Peter Rothberg | The Nation

Check out “Distractions,” the first single on Talib Kweli’s new album Prisoner of Conscious, a work which the Brooklyn rapper called a “love letter to the Occupy Movement everywhere.” (Kweli explains his motivations and inspirations here.)

Now, read up on “Five Ways You Can Help Re-Occupy America.”

The inimitable singer, songwriter and drummer Levon Helm died today at the untimely age of 71 in the wake of a long battle with throat cancer.

Helm rose to fame in a legendary rootsy rock group, The Band, that featured three extraordinary singers. But you could always tell which voice was his: he was the stern Southern preacher, the broken Confederate soldier and the dirt farmer at the end of his day.

In a beautiful remembrance, Charles Pierce called Helm the “true voice of America.” I agree.

“I want to thank him for the way he sang, and for the throb of his drums, and for the way he helped point the way home for all of us who thought we’d lost our country. He brought us back to what was really important: the fugitive grace of a young democracy, that America, for all its flaws and shortcomings, for all its loss of faith in itself and its stubborn self-delusions, was a country that was meant to rock. For that, I return his salute from long ago. Thank you, neighbor. And godspeed.”

Pierce also talked about Helm’s amazing generosity of spirit, which I was fortunate enough to experience once when, as a teenage Deadhead, I asked him a question after a show at the old Bottom Line in Greenwich Village, which quickly turned into an invitation into a cramped Green Room—and from there a crawl to a local bar and one of the best nights of my life. RIP.

Empowered by a federal court ruling that allows protesters to legally sleep on public sidewalks, as long as they don’t block building entrances or take up more than half of the available space, #SleepfulProtest is proving to be an effective new tactic helping speed Occupy Wall Street’s re-emergence into the streets and public spaces of the US. (My colleague Allison Kilkenny recently explained and explored this new strategy.)

It’s been so effective, in fact, that this morning at 6:00 am the NYPD, in direct defiance of the 2000 decision Metropolitan Council Inc. v. Safir, which held “public sleeping as a means of symbolic expression” to be constitutionally protected speech, raided the corner across from the New York Stock Exchange where Occupiers have been sleeping. A motion for an emergency injunction against NYPD disruption of the sidewalk protests was filed this morning.

In the meantime, here are five ways you can help support the Re-Occupation of America:

1. Go to Wall Street to join the Occupiers if you can. This is the epicenter of the movement and the inspiration for what has happened across the country. During the day, Occupiers distribute literature or hold meetings around Liberty Square, Union Square, and throughout the city. As many as one hundred people have been sleeping nightly on Wall Street—with only a few thousand more the entire length of Wall Street could be legally occupied.

2. Spread the word. Keep up with the latest developments from all of the Occupied media sources. The best way to receive current updates on new encampments and other events is to use social media. The Wall Street Occupiers use @SleepOnWallSt. For twenty-four-hour protests in other cities, check out #SleepfulProtest and #BankSleep. Like and share this Facebook page. Also follow and RT @occupywallstnyc and @occupycolleges.

3. Donate to Occupy Wall Street through its website. If you don´t have money to spare, another way to contribute is to follow the Twitter hashtag #NeedsOfTheOccupiers. Occupiers are often in need of donations of things like food, water, tarps and camping gear.

4. Get ready for the May 1 actions. This is expected to be a major day of resistance on many fronts and of many forms. Do something!

5. Help save Chicago’s Woodlawn Mental Health Clinic. Dozens of people who use Chicago’s mental health clinics along with other advocates have barricaded themselves into the Woodlawn Clinic at 6337 S. Woodlawn. This is one of six clinics slated for closure in Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s austerity budget. They intend to remain there until the mayor agrees to keep all of Chicago’s direly needed public clinics open, fully funded and fully staffed. Check #SaveOurClinics for info on how to help. If you’re in Chicago, go to the clinic!

Please use the comments field below to let me know what I’ve missed.

Since Occupy Wall Street emerged last September, debates over its impact have roiled both liberals and conservatives confused by the fact of a (successful yet) leaderless movement lacking concrete demands.

But something seems to be working. The 99% Spring is just the latest recent example of OWS's influence. An impressive coalition of liberal-left groups and organizations, led by MoveOn.org and including the AFL-CIO, Greenpeace, the Working Families Party, 350.org, Campaign for America's Future, United Students Against Sweatshops, CodePink, Global Exchange and Color of Change aims to recruit and train 100,000 Americans “to tell the story of what happened to our economy, learn the history of non-violent direct action, and use that knowledge to take action on our own campaigns to win change.” A cross-section of the country—from carpenters and stay-at-home moms to business people, students and farmers—has signed up for hundreds of sessions so far, according to an AP report.

To me, the simple fact that the cream of the liberal-left establishment is promoting direct action trainings in the six-months before a presidential election rather than focusing all its energies on the electoral horse race is dramatic testimony to Occupy's impact.

After the trainings, a series of actions—referred to as "Shareholder's Spring"—are planned to disrupt the shareholder meetings of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and thirty or so other leading multinationals along with a series of student-lead actions against Sallie Mae and other corporations that have profited off the student debt crisis.

The campaign's kick-off will take place from April 9 to April 15 when more then 700 trainings are expected to be held in all fifty states as people gather in homes, places of worship, campuses, libraries and the streets to train themselves in non-violent direct action and join together in the work of reclaiming our country.

Sign up to attend a training, check out this map for a list of upcoming actions and organize your own event and publicize it here.