On Friday morning, Occupy Boston’s Protest Chaplains led community members through the Stations of the Cross to reflect on Good Friday. Below is text provided by the group about their devotions:
First Station of the Cross at Dewey Square: Good Friday belongs on the streets. To Occupy is to stand in solidarity with suffering. The cross allows us this solidarity, whether or not we are Christians. For those of us who are Christians, following the way and Stations of the Cross allows us to stand in solidarity with Christ. Economic injustice and today’s extreme economic inequality are both immoral and sinful. Jesus is condemned to death.
Second Station of the Cross at 100 Federal Street, Bank of America Boston Headquarters: Jesus picks up the cross. In choosing to Occupy, we too challenge the empire, and the dirty deals that ruin so many lives.
Third Station of the Cross at Century Bank, Financial Center: Jesus stumbles under the weight of the cross for the first time. In the meditation, the analogy was made to partial payments and the false counsel from certain banks to just not make payments while in negotiations – and that for so many, these “stumbles” led to loss of homes and even to life on the street.
Fourth Station of the Cross at the Irish Famine Memorial: Jesus meets Mary along the way of the cross. So often the burdens of life fall more heavily of women. And this is true of famine; all famines for more than a century have been the result of maldistribution of food and corporate policies that turn a blind eye to human need. There is enough food for all, if only it were distributed on the basis of need rather than profit.
Fifth Station of the Cross in Downtown Crossing: Simon the Syrene is conscripted to help carry the heavy cross. “I am Simon the Syrene; I am merciful and I am complicit.” Without the legionaries command, Simon would have observed suffering and injustice in silence, as most of us do.
Sixth Station of the Cross in an area of shops and commerce: Veronica steps out of the anonymous crowd, and wipes the sweat and blood from Jesus’s face. In doing so, she risks arrest and maybe worse. She could have remained safely in the shadows, anonymous in the crowd. So often it is those with little who step up to help one another, with great courage and empathy.
Seventh Station of the Cross on Boston Common: Jesus falls a second time under the weight of the cross. Rev. Kathy McAdams described that her congregation, many of them homeless, meet outdoors on the Common every Sunday, rain or sun or snow. They do this because many of them have stumbled and fallen many times and are not welcome elsewhere. The name of the congregation is “The Commons Cathedral” and all are welcome. In helping one another, many have made a new life after their many stumbles.
Stations 8 – 14 take place on the steps of the State House: These stations describe the third fall of Jesus, and his death on the cross. Falling down brings solidarity with the fallen. In the telling of Jesus’ nailing to the cross and death, the Arredondo family described their suffering due to the death of their son Alex in Iraq and the suicide of their son Micheal, who was unable to survive Alex’s death, and they pray for an end to unjust wars with their tragic loss of life to soldier and civilian alike.
We stood together in solemn vigil with Occupy Boston at Camp Charlie on the steps of the State House on Good Friday, April 6, 2012.
Good Morning from Occupy Boston!
Stories of the Day: The ranks of Europe’s working poor are increasing rapidly: a growing slice of the population is slipping through Europe’s long-vaunted social safety net, which was designed for the unemployed, not the underemployed. And a sad story from Greece: A Greek retiree shot himself dead in the busiest public square in Athens during morning rush hour Wednesday, leaving a note police said linked his suicide with the country’s acute financial woes. Hours later, more than 1,500 anti-austerity protesters gathered in the square, responding to social media calls for peaceful demonstrations accusing Greek politicians of driving people to despair with harsh cutbacks implemented to secure vital international bailouts. And two follow-ups to previously mentioned stories: the FDA deliberately erased 1 million signatures and comments on the ‘Just Label It’ campaign calling for the labeling of genetically modified foods. And Occupy Wall Street activists respond to the 99% Spring.
Other Occupies/Protests: Occupy Worcester Occupies City Hall: April 15 at 8pm until April 22 at 10am. The American Spring is here! Riding off of our Tax Day protest on April 15th, Occupy Worcester will be making a push to maintain a consistent outdoor presence on the sidewalk in front of city hall for the week leading up to our Occupy Earth Day event on April 22nd. We will be outside in front of city hall protesting the social, economic, and environmental injustices plaguing this country and the world, handing out information and literature on these issues, and starting up one on one conversations with the people on the street to get to know them and their concerns and introduce ourselves.
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements:
Help support Camp Charlie! Protesters need healthy food, water, hand warmers, sweaters, blankets, duct tape, and you! Also musicians needed, acoustic only. Bring friends/bands/instruments…sorry, no power. And if anyone has time over the next 8 days to come by for any amount of time and help out by sitting at the Info table to talk to people that would be great!
Last day to enter the Occupier’s Haiku Contest! Send submissions to submit@occupier.com, 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:
- Sunday, April 8, at 2pm at Camp Charlie, in front of the Occupied State House, Occupy Boston will hold a mock hearing on the MBTA. Bring/wear a suit or a reason why they should put the fares back … and a loud voice. After, we’re planning a “Back to the Future” event where we’ll try to remember what life was when we had trains.
- 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)
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Event Highlights:
Please note that many new events are being added to the website; check https://www.occupyboston.org for the latest information!
- Making Sense of the MBTA Mess, What Happened and What We Can Still Do About It: Potluck and Teach-in at Camp Charlie. 1pm-4pm on the State House steps. 1pm – 4pm, at Camp Charlie at the State House. 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)
- [Ongoing] 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.
Calendar for Saturday, April 7, 2012
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.
2pm-4pm Safer Spaces Cluster Meeting, at Encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Avenue, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02111
3pm Looking for an alternative to using money? Meet at the City Place Food Court in the Transportation Building to talk about local currency/barter networks.
3pm-4:45pm Facilitation WG meeting, at City Place Food Court in the Transportation Building
3pm-5pm Media WG Meeting, at Encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Avenue, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02111
4:30pm-6:30pm Anti-Oppression WG Meeting, at Arlington St. Church (1st floor) 351 Arlington St. (corner of Arlington and Boylston Sts.)
5pm-8:30 pm General Assembly, at the Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston St. Tonight’s GA will feature: Presentation from the Medics Working Group and discussion hosted by Safer Spaces on our collective values and practices in the spaces we Occupy (after Announcements and through the end of General Assembly)
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!
Contact Us: Want to subscribe to the Daily Digest? Click here to have it sent to your email inbox every morning! All Working Groups or Occupy Boston events that need placement in the Daily Digest, please email AnnaC@OccupyBoston.org. And subscribe to the Occupy Boston Media Rundown, a daily listing of Occupy-related news, by contacting JohnM@OccupyBoston.org.
MBTA Fare Hikes and Service Cuts Draw Transit Activists to Protest at State House
Yesterday, over 200 activists with Occupy Boston, Occupy the MBTA, the T Riders Union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, and other mass transit advocates, held an afternoon rally inside the MA State House and an evening demonstration and teach-in outside the building, on the State House steps along Beacon Street.
Advocates called on the state legislature to find a lasting solution to the MBTA’s financial woes. The agency is burdened with hundreds of millions in debt, in part due to a legislative restructuring of bills left over from the Big Dig Project.
The legislature, which has until April 15th to approve the transit agency’s budget, has the power to bail out the T and potentially stop the proposed cuts in service and fare hikes. Governor Deval Patrick has proposed diverting money from an account containing funds collected during automobile inspections to the MBTA. But many advocates and legislators agree that would be a temporary fix only. (Open Media Boston)
http://tinyurl.com/8yhod7k
Greater Boston transit fares hiked by 23 percent
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) board of directors on Wednesday approved a fiscal year 2013 budget that includes a 23 percent average systemwide fare hike to buses, rapid transit, and other commuter services in Greater Boston and beyond. The proposal also cuts or reduces services on more than a dozen bus routes and eliminates weekend service on three commuter rail lines.
. . .
A crowd of about 200 people shouted down the MBTA board, chanting “Shame on you!” following a 4-1 vote to implement the changes. In addition to the fare hikes and service cuts, the new budget is contingent on $61 million in one-time revenues yet to be approved by the state legislature. This includes $51 million from a motor vehicle inspection trust fund, $5 million from a snow and ice removal surplus, and $5 million from a garage lease payment. (World Socialist Web Site)
Transit Troubles Provoke National Day of Protests
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is a lot like other urban transit systems across the country. It’s underfunded, understaffed, and overworked as the Great Recession pushes more and more working people onto public transit. But the “T” was proposing fare hikes-from $1.70 to $2.40-and service cuts that are among the harshest in the country. And that ignited a firestorm on April 4, the national day of action for transit justice.
Marking the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) joined with community movements and Occupy in 15 cities to protest fare hikes and service cuts to public transit. Chicago, Denver, and Pittsburgh saw rallies, leafleting, and candlelight vigils.
In Boston, following a 24-hour vigil at the Statehouse led by young people and seniors, 150 people packed a meeting of the MBTA’s board and shouted “Shame on you!” as the directors voted to make riders pay more for less. (Labor Notes)
Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 4/7/12” »
