Sunday, October 23, 2011
The movement grows
Yesterday was a wonderful day for OccupyPoughkeepsie. The crowd was the largest yet for the march at noon, which proceeded first to the post office building. (watch the video here) The crowd remained exuberant as we marched up Main St. to protest at Chase Bank and back down Main through Market back to the camp at Hulme Park. In a welcome twist, after mentioning the Poughkeepsie Journal at the post office, they published a story today about our march. (read the article here) OccupyPoughkeepsie held a General Assembly immediately after the march, discussing pertinent issues like the petition to allow OPK to stay in Hulme Park after the 11pm closing time. Incidentally, if anyone would like to support their efforts to stay in the park, please email me with your full name and town of residence and I'll make sure to pass the message along. Also, more than anything, the movement needs people. If you can make it to Hulme Park for a few hours, for a day, or to camp out and occupy with them, please do. If you can't make it, inform your friends. Also, if you can't stay but would like to help, they could use supplies. Water, clean clothes, blankets, warm food, anything you can to to help the OccupyPoughkeepsie community will be met with the warmest and sincerest thanks. It it a system, a way of thinking, a global history of oppression we are trying to change, one town at a time. Help us, please.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
flyers
In honor of my rededication of this page (narrowing its focus from all of OWS and beyond to OccupyPoughkeepsie) I've added the two posters. Print 'em out and cover your neighborhood. If you need a different size, email me.
In love and solidarity -Craig
In love and solidarity -Craig
Solidarity
Sol*i*dar*i*ty
Noun: Unity or agreement of feeling or action, esp. among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.
To stand with your brothers and sisters because you know their cause is just, and their struggle necessary, no matter how far away they are. OccupyPoughkeepsie stands in solidarity with OccupyWallSt to extend the family. Make no mistake, this is a family... people of like mind and heart who believe that amidst corruption, greed and deception, the 99% can come together and make a difference. We are coming together in a unified effort to usher in a new era in which the citizens of the United States have a voice louder than that of special interests. In which corporations do not force laws that help them while the people suffer. In which our lives are not dictated by the wealthy and powerful, but rather exist in harmony with the equal people around us. Many have asked why we embrace this struggle. Because we must. We have sat idly by for too long as things have gone far out of control. We are the underpaid worker who watches their hours dwindle and pay remain stagnant as the price of gas and essential goods soars. We are the unemployed parent gathered with so many others to apply for just one opening, one chance to feed their family. We are the disillusioned student graduating college to find a barren wasteland where once were opportunities, and an insurmountable debt weighing on their mind. We are the soldier, coming home from war to find not rest and peace, but more struggle. We are you. We are all the 99%. If you're here, it's because you're curious. If you're curious, it's because you understand something terrible has happened to this nation and want to find a way to change it.
OccupyPoughkeepsie is located at Hulme Park in the City of Poughkeepsie at the corner of Church St (Rt.55) and Market St. Please join us in the occupation, or just stop by for a while and show support. Bring friends, bring food or water, above all BRING YOUR VOICE.
Noun: Unity or agreement of feeling or action, esp. among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.
To stand with your brothers and sisters because you know their cause is just, and their struggle necessary, no matter how far away they are. OccupyPoughkeepsie stands in solidarity with OccupyWallSt to extend the family. Make no mistake, this is a family... people of like mind and heart who believe that amidst corruption, greed and deception, the 99% can come together and make a difference. We are coming together in a unified effort to usher in a new era in which the citizens of the United States have a voice louder than that of special interests. In which corporations do not force laws that help them while the people suffer. In which our lives are not dictated by the wealthy and powerful, but rather exist in harmony with the equal people around us. Many have asked why we embrace this struggle. Because we must. We have sat idly by for too long as things have gone far out of control. We are the underpaid worker who watches their hours dwindle and pay remain stagnant as the price of gas and essential goods soars. We are the unemployed parent gathered with so many others to apply for just one opening, one chance to feed their family. We are the disillusioned student graduating college to find a barren wasteland where once were opportunities, and an insurmountable debt weighing on their mind. We are the soldier, coming home from war to find not rest and peace, but more struggle. We are you. We are all the 99%. If you're here, it's because you're curious. If you're curious, it's because you understand something terrible has happened to this nation and want to find a way to change it.
OccupyPoughkeepsie is located at Hulme Park in the City of Poughkeepsie at the corner of Church St (Rt.55) and Market St. Please join us in the occupation, or just stop by for a while and show support. Bring friends, bring food or water, above all BRING YOUR VOICE.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Civil disobedience
First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
What that means, officer, is that if you silence us, disperse us, kick us out of public space, you are in violation of the law, and your sworn duty to uphold said law. Every citizen of this nation has an obligation and duty, passed down by the founders of this nation two hundred years ago, to keep their government in line. It's not a suggestion, or just some quote that sounds good in the reciting, it is our job. And that job has now become an occupation. In cities across this nation, people are fulfilling their duty as citizens by railing against an oppressor that has stolen the money from their pockets, the food from their plate, the security from their homes.
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
-Thomas Jefferson
And we will not. But let me expand further, because I want to make clear that this is not just an American phenomenon. The "Arab Spring" sparked the occupations, and now dissent spreads through the world like a wildfire... Canada stands in solidarity with OccupyWallSt, as do many nations of Europe. New Zealand, South America, cities around the world are lighting up with the spark of dissent and people are raising their voices against their rulers. Here, it is a written duty to dissent; forged in the documents that founded the nation. But the people of the world, the 99%, believe that to be governed fairly is the right of all humans.
Police forces, elected officials, mayors, governors, politicians of every ilk here in America... you took an oath of office. At the start of your service, you swore to uphold the laws of the nation - to stand by the Constitution as the rule by which all rules are judged. You stand at a crossroads. You can choose to allow the people to peaceably assemble, to freely speak their dissent and let the chips fall where they may. Change will come. Or you can bow to the whims and pressures of your puppet-masters and try to remove us. Try to shut us up. But I can assure you, you would have better luck keeping all the water on one side of a pool. For every protester you arrest, three will replace them. This movement is a living creature now, an idea running rampant whose time has come. You cannot destroy it; you can barely imagine it. The idea is too large... because it is an idea shared by us all. It is the dream of the 99% to live free, and that idea is well on it's way to becoming real. You are the 99% too, and you are welcome to join us.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
What that means, officer, is that if you silence us, disperse us, kick us out of public space, you are in violation of the law, and your sworn duty to uphold said law. Every citizen of this nation has an obligation and duty, passed down by the founders of this nation two hundred years ago, to keep their government in line. It's not a suggestion, or just some quote that sounds good in the reciting, it is our job. And that job has now become an occupation. In cities across this nation, people are fulfilling their duty as citizens by railing against an oppressor that has stolen the money from their pockets, the food from their plate, the security from their homes.
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
-Thomas Jefferson
And we will not. But let me expand further, because I want to make clear that this is not just an American phenomenon. The "Arab Spring" sparked the occupations, and now dissent spreads through the world like a wildfire... Canada stands in solidarity with OccupyWallSt, as do many nations of Europe. New Zealand, South America, cities around the world are lighting up with the spark of dissent and people are raising their voices against their rulers. Here, it is a written duty to dissent; forged in the documents that founded the nation. But the people of the world, the 99%, believe that to be governed fairly is the right of all humans.
Police forces, elected officials, mayors, governors, politicians of every ilk here in America... you took an oath of office. At the start of your service, you swore to uphold the laws of the nation - to stand by the Constitution as the rule by which all rules are judged. You stand at a crossroads. You can choose to allow the people to peaceably assemble, to freely speak their dissent and let the chips fall where they may. Change will come. Or you can bow to the whims and pressures of your puppet-masters and try to remove us. Try to shut us up. But I can assure you, you would have better luck keeping all the water on one side of a pool. For every protester you arrest, three will replace them. This movement is a living creature now, an idea running rampant whose time has come. You cannot destroy it; you can barely imagine it. The idea is too large... because it is an idea shared by us all. It is the dream of the 99% to live free, and that idea is well on it's way to becoming real. You are the 99% too, and you are welcome to join us.
new posters
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Poster for you
Thought I'd share a poster I came up with for the movement. Used the 1776 flag because back then, we had no imperialistic policy of wanton invasion. The skylines are (left to right) New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. Hope you enjoy, feel free to use it however.
News at the front
Yesterday, October 1st, Day 15, NYPD arrested over 700 protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge. I write "over" because some estimates have been as high as 800 arrests. The claim, from both protesters and onlookers, is that the police led the protesters across the bridge on the road, allowed a large number of them to get a third of the way across the bridge, then penned them in and began arresting them. Of course, this story did not remain consistent in the mainstream media:
Not surprising the mainstream media strives to be politically correct when it comes to the boys in blue. Still and all, I would like to remind anyone reading that the blue collar police force is still part of us, the 99%. I watched a video just this morning from another of the occupations elsewhere of an officer responding admirably to the protesters as one hung behind shouting "fuck you" in a rather inflammatory manner at anyone with a badge. They are us, and they are as trampled by the corporate machine as any of us. The videos show the white shirts at the bridge; what do you gather from this? Every time the police address the occupation, they do it with strong supervision. Translation, they take us seriously. So understand two things from this... 1) as always, it's those in charge with the agenda against us, not their subordinates, and 2) we have made a dent.
It is not an easy path to tread in Liberty Square. Revolution is never a cakewalk. Those in charge of the power structure, those with the most to lose, will put any obstacle in our path to make our journey seem hopeless. And as any true survivor knows, the struggle will make us stronger. This movement has grown so much larger in the past week, it gets continuously harder to track each passing day. I urge everyone to visit Occupy Together (linked at right) to get an idea of the scope we are dealing with. So much passion and determination directed at changing the world we live in, the space we occupy, and all of it non-violent. I am so proud of my brothers and sisters around the country and around the world rising up against the oppression of the golden handcuffs, of a financial system so corrupted by greed it infects every facet of our lives until any power to be had lies in the hands of the wealthy. Brothers and sisters of the revolution, I commend your courage in the face of insurmountable odds. Stay strong, and peaceful, and we will overcome the 1% that chains us. And to that 1%, I'll let a message from our family up north in OccupyCanada speak for me:
Not surprising the mainstream media strives to be politically correct when it comes to the boys in blue. Still and all, I would like to remind anyone reading that the blue collar police force is still part of us, the 99%. I watched a video just this morning from another of the occupations elsewhere of an officer responding admirably to the protesters as one hung behind shouting "fuck you" in a rather inflammatory manner at anyone with a badge. They are us, and they are as trampled by the corporate machine as any of us. The videos show the white shirts at the bridge; what do you gather from this? Every time the police address the occupation, they do it with strong supervision. Translation, they take us seriously. So understand two things from this... 1) as always, it's those in charge with the agenda against us, not their subordinates, and 2) we have made a dent.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
The Declaration
A great nation was started with a Declaration more than two hundred years ago. That Declaration demanded freedom from an oppressive force so awesome in it's power, it was nearly lunacy to dream of such a demand. That Declaration changed how the world saw it's leaders. In hopes that such greats things are still possible I present a new Declaration, in words more eloquent than I can muster.
Declaration of the Occupation of New York City
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them. They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. *
To the people of the world,
We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard!
*These grievances are not all-inclusive.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them. They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. *
To the people of the world,
We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard!
*These grievances are not all-inclusive.
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