OCCUPY WORLDWIDE - Selected Articles
Occupy Worldwide
08 December 11
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Occupy Protests Around the World: Full List Visualised
13 December 11
"951 cities in 82 countries" has become the standard definition of the scale of the Occupy protests around the world this weekend, following on from the Occupy Wall Street and Madrid demonstrations that have shaped public debate in the past month.
We wanted to list exactly where protests have taken place as part of the Occupy movement - and see exactly what is happening where around the globe. With your help, adding events in our form below, we've been able to show 750 Occupy events world wide.
Oakland Port Workers Kept Home As Protesters March
13 December 11
OAKLAND -- Despite calls to desist from Oakland politicians and union officials, Occupy protesters succeeded Monday night in shutting down operations at the Port of Oakland for the second time in less than two months.
The companies that operate the 26 berths at the nation's fifth-busiest container port told longshore workers not to report for the 7 p.m. evening shift - effectively halting work for the next eight hours and preventing 100 to 200 employees from earning the pay they would have received on a typical shift.
Occupy Protests Shut Down 2 Portland Terminals, Spread to Seattle
13 December 11
Occupy protests targeting ports in California spread up through the Pacific Northwest on Monday, shutting down two main shipping terminals at the Port of Portland before leading to a boisterous march on the Port of Seattle.
Portland's main container terminal, the largest and busiest shipping facility at the port, closed early in the day as about 200 protesters marched in at dawn, setting up a tent and portable toilets.
Demonstrators also shut down nearby Terminal 5, which handles grain and potash shipments. "We're going to see some lost hours, lost shifts -- people won't be able to work today because of this," Josh Thomas, spokesman for the port, told The Times.
Demonstrators linked to the Occupy Wall Street movement set up pickets from San Diego to Anchorage on Monday as part of a coordinated move to shut down ports across the West Coast. In Portland, they carried signs and shouted slogans near trucks waiting to enter the terminals, effectively blocking operations as many port workers refused to cross their lines.
Laura Flanders | What a Difference an Occupation Makes
12 December 11
It was never a genuine question. Money media prattled on about Occupy Wall Street’s supposedly ineffable demands the same way they batted aside the end capitalism signs to wonder what the Seattle protesters had on their minds. That said, the Occupy movement has always been more about doing than demanding and this week, OWS stepped it up another notch.
On December 6, OccupyYourHomes joined with local community organizers to take on the housing crisis. In twenty-five cities, protesters interrupted house auctions, blocked evictions and occupied foreclosed homes. In East New York they moved Alfredo Carrasquillo, Tasha Glasgow and their two children into a foreclosed home that had stood empty for three years. I attended the action Tuesday and couldn’t drag myself away. Even as the rain drizzled and the temperature sank, I watched the numbers of protesters grow and thought of the many, many members of underfunded community groups I’ve spoken to over the years. Among those, Community Voices Heard, New York Communities for Change, Picture the Homeless, Organize for Occupation, VOCAL-NY and Reclaim the Land. They talked on GRITtv about toxic loans and targeted neighborhoods, forced foreclosures, fear and the general lack of national interest.
12/12 PORT SHUTDOWN: Report from Los Angeles 7:53 PDT
12 December 11
Elderly people, people in wheelchairs and children being attacked. Batons are at the ready. Protestor leaders are telling the police they are peaceful. Terminal J. Police don't look like they want to be there. Protestors being kept from the protest. Helicopters overhead. CBS NOT covering. Some trucks are coming in from another driveway. Protestors moving to block them.
More police arriving. Arrests threatened. Tune in the 90.7 for coverage.
12/12 PORT SHUTDOWN: Report from Los Angeles
12 December 11
CBS is covering and will continue to cover. In Long Beach the truck parking lot at the Goldman Sachs dock is empty. By now it is usually full. More police are massing. Updates as I get them.
Lowes is defending its decision to pull advertising from the Muslim reality show so if you were planning to shop there please think again. They are responding to pressure from right wing Christian groups who don't want to see Muslims portrayed in a favorable light.
Occupy Seattle Aims to Shut Down Port of Seattle
12 December 11
SEATTLE -- Occupy Seattle demonstrators planned a march and two rallies Monday as part of the campaign to shut down West Coast ports.
Organizers said on their website they would rally at 1 p.m. at Westlake Plaza in downtown Seattle then march to Port of Seattle property for rallies at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. near the Spokane Street bridge and under the West Seattle bridge.
The website says demonstrators do not plan to break into port property or to sabotage equipment, but organizers say they plan on blocking traffic into the Port of Seattle in solidarity with other West Coast movements. Occupy marches and rallies also are planned Monday in Tacoma, Olympia, Vancouver, B.C., and other port cities along the coast.
Occupy L.A. Targets Shipping Terminal at Port of Long Beach
11 December 11
Protesters from Occupy L.A. and other groups plan to form a picket line at the Port of Long Beach on Monday to try to shut down traffic at at least one shipping terminal. Similar actions are planned at ports up and down the West Coast.
The target of the Long Beach protest is SSA Marine, a shipping company. Occupy L.A. demonstrator Michael Novick said protesters chose SSA Marine because "they embody all the ills of this economic regime we live under."
Protesters say SSA Marine has engaged in unfair labor practices and pursued objectionable environmental policies. Their other complaints include the company's role as a military contractor during the Iraq war and its connection to Goldman Sachs, an investor in SSA Marine.
NYC CALL TO ACTION 12/12/11
12 December 11
NYC will Target the Vampire Squid- Goldman Sachs In solidarity with the West Coast Port Shutdown on December 12th, the NYC Occupy Movement vows to disrupt business as usual for the those that exploit our nation's ports – and profit from the exploitation of tens of thousands of working people laboring behind the scenes ...of the international trade system.
In New York, Occupy Wall Street is descending upon a single Wall Street giant – the owner of half of one of the planet's largest transportation and shipping outfits – Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs is the vampire squid who sucks the blood of workers.
Goldman Sachs' shipping companies throughout the United States, specifically in LA, cynically pit thousands of citizens and undocumented immigrants against each other -- for low wage jobs with unreliable hours -- Goldman Sachs and its shipping companies reap record profits off the backs of workers.
Police Arrest About 55 Occupy SF Demonstrators
11 December 11
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Police have arrested dozens of people during a raid of an Occupy San Francisco encampment outside the Federal Reserve building early Sunday.
San Francisco police Officer Albie Esparza says that around 4 a.m. officers arrested about 55 people for illegal lodging.
Occupy Protesters Seek to Shut Down West Coast Ports Despite Rejection by Longshore Union
12 December 11
OAKLAND, Calif. — Anti-Wall Street protesters up and down the West Coast are joining an effort to blockade some of the nation’s busiest ports from Anchorage to San Diego.
Demonstrators are scheduled to gather at 5:30 a.m. to march on the Port of Oakland, which Occupy protesters successfully shut down in November. Marchers expect to descend even earlier on the sprawling port complex spanning Los Angeles and Long Beach as the work day begins. In Portland, Ore., the protest will get under way at 6 a.m.
Solidarity and Unity for Occupy Movement
11 December 11
We find ourselves at a turning point in the Occupy Movement. Progressives, liberals, populists, labor activists, peace activists, environmentalists ... all now have the country's attention.
We have a golden opportunity to unite and build a future that we've all been fighting for over the years. Our biggest obstacle is not the corporations or the government - it is ourselves.
Unfortunately, we find ourselves once again fighting each other. If we can't get along with our natural allies then how we will we ever build the true majority we need to change our world and build a just, sustainable society?
Occupy Oakland and Organized Labor Plan to Shut Down Port
10 December 11
Oakland, California -- Today, rank-and-file workers from the ILWU and Teamsters, local union leaders, veterans, and occupy organizers explained plans for the upcoming West Coast Port Shut Down on December 12 called for by the Occupy Oakland General Assembly.
Community pickets and mass mobilizations to blockade the ports are being organized by Occupy movements in San Diego, LA, Oakland, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, Vancouver, and Houston.
Occupy Anchorage, Occupy Denver, and Occupy Wall Street are targeting Goldman Sachs and Walmart on the 12th. Solidarity actions are being planned as far away as in Japan.
Police Evict Occupy Boston Protesters
10 December 11
Police have evicted Occupy protesters from Boston's Dewey Square, tearing down tents and arresting about 40 people. The raid brought to an end a 10-week demonstration spawned by the Wall Street occupation in New York.
Police moved in at about 5am and the operation lasted less than an hour. A police spokeswoman said the protesters were "very accommodating". Two dozen demonstrators linked arms and sat down in protest before the arrests began. The arrests were for trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
New Testimonials by Occupy LA Detainees Suggest Illegal Arrests, Abuse, Even Torture by LAPD, LASD
10 December 11
Many of the individuals who were swept up by last week's LAPD raid on the Occupy LA encampment at Los Angeles City Hall were arrested even as they attempted to disperse in accordance with police directives, according to testimonials from some who were detained in the early morning hours of November 30th and held on misdemeanor charges for days after.
Their videotaped testimonials [some of which are posted below] both corroborate and reinforce the excessive force and post-arrest abuse charges detailed in our previous article on the Occupy LA raid, in which detainees charged that they were hand-cuffed behind their backs and left to languish inside L.A. County Sheriff's Department (LASD) buses for eight to nine hours without access to food, water, medicine, or toilets as they were left to urinate on themselves in their seats.
Occupy DC Prepares for Its Valley Forge
10 December 11
"If this is the revolution, this is our Valley Forge," said a doughy, middle-aged man with frazzled long brown hair.
I was shivering when we spoke at 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning - as I had been shivering for the seven previous hours. Arriving about midnight on Wednesday, I'd missed the day of cold rain that had left the Occupy DC camp somewhere between damp and drenched. Without a sleeping bag or pad (both lost in a police action a few days earlier) and in 35-degree weather, I settled into a soggy upholstered chair under a mostly dry blanket. The loose weave welcomed the wind that whipped through our flimsy yurt on the barren granite and marble of Freedom Plaza along Pennsylvania Avenue..
Deadline Passes for Occupy Boston Without Eviction
09 December 11
BOSTON — A diminished Occupy Boston encampment held its ground early Friday after police decided not to immediately enforce a midnight deadline Mayor Thomas Menino had set for them to leave a city square.
Two protesters were arrested after police said they moved a tent into a street and refused to move, blocking traffic. But there were no other serious confrontations between the demonstrators and supporters who gathered at the site as the deadline loomed.
Boston police Supt. William Evans told protesters that even though Menino set the deadline, he did not specify when the camp would be shut down.
SF Plaza Clear After Night of Tension
07 December 11
At least one protester tried to set up a tent on San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza this morning, hours after police and Occupy demonstrators said no tents would be allowed and sparred into the night.
Police quickly moved in and removed the tent before requiring the dozen campers who had spent the night sleeping under the stars on the plaza to get up and stop sleeping in the park.
My Occupy LA Arrest
08 December 11
It was horrible to watch, and apparently designed to terrorize the rest of us. At least I was sufficiently terrorized. I unlinked my arms voluntarily and informed the LAPD officers that I would go peacefully and cooperatively. I stood as instructed, and then I had my arms wrenched behind my back, and an officer hyperextended my wrists into my inner arms. It was super violent, it hurt really really bad, and he was doing it on purpose. When I involuntarily recoiled from the pain, the LAPD officer threw me face-first to the pavement. He had my hands behind my back, so I landed right on my face. The officer dropped with his knee on my back and ground my face into the pavement. It really, really hurt and my face started bleeding and I was very scared. I begged for mercy and I promised that I was honestly not resisting and would not resist.
Occupy D.C. protesters Shut Down K Street
08 December 11
The mix of protesters from across the country, including union workers, progressive activists and community organizers, said they’re opposed to the corporate greed embodied by the street known for housing special interest groups and offices of major corporations. Adopting the slogan of the Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York, the activists spilling onto K Street said they were fighting for the interests of the “99 percent” of ordinary Americans.
Demonstrators celebrated their success after shutting down K Street for several hours on a busy weekday. “Thousands of unemployed workers and community members are engaging in peaceful civil disobedience this week to make the voices of the 99 percent heard above the power of the 1 percent and their K Street money machine,” said Stephanie Mueller, a spokeswoman for the American Dream Movement, a coalition of labor and progressive groups.
Occupy Movement Seeks Refuge in Court as Evictions Mount
08 December 11
On one end of the spectrum, defeats for Occupy could mean continual police crackdowns in every major city in America until protesters either give up in defeat or imprisonment — which could either end the movement or force it to become more creative in its tactics in its fight against a system that’s built to increasingly expand the gulf between the rich and poor.
On the other, victory could create constitutionally protected encampments dotting city parks on the national map for months — or even years — should occupying be held as a protected right under the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right to assemble in protest.
Police dismantle Occupy SF - 70 arrested
07 December 11
Police raided the Occupy SF camp early today, arresting 70 campers and protesters at Justin Herman Plaza and clearing out the two-month-old encampment, authorities said.
Officers, sheriff's deputies, firefighters and public works crews converged on the camp at the foot of Market Street at about 1 a.m. today and gave protesters five minutes to clear out, said Officer Albie Esparza, a San Francisco police spokesman.
Occupy Your Food Supply: Radical Farmer's March Aims to Bridge Urban-Rural Divide, Focus in on "Food Justice"
06 December 11
“I have a confession to make,” said Jim Gerritsen, an organic seed farmer from northern Maine, “This is my first time in New York City. I had no good reason to come until today.”
Jim Gerritsen was one of several farmers, farm laborers, and food activists that came from across the country to the country to the Farmer’s March this past Sunday—a rally and march designed to connect the struggles of rural farmers held captive by the corporate control of big agriculture with the Occupy movement in New York City.
Rooftop Films Gives Occupy Wall Street Its Own Film Series
05 December 11
As a political movement, Occupy Wall Street has attracted plenty of headlines, buzz and creative energy. Now, this being New York, it has its own film series. Rooftop Films, in partnership with several movie houses throughout the city, is presenting a free series of four films from Dec. 13 to 16 featuring issues that ignited the demonstrations.
Rooftop Films is a nonprofit best known for showing movies outdoors (hence the name). In a statement released on Monday, Dan Nuxoll, the program director for Rooftop, said the series was prompted by a public outpouring over the events surrounding Occupy Wall Street.
London Police Include Occupy Movement on ‘Terror’ List
05 December 11
City of London Police have sparked controversy by producing a brief in which the Occupy London movement is listed under domestic terrorism/extremism threats to City businesses.
The document was given to protesters at their “Bank of Ideas” base on Sun Street – a former site of financial corporation UBS. City police have stepped up an effort to quell the movement since they occupied the building on 18 November, with the document stating: “It is likely that activists aspire to identify other locations to occupy, especially those they identify with capitalism.
Occupy Wall Street Takes on Capitol Hill
06 December 11
Today the Occupy movement took another step, moving from cities, colleges, and Wall Street to the actual courthouse — the kangaroo court, if you will, corrupting our nation.
Occupy Congress descended on the bull’s-eye of Washington today — a beautiful thing in our view! Members from a broad range of organizations marched to the Capital and then spread out to meet with their representatives, air their grievances, and as they say, “take back the people’s house.”
What better way for the 99% to take a stand against the growing wealth gap than confronting our crushingly ineffective and misaligned Congress, which has not only worked to preserve and strengthen the finances of the richest Americans, but is half full of millionaires itself?
This comes on the heels of a standoff at Washington’s McPherson Square, where 31 Occupiers were arrested, with some Occupiers forcibly removed.
David Goodfriend on Occupy Wall Street: "Let Them Occupy"
07 December 11
I’m troubled by the images of Occupy protesters being forcibly removed from McPherson Square park here in Washington, D.C. I didn’t like it when the protesters were removed by force in New York or Oakland, either, but Washington is different. Washington is our public square, it’s where the nation comes together to voice our views, air our grievances, and most important, petition our government. That’s a right granted to all of us by the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Throughout our history, the people have come to Washington to express through peaceful protest their ideas and feelings. The Civil Rights marches. The anti-abortion protests. The Million Man March. The Tea Party. Whether you agree with them or not, these are sign posts on our national journey toward forming a more perfect union.
Occupy Movement Heads to Congress Today to Air Grievances
06 December 11
Protesters from the Occupy movement and other groups are planning to converge on Capitol Hill Tuesday to air their grievances in front of members of Congress. Members of a broad range of organizations, including unions and community groups, are expected to travel to Washington to take part in an event dubbed "Take Back the People's House."
Many of the participants plan to assemble in the morning before marching toward the Capitol, according to information posted on the website of Progressive Maryland, a nonprofit organization that says it works to improve conditions for working families.
After arriving at the Capitol, marchers say they intend to fan out for meetings with representatives and "occupy" Congressional offices until closure. Not all participants have meetings scheduled, so some protests are expected in the area around the Capitol.
Occupy London Is 50 Days Old - Now It's Time to Occupy Everywhere
06 December 11
Occupy London is 50 days old on Monday and it's time to take stock. Unlike those occupations across the world that started off small and were able to expand gradually, our occupation was born in the full glare of the media on 15 October, a "big bang" launch that meant we had to hit the ground running. Since then we have expanded to three sites across three London boroughs, each of which is a hive of activity. We currently have 39 working groups based at St Paul's alone, operating across topic areas as diverse as direct democracy, outreach and sanitation.
As a non-hierarchical movement, Occupy is inextricably a joint endeavour. Everyone who joins us – even for an evening - holds equal decision-making weight. At the same time, for those of us who are fully immersed in the process, Occupy is a challenging full-time job that is often combined with other commitments. Seeing the sacrifices people make to keep this project going has been humbling.
Over the last week or so, there have been a variety of news stories - some better intentioned than others - challenging us to aspire to even higher levels of efficiency, transparency and accountability. We take it as a compliment that, after only seven weeks, we are regarded as significant enough to warrant the kind of tough questioning that much more powerful organisations find hard to respond to. Unlike them, we intend to rise to the challenge.
Instead of Going Away Occupy Wall Street Will Be Occupying Everywhere
06 December 11
When OWS first started, the corporate media ignored it hoping it would just go away. When that didn't work, the 1% turned to propaganda. First they mocked the occupy movement describing them as lazy kids who don't know how the world functions. Occupy got stronger. The propaganda got uglier, but was discredited. OWS still gained popularity, surpassing the 1% astro-turfing Tea Party.
That's when the 1%'s minions and supporters turned to creative applications of the law, while overlooking legal niceties like the first amendment. Property was seized. Scott Olsen and Dorli Rainey became national symbols of the violence that Occupy protesters endured.
Olsen survived two tours of Iraq, only to be seriously injured, when a tear gas cannister hit him in the head, while peacefully protesting in Oakland, California. He is still recovering from the injuries he sustained and he is still an Occupy supporter. In a recent, on the Ed Show, Olsen explains why he continues to support the Occupy Movement.
Where Were You When They Crucified My Movement?
05 December 11
Chris Hedges gave an abbreviated version of this talk Saturday morning in Liberty Square in New York City as part of an appeal to Trinity Church to turn over to the Occupy Wall Street movement an empty lot, known as Duarte Square, that the church owns at Canal Street and 6th Avenue. Occupy Wall Street protesters, following the call, began a hunger strike at the gates of the church-owned property. Three of the demonstrators were arrested Sunday on charges of trespassing, and three others took their places.
Fox Pollster Tells GOP Governors Why 'Occupy' Scares Him
05 December 11
When the reigning wordsmith of the Republican right says that he is "frightened to death" by Occupy Wall Street, there must be a compelling reason for him to admit his fear. Such was the confession of Frank Luntz, famed pollster and consultant whose advice has been sought by Fox News, Newt Gingrich and many other leaders in the political and corporate worlds. Speaking before the Republican Governors Association in Florida this week, Luntz went on to warn its members that the public wants to raise taxes on the wealthy, deeply distrusts Wall Street, and even thinks capitalism is "immoral."
Is Joining the Occupy Movement Better Than an Internship?
05 December 11
Finally, our generation is taking a stand, and we have a chance to be a part of something more than serving lattes or spreading guacamole on a Chipotle burrito for a few bucks an hour. We're faced with a choice: continue working an unfulfilling low-wage job or unpaid internship, or become part of something meaningful and future-shaping.
Joshua Holland | Occupy Crackdowns: Naomi Wolf's Response to My Critique Largely Evades the Issue at Hand
02 December 11
It's disappointing that Naomi Wolf's response to my criticism of her November 25 Guardian column – and earlier blog-post -- doesn't address the many misstatements of fact, logical leaps and baseless assertions which I highlighted.
Wolf instead spends much time on a general discussion of heightened federal surveillance and the increased coordination between federal and local law enforcement agencies, which she says I am naïve not to acknowledge, and devotes an enormous amount of space to establishing that federal law enforcement agencies have had some sort of role in at least monitoring the Occupy Movement and offering some guidance to local law enforcement agencies.
Judge: Occupy Boston Protesters Can Stay 2 More Weeks
03 December 11
A Suffolk Superior Court judge says Occupy Boston protesters can stay in an encampment on Dewey Square until Dec. 15.
After a four-hour hearing, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Frances McIntyre took both sides' arguments under advisement and said she would issue a ruling in two weeks time. Until then, she said, an injunction that bars the city from booting the protesters remains in place.
The protesters called the decision a "victory."
Occupy Catch-22: Boston Cops Throw Out the Kitchen Sink
03 December 11
Yes, it has come to this - cops and Occupy protestors at one of the last major encampments in the United States are fighting over a kitchen sink.
Boston police moved in with heavy force on Thursday's General Assembly meeting in Boston's Dewey Square to remove a DIY grey-water sink intended to help Occupy Boston members wash their dishes and comply with sanitation requirements that the city says the encampment is violating.
But the Boston cops who surround the Financial camp day and night enforce an embargo on anything durable entering the camp. So after Occupiers gang-rushed the 10-foot-long industrial sink into the camp Thursday night, the cops forced their way into the camp to remove the 'contraband.'
One officer guarded the sink, while he was surrounded by a cold and frustrated crowd chanting, "Let us do the dishes!"
Occupy Richmond Stands Up for Local Tea Party Group
03 December 11
The Richmond Tea Party has been alleging that it is being singled out for unfair treatment from the city of Richmond, Virginia after officials have opened a tax audit of the group. These Tea Partiers complain that the city has been much more lenient on Occupy Richmond (which recently faced arrests after resisting an eviction) and that 99 Percenters are getting preferential treatment.
Yet the Richmond Tea Party just got an unexpected ally in its claim against the city - Occupy Richmond.
The 'Crackdown on Occupy' Controversy
03 December 11
What a firestorm my Comment is free blog post in the Guardian, "The Shocking News Behind the Crackdown on Occupy", has unleashed: some have praised, while others have attacked. Joshua Holland's criticisms of my piece, in a blog post, "Naomi Wolf's Shocking Truth about Occupy is Anything But", was picked up the most widely of the critics' attacks. But the criticisms Holland poses are poorly grounded.
Holland's main premise is that I am part of a "flurry of speculation" that is without basis in fact, and that there was no federal involvement in the crackdown. I cited evidence that DHS was on the 18-member conference call of mayors, which Oakland Mayor Jean Quan alluded to in an interview with the BBC on 15 November, and my source was Wonkette on 15 November. Holland argues that his assertion to contrary has been qualified, and I am happy to adjust the citation accordingly.
But Holland is seriously mistaken in reaching his premature conclusion that there is no evidence of DHS or federal participation in the crackdown, and for attacking me for having asserted the connection: "Mayors in a handful of cities," he concludes, "responding to local political pressures, decided to break up their local occupations – decisions that were announced to the press well in advance – and were advised as to how best to do so."
LA Files Criminal Charges Against Arrested Protesters
2 December 11
LOS ANGELES—LOS ANGELES (AP)—Authorities filed criminal charges against nearly 20 people following this week's police sweep of the Occupy Los Angeles encampment at City Hall Park.
Eighteen Occupy LA protesters were charged Thursday with a misdemeanor count of failure to disperse from the park, where nearly 500 tents had been erected at the peak of an anti-Wall Street protest, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said. A 19th protester was charged with battery and assault on a peace officer and resisting arrest.
Civil Suit Filed Against UC Berkeley
15 November 11
Fourteen of the protesters who attended Wednesday’s Occupy Cal demonstration have agreed to file a civil suit against UC Berkeley and UCPD, as well as the Oakland Police Department and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
Attorneys for BAMN, a national pro-affirmative action group, intend to file the lawsuit by next week on behalf of protesters who either experienced violence or were arrested despite claims of remaining peaceful at the demonstration.
The group held a press conference on Monday afternoon on the steps of Sproul Hall to announce the lawsuit and call on Chancellor Robert Birgeneau to resign.
Defying Police Blockade, Boston's Occupy Builds a City
1 December 11
Between the 19th and the 21st of November, Occupy Boston had two teach-ins, a street-theater training, a reggae concert, and countless meetings - managing to use one of those as a cover to sneak a large weatherized tent past the ever-present Boston Police.
It was a member of the Occupy Boston's Women's caucus that told me they'd managed it, grinning widely, just as the tent was being set up as a dry, safe, and relatively warm place for women to shelter in the Occupy.
"It's considered contraband," she said, though she was gone before I could ask who considered it so. It was my introduction to the problems faced by these new residents of Dewey Square, in Boston's Financial District, where it plays out its particular flavor of protest camp in the shadow of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Peter Yarrow at Freedom Plaza, DC
1 December 11
Occupiers at Freedom Plaza had a surprise visitor this morning. Folk legend Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary dropped by and performed a couple songs and gave words of encouragement.
You Can Arrest an Idea
1 December 11
The bankers slept well. Their homes in Beverly Hills were not spotlighted by a noisy swarm of police helicopters, searchlights burning through the sanctity of the night, harassing the forlorn City Hall encampment of those who dared protest the banks’ seizure of our government. I live within sight of the iconic Los Angeles City Hall, and at first I thought it was being used once again as a movie location, given the massive police presence, as if an alien invasion was being thwarted.
Not eager to test the resilience of my new heart valve, I hesitated until the first crack of dawn to visit the place where former Labor Secretary Robert Reich and I had spoken weeks before at a teach-in on the origins of the economic crisis. I described the scene back then as a Jeffersonian moment, exactly the kind of peaceful assembly to redress grievances that the Founders of our nation enshrined in the Bill of Rights. But at 5 a.m. Wednesday there was only a graveyard of democratic hope. The protesters were gone, 200 arrested for exercising their constitutional rights, and only the television crews stayed to pick over the carcass of tents, books and posters, including one I pulled from the debris that read “99% you can’t arrest an idea.” Actually, you can, and the bankers have, as a result, been able to reoccupy Los Angeles’ City Hall and every other contested outpost of power throughout the nation..
What Would Gandhi Do?
1 December 11
andhi has been all over New York lately. First he appeared at Occupy Wall Street as a patron saint of sorts, inspiring the protest's nonviolent tactics. (The demonstrators even named a lane for him.) Then he emerged at the Metropolitan Opera as the star of Philip Glass's opera "Satyagraha."
But with the Zuccotti Park encampment removed, and the opera closing on Dec. 1, is that it for Gandhi in New York? Or is it worth asking, what would Gandhi do in the world today?
Throughout his life, Gandhi was preoccupied with putting universal morals into practice. In doing so, he attempted to dissolve the division between ideas and action. This blend of ideas and action animates Mr. Glass's "Satyagraha." During the almost four-hour performance, Gandhi's career as a young freedom fighter is set in the context of his intellectual debts to Tolstoy, Tagore and above all the Bhagavad Gita.
Occupy SF Given Until Noon to Move Out of Justin Herman Plaza
1 December 11
Campers at the Occupy SF tent city are preparing to mount their last stand after city officials set a deadline of noon today to evacuate Justin Herman Plaza.
During a meeting Wednesday with representatives of the camp, Department of Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru gave them the news.
"I have to tell you that time is short, and we don’t want tents on this property as of noon tomorrow," Nuru said.
Occupy Protesters Mobilize for Obama's Visit
30 November 11
More than 100 Occupy Wall Street protesters marched to a Midtown hotel on Wednesday night to protest a fund-raising event for President Obama.
Escorted by police vehicles as they helped snarl traffic across the Times Square area, beginning at Bryant Park, the group settled in front of barricades on the southwest corner of 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue, in view of the Sheraton hotel at which Mr. Obama was expected to appear by 9 p.m.
Demonstrators held signs that leveled some of the Occupy protest’s most pointed criticism to date of the president. “Obama is a corporate puppet,” one said. “War crimes must be stopped, no matter who does them,” read another, beside head shots of President George W. Bush and President Obama.
17 september - 02 October : 02 October - 06 October : 06 October - 10 October : 10 October - 21 October : 22 October - 26 October : 27 October - 4 November : 5 November - 16 November : 17 November - 22 November : 23 November - 30 November : 1 Decemberr - 8 December