Allison Kilkenny | The Nation
'Occupy the Arts': South Carolina Activists Protest Governor Haley's Cuts
Governor Nikki Haley recently announced additional austerity measures for her state, including cutting $1.9 million in funding for the South Carolina Arts Commission and $500,000 in funding earmarked for grants. Haley called the agency redundant, and said it can receive private funds and apply for funding through grants.
Several lawmakers have vowed to override Haley’s budget vetoes next week. Senator Joel Lourie, D-Richland County said he thinks the legislature will likely see “strong override votes that way surpass” the necessary two-thirds approval.
Activists Protest Romney's 'Koch Problem'
On her way into a swank fundraiser for Mitt Romney in the Hamptons—the recommended contribution for the event was $25,000—a donor spoke to the LA Times and said the following:
“I don’t think the common person is getting it…my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies— everybody who’s got the right to vote—they don’t understand what’s going on. I just think if you’re lower income—one, you’re not as educated, two, they don’t understand how it works, they don’t understand how the systems work, they don’t understand the impact.”
NYPD Brands Occupy Wall Street Couple 'Professional Agitators'
The New York Daily News recently exposed a story centered around two Occupy Wall Street activists, Christina Gonzalez and Matthew Swaye, who have been targeted by the NYPD.
In speaking with Occupy activists, it quickly becomes clear that protesters are extremely paranoid when it comes to the topic of the police. Many activists, based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence, believe undercover police are constantly in their midst, or target demonstrators perceived to be the “leaders” of Occupy, even though, as the group has emphatically stated since its inception, the movement has no leader.
These suspicions are not without foundation. Undercovers do attempt to infiltrate Occupy, and most recently, two agents did so quite quite successfully in the case of the NATO 3.
National Occupy Gathering Kicks Off in Philadelphia
Occupy participants from around the country have converged on Philadelphia for the “National Gathering” June 30 through July 4. Organizers estimate the event will draw around 1,500 protesters and has been independently endorsed by more than 100 Occupy groups across the country.
From its very beginning, the convention was less about occupation and more about building communities.
The Resistance Continues as Citizens Fight Budget Cuts
Much has been written about the future of Occupy: the movement is dead, it is not dead, it evolved into something else, it will experience a resurgence in the fall etc. But what has received less air time are all the ways in which citizens, be they part of Occupy or not, continue to battle budget cuts in their own communities and across the country.
The blasé reception of this ongoing resistance might be explained, in part, by the decline of Occupy’s occupations. Revolution is sexy, but the quiet resistance of low-key direct action lacks Liberty Park’s flash.
Yet the resistance continues, in ways large and small.
Thousands Occupy Tel Aviv, Police Respond With Brutal Force
Police arrested eighty-nine protesters after more than 6,500 people flooded Tel Aviv’s Habima Square Saturday night to protest the arrest of Daphni Leef, the leader of last summer’s mass protests against inequality and the high cost of housing in Israel.
Tel Aviv District Commander Aharon Eksel told Haaretz, “Protesters crossed the line. They set out to clash with the police.”
Police also say the protest was illegal, and that protesters attacked inspectors and police by spitting and throwing objects.
Thousands of Doctors Strike in UK Protest Over Pensions
Thousands of doctors in Northern Ireland began strike action this morning in a UK protest over pensions. As a result, hospitals have cancelled some non-urgent operations and General Physicians are accepting only emergency cases.
This marks the first strike by doctors in the UK in almost forty years.
BBC:
Activists Protest G20 While US Media Talk Trivialities
Protests continue in Los Cabos, Mexico, during the G20 summit of world leaders, though learning of these demonstrations—especially if one lives within the United States—is quite a difficult task for consumers of the establishment media.
On Monday, activists unfurled a giant “one trillion dollar” bill to represent the money given in fossil fuel subsidies every year, and the group Avaaz.org says it collected more than 750,000 signatures for a petition calling for a shift to renewable energy.
But rather than discussing environmental policies or austerity measures, NBC’s Chuck Todd obsessed endlessly over the body language between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Obama.
Occupy Our Homes Saves Another Family From Foreclosure
Occupy Our Homes, a movement to protect families from foreclosures and evictions, has enjoyed a recent string of successes. In February, the group helped Helen Bailey, the 78-year-old former civil rights activist who was threatened with foreclosure by JPMorgan Chase while the company trumpeted its efforts to uphold Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, to stay in her home following a successful campaign by Occupy Nashville.
The group also aided a Detroit husband and wife who spent months worrying they could be evicted from their home of twenty-two years. The couple received news they would be permitted to stay after an aggressive campaign that was led by members of Moratorium Now, Occupy Detroit and Homes Before Banks and included the family’s supporters blocking the contractor from placing a dumpster.
Additionally, Occupy Atlanta prevented the eviction of a family when two dozen protesters encamped on the family’s lawn, and Occupy Our Homes delayed another foreclosure in Rochester, as did show more
Trials Begin for Occupy Wall Street D17 Arrestees, NATO 3
Nearly six months after their arrests during a December 17 Occupy Wall Street protest at Duarte Square, eight activists accused of trespassing finally went on trial Monday.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Duarte Square back in December to mark the three-month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. Those present included the OWS hunger strikers, who at the time, were in their fifteenth day of fasting.
On Monday, the Guardian’s Ryan Devereaux described a packed courthouse, filled with Occupy supporters who spilled out into the hallway, as they awaited to hear the testimonies of the New York City police officers responsible for arresting the protesters in a vacant lot owned by Trinity Church.
Latest
-
May 2, 2013 - 6:06 PM ET
-
May 2, 2013 - 2:53 PM ET
-
May 2, 2013 - 2:19 PM ET
Blogs
Blog Roll
