Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.
One quick thought: In spite of the growing level and quantity of reporting by Occupiers, as well as the steady stream of tweets, of web and FB pages for specific Occupied sites, of live streaming and podcasting; and in spite of the MSM’s initial reluctant but by now daily reporting … it’s still a challenge to sort through the multiple perspectives, and get to the “facts.” I’m not pretending I can do that, but do try to provide a lot of links. And, I know I miss things, or simply run out of time to mention all but a tiny portion of what I do see.
Mostly, that’s just to say, your information, observations and analysis are very important. And much appreciated.
Now, for today’s post, it’s mostly a round-up. There’s so much more going on, but this is at least an idea of what’s happening. The photo above, by the way, is from Occupy Oakland’s General Strike, with Occupiers crossing the bridge to shut down the ports.
To begin, another resource for following the movement is the
Occupy America Podcast. I’ve mentioned this before, but a good aggregator, via Occupy Together is “The Occupation Report,” compiled by Rebuild the Dream.
Though published about three weeks ago, this is still an interesting read from Sean Captain, at Fast Company:
The public milestones of #occupywallstreet are well known. A July 13 call to arms by activist magazine Adbusters. An August 31 YouTube video by hacktivist collective Anonymous. A few hundred protesters on September 17. Arrests the 24th. Taking the Brooklyn Bridge on October 1. Massive media attention and a national movement afterwards….’
I’ve been following the movement and attending events and meetings from day one, and for much of the time, it seemed destined to flop. Yet it took off. In retrospect, there were moments where it became obvious something new was going on here. …
More about this later, but you can go to OWS to read “Liberty Square Adopts a Spokes Council.”
This past Friday, the General Assembly of Liberty Square voted to adopt an additional coordinating body called a Spokes Council. …
A spokes council is a directly democratic structure that was inspired by the Quakers and numerous indigenous cultures and used widely in the Women’s Movement, the Anti-Nuclear Movement, and the Global Justice Movement.
The spokes council structure that the GA adopted can be reviewed at http://www.nycga.net/spokes-council/. This structure will evolve as our movement grows and our needs change.
The evolving nature of Occupy, including this structural change, may not sound all that interesting, but this is the level at which decisions are made, everything from how to spend the money donated to how to keep the camp clean and Occupiers safe.
Today’s NYC Occupy plans include this, from OWS:
On November 3rd … the 99 percent … will hold A People’s Hearing of Goldman Sachs in Liberty Square Park and march on Goldman Sachs! The people will bring to justice perhaps the single most egregious perpetrator of economic fraud and corruption in the United States. The Hearing will include testimonials from individuals directly affected by Goldman’s fraudulent manipulation of financial markets, including victims of housing foreclosures, pension losses, public lay-offs and untenable student debt.
The photo of the WW II vet in an Occupy action is via Occupy Chico, and not related to the following, but it still seems quite appropriate, and inspiring.
From
We are Veterans, We are the 99%:
Today Veterans of the 99% marched on Wall Street, announcing their support for the 99% and the occupations popping up around the country. The march began at Vietnam Veterans Plaza, passed in front of the New York Stock Exchange, and ended at Liberty Plaza, the heart of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Veterans stopped the march at Trinity Church in order to hold a moment of silence in honor of their injured brother Scott Olsen.
Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War marched to draw attention to the ways veterans have been negatively affected by the economic and social issues raised by the growing movement. …
A follow-up, An open letter to Greg Mankiw:
The following letter was sent to Greg Mankiw by the organizers of yesterday’s Economics 10 walkout by students at Harvard. …
Dear Professor Mankiw—Today, we are walking out of your class, Economics 10, in order to express our discontent with the bias inherent in this introductory economics course. …
As Harvard undergraduates, we enrolled in Economics 10 hoping to gain a broad and introductory foundation of economic theory that would assist us in our various intellectual pursuits and diverse disciplines … . Instead, we found a course that espouses a specific—and limited—view of economics that we believe perpetuates problematic and inefficient systems of economic inequality in our society today.
From SF Appeal:
A resolution expressing support for the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement and its local counterpart in San Francisco was approved by a Board of Supervisors committee today and will be considered by the full board on Tuesday.
The resolution, introduced last week by Supervisor John Avalos and co-sponsored by Supervisors David Campos, Eric Mar and Jane Kim, offers support for the movement and asks Mayor Ed Lee and San Francisco police to ‘ensure that there will be no use of force to dislodge the Occupy SF demonstrators.’
Finally, and with electoral politics very much in mind, via Common Dreams:
‘Occupy’ Targets Iowa Caucuses
The Occupy movement has a new goal — shut down the Iowa caucuses.
The plan to ‘occupy’ the Iowa caucuses was approved by the Occupy Iowa’s general assembly. The state’s protesters are inviting fellow Occupiers from across the country to ‘occupy’ the campaign offices of the Republican presidential candidates and President Barack Obama in the first-in-the-nation presidential caucus state, The Des Moines Register reports. …
Iowa Republican Chairman Matt Strawn announced earlier this month that the Iowa caucuses will be held on Jan. 3. He told the Register Monday that the plan to occupy presidential campaign headquarters is ‘ironic’ and a ‘mere publicity stunt.
First, the plan does take one Occupied group into the political system, something that the movement in general has indicated they aren’t interested in doing. Who knows how this will be viewed, both in Iowa and more broadly.
Second, Mr. Strawn’s criticism is so very predictable and obvious. I’ll be just as obvious: if one group of the Tea Party announced they were going to show up at presidential campaign headquarters, I’ll guess that rather than a “mere publicity stunt,” the actions would be characterized as those of “courageous, real Americans exercising their right to free speech.” Especially if the action was only at “socialist” Obama campaign headquarters. That’s just a guess, of course.
(Photo of Occupy Oakland General Strike, crossing bridge to the port, via Occupy Together)
Comments are closed.