Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: The Boston Phoenix covers the story of the Camp Charlie temporary eviction and re-occupation. And lots of Trayvon Martin news (and see info on Rally for Justice for Trayvon below): George Zimmerman expected to be charged with second degree murder in Trayvon Martin’s death, see story here. Attorney General vows thorough review in Trayvon Martin case, see story here. A teacher was fired for organizing a fundraiser for Trayvon Martin’s family. And in censored news, check out The 19 Things That the Talking Heads on Television are Being Strangely Silent About.

Other Occupies/Protests:  OWS has a variety of tactics to break up Bank of America, ranging from direct actions to coordinated Move your Money efforts, and as their spring offensive continues, they’re ratcheting up the pressure. See more here.  More Occupy news: On January 7, 2012, the Philadelphia General Assembly came to consensus on a proposal from the Philadelphia Committee of Correspondence to form a national working group dedicated to conceiving of, and implementing a strategy towards, a National Gathering of the Occupy Movement. OWS and other Occupies are in solidarity. See more here. And in other news, international protests are planned for May 12 and May 15. According to the event website: Saturday May 12 has been proposed as a global day of action in which we will once again take to the streets, to the squares, or wherever we can in order to carry out specific actions that will empower mass demonstrations. May 15 is intended as a global day of action, to intervene in capital flows and mobility, while simultaneously coordinating actions in order to bring awareness to the world so that it moves in a new direction. See more here.

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Upcoming Events:

• Raise Taxes on the 1% Tax Day Rally and March, Tuesday, April 17, 5:30PM, Dewey Square (South Station). Occupy JP and Occupy Boston will participate, along with many other groups, in a protest against the unfairness of the current tax regime, where people such as Mitt Romney pay at rates far lower than those earning far less, and Warren Buffet’s now-famous secretary pays at a higher rate than Warren Buffet.  The Rally and March will begin at 5:30pm at Dewey Square (South Station) and the march will begin at 6pm and proceed through the city streets, pass by several notorious corporate tax dodgers, and end at Post Office Square. Things to bring:  yourself (most important), signs, noise-making stuff (pots, pans, kazoos, whatever). For a list of co-sponsoring organizations visit http://www.taxdayboston.org.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Please note events are subject to change; check https://www.occupyboston.org for the latest information!

Event Highlights:

• Rally for Justice for Trayvon,  11am, Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common. Come show support for Trayvon Martin’s family as they demand a thorough investigation of all circumstances regarding Trayvon’s death along with a demand for justice. Also voice your opposition to a proposed “Stand Your Ground” bill presently before the Massachusetts State Legislature. After the rally, please join a lobbying campaign of legislators at the Statehouse.

• Justice for Farmworkers! Picket, Delegation and Theater at Stop & Shop Headquarters, Thursday, April 12 at 12pm, Stop & Shop Corporate Office Headquarters, 1385 Hancock St., Quincy.

  Just days before the Ahold (parent company of Stop & Shop) Shareholder Meeting, please join farmworkers and Fair Food allies in calling on Stop and Shop to join the Fair Food Program!

  For decades, Florida’s farmworkers faced poverty wages and daily violations of their basic rights — including physical abuse, sexual harassment, and in the most extreme cases, modern-day slavery — in order to harvest the food on our plates. Today, however, a new day is dawning in the fields. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) — an internationally-recognized farmworker organization — has reached groundbreaking agreements with ten of the world’s leading food retailers, including McDonald’s, Subway and Trader Joe’s. Hailed by the New York Times as “possibly the most successful labor action in the US in twenty years,” the Fair Food Program establishes a worker-designed code of conduct in the fields and requires retailers to pay one more penny per pound for the tomatoes they buy to go directly to the workers who picked them—all of which is monitored and enforced by the independent Fair Food Standards Council. Supermarkets like Ahold leverage their high-volume purchasing power to demand the ever-lower prices that result in farmworker exploitation. By refusing to partner with the CIW, the steps the company has taken fall far short of the substantive, verifiable and enforceable standards that the situation requires, consumers expect, and others within the industry have embraced.

  Join farmworkers and Fair Food advocates in demanding that Ahold uphold human rights and join the Fair Food Program! More information: www.ciw-online.org, Contact: elena@interfaithact.org; 650.678.9127

• 4:00 PM — Ride the Rails Come Ride the Rails with us to spread the word to Boston’s subway riders about Camp Charlie, the Occupy MBTA campaign, and the broader Occupy Boston community. We’ll be meeting at Camp Charlie at 4:00 PM for a brief training, after which we’ll be setting out in teams to connect with Boston’s rush-hour commuters and recruit them for the movement through speaking, leafleting, and distributing copies of the Boston Occupier. Let’s seize the unique opportunity to engage thousands of T commuters about the issues that could immediately impact them — the cuts, hikes, and layoffs — as well as the deeper issues that they raise for us all. See you there! Please note: Ride the Rails will meet every day at 4:00 PM at Camp Charlie until the occupation has run its course.
•  [Ongoing] Occupation of State House Steps for Public Transportation, April 5 – 14, 2012, Camp Charlie at the State House. On April 4, Occupy the MBTA, a working group of Occupy Boston, launched Camp Charlie, a ten-day occupation of the Massachusetts State House steps to protest fare-hikes and service cutbacks on the MBTA. Having survived the depths of the recession, the 99% now faces additional taxes in the form of escalating T fares and the loss of essential transport routes. This is a further transfer of public wealth to the banks. These are the same institutions that were bailed out by the American taxpayer after being rendered insolvent by their own, criminal recklessness. The only debt in need of servicing is their debt to us. In a country that lavishes four billion dollars in subsidies on the oil companies, the relentless assault on public transport could not make less sense – ethically, environmentally, or otherwise. Camp Charlie will be a place for public debate, conversation, and outreach – a living testament to the refusal of the people to be further abused by a clutch of corporate interests, multinational banking cartels and consolidated oil interests.

Continue reading “Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-12-12” »

Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: Camp Charlie reoccupied! Supreme Court will re-examine Citizen’s United decision. The South Carolina House has given the go ahead to use gold and silver as real money. And chemicals used in frackinghave been linked to breast cancer and reproductive health problems and there have been reports of rises in crimes against women in some fracking “boom towns.” And in our town, state officials are pushing two separate bids today to take tighter control of the Rose Kennedy Greenway — one to tweak the state’s relationship with the Conservancy that now runs the 15-acre downtown park, the other to entirely cut off the embattled nonprofit.“What we have here is a partnership run amok,” said state Rep. Peter Durant (R-Spencer), a Greenway Conservancy critic who said he will file a bill today for a total state takeover. “It’s welfare for the 1 percent,” Durant said about the nonprofit, which has come under heavy scrutiny for its payroll, heavy with six-figure salaries and underwritten by taxpayer funds. Read more here.

Other Occupies/Protests: Occupy Tucson protester blog post: Tucson Police Department Protecting and Serving the 1%. There is no place in the City of Tucson that can be occupied twenty four hours a day, even for the purpose of peaceable assembly. For more, click here.  Student radicals are suspected in an act of vandalism with Biblical overtones after swarms of locusts overran Montreal’s main business school on Thursday.

“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.” Thomas Jefferson

Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements: 

• Occupy Boston’s newspaper, The Boston Occupier, is looking for new staff members, including writers, editors, photographers, and those willing to help with fund-raising and distribution of the newspaper. Everyone is welcome to attend today’s working group meeting (see below)!
• Help support Camp Charlie! Protesters need healthy food, water, hand warmers, sweaters, blankets, duct tape, and you! Also musicians needed, acoustic only. Bring friends/bands/instruments…sorry, no power.  And if anyone has time to come by for any amount of time and help out by sitting at the Info table to talk to people that would be great!

For a partial listing of Working Groups looking for volunteers, please click here!

Upcoming Events:

• Justice for Farmworkers! Picket, Delegation and Theater at Stop & Shop Headquarters, Thursday, April 12 at 12pm, Stop & Shop Corporate Office Headquarters, 1385 Hancock St., Quincy.

  Just days before the Ahold (parent company of Stop & Shop) Shareholder Meeting, please join farmworkers and Fair Food allies in calling on Stop and Shop to join the Fair Food Program!

  For decades, Florida’s farmworkers faced poverty wages and daily violations of their basic rights — including physical abuse, sexual harassment, and in the most extreme cases, modern-day slavery — in order to harvest the food on our plates. Today, however, a new day is dawning in the fields. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) — an internationally-recognized farmworker organization — has reached groundbreaking agreements with ten of the world’s leading food retailers, including McDonald’s, Subway and Trader Joe’s. Hailed by the New York Times as “possibly the most successful labor action in the US in twenty years,” the Fair Food Program establishes a worker-designed code of conduct in the fields and requires retailers to pay one more penny per pound for the tomatoes they buy to go directly to the workers who picked them—all of which is monitored and enforced by the independent Fair Food Standards Council. Supermarkets like Ahold leverage their high-volume purchasing power to demand the ever-lower prices that result in farmworker exploitation. By refusing to partner with the CIW, the steps the company has taken fall far short of the substantive, verifiable and enforceable standards that the situation requires, consumers expect, and others within the industry have embraced.

  Join farmworkers and Fair Food advocates in demanding that Ahold uphold human rights and join the Fair Food Program! More information: www.ciw-online.org, Contact: elena@interfaithact.org; 650.678.9127

• Raise Taxes on the 1% Tax Day Rally and March, Tuesday, April 17, 5:30PM, Dewey Square (South Station). Occupy JP and Occupy Boston will participate, along with many other groups, in a protest against the unfairness of the current tax regime, where people such as Mitt Romney pay at rates far lower than those earning far less, and Warren Buffet’s now-famous secretary pays at a higher rate than Warren Buffet.  The Rally and March will begin at 5:30pm at Dewey Square (South Station) and the march will begin at 6pm and proceed through the city streets, pass by several notorious corporate tax dodgers, and end at Post Office Square. Things to bring:  yourself (most important), signs, noise-making stuff (pots, pans, kazoos, whatever). For a list of co-sponsoring organizations visit http://www.taxdayboston.org.

Continue reading “Occupy Boston Daily Digest for 4-11-12” »

Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: Camp Charlie was evicted by the Secret Service last night because of a visit by the president of Brazil, reportedly protesters can return this afternoon, but check the website and Facebook page for updates… Here’s some information that’s useful for living in a police state. On Jan. 25, prompted by citizen protests, the Egyptian government cut off approximately 88 percent of the country’s internet access. Just in case, Wired magazine has created a wiki called “How to Communicate if Your Government Shuts Off Your Internet.” And here are some tips on how to film the police: an article called “7 Rules for Recording Police,” and a video called If You See Something, Film Something.“And check out this musical and educational homage to NWA’s “F- tha Police” called “Film The Police” by B. Dolan, Jasiri X and various other rappers – “we the people are the only real media we got.”

Other Occupies/Protests: Occupy Toronto saw some of its tensest moments over the weekend, clashing repeatedly with police after one transgender woman alleged officers brutalized her. Ms. Turvey told reporters police had broken her nose and orbital bone. Her face was puffy, covered in black and blue bruises and her eyebrow was closed with stitches. For more on the story, see article here and television news report here.

“All oppression creates a state of war.” Simone de Beauvoir

Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements: 

Occupy Boston’s newspaper, The Boston Occupier, is looking for new staff members, including writers, editors, photographers, and those willing to help with fund-raising and distribution of the newspaper. Everyone is welcome to attend today’s working group meeting (see below)!

For a partial listing of Working Groups looking for volunteers, please click here!

Upcoming Events:

• Justice for Farmworkers! Picket, Delegation and Theater at Stop & Shop Headquarters, Thursday, April 12 at 12pm, Stop & Shop Corporate Office Headquarters, 1385 Hancock St., Quincy.

  Just days before the Ahold (parent company of Stop & Shop) Shareholder Meeting, please join farmworkers and Fair Food allies in calling on Stop and Shop to join the Fair Food Program!

  For decades, Florida’s farmworkers faced poverty wages and daily violations of their basic rights — including physical abuse, sexual harassment, and in the most extreme cases, modern-day slavery — in order to harvest the food on our plates. Today, however, a new day is dawning in the fields. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) — an internationally-recognized farmworker organization — has reached groundbreaking agreements with ten of the world’s leading food retailers, including McDonald’s, Subway and Trader Joe’s. Hailed by the New York Times as “possibly the most successful labor action in the US in twenty years,” the Fair Food Program establishes a worker-designed code of conduct in the fields and requires retailers to pay one more penny per pound for the tomatoes they buy to go directly to the workers who picked them—all of which is monitored and enforced by the independent Fair Food Standards Council. Supermarkets like Ahold leverage their high-volume purchasing power to demand the ever-lower prices that result in farmworker exploitation. By refusing to partner with the CIW, the steps the company has taken fall far short of the substantive, verifiable and enforceable standards that the situation requires, consumers expect, and others within the industry have embraced.

  Join farmworkers and Fair Food advocates in demanding that Ahold uphold human rights and join the Fair Food Program! More information: www.ciw-online.org, Contact: elena@interfaithact.org; 650.678.9127

• Raise Taxes on the 1% Tax Day Rally and March, Tuesday, April 17, 5:30PM, Dewey Square (South Station). Occupy JP and Occupy Boston will participate, along with many other groups, in a protest against the unfairness of the current tax regime, where people such as Mitt Romney pay at rates far lower than those earning far less, and Warren Buffet’s now-famous secretary pays at a higher rate than Warren Buffet.  The Rally and March will begin at 5:30pm at Dewey Square (South Station) and the march will begin at 6pm and proceed through the city streets, pass by several notorious corporate tax dodgers, and end at the bandstand in the Commons. Things to bring:  yourself (most important), signs, noise-making stuff (pots, pans, kazoos, whatever)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Event Highlights:

Will MBTA hikes, cuts, and layoffs affect you? Come help Occupy Boston rebuild Camp Charlie at the State House at 5 pm!

Please note that events are subject to change; check https://www.occupyboston.org for the latest information!

• General Assembly – OB Community Conversation about its Money, 7pm – 10:30pm, Arlington Street Church, 351 Boylston Street (corner of Arlington & Boylston).Community conversation hosted by the Financial Accountability Working Group (FAWG) on Occupy Boston’s relationship to FAWG and to money (following announcements, to last about 2 hours).

Calendar for Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Please note! Due to the increasingly warm weather, meeting locations may change. We encourage you to check the Occupy Boston Calendar for the most up-to-date information.

1pm – 2pm  Occupy Harvard Think Tank, Dudley House Cafe (no ID required), Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Cafeteria entrance is at the TOP of the stairs.

These are just some of the many events at Occupy Boston. Check out our Daily Calendar for more information.

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.

Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

Stories of the Day: While many all over the world celebrated Easter or Passover, for others, it was just another day trying to survive on the streets. No population has their human and civil rights so casually and routinely trampled as do homeless Americans. Check out “The 10 Unbelievably Sh**ty Things America Does to Homeless People.”  And this was news to me: In 2009, former President Jimmy Carter quit the Southern Baptist Church over their treatment of women, see story here. Said Carter: “The truth is that male religious leaders have had — and still have — an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world.” And for those who traveled over the holiday, here’s one for you: After 10 years and $60 billion the Transportation Security Administration can only stop 30% of potential threats? Check out this “TSA Grope and Pillage” infographic. And on a lighter note, a follow-up to a story previously mentioned: check out this very short video about the creation of the winning entry in the Washington Post’s Peep Diorama contest, OccuPeep DC! And — shades of Chairman Meow? Hank the Cat runs for Senate in Virginia.

Other Occupies/Protests: Occupy Chicago’s Chicago Spring on April 7 was a day of action across the city as the movement prepares to protest the NATO summit. And Russian police let hundreds of activists roam Moscow’s Red Square freely on Sunday in the first anti-government protest held next to the Kremlin, though they detained three activists who were attempting to set up a tent.

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Abraham Lincoln

Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements: 

Occupy Boston’s newspaper, The Boston Occupier, is looking for new staff members, including writers, editors, photographers, and those willing to help with fund-raising and distribution of the newspaper. Everyone is welcome to attend today’s working group meeting (see below)!

Help support Camp Charlie! Protesters need healthy food, water, hand warmers, sweaters, blankets, duct tape, and you! Also musicians needed, acoustic only. Bring friends/bands/instruments…sorry, no power.  And if anyone has time to come by for any amount of time and help out by sitting at the Info table to talk to people that would be great!

For a partial listing of Working Groups looking for volunteers, please click here!

Upcoming Events:

• Justice for Farmworkers! Picket, Delegation and Theater at Stop & Shop Headquarters, Thursday, April 12 at 12pm, Stop & Shop Corporate Office Headquarters, 1385 Hancock St., Quincy.

  Just days before the Ahold (parent company of Stop & Shop) Shareholder Meeting, please join farmworkers and Fair Food allies in calling on Stop and Shop to join the Fair Food Program!

  For decades, Florida’s farmworkers faced poverty wages and daily violations of their basic rights — including physical abuse, sexual harassment, and in the most extreme cases, modern-day slavery — in order to harvest the food on our plates. Today, however, a new day is dawning in the fields. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) — an internationally-recognized farmworker organization — has reached groundbreaking agreements with ten of the world’s leading food retailers, including McDonald’s, Subway and Trader Joe’s. Hailed by the New York Times as “possibly the most successful labor action in the US in twenty years,” the Fair Food Program establishes a worker-designed code of conduct in the fields and requires retailers to pay one more penny per pound for the tomatoes they buy to go directly to the workers who picked them—all of which is monitored and enforced by the independent Fair Food Standards Council. Supermarkets like Ahold leverage their high-volume purchasing power to demand the ever-lower prices that result in farmworker exploitation. By refusing to partner with the CIW, the steps the company has taken fall far short of the substantive, verifiable and enforceable standards that the situation requires, consumers expect, and others within the industry have embraced.

  Join farmworkers and Fair Food advocates in demanding that Ahold uphold human rights and join the Fair Food Program! More information: www.ciw-online.org, Contact: elena@interfaithact.org; 650.678.9127

• Raise Taxes on the 1% Tax Day Rally and March, Tuesday, April 17, 5:30PM, Dewey Square (South Station). Occupy JP and Occupy Boston will participate, along with many other groups, in a protest against the unfairness of the current tax regime, where people such as Mitt Romney pay at rates far lower than those earning far less, and Warren Buffet’s now-famous secretary pays at a higher rate than Warren Buffet.  The Rally and March will begin at 5:30pm at Dewey Square (South Station) and the march will begin at 6pm and proceed through the city streets, pass by several notorious corporate tax dodgers, and end at the bandstand in the Commons. Things to bring:  yourself (most important), signs, noise-making stuff (pots, pans, kazoos, whatever)

Monday, April 9, 2012

Event Highlights:

Please note that new events may have been added to the website; check https://www.occupyboston.org for the latest information!

• At 10am in Hearing Room B1, the Joint Committee on Transportation will meet for the first time since the MassDOT board approved massive fare increases for next year and since Occupy MBTA launched its occupation on the steps of the State House. Occupy MBTA will be testifying, and we need a big presence at the hearing to ensure our voices are heard. Please join us! We’ll be meeting at Camp Charlie at 9:30 AM (steps in front of State House on Beacon Street) before heading to the hearing.

• [Ongoing] Occupation of State House Steps for Public Transportation, April 5 – 14, 2012, Camp Charlie at the State House. On April 4, Occupy the MBTA, a working group of Occupy Boston, launched Camp Charlie, a ten-day occupation of the Massachusetts State House steps to protest fare-hikes and service cutbacks on the MBTA. Having survived the depths of the recession, the 99% now faces additional taxes in the form of escalating T fares and the loss of essential transport routes. This is a further transfer of public wealth to the banks. These are the same institutions that were bailed out by the American taxpayer after being rendered insolvent by their own, criminal recklessness. The only debt in need of servicing is their debt to us. In a country that lavishes four billion dollars in subsidies on the oil companies, the relentless assault on public transport could not make less sense – ethically, environmentally, or otherwise. Camp Charlie will be a place for public debate, conversation, and outreach – a living testament to the refusal of the people to be further abused by a clutch of corporate interests, multinational banking cartels and consolidated oil interests.

Calendar for Monday, April 9, 2012

5pm-6pm Food WG Meeting, at Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 138 Tremont St., Boston

6pm Queer Trans DA WG Meeting at Camp Charlie

6pm – 8:30pm Community Gathering – Free School University, Peace and Economic Justice at The Cathedral Church of St. Paul (138 Tremont)

7pm – 8:30pm  Climate Action, Sustainability and Environmental Justice WG Meeting, Old West Church (United Methodist) at 131 Cambridge St.

7pm – 9pm Radio WG Meeting, Encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Avenue, 5th Floor

8:30pm – 10:30pm  MetaSpokes WG Meeting. City Place Food Court in the Transportation Building, This working group is exploring Spokescouncil models and how this might be another good organizing tool for Occupy Boston.

Please note! Due to the increasingly warm weather and the Occupation at Camp Charlie, meeting locations may change. We encourage you to check the Occupy Boston Calendar for the most up-to-date information.

These are just some of the many events at Occupy Boston. Check out our Daily Calendar for more information.

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.

Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

In Remembrance: Sad news for many of us at Occupy Boston: we have lost one of our own. Our dear friend, Andy, from Logistics, has passed away. He was a pillar for all of us down at Dewey and continued to be helpful and nurturing as we left Dewey, and beyond. Our gratitude for everything he did for us.

Stories of the Day: Today’s theme is ecology. Chris Hayes of MSNBC advocates civil disobediance as a final resort and tells the story of protester Tim DeChristopher, an American climate activist and co-founder of the environmental group Peaceful Uprising. On December 19, 2008, he protested an oil and gas lease auction of 116 parcels of public land in Utah‘s redrock country, conducted by the Bureau of Land Management. DeChristopher decided to participate in the auction, signing a Bidder Registration Form and placing bids to obtain 14 parcels of land (totaling 22,500 acres) for $1.8 million. DeChristopher was removed from the auction by federal agents, taken into custody, and and sentenced  to two years in prison. And a lawsuit in U.S. District Court filed by teen and twentysomething plaintiffs (and backed by environmental groups), calls on federal agencies to protect the atmosphere as a public resource, including from excess carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases. And the use of PSYOPs by active military personnel on U.S. citizens is illegal and a violation of the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 but the fracking industry is doing it anyway: Gas Fracking Industry Using Military Psychological Warfare Tactics and Personnel in U.S. Communities.

Other Occupies/Protests: Check out Occupy San Francisco’s declaration of ideological liberation, passed by their GA, it’s well-written and inspiring. An excerpt: “Occupy is both the conversation and the space to make meaningful change happen. Occupy is a big tent and all are welcome to help us create the solutions for a better world. Whether it’s removing money from politics, transforming the economic system, or advocating for a more just and equitable society,  we have the energy and we have the ideas, but the most important thing we need is your passion! You have more power than you’ve been led to believe, and your voice is more needed than you think. These are the days when we must speak out, no matter how our voices shake.”

“Anything else you’re interested in is not going to happen if you can’t breathe the air and drink the water. Don’t sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet.” Carl Sagan

Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements: 

Occupy Boston’s newspaper, The Boston Occupier, is looking for new staff members, including writers, editors, photographers, and those willing to help with fund-raising and distribution of the newspaper. Everyone is welcome to attend today’s working group meeting (see below)!

Help support Camp Charlie! Protesters need healthy food, water, hand warmers, sweaters, blankets, duct tape, and you! Also musicians needed, acoustic only. Bring friends/bands/instruments…sorry, no power.  And if anyone has time to come by for any amount of time and help out by sitting at the Info table to talk to people that would be great!

For a partial listing of Working Groups looking for volunteers, please click here!

Upcoming Events:

• Justice for Farmworkers! Picket, Delegation and Theater at Stop & Shop Headquarters, Thursday, April 12 at 12pm, Stop & Shop Corporate Office Headquarters, 1385 Hancock St., Quincy.

  Just days before the Ahold (parent company of Stop & Shop) Shareholder Meeting, please join farmworkers and Fair Food allies in calling on Stop and Shop to join the Fair Food Program!

  For decades, Florida’s farmworkers faced poverty wages and daily violations of their basic rights — including physical abuse, sexual harassment, and in the most extreme cases, modern-day slavery — in order to harvest the food on our plates. Today, however, a new day is dawning in the fields. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) — an internationally-recognized farmworker organization — has reached groundbreaking agreements with ten of the world’s leading food retailers, including McDonald’s, Subway and Trader Joe’s. Hailed by the New York Times as “possibly the most successful labor action in the US in twenty years,” the Fair Food Program establishes a worker-designed code of conduct in the fields and requires retailers to pay one more penny per pound for the tomatoes they buy to go directly to the workers who picked them—all of which is monitored and enforced by the independent Fair Food Standards Council. Supermarkets like Ahold leverage their high-volume purchasing power to demand the ever-lower prices that result in farmworker exploitation. By refusing to partner with the CIW, the steps the company has taken fall far short of the substantive, verifiable and enforceable standards that the situation requires, consumers expect, and others within the industry have embraced.

  Join farmworkers and Fair Food advocates in demanding that Ahold uphold human rights and join the Fair Food Program! More information: www.ciw-online.org, Contact: elena@interfaithact.org; 650.678.9127

• Raise Taxes on the 1% Tax Day Rally and March, Tuesday, April 17, 5:30PM, Dewey Square (South Station). Occupy JP and Occupy Boston will participate, along with many other groups, in a protest against the unfairness of the current tax regime, where people such as Mitt Romney pay at rates far lower than those earning far less, and Warren Buffet’s now-famous secretary pays at a higher rate than Warren Buffet.  The Rally and March will begin at 5:30pm at Dewey Square (South Station) and the march will begin at 6pm and proceed through the city streets, pass by several notorious corporate tax dodgers, and end at the bandstand in the Commons. Things to bring:  yourself (most important), signs, noise-making stuff (pots, pans, kazoos, whatever)

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Event Highlights:

Please note that new events may have been added to the website; check https://www.occupyboston.org for the latest information!

• 2pm at Camp Charlie, in front of the Occupied State House, Occupy Boston will hold a mock hearing on the MBTA.  Bring/wear a suit or a reason why they should put the fares back … and a loud voice.  After, we’re planning a “Back to the Future” event where we’ll try to remember what life was when we had trains.
• [Ongoing] Occupation of State House Steps for Public Transportation, April 5 – 14, 2012, Camp Charlie at the State House. On April 4, Occupy the MBTA, a working group of Occupy Boston, launched Camp Charlie, a ten-day occupation of the Massachusetts State House steps to protest fare-hikes and service cutbacks on the MBTA. Having survived the depths of the recession, the 99% now faces additional taxes in the form of escalating T fares and the loss of essential transport routes. This is a further transfer of public wealth to the banks. These are the same institutions that were bailed out by the American taxpayer after being rendered insolvent by their own, criminal recklessness. The only debt in need of servicing is their debt to us. In a country that lavishes four billion dollars in subsidies on the oil companies, the relentless assault on public transport could not make less sense – ethically, environmentally, or otherwise. Camp Charlie will be a place for public debate, conversation, and outreach – a living testament to the refusal of the people to be further abused by a clutch of corporate interests, multinational banking cartels and consolidated oil interests.

Calendar for Sunday, April 8, 2012

Please note! Due to the increasingly warm weather and the occupation at Camp Charlie, meeting locations may change. We encourage you to check the Occupy Boston Calendar for the most up-to-date information.

1pm – 3pm The Icarus Project WG Meeting, Gazebo on Boston Common (City Place Food Court in the Transportation Building if raining) Radical mental health support and activism.

3pm – 5pm People of Color WG Meeting, Encuentro 5. 33 Harrison Ave 5th Floor

These are just some of the many events at Occupy Boston. Check out our Daily Calendar for more information.

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.