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    Occupy Boston Responds to Anniversary of Citizens United Decision With Rally & Summit

    January 18th, 2012 · · Events, News and Announcements, Press Releases 7 comments

    On the January 20–21, the anniversary of the Citizens United decision, Occupy Boston will stand with a wide coalition of groups for GETTING MONEY OUT OF POLITICS, two days of events and rallies.

    On Friday, January 20th

    • 12:30-2:00 PM – Move to Amend’s “Occupy the Courts” rally and Operation Woof at the Federal Courthouse at 1 Court House Way in Boston, MA. Operation Woof encourages dog owners to bring their dogs to protest and international superstar Snoopy has endorsed Dogs Against Corporate Personhood’s participation in Move to Amend’s “Occupy The Courts” rally.
    • 4:00PM-8:00PM Citizens United Working Group of Occupy Boston on will host “Rally and Summit to Unite Citizens for Democracy” at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 138 Tremont Street in Boston

    On Saturday, January 21st

    • 10:00AM-4:00PM – day two of “Rally and Summit to Unite Citizens for Democracy” at Suffolk University in Donahue Hall, 41 Temple Street in Boston.

    These events are designed to educate participants on the complex issues of money in politics and explore and engage in solutions to this problem.

    “Whether you identify with Occupy because of housing, jobs, health care, the environment or because of any of the other myriad of problems facing this country,” said Heleni Thayre, an organizer of the event and a member of the Citizens United Working Group, “They are all just a symptom of a greater problem—the excessive influence of money on public policy, elections and the law.”

    Speakers for Friday and Saturday include: Senator Jamie Eldridge and Representative Cory Atkins, both sponsors of a resolution in the State House to overturn Citizens United; John Bonifaz, co-founder of Free Speech for People; Julius Levine, BU Law Professor Emeritus and Clean Elections activist; Donna Palermino, a Civil Liberties professor at Suffolk University and writer for Fire Dog Lake; Pam Wilmot, MA State Director for Common Cause; Grace Ross, former gubernatorial candidate and founder of Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending; Melia Lazu, MIT professor and co-founder of MassVote.

    Speakers will examine the complex issue of corporate personhood and how special interest money negatively impacts democracy.  Some of the solutions that will be presented and discussed are; state and local resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, consumer strategies to target the worst offenders, clean elections, running citizen candidates and citizens lobbying training.

    All events are free and all are welcome to attend. For more information about this event, please email citizensunited@occupyboston.org or visit http://www.campaignfinancereform.us/take-action/rally-summit for full schedule of events.

    Martin Luther King Occupied: An Occupy Boston Community Gathering to Explore the Radical Legacy of Dr. King

    January 14th, 2012 · · Events, News and Announcements, Press Releases 6 comments

    On Monday, January 16, 2012 at 6:00 PM, the Occupy Boston People of Color Working Group will host Occupy Boston’s weekly Community Gathering at Arlington St. Church, 351 Bolyston Street in Boston. This MLK Day gathering will encourage participants to think about what Occupy Boston and the public can learn from the ideas, campaigns, and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


    “People of Color are disproportionately affected by the rule of the top 1%, in everything from housing, jobs, education, health, and prison incarceration,” said Brian Kwoba, an organizer of the event and a member of the People of Color Working Group of Occupy Boston.  “That is why issues of race and racism must be taken seriously by the Occupy movement. The People of Color Working Group is excited to be hosting a community gathering on MLK Day to project more of our culture, our voices, and our stories into the forefront of the movement.”

    Speakers include, Kwame Somburu, who helped to organize mass protests in the 1960’s and Harlem’s Freedom Now Party. The gathering will also feature a reading of excerpts from MLK’s beyond Vietnam speech, musical performances from Earthdrum Council, a presentation on the State of the Dream from by United for a Fair Economy, slam poets, a teach in on the 3-Strikes Bill, and a ‘fishbowl’ discussion with People of Color from Occupy Boston, and the Optimus of the Foundation Movement.

    Occupy Boston’s Community Gatherings are held every Monday evening and are open to the public. The intention of these Community Gatherings is to build and strengthen the Occupy Boston community through ongoing dialogues, presentations, workshops, and facilitated conversations, in order to build a resilient, widespread and inclusive social movement.

    This event is free and all are welcome to attend. For more information about this event, please email occupybostonmedia@gmail.com or visit https://www.occupyboston.org

    Occupy Boston Digs In For a Winter Full of Actions and Action Planning

    January 6th, 2012 · · Events, Press Releases One comment
    On Monday, January 9, 2012 at 6:00 PM, the Occupy Boston Direct Action Working Group will host Occupy Boston’s weekly Community Gathering at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 138 Tremont Street in Boston. The evening will introduce attendees to the basics of nonviolent direct action, an essential component of the growing Occupy movement’s activist strategy.


    Occupy Boston’s Community Gatherings are held every Monday evening and are open to the public. The intention of these Community Gatherings is to build and strengthen the Occupy Boston community through ongoing dialogues, presentations, workshops, and facilitated conversations, in order to build a resilient, wide-spread and inclusive social movement.

     
    While some might expect Occupy Boston to hibernate during the winter, this event will demonstrate that the spirit of nonviolent direct action continues to burn brightly.  Even in the cold, Occupy Boston has engaged in a number of creative and effective actions, including joining this weekend with dozens of Northeast Occupy groups to Occupy the New Hampshire Primary.
     
    At Monday’s Community Gathering, participants will learn about a number of concepts that belong to a rich tradition of activism of which Occupy Boston is proud to be a part of.  Topics covered will include what constitutes an action, basic direct action techniques, and the importance of “security culture” in communities whose members engage in sensitive activities.  
     

    Participants will also learn about the “affinity group” model for activist organization. Attendees will see first hand how successful affinity groups are as close-knit as families, and they will be given the knowledge and encouragement they need to start forming their own affinity groups.  Quality time, training, and small-scale actions will strengthen the bonds between us, and those bonds will empower us to speak truth to power louder than ever come spring. We are the 99%, and creative nonviolent direct action will help ensure that our voices are heard.

    This event is free and all are welcome to attend. For more information about this event, please email occupybostonmedia@gmail.com or visit https://www.occupyboston.org

    Occupy Boston to Join Occupy NH and Occupy Maine on Converging on NH GOP Primary Elections!

    January 6th, 2012 · · Events, News and Announcements, Press Releases 4 comments

    Occupy NH invites you to “Occupy the Presidential Primary”

    Events are starting in Manchester, NH @ 889 Elm Street, Veterans Park on January 5, 2012 @ 5pm and Ending on January 10, 2012 @ 9pm

    Occupy Boston is here to show solidarity with Occupy New Hampshire and Occupy Maine in demonstrating against the politicians who bail out large scale banks without any accommodation to people who have lost their homes. We are occupying because politicians assist companies who move jobs offshore and are protesting against special rights for businesses and the ultra-rich who in turn are allowed to give unlimited campaign contributions to politicians as though corporate money were representative of public speech.

    We are here because there is a rich few that control most of the wealth and means to create wealth, and we will not be idle while the top 1% of Americans have more money and assets than the bottom 40% of this country. We are here to demonstrate for our own domestic issues and are in solidarity with all of our sisters and brothers occupying in over 110 countries in over 3,000 cities and recognize that this is a global movement that transcends the borders of nations.

    We are against politicians of any party who deny people whether for their race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, or class equal access to resources or their rights to work. We are against racial profiling, discriminatory firings, deportations and detentions.

    We are against the fact that in 36 states you can be fired from your job for being perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and most of the politicians running this election would like to increase that number. We are in solidarity with immigrant workers and families who look to improve their lives in this country and are against fear and hate mongering and the people who wish to malign immigrants for the pitfalls of our economy.

    We are against the idea that money equals speech. We are united against a political system where corporate lobbyists who represent only the interest of the business or industry they are in. We are against politicians who only serve their financiers. We are against political bribery. Money does not equal speech, corporations are not human beings and all human beings are equal! We are here to promote a democracy that is truly by, of and for the people and to advance a new era of economic and social equality! We are the 99%

    There will be non-stop events, debates, street theater, music and entertainment, teach-ins, workshops, events for children and young adults and dialogue among all people.

    This weekend, Occupy Boston will join dozens of Northeast Occupy groups in Manchester, NH to show the national and international media that we are part of the American political debate.  Republican presidential candidates will debate in a room at St. Anselm College on Saturday night, Jan. 7, but our voices will be heard loud and clear outside.   Occupy Boston will provide an embodiment of the “elephant in the room,” displaying the questions and statements that the politicians and media are trying to avoid.

    On Friday, January 6, Occupy Boston will bring a life-sized plywood, media-equipped, livestreaming elephant, which we’ll decorate with all the questions and statements that the candidates should address.  This elephant has gotten too large to ignore!    We’ll decorate it on Friday night, as part of Occupy New Hampshire’s kickoff celebration, and then we’ll bring it along to the debates the next day.  (We’re assuming they won’t actually let us bring the elephant *into* the room with the candidates, so we’ll park it outside with everyone else to welcome the candidates to St. Anselm College.)

    On Saturday, the elephant will join Operation Pride, marching to Victory Park as a response to hateful speech and campaigning of many of the Presidential candidates.

    On Tuesday, January 10, from 3-6 p.m., we’ll follow it up with a Love Police flash mob, to drive the message home.

    Come to Manchester Friday evening from 6:30-8:30 p.m. to launch the elephant, or Saturday through Tuesday to help create this celebration and statement of our determination to change the complacence of politics as usual.  Carpooling and bus-sharing can be arranged on the Discussion tab of http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Occupy_NH_Primary,_OB.   The current schedule is available at http://occupynh.org/primary/ andhttp://www.facebook.com/events/124596234321440/

    Occupy Boston Tackles Campaign Finance Reform

    December 31st, 2011 · · Events, Press Releases 3 comments

    The Citizens United Working Group of Occupy Boston will host a Community Gathering and forum Monday, January 2nd at the Community Church, 565 Boylston Street in Boston. This event is the kick off to a month-long campaign designed to inspire and educate the greater public about corporate influence over public policy.  The program will begin at 7:30, but guests are invited to arrive early for refreshments and social networking.  Featured speakers include MA Sen. Jamie Elderidge, who has introduced many of the bills that support campaign finance reforms in the State House, and Arthur Macewan from Dollars and Sense and author of the Wealth-Power Connection.

    Macewan will address the larger problem of corporate personhood and the myriad of problems it has created with respect to money in politics.  Sen. Elderidge will be there to discuss some of the related bills and resolutions that he is sponsoring in the State House.  This event is open to the public.  The speakers will be followed by a facilitated open discussion geared toward building a vision for what steps we can take to solve these problems.  Getting corporate and special interest money out of politics is an important issue for people across the political spectrum.  Everyone is encouraged to attend and participate in building a unifying strategy to affect change.

    The goal of the evening is to introduce people to the campaign finance issues surrounding the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Citizens United vs FEC. Among the issues discussed will be the idea of Corporate Personhood, which as a result of several misguided court decisions prior to Citizen’s United, has given corporations rights and protections that the Founders intended only for people. Corporate Personhood has come at a terrible cost to our democracy–especially with regard to the financing of elections and the influence of money in politics.

    In addition, campaign financing and fundraising have become huge distractions for our elected officials. In order to raise enough money to be competitive, candidates are forced to pander to big money corporate donors, lobbyists and PACs which often puts them directly at odds with wishes of the people they are supposed to represent. The Citizen’s United decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited — and unreported — amounts of money to influence elections, has further undermined democracy.

    Getting corporate and special interest money out of politics is a unifying issue for people across the political spectrum. Fixing this problem is essential if we want our representatives to be responsive to the 99% and not just their deep-pocketed corporate backers.

    This Community Forum on “Citizens United vs FEC” is part of a month-long educational campaign that will culminate with a two-day “Rally & Summit to Unite Citizens for Democracy” on January 20 and 21. The rally will bring together organizations that have been working specifically on these issues for years, like the Coffee Party, Free Speech for People, Move to Amend and Rootstrikers, along with groups like the MA League of Women Voters and the Nurses Union that also want to have a voice in this debate. For more information about any of these events, email citizensunited@occupyboston.org or occupybostonmedia@gmail.com.

    Contact us

    Occupy Boston Media <Media@occupyboston.org> • <Info@occupyboston.org> • @Occupy_Boston