Occupiers from across the country gathering at Boeing in Chicago as part of the counter-NATO week of actions

Last weekend, scores of occupiers took buses from New York to Chicago to join thousands of people from the social justice movement, peace advocates, occupiers, students, and labor to face the forces of the self-appointed world police: NATO. The demonstrators protested the culture of militarism, war, and oppression pursued by NATO, by creatively bringing their messages to the streets. Once again peaceful demonstrators were pushed back violently and then blamed for the violence. The only suitable answer for those who try to silence us is to speak even louder, take more streets, occupy more public space, and continue to inspire the 99% to create democratic change

Occupy these Upcoming Events

Every Wednesday, 4pm
The People’s Gong
This Wednesday, and every Wednesday thereafter, we call on all people to join Occupy Wall Street in ringing the People's Gong. We first meet at the steps of Federal Hall, mic check, and afterwards we return to Liberty Plaza to debrief and work on projects across OWS. We invite all working groups to re-occupy Liberty Park with us and join the report-back circle at 7:30pm.

Wednesday May 23, 6pm
Winning at Work: Labor Law for the 99%
Communication Workers of America, 6 Harrison Street
“If it’s effective, it’s illegal”. This is common wisdom for anyone trying to organize in workplaces today. The OWS Labor Alliance presents a workshop with Daniel Gross and Sonia Lin about how to challenge the hurdles facing workplace organizing.

Wednesday May 23, 8:30pm
Occupy: Chicago was a TRIP
The Yippie Cafe, 9 Bleeker Street
We've all heard it: Chicago was freaking CRAZY. So if you were there, come out to Occupational Hazards: we'll have free food for Chicago Occupiers (and anyone else) and a soapbox to tell your story. This event features Sumumba of OccuEvolve, here to discuss how Occupy can reach the next level, and a musical guest.

Thursday, May 24, 8am
Goldman Sachs 2012 Shareholders Meeting
Goldman Sachs, 30 Hudson St, Jersey City
This year most financial groups are holding their shareholders meeting outside of NYC - away from Wall St. and OWS. Citigroup is having theirs in Dallas. Goldman Sachs is holding theirs conveniently across the river in Jersey City. Field trip anyone?

Thursday, May 24, 630pm
National Occupy Networking This Summer - A Town Hall Meeting
The Brooklyn Commons - 388 Atlantic Ave.
Seven months ago to the day, the Occupy movement spoke to each other for the first time on the first ever InterOccupy conference call. Join us this Thursday to celebrate how far we have come, and discuss how we can build together through the summer and into year two! Learn about what is happening and how you can plug in!

Saturday May 26, 12pm
Summer Disobedience School
Bryant Park, 42nd Street and 6th Avenue
The OWS Direct Action Group is launching Summer Disobedience School. We’ve completed Spring Training – and we’re moving and communicating in the streets like never before. Join us!

Saturday May 26, 1pm
Critical Walking Tours
The Gandhi statue in the southwest corner of Union Square
Engage the city, your body, and others, by putting yourself in motion on a set of 6 summer discussion-walks to engage the political, ecological, and your embodied urban environment – New York City. Each walk will start at different point in the city with a short inspirational text and space from which to launch our journey and discussion.

Sunday, May 27, 2pm
OccuPicnic at Astoria Park
Astoria Park, 23rd avenue and 19th street, Astoria, Queens
Occupy Astoria Long Island City would like to invite everyone to an Occupy Picnic! We'd like to celebrate the Occupy movement, catch up with all our friends throughout the five boroughs and make new friends.

Tuesday, May 29, 630pm
OWS Summer Reboot
33 West 14th Street
In the Community Dialogues there was a break-out group around GA, Spokes, and structure. These points came up consistently: intentionality, inclusivity, community, communication, coordination, access, transparency. Now, we must ask ourselves what a structure looks like that meets these needs. Come to the Summer Reboot! Create the OWS you always imagined!
(re-scheduled from Wednesday, May 23)

This week’s featured Occu-Project

INDIGNACIÓN

Indig-Nación is the first Spanish language newspaper of OWS, and we aim to be an instrument that mobilizes and builds bridges between Latino occupiers, grassroots organizations and those yet to enter the conversation. Although a wide spectrum of Latinos have participated within the Occupy movements, the media discussion in Spanish regarding Occupy is underwhelming at best. We believe it’s essential for diverse voices in Spanish to intervene in the public conversation by sharing their personal stories and connecting Latin American history and experiences of struggle to our current situation.

Learn More

Daily #OccupyUnionSq Info Table, 9am - 9pm
@OWSUnionSquare
Every day Occupy Union Square has an info table open and staffed, acting as a hub to promote the constant flurry of events and meetings occurring in the park and across OWS. Click here to find out how you can help out with immediate needs of the Union Square occupiers to keep it running and growing. Help is particularly requested for providing content on the new website: http://occupyunionsquare.wordpress.com.

For Text Message alerts on your cellphone about daily events, actions, and important information, sign up for the ComHub SMS blasts by texting @owscom to 23559.

Times Square, May 12 2012

via InterOccupy.org

The protests in Chicago show that Occupy is a network committed to social change through direct action. Arguably,the policies of NATO benefit Americans the most, so to march against NATO in America is a very strong statement against war and how it perpetuates uneven capitalist development. At NATO, the rich and powerful decide which countries will be unified, which they will ignore or refuse aid, and those they will invade. NATO is both a military alliance and an instigator of severe repression as its policies ensure the reign of the global north over countries who adopt other economic systems. This history of NATO shows that it began as an arrangement to suppress communism, but it now endures to secure the profits of multinational corporations.

As for this weekend, perhaps mirroring the military strategy of NATO, the protests were over-policed and extremely violent. Police beat and sprayed non-violent protesters with impunity. Those who were live streaming events were pulled over by police, detained, and harassed. Others had their homes invaded and have been accused of terrorism. Several participants in the Occupy movement who traveled to Chicago reported being followed by unmarked police vans as they moved about the city. In another instance, travelers who intended to camp in a backyard were met with police condemning the back porch and requiring them to move along. When real police oppression is happening, it becomes difficult to focus on the policies of NATO as the target of protest activities. But, those from the Occupy movement went to Chicago to support the Nurse’s Union’s call for a Robin Hood Tax, to support veterans’ calls to end all wars, and to raise awareness that NATO is the army of the 1%.

Moving forward, the more the Occupy movement converges at these large-scale protests, the more fundamentally influential we will become on setting the national political agenda. Practice makes perfect as the saying goes. People that resist together form dense ties and begin to trust each other’s judgement. These are the moments where movements crystallize and become strongly aligned in vision and goals. Those who met in Chicago will have ample opportunities to rally again as plans are in the works to protest the DNC and RNC as well as the November elections. In addition, an open and transparent national gathering in Philly is happening on July 4th.