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We are the 99 percent

Weekly Marches on Wall Street Each Friday! 2PM LIBERTY SQUARE

Posted 12 years ago on March 16, 2012, 7:12 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt

may day

Start training for May Day and join the spring resistance! Weekly marches every Friday; meet at 2 PM in Liberty Square!

via the NYCGA:

On Friday, March 16, 2012, at 2PM, Occupy Wall Street will converge in the streets once again and launch the first in a series of spring training marches from Liberty Square to Wall Street in preparation for May Day, a day of massive economic non-compliance and strike. These marches will occur weekly and will allow occupiers to practice various street tactics and theatrics. For the first march, participants are encouraged to wear athletic gear, don their game face, and prepare to make the 1% feel the burn!

Organizers say besides growing comfortable employing various tactics with each other in actions, the intention of these marches are to strengthen the community to make upcoming campaigns and efforts, like reoccupation, as successful as possible.

After organizing, training, learning, growing, and working together for the winter months, Occupy is returning back to the basics as done in September: accessible direct actions to strengthen our community and voice our grievances to the 1%. Crimes by Wall Street brought us here and the 99% will continue to drive the message home and make civil unrest tangible.

The schedule is as follows: Meet at 2 PM in Liberty Square for sign making and a short march tactics training. At 3 PM occupiers will march to Wall Street and descend on the New York Stock Exchange to counter the closing bell with “The People’s Gong.” Following the march there will be a potluck dinner at 60 Wall Street.

Join Occupy Wall Street for spring training!

32 Comments

32 Comments


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[-] 3 points by MaryS (529) 12 years ago

Occupiers set up living room in Bank of America lobby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jUzMLu4K_2o Don't know if you guys have seen this, pretty cute. All they need is a fridge lol

[-] 1 points by Marlow (1141) 11 years ago

Friday 'Glitch' on the BATS Exchange.. was a wake up call to Get the Market back on a FAIR TRADING TRACK.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/l...

These Henchfund Mgrs, and Mutual Exchange Software Trading programs have been running Amok~!

Retail Investors are nearly 60% Out of the Market.. and what happens next will Determine how long these Idiot Crooks can continue.

'Circuit Breakers' are a JOKE!... the UpTic Rule is a Solid Answer.. and now it MUST Return in FULL Measure.

.. Marlow.editor Investors4Justice.net. Sponsor of the Online Petition to Stop Corruption on Wall Street .. Please take a moment to Stop Goldman Sachs with Independent Audits.. and help get them indicted!

Friday 'Glitch' on the BATS Exchange.. was a wake up call to Get the Market back on a FAIR TRADING TRACK.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/l...

These Henchfund Mgrs, and Mutual Exchange Software Trading programs have been running Amok~!

Retail Investors are nearly 60% Out of the Market.. and what happens next will Determine how long these Idiot Crooks can continue.

'Circuit Breakers' are a JOKE!... the UpTic Rule is a Solid Answer.. and now it MUST Return in FULL Measure.

[-] 2 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

Hey Marlow, and Good Morning. Nice to have an intelligent and sane investor speaking out for good policy.

[-] 3 points by struggleforfreedom80 (6584) 12 years ago

Step 1: Organize, grow, strike.

Step 2: Workers' takeover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMa40a_OH5o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQHo8l92U3U

[-] 1 points by pasteurize (20) 12 years ago

How many people in OWS are for actually making these types of changes? Isn't OWS strictly a protest movement without any demands?

[-] 2 points by epa1nter (4650) from Rutherford, NJ 12 years ago

OWS is not about making demands, but taking action. Rehabilitating foreclosed homes is not a demand, but an action. Shutting down a port is not a demand, but an action.

The 1% will not stop give up its control of the economy and political arena simply because a few people demand it to. Nor is OWS about controlling the political process or the American public. It is the public at large that must make demands. OWS, however, is changing the dialogue and creating a process whereby the public can become fully engaged.

OWS, by loudly and publicly protesting AND taking actions that challenge conventional thinking - about issues like absolute private property rights, the public good, and the corrosive effects of capitalism, - the public is given an opportunity to engage in a different dialogue along parameters unlike the one it has been limited to by the narrative the 1% has so far provided. That public can then take whatever actions, including making demands, it deems necessary.

[-] 4 points by pasteurize (20) 12 years ago

Darn, my entire comment got deleted after writing it!! lol

Rehabbing foreclosed homes doesn't enable the person who was foreclosed on to afford that home. It doesn't house homeless people. Shutting down a port doesn't help anyone.

I understand the value in protest. But protest is only useful if you use it to fix the problems you are protesting.

The reason why workers go on strike is to demand better working conditions. They go on strike and they don't go back until their demands are met. If a worker wants an increase in pay and they go on strike, don't demand an increase in pay and return to work the next day, what did that accomplish?

In order to make demands and fix problems, you need an organized movement. OWS is that organized movement! To say OWS will only protest and then the American public has to now go and start a whole other movement to generate changes is ridiculous!

So long as OWS just talks about ideas and protests, it will never be the source of fixing anything.

[-] 1 points by JohnQProtester (17) 12 years ago

Well I agree with you. The thing is the zealous individuals who want to sleep in tents are the ones acting on their beliefs.

A lot of the population is sitting on the fence. Get with your friends and try to start something. If your better idea really is better hopefully it will snowball.

The people who want to sleep in tents are going to do what they want to do. Don't wish for them change because they aren't.

However delivering criticism here does offer a chance to help other like minded individuals to act.

I've made various attempts to try to get something rolling where I am unfortunately I'm new to the area and I have the personal charisma of roadkill.

[-] 1 points by jrhirsch (4714) from Sun City, CA 12 years ago

Completely agree. These one day blockades and strikes will not work. Like trying to win a war in a day. Instead boycott daily the very corporations that buy Congress or that produce those overpriced must have products that we can buy generic, or in bulk, make, or grow ourselves.

[-] 1 points by pasteurize (20) 12 years ago

So long as the OWS remains a group of people sleeping in tents, the 1% will continue to win.

[-] 2 points by epa1nter (4650) from Rutherford, NJ 12 years ago

As long as it continues to raise consciousness, everybody wins.

OWS does not seek to usurp control, it seeks to return it into the hands of the American people, where it belongs.

[-] 2 points by pasteurize (20) 12 years ago

How did the person who lost their home to foreclosure win?

How did the homeless people win?

How did the unemployed people win?

How did the 50% of Americans who currently live in or close to poverty win?

How specifically will OWS return power to the hands of the American people?

[-] 1 points by epa1nter (4650) from Rutherford, NJ 12 years ago

You can't lay the blame for the financial meltdown and the state of the nation at OWS's feet. It is OWS that is trying to do something about it. The fact that you're asking those questions is testament to the fact that OWS has been raising these issues. Most people were discussing the national debt instead of homelessness before OWS came on the scene.

Sounds to me like you really need to get to a GA. Yours concerns are shared by OWS, Maybe you can either join in working on solutions, or at least listen to address your questions.

[-] 1 points by pasteurize (20) 12 years ago

Nowhere did I say OWS should be blamed for the economy! lol

You didn't explain how OWS protesting has enabled any of those people mentioned to win. What did they win?

What issue are you in particular concerned with and how do you see that problem being solved? I still don't see how just protesting a problem and not also publicizing some solution is going to solve anything.

Don't you agree that a more productive use of a strike would be to stay on strike until some condition is met (such as full employment or raising the minimum wage to a living wage or using taxes to redistribute income to lessen the inequality or something more radical like abolishing the system so that workers get 100% of the income instead of a small fraction)? Wouldn't that have a greater chance at solving a problem than just taking a day off from work? I don't see how taking a day off from work is going to help solve anything.

"Yours concerns are shared by OWS"

So you are saying OWS wants to formulate solutions but still haven't managed to formulate any after a year?

[-] 2 points by epa1nter (4650) from Rutherford, NJ 12 years ago

First your last point: it has been since Mid-September. That's six months. How long did the Civil Rights movement take? Decades. LGBT rights? Still working on those after 30 years. And so on.

This movement has accomplished alone things more quickly that any opposition movement has before it: it has fundamentally changed the dialogue for the entire country. All by itself, that's an enormous accomplishment in an extremely short time..

As to my concerns, all of the issues you mentioned are mine as well. I also would include at the top of the list the corruption of democracy itself. All of them really speak to one foundational issue: the inevitable result of capitalism. And that is one of the core issues that OWS is all about.

As to strategies, let's see what happens. I don't believe Occupy will hold strikes until a particular issue is resolved. That would limit its scope. Instead, i believe it will provide support both in terms of manpower and logistics, for those who wish to do so. I could be wrong, but that's what I see as the overall plan.

Again, I think you'll get better and more answers at a GA. You would benefit, too, from going on to the links provided on the main page. I believe GA minutes, action group reports, and the like are posted there.

[-] 1 points by pasteurize (20) 12 years ago

The civil rights movement did not take 30 years to formulate demands! They made the demands FIRST. They only started protesting AFTER their demands for civil rights legislation went unanswered. Their movement didn't begin with MLK protests. It began with groups like the NAACP that lobbied to repeal racist laws and to implement laws that gave minorities equal treatment. The protests began after that effort went too slowly.

I would disagree that OWS changed the dialogue of the country. The dialogue was changed by the collapse of the economy. People were already mad at wall street and the banks. OWS just capitalized on that public anger.

Their achievement was to organize under a single banner. Organizing is what is most difficult to do.

But then they completely dropped the ball by not using their organization in standing for any solutions or change. That's what makes OWS unique.

The challenge in creating change is organizing. The OWS managed to get people organized. But they are letting that go to waste. Change doesn't just magically come on its own. If OWS never protests for change, change will never come.

Most media reports were about the fact that OWS does not have an organized message. The media mocked OWS for this.

Compare that to the tea party. They had a clear message and a clear goal: get government out of the economy. That organized effort changed the majority of the House and continues to be influential on legislation.

What this country needs is the opposite of the tea party. OWS could have been that, but it dropped the ball.

[-] 1 points by JohnQProtester (17) 12 years ago

Good points all around from everyone. My problem with a lot of what I see on this website reminds me of the people who occupied the Capitol during the Wisconsin labor protests. Lots of zeal, physical courage, and values I'm sympathetic with. I also get the impression they're totally tone deaf to the fact your average citizen isn't like them and isn't going to be like them.

Protests exist to raise consciousness, rally people, and mobilize them into action. Strikes and physical occupations are only going to mobilize the most zealous or adventurous.

[-] 1 points by epa1nter (4650) from Rutherford, NJ 12 years ago

If you are really passionate about what you are saying, go to a GA or two. Let them know what you said here. This is not OWS. It is only a support site. The decisions are made at GAs and action group meetings.

"Most media reports were about the fact that OWS does not have an organized message. The media mocked OWS for this."

Most media is owned and controlled by the very people and structures that OWS opposes. Of COURSE they are going to mock OWS. of COURSE they are going to say OWS has no message. They also accused OWS for being a bunch of spoiled trust fund babies, mischaracterized anarchism, called them dirty hippies, drug addicts, and more. Interestingly, though, despite that, according to surveys most people in the US knew very well what OWS's main grievances are.

"If OWS never protests for change, change will never come."

Has OWS neglected to protest for change? I certainly has not been protesting for the status quo. You are confusing not having a list of demands with not demanding change. And it has joined union marches that have indeed demanded very specific things.

OWS has indeed changed the dialogue in the country. It has framed the gross inequity of income distribution as a moral issue. People may have been thinking about it, but they weren't talking about it , at least not on a national level, and certainly not on the level of the mainstream media.

OWS did not come into being as a reform movement. It's origins were of a revolutionary movement. It did not seek yo reform representative democracy, but to replace it entirely, not to make capitalism less damaging, but to find a replacement for it. That is something I missed at the beginning about it myself.

That may be in the process of changing. As it has attracted more people from that initial core of a few hundred, as it has grown, other more traditional reformers have joined in real numbers. From what I am hearing, there is an organization struggle going on in the leadership, partly as a result. (There were always some tensions - that is inevitable when passionate people come together and everyone there has a say.) It will take time, and a lot more participation, to see what develops.It may eventually start looking like a leftist version of the Tea Party. Frankly, I have no idea. Nor does anyone else.

Personally, I would hate to see OWS becoming a leftist Tea Party, at least at this stage. There are very good reasons for it remaining process oriented rather than demand oriented. (I won't go into them here.) There are certainly good reasons for it becoming demand oriented as well, and there is a breakaway group that calls itself the 99% declaration (I believe) that is setting up a national GA - a convention - with elected delegates and the works, that will be writing a list of demands. I am very wary of them, as they have clearly been infiltrated by Libertarians, and many of their initially proposed demands are anathema to most people on the left.

Right now, things are in flux. hey might always be in flux. That might not be such a bad thing.

Again, f you really want the inside skinny, if you really want to participate and have an impact on the direction of OWS, you must attend the GAs. No movement has ever happened without people actually showing up. This movement is relatively unique in that everyone who does show up has a say about its direction and activities.

[-] 1 points by AJx315 (16) from New York, NY 11 years ago

Think about what we're up against here. A government controlled by the richest elite in america. The "cash rules everything around me" mentality is in full effect. In order to bring change of any kind we first need to bring numbers. And not just thousands but millions of americans have to organize for change. OWS has changed the discussion in homes all over the country but not yet enough homes. But every single occupation and every single rally and strike and protest raises that awareness level until we reach the point of support to demand change. People are talking, people are thinking, people are acting, people are still deciding what side ofbthe fence they want to be on. This isn't a union strike demanding better work conditions, its so much larger and so much more, it has to be country on strike demanding a better government, a government that serves its people. That's when the homeless, and foreclosed on families, and unemployed, and underpaid will when. Then we will see change made for their benefit. Because once again someone will be working in their best interest.

[-] 1 points by JohnQProtester (17) 12 years ago

Raising consciousness is indeed a very good thing. But consciousness without a strategy is a dead end.

We know. Now what shall we do about it?

[-] 1 points by epa1nter (4650) from Rutherford, NJ 12 years ago

Go to the GA's . That's where everything is decided. If you have suggestions, the GA's are open to everyone's input.

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[-] 2 points by globaloccupier (2) 12 years ago

SOLIDARITY WITH GLOBAL SPRING!!! (please like this to help spread the word!!) May is an International month of action, the main days of action in Europe are May 12th - 15th with a major global strike called for May 12th and many places will be re-occupying on the 15th. Please pass on the info and links below and organize corresponding actions in addition to May 1st General Strike!!!!! OCCUPY EVERYWHERE!

PLEASE! Check out: http://international.democraciarealya.es/12m/ AND: http://interoccupy.org/globalspring/

[-] 1 points by abolish1selfishness (1) 12 years ago

and btw stop the I me they mentality ideals, we are not singular separate life, we are one, fact: we have been brainwashed by incorrect use of the most widely used tool - our language. the evil ones want us to think selfishly by using I me they instead of living collectively by using the words we us our, because the selfish mentality ideals traps us and thus created the world society we live in today. abolish i me they, only use we us our variations. if we can understand this, we will see this is the needed key to the whole world as we live it today, the selfish ideals programmed into our language drove us to the world we experience today. change the language we use and we will change our ideals and our actions will follow oneness with love at the center of our society not the current separation at the center. this is the most major important change we can do today above all other things we can do, period. if we don't believe us, we'll keep praying and moving forward.

youtube post version (500 char max): Abolish the I me they mentality ideals, we are not singular separate life, we are one, fact: we have been brainwashed by incorrect use of the most widely used tool - our language. the evil ones want us to think selfishly by using I me they instead of living collectively by using the words we us our, because the selfish mentality ideals traps us and thus created the world society we live in today. abolish i me they, only use we us our variations. change the language we use.

short sentence version (twitter): and btw stop the I me they mentality ideals, we are not singular separate life, we are one, fact: we have been brainwashed by incorrect use of the most widely used tool - our language.
the evil ones want us to think selfishly by using I me they instead of living collectively by using the words we us our, because the selfish mentality ideals traps us and thus created the world society we live in today. abolish i me they, only use we us our variations. if we can understand this, we will see this is the needed key to the whole world as we live it today, the selfish ideals programmed into our language drove us to the world we experience today.
change the language we use and we will change our ideals and our actions will follow oneness with love at the center of our society not the current separation at the center.
this is the most major important change we can do today above all other things we can do, period.
the word I states that we are not connected to all that is, oneness, love, community, interconnected infinitely on all concious and subconcious levels of knowledge and imagination. I means individual separated. WE is the mindset and ideal of togetherness, connected, all the same, when one of us is hurt we all are hurt, when one is poor we are poor. if we dont believe us, we'll keep praying and moving forward.

The evil 10% wealthy rich in the world don't want the poor 90% to have what the 10% evil rich have = money.
if everyone's accounts worldwide were made into billionaires then the evil greedy selfish system would crash over night.
just a wondering imagination theory.

The elite still have a core operating system of human survival, and that's why the elite are going to self destruct themselves, when we send the signal worldwide for the human spirit to arise then the elite will kill themselves, and by that what we mean is "We order the elite to self destruct right now and get out of the way of humanity", and when we all pray to GOD for that and focus on that we can bring the elite down right now.

[-] 1 points by JohnQProtester (17) 12 years ago

There's no interest in a general strike. That tactic hasn't been viable in American culture for a loooooooong time. You might get a labor union or two somewhere in the country to shut down and make the local news.

May 1st? May Day, Seriously? Is this some kind of joke? OWS is in really bad of someone with some PR savy. For anyone under 35 the term has little if any meaning. For anyone old enough to remember the Cold War its when the Soviets had the big parades with all the scary weapons. Could be wrong I haven't poled anyone, but I'd say its a fair guess.

Your GA voted in favor of something that interested them, but is of little use involving and mobilizing people who aren't the kind to show up at the GA.

In clear terms what is this general strike supposed to accomplish? Do you want to make the news? Do you want to have a noticeable economic impact? Are you hoping X people will participate? What standards do you have to judge effectiveness?

[-] 1 points by RocRizzo (1) from Rosendale, NY 12 years ago

It may only be in some people's memory about May 1, but traditionally, and historically, May 1 has been celebrated as Labor Day worldwide. A general strike will have quite a noticeable impact, if successful. It would prove to big business and the government that serves them, that they have to listen to WE THE PEOPLE. When their business do zero business for a day, they surely will feel it in their pocketbooks, where they will feel the most pain.

[-] 1 points by JohnQProtester (17) 12 years ago

Traditionally it was just a coming of spring holiday that was widely celebrated in Europe. The labor/ socialist implications only began in apparently the 1880s in response to a police massacre in Chicago. International Worker's day hasn't had much support in the US for a long time. The fact that Communist countries prominently celebrated the holiday during the cold war didn't help it.

Now here's the thing: Yes, with enough support a general strike would be successful. The support isn't there. American culture is not of a mindset or the appropriate structure to support a general strike. There won't be much participation.

What does a one day general strike with marginal participation accomplish?

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[-] 1 points by Joeboy32 (72) 12 years ago

I am down with May Day. Let's make history this Spring and Summer.

any ideas for the OWS 1-year anniversary this fall...?.

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[-] 1 points by ShubeLMorgan2 (1088) from New York, NY 12 years ago

Right on!

[-] 3 points by Marlow (1141) 12 years ago

I am on my PC Every Day.. Trying to Trade this Corrupt market.. Watching all the Abuses and hoping to Help others know how it works and what Risks there are...

I watch every Day.. for the past 12 years..knowing we once had a Market with Rules and Regulations that a Once Strong SEC kept Secure...

Since BUSH, it All Changed! And now.. a Law that was set in Place in 1929.. the Up Tic Rule to stop The Abuses, and keep Graft in Check.. Was Removed on Bushes Watch.. And Goldman Created their OWN Private Trading Program and was Allowed by a BUSH Administration to install it on the NYSE! For ALL Feeds to All Brokers and Trading Platforms for the Retail Investor to be Taken Advantage of...

I have Watched more Opens in a Day of Graft and Collusion where that 'Program' allows ALL Exchanges and MM's of Hedge Funds.. etc, to trade In UNISON!... I hope to see a Day When 'Close' means it all STOPS! .. My Very best to all #ows Peeps,

Marlow

[-] 3 points by Bighead1883 (285) 12 years ago

Yes Marlow,you describe the true"Temple Of Doom".Regulation of financial houses is a must.After regulation an AUDIT,followed by prosecutions.

[-] 1 points by Marlow (1141) 11 years ago

Sorry it took so long to TY for your thoughtful, yet Frustrated reply to my last message here., .. Marlow

( Last Chance to sign the Petition to 'Stop Corruption on Wall Street' first link when you google that ) and TY all.

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