Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-13-12

Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: Seems like a bad idea to me: America is planning nuclear-powered drones. 21 Signs that the UK is Being Transformed into a Hellish Big Brother Surveillance Society. And somebody out there has decided that the Department of Homeland Security needs a whole lot of ammunition.  Recently it was announced that ATK was awarded a contract to provide up to 450 million hollow point bullets to the Department of Homeland Security over the next five years. And when you don’t recycle, ever wonder where your garbage goes? Check out this Secret Life of Garbage infographic.

Other Occupies/Protests:  In Ireland, Occupy Dame Street occupied a bank. And in Montreal, students occupied banks as well. And broad coalition of organizations, initiatives and networks are mobilizing to diverse days of action in Frankfurt from May 16th to 18th . The central element of the protest choreography is mass blockades on May 18, taking place after the take the squares action on May 17 and before the mass demonstration on May 19. The goal of [the] action on this day is to effectively disrupt the normal business activities of European Central Bank and other central actors in the financial center in Frankfurt. For more, click here.

“On a planet that increasingly resembles one huge Maximum Security prison, the only intelligent choice is to plan a jail break.”
~ Robert Anton Wilson

Upcoming Events:

SATURDAY April 14 — MARCH AND PARTY AT E5

Closing March and Rally:   Uniting the 99 percent!

12:15 pm at Converse Hall, 88 Tremont Street

Meet at Camp Charlie at 11:30
To celebrate the final day of the occupation, Occupy MBTA will join hundreds of members of SEIU Local 615 and community allies to honor the centennial of the famous Bread and Roses Lawrence Textile Strike. Join us as we take our message to the streets. We are ready to stand for the 99%!

Benefit for E5 at Spontaneous Celebrations!

8 pm at Spontaneous

45 Danforth Street, Jamaica Plain

Dance Prequel to E5′s Dance-a-thon with rockin’ DJs, cool art and great food.   Latin Meets Rock N Roll, Boogaloo, chicha, salsa, latin garage, plena, and biguine music, kuduro, kwaito, hipco, soca, baile, cumbia, Spanish dancehall, reggae, reggaetón, ska, merengue, salsa kid, blend of Soul/House/Latin/Hip Hop/Afro-Beat, soul/funk/afrobeat/hip-hop, electrópica, cumbia digital, latin house, moombahton…There is a $20 – $5 (sliding scale) admission (which covers the registration cost of the Dance-a-thon in Sept.) Join us and move your body for the movement!

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 Post Office Square. Things to bring:  yourself (most important), signs, noise-making stuff (pots, pans, kazoos, whatever). Right to the City is coordinating this event. For a list of co-sponsoring organizations visit http://www.taxdayboston.org.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Please note events are subject to change; check https://www.occupyboston.org for the latest information!

Event Highlights:

Come celebrate the last two days of Camp Charlie with education, activism, and fun!

FRIDAY APRIL 13 – TEACH-INS AND SLUMBER PARTY!

From Occupy to Revolution:   The Importance of Keeping a Radical Perspective

10:30 am at Camp Charlie
Radical scholar, Marxist intellectual, and long-time social justice activist, Professor Barbara Foley (Rutgers-Newark) will be giving a short lecture and facilitating a discussion, under the working title : “From Occupy to Revolution: the importance of keeping a radical perspective” at Camp Charlie, between 10:30 and 11 am this Friday, April 13th at Camp Charlie.

Ride the Rails
4:00 PM at Camp Charlie

Come Ride the Rails with us to spread the word to Boston’s subway riders about Camp Charlie, the Occupy MBTA campaign, and the broader Occupy Boston community. We’ll be meeting at Camp Charlie at 4:00 PM for a brief training, after which we’ll be setting out in teams to connect with Boston’s rush-hour commuters and recruit them for the movement through speaking, leafleting, and distributing copies of the Boston Occupier. Let’s seize the unique opportunity to engage thousands of T commuters about the issues that could immediately impact them — the cuts, hikes, and layoffs — as well as the deeper issues that they raise for us all. See you there!

Race and Class Inequality:  Fighting for a People’s T
6:15 pm at Camp Charlie

The recent fare hikes and proposed service cuts are only the most recent effort to divide public transit across race and class lines.   Join us for a crash course on the history of the T — how urban planning choices changed its shape and layout, and how those choices affect the demographics it serves.

“But What Can I do About it?”    Looking Up, Looking Forward
7 pm at Camp Charlie
The T is $5.5 billion in debt.   The legislature is fighting over $51 million in funding for the entire state.   What can you do about it?  You can decide to act.   A teach-in on how to think about action in the face of overwhelming odds, how to get yourself organized and start thinking at the granular level — person by person – about what you can do to make a differenceSigns for Santorum @ OB Queer DA Meeting8:30 pm at Camp Charlie
Join Occupy Boston Queer Trans DA for a sign-making in preparation for this Sunday’s Mass Tea Party’s Patriot’s Day Rally.    Help us greet Santorum and Scott Lively in style!Occupy Slumber Party!
10 pm onward at Camp Charlie

Bring a sleeping bag, a sleeping pad, and help celebrate the last night at Camp Charlie!
Decolonize to Liberate Presents the film “9500 Liberty” 6pm – 8pm, First Parish in Cambridge, Unitarian Universalist 3 Church Street Cambridge, MA 02138 (across from Harvard T stop). Decolonize to Liberate Working Group presents “9500 Liberty,” which documents the first time in U.S. history that an Arizona-style immigration law was actually implemented—and the surprising grassroots opposition that led to its repeal.
[Ongoing] 10:30pm – 11:00pm Safer Spaces Meeting at Camp Charlie. Safer Spaces meets nightly at Camp Charlie until Occupation ends, to figure out how to maintain the space a safe place for protesters by night and by day. Overnight safety shifts are decided at the end of the meeting. If you are staying at Camp Charlie, you should be part of this meeting!

Calendar for Friday, April 13, 2012

5:30pm – 7:00pm, Women’s Caucus Working Group Meeting, 14 Beacon St, First Floor, Boston.

6pm – 7:30pm, FSU WG meeting, at Rachel’s house in Allston* KNOWLEDGE IS POWER: Education is a Weapon of Mass Construction! For more information on the Free School University, please visit: http://groups.occupyboston.org/wg/free-school-university http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Solidarity/FSU http://youtube.com/FSUOccupyBoston *Email rachel@freeschooluniversity.org if you plan to come to this meeting, and she will send you the address.

7pm – 9pm Radio WG Meeting,  City Place Food Court (In State Transportation Building)

8:30pm – 10:00pm Queer Trans DA Working Group Meeting, at City Place Food Court (In State Transportation Building)

10:30pm – 11:00pm Safer Spaces Meeting at Camp Charlie. Safer Spaces meets nightly at Camp Charlie until Occupation ends, to figure out how to maintain the space a safe place for protesters by night and by day. Overnight safety shifts are decided at the end of the meeting. If you are staying at Camp Charlie, you should be part of this meeting!

Please note! Due to the increasingly warm weather and the Occupation at Camp Charlie, meeting locations may change. We encourage you to check the Occupy Boston Calendar for the most up-to-date information.

These are just some of the many events at Occupy Boston. Check out our Daily Calendar for more information.

Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements: 

  • Occupy Boston’s newspaper, The Boston Occupier, is looking for new staff members, including writers, editors, photographers, and those willing to help with fund-raising and distribution of the newspaper.

For a partial listing of Working Groups looking for volunteers, please click here!

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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