A Couple of Suggestions for Students Occupy Boston

As its stands, and I’ve said this ad nauseam, most of the current goals of the Occupy movement are either for things that we’ve had in the past in the US – like fair taxation on corporations and the rich – or for things that lots of other countries have had for a long time – like free public higher education for all.

All great and needed stuff. But the right-wing dominated discourse in this country has made it seem like such things are all far out kooky ultra left fantasies. They’re not. They’re merely the best of the ideas for democratic reforms under capitalism.

Fortunately, broader demands for replacing market capitalism with democracy and some kind of socialism have also been put on the table by the Occupy movement. And that’s why it has been so popular.

Occupy has actually been calling for the transformation of the existing society into a new and better society. And people love that.

http://tinyurl.com/7b9xsp2

International Women’s Day 2012: Labour peace is dead, long live the class war

Now some have remembered what May Day was all about and are calling for a general strike on May 1st..

I know how much work it would take, but we’ve got to start somewhere. Our letters and our lobbies go unheeded; we need something bigger. Let’s keep building alliances with all the communities and well-intentioned people who were lit up and revealed to us in the flare of the Occupy movement, whether they were camping, critiquing or somewhere in between. I think as feminists, we should roll up our sleeves and make it happen. Time to end the labour peace because we are being invaded.

A general strike on May Day. There’s time to plan. As Rosie the Riveter said: We can do it. Now there’s some feel-good womany stuff!

http://tinyurl.com/7bwzoe8

The Occupation of Workplace Democracy: Challenges and solutions for a solidarity economy

In this, the second and concluding part of an email dialogue about the work of SolidarityNYC, Cheyenna Weber discusses the challenge of cooperative self-management in the context of social movements like Occupy Wall Street.

It’s interesting that the barriers to starting a co-op, are not money or expertise but stable and trusting relationships. In your experience so far, what does it look like to build those kind of relationships successfully?

A few years ago a friend did a series of interviews of veteran co-op members in and around the Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts. When asking why co-ops failed individuals routinely said having a strong process for confronting conflict, and allowing individuals to advocate for their own needs, was the most important component of success in the governance of a co-op.

http://tinyurl.com/8873fre

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 3/9/12” »

Occupy Boston Holds March for Free Public Higher Education for All

Almost 100 students from several Boston area colleges held a protest march around Boston as part of a National Day of Action for Education – called by students in the Occupy movement around the United States. The local action was organized by Students Occupy Boston – a working group of the Occupy Boston movement – and its core demand reflected the main theme of the national action: free public higher education for all.

Nate Matthews, a Tufts University student and press representative for Students Occupy Boston explained, “We held this march in solidarity with students in California, New York, and around the nation who called for action on these issues. Tuition has gone up by 900% since 1978, 650 points over inflation. Student debt has soared in recent years, nearing $1 trillion and passing credit card debt as the nation’s leading form of debt. If this bubble bursts, the effects will be felt throughout the economy.

http://tinyurl.com/7ampl4p

Education takes spotlight in Occupy protests

Student protesters said the recent activity among Occupy protesters nationwide does not reflect a new emphasis on education, but rather a possibly more narrow approach to addressing students’ concerns._The Occupy movement resurged Thursday with the National Day of Action for Education.

BU Occupies Boston members joined local supporters and protested throughout downtown Boston and at the Massachusetts State House Thursday, said College of Arts and Sciences junior Brandon Wood, a BU Occupies Boston member.

http://tinyurl.com/87kkvgc

For homeless advocate, paid employment doesn’t bring shelter

Cherie King, 36, has been living in and out of shelters since August 13, 2011. She’s homeless because she dropped everything to care for her mentally ill brother and bedridden mother, the latter of whom died last year. In her work as a homeless advocate with Occupy Boston, King has made it a point to bring light to her story, and to those of more than 1000 other Boston adults who are in the same predicament. She’s also quick to dispel homeless stereotypes: King doesn’t drink or use drugs, and she works as many part-time jobs as she can land. According to a 2011 survey by the US Department of Mayors, Boston’s homelessness rate is in moderate decline. Still, the plight of the working, struggling people on the street remains a real one.

According to past surveys, only about 30 percent of the homeless population in Boston is female. What makes it especially hard to be a woman on the street?

There are not enough beds for women in any shelters. At the same time, there are less services to help men. I came across a single father of a 12-year-old boy; the mother, who is also homeless, is out of the picture totally. There are very few services are out there to help this man keep his child.

http://tinyurl.com/6m92whq

Continue reading “The OB Media Rundown for 3/8/12” »