Occupying the Occupy Movement: Robin Morgan (Hurrah!)

Occupying the Occupy Movement

Robin Morgan   January 3, 2012   Women’s Media Center

An Occupy movement for 2012 could gain strength and staying-power with strategies suggested by an emerging feminist critique.

Mexico city collective, from Occuprint.org

As women of the Arab Spring are rediscovering, being participants, even leaders, of the uprisings hasn’t led to women’s equality—a depressingly familiar scenario, notoriously reminiscent of the 1960s aftermath of the Algerian revolution. In fact, the phenomenon is historically omnipresent (including the American revolution).

Here in the Global North, for example, women were active early in the Occupy movement. Yet that movement has presented an optic of being  predominantly male (and in the United States, white and young)—as well as indifferent to the fact that capitalism simply cannot be transformed without confronting its foundation: patriarchy, itself reliant on controlling and exploiting women. And women, by the way, comprise 51 percent of the 99 percent (and virtually zero of the 1 percent).

Who then is the real constituency in need of economic justice?

The United Nations acknowledges that the world’s poor are 70 percent female. Women’s unpaid labor is worth $11 trillion globally, accounting for 41 percent of the GDP in, for instance, North America. It could well be argued that, given women’s massive amount of unpaid labor—and since women are the means of reproduction who produce the labor force itself—most women exist more under feudalism than under capitalism.

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Equal pay, reproductive rights, maternity leave, childcare—all are economic as well as human-rights issues. So are sweatshop labor/maquilliadores, sex trafficking/slavery/tourism, and war’s impact on women, who with their children comprise some 80 percent of refugees and displaced peoples. Women are the primary caregivers for the ill, the young, the aged, and the dying—so health costs are “women’s issues.”

The pornography and prostitution industries each run into the hundreds of billions of dollars annually; China spends $27 billion just on Internet pornography. We only have statistics for a few “developed” countries on the staggering cost of domestic violence. We do know that domestic violence costs $5.8 billion a year in the United States alone.

One would think that such “women’s issues” would make unarguable the centrality to economics of female human beings. Wrong. Too often, the Occupy movement has betrayed its own vision by revealing itself as a sexist microcosm of the society it opposes. Harassment and assaults required women to define safe sleeping areas—immediate necessities yet questionable strategically, since these can become “ghettos,” while the problem, a  male sense of entitlement, goes unchallenged.

Nor does this happen only in the United States, although North American sites got more press attention. Incidents of sexual assault and rape have been reported not only in New York, Cleveland, Dallas, and Baltimore, but in Glasgow, Montreal, London, and more. In some locations, male site monitors were reluctant to call police for fear that negative attention would be deleterious to the Occupy “message.”

Brooklyn, Occupy Imnop, from Occuprint.org

Now, however, women are protesting that kind of protest. In Bristol, England, feminists called for “Carrying Our Safe Space With Us,” aiming to empower women to speak at Occupy general assemblies. On November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Feminists Occupy London took to the streets denouncing rape; that same day, Italian women marched in Rome, defining economic austerity measures as a form of violence against women, and citing policies that in effect force women to work multiple jobs, paid and unpaid. In Manila, Occupy was taken over by women, becoming Occupy RH (reproductive health), Filipina-led. Women in Slovenia, New Zealand, and Australia publicly decried the lack of safety for women at Occupy sites.

Such international groups as Code Pink, WomenOccupy, RadFem, the Filipina network Af3IRM/GabNet, and others raised women’s profile, thus challenging men’s hegemony. The Feminist Peace Network established the Occupy Patriarchy website, to  provide a supportive, global space for  feminist analysis, response, organizing, and networking within the global Occupy movement.

Having caught the world’s imagination with an admirable energy, seemingly spontaneous and seemingly grassroots,  the Occupy movement is now poised at a crossroads. It has enormous potential—but lasting change will require consciousness that doesn’t ignore the majority of  humanity. It needs to break free of being “a guy thing” or risk drowning in its own rhetorical generalities.

It’s not as if certain models aren’t there. The women of England’s Greenham Common “occupied” turf decades before OWS—they endured, and won. Irish women barred doors to keep men from storming out of Northern Ireland peace talks. Women in Liberia sat singing for months in a soccer field to birth a revolution. Market women in Ghana brought down a government. Gandhi acknowledged copying the concept of  Satyagraha— nonviolent resistance—from India’s 19th century women’s suffrage movement.

These are  different—and long-lasting—techniques of protest, by which at first it seemed the Occupy movement was influenced. (At the risk of offending anarchists, I’ll paraphrase two of the Women’s Media Center slogans: “You have to name it to change it,” and “You have to see it to be it.” As a woman who once agreed “Level everything, then we’ll talk politics,” I recommend examples and clearly articulated demands as pretty good stuff.)

Christy C Road, Brooklyn, from Occuprint.org

It’s not too late. As the Occupy movement in many areas moves away from the tactic of claiming physical space, a change of protest style is in order: more hit-and-run, engage-disengage, morning-long, afternoon-long, or day-long (not open-ended) demonstrations—plus focused, doable demands.

Most women have far too many other responsibilities—including children—to spend months in tents playing drums, even if the tents were safe spaces. The Occupy movement needs women—the numbers, the economic analysis, the different strategic approach—to survive, let alone succeed. Yet women’s engagement with it might well require turning up in numbers massive enough to effect a de facto transformation of leadership and focus;:occupying Occupy in a “women’s style” could make all the difference.

At the minimum, it should be possible to demand that men become the change they claim they want to see.  (I mean,really, guys.) If Occupy men can dare be unafraid of that different kind of leadership—can even seek it out and welcome it—everyone wins and the paradigm is transformed.

If not, they will at least have radicalized a whole new generation of feminists.

The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author alone and do not represent WMC.  WMC is a 501(c)(3) organization and does not endorse candidates.

Occupy Movement, African-American Leaders Form Coalition

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Occupy-Movement-African-American-Leaders-Form-Coalition-135696648.html


December 15, 2011

Occupy Movement, African-American Leaders Form Coalition

Jeff Swicord

The Occupy Wall Street movement is gaining allies. Our reporter tells us who they are
and what they plan to do.

Protesters of the Occupy movement are spreading their wings - joining forces with veterans of the American civil rights movement of the 1960s, and African-American churches.

In Washington, civil rights icon Benjamin Chavis announced the formation of Occupy The Dream.

David Degraw is with Occupy Wall Street in New York.

“This is a very diverse movement as it stands right now," said Degraw. "But obviously we need to do more work to get into the African-American communities and to get into all different ethnic backgrounds, the Latino community as well.”

The African American leaders were drawn in by the issue of income inequality.  More than 15 percent of black Americans are unemployed, compared with an overall jobless rate of 8.6 percent.

Occupy The Dream has three immediate demands: an increase in federal grants for university education, a halt to home foreclosures, and a $100 billion fund from Wall Street banks for new jobs and neighborhood investment.

Benjamin Chavis worked with civil rights leader Martin Luther King in the 1960s,  and mobilized a million-man march on Washington in the 1990s.

“The traditional civil rights movement was at its strongest point 40 of 50 years ago when it had a strong coalition between African Americans, organized labor, progressive white liberal groups, all working together," said Chavis. "And that is what we have to rebuild.”

Occupy The Dream plans its first action for January 16th, the Martin Luther King holiday, at Federal Reserve Bank locations around the country.  Reverend Jamal-Harrison Bryant is a spokesman for Occupy The Dream.

“Every 30 days America is going to see something until we freeze the entire economic system and they realize we are about serious business," said Reverend Bryant.

The response at Occupy camps around the country has been positive, although in the past, Occupy protesters have avoided formal links to other groups.  Kevin Zeese is with Occupy in Washington's Freedom Plaza.

“Having the African-American faith community hear that call and respond is a gigantic step forward," said Zeese. "The potential for that is hard to imagine.”

David Degraw says this is only the beginning.  They plan to draw in other partners and build a bigger Occupy movement through the spring.

Related Articles

• 

  Occupy London Protest Still Gaining Momentum

  It now occupies three sites across British capital
  

• Occupy Movement Protests Home Foreclosures
• Police Clear 'Occupy' Camps in LA, Philadelphia

Moinique fights back to SAVE HER HOME

• Help Monique White Save Her Home

  November 08, 2011 6 Comments
  Monique says:
  

  “It got cold in here one night. The next morning I called the gas company to have them light my furnace. The billing department told me that Century 21 (the real estate agency) had called them and told them they'd be the realtors for the house.” So White called U.S. Bank and found out that as of January 26, 2011 her house was sold. “I didn't find out until October 24,” White said, “I just feel betrayed. I feel like US Bank strung me along until the redemption period ran out and then they stole my house out from under me.”

  » More
   
  Help Monique to save her HOME and become a foreclosure SURVIVOR.
   
  Help us win so we can help others do the same.  Take the pledge!
   
  http://occupyourhomes.org/stories/

How to defend homes from foreclosure #OCCUPYYOURHOME

Background

Everyone deserves to have a roof over their head and a place to call home. Millions of Americans have worked hard for years for the opportunity to own their own home; for others, it remains a distant goal. For all of us, having a decent place to live for ourselves and our families is the most fundamental part of the American dream, a source of security and pride. 

In 2008, we discovered bankers and speculators had been gambling with our most valuable asset, our homes--betting against us and destroying trillions of dollars of our wealth. Now, because of the foreclosure crisis Wall Street banks created with their lies and greed, millions of Americans have lost their homes, and one in four homeowners are currently underwater on their mortgage. 

Not only do we have thousands of people without homes, we have thousands of homes without people. Boarded-up houses are sitting empty--increasing crime, lowering the value of other homes in the neighborhood, erasing the wealth that lifts families into the middle class. 

The Occupy Wall Street movement and brave homeowners around the country are coming together to say, "Enough is enough." We, the 99%, are standing up to Wall Street banks and demanding they negotiate with homeowners instead of foreclosing on them.

Occupy Our Homes is a movement that supports Americans who stand up to their banks and fight for their homes. We believe everyone has a right to decent, affordable housing. We stand in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement and with community organizations who help the 99% fight for a place to call home.

Minnesota Neighborhoods Organizing for Change is a community organization that has worked with Monique White and other North Minneapolis residents to stop foreclosures, and is campaigning to get the Minneapolis School Board to divest from Wells Fargo bank over its predatory lending practices and their effects on the schools.
Website »

 

 

http://occupyourhomes.org/resources/



Ideas for Organizing At-Risk Homeowners

Visual Resources

Use these visual resources to help deliver a powerful message in support of Occupying homes.

Some rights reserved by Brennan Cavanaugh
Click to download these resources:

Minnesota Shutdown Rally Protest June 30th

June 30th - US Uncut Minnesota and friends (Citizens Committee to stop a shutdown) hold a rally.  We know the politicos aren't listening to us.

We know the only way they will do that is for us to FIGHT BACK.

Wisconsin activists create Walkerville to taunt governor, tout change

By Greg Botelho, CNN

June 5, 2011 11:08 p.m. EDT

Walkerville, a two-week, staged political event named after Gov. Scott Walker, is a tent city in Madison, Wisconsin.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• A tent city has sprung up in Madison in what progressives are calling Walkerville
• It's part of a 2-week rally aimed at critiquing the policies of Wisconsin Republicans
• Gov. Scott Walker is a darling of the conservative movement for cost-cutting plans

RELATED TOPICS

• Scott Walker (Politician)
• Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Politics
• Herbert Hoover
• Collective Bargaining

(CNN) -- Eighty years after Hoovervilles sprung up around the country, and four months after tens of thousands descended on the Wisconsin state capitol, progressives have a new home in what they're calling Walkerville.

The Madison tent city is named in honor -- or, more accurately, in defiance -- of Gov. Scott Walker, who became an icon for conservatives and lightning rod for liberals after he pushed through a controversial new collective bargaining law earlier this year.

David Boetcher, one of Walkerville's coordinators, said the aim is to recapture the spirit of Hoovervilles, the shanty towns that popped up and were named to tweak President Herbert Hoover's perceived inaction in the Great Depression's early years. Since Saturday night's kick-off, about 80 tents have sprung up in and around State Street in Madison, with a handful of people sticking it out throughout but mostly fresh rounds of activists rotating through on a daily basis.

"Just like the original Hoovervilles in the 1930s, we wanted to create that type of atmosphere without being destructive," said Boetcher, a government affairs coordinator for the IBEW union.

Some major differences, of course, are that Walkerville will only be up for two weeks, its participants generally can go home, and it is more of a staged political event. Boetcher noted that, unlike the February protests, this edition is carefully planned with permits, rules, a schedule of speakers and a conscious effort to make a point without disrupting local businesses.

There's a new theme each day: On Sunday, for instance, protests focused on planned $800 million cuts to K-12 education. And one of the most anticipated moments will be Monday, when hundreds of firefighters -- who were exempted from Walker's original collective bargaining law, but could see cuts in its more recent incarnation -- are expected to march in Madison.

Judge strikes down collective bargaining restrictions

It is highly unlikely that organizers, at any point, will match the tens of thousands who, at times, occupied the capitol building in protest this winter. Times have changed, as have public sentiments and strategies. Much of their efforts recently centered around recall petitions aimed at ousting several Republican senators and turning the chamber over to Democrats.

"There was this immediacy and a real intensity at the beginning," recalled Kerry Motoviloff, the head of Madison's teachers' union. "That intensity is still in people's hearts, but now we've entered the next phase for the long term. ... And Walkerville is just another way for us to get the message out."

One major goal, and challenge, with events like Walkerville is to keep up pressure on Walker and other Republican leaders without alienating independents who will eventually decide whether to affirm or reject their decisions, Boetcher said.

"The idea is to balance between a group's right to protest vs. acting in such a manner that people this is too irritating, we don't agree with it," he said. "(The general public) doesn't want to talk about people being arrested. And (demonstrators) know what the rules are this time."

Progressive leaders in Wisconsin insist their message is getting through, including among independents who might have voted for Walker but have since soured on his and Republican tactics in addressing the budget situation.

"There's an incredible amount of frustration," said Steve Hanson, a progressive blogger in northwest Wisconsin. "There is a basic feeling that all these laws are going to be rammed through the legislature, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Yet for all this talk on the left, there's been no change in who controls Madison -- Republicans -- nor any indication that they intend to back down. Whether it has to do with collective bargaining, voting requirements or a host of other matters, the GOP still has the upper hand as it's proven in pushing through a host of measures in the months after the February confrontation.

And Walker, especially, continues to be a darling of the nationwide conservative movement, as does like-minded Wisconsin Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan. In April, Sarah Palin urged others nationwide to follow Madison's example in targeting the benefits and pay of unions, despite intense pressure.

"This is where real courage and real solidarity can be found," the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee said. "You saw these violent rent-a-mobs trash your capital and vandalize businesses. You held your ground. Your governor did the same thing. And you won."

The law that sharply curbs the collective bargaining rights of most state employees remains the biggest, most critical piece in the fight.

Republicans insist that the measure is necessary to control skyrocketing public employee benefit costs and close a $137 million budget shortfall. Democrats argue that it is little more than an attempt to gut public-sector labor unions, one of their core constituencies.

On Monday, Wisconsin's Supreme Court is set to weigh whether or not they will take up the battle over the law, weeks after Wisconsin Judge Maryann Sumi struck it down. State Democratic leaders claim that Republican legislators violated the state's open meetings law by calling a committee meeting to amend Walker's budget bill without providing the necessary public 24-hour advance notice. Democrats say they were given only two hours' notice.

While the court will have their say, Boetcher says the long-term vision is to use events like Walkerville to reach those in the middle and convince them that they're better off voting out Republicans like the governor.

"This isn't about changing the minds of the Republican legislature," said Boetcher, claiming they've turned a "deaf ear" to such protests. "The ear we want to reach is the Wisconsin voter."

Still for all the speeches, events and acrimony on all sides of the debate -- and for all the twists and turns that have marked the past six months -- even diehard political junkies like Hanson say it is nearly impossible to predict how this political saga will unfold.

"I wake up every morning and there are surprises," Hanson said. "So I'm not sure at all, where we'll be six months from now, or one year or two years."

LGBT & Handicapped Protest GOP Cuts and Anti-Gay Amendment

Video by Bill Sorem
St. Paul, MN, May 11, 2011. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual (LGBT) groups and Minnesota’s handicapped joined forces at the Minnesota State Senate session to protest the proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and a number of cuts to services as part of the GOP Cuts Only Budget.
The protest against the amendment was very emotional and principled, but the effort failed as the Senate passed the Constitutional Amendment by a vote of 38 to 27. It now goes to the House before it will be placed on the 2012 state ballot. There was no further action on social service cuts, but the senate session was interrupted by noisy acts of civil disobedience in the senate gallery. Four people were removed from the building, but none were arrested. See more : I’d Rather Go To Jail Than Die In A Nursing Home.

News Society NHS UK Uncut targets banks in 'emergency operation' against NHS shakeup

Activists dressed as doctors and nurses plan to occupy banks in action against public sector cuts

• Matthew Taylor
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 10 May 2011 16.30 BST
• Article history

UK Uncut campaigners are holding 'emergency operation' protests around the country on

28 May against the government’s proposed shakeup of the NHS. 

Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

 

Anti-cuts campaigners who have closed scores of high street stores with a string of direct action demonstrations are launching a new campaign against the government's proposed shakeup of the NHS.
Hundreds of activists dressed as doctors and nurses are planning to occupy banks around the country on 28 May, transforming them into mocked-up hospitals, GPs' surgeries and operating theatres.

The campaign – described as the "emergency operation" – is being organised by UK Uncut and aims to highlight the banks' role in the financial crisis and the impact of the government's NHS plans on patient care.
"The banks are back paying lavish bonuses and raking in billions in profit, yet the government tells us there is no alternative to unprecedented public sector cuts," a UK Uncut supporter, who gave his name as Jack Davies, said.
The day of action, which activists hope will close down scores of high street banks across the UK, is the first major protest UK Uncut has called since 145 of its supporters were arrested for occupying the Fortnum & Mason food store during the TUC's anti-cuts rally in March.

Campaigners claim senior police "tricked" them into a mass arrest after an entirely peaceful protest. Earlier this week, supporters held a demonstration outside Westminster magistrates court, where the cases against 138 people – mostly charged with criminal trespass – were adjourned.

A spokesman for UK Uncut said it had been a difficult time for the organisation, with several of its key activists arrested and widespread criticism of the group.

"A lot of people who have been involved wanted to take stock, especially in regard to the legal implications, and there was a lot of firefighting to do because there was a lot of mud being thrown at us," he said. "But now we are back on course and determined to continue our campaign."

UK Uncut started in October when a group of friends decided to target Vodafone, claiming it had avoided £6bn in tax – an allegation denied by the mobile phone company.

The protest, organised through Twitter, went viral and, since then, hundreds of protests have been organised, targeting a range of high street names accused of tax avoidance, from Topshop and Boots to Tesco.

The campaign saw UK Uncut activists force the issue of corporate tax avoidance into the mainstream political debate, with its members appearing on BBC2's Newsnight, before the group widened its focus to become an "anti-cuts" campaign.

Its success has inspired the creation of similar organisations in countries around the world, from the US to Portugal, France and Ireland. Last month, US Uncut staged hundreds of occupations against corporations accused of avoiding tax. Portugal Uncut is due to hold its first demonstrations later this month.

UK Uncut's last nationwide day of action, at the end of February, saw more than 40 high street bank branches turned into creches, libraries and hospitals. Organisers say they have worked closely with local anti-cuts groups and trade unions ahead of the next set of protests to ensure that they are a success.

 "The government should be cutting subsidies to banks, not the NHS and other essential public services. The £100bn claimed in benefits by banks could pay for the entire NHS budget," 

said UK Uncut supporter Sophie Healey.

"And if they want to introduce far-reaching reform, how about starting with our broken banking system? Whilst the government is busy privatising the NHS, we still have a banking sector that's 'too big to fail'."

Disability Rights Group Briefly Shuts Down MN Senate

By Pat Kessler, WCCO-TV

ST. PAUL (WCCO) — With less than two weeks left before the end of the session at the Minnesota Capitol, the budget is still up in the air. On Wednesday, a small group of people with disabilities came to protest the fact that state senators have been talking about a gay marriage ban instead of dollars and cents.

Wearing red T-shirts and waving homemade posters, protesters from a disability rights group called ADAPT shouted at senators debating the gay marriage bill. 

Health care budget cuts, they say, will take away everything from their eyeglasses to their personal care attendants, and force some of them out of their homes into nursing homes.

The Senate president ordered the Sergeant at Arms and the State Patrol to forcibly remove the protesters, but it posed a problem: Some were blind and some paraplegic.

Members of the group were not arrested, but they were escorted from the building.

ADAPT has been known to use civil disobedience as a way to draw attention to their issues.

Slave Labor & ALEC - Join us in Cincy April 28-30th for a protest and Workshops!

Bob Sloan  Daily Kos,

I have been writing and informing others about an insidious lobbying organization that serves as the core of right wing conservatism for more than a year now - here on D Kos and elsewhere.  This is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and they try and justify their very existence - and avoid taxes and reporting donations and secretive legislative activities - behind a label of "educating" and "training" state lawmakers on how to write effective legislation at the state level.
The entire membership has a Conservative driven agenda that has brought our society to the brink of bankruptcy - state and personal - through their efforts of imprisoning over 2 million of us to create a captive workforce in America.  They use that workforce to fill the jobs we once held with prisoners making pennies an hour.  This increases corporate profits and denies necessary jobs for the rest of us.
They are funded by the likes of Koch Industries and 300 other corporations that profit from the laws ALEC is able to get each state to enact; prison privatization, PIECP to allow member corporations access to those they've imprisoned, union busting, right to work and laws attacking collective bargaining - to mention just a handful of their most recent efforts.

This month we want to start a campaign to stop ALEC's unchecked pursuit of incarceration for profits and begin taking our jobs back.  On April 29th many of us have agreed to meet and protest ALEC.  They are holding their "Spring Summit" that weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio.  This is the day that the orders and efforts of the corporate elite - such as Charles and David Koch - are put forth as marching orders to the thousands of lawmakers representing every state, who will attend (paid for by your tax dollars).  ALEC serves as the face and voice of the Kochs and those corporations working to change the landscape of America - from incarceration to jobs, deregulation to no taxation upon the rich.  Ohio is ground zero for this protest as Governor Kasich is a former ALEC ALUMNI!  He'll no doubt be in attendance at the Summit to speak and reap the rewards and accolades from fellow ALEC members for his efforts at Union busting, prison privatization and eliminating public sector jobs.
Many other conservative Alumni will be there.  Republican Presidential candidates always attend these events to give speeches and mingle with the underworld of conservative politics.  Here is a link to ALEC's Agenda" on the 29th.  Keep in mind that this is their Spring "Task Force" Summit.  At this event they will be setting their sights on 2011 legislation beneficial to their corporate members and supporters. Let's add our loud voices to their whispers behind closed doors.  This has never happened before and will fill them with worry about what may happen at their next Summits or Annual conferences!
Ohio Activists have worked hard and fast to put together a protest for that weekend. to give us the chance to make our voices heard. Here is a link to the website that will inform of the issues, allow each of us register to attend and participate.  They have been able to secure permitting and a public space for the protest and have found a way to provide housing for those of us coming from out of state.
I will be there to inform and help "teach" others how to overcome the influence of this nest of political vipers that have preyed upon us for so long, while hiding behind a curtain of secrecy.  This is the first effort of calling these people out and it provides us, as a collective society a unique opportunity to not only say "no" to their continued agenda, but also to stand up and spit in the face of the Koch brothers.
Bring lots of signs, lots of water to form the spittle needed to do just that.  I'm hoping to see many of you there where we can meet and greet and take these bastards on in the streets.  They have always had their way without real interference.  Join me there to show them the day has arrived when all of that stops!
STAND UP FOR JOBS, UNIONS AND YOUR OWN FUTURE AS AN AMERICAN by attending and lending your voice to the millions nationwide who have been doing that for more than six weeks now in places like Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska and many other states.  Let's help others give ol' Kasich and the other ALEC Alumni and sitting members a raucous greeting!
Remember what the ALEC acronym really means to us today: American Legislators Exemplifying Corruption!

Originally posted to Bob Sloan on Thu Apr 07, 2011 at 07:00 AM PDT.

 52 comments if you go to the link

Tags

• ALEC
• American Legislative Exchange Council
• Demonstrating
• job losses
• Koch Industries
• prison labor
• Prison Privatization
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PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION AGAINST ALEC’S ANTI-SOCIAL POLICIES

They meet in secret. They write our laws.  And they want us silent.

On April 29^th, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the organization responsible for the recent surge in anti-social legislation targeting working people, women, ethnic and racial minorities, and the LGBTQ community will be holding their spring strategy task force meeting at the Netherlands Plaza Hilton in downtown Cincinnati.

This organization has been a coordinating force behind the recent attempts to strip public workers of their human right to bargain collectively in Ohio and Wisconsin. In Indiana, the organization has provided model text for resolutions calling for an end to much federal environmental regulation. Throughout the Midwest, ALEC has promoted voter ID laws that will disproportionately impact student and lower income communities. In 2009, ALEC model legislation formed the basis for over 800 pieces of state legislation. Despite this high level of influence, ALEC has refused to publicly disclose its donors, elected members, the text of its model legislation, and where this has influenced state legislation.

The ALEC Protest Team will be coordinating a day of protest against ALEC’s anti-social policies on April 29^th.  At Noon, we will be holding a public demonstration at Fountain Square. (Corner of Vine & 5^th) A number of leaders active in the fight to protect the public interest in Ohio and beyond will be speaking at the event. This demonstration has been endorsed by Noam Chomsky and a number of others unable to attend.

The fight for the public interest begins in Cincinnati this spring.  Plans are currently being made to carry opposition to ALEC’s anti-social policies forward to their fall meeting in New Orleans.

moveon.org's great cache of #taxday actions. Slideshow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moveon/sets/72157626404671287/show/

You'll find it at the link.  Just hundreds of photos!!

Grab a beach ball and cuddle up and watch. Uncutters/powershifters take on BP !!

WHO's BEACH?  OUR BEACH !!



BP Flashmob

We took over a Bank of America on Friday: US Uncut on Daily Kos

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/17/967807/-We-took-over-a-Bank-of-America-on-Friday

On Friday, the San Francisco branch of US Uncut temporarily took over the San Francisco branch of Bank of America.

This is what happened:

Now we want you to do the same thing, with or without musical accompaniment - and we're going to tell you how.

As the video says, the government claims we're broke, and is slashing necessities for working and retired Americans. Meanwhile, corporate tax cheats like Bank of America and GE rake in billions in profit - and pay back zero in taxes.

Something's wrong here - and tomorrow, on Tax Day 2011, Americans are going to stand as one and point it out.

We currently have over 100 actions planned for tomorrow. Click here to find your local US Uncut action. Not seeing one nearby that works for you? Then start your own - it's SUPER easy.

Tomorrow, let's show the powers that be that Americans are seriously opposed to cutting schools, firefighters, police, healthcare, job creation...and seriously in favor of corporations actually paying their taxes.

Thank you,
The US Uncut Team

P.S. You can learn more here about how the San Francisco action was planned and carried out.

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO US UNCUT ON SUN APR 17, 2011 AT 11:12 AM PDT.

TAKE ACTION ON TAX DAY

April 15, 2011 11:24 AM | Permalink 

Hundreds of events from coast to coast are being organized to target corporations that fail to pay their fair share in taxes while lawmakers consider slashing public services that working Americans depend on. 

MoveOn

MoveOn invites "frustrated taxpayers, underwater homeowners, vilified public servants, job-hunting students, and unemployed veterans—everyone facing cuts or cutbacks, a pink slip or a shrinking paycheck" to join demonstrations to demand that Congress cracks down on corporate tax dodgers and to deliver to these companies the tax bill they should pay. Find a MoveOn event near you.

U.S. Uncut

U.S. Uncut is also organizing demonstrations and events targeting corporations, some of which are in cooperation with MoveOn. Find a U.S. Uncut event in your area.

U.S. PIRG

Finally, U.S. PIRG and other organizations will have activities outside post offices on April 15 and April 18 in several states to create awareness about tax dodging by corporations and to press Congress to act. These events will target people whose minds are very much on taxes as they mail off their federal income tax returns.

See the list below for U.S. PIRG events in your state and contact information.

April 15, 2011

Event: U.S. Public Interest Research Group will be holding events outside of Post Offices across the country to try to get Congress to address tax dodging corporations with report releases and post-carding.

Locations:

Portland OR, April 15th. Contact Jen Lavelle at jlavelle@ospirg.org, 503.231.4181

AnnArbor MI, April 15th. Contact Megan Hess at mhess@pirgim.org, 734.662.6597

Chicago IL, date TBD. Contact Brian Imus at brian@illinoispirg.org, 312-544-4433 x 210 (Federal Plaza, outside of main post office)

Hartford CT, April 15th, Contact Jenn Hatch at jhatch@connpirg.org, 860.233.7554

Albuquerque NM, date TBD, Contact Erin Eckelson at erin@nmpirg.org, 505.254.1244

Philly area, date TBD. Contact Megan DeSmedt at mdesmedt@pennpirg.org, 215.732.3747

Phenoix AZ, April 15th. Contact Seren Unrein at sunrein@arizonapirg.org, 602.252.9227

Des Moines IA, Date TBD, Contact Sonia Ashe at sashe@iowapirg.org, 515.282.4193

April 18, 2011

Event: U.S. Public Interest Research Group will be holding events outside of Post Offices across the country to try to get Congress to address tax dodging corporations with report releases and post-carding. U.S. PIRG is partnering with Citizen Action in a number of states: NJ, OR, IL, MI, MO, CT.

Locations:

Trenton NJ, April 18th. Contact Jen Kim at jkim@njpirg.org, 609.394.8155

Seattle WA, April 18th, Contact Lindsay Jacobson at ljacobson@washpirg.org, 206.568.2854 (either at post office downtown, or in front of Microsoft).

Boston MA, April 19th, Contact Dee Cummings at dcummings@masspirg.org, 617.292.4805

Baltimore MD, April 18th, Contact Johanna Neumann at Johanna@marylandpirg.org, (410) 467-9389

St. Lois MO, TBD

Categories:

 

• Tax Fairness and Tax Reform,
 
• Tax Giveaways for Corporations

Grassroots Movement Ties Cuts in Public Services to Corporate Tax Cheats

RELEASE: After GE Stunt, US Uncut Organizing 100 Tax Day Actions Across America

Posted on Fri Apr 15th 2011, 2:42am UTC

Blair Fitzgibbon 202-503-6141 blair@fitzgibbonmedia.com
Carl Gibson 601-454-6443 usuncut@gmail.com
Joanne Gifford 707-758-1699 worksalot2@me.com
Ryan Clayton 202-656-2116 uncutclayton@gmail.com
Duncan Meisel 512-657-9124 duncan.meisel@gmail.com

Grassroots Movement Ties Cuts in Public Services to Corporate Tax Cheats

New York, NY – In the wake of a satirical media prank on GE with help from the Yes Men, US Uncut is planning a weekend of nearly 100 Tax Day actions between April 15th and April 18th. The group makes a direct connection between recently announced budget cuts and a corporate culture of tax evasion.

“Why are we cutting $400 million from local law enforcement funding, while corporations like GE, Verizon, Bank of America, and FedEx continue to get away with not paying any taxes year after year?”

asked Carl Gibson of US Uncut Mississippi,

“If GE alone paid their fair share of taxes, then we could ‘uncut’ nearly $2 billion in job training programs. Do we want good jobs in America or do we want tax cheats?”

While millions of Americans pay their taxes this weekend, many have begun to wonder why those who profit most off a system of public services in America pay so little to maintain it. In fact, the Government Accountability Office reports that 83 of the top 100 US companies use tax havens to dodge taxes.

“This weekend will be the largest protest against corporate tax cheats in American history. This is the next wave of tax protest in America,” said US Uncut NYC spokesperson Duncan Meisel, “Citizens in nearly 100 cities are taking to the streets to demand that corporate tax cheats stop bankrupting America.”

In Washington D.C., local organizers are holding a “guerilla book signing” at a corporate storefront with soon-to-be bestselling author Nick Shaxson, who recently wrote Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking & Tax Havens. On April 18th, the anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride, local Boston activists are holding a March for Common Sense with the rallying cry: “The Cuts are coming! The Cuts are coming!”

Organized primarily through social media, citizens in nearly 100 cities across America have organized events at corporate storefronts to take creative action on a weekend most Americans dread. Holding signs that say “Tax Cheat”, “Uncut US”, and “Chop from the Top, Not from Mom & Pop”, activists from previous actions appear to be a fun mix of soccer moms, college kids, and social security recipients.

“I’m a veteran that’s been unemployed for over 99 months now, and on the same day I heard about GE’s tax evasion, I got a letter saying my VA benefits were being reduced,” said unemployed veteran and US Uncut supporter Earl James, “Why not invest in jobs for veterans and VA benefits for those who served instead of letting tax cheats like GE’s Jeffrey Immelt get away with cheating our country?"

"There's hay in the barn, but we're not feeding the horses," said Gibson, "This isn't a spending problem – it’s a revenue problem. Two-thirds of US corporations routinely get away with not paying any taxes at all, while the rest of us do our American duty and pay our fair share.”

US Uncut is a decentralized grassroots movement organized through social media that connects corporate tax cheats to public service cuts. Over the upcoming Tax Day weekend, US Uncut will hold a record 100 events.

For more information, please visit: http://USuncut.org

For pictures and video of previous actions, please see: http://USuncut.org/actions

Weekend of Rage: Protests Planned Against "Parasitic" Bank of America

SATURDAY, 09 APRIL 2011

Furious families across America are planning protests at local Bank of America branches on Tax Weekend, April 15th - 18th. Expected protesters include: 

-Homeowners wrongfully denied solutions to keep them in their homes.

-Taxpayers incensed that Bank of America and other corporate giants pay no income taxes.

-Account holders enraged at excessive fees.

-Voters afire over the improper almighty influence which big banks yield over elected officials.

-Small business owners and consumers who are qualified for financing, yet are denied loans.  

Chris Hedges elaborates in his call to action: "We will picket the Union Square branch of Bank of America, one of the major financial institutions responsible for the theft of roughly $17 trillion in wages, savings 

and retirement benefits taken from ordinary citizens. We will build a miniature cardboard community that will include what we should have—good public libraries, free health clinics, banks that have been converted into credit unions, free and well-funded public schools and public universities, and shuttered recruiting centers (young men and women should not have to go to Iraq and Afghanistan as soldiers or Marines to find a job with health care). We will call for an end to all foreclosures and bank repossessions, a breaking up of the huge banking monopolies, a fair system of taxation and a government that is accountable to the people.

The 10 major banks, which control 60 percent of the economy, determine how our legislative bills are written, how our courts rule, how we frame our public debates on the airwaves, who is elected to office and how we are governed. The phrase consent of the governed has been turned by our two major political parties into a cruel joke. There is no way to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs. And the faster these banks and huge corporations are broken up and regulated, the sooner we will become free...The big banks and corporations are parasites...

We don't need leaders. We don't need directives from above. We don't need formal organizations. We don't need to waste our time appealing to the Democratic Party or writing letters to the editor. We don't need more diatribes on the Internet. We need to physically get into the public square and create a mass movement. We need you and a few of your neighbors to begin it. We need you to walk down to your Bank of America branch and protest. We need you to come to Union Square. And once you do that you begin to create a force these elites always desperately try to snuff out—resistance."

Scheduled protests include: 

Minneapolis 

Monday, April 18th 4:30PM

Wells Fargo Bank 

90 South 7th Street 

Protesters will march to Bank of America

http://www.shamethebanks.org/jorge/weekend-of-rage-protests-planned-against-parasitic-bank-of-america