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Rachel Maddow reports on Occupy Wall Street's The Illuminator and the Light Brigade's messages to Boston.
May Day 2013 is fast approaching. This is a day to celebrate and further the struggles of the 99% by coming together to support immigrant and worker struggles, and fight the injustices of the 1%.
Learn more about the plethora of May Day events and actions in store:
http://maydaynyc.org/
Occupiers took part in May Day en masse last year, and it was quite an amazing occasion. Check out our media roundup from last May Day for a reminder, and get ready!
-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team
Featured Occu-Project
This week, NYC’s own beloved Illuminator, the “spectacularization machine” and mobile instrument of dialogue and inspiration, found its services in extreme demand. Back in use after a contentious custody dispute, as well as after being targeted by the Intelligence Division of the NYPD for lighting up Mayor Bloomberg’s home, the Illuminator joined other members of the Light Brigade coast to coast to project their dissatisfaction with corporate tax dodgers on banks and overpasses across the country. Here’s the OWS Light Brigade on Twitter.
The amazing folks who were responsible for illuminating the foul recesses of tax dodging corporations this week also took it into their hands to make manifest what all of New York City was feeling about our sister city, Boston. In a moving series of light projections, they sent our love and thoughts to our neighbor. NYC does indeed love Boston!
Occupy in the News
The ‘Brooklyn loves Boston’ projections received major media coverage, including theatlanticwire.com, thehuffingtonpost.com, The Rachel Maddow Show and Today.
Occupywallstreet.net covers the national network of Light Brigades and their actions leading up to tax day.
Check out the fantastic footage of the Tax Evaders game projected on banks across the country.
Watch video and analyis on OccupyWallStreet.net of an interesting and timely panel discussion on how to create and share videos of great activism from the recent Organizing NY conference. A diverse group of Occupy media makers took part, discussing topics such as the attributes of an engaging and “hyper-shareable” video, what you need to know to avoid problems while filming at actions, as well as a how disseminating media is activism in and of itself.
Occupy these Actions & Events
Wednesday, April 17th, 12:00 pm
Occupy the Library: Rally in Memory of the Donnell Library, an Epic Tragedy
Meet at 40 W.53rd
The Donnell library was sold off to a developer in 2008 and still no promised replacement in what will become the 50-storey Baccarat Hotel and Residences – for the 0.1%.
Thursday, April 18th, 12:00 pm
Occupy the Library attends City Comptroller John Liu Press Conference
Steps of City Hall, Broadway and Chambers Streets in Manhattan
City Comptroller John Liu will discuss the administration’s funding cuts and sell-off of the public library system at a press conference. More info and RSVP here.
April 18th - April 22nd
Sandy Storyline @ The Tribeca Film Festival
121 Varick Street, 7th Floor (Dominick Street between Hudson St. and Varick St.)
Sandy Storyline is proud to announce that we are an official selection of The Tribeca Film Festival’s inaugural Storyscapes program. Join the people affected by Hurricane Sandy as they tell their stories. You must reserve your free tickets here.
Saturday, April 20th, 10am
Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South
Join Occupy Your Workplace for a fun, interactive training on how to begin the process of organizing your workplace and/or in your community. If you’ve never done workplace organizing, don’t worry – we will go over it. If you do and think you have something to contribute to the conversation, please join us as well. Please come with an open mind and a willingness to try and explore something new. RSVP on Facebook.
Sunday, April 21st, 1pm
Washington Square Park
May Day is quickly approaching and many NYC student groups are in the process of organizing a citywide student convergence. A lot of amazing student organizing is underway and this is a great opportunity to begin building a larger student base for demonstrations and future actions. Join us to talk more about what coordination is necessary and how a student convergence could take shape.
Sunday, April 21st, 7pm
Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South
Join Professor Joerg Rieger (author of the recent book "Occupy Religion") and a panel of Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Faith leaders for a discussion on the relationship between organized religion and the Occupy Movement. Professor Rieger will be presenting his perspective and a panelist of local activists will be responding, with general discussion to follow. Light refreshments provided.
Monday, April 22nd, 6:30pm
Strategic Action Labs: Mapping & Scouting
33 West 14th Street
Welcome to the Spring Strategic Action LABS. Below are a set of workshops aimed to help us deepen our analysis and understanding of how the 1% works while building skills to organize for justice and global liberation. Mapping & Scouting Workshop: How do you find the people you want to engage and make it easy for us and many others to access? Mapping can take many forms – come and explore. Scouting: Now that we know where they are, Lets Go Look Around and see what we can and share ideas about what we have learned is possible.
May Day 2013
Join us: http://maydaynyc.org/
Thursday, May 2nd, 6:30
Opening Night: Tasting Event Fundraiser for Far Rockaways Recovery and Hurricane Sandy Relief
Brooklyn Winery, 213 North 8th Street
Come join us May 2nd, at the Brooklyn Winery to celebrate the bounty of spring and benefit Far Rockaways recovery with renowned authors, chefs and visionaries!
The good times will benefit Veggie Island: Founded in 2010, in Rockaway Beach, Veggie Island was a community hub for locally grown, ecologically friendly products and produce. Their aim as they rebuild is to provide multi-faceted outreach to the community involving gardening, cooking, youth internships, and environmental awareness. For Tickets.