Those inspired hail King legacy in and around Boston
And last night at the Arlington Street Church, the Occupy Boston movement dedicated its weekly gathering to exploring King’s legacy.
“We see Martin Luther King as in the tradition of Occupy in that he occupied segregation, he occupied racial injustice, and he occupied discrimination,” said Brian Kwoba, 29, of Cambridge.
http://tinyurl.com/732ja92
Muzzling Dr. King
True to form, then, it was business as usual at the city’s [Boston] annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast on Monday, with elected officials reducing Dr. King’s radical message to the usual platitudes about service to others – helping your neighbors with the snow shoveling, that sort of thing. Playing the “good Samaritan on life?s roadside” is fine for starters, King said, but “we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. … an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth.” Oops. Sound familiar? Wasn’t there something like that going on this fall?
So we have Mayor Thomas Menino saying he’s “proud that Dr. King’s personal history is rooted in our city” – though the Mayor wasn’t particularly pleased when #Occupy Boston took Dr. King’s message seriously. We like the man, alright? We just don’t like all this non-violent civil disobedience and First Amendment rights stuff.
Governor Deval Patrick, for his part, urged attendees to follow King’s example by writing letters to soldiers serving in the U.S. military abroad. Really? Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine to write letters to people who – due to their patriotism, financial need, or some combination of both – are getting killed and maimed by the greatest expansion of imperial power in U.S. history, presided over by the nation’s first black president, no less. But to ask this of kids in the name of Martin Luther King, without mentioning King’s condemnation of imperialist wars, is an active betrayal of his legacy.
http://tinyurl.com/7w5c76f
Occupy protesters to gather outside Capitol, demonstrate against influence of corporate money
Protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement will meet outside the Capitol for what participants hope will become the largest gathering of Occupy activists from around the country.
Participants say plan to decry the influence of corporate money in politics and show the House of Representatives what real democracy looks like. The House reconvenes Tuesday after its winter recess.
The protest comes as the nation’s capital has emerged as one of the strongest bastions of the Occupy movement, in part because the National Park Service has allowed protesters to maintain their encampments in two public squares near the White House.
King and Occupy causes compared at service
The Rev. John Walsh, University of Redlands chaplain, stressed Sunday night how timely Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words still are, specifically in regard to the Occupy cause, when Walsh spoke at a service for King in the Memorial Chapel.
. . .
Maury-Holmes read a part of the “A Time to Break the Silence” speech, delivered in New York’s Riverside Church by King a year to the day before his assassination. Walsh indicated this speech as the one that sealed King’s fate, because it was the first time he shifted focus from the Civil Rights Movement to politics, taking aim specifically at the Vietnam War.
“A time comes when silence is betrayal,” Maury-Holmes read.
http://tinyurl.com/6sn3c93
Occupy: Expanding the Legacy of MLK and the Civil Rights Movement
Since the last few months of 2011, this sad state of affairs has taken a turn in the form of the birth of the US Occupy movement. Occupy draws a lot of its thematic and inspirations from the teaching of Dr. King. From the accent on non-violent protest, its oppositions to war and American imperialism, and especially its goal to redefine a society based on the principles of equality, fairness, sustainability and social justice. Martin Luther King knew all along that he had a target on his back, but the advantage of Occupy, in comparison with the civil rights movement, is that it is a horizontal movement with no clear define leadership. If MLK became a clear and easy mark for the one opposed to social changes in 1968, a leaderless movement like Occupy is, on the other hand, impossible to kill. If a man can be killed, principles or ideas cannot.
Black farmers join Occupy protesters in Tennessee
On a blustery Monday, surrounded by government buildings closed for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the cluster of tented protesters of Occupy Memphis were joined by a contingent of African-Americans.
Members of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, along with plumbers, electricians and other union members, stopped by Civic Center Plaza to bolster the effort of the local arm of Occupy Wall Street.
The black farmers organization, along with pastors and leaders of other groups, want to encourage other groups associated with civil rights and justice to show support to the Occupy Wall Street movement.
http://tinyurl.com/8yaeout
SOPA slowed or derailed in House of Reps, Senate leader promises to push on with PIPA
The Stop Online Piracy Act – considered the broader of the two bills – will not be introduced in the House, according to a statement from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who has co-authored an alternative proposal to SOPA called the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) has said he will remove the domain-name system blocking provision from his bill; Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has indicated he will consider an amendment to do the same for the Senate version of the measure.
While the House has slowed its pace toward passing SOPA, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a Sunday interview with “Meet the Press” that he intends to push forward with PIPA because it is “job-saving,”though he acknowledged that the measure has “issues” that need to be resolved.
Wikipedia Blackout: Websites Wikipedia, Reddit, Others Go Dark Wednesday to Protest SOPA, PIPA
Do not try to look up “Internet Censorship” or “SOPA” or “PIPA” on Wikipedia, the giant online encyclopedia, on Wednesday. SOPA and PIPA are two bills in Congress meant to stop the illegal copying and sharing of movies and music on the Internet, but major Internet companies say the bills would put them in the impossible position of policing the online world.
Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, says his site will go dark for the day on Wednesday, joining a budding movement to protest the two bills.
SOPA/PIPA: Best of Luck Navigating in the Dark Tomorrow
If you haven’t already heard, you will not be able to access the English version of Wikipedia tomorrow. Instead, you will find a message about the threat these bills pose to a free and open Internet.
Don’t be fooled by the supporters of this bill – television networks, movie studios, record labels, publishers, and major consumer brands. The remedy these holders of copyrights, trademarks, and patents seek will elevate their property rights above your civil rights.
Don’t get me wrong, these intellectual property rights holders deserve protection under the law. They just aren’t entitled to protection above the law.
http://tinyurl.com/7gzb9ym
He left high school to Occupy Irvine
I’m not one to recommend that students leave school, but….there are always exceptions. And in the case of Emahn Novid, the move to leave Irvine’s Woodbridge High School this fall was based on his brain, his heart and, yes, his future.
Now, before you get any ideas, let me explain: Emahn, 17, didn’t drop out of school. He’s always been a smart kid, and he had nearly all the credits he needed to graduate when he decided to enroll in independent study to complete his classes and earn his high school diploma.
Still, his reason might have worried – scratch that; would have freaked out – most parents. Emahn left regular high school because he had found an important cause, the Occupy movement. He saw the Irvine branch of the Occupy Orange County group as people who weren’t just talking about change, they were fighting for it. And, because of that, he wanted to work with them as much as he could.
Winter doesn’t freeze Occupy movement – Protesters endure cold, expect ‘explosion’ of Occupy events in spring
Though just a handful of protesters bundled themselves into their tents Monday, Occupiers who have chosen warmer winter homes have remained active in the group’s events, DeJack said. Any hibernation will end when the weather warms up, she predicted.
“Come spring, you are going to see an explosion of protests,” DeJack said.
http://tinyurl.com/6vhtdwk
Greyhound eyes incident involving Occupy protester
A Greyhound Lines driver who ordered an Occupy protester off his bus at a weekend stop in Amarillo has been removed from duty while officials investigate, a company spokeswoman said Monday.
Greyhound officials are reviewing audio tape as part of their investigation into the incident Saturday night, when the veteran driver clashed with protesters traveling from San Diego to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of Congress, company spokeswoman Jen Bittinger said Monday.
When corporations own all the public spaces: Occupy Danbury [CT] kicked out of mall for wearing ‘Occupy’ tee-shirts
Since opening over 20 years ago, for better or for worse, the Danbury Fair Mall has become the center of economic life in our region. As such, it serves as a place for people to gather and meet. Many people, including the corporation itself, considers the mall our new Town Center/Green.
Recently, a group of citizens wearing “Occupy Danbury” T-shirts met over dinner in the mall food court to discuss the Occupy movement. They were approached and told by Mall Security that they were not welcome to come back wearing those T-Shirts. The citizens gathered felt this was another example of corporations and the 1% dominating politics and speech in this country.
http://tinyurl.com/7sax2kh
How Rahm Emanuel and elites intend to defend Chicago against free speech
Ahead of the overlapping G-8 and NATO summits in Chicago scheduled for May 19th-21st, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has ramped up the repression of principled dissent in a city that has quite the history of it. Just three months after closing down Occupy Chicago before it could even develop an overnight encampment, “Rahmbo” has introduced two new ordinances that would overhaul the city’s existing laws dealing with protests and parades. Dubbed by Occupy Chicago as the “Sit Down and Shut Up” ordinance, the measures include increased fines for resisting arrest, reduced opening hours for public parks, and much stricter parade regulations. Together, they appear to be an effort to stifle free speech under the guise of defending the public from unwieldy “anarchists.”
The mayor is keen to avoid adversity around meetings designed to elevate the status of a city long bent on shaking its “Second City” image.
http://tinyurl.com/88fxu6h
G-8 protest organizer wants to bring thousands of protesters to Chicago
Andy Thayer’s co-workers are running an office pool. How long until he gets arrested?
Ever since President Barack Obama announced that the G-8 and NATO will meet in Chicago, Thayer has been meeting almost daily with dozens of other activists to plot a demonstration they hope will draw a coalition of tens of thousands of protesters from across the globe during the May 19-21 summit. As the author of a protest permit application that seeks to march the crowd to within a few yards of the world’s leaders at McCormick Place, he?s likely to be thrust into his brightest spotlight yet this summer.
“The G-8 is Obama?s homecoming and Rahm’s national coming out party. Rahm hopes it will be his springboard to the 2016 nomination. We want them both to pay the highest political price for bringing the biggest collection of fraudsters, banksters and warmongers ever to meet in Chicago.”
http://tinyurl.com/89sm23c
Rapping Against Rahm: Protesting The Anti-Protester Ordinance
The folks at Occupy Chicago say that Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan for managing protesters for the NATO and G8 conference would spell out the end of the Occupy Chicago movement. That’s why the group is planning to rally at City Hall tomorrow morning, Tuesday, Jan. 17. They’re also encouraging people to call the mayor and their aldermen. The ordinance goes to a vote Wednesday.
Occupy Chicago partnered with a few people to create this video that quickly distills Emanuel’s anti-protester ordinance. The piece “Rahmbo’s Sit Down and Shut Up Protest Ordinances” is written and performed by rapper ProfessorD.us of Justus League Records, based out of Toronto. The video was produced by the Multikulti Art Collective.
Dozens protest eastside charter schools
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Dozens of people spent the day protesting several proposed Charter schools planned for the eastside part of Austin today.
Occupy UT hosted the event with the group the Pride of the Eastside at Kealing Park.
Monday Occupy UT hosted an education forum for students, teachers, parents, and workers to speak about having to deal with the policy, the education policy and decision making by the one percent.
http://tinyurl.com/7gmtntm
Occupy, church groups march on Gov. Snyder’s house
SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) – Hundreds of people chanting and carrying picket signs marked Martin Luther King Day with a march to Gov. Rick Snyder’s gated community to protest a new law that makes it easier for the state to take over financially struggling schools and local governments.
The rally, which included religious groups and protesters linked to the Occupy Wall Street movement, began at a Washtenaw County park and ended outside the gatehouse of Snyder’s neighborhood in Superior Township, near Ann Arbor. The sheriff’s department had no immediate crowd estimate Monday night, but authorities and media on the scene estimated it at between 800 and 1,000 people.
The law allows a state-appointed emergency financial manager to take over the finances of a school district or local government. Protest organizers say it disenfranchises members of minority groups, noting that the school districts and cities with such managers are predominantly black.
http://tinyurl.com/7hubkla
Arrests In Occupy Baltimore Protest
Six Occupy Baltimore members were arrested for trespassing at the site of a proposed juvenile detention center.
State troopers and city police officers in riot gear moved to disband the group last night that had set up what they were calling a classroom at the site of a proposed juvenile detention center in East Baltimore.
One protestor said the effort was meant to make the point that money for jails should go toward education.
Customers see impromptu Occupy Tampa protest inside Best Buy
Customers waiting in line inside a Best Buy store Monday heard and saw a brief protest by Occupy Tampa.
Around 6:30 p.m., around 15 protestors gathered around an Apple display at the store, 1725 N Dale Mabry Highway, and began shouting in unison about the use of Chinese workers.
Some of them fell to the floor. A number of customers captured the roughly three-minute show on their own cell-phone cameras.
http://tinyurl.com/7zefveh
Sisters of the Road leads crowd of 500 on march through Northwest, Downtown Portland
An estimated 500 people marched through downtown Portland on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to spread the message that all groups deserve equal rights.
Participants in the 19th annual Sisters of the Road Martin Luther King Jr. Day March and Rally chanted and waved signs as they walked for two hours Monday. Representatives from local unions, Occupy Portland and Right 2 Dream Too joined Sisters of the Road, a nonprofit that serves Portland?s homeless.
The theme was ?No One is Illegal,? said Chani Geigle-Teller, a community organizer for Sisters of the Road. “That sort of transcends a lot of different oppressed communities,” she said. “For our community at Sisters, their basic survival is often illegal. They can?t be on sidewalks, they can’t be in parks. . . . Often they are criminalized for just being.”
http://tinyurl.com/7x3y6zh
Occupy Movement Organizes Protest at 80 Courthouses On Anniversary of ‘Citizens United v. FEC’
Members of the Occupy Wall Street movement will turn their attention to the legal system on Friday. They plan to gather at the Prince Kuhio Federal Building in Honolulu and 79 other court houses across the country to rally against the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision by the U.S. Supreme Court issued two years ago on January 21, 2010.
In a statement issued January 16, the Occupy Wall Street movement said: ?Neither the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution mentions corporations, which were rare entities at our nation?s founding. But thanks to decades of rulings by Justices who molded the law to favor elite interests, corporations today are granted privileges that empower them to deny citizens the right to full self-governance. Armed with these rights, corporations wield ever-increasing control over jobs, natural assets, elected officials, judges and the law.”
Occupy Missoula general assembly, encampment group split
Long at odds over the festering issue of homelessness, Occupy Missoula’s general assembly and its encampment group on the Missoula County Courthouse lawn have parted ways.
“It’s still Occupy Missoula,” said Kim Bostrom of the communications group. “There’s a relatively large group of people that really supports what’s going on at the courthouse and there’s another group of people that feels like the issues are much too big to be addressed with that one single tactic.
“It’s my feeling that the camp is really hindering our other efforts, because it takes so much of our time. That’s where the separation comes from.”
Occupy Belfast ‘will oppose removal’
Demonstrators from the Occupy Belfast group have said they will take legal action against anyone trying to remove them from the former Bank of Ireland at Royal Avenue in Belfast city centre.
A number of protesters moved into the vacant building and barricaded themselves inside, before making their presence known on Monday afternoon as they unfurled banners from the roof.
http://tinyurl.com/6rteqnn
St Paul’s makes quiet u-turn to support of City of London eviction of Occupy
A court ruling on the City of London’s request for eviction is expected imminently. St Paul’s Cathedral has chosen to offer support to the City of London’s attempt to have the camp evicted. Senior cathedral staff gave evidence in favour of the City’s legal action.
Over twenty Christian organisations have already signed a statement of solidarity with Occupy London Stock Exchange.
http://tinyurl.com/6phw2cm
Occupy the mosque
When I last logged into Facebook, I was delighted to see a surge of posters featuring a Muslim woman with the tagline “Occupy the mosque”. This does not mean I support the physical occupation of prayer spaces across the UK (especially not when people are praying), but because I believe in dismantling the status quo ? a status quo that many British Muslims, especially women, have had to pay a bitter price for.
A series of declarations were listed above the poster, including “Women have an Islamic right to hold leadership positions and as members of the board of directors and management committees”, and “Women have an Islamic right to be full participants in all congregational activities.”
As trivial as these rights may sound to the average secular ear, a fast-growing group of Muslim activists have proved their determination to fight for every single one.
Vatican protesters evicted by police
Demonstrators attempting to set up a protest camp in St Peter’s Square in Rome have been forcibly removed by riot police backed by the Vatican.
Aiming to set up a protest camp similar to the Occupy encampment outside St Paul’s in London, up to 50 protesters arrived in the colonnaded piazza in front of St Peter’s basilica carrying placards calling on the Catholic church to pay more taxes, a likely reference to tax breaks handed to the Vatican by the Italian government.
Protests continue in Lagos despite fuel deal
Abuja – Nigerians returned to work Tuesday in most parts of the country, after unions suspended strike action in the wake of a 30-per-cent reduction in fuel prices.
But some Lagos residents continued to gather at the Gani Fawhemi motor park, the heart of the so-called Occupy Nigeria movement.
http://tinyurl.com/87ktvsp
Occupy Protesters Pitch Their Igloos for Icy Davos
THE STEIGENBERGER Grandhotel Belvedere may be only a three minute walk from the conference centre ? but, really, there?s only one way to do Davos. In an igloo.
Such is the sub-zero lot of the Occupy protesters, who yesterday unveiled their accommodation for the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort next week: Camp Igloo, an encampment that sleeps 50 anti-capitalist activists in ice houses. Two heated teepees will also be erected ? presumably for those who develop hypothermia.
http://tinyurl.com/7fgp4e3