Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: New England’s longest-running “Occupy” encampment, Occupy New Haven, was evicted Wednesday. For more, click here. And three Occupy New Haven members have gone underground. For an interview with them [written in a slightly condescending tone], click here. And although Walmart claims to be monitoring its factories’ compliance with environmental and labor rules, its auditing system is plagued by corruption. What’s more, many factories outsource more than half their work to “shadow” factories—unregulated operations that auditors never visit at all. For more, and for infographics on how big Walmart really is, click here. And: the wealthiest Americans believe they’ve earned their money through hard work and innovation, and that they’re the most productive members of society. … [But] they’re not nearly as productive as middle-class workers. Yet they’ve taken almost all the new income over the past 30 years. For more, see Five Reasons Why The Very Rich Have NOT Earned Their Money. And Do the Wealthy Lie, Cheat, and Steal More Than the Rest of Us? The simple answer appears to be “Yes.” For more, click here.

Other Occupies/Protests: Announcement posted in solidarity on behalf of the Mental Health Movement by the Occupy Chicago Press Committee: The Mental Health Movement occupation at the Woodlawn Mental Health Clinic is demanding that the city:

1. Keep all 12 city mental health clinics public, open, fully funded and fully staffed
2. Stop plans to privatize Chicago’s 7 neighborhood health centers
3. Hire more doctors, therapists, nurses, social workers and other clinic staff
4. Reinstate the drug assistance program
5. Expand the public mental health safety net to cover unmet community need

This occupation is a part of an going campaign, led by patients from all 12 clinics facing closure, to defend Chicago mental health clinics from closure and privatization. The Mental Health Movement has been organizing around this issue, using a diversity of tactics including writing letters, meeting with politicians and health boards, taking direct actions, occupying their own clinic and now occupying a lot outside of the clinic. Two of the patients who used to be served by Woodlawn have already been admitted to the psychiatric ward because they could no longer get the help they needed in their neighborhood.  Money being taken away from clinics while Chicago corporations get tax cuts is directly related to the Occupy movement’s main issues. For more info directly from the mouths of Woodlawn’s patients, check out their press releases at:http://www.facebook.com/PressCOMM/notes

“You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil system never deserves such allegiance. Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil. A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.” Mohandas K. Gandhi

Upcoming Events:

• Tuesday, April 24, 10am-8pm, Occupy Brandeis is hosting The Great Teach-In on the Great Lawn. For the schedule of events, click here.
• The Occupy Boston Media Working Group has dissolved. To try to help us explore how the entire community can be empowered to create its own media, we invite /urge you, the community, to participate in a conversation about the future of media work at Occupy Boston next Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 7pm at Encuentro 5 (5th floor, 33 Harrison Ave, Boston). We will discuss the best way to reallocate existing resources in a way that is equitable and consistent with OB’s values.
• What is Occupy Wall Street? A film screening. Occupy HCC (Holyoke Community College) is hosting a film screening of short films produced by Occupy Wall Street in the Forum at HCC, April 27, 3pm-5pm. Come and find out about the Occupy Movement that started on Wall St. and has spread across the globe! There will be a Q&A session following the films with activists from different Occupy groups across the Northeast. This event is sponsored by the Holyoke Community College Student Senate.
• MA Unite Against the War on Women Rally, April 28, 10am-2pm, at City Hall Plaza. Help defend women’s rights and pursuit of equality. Join Americans all across the United States as we come together as one to tell members of Congress in Washington DC and legislators in all 50 states, “Enough is enough!” All Americans have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, including contraception, without interference from government, business or religious institutions. Please join us as we gather together and show both state and federal legislative bodies that we won’t stand silently by as they propose and pass laws that will impact women’s choices, health, and wellbeing. We need everyone’s voice! These decisions affect all genders, races, and socio-economic statuses!
• Boston New Sanctuary Movement Presents A Return to A Faithful UnderstandingAn Interfaith Conference: Toward a More Compassionate National Debate on Immigration, Sunday, April 29, 2012, 12:30 – 5 p.m.  (12-1, lunch provided by Brazilian Immigrant Center), Church of the Covenant, 67 Newbury St., Boston, MAWorship leader:  Rev. Rob Mark, Pastor, Church of the Covenant, Boston, Presbyterian/UCCSpeakers, Reflection leaders:  Members of the Boston New Sanctuary Movement. Schedule: 12:30  Registration; 1:00 Welcome, opening reflection; 1:15  Current Immigration issues in Boston, and the Boston New Sanctuary Movement; 1:40 Workshops, period I; 3:10 Workshops, period II; 4:40 Closing reflection; 5:00    Networking. 
• • May 1 General Strike! A Day Without the 99%. NO WORK – NO SCHOOL – NO SHOPPING – NO BANKING – NO TRADING. GENERAL STRIKE AND BOYCOTT CALLED! 7am-11am: Financial District Block Party! (corner of Federal and Franklin Streets). Bring a friend and let’s party! Bring whistles, drums, noise makers. Bring street theater ! 12:00pm: Boston City Hall Rally. Can’t make it to Boston City Hall at Noon? Well how about: The Chelsea City Hall? – Gather at Noon – March at 2pm (For More information please contact La Colaborativa (617) 889-6097). 2pm: LoPresti Park Rally/March (Blue Line: Maverick Square) (For more information contact [redacted]). 4pm: Everett – Glendale Park (For more information please contact La Comunidad (617) 387-9996). 7pm: Death of Capitalism Boston Funeral March (Copley Square). We invite people to participate in this piece of street theater which includes puppets, a marching band, and other creative surprises. People will begin gathering at 7pm at Copley Square Park (by the steps of Trinity Church) to put on costumes, puppets and face-paint and get info on their respective role in the funeral procession. We ask that people participate as: mourners (dressed in black), celebrators (wearing neon/bright colors/glow stuff), skeleton block (bring your own skeleton costume). The funeral procession will leave Copley Square Park at 8pm and will travel through areas of wealth and commerce.
  • Keep Immigrant Families Together! Stop the Raids and Deportations! Prayer Vigil for Immigrant Detainees, Sunday, May 6th, 2 p.m.Suffolk County House of Correction, 20 Bradston St., BostonFor more information about the vigil, contact our Facebook page, or email SocialAction@ascboston.org. www.bostonnewsanctuary.org. Immigration through Faith: Faith through Immigration – Personal experiences of immigration as a moral and religious issue. A facilitated panel discussion exploring personal experiences of faith and immigration. This session is designed to help participants articulate and claim religious language and relevancy in a conversation dominated by secular and political messages. The panel discussion will be followed by an open period for questions and reflections.U.S. Immigration History and Your Faith:  We will look at who came and why?  What laws were enacted as barriers?  What role have people of faith played in this history?  Immigrant Stories in the Struggle for Workers Rights:  We will also ask where we find ourselves in the story, and who belongs here? To register, go to www.bostonnewsanctuary.org, or call Newell Hendricks at 617 876-5038. $10 suggested donation
• Occupy New England – M12 Day of Action and Regional Gathering. 9am-5:30pm, May 12: Come join Occupy groups from all around New England as we converge in Worcester for a day of action and networking! The day will have four core key components to it: getting as many Occupy groups and participants in one centralized location at the same time for a day of networking and planning, direct actions and public visibility, continued actions against corporations backing ALEC, and finally the flared up “War on Women” – discussion on women’s issues (rights, health care, etc…)Preliminary timeline of events:
  (Please note the following is a rough draft discussed by Occupy Worcester and the M12 working group. More details will be released later on, and times/actions are subject to change.)
  9 am: Begin gathering at Worcester Common
  10 am: Second New England Solidarity March
  Late morning: Direct Action (w/ CD potential)
  Midday: Occupy New England gathering. Have lunch and talk a lot to each other.
  Mid afternoon: Occupy Worcester’s Women’s Caucus event, details TBA
• MAY 17 – Nationally recognized transgender activist and member of Occupy Boston Gunner Scott will be honored with The Theater Offensive’s Out on the Edge award. As Executive Director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, Scott led the battle for passage of the Massachusetts Transgender Equal Rights Bill in November. The Transgender Equal Rights Bill, also known as An Act Relative to Gender Identity, makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender identity in the areas of employment, housing, public education and credit & lending.Who: Transgender activist Gunner ScottWhat: The Theater Offensive honors Scott with Out on the Edge awardWhen: Thursday, May 17 @ 6:30 pmWhere: Hibernian Hall (184 Dudley St, Roxbury)

  Open to the Public: Yes (with ticket purchase)

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Event Highlight:

Union Busting is Disgusting: Defend the MFA Guards Rally, Saturday, April 21. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is seriously considering OUTSOURCING their guard union. Some have been working there for 10-20-30 years. They would lose their status as museum employees and would be forced to apply for jobs to an outside contractor with a bad reputation — IF they get re-hired. The museum would have non-union workers doing union jobs! Let’s give the top 1% our 100% effort in stopping these attacks! DON’T SUBCONTRACT UNION JOBS! Saturday, April 21 from noon to 2 pm at the Huntington Ave. sidewalk in front of MFA. For more info, contact John at rennipsmj@yahoo.com. Facebook event page is https://www.facebook.com/events/325005734232758/  

Calendar for Saturday, April 21, 2012

2pm-4pm Safer Spaces Cluster Meeting, at Encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Avenue, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02111

3pm-4:45pm Facilitation WG meeting, at City Place Food Court in the Transportation Building

3pm-5pm Media WG Meeting, at Encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Avenue, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02111

4:30pm-6:30pm Anti-Oppression WG Meeting, at Arlington St. Church (1st floor) 351 Arlington St. (corner of Arlington and Boylston Sts.)

5pm-8:30 pm General Assembly, at Community Church of Boston – 565 Boylston Street

Please note! These are just some of the events at Occupy Boston. Meetings and their locations are subject to change. We encourage you to check the Occupy Boston Calendar for the most up-to-date information.

Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements: 

Issue 7 of the Boston Occupier is out now, and we need your help distributing!!

In this issue: exclusive interview with Noam Chomsky, “Camp Charlie” and the National Day of Action for Public Transportation, rallies for justice for Trayvon Martin, corporations abandoning ALEC, point/counter-point on Occupier demands, May 1st, new crossword puzzle, great  poster for the General Strike, and more!!

We rely exclusively on YOU, the broader Occupy community, to get our papers out there to the 99%. So…

** We would love for you to join one of our planned outreach/distribution efforts on the T.

** ANYTIME you’re going to a progressive or Occupy-related event, try to pass out papers. These are the most effective occasions to connect sympathetic readers to our paper. Copies of the issue are stored in the OB cubicle at E5, so PLEASE remember to grab a stack.

** Get them to readers in your community. We recommend small stacks in small stacks in cafes, libraries, bookshops, laundry mats, community centers, waiting rooms, campuses, etc. Be creative!! But we’ve found that the BEST way to get papers to readers is to hand them out face to face, combining outreach and distribution.

** If you are a part of another local-area Occupy movement, a union, or a community organization that is willing to distribute papers — let’s make it happen! You can just come by E5 (between 9 am and 7 pm most days) and grab a stack, or coordinate with us if you’re not able to do so. Send questions or suggestions about distribution to Julie O (juliettejulianna@gmail.com).

** We’re also trying to raise funds so that we can continue printing the stories of the 99%! To that end, we’ve started a subscription service. Read about it online here. I hope you’ll encourage those you know to subscribe to the paper as well!!

As always, we welcome questions, suggestions, and distribution ideas — send to juliettejulianna@gmail.com. We’ve printed a gorgeous May 1st poster on the back of this issue, so we’re hoping to get all 10,000 copies out in the next week and a half, to promote the General Strike. Papers to the people!!

Occupy Boston is looking for the following supplies to be donated or loaned for May Day actions.

For a partial listing of Working Groups looking for volunteers, please click here! For a list of Working Groups with contact info, click here!

For more information on Occupy Boston’s General Assembly, including passed resolutions, click here!  

And if you’re interested in learning more about Occupy Boston and how you can participate, click here! 

Contact Us: Want to subscribe to the Daily Digest? Click here to have it sent to your email inbox every morning! All Working Groups or Occupy Boston events that need placement in the Daily Digest, please email AnnaC@OccupyBoston.org. And subscribe to the Occupy Boston Media Rundown, a daily listing of Occupy-related news, by contacting JohnM@OccupyBoston.org.