by Rita

UPDATE: this event was rescheduled! See https://www.occupyboston.org/2013/02/07/nlg-fundraiser-rescheduled.

NLG Press Release. Please support NLG in their fundraiser and pack the courtrooms for upcoming 5 Occupy Boston Political Trials.

Since its beginnings the National Lawyers Guild has been an organization that radicals and activists can depend on for legal support when attacked by the government. For nearly 40 years, the NLG Mass Defense Committee has been advising, assisting, and representing activists who are engaged in struggles for political, legal, and social changes to benefit the disfranchised members of the society. Continuing in this proud tradition, the Mass Defense Committee of our Massachusetts chapter provides vital legal support to social justice movements throughout Massachusetts.

In the last two years, the Mass Defense Committee has provided legal representation for activists arrested fighting foreclosures and evictions in our community. They are representing people arrested at the offices of TransCanada protesting the Keystone XL pipeline. From the beginning, the National Lawyers Guild was providing vital legal services to activists and organizers at Occupy Boston.

On October 10th and December 10th of 2011, the City of Boston raided the Occupy Boston encampment arresting dozens of people. From the moment of the first arrests, the Mass Defense Committee was on the ground to make sure that everyone arrested had effective legal representation. More importantly, the Mass Defense Committee has remained committed to a political defense strategy that ensures that the message of Occupy Boston isn’t left at the courthouse doors. 25 of the Occupy defendants are insisting on their 6th Amendment right to trial, and the first of these trials will be held on February 11th at the Boston Municipal Court.

Mass Defense work costs money, and the lawyers who do this work take these cases pro-bono. Meanwhile, those we are up against enjoy the full resources of the District Attorney’s Office and the Boston Police Department. We have to ensure that the people’s struggle for justice is never silenced by this criminal injustice system.

THAT IS WHY WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! Join us on Friday 8th, from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM+, for a night of food, drinks and pool at Jillians, 145 Ipswitch St. Boston, MA. Sliding scale of $25.00-$500.00.

Thank-you, Rita

by Garret

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2013

Protest March Planned For All Major Boston and Cambridge MBTA Subway Stations

Civil rights activists will gather across the city on Groundhog Day to demand an end to random, un-Warranted bag checks in subways by TSA, DHS, and Transit Police. Simultaneous marches will commence at noon at five locations (Kenmore, Harvard, Ruggles, Lechmere, and South Station) and travel different routes through Boston and Cambridge to converge at 2 p.m. for a rally at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common.

BOSTON, MA-Civil, Constitutional, and Human Rights activists today announced formalized plans to protest the MBTA’s partnership with the Department of Homeland Security. Activists demand an end to random Warrantless searches of passengers in the MBTA transit system by any law enforcement organization or contractor thereof, and recognize these acts as an egregious violation of 4th Amendment protections.

The five legs of the march will start at the following locations: Harvard Square (in the Pit), South Station (at Dewey Square), Lechmere Station (on 1st St. across from Otis St.), Kenmore Square (in the Commonwealth Ave. median park across from India Quality restaurant), and Ruggles Square (in Centennial Common). Each leg commences at the same time (noon) and ends at 2 p.m. for the rally at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common. The rally will include several speakers (names TBA) and will end at 3 p.m.

In advance of the planned protests, participants will be delivering letters to the heads of the MBTA, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, and the Department of Homeland Security, calling for an end to the Warrantless bag checks being conducted on law-abiding citizens and visitors to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The community members who are planning this protest are not part of any organized group of any kind. We are ordinary citizens gathering to protest the violation of our rights as recognized and affirmed by Amendment IV of the U.S. Constitution.

For more information about the protest routes/times, please visit the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/events/510992278941389).

For more information, or to schedule an interview with the protest organizers, please contact Garret Kirkland at (617) 955-9194.

Flyer: Defend the 4th Flyer

by Thea

Joining thousands of women and men around the world, we invite you, your colleagues, neighbors, friends and family to a Community Speakout to End Violence Against Women being held under the auspices of Eve Ensler’s international One Billing Rising project.

On the 15th Anniversary of V-Day, a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls, the Arlington Speakout will take place:

Time: Thursday, February 14, 2013 from 7-9 PM
Location: Calvary Church United Methodist, 300 Mass. Ave. Arlington, MA 02474
Directions: Near Spy Pond, street parking, 77, 79, 350 bus routes

One Billion Rising will move the earth, activating women and men across every country. V-Day wants the world to see our collective strength, our numbers, our solidarity across borders.

One Billion Rising is:

• A global strike
• An invitation to dance
• A call to men and women to refuse to participate in the status quo until rape and rape culture end
• An act of solidarity, demonstrating to women the commonality of our struggles and our power in numbers
• A refusal to accept violence against women and girls as a given
• A new time and a new way of being

Please follow this link for more information and to RSVP to the Arlington Speakout: http://onebillionrising.org.