Occupations Goes National
“Enough Is Enough” says 99%
by Vanessa Houk
Reports from the frontlines
As the Occupy Wall Street Movement ends its third week, occupations have sprung up around the country, and with the growing media coverage, the word is spreading fast. Citizen occupations are now taking place in New York, Atlanta, LA, Chicago and nationwide.
Last week over 3,000 people marched to New York Police Department headquarters to protest the arrests and pepper-spraying of unresisting demonstrators the week before. Over the weekend there were over 700 reported arrests, and still Liberty Plaza remains occupied by protesters declaring, “We Are the 99%.”
Working America, the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate which organizes non-union workers, releases a statement, offering support and encouragement to the protesters. “It’s obvious what has motivated these protests, and it’s the same thing we hear at the doors we knock on every day,” the statement reads.
News came in that the NYPD, which according to protesters has not allowed its officers to even accept donuts from protesters in the square, gratefully took a donation of $4.6 million from JP Morgan Chase, one of the Wall Street banks targeted by the protesters, in donation to its foundation.
Across the country, hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to protest what they see as a system out of control. Energy costs continue to rise while workers’s wages drop. Unemployment remains close to 10% officially, not reflecting the millions of unemployed who have simply given up. US health care is the most expensive in the world while 40 million Americans go to bed hungry. At the same time the profits of the wealthy are at record highs. The wealthiest 400 Americans control more wealth that the poorest 60%.
In 2010, the net worth of the Forbes 400 was $1.37 trillion, while the net worth of the poorest 60 percent of U.S. households was $1.26 trillion.
Actions planned for October 6th.
On October 6, 2011, the United States will have been at war for ten years. October also marks the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. Social activists and peace advocates across America will mark the anniversary by making a clamor for peace and justice so loud that Congress, the President, and big media will have to pay attention. Actions are being organized around the country. Citizens are joining together to say ‘enough is enough’.”
We are the 99%
Together we can create the future we envision of peace, justice and equality.
Join us in whatever way you are able - in person or through the online community.
It starts here!
History is knocking. Will you answer the call?
If not you, then who?
On the web:
http://october2011.org/
http://occupytogether.org/
http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution/
http://www.btlonline.org/2011/111014-btl.html
Locally on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=252686271434141
by Vanessa Houk
Reports from the frontlines
As the Occupy Wall Street Movement ends its third week, occupations have sprung up around the country, and with the growing media coverage, the word is spreading fast. Citizen occupations are now taking place in New York, Atlanta, LA, Chicago and nationwide.
Last week over 3,000 people marched to New York Police Department headquarters to protest the arrests and pepper-spraying of unresisting demonstrators the week before. Over the weekend there were over 700 reported arrests, and still Liberty Plaza remains occupied by protesters declaring, “We Are the 99%.”
Working America, the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate which organizes non-union workers, releases a statement, offering support and encouragement to the protesters. “It’s obvious what has motivated these protests, and it’s the same thing we hear at the doors we knock on every day,” the statement reads.
News came in that the NYPD, which according to protesters has not allowed its officers to even accept donuts from protesters in the square, gratefully took a donation of $4.6 million from JP Morgan Chase, one of the Wall Street banks targeted by the protesters, in donation to its foundation.
Across the country, hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to protest what they see as a system out of control. Energy costs continue to rise while workers’s wages drop. Unemployment remains close to 10% officially, not reflecting the millions of unemployed who have simply given up. US health care is the most expensive in the world while 40 million Americans go to bed hungry. At the same time the profits of the wealthy are at record highs. The wealthiest 400 Americans control more wealth that the poorest 60%.
In 2010, the net worth of the Forbes 400 was $1.37 trillion, while the net worth of the poorest 60 percent of U.S. households was $1.26 trillion.
Actions planned for October 6th.
On October 6, 2011, the United States will have been at war for ten years. October also marks the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. Social activists and peace advocates across America will mark the anniversary by making a clamor for peace and justice so loud that Congress, the President, and big media will have to pay attention. Actions are being organized around the country. Citizens are joining together to say ‘enough is enough’.”
We are the 99%
Together we can create the future we envision of peace, justice and equality.
Join us in whatever way you are able - in person or through the online community.
It starts here!
History is knocking. Will you answer the call?
If not you, then who?
On the web:
http://october2011.org/
http://occupytogether.org/
http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution/
http://www.btlonline.org/2011/111014-btl.html
Locally on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=252686271434141