Posted 12 years ago on May 11, 2012, 7:42 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
They bombard us with numbers, and sometimes they almost make us forget that across from the numbers, thousands of lives are hidden. OUR LIVES. Lets show them we are much more than that! 12th of May: Occupy the streets in every city of the world.
May 12 is a Global Day of Action called by the indignad@s, Occupy, and allied social movements around the world. In 2011 we showed another world was possible. Our struggle continues in 2012; together we will rally against corruption, human rights violations, censorship, police brutality and corporate greed. May 12th, 2012 — everywhere. Join us.
Mass demonstrations are planned in Barcelona, Valencia, and over 60 other cities across Spain. In Madrid, the movement will return to Puerta del Sol. From the 12th to 15th of May, protesters will take the square for assemblies, performances, workshops, and discussions on the the alternatives they’ve worked on for the past year. Assemblies and actions are planned to address education, migration, the housing crisis, the economy, the environment, unemployment, civil disobedience, feminism, youth, pensioners, and more. Protesters are also planning to protest at banks responsible for the Spanish and global financial crises. The Spanish government, which recently began a severe crackdown on protest movements, has said they will not allow the protesters to camp in Sol or other squares throughout the country. The government says it will end the protest at 10pm. The major marches are not scheduled to arrive at Sol until around 9pm.
Occupiers in London will return to St. Pauls Cathedral across from the London Stock Exchange and then march through London to ¨Meet the 1%¨ on a tour of different banks and institutions whose greed is responsible for the global financial crisis. Demonstrations are also planned in Ireland, Chile, Portugal, Brazil, Germany, Cuba, Greece, Indonesia, Israel, France, Malaysia, Russia, and at least 384 cities in over 50 countries across the world.
In the U.S., solidarity actions are planned in Portland, St. Louis, and many other cities. Occupy Los Angeles will be hosting a 12M anti-capitalist General Assembly. In Boston, the People of Color Group of Occupy Boston will host a ceremony to preserve the last standing grove of Silver Maple trees that are slated to be cut down for “redevelopment” as luxury apartments for the 1%. Occupy Denver will be protesting and occupying the Downtown Denver Partnership, a business organization behind a law that attacks Occupy and would criminalize the survival act of sleeping by homeless people. Occupy Chicago, labor unions, community groups, anti-war and international solidarity groups and faith based activists will host a Peoples Assembly on Alternatives to War and Poverty to begin a week of actions that will culminate in protests against NATO.
In Brooklyn, as part of a citywide week of action against budget cuts and austerity, Occupy Bushwick, Healthcare for the 99%, and others will fight to save
Wycoff Hospital. Occupiers, unions, immigrant rights groups, students, anti-war activists, environmentalists, and others from across Texas and the country will also gather near Dallas to protest the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- a massive, new international trade and investment pact currently being negotiated behind closed doors between the United States and countries throughout the Pacific Rim and pushed by Wall Street banks and other corporate interests.
Governor Cuomo appointed Wall Street banker Stephen Berger to fix healthcare in Brooklyn. Berger recommended merging and downsizing Wyckoff and other Brooklyn hospitals that provide necessary healthcare in low-income and medically underserved communities.
Join us to speak out against hospital closings, service reductions, and budget cuts!
Reclaim Healthcare for the 99%!
@2:30pm Maria Hernandez Park, northside, at Starr St and Irving Ave. Subway from Manhattan/Brooklyn take L Train to Jefferson Stop. From Brooklyn Food Conference atBrooklyn Tech High School take B38 to DeKalb Ave/Knickerbocker Ave.
@3pm March to Wyckoff Hospital Speak out on healthcare cuts and hospital closings in Brooklyn, and picket at Wyckoff Hospital, Stockholm St and Wyckoff Ave. Take L Train to DeKalb Stop.
This action is part of the “Another City is Possible” Campaign which is organizing a week of action protesting budget cuts in New York City.
Posted 12 years ago on May 11, 2012, 6:07 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
As hundreds of thousands of people around the world prepare to take to the streets this weekend as part of a global call for change, the International ‘Global Spring’ Assembly – an international and inter-movement assembly formed of supporters of Occupy, Take the Square and Latin American, African, Asian and Middle Eastern social movements – has released its first statement describing concrete suggestions for a ‘global change’.
The statement – the Global May Manifesto – calls for systemic change in the global economy: the radical democratisation of international institutions like the IMF, BIS and UN; the replacement of the G8/20 with a democratic UN assembly; a system of global taxation on financial transactions; and for the abolition of tax havens. It does not represent the position of any local or city assembly; rather it is offered for their consideration.
Endorsed by consensus on 4 May 2012 by the International Assembly, this statement has been in development since January 2012. It was a process that has seen thousands of people from six continents and hundreds of cities participating in the discussion and planning for the international days of protests this month – particularly focusing on the 1, 12, 15 and 18 May. These International Assembly meetings have been convened in bi-weekly assemblies, over an online VoIP platform (called Mumble, which enables mass conference calls and give the assembly its formal name – the International General Assembly on Mumble).
The process for developing this global manifesto – which is a work in progress – started by collecting statements from the different local and city assemblies, then merging these into a common statement. Individuals were then invited to make new proposals through a public website and a number of mailing lists that are used for international inter-movement communication.
Alvaro Rodriguez, 31, of the Indignados movement in Spain, who participated in the process of writing the statement, said: “This is the beginning of a new global process of bringing the opinions of many people around the world together. It represents the beginnings of a form of global democracy in its infancy which is direct and participatory – of the people, by the people and for the people. While the statement does not represent the position of local and city assemblies, the next step is to present it to assemblies around the world for consideration, discussion and revisions, as part of a dialogue of the ‘Global Spring’ movements taking place across six continents.”
Next steps for international coordination
Individuals around the world are invited to participate in this process of further developing this global manifesto through their local and city assemblies, through the facebook group and through the website.
Global May Manifesto
The statement below does not speak, or claim to speak, on behalf of everyone in the global spring/Occupy/Take the Square movements. This is an attempt by some inside the movements to reconcile statements written and endorsed in the different assemblies around the world. The process of writing the statement was consensus based, open to all, and regularly announced on our international communications platforms, that are also open to all (e.g. the ‘squares’ mailing list, the weekly global roundtables and the ‘international’ facebook group). It was a long and difficult process, full of compromises. This statement is offered to peoples’ assemblies around the world for discussions, revisions and endorsements.
There will be a process of a global dialogue, and this statement is part of it, a work-in-progress. We do not make demands from governments, corporations or parliament members, which some of us see as illegitimate, unaccountable or corrupt. We speak to the people of the world, both inside and outside our movements. We want another world, and such a world is possible:
On May 19, Mayor 1% Emanuel will bring to Chicago military and civilian representatives of the 28-nation US-commanded and largely US-financed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and heads of state and finance ministers of the G-8 world economic powers.
They meet on behalf of the 1% of the world, the rich and the powerful, the bankers and generals. Their agenda is to continue to impose austerity, or poverty, by cutting social spending for workers and the poor to maintain profitability for the rich and to launch more wars to stop the rise of the poor nations of the Third World.
The people of this fine city do not want these summits. The mayor has his own agenda. In anticipation of widespread opposition to the war & poverty agenda of the NATOG8, Mayor Emanuel passed a set of first-amendment crushing ordinances, known as "Sit Down Shut Up", to stifle the exercise of free speech and assembly during the summits. The mayor single-handedly gave himself the abililty to issue no-bid security contracts and deputize out-of-town law enforcement while imposing harsh restrictions on parades, marches and demonstrations.
But we will not be silenced. We will stand up to this corrupt system and say enough! Join Occupy Chicago, Coalition Against NATO/G8 (CANG8), the Midwest Antiwar Mobilization and many more as we gather in Chicago in May!
The Coalition Against NATO/G8 is a broad formation that includes labor unions, community groups, anti-war and international solidarity groups and faith based activists. From the CANG8 website:
Protest the NATO/G8 Summit on Saturday, May 19th, 2012!
Noon rally at Daley Plaza, then march to McCormick Place!
Join in a legal, permitted, family-friendly march and rally that will end within sight and sound of the summit at McCormick Place!
At the invitation of the White House, military and civilian representatives of the 28-nation US-commanded and largely US-financed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and heads of state and finance ministers of the G-8 world economic powers are meeting in Chicago, May 19-21, 2012. To that we say…
No to War and Austerity!
Money out of politics! Represent for the people, not the money!
No to NATO/G-8 Warmakers!
Jobs, Healthcare, Education, Pensions, Housing & the Environment, Not War!
May 12-13: Peoples Summit May 14: Money for Education not War May 15: Immigration: No Human is Illegal May 16: Foreclosure: Housing is a Right: No Evictions, No Foreclosures! May 17: Environment: Planet over Profits! May 18: Austerity/NNU March for the Robin Hood Tax May 19: Health Care May 21: Democracy - Shut Down Boeing!
