By Patrick Wilson

Last week was the 10th anniversary of when the radio station began broadcasting. It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since this endeavor began. The idea started a little over 10 years ago in the Dewey Square encampment of Occupy Boston. There were several groups of people working on similar projects joining forces to become Occupy Boston Radio, which began broadcasting over the internet on December 10th, 2011. This is also the morning after Occupy Boston was evicted from Dewey Square. The Radio Working Group met at E5 in Chinatown then by the Orpheum. Activate Radio and Activate Media were created in 2013 to serve a larger audience. 

When we started much effort was put into a studio, several in fact. We did not have the funding to support a physical location, and this is where the money allocated to the radio station by Occupy Boston went. 

Running everything remotely has proven to be a good move as we’ve all adapted to some form of remoteness during the epidemic. It has also reduced operating costs to a sustainable level. This has allowed us to operate under the ideals of Occupy Boston for 10 years. 

We currently broadcast about 20 shows a week. Our listenership varies from 5 to 600+ depending on subject matter and promotion, and comes from all over the planet. The station and the shows are produced by and represent a diverse group of marginalized peoples. We do not charge the shows for airtime. 

Of the 20 shows, two of them have been broadcast since the beginnings of the station as Occupy Boston Radio, Veterans For Peace and The Occupied Nation Show. We are always looking for new shows, especially ones produced locally here in Boston. 

The radio station plays a mix of submitted and Creative Commons music with the aim of becoming all submitted music. The process for this at the moment is a little clunky and could use some streamlining. 

As far as the programming goes, we have 1/2hour and 1hour shows from 6-10p and 12-5a mon-fri and 9-12 Sunday mornings. We have slots at the top of the hour through the broadcasting day with the exception of 6-10p and weekends for locally produced news. Where other radio stations play commercials, we place PSA’s, announcements of local events, announcements of our show schedule, station id’s and information of public interest. We are a non-commercial radio station. 

We are not a non-profit organization. As much as we’d like to be, we have never held enough money to be able to become a c3 or c4. We’ve only ever raised the funding needed for direct expenses of the radio station. The web hosting is donated by Left-Click. I cover the stream hosting and all other related expenses currently. 

It’s been a lot of work, sometimes overwhelmingly so. The whole thing has been rebuilt several times. We’ve changed hosts for the website once and the radio streaming host several times. 

10 years later, I’m all about it. I think it represents its intended purposes and has the ability to do a lot more. The only limitation is really in how many people would like to participate. Happy Birthday Occupy Boston Radio/ Activate Radio Activate Media

You can listen to the radio station at activatemedia.org

Current Show Schedule

Democracy Now!        6 pm eastern Monday – Friday

The Occupied Nation Show    7 pm eastern Mondays

CrimethInc    9 pm eastern Mondays

Classic Free School University  7 pm eastern Tuesdays

Talk World Radio       8 pm eastern  Tuesdays

Alternative Radio        9 pm eastern Tuesdays

The Peoples History of Money    10 pm eastern Tuesdays

51%                                    7 pm eastern Wednesdays

Nuclear Hotseat           8 pm eastern Wednesdays

The Wendy Love Edge Show    9 pm eastern Wednesdays

Economic Update         7 pm eastern Thursdays

The Final Straw Radio       8 pm eastern Thursdays

Rev Billy Radio    9 pm eastern Thursdays

Radio EcoShock          7 pm eastern Fridays

Non-Visual Radio                        8 pm eastern Fridays

The Big Picture w/ Melvin Syrie Jr.    9 pm eastern Fridays

The Library                  12 midnight eastern Saturdays

Around the Table with Powerful Women  9 am eastern  Sundays

Veterans for Peace Radio Show   10 am eastern Sundays

Interfaith Voices          11 am eastern Sundays

Latenight on Activate Radio M-F
12- Democracy Now
1- Nuclear Hotseat
2- Occupied Nation
3- Economic Update
4- 51%

All times Eastern

You can listen to the radio station at activatemedia.org

This weekend Occupy Hartford and Occupy Providence will celebrate their 10th Anniversaries. It’s been ten years since Occupy Wall Street answered the call from Adbusters and thousands flooded Zuccotti Park in New York City on September 17th, 2011. Celebrations, Protests and Gatherings are taking place across the country marking the anniversaries of the individual occupy’s.

We in Boston are proud to have been involved in a moment in time and space where anything seemed possible. When so many different groups gathered based on common economic oppression. It is with deep admiration, respect and solidarity for all Occupies and Occupiers across the globe, as well as the many organizations that have been, and are supportive of our efforts that we say Thank You, and Happy 10th Anniversary!

Occupy Providence

Occupy Providence’s 10th Anniversary is taking place Saturday October 16th, 1PM at Burnside Park (People’s Park), 2 Kennedy Plaza, Providence RI. Here is a link to their fb event page. Occupy Providence: 10 Year Anniversary

They write: “Coming back together,
10 years after Occupy, and remembering those we’ve lost.
Some will arrive bringing a cause, and some will leave with more to do than they started with. At the 10th anniversary of Occupy Providence, we are coming back together in the park. It will be great to see everyone again. Moderated open mic.
We’ll be memorializing and celebrating the lives of those we have lost. In the spirit of Occupy, we want to hear about more causes—take a few moments to talk about a cause that matters to you, if you like, so we can all learn about things we can do.Some of us will bring food or drink. You might want to consider bringing a bag lunch for yourself and one or two for others. Please bring instruments or implements, such as drums and buckets, for a drum circle.”

Occupy Hartford

Occupy Hartford’s 10th Anniversary is taking place Sunday October 17th, 1PM at Occupy Hartford / Turning Point Park, Farmington/Asylum Ave., Hartford, CT. Here is a link to their fb event page. Occupy Hartford 10th Anniversary Reunion

They write: “It’s now been 10 years since Occupy Hartford set up at Turning Point Park. So spend the afternoon of Oct 17th meeting up with old friends for the occasion.”

Occupy Hartford had actions in 2014 centering around Sexual Violence, Monsanto and May Day. An action against War with Iran in 2020 and an action with Food Not Bombs in 2017.

We set out to celebrate our 10th Anniversary, not just patting each other on the back saying weren’t we great 10 years ago. We wanted to do something that would also affect a positive change in the community. Shining light on the need to change the name of Faneuil Hall, or at the least letting the people decide instead of Marty Walsh. We also wanted to bridge some divides in our own community. Overall we were successful.

BPD brought the cavalry, with helicopters and all. They not only brought hundreds of police officers, but had bike cops in reserve behind Quincy Market, a contingent of Park Rangers nearby and all parcels of the Greenway well guarded. Maybe they were feeling a little nostalgic as well. We have to compliment them on their effort to present a diverse front. We saw more female and POC police officers that day than we thought were on the force. Although they would not allow anyone to stay the night, and the public was prevented full use of the park, police did not harass anyone and were generally pretty friendly. We even saw one of them dancing when Keytar Bear was playing.

Nobody was hurt, there were no arrests, nothing was damaged. There were two tickets given. One for an inspection sticker and the other a parking ticket. We gave food and bottled water to many and were able to outreach to more. We had entertainment from Keytar Bear, BABAM and Eddie Emerson. And we had a Great Time!

We appreciate the participation of Boston Police, they helped shine a brighter light on the issue of Changing The Name of Faneuil Hall. No matter how many people might have shown up at Faneuil Hall, or spent the night there, it just wouldn’t have had the same impact without them.

We also appreciate the help of Kevin Peterson and New Democracy Coalition, Green Rainbow Party of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Peace Action and Boston Mayday Coalition. There were also quite a few individuals who did all kinds of things to help make this happen.

We Thank All who attended and participated. It’s the idea that a better world is possible that allows us to gather to make positive social change and to heal our communities.