In Solidarity with Occupy Wall St and October2011, WE OCCUPY TOGETHER!

So much is happening in NYC on Wall St right now, it is appalling that the media is barely covering it. It is appalling that so many people I have spoken to have not heard anything about it.  Here is a great article on Occupy Wall St. If you don't know much about it, please take the time to read this. On September 17, the occupation on Wall St began. Please also look at occupywallst.org where they post regularly every day about what is happening in Liberty Plaza in NYC.  Recently, police have been reacting violently toward peaceful protestors. Much of this can be found on youtube videos and live streaming. 80-100 protesters have been arrested today. Police have been asking people to move to certain areas, and as this is a peaceful protest, they complied. When they comply a net is thrown over them, they are arrested, and sometimes maced. This is all over the internet, but the mainstream media will not cover it. Five Tea Party members  protesting the protest make the news, but the thousands that have been on Wall St for seven days do not.

Here is the latest news from Occupy Wall Street:
This report came in half an hour ago from the chair of the NYC IWW chapter.
Protesters arrested today (including the NYC IWW chair) are being locked inside a police van outside the:
1st Precinct Police Station
16 Ericsson Pl.
New York, NY 10013
+1 (212) 334-0611
They've been there for over an hour. One has a very bad concussion, possibly life threatening.
Right now the NYC IWW chair he is calling on us to send people NOW for help out and to demand medical care for our comrades.
If you can't make it in person then please call these numbers:
1st Precinct - (212) 334-0611 - 16 Ericsson Place
6th Precinct - (212) 741-4811 - 233 West 10 Street
NYPD Switchboard: 1-646-610-5000

Follow 24 hour live stream to see what is really going on at http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution.

On October 6, 2011, an occupation has been planned in Washington D.C. Here is the website for organizing this, we have been working toward this for months: october2011.org. In Solidarity with the October 2011 "Stop the Machine! Create a New World!" movement and in Solidarity with the occupation on Wall St, cities all over the country are planning to join in and occupy together.

Occupy Wall Street has released a statement explaining what we are protesting: Ending Capital Punishment. Ending Wealth Inequality. Ending Police Intimidation. Ending Corporate Censorship. Ending the modern gilded age. Ending Political Corruption. Ending Joblessness. Ending Poverty. Ending Health-Profiteering. Ending American Imperialism. Ending War.

October2011.org has also released a statement: http://october2011.org/statement. "It is about courageously resisting and stopping the corporate state from destroying not only our inherent rights and freedoms, but also our children’s chance to live, breathe clean air, drink pure water, grow edible natural food and live in peace."

The occupation in Chicago, IL has begun. Follow their livestream here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/occupy-chicago. 

Here is a list SO FAR of cities we will occupy:
Washington D.C.
Portland, OR
San Diego, CA
Atlanta, GA
Portland, OR
Tulsa, OK
Minnesota (city to be determined)
Sacramento, CA
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Salt Lake City, UT
Salem, OR
Seattle, WA
Los Angeles, CA
Austin, TX
Cleveland, OH
Tampa, FL and their facebook page
Phoenix, AZ
Boston, MA
Houston, TX
Philadelphia, PA
Omaha, NE
Lansing, MI
Columbus, OH
Denver, CO
Toronto Market Exchange
San Francisco, CA
Orlando FL
New Orleans, LA
Mississippi (city to be determined)
Kansas City, KS
Madison, WI
Las Vegas, NV
St Louis, MO
New Jersey (city to be determined)
Lexington, KY
Nashville, TN
Georgia (cities to be determined)
Indiana (cities to be determined)
Indianappolis, IN
Nebraska (city to be determined)

More occupations are being planned by the minute! Check out facebook and google+ to find out what is being organized near you! Also, check out http://occupytogether.org/.

Inspired by Mideast Youth

I recently came across a very interesting, informative, and inspiring website (thanks to my aunt and my sister sharing links on facebook). MideastYouth.com is a youth-run website created by Esra’a Al Shafei which is a grassroots network and platform for people in the Middle East and North Africa to discuss the struggle against oppression and serve as an alternative media. In an interview on TED.com, Esra'a Al Shafei explains that she began this MideastYouth.com in 2006. "At that time I was really just exploring how to use the Internet. I realized right away that it was going to be the tool, the weapon, with which we can advocate for change." (This makes me think of the inspiring youtube call to action that started the protests in Egypt). The authors are from many places, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Libya, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Pakistan, Tunisia, and Morocco. Their message is peace, solidarity, tolerance, and freedom from oppression. "Listen to us now, because soon ours will be the generation in charge."


MideastYouth.com covers a variety of topics that we do not hear about in the mainstream media. I am certain that I will spend many, many hours on this website and the many offshoots of this website. It discusses the Arab Revolution, the desire for peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel, homophobia in Middle Eastern and African countries, ignorance, extremism, and so many other topics. Okay, so I'm linking a lot. That's because I want you to really check out this website! Those are just some examples.

There are many projects stemming from MideastYouth.com. I will highlight a few. CrowdVoice is a user-powered service that tracks voices of protest from around the world. Apparently it has been censored in Bahrain, but it has documented many of the recent people uprisings. I was unaware until I came across BahaiRights.org that in many countries people of the Baha'i faith are denied human rights, as basic as the right to live. KurdishRights.org focuses on the need for basic human rights of Kurds, the uprisings in the Middle East, and preventing further genocide of Kurds in the Middle East. FreeKareem.org is focused on pressuring officials to free Kareem Amer, an Egyptian blogger who has been sentenced to 4 years in prison merely for expressing his opinions on his personal blog. There is MigrantRights.org, Israelis for Palestine, and many more. A new website they have started is Ahwaa.org. It is a place for discussion within the LGBTQ community in the Middle East and North Africa. This is a topic that is not only taboo in many places in the Middle East and Africa, where in many countries homosexuality is illegal and sometimes punishable by death, but it is also a topic that has been ignored by mainstream media (I'm talking BBC, NPR, Al Jazeera, and so on).

Here is a fun one: MideastTunes.com. It supports underground activist musicians in the Middle East! Here are a few interesting songs I found...