Occupy Wall Street is above the electoral, but it impacts it, as indicated by a recent report.
The Wall Street Journal relayed statements from a variety of NYC mayoral candidates about how they stand on the violent crackdown on Occupy. Of particular note, current frontrunner Christine Quinn is reversing her previously adversarial stance - at least rhetorically. "At the end of the day, we failed," Ms. Quinn, the City Council Speaker, said of Mr. Bloomberg's handling of the protests." The conversation [between protesters and authorities] was adversarial...There should have been a compromise to get them back in [the park]. I disagree with where it all ended up."
Bill Dobbs from the OWS PR working group responds by explaining how the would-be Mayor failed to do anything to support OWS’s rights when her help was needed most. “Quinn was City Council Speaker but did nothing of substance then – there was not even a hearing to air complaints about the NYPD raid - unlike one that happened, for example, in 2003 after police problems with a big anti-war protest. Quinn has been a lapdog for the Mayor, not a watchdog for the People.” Dobbs further retorts, “at least one City Council resolution was introduced in support of OWS – a purely symbolic undertaking -- but it went nowhere under the Quinn regime.”
Bloomberg and his ‘private army’ of police shamelessly repressed and invasively surveilled OWS, all of which happened on Quinn’s watch as City Council Speaker, and continues to this day. Indeed, as nycisnotforsale.com depicts, “Virtually all of Christine Quinn’s decisions were made in rooms...with her friends in the 1%.” Read more about how Quinn is a tool of the 1% here.
-- from your Occupy Network team
P.S. - Please note that Your Inbox: Occupied has recently evolved into the Occupy Network.
Occupy in the News
Occupy photographer and activist Jenna Pope was back in her hometown of Wisconsin, but unfortunately was greeted by an arrest merely for singing without a permit. Wisconsin's Capitol building has recently become a location of great conflict in an unparalleled fashion since the Spring 2011 occupation protesting Gov. Scott Walker's moves to subvert democracy and workers’ rights. Over 100 arrests have been made with dozens more occurring every day now during the Solidarity Singalong, which began during the 2011 budget protests and has acted as a constant presence in the spirit of the occupation since. But there is good news, as seen in the following Occupy.com feature on how this dissent-stifling manuever from Walker has backfired.
On July 15th, the Occupation of Cooper Union’s administrative offices ended, with a joint statement from staff and students. The administration has allowed a Working Group to be organized, with more student and alumni participation in decision making. No clear ideas yet as to where tuition stands, but the 2013 entering class will all have full tuition scholarships.
On July 16, shortly after the Zimmerman verdict, the Dream Defenders took over Florida Governor Rick Scott’s office in a sit-in, and the #TakeOverFL occupation remains ongoing. The activists and coalition partners are demanding that the Governor convene a special legislative session to enact ‘Trayvon’s Law’ repealing Stand Your Ground, as well as to confront racial profiling, and end the school-to-prison pipeline.
On occupywallst.org, see a scathing indictment of Rep. Gwen Moore, a Democrat from Wisconsin. Despite the interests of her impoverished constituency, “the poorest district” in WI, Moore has been working over-time for Wall Street. Moore championed a bill written by Citigroup as well as one to allow Wall Street to “move risky derivatives trades overseas” in order to avoid new rules. At the same time, curiously, Rep. Moore has taken in almost one hundred thousand dollars in campaign contributions from the banking and finance industries.
"Occupy This Album" has won the Independent Music Award's Vox Populi Vote for "Best Compilation." Congrats!
Occupy Network Special Report
The Occupy Money Cooperative has recently been announced and is preparing to launch its first product, the ‘Occupy Card’, an FDIC insured debit card. Its site informs us, “The Occupy Money Cooperative will be owned and controlled by its members,” and the idea of cooperative banking is certainly potentially exciting and needed. However, objections to the relationship of Occupy Money to Occupy, to the card’s actual details and profit making intention, and to the card’s relationship to banking’s behemoths have arisen.
On an open Reddit AMA, a series of Q&A’s commenced between Carne Ross, an Occupy Money co-founder, and anyone who wanted to post. Many of the questions had difficulty with Occupy Money’s assumptions, with an especially salient one being: “There are reports this card is in partnership with Visa. How is Visa in any way Occupy?”
And at Tidal, a vehement argument was made against the project. The author charges that “these people are perpetuating the idea that the struggle isn’t on the streets, it’s in your wallets. And if all goes well, they are going to make a good salary off of this lie.”
On the flipside, Forbes.com delivered a report that was in sympathy with the ideas behind the cooperative and its goal of aiding “the unbanked and the underbanked.”
Find more information on this effort to “put people back in control of the services they rely on” by way of the OMC FAQ page and by watching their introductory video.
Featured Occu-Project
Join us this Sunday for DebtFair, an artist meet-up at the Abrons Art Center, 466 Grand Street on NYC’s Lower East Side, 3:30 - 7:30pm.
DebtFair comes by way of Occupy Museums, and is intended to be a chance for artists to gather and discuss their art practices in the context of their financial lives, with a focus on student debt. The goals are to build a community, expose the financial realities of being an artist, underscore the predatory practices of art schools as businesses, highlight the high costs of taking on student debt, and ultimately offer a new exchange mechanism - art for debt relief.
Connect with artists and art lovers affected by the debt crisis or passionate to support a sustainable arts future. Make sure to sign up to share your story, exhibit your art, and help build it from the ground up.
In DebtFair, Art = Liberation.
Occupy These Actions & Events
Sunday, August 11th, 3:30pm
DebtFair Artist Meet-Up
Abrons Art Center, 466 Grand Street on NYC’s Lower East Side
See ‘Featured Occu-Project’ entry for more details.
Wednesday, August 21st-25th
Occupy National Gathering 2013
Kalamazoo, Michigan
This year’s gathering will be focused around the following themes: Global Change - week of Global communication, strike and celebrations. National Change - convergences of civil rights, peace, and environmental groups to collaborate upcoming national events. Local Change - National Gathering can change our city. Personal Change - we want to emphasis communication, art, and education on how to organize in your own community, basics of alt energy, Co-Op modeling, and Rights trainings, as well as offer documentaries and panels. Click here to find a ride and housing, and for more information you can email natgat2013@gmail.com.
Thursday, August 22nd, 6:30pm
Meetup and Panel Discussion: “Understanding the NSA leaks from Mutant Legal.”
Judson Church
So, you’ve probably been hearing a lot about this guy Edward Snowden? Yeah, sounds familiar. Now, what about all of the other terms you've been hearing thrown around in conjunction with him? There’s a lot of technical vocabulary that gets used in association with the surveillance state, but how does surveillance really work? What are the actual definitions of those terms and concepts? And what are the ramifications of being surveilled? Mutant Legal would like to invite you to a panel discussion facilitated by Molly Knefel and Nathan Sheard that will help us understand a bit better what it all means.
Saturday, August 24th, 8:00am-on
March on Washington 50th Anniversary Aug 24th
Lincoln and Martin Luther King Memorials, Washington D.C.
In commemoration of the historic march on Washington, activists and citizens from all over the country will convene on the capitol to retrace Dr. King’s steps. You can sign up for a bus from NY to DC here. Join Occupy Wall Street as we commemorate the 50th Anniversary of The March on Washington. Find this event on NYCGA.net.
Saturday, August 31st
Music Release for Occupation Freedom: Movement Music
Everywhere
The songs recorded on this album were developed and inspired through front line experiences as Hip Hop activists-artists from the within the convergence movement known as Occupy Wall Street. They represent important elements of the soundtrack of the movement in NYC and beyond. Here are videos for the first two singles: Occupation Freedom: Hip Hop Anthem and All Streets: The Bum Rush
Saturday, August 31st, 12pm
Liberty Plaza
As we prepare for S17 the Two Year Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street …this special event is in honor of the next generation (our children). We will have a afternoon of games,arts and crafts teach-ins,and fun…more details to follow
Save The Date for our 2 year anniversary on September 17th
S17 is fast approaching! Go to http://s17ows.org/ to learn about ongoing plans and actions scheduled for the anniversary. Check out plans for a people's exchange, keep tabs on on-going plans for action, a citywide assembly and a people's assembly to end the day.
