Tag Archives | OWS

Jail Solidarity, Part Three

By on July 14, 2012 in News 21

ryan griffis (CC)

“As his face faded from the television screen, the light in my eyes dimmed.”

Natalie Solidarity writes at Diatribe Media:

My gentle friend was returned to state custody even as I willed otherwise. Three days later, my Occupy Chicago brothers and I sat on cold stone benches, watching families visit their fathers for the hallmark holiday. We drove together to visit our comrade together because that’s what families do. It was a hot Sunday, and I had finally entered the waiting area after being reminded my tank top was not welcome and I had to cover my body in a tee-shirt. At our comrade’s cellblock division, the guards did not perform the vigorous pat-down we found in other sections, even though they’re all part of the same Cook County system. In this division, number 6, my brothers and I simply dumped our nearly-empty pockets into bins and walked through metal detectors.… Read the rest

Continue Reading · 21

In Defense Of Occupation: Dealing With Skeptics

By on May 7, 2012 in News 3
Mickey Z. Photo by Stacey Mazurek

Mickey Z. Photo by Stacey Mazurek

“Don’t criticize what you can’t understand.” –Bob Dylan

So, you took off from work on May 1 but opted to not explain about May Day to any of your co-workers. Little did you know that you’d be recognized in footage on the evening news and find yourself face-to-face with a skeptical colleague, who ponders: I don’t get it. What do the occupiers want? Why is there no clear agenda?

You: Um, have you heard of a little something called the Declaration of the Occupation of New York City?

Colleague: Yeah, maybe, kinda… but still, everyone says they lack a coherent message.

Mic Check: Pardon us, but all the comprehensive and meaningful agendas like “Yes We Can” and “Hope and Change” and “Shock and Awe” were already taken.

Colleague: I read in the papers and saw on TV that…

You: Whether you label them liberal or conservative, most major media outlets are large corporations owned by or aligned with even larger corporations, and they share a common goal: to make a profit by selling a product — an affluent audience — to a given market: advertisers.… Read the rest

Continue Reading · 3

One Weekend At Occupy Wall Street

By on March 23, 2012 in News 4

Toronto filmmaker Bert McKinley lets his camera do the talking:

In early October 2011 I went down to New York City to spend a long weekend at Zuccotti park – Campsite for Occupy Wall Street. This is what I saw and some of people I talked to in my 3 days spent at Occupy.

Continue Reading · 4

Occupy Back At Zuccotti Park

By on March 18, 2012 in News 5

Day 14 Occupy Wall Street September 30 2011 Shankbone 21Did any disinfonauts go to Zuccotti this weekend? If so please supplement this report from Reuters:

Dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested during the weekend as police cleared New York’s Zuccotti Park, where demonstrators had gathered for the struggling movement’s six-month anniversary.

The park remained closed on Sunday with a sprinkling of police surrounding it, keeping the area clear while crews cleaned up following Saturday night’s protests. A sweep just before midnight, when roughly 300 demonstrators had gathered in the park, capped a day of protests and marching in lower Manhattan.

The New York Police Department said it arrested 73 protesters between Saturday afternoon and early Sunday morning…

[continues at Reuters]… Read the rest

Continue Reading · 5

Bahrain: Social Media, Graffiti Art and Revolution

By on February 21, 2012 in News 2

‘Social media’ conjures up thoughts of instant internet communication, global chatter over the web, computers, mobiles, tweets, posts etc. But there is a communication form that predates these modern tools – political street art. Street art can be dated back to ancient Egypt and throughout history it has been employed by those with a political point to make.

Continue Reading · 2

A Black Bloc Rebuttal To Chris Hedges

By on February 14, 2012 in News 22

J27 black bloc at US Capitol with black bannerThank you to Calypso_1 for providing the link! A rebuttal by David Graeber to this earlier post, via n+1

In response to “The Cancer in Occupy,” by Chris Hedges.

I am writing this on the premise that you are a well-meaning person who wishes Occupy Wall Street to succeed. I am also writing as someone who was deeply involved in the early stages of planning Occupy in New York.

I am also an anarchist who has participated in many Black Blocs. While I have never personally engaged in acts of property destruction, I have on more than one occasion taken part in Blocs where property damage has occurred. (I have taken part in even more Blocs that did not engage in such tactics. It is a common fallacy that this is what Black Blocs are all about. It isn’t.)

I was hardly the only Black Bloc veteran who took part in planning the initial strategy for Occupy Wall Street.

… Read the rest

Continue Reading · 22

What’s Next For Occupy?

By on February 12, 2012 in News 32

Day 14 Occupy Wall Street September 30 2011 Shankbone 49Erik Eckholm ponders the future of the Occupy movement, writing at the New York Times:

The ragtag Occupy Wall Street encampments that sprang up in scores of cities last fall, thrusting “We are the 99 percent” into the vernacular, have largely been dismantled, with a new wave of crackdowns and evictions in the past week. Since the violent clashes last month in Oakland, Calif., headlines about Occupy have dwindled, too.

Far from dissipating, groups around the country say they are preparing for a new phase of larger marches and strikes this spring that they hope will rebuild momentum and cast an even brighter glare on inequality and corporate greed. But this transition is filled with potential pitfalls and uncertainties: without the visible camps or clear goals, can Occupy become a lasting force for change? Will disruptive protests do more to galvanize or alienate the public?

Though still loosely organized, the movement is putting down roots in many cities.

… Read the rest

Continue Reading · 32

The Cancer In Occupy

By on February 10, 2012 in News 42

Illustrazione di un Black BlocChris Hedges writes about the Black Bloc at Alternet (thanks to Adam for the tip):

The Black Bloc anarchists, who have been active on the streets in Oakland and other cities, are the cancer of the Occupy movement. The presence of Black Bloc anarchists—so named because they dress in black, obscure their faces, move as a unified mass, seek physical confrontations with police and destroy property—is a gift from heaven to the security and surveillance state. The Occupy encampments in various cities were shut down precisely because they were nonviolent. They were shut down because the state realized the potential of their broad appeal even to those within the systems of power.

They were shut down because they articulated a truth about our economic and political system that cut across political and cultural lines. And they were shut down because they were places mothers and fathers with strollers felt safe.

Black Bloc adherents detest those of us on the organized left and seek, quite consciously, to take away our tools of empowerment.

… Read the rest

Continue Reading · 42

KMFDM Bitch-Slaps Plutocracy With A Drug Against Wall Street

By on February 4, 2012 in News 12

From Johan of HoodooEngine:

The whole #OccupyWallStreet thing is cool and all, but it’s not a real party until some heavyweights of radical music start throwing their weight behind it. Fans of industrial metal will be pleased to know that KMFDM has done just that, releasing a new version of their classic track (which the more angsty of us rocked in our angsty bedrooms over a decade ago), A Drug Against War, but have altered their own lyrics to spotlight the recent rebellion against evil psycho-clown corporations.

The vocals in the track are now all about defeating our shady bankster-GMO-Annunaki overlords with the new title A Drug Against Wall Street! Calling upon the 99% to “march to the drum of the ultra heavy beat,” the vocals warn against remaining passive to the ravages of class warfare, warning us rather succinctly that “make no mistake, our children’s future is at stake.”

Shortly after the release of this slammer in its new incarnation, KMFDM’s founder and front-man, Sascha K, stated, “On Oct 15, I suddenly had this idea of doing a new version… using alternate lyrics voicing support of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

… Read the rest

Continue Reading · 12