Avi Chomsky, professor of history at Salem State University will, be speaking at Occupy Boston on Wednesday, December 7 at 5 pm as part of FSU’s Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture Series. The topic of her talk will be “Immigration and Occupy.”
Archive: 2011
This Financial Accountability Working Group proposal was consented to by Occupy Boston’s General Assembly, on 12/4/11.
Whereas, Occupy Boston has, at last count, 57 working groups listed on its website, and . . .
Whereas, the GA has previously authorized the Financial Accountability Working Group to disburse up to $100 per week to working groups, and . . .
Whereas, it is important to have a transparent process for establishing minimum standards for working group activity and membership for the purpose of receiving Occupy Boston funding,
The Financial Accountability Working Group Proposed the following process for authorizing working groups to receive Occupy Boston funds:
The process for obtaining authorization consists of three steps:
- The working group completes an Occupy Boston Working Group Funding Authorization Form, which includes, at a minimum:
- Name of the Working Group
- Mission and Goals of the working group and what the working group expects to accomplish
- Working group email address
- Names, email addresses and phone #s of 3 working group liaisons to FAWG who will be responsible for signing off on individual funding requests*
- Weekly meeting schedule of the working group
- Proposed or typical expenses of the working group
- FAWG reviews form for completeness and accuracy, and requests additional information or clarifications from the working group, if necessary.
- FAWG reaches a decision about authorizing funding for the working group, and let’s the working group know and publishes the information on the FAWG wiki.
If a working group is denied authorization for funding from FAWG, it may ask FAWG to reconsider its decision. If upon reconsideration, FAWG again determines that the working group does not meet the minimum requirements, as stated above, the working group may bring its proposal for funding authorization directly to General Assembly.
Once a Working Group has been authorized for funding, actual requests for funding should follow the Cash Disbursement Policy and Procedure.
Members of FAWG will sign up for all Working Group email lists to be able to monitor Working Group development and activities.
FAWG suggests that each Working Groups that is authorized for funding send a liaison to at least one FAWG meeting per month.
* WG liaisons to FAWG are simply the messengers and the WG assigned purchasing agents. Decisions on any monies to be spent are made at the WG level.
The Occupy Boston Health And Safety Improvement Festival
At Noon on Monday December 5, 2011 at Dewey Square
We at Occupy Boston are committed to the health and safety of all occupiers and visitors of our encampment and as such we are hosting a party for this cause! The concerns of Mayor Menino about public health and safety are a top priority for us, and we are dedicated to fulfill the city’s criteria. In accordance with the city’s safety concerns, Occupy Boston is celebrating the arrival of a flame-retardant, winterized tent for the purpose of increasing the health, safety, and comfort of the protesters. We hope to see all concerned or supportive individuals and City Officials join us in a productive conversation to ensure the health and safety of the public. We will provide refreshments and live music!
We warmly welcome the public and extend special invitations to:
Mayor Thomas Menino
The Boston Police Department
The Boston Fire Department
The Health Department
The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy
And as Always, the Boston Media!
We hope to see you all partying for health and safety!
For more information, email media@occupyboston.org
The Women's Caucus of Occupy Boston and allies marching through Chinatown.
“Whatever we wear, Wherever we go, Yes means Yes, No means No!” – “Consent in the sheets, Dissent in the streets!” – “We are unstoppable, another world is possible!” These are the words that rang in the streets today as the Women’s Caucus and their allies marched through Boston. The march that began at 12:30pm was joined by local organizations representing women, people of color and other marginalized individuals in a powerful march beginning at Dewey Square.
The march stopped at the center of Fanueil Hall, where several women were given an opportunity to speak out about such issues as poverty, job and employment opportunities, healthcare, housing, reproductive rights, and LGBT rights.
Afterwards, the march resumed, meandering it’s way through the city until finally reaching Dewey Square where it started. From 2pm until 4pm, Spoken Word/Music then began at the GA Stage featuring the likes of poet Idalia, writer-playwright Gemma Cooper-Novack, and musician Lauren DeRose.
Protest chaplains and clergy hand-delivered a letter Thursday morning to City Hall and Boston Police Headquarters. Signed by 161 faith leaders from Boston and surrounding communities, the letter expressed support for Occupy Boston’s efforts to draw attention to widening disparities of wealth. It urged the mayor, the City Council, and the police to refrain from violence in dealings with Occupy protestors.
The letter expressed dismay at the “dangerous, punitive, and unnecessary use of force against encampments nationwide.” It called for a public commitment from the City not to use “batons, tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, ‘flashbangs,’ ‘sound cannons,’ or any other bullets, projectiles, explosives, chemical agents, or other pain-based method of crowd control” in the event that the City acts to remove protestors from Dewey Square.
Praising the camp’s reception of “the least and lost among us,” the letter noted that safety and sanitation challenges at the camp reflect “our own failure to address the triple threat of addiction, mental illness, and homelessness wracking our city.” It urged officials to commit to creating “additional shelters to aid the homeless in Dewey Square, and increasing numbers made homeless by eviction and foreclosure,” prior to any eviction of protestors.
“The poverty, homelessness, and increasing desperation of our neighbors present a challenge to us all,” the letter concluded. “Violence against the protesters is no solution. As leaders of faith, we urge you to seek a course that furthers justice and wholeness for all people. In this, we stand as one.”