Two Months Away! Make Plans to March on Wall Street South!

In just two short months, thousands will fill the streets of Charlotte for the March on Wall Street South. There are many different struggles and issues that will bring people to this demonstration, but we will all march together united. We are tired of the injustices being committed against our communities, fed up with the two parties representing the big banks and the corporations and not the people, we want an economy that meets human needs, and we know that we need to build independent people’s power from below to build the world that we deserve!

We will gather at 11am for an opening rally at Frazier Park in Charlotte, NC and then step off for the march at 1pm. It will all be happening on Sunday, September 2, right before the start of the Democratic National Convention.

Get involved today to help make it a success! Here are a few things you can do today:

1. Sign up to be a local organizing center — Can you help organize a carpool, a van, or even a bus from your area to help people get to the March on Wall Street South? Let us know today!

2. Become a volunteer! – Let us know if you can help with the buildup to the March on Wall Street South, would like to get involved in a working group, live in the Charlotte-area or can come early for outreach and trainings, or if you can help with the many tasks on the day of the demonstration.

3. Make a donation – The two corporate parties have the banks and the 1% to rely on for funding, but all we have is each other. We are still a long way off from reaching our goal of $10,000 to make the march happen. Please consider making a donation today, circulating this appeal through your networks, or holding a fundraiser in your area.

4. Organize an outreach event — Events are being organized in communities throughout the South and the US to spread the word about the March on Wall Street South and the mobilization around the DNC. Can you organize an event in your area? Coalition organizers can travel to speak at your event and send other materials to help you out!

5. Spread the word on Facebook, Twitter! — Help us spread the word by liking the Coalition on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and inviting all your friends to the event!

There are many other initiatives in the works for the week of September 1 – 6 as well, including a youth, student, and immigrant led Festivaliberación/Liberation Festival on September 1, and a Southern Workers Assembly on Labor Day, September 3.

Keep checking the website to download fliers and other resources and for the most up to date information as we get closer to September!

Build the movement! See you in Charlotte!

Coalition to March on Wall Street South
Building People’s Power During the DNC

PRESS RELEASE -- July 2, 2012

Coalition Marks Two Months Until the March on Wall Street South, Denounces “Free Speech Lottery” Being Held By City Officials

Charlotte, NC — In just two short months from today, thousands from across the country will be organizing carpools, filling vans, and renting buses to mobilize to Charlotte for the March on Wall Street South. The march is set to begin at 11am on Sunday, September 2, at Frazier Park, with the march stepping off around 1pm.

Coalition organizers report that preparations for the march are steadily progressing. At the end of May, organizers won permits for the march and held their first meeting to begin negotiations with City of Charlotte officials in mid-June. Planning for other initiatives before and during the DNC — including a youth and student “Festivaliberación,” a meeting of Southern workers, Occupy actions, and more — is also moving forward.

“From Georgia to Mississippi, Massachusetts to New York, Illinois to Wisconsin, and as far away as Oregon, plans are being made to mobilize to Charlotte in September,” said Donna Dewitt, President Emertius, South Carolina AFL-CIO, Communication Workers of America. “There are many reasons that folks will come to the March on Wall Street South, but we’re united in our calls for jobs, justice for our communities, and money for human needs, not more wars and jails. Both corporate parties are working on behalf of the banks, not the people, and in order to create the world we deserve, we have to build an independent people’s power movement from below.”

Today is also the day that the City of Charlotte plans to hold a “free speech lottery” to assign times to groups along a predetermined march route and speakers platform for September 4-6 when the DNC will be in session. The Coalition has roundly rejected that lottery as an affront to the basic constitutional rights of freedom of speech and assembly.

“The route that Charlotte has offered ensures that those who use it will be isolated and won’t be seen or heard by any of the convention delegates or bankers uptown,” said Michael Zytkow, a member of the Coalition and Occupy Charlotte. “People should have the right to speak out and assemble at any time, place, and in any manner of their choosing. The lack of applications, 24 for the 60 spots available, sends a clear message that people planning on attending the DNC do not consider the freedoms of speech and assembly subject to governmental lotteries. We categorically reject any attempts by the City of Charlotte or other state agencies to box demonstrators up into “free speech zones” or adopt any policies that will stand in the way of the rights of people to gather, speak and express our legitimate grievances. ”