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    • Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-20-12

    April 20th, 2012 · · Daily Digest Comments Off on Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-20-12

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: Federal immigration officials granted a one-year stay of deportation Tuesday to Lessy Noelia Ramos, a Honduran woman suffering from postpartum depression, more than five years after she was arrested at a massive factory raid in New Bedford. For more, click here. Activists see homeless teens as growing problem in Massachusetts. State officials and those who advocate for the homeless say there is an alarmingly large population of so-called unaccompanied homeless young people, ages 14 to 22, living on the streets and in shelters across Massachusetts. The figure is growing, and too big to get a grasp of because homeless teenagers often hide their plight, and go uncounted, advocates say. Massachusetts was one of the first states to include a question about homelessness in the student risk behavioral study school districts conduct for the federal government every two years, according to homeless advocates. Read more here. And: the financial fraudsters, the One Percenters, fleece the most vulnerable — military families, minorities, low-income people — to generate their fast riches. See “Murder, Suicide and Financial Ruin: How the Class War Is Destroying Americans’ Lives.” And: Occupy Wall Street has been about more than just corporate greed and income inequality. Occupy protesters around the globe may not realize it but, at various points in the past six months, many have been fighting for the same cause as the peasant communities of rural Vietnam during the 1930s – the moral economy. For more, see “What Are Occupiers Really Fighting For?” And Holman Jenkins, like any good upper class white male member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, is absolutely perplexed by America’s “Inequality Obsession.” See “Ruling Class Spokesman Can’t Understand America’s ‘Obsession’ With Inequality.” And check out this great satirical website: Your Bank of America.

    Other Occupies/Protests: Occupy Oakland and Occupy SF plan to shut down the Golden Gate Bridge on May 1. The Facebook event for Occupy the Bridge states: Unite in solidarity with Golden Gate Bridge workers and the international call for a general strike on Mayday as we occupy the bridge, and show the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District that fair wages and benefits can not be ignored. This action has been called for by the Golden Gate Bridge Labor Coalition and endorsed by Occupy Oakland, Occupy SF, Jobs with Justice, and the Occupy SF Action Council.

    “The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.” Thomas Paine

    Upcoming Events:

    • Union Busting is Disgusting: Defend the MFA Guards Rally, Saturday, April 21. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is seriously considering OUTSOURCING their guard union. Some have been working there for 10-20-30 years. They would lose their status as museum employees and would be forced to apply for jobs to an outside contractor with a bad reputation — IF they get re-hired. The museum would have non-union workers doing union jobs! Let’s give the top 1% our 100% effort in stopping these attacks! DON’T SUBCONTRACT UNION JOBS! Saturday, April 21 from noon to 2 pm at the Huntington Ave. sidewalk in front of MFA. For more info, contact John at rennipsmj@yahoo.com. Facebook event page is https://www.facebook.com/events/325005734232758/  
    • Tuesday, April 24, 10am-8pm, Occupy Brandeis is hosting The Great Teach-In on the Great Lawn. For the schedule of events, click here.
    • The Occupy Boston Media Working Group has dissolved. To try to help us explore how the entire community can be empowered to create its own media, we invite /urge you, the community, to participate in a conversation about the future of media work at Occupy Boston next Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 7pm at Encuentro 5 (5th floor, 33 Harrison Ave, Boston). We will discuss the best way to reallocate existing resources in a way that is equitable and consistent with OB’s values.
    • What is Occupy Wall Street? A film screening. Occupy HCC (Holyoke Community College) is hosting a film screening of short films produced by Occupy Wall Street in the Forum at HCC, April 27, 3pm-5pm. Come and find out about the Occupy Movement that started on Wall St. and has spread across the globe! There will be a Q&A session following the films with activists from different Occupy groups across the Northeast. This event is sponsored by the Holyoke Community College Student Senate.
    • MA Unite Against the War on Women Rally, April 28, 10am-2pm, at City Hall Plaza. Help defend women’s rights and pursuit of equality. Join Americans all across the United States 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!
    • Boston New Sanctuary Movement Presents A Return to A Faithful UnderstandingAn Interfaith Conference: Toward a More Compassionate National Debate on Immigration, Sunday, April 29, 2012, 12:30 – 5 p.m.  (12-1, lunch provided by Brazilian Immigrant Center), Church of the Covenant, 67 Newbury St., Boston, MAWorship leader:  Rev. Rob Mark, Pastor, Church of the Covenant, Boston, Presbyterian/UCCSpeakers, Reflection leaders:  Members of the Boston New Sanctuary Movement. Schedule: 12:30  Registration; 1:00 Welcome, opening reflection; 1:15  Current Immigration issues in Boston, and the Boston New Sanctuary Movement; 1:40 Workshops, period I; 3:10 Workshops, period II; 4:40 Closing reflection; 5:00    Networking. 
      • May 1 General Strike! A Day Without the 99%. NO WORK – NO SCHOOL – NO SHOPPING – NO BANKING – NO TRADING. GENERAL STRIKE AND BOYCOTT CALLED! 7am-11am: Financial District Block Party! (corner of Federal and Franklin Streets). Bring a friend and let’s party! Bring whistles, drums, noise makers. Bring street theater ! 12:00pm: Boston City Hall Rally. Can’t make it to Boston City Hall at Noon? Well how about: The Chelsea City Hall? – Gather at Noon – March at 2pm (For More information please contact La Colaborativa (617) 889-6097). 2pm: LoPresti Park Rally/March (Blue Line: Maverick Square) (For more information contact [redacted]. 4pm: Everett – Glendale Park (For more information please contact La Comunidad (617) 387-9996). 7pm: Death of Capitalism Boston Funeral March (Copley Square). We invite people to participate in this piece of street theater which includes puppets, a marching band, and other creative surprises. People will begin gathering at 7pm at Copley Square Park (by the steps of Trinity Church) to put on costumes, puppets and face-paint and get info on their respective role in the funeral procession. We ask that people participate as: mourners (dressed in black), celebrators (wearing neon/bright colors/glow stuff), skeleton block (bring your own skeleton costume). The funeral procession will leave Copley Square Park at 8pm and will travel through areas of wealth and commerce.
      • Keep Immigrant Families Together! Stop the Raids and Deportations! Prayer Vigil for Immigrant Detainees, Sunday, May 6th, 2 p.m.Suffolk County House of Correction, 20 Bradston St., BostonFor more information about the vigil, contact our Facebook page, or email SocialAction@ascboston.org. www.bostonnewsanctuary.org. Immigration through Faith: Faith through Immigration – Personal experiences of immigration as a moral and religious issue. A facilitated panel discussion exploring personal experiences of faith and immigration. This session is designed to help participants articulate and claim religious language and relevancy in a conversation dominated by secular and political messages. The panel discussion will be followed by an open period for questions and reflections.U.S. Immigration History and Your Faith:  We will look at who came and why?  What laws were enacted as barriers?  What role have people of faith played in this history?  Immigrant Stories in the Struggle for Workers Rights:  We will also ask where we find ourselves in the story, and who belongs here? To register, go to www.bostonnewsanctuary.org, or call Newell Hendricks at 617 876-5038. $10 suggested donation
    • Occupy New England – M12 Day of Action and Regional Gathering. 9am-5:30pm, May 12: Come join Occupy groups from all around New England as we converge in Worcester for a day of action and networking! The day will have four core key components to it: getting as many Occupy groups and participants in one centralized location at the same time for a day of networking and planning, direct actions and public visibility, continued actions against corporations backing ALEC, and finally the flared up “War on Women” – discussion on women’s issues (rights, health care, etc…)Preliminary timeline of events:
      (Please note the following is a rough draft discussed by Occupy Worcester and the M12 working group. More details will be released later on, and times/actions are subject to change.)
      9 am: Begin gathering at Worcester Common
      10 am: Second New England Solidarity March
      Late morning: Direct Action (w/ CD potential)
      Midday: Occupy New England gathering. Have lunch and talk a lot to each other.
      Mid afternoon: Occupy Worcester’s Women’s Caucus event, details TBA

    Continue reading “Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-20-12” »

    The OB Media Rundown for 4/20/12

    April 19th, 2012 · · Daily Media Rundown Comments Off on The OB Media Rundown for 4/20/12

    Yet Another Obama Big Lie: Mortgage Fraud Investigation Not Even Staffed

    The Administration has managed the impressive task of operating in a more cynical fashion than even its worst critics predicted.

    We had assumed that the Administration would engage in a Potemkin version of an investigation, bringing a few cases close to the election to generate deceptive and useful “tough on crime” headlines. But having succeeded in protecting the banks, it looks like they can’t even be bothered to go through the motions:

    http://tinyurl.com/bnwe7le

    Making our arrests count

    From occupying Liberty Square and marching in the streets without permits, to carrying out targeted acts of direct action against the banks that crashed the economy or the courts that auction off people’s homes, winding up in places like this has been an integral part of the Occupy Wall Street’s life since its birth. Yet we’re only at the very beginning of understanding our civil disobedience – the ways in which it grows but also shrinks the movement, the positive and negative impacts it has on the movement’s internal culture, and the challenging but ultimately vital role it plays in the struggle for liberation.

    http://tinyurl.com/d832cc8

    The American Left, Liberalism, and Equality

    While some historians dismiss the very notion of an American left, Eli Zaretsky argues that it has made a profound impact on American political life. He examines three historical “lefts”: the abolitionists, the left that coalesced around the New Deal, and the New Left of the ’60s and ’70s. In each case, the left addressed an issue already being debated-slavery, economic depression, civil rights-but transformed equality into the core goal of each movement. In this sense, each left resulted in a “refounding” of America, “a transformation of its identity and of its conception of legitimate order, one that placed equality at its center.”

    http://tinyurl.com/c8m6puj

    Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 4/20/12” »

    Occupy Brandeis – The Great Teach In on the Great Lawn

    April 19th, 2012 · · News and Announcements One comment

    See the link below for the full schedule of activities for this day long Teach-In at Brandeis University, on Tuesday, April 24.

    OCCUPY Brandeis

    Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-19-12

    April 19th, 2012 · · Daily Digest Comments Off on Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-19-12

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: Keynesian economics suggests deficit spending as a means of jump-starting a waning economy, and it only proved itself by ending the Great Depression. There is no polite way to say this: the imposition of austerity at this moment in economic history is stupid. Not just a little stupid, staggeringly stupid. And not just staggeringly stupid, but on a human scale, just plain old cruel. Read more about The Cruel Stupidity That is Economic Austerity here. And across the United States more than 2,700 companies are collecting state income taxes from hundreds of thousands of workers – and are keeping the money with the states’ approval, says an eye-opening report published on Thursday. For more, click here. [Note: Michael Moore talks about this in his excellent film “Capitalism: A Love Story.”] And a surprising coalition of unions, social justice organizations, Occupy Atlanta, the Tea Party Patriots, and others beat back what was meant to be an easy test case for repressive legislation. This is how they did it: check out How to Slay a Dragon.

    Other Occupies/Protests: Per Occupy Chicago: Police force Mental Health Movement Occupation off lot across from Woodlawn Clinic. No arrests were made. The patients, healthcare workers, and advocates will sleep in their cars with their banners visible. Protest at Mayor Emanuel’s House Being Planned. And, coming in August: the Everything for Everyone Festival is a free, two-day music, art, and politics festival scheduled to take place in Seattle, Washington, on August 11th and 12th. In 2011, the rule of the 1% began to be challenged in brand new ways. A wave of discontent with the old older of things began in Egypt and Tunisia in the Spring. This wave gained strength and momentum into the Fall with the Occupy movement. Now in 2012, there is a desire coming from everywhere on the planet to continue that spirit of resistance of 2011, and to develop it in new and meaningful ways. This desire for change is not manifesting itself in the traditional forms of opposition to the current system, nor is that desire seeking just to “fix” the old oppressive order to make it seem “fairer” to the relative few on the planet. Initial endorsers: Occupy Seattle, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Portland, Kali Akuno-Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Black Orchid Collective, Student Anarchist Study Group, Red Spark (Kasama Project), Rising Tide. For more information, click here.

    “The country is governed for the richest, for the corporations, the bankers, the land speculators, and for the exploiters of labor. The majority of mankind are working people. So long as their fair demands — the ownership and control of their livelihoods — are set at naught, we can have neither men’s rights nor women’s rights. The majority of mankind is ground down by industrial oppression in order that the small remnant may live in ease.” Helen Keller

    Upcoming Events:

    • Union Busting is Disgusting: Defend the MFA Guards Rally, Saturday, April 21. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is seriously considering OUTSOURCING their guard union. Some have been working there for 10-20-30 years. They would lose their status as museum employees and would be forced to apply for jobs to an outside contractor with a bad reputation — IF they get re-hired. The museum would have non-union workers doing union jobs! Let’s give the top 1% our 100% effort in stopping these attacks! DON’T SUBCONTRACT UNION JOBS! Saturday, April 21 from noon to 2 pm at the Huntington Ave. sidewalk in front of MFA. For more info, contact John at rennipsmj@yahoo.com. Facebook event page is https://www.facebook.com/events/325005734232758/  
    • What is Occupy Wall Street? A film screening. Occupy HCC (Holyoke Community College) is hosting a film screening of short films produced by Occupy Wall Street in the Forum at HCC, April 27, 3pm-5pm. Come and find out about the Occupy Movement that started on Wall St. and has spread across the globe! There will be a Q&A session following the films with activists from different Occupy groups across the Northeast. This event is sponsored by the Holyoke Community College Student Senate.
    • MA Unite Against the War on Women Rally, April 28, 10am-2pm, at City Hall Plaza. Help defend women’s rights and pursuit of equality. Join Americans all across the United States 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!
    • May 1 General Strike! A Day Without the 99%. NO WORK – NO SCHOOL – NO SHOPPING – NO BANKING – NO TRADING. GENERAL STRIKE AND BOYCOTT CALLED! 7am-11am: Financial District Block Party! (corner of Federal and Franklin Streets). Bring a friend and let’s party! Bring whistles, drums, noise makers. Bring street theater ! 12:00pm: Boston City Hall Rally. Can’t make it to Boston City Hall at Noon? Well how about: The Chelsea City Hall? – Gather at Noon – March at 2pm (For More information please contact La Colaborativa (617) 889-6097). 2pm: LoPresti Park Rally/March (Blue Line: Maverick Square) (For more information contact [redacted]. 4pm: Everett – Glendale Park (For more information please contact La Comunidad (617) 387-9996). 7pm: Death of Capitalism Boston Funeral March (Copley Square). We invite people to participate in this piece of street theater which includes puppets, a marching band, and other creative surprises. People will begin gathering at 7pm at Copley Square Park (by the steps of Trinity Church) to put on costumes, puppets and face-paint and get info on their respective role in the funeral procession. We ask that people participate as: mourners (dressed in black), celebrators (wearing neon/bright colors/glow stuff), skeleton block (bring your own skeleton costume). The funeral procession will leave Copley Square Park at 8pm and will travel through areas of wealth and commerce.
    • Occupy New England – M12 Day of Action and Regional Gathering. May 12: Come join Occupy groups from all around New England as we converge in Worcester for a day of action and networking! At Worcester City Hall and Common. More information to be announced.

    Thursday, April 19, 2012

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

    Continue reading “Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-19-12” »

    The OB Media Rundown for 4/19/12

    April 19th, 2012 · · Daily Media Rundown Comments Off on The OB Media Rundown for 4/19/12

    Massive Tax Day Rally Envelops Financial District

    A Massive group of protesters took to the streets of Boston’s Financial District late yesterday afternoon to demand major corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans pay their fare share of federal and state income taxes.

    Organized primarily by the MassUniting Coalition and the Right to the City Alliance, the extremely lively and vocal tax day protest was aimed at the Commonwealth’s “most egregious tax-dodgers,” according to a press release announcing the rally and subsequent march, which snaked its way through the heart of the Financial District, and caused police to shut down both Summer and Franklin Streets for periods of time.

    Assembling at Dewey Square, quickly becoming the spiritual home of Boston activism, at around 5:30 p.m., the crowd was comprised of more than 30 local labor and peace groups, including City Life/Vida Urbana out of Jamaica Plain, MoveOn.org, Occupy Boston and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. (South End Patch)

    http://tinyurl.com/7pth4cs

    Occupy Tax Dodgers, 99% Spring, or Whatever The Fuck You Want To Call It, Protesters Sure Were Wicked Pissed Today

    While tax evaders were the direct object of today’s aggression, the real message on the block was that protest season – despite never fully ceasing through the somewhat cold months – is back in full swing. From Occupy Boston’s recent Camp Charlie stand-off and current “sleepful protest” just blocks from Dewey Square, to City Life’s ongoing hostility toward a range of top offenders, it’s sure to be an electric Spring. (Boston Phoenix)

    http://tinyurl.com/7fydw3j

    Choked Occupy Protester: Cop Didn’t Hurt Him

    An Occupy Boston protester who was photographed in a confrontation with a Boston Police officer who appeared to have a choke hold on him is now saying the picture doesn’t tell the whole story.

    The protester, who wished only to be identified as “Allie” was demonstrating on Boston Common over the weekend and the photograph quickly went viral.

    “I’ve seen a lot of people spreading rumors about exactly what happened, some people saying that I was near passing out and stuff like that. That’s not the case. It only lasted for about 2 seconds, it was a very quick altercation. It was violent, and it was — I feel — extremely inappropriate and outside the realm of what a police officer should be doing, but I don’t want there to be any illusions that he harmed me significantly,” Allie said. (WCVT)

    http://tinyurl.com/dx8gahq

    Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 4/19/12” »

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