Occupy Portland! Get Involved Now!

From OccupyPortland.org:

On Oct. 6th, 12:00 pm, thousands will gather at the Waterfront near SW Ankeny and Naito Parkway (http://tinyurl.com/44rl474) to march to Pioneer Courthouse Square. This is in support of Occupy Wall Street, where thousands have been staying near the Wall Street stock exchange to protest the corruption of Washington politicians, misdeeds of big banks, and the cancerous rein of corporate lobbyists. Bring friends, family, passion, and supplies for the night because we will be in this for the long haul. Once we are done for the day we will then march back to the Waterfront and set up for the night.

Get involved in planning for this occupation!
Discussions and logistics on the community page- http://www.facebook.com/OccupyPortland
A group page for sharing ideas and documents- http://www.facebook.com/groups/284344344909229/
And the event page, which seems to be mainly for inviting people to join in: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=232437856804769

If you don't have facebook, the website is now up and running, and very useful! http:/OccupyPortland.org
On the website, you can find flyers, the march route, the livestream, and a list of the needs of the occupiers. See how you can be useful!

The March Route:

We are the 99%!

"We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we're working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent."

 

"I was deployed to Iraq 4x

5 of my friends are dead
1 of my friends is missing his arm
1 of my friends killed himself
I've been blown up 2x by roadside bombs
hearing fireworks makes me nervous
I can't sleep at night

All so bankers and war profiteers could get richer
I am the 99%"

We are the 99%. OccupyPortland.org!

Human Needs, Not Corporate Greed!

For those of you in other states, go to OccupyTogether.org and see what is being planned near you!

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/.

Don't Give in to the Machine!

I've been talking a lot about the upcoming Revolution here in amerika. I have to tell you, I'm stoked about it! Some people I've spoken to jump right on board, are ready to go, but most...well, not so much. So many people point out that we are such a large and spread out country compared to Tunisia, Egypt, Spain, Greece, etcetera. I agree that has made large protests harder to organize, but look at the numbers we've racked up at the kapitol for other causes (go on, look! I posted a bunch here!). Many good people I have spoken to sigh and admit that they have little faith that enough people will show up. To them I say, if you don't show up, then maybe you're right! But why surrender and be a part of the problem? I understand how one gets to be burnt out and pessimistic. It can be exhausting going to anti-war protest after anti-war protest (for example) and seeing nothing change. You know they want us to give up, and if we do, than they win. The Machine wins. Don't let the Machine win! The Machine has so many tools they use to keep us down! Even the "liberal" media constantly reminds us that we should not have faith in our fellow americans, that americans are stupid and lazy and don't care about anything but themselves. Look around at the people you actually know--this is not true! The Machine thrives on this pessimism, this hopelessness. It thrives on drug addiction, poverty crime, and so many of the problems they pretend to be fighting. It thrives on fear, filling up the jails with all our revolutionaries. The mainstream media is a tool used against us--filling us with fear, self-doubt, self-hate, despair, misinformation, and distracting us with bullshit capitalist desires...most everybody gets stuck in this trap sometimes. But to sit at home and go about your daily routine because you don't have faith our fellow humans, well, that is giving in to the Machine. This is why YOU need to show up on October 6, 2011 and protest with the rest of us at Freedom Plaza in D.C.! This is why we need to spread the word and be very persuasive, enthusiastic, Optimistic. Give those burnt out and pessimistic potential activists the push they need to join in the Revolution! All of us can be leaders. All of us can be Revolutionaries.
In Solidarity,
Coco Pan.

As Mario Savio said in 1964:
 

  ...Those words have an even greater urgency today. We face ongoing wars and massive socio-economic and environmental destruction perpetrated by a corporate empire which is oppressing, occupying and exploiting the world. We are on a fast track to making the planet unlivable while the middle class and poor people of our country are undergoing the most wrenching and profound economic crisis in 80 years.

"Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. We will encourage a culture of resistance—using music, art, theater and direct nonviolent action—to take control of our country and our lives. 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. --from October2011.org's call to action.

Protesters will gather the morning of October 6 on Freedom Plaza, located at the corner of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The plaza is named in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., who worked on his "I Have a Dream" speech in the nearby Willard Hotel. Demands of the protesters will include ending the illegal war in Afghanistan, ending corporate control over people and government, human rights, health care for all, economic justice, and the environment. Many believe that this will be the most massive protest in U.S. history to date.

Call to Action! OCTOBER 2011 America's Tahrir Square

I have been following the news of the uprisings in the Middle East very closely. I have also followed some of the news on Greece, and now especially Spain. All this has me feeling excited and engaged, but also wondering...where is America's "Tahrir Square"? I often have wondered whether americans will ever rise up...and I have often felt helpless, attending small rallies in small towns, wondering if we will ever be heard, or if anything would come of being heard. We are such an enormous country, and so spread out. Large protests can go by largely unnoticed. But they haven't always gone unnoticed, have they? I'd like to think that (although the racial oppression in this country is far from resolved) the March on Washington in 1963 meant something, even accomplished something. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech has inspired so many. I am hoping for more radical change than what came about after the 1963 march. So are many others. Which brings me to America's "Tahrir Square." An event is being planned. A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government.

Here is an excerpt of the call to action from October2011.org:
October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. It is time to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent transition to a world in which people are freed to create just and sustainable solutions.
We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment—to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening...
..."Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. We will encourage a culture of resistance—using music, art, theater and direct nonviolent action—to take control of our country and our lives. 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.

So rise up!  Be a part of the movement! Gandhi said it, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Worried nobody will show up? Take in these numbers.
The first March on Washington was in 1894 by a group called Coxey's Army. A group of unemployed workers. They hopped trains and rode in wagons to D.C. to protest unemployment which was a result of the Panic of 1893. There were 6,000 people in Coxey's Army. There's a bit of fun history for you. More famously, 250,000 marched for on Washington for civil rights in 1963. 600,000 demonstrated against the war in Vietnam on Nov. 15, 1969. 260,000 protested the Reagan administration with a Solidarity March in 1981. In 1987, 500,000 people joined the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.1989: March for Women's Lives drew 500,000. An estimated 1,000,000 people participated in the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation in 1993. In 2003, 200,000 protested the war in Iraq. 200,000 in the Equality March in 2009. 2010: Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, held by talk show hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert had 215,000 participants rallying for political change. So many more protests and marches I did not mention, or did not have numbers for. The point is, if a million people joined together to rally for LGBT Equal Rights, I think we can find AT LEAST that many people willing to rally for Peace and political change. The terrible economy, the political corruption, massive pollution, loved ones lost to wars we don't support, unemployment, lack of health care, homelessness, and our general slavery to a machine that is built to benefit only the extremely rich and powerful, well, that affects us all. I believe an uprising can work for the united states. Especially if people are willing to camp out, and stay in Freedom Square until we see a change happening. Just like in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, etcetera.

I know many supporters of Barak Obama. My question to them is this: If Obama stands for what you seem to think he stands for, if he can indeed be compared to Lincoln and MLK, then don't you think he would want us to have a People's Revolution?