Occupation begins on October 15th at 8:00 am at the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, 75 South Ivanhoe Boulevard Orlando, FL. 32804-6499
We the American people are peacefully assembling and organizing to exercise our first amendment right to discuss and share the facts about the state of our country and the disproportionate influence of corporations, banks, oil companies, and hedge funds on our democracy so we can amend our policies and enforce our laws to protect and serve all of our society equally.
Our occupation begins…
October 15th 2011 8:00am
Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce
75 South Ivanhoe Blvd, Orlando, Florida 32804
Thank you Orlando!
We’ve had a very productive general assembly on October 5th. We would like to thank all of those that attended, those that shared their thoughts and feelings, and those that volunteered their time and energy to help us organize. We will be working extremley hard to keep all of you informed and to organize our numbers to demonstrate the power of the people over the next few days.
Please excuse our site construction. We will be testing new functionality and updating the site and apologize for any technical issues that you may encounter while this is happening. We appreciate all of you who have joined with us and we will be sending information to the email addresses you have trusted us with to keep you informed of our activites and progess.
We will stand together. Pundits and the media may call us dirty hippies, anarchists, or fools for coming together in the belief that we can make our city, our state, our country, and our planet a better place. They may say we have no specific list of demands for them to review so we must be a disorganized group of hipster twenty somethings that have no clue what is going on. The truth is we do know what is going on. We are the 99% of the American people and we will not accept the corporate talking points that we can’t comprehend the complexities of our economy or our society and that a select elite few know what is best for us. We will not stand by as they try to strip away the social safety net, or do nothing as state legislatures try to supress voting rights, or watch people like Art Pope, David Koch, Charles Koch, and Karl Rove buy elections with unlimited anynonomous campaign funding. We will stand together to demand equal representation and policy that represents the interests of all of the American people. The time is now and the occupation has begun.
FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE
We the American people are peacefully assembling and organizing to exercise our first amendment right to discuss and share the facts about the state of our country and the disproportionate influence of corporations, banks, oil companies, and hedge funds on our democracy so we can amend our policies and enforce our laws to protect and serve all of our society equally.
Our occupation begins…
October 15th 2011 8:00am
Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce
75 South Ivanhoe Blvd, Orlando, Florida 32804
Thank you Orlando!
We’ve had a very productive general assembly on October 5th. We would like to thank all of those that attended, those that shared their thoughts and feelings, and those that volunteered their time and energy to help us organize. We will be working extremley hard to keep all of you informed and to organize our numbers to demonstrate the power of the people over the next few days.
Please excuse our site construction. We will be testing new functionality and updating the site and apologize for any technical issues that you may encounter while this is happening. We appreciate all of you who have joined with us and we will be sending information to the email addresses you have trusted us with to keep you informed of our activites and progess.
We will stand together. Pundits and the media may call us dirty hippies, anarchists, or fools for coming together in the belief that we can make our city, our state, our country, and our planet a better place. They may say we have no specific list of demands for them to review so we must be a disorganized group of hipster twenty somethings that have no clue what is going on. The truth is we do know what is going on. We are the 99% of the American people and we will not accept the corporate talking points that we can’t comprehend the complexities of our economy or our society and that a select elite few know what is best for us. We will not stand by as they try to strip away the social safety net, or do nothing as state legislatures try to supress voting rights, or watch people like Art Pope, David Koch, Charles Koch, and Karl Rove buy elections with unlimited anynonomous campaign funding. We will stand together to demand equal representation and policy that represents the interests of all of the American people. The time is now and the occupation has begun.
FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE
PRINCIPLES OF SOLIDARITY –
working draft
Posted on September 24, 2011What follows is a living document that will be revised
through democratic process of General Assembly
On September 17, 2011, people from all across the United States of America and the world came to protest the blatant injustices of our times perpetuated by the economic and political elites. On the 17th we as individuals rose up against political disenfranchisement and social and economic injustice. We spoke out, resisted, and successfully occupied Wall Street. Today, we proudly remain in Liberty Square constituting ourselves as autonomous political beings engaged in non-violent civil disobedience and building solidarity based on mutual respect, acceptance, and love. It is from these reclaimed grounds that we say to all Americans and to the world, Enough! How many crises does it take? We are the 99% and we have moved to reclaim our mortgaged future.
Through a direct democratic process, we have come together as individuals and crafted these principles of solidarity, which are points of unity that include but are not limited to:
- Engaging in direct and transparent participatory democracy;
- Exercising personal and collective responsibility;
- Recognizing individuals’ inherent privilege and the influence it has on all interactions;
- Empowering one another against all forms of oppression;
- Redefining how labor is valued;
- The sanctity of individual privacy;
- The belief that education is human right; and
- Endeavoring to practice and support wide application of open source.
We are daring to imagine a new socio-political and economic alternative that offers greater possibility of equality. We are consolidating the other proposed principles of solidarity, after which demands will follow.
1 The Working Group on Principles of Consolidation continues to work through the other proposed principles to be incorporated as soon as possible into this living document.
This is an official document crafted by the Working Group on Principles of Consolidation. The New York City General Assembly came to consensus on September 23rd to accept this working draft and post it online for public consumption
You can leave comments here, or directly on the document (select text, then from the menu go to insert > comment, or press Ctrl+Alt+M)
This entry was posted in News, Official General Assembly news and tagged principles byNYCGA. Bookmark the permalink.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
~ Preamble to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, 1776
Insider out: One man’s journey from
the front office to Wall St. ‘Occupier’
By Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com
Jon Reiner, a former marketing executive and father of two boys, figures he has sent out 2,000 resumes since he was laid off for the third time nearly five years ago. He has not gotten a single job offer.
An unassuming presence in the colorful crowd that marched in New York on Wednesday, the 49-year-old Reiner nevertheless is in many ways typical of the protesters who have established the “Occupy Wall Street” camp just blocks away from the New York Stock Exchange.
His despair and frustration are palpable as he speaks about how his wife has returned to work as a high school teacher to support their family. Even so, he says, they ran out of their savings last year and now are in debt.
The fall from what Reiner believed was a path that would lead to a comfortable retirement was both fast and “shattering.”
“You were a member of the middle class, you were at a point in your life where you thought you’d be at the zenith of your career or upward trajectory, and all of a sudden you find yourself marginalized,” he said. “… The term that I’ve begun to use is unemployable.”
Now a stay-at-home dad at the couple’s two-bedroom apartment in New York City’s Upper West Side, Reiner is one of the forgotten jobless – someone who has been without work for so long that he is no longer officially on the unemployment rolls. He is grateful that he has finally found a place where he can voice his worries and hopes for the future: at the “Occupy Wall Street” camp.
“What this rally – this organization you know — represents is to try to give voice to the have nots, who are a huge part of this society, and who no longer have the means or the opportunity to contribute,” he said.
He rejected as “unfair” critics of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement who would “dismiss what is a very real issue and a very real need based on a perceived lack of organization.”
“I think that most grassroots movements that I am aware of start out messy and disorganized but they do come together because there is some galvanizing need or desire or sense of purpose,” he said.
The camp is filled with protesters – young and old with different professions and backgrounds – many toting signs decrying corporate greed or espousing other causes. People exchange ideas as they make food for demonstrators or, on this day, move the camp to accommodate new arrivals.
The cry of “mic check” is often heard, when an individual needs to make an announcement to the group. At daily general assemblies, anyone with an opinion – about anything – can take the microphone and express it.
Reiner, wearing a blue fleece jacket and khaki pants, is not one to make a speech. But he approaches a reporter interviewing the crowd and willingly tells his story.
He said his last layoff, in 2007, came after two others since 2001. In each case, he was dismissed because Wall Street analysts determined that his company’s stock was underperforming, not because the firm wasn’t profitable, he said.
“I assumed after the last layoff that, that was probably it for me, I was probably not going to find another job like I’ve had because they were being eliminated,” he said. “And, the last five years looking for work obviously confirmed (that).”
“My identity in terms of how I define myself for my profession has been destroyed. It’s a humiliating feeling and it’s also terribly worrisome because I’m only 49-years-old — which doesn’t feel old to me — and I had planned to work for another 20 years and I have a family to support,” he added. “(Now) I need to figure out how it is we are going to be able to survive.”
Reiner said he and his wife try to shield their sons — eight and 12 — from the economic strains. He said he hasn’t bought new clothes for himself in years, his wife wears old clothes to work and they don’t go out to dinner or to movies. They haven’t taken a vacation in years, either.
“There are a lot of things that we used to do to have fun, to enjoy ourselves, to stay sane, and the absence of that has placed enormous strain on our marriage,” he said. “We’re sticking through it together, but it’s a daily burden and … we make sacrifices so that our kids don’t have to make as many. But our kids have to make sacrifices, too.”
He said one of his son’s friends wanted him to join a weekly swim lesson, but Reiner said he had to tell him they couldn’t afford it. The other wanted to return to taekwondo, but they don’t have money for that either. Reiner said his son now puts on his uniform to do shadow kicks on his own.
Reiner believes his resume has often ended up in the trash, and when he gets an interview, he either learns that the job doesn’t yet exist or finds himself explaining “the elephant in the room” — why he hasn’t had work for so long.
“The answer, you know, I was a victim of a corporate layoff and what I’ve been doing is this, I’ve been trying to get inside the door again,” he said, adding that the response seems either “suspect” to those interviewing him or has “some stigma or fear attached to it.”
Wednesday was Reiner’s fourth day at the camp. Usually he can only come during school hours since he has to get the boys off to school and pick them up afterward. He arranged a play date for his sons so he could join the afternoon march.
“I will continue to come regularly and see what I can contribute to the cause,” he said. “If it’s just my body … marching in a line, that’s one thing, but I’m going around to various tables and offering what I can do.”
While he is adding his voice to the growing protest, Reiner said he is trying to make hay from his experience by penning a book on his plunge from affluence to jobless. His memoir, on his having to live without food or water for several months after a medical emergency and the ensuing impact on his family and his health, was published in September.
But he’s also continuing to retain a shred of hope in the face of what at times seems like a hopeless exercise.
“I and my peers keep hoping that things will get better. I mean it’s insulting when we hear sometimes that the unemployment statistics don’t include the millions of people who have given up, and that identifies me because my unemployment benefits have run out a long time ago,” he said. “But I haven’t given up. I continue to look for work year after year, as do my friends.”
“… I can deal with the humiliation. What’s not negotiable is living in debt and not having the means to pay our bills.”
http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/05/8174558-insider-out-one-mans-journey-from-the-front-office-to-wall-st-occupier
Tampa Police Department barricades
Lykes Gaslight Park
CONTACT: Facilitation
Email: blake@occupytampa.org
CONTACT: Media
Email: chris@occupytampa.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TAMPA POLICE DEPARTMENT BARRICADES LYKES GASLIGHT PARK
Tampa Bay General Assembly will still convene
Tampa, FL (October 5, 2011) — This evening, the Tampa Police Department barricaded a three-block diameter around Lykes Gaslight Park, where the Tampa Bay General Assembly (TBGA) plans to assemble tomorrow in downtown Tampa.
All federal and state buildings have been blocked off in early anticipation for the largest social activist gathering in Florida in over a decade. The TBGA is a group of citizens trying to exercise their First Amendment right to peacefully assemble. With potentially thousands from around Florida showing up to hold a public forum, organizers have been informed that officers are already on duty patrolling the area.
Attendees are still welcome to gather, but the police have warned the Legal Team that citizens must stay off roads and obey crosswalks, cannot wear masks and must follow the laws of the park. The park hours are from dawn to dusk. Drugs, alcohol and megaphones are prohibited. The law states that no more than fifty people are allowed to gather without a permit. A permit requires sixty days of notice, $300 per day, insurance costing $1000 per day, security and sanitation details. If any of these laws are broken, gatherers will be subject to arrest.
The Tampa Bay General Assembly organizers strongly feel that these ordinances interfere with their First Amendment right to peacefully gather. Organizers are asking citizens who attend to remain nonviolent and orderly, but photograph everything. Police have warned that the TBGA will not be allowed to reconvene after tomorrow. Essentially, this will be the final gathering at Gaslight Park unless the General Assembly decides by consensus to defend its First Amendment right and occupy the park.
Organizers will conduct Peace Workshops to inform attendees how to confront potential escalations. The TBGA is a public forum, designed to allow people of every background to gather and discuss social issues. It has voted by consensus to remain peaceful throughout its existence.
All are welcome. None will be turned away. Nonviolence is paramount.
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