). Afterwards, we’ll have a number of teach-ins about the fight to save the T and the broader struggle for transit justice. Contact: Josh Golin (golingolin@yahoo.com)
- 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.
- Raise Taxes on the 1% Tax Day Rally and March, Tuesday, April 17, 5:30PM, Dewey Square (South Station). Occupy JP and Occupy Boston will participate, along with many other groups, in a protest against the unfairness of the current tax regime, where people such as Mitt Romney pay at rates far lower than those earning far less, and Warren Buffet’s now-famous secretary pays at a higher rate than Warren Buffet. The Rally and March will begin at 5:30pm at Dewey Square (South Station) and the march will begin at 6pm and proceed through the city streets, pass by several notorious corporate tax dodgers, and end at the bandstand in the Commons. Things to bring: yourself (most important), signs, noise-making stuff (pots, pans, kazoos, whatever)
Friday, April 6, 2012
Event Highlights:
- Good Friday – Way of the Cross – Procession and Vigil for Nonviolence, 12pm – 3pm. Procession begins at Dewey Square, ends at State House. Sponsored for over 20 years by the Agape Community (Hardwick, MA), House of Peace (Ipswich MA), Pax Christi MA in our first collaboration with the Protest Chaplains of Occupy Boston The first half of the vigil will consist of a procession through Boston’s financial district calling for the faithful to repentance for the violence of economic injustice. Through the traditional Christian practice of The Way of the Cross, we will meditate on modern “crucifixions” caused by both corporate greed and our own greed. We will highlight the devastating toll of economic injustice on the 99% and reflect on our own complicity in economic structures that cause suffering at home and abroad. The procession will become a stationary vigil at the Massachusetts State House by 1:30pm. Themes of reflection will include the death penalty, a violence Jesus suffered but never recommended; homelessness in Boston (led by a homeless outreach psychiatrist from Boston); the violence of war (often led by a member of Veterans for Peace); human rights; women’s rights – human trafficking and sexual slavery; dominative power in the church. Procession begins at Dewey Square, travels through the financial district, and ends at the Massachusetts State House front steps. Contact: Agape Community: Brayton Shanley – 413-967-9369 – www.agapecommunity.org Occupy Boston Protest Chaplains: John Crawford-Gallagher – 603-957-0325
- Occupation of State House Steps for Public Transportation, April 5 – 14, 2012, Camp Charlie at the State House. On April 4, Occupy the MBTA, a working group of Occupy Boston, launched Camp Charlie, a ten-day occupation of the Massachusetts State House steps to protest fare-hikes and service cutbacks on the MBTA. Having survived the depths of the recession, the 99% now faces additional taxes in the form of escalating T fares and the loss of essential transport routes. This is a further transfer of public wealth to the banks. These are the same institutions that were bailed out by the American taxpayer after being rendered insolvent by their own, criminal recklessness. The only debt in need of servicing is their debt to us. In a country that lavishes four billion dollars in subsidies on the oil companies, the relentless assault on public transport could not make less sense – ethically, environmentally, or otherwise. Camp Charlie will be a place for public debate, conversation, and outreach – a living testament to the refusal of the people to be further abused by a clutch of corporate interests, multinational banking cartels and consolidated oil interests.
- TOWN HALL FORUM: JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON, “The Attack on Black Men & Boys” Stop S. Bill 661 H. Bill 1568 at Hibernian Hall (Dudley Sq), FRIDAY APRIL 6th 6-8pmTopics to be addressed:* Trayvon Martin case: Justice for Trayvon
* Cases of violence against Black Men throughout the US; Lynchings, Draggings, etc.
* Racist Rhetoric, Racial profiling, Police Brutality, Murders, Violence, Mass Incarceration
* ACTION ITEM: Stop SB 661 HB 1568 which are the “Stand Your Ground Laws” currently being proposed in MA
* ACTION ITEM: THURS. APRIL, 12th RALLY & LOBBY DAY – Meet at Boston Commons Bandstand 11AM
RALLY IN BOSTON COMMONS; MARCH TO STATE HOUSE LOBBY AGAINST STAND YOUR GROUND IN MAFor More Info
Blackstonian.com
617-297-7721
Calendar for Friday, April 6, 2012
8:00am – 8:30am Occupy Lent: Prayers of Repentance for Economic Injustice, Bank of America Building, 100 Federal St, Boston, MA 02114
5:30pm – 7:00pm, Women’s Caucus Working Group Meeting, 14 Beacon St, First Floor, Boston.
6pm – 8pm, Occupy MBTA WG Meeting, at Camp Charlie, in front of the MA State House on Beacon Street. Please join OccupyMBTA in defending our city’s transportation system and connecting with Boston’s 99% on this issue!
8:30pm – 10:00pm Queer Trans DA Working Group Meeting, at City Place Food Court (In State Transportation Building)
These are just some of the many events at Occupy Boston. Check out our Daily Calendar for more information.
For more information on Occupy Boston’s General Assembly, including passed resolutions, click here!
And if you’re interested in learning more about Occupy Boston and how you can participate, click here!
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