Occupy Portland » Media

Press Release: Following Yesterday’s Community Center Reclamation

opdxmycelium — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:29:13 +0000

The Black Working Group is an organization that formed out of Occupy Portland

Join the Rapid Response Network. Protect neighbors! Text @ploc-openrrn to 23559

Newly founded community center targeted by police

Community members respond with overwhelming support for the center

Contact: Lobo (Adrian Guerrero), (925)609-4815

Portland, OR – Sunday night, August 5th, at approximately 11pm, six officers from the Portland Police forced their way into a newly created community center inside of a duplex owned by Alicia Jackson, and arrested one person inside. The duplex was reclaimed earlier in the day by approximately 250 people from the surrounding community during a neighborhood block party. The duplex was built on land that belongs to Ms. Jackson, which had been illegally foreclosed on by the banks in 2011.

“The neighbors have shown that they support this community center and are opposed to this duplex contributing to the gentrification of this neighborhood. The police came in tonight protecting the banks and the developers that are selling out our community and profiting out of the pockets of working people,” says Alicia Jackson. “Developers should not be allowed to profit from stolen land.”

Ms. Jackson had self-evicted from her home, adjacent to the duplex, in late 2011 after a long period of intimidation from the banks and financial institutions. After her illegal foreclosure, the bank sold her home and land, which was then divided and sold to a developer who then built the duplex. The community reclaimed Ms. Jackson’s home on May 1st, 2012. She has been living in the home with the support of her neighbors since then. Ms. Jackson is a member of the Black Working Group and has been organizing with her neighbors to stop the gentrification in NE Portland. The Black Working Group and Blazing Arrow Organization supported Annette Steele in defending her home against eviction on Friday, July 27th.

During the day on Sunday, August 5th, Alicia Jackson hosted a block party on her street in NE Portland where the community and neighbors helped to reclaim and liberate the duplex built on her land. The duplex was intended by the neighbors to be transformed into a community center for people, specifically youth of color, that would house an edible food garden, community fitness center, and meeting space for organizing against gentrification and violence in the neighborhood. These home and community center liberations are part of a broader movement to fight foreclosure and defend the historic people of color communities in north and northeast Portland. The duplex had not been inhabited since construction.

When the police arrived and forced their way into the duplex, a network of community support was activated and within the hour approximately 100 people came out to the homes to offer defense, witness, and assistance to the people living in those homes.

The police arrested one person who was a part of the liberation of that space earlier in the day and is a part of the Blazing Arrow Organization. The police went through the house with a police dog and a forensics unit, and left the homes at approximately 1:40am on Monday morning. The press release written by PPB at the time of arrest contains false information, including a false photo of the person arrested.

Said Lobo of Blazing Arrow: “The police are charging the arrestee with burglary and trespass of a home, but the fact is that nobody was living in this duplex since it was built, because nobody has wanted to move onto land that has been stolen from the original resident. Ms. Jackson and the community have not stolen anything– we have only taken back what was stolen from us. The burglary charge will not hold up in court because they have absolutely no evidence that the person who was arrested stole anything, or that they were planning to commit a crime. The community took this land back, to make a community center. If they’re going to charge one person with burglary, they might as well charge the whole community with it.”

To get updates about urgent community support needs for foreclosed homes and evictions, join the rapid response network by texting @ploc-openrrn to 23359.

***

The Black Working Group is an organization working to fight foreclosure in N and NE Portland.
The Blazing Arrow Organization was formed to organize the community to resist foreclosure and police violence.

Press Release from Yesterday’s Space Reclamation
For Immediate Release
August 5, 2012

Northeast residents reclaim duplex, fight gentrification

Contact Number (Lobo): (925) 609-4815

Portland, OR — On Sunday, August 5th, residents of NE Portland held a block party in the historically black Woodlawn neighborhood, to celebrate the ongoing defense of Alicia Jackson’s home from foreclosure, and to publicly reclaim the new duplex built on her land. This property is also on Ms. Jackson’s land and was taken during the foreclosure process. Community members plan to use the reclaimed duplex, which is currently the subject of a legal dispute, as a base of organizing against gentrification and police violence in the neighborhood.

“This property was illegally taken from me by the banks. This community is strong. We will not sit by and watch developers destroy our neighborhood, while the police harass our youth and drive families from this community,” said Alicia Jackson, member of the Black Working Group and subject of much attention when her home was liberated by 500 people on May 1 of this year.

Northeast is often called “the soul of Portland” because of its historically black neighborhoods, but gentrification, the replacement of locals by wealthier residents through bank investment and uncontrolled development, has changed that. In response, a growing number of people in NE are waging a public fight to keep their homes, rather than be relocated by the banks. The action at Ms. Jackson’s home on May Day was the first of several community supported home defenses in the city this year. On Friday, July 27th, 79 year old Annette Steele declared that she would resist eviction, saying “This is my home. They can’t take it away from me. My neighbors support me and if the sheriff comes, I’m ready… I don’t have a gun anymore, but I keep hot water on the stove.”

“Housing must be defended to end violence in working-class communities. Stable housing creates an environment for community self-reliance and healthy relationships. Without secure housing, families are displaced and communities are fragmented,” said Lobo, co-founder of the Blazing Arrow Organization, a group that formed to fight gentrification and police violence in North and Northeast Portland. “Gentrification breaks the tie between generations, and forces communities to depend more heavily on outsiders such as the police to solve conflicts. Defending homes and stopping eviction protects the community’s safety.”

Continued exploitative development of NE Portland is tied directly to the PPB’s Gang Enforcement program. Since the program began, over 200 people, mostly black youth, have been arrested each month along Killingsworth between N Interstate Ave. and MLK Blvd. In addition to land and building reclamation, Blazing Arrow Organization is beginning community patrols to monitor arrests and support people as police conflicts arise. The community patrols will be based out of the newly liberated center.

“Working people deserve to live without the fear of losing their home or being brutalized by the police. The BAO will use this new organizing center to stop gentrification and respond to police violence. It will be open to anyone fighting for freedom from white supremacy and oppression. We are working class, queer, and people of color, committed to creating a society that both meets our basic needs and respects our human dignity. We are prepared to defend ourselves and the work we are doing, and invite others to work alongside us.”

The Blazing Arrow Organization was formed by a group of community members to address gentrification by way of housing defense. To find out more and get involved, contact Lobo at (925) 609-4815. To become part of the rapid response network and defend homes, text @ploc-openrrn to 23559.

Rally for Housing Justice Documentary

Haze — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 05:26:08 +0000

This was just sent our way: David Love has made a documentary on last Friday’s Rally For Housing Justice! The news today is that City Hall and Cameron Whitten have come to an agreement on some housing issues to end Whitten’s hunger strike tomorrow. An official announcement will be made at 10am, Thursday, July 26th at City Hall.

50th day of a Hunger strike from David Love on Vimeo.

J17 Labor Notes Report Back

KatRyn — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 23:33:30 +0000

Forum and Fundraiser

TROUBLEMAKERS GATHER, STRONGER THAN EVER

Reportback from the Labor Notes Conference (15 went from Portland)

Sunday, June 17, 6 – 8 pm

Letter Carriers Union Hall, 5265 NE 42^nd (s. of Killingsworth)

Panel discussion

Jamie Partridge, Letter Carriers 82

Jordan McIntyre, Painters 10

Chris Beck, OSEA 40

Amy Sprenglemeyer, UA 290

Lorene Scheer, SEIU 503

Fernando Gapasin, OSEA Metro

John Walsh, Graphic Communications/ Teamsters

Delicious Desserts, Raffle

Help retire the debt of members of the Occupy Portland Labor Solidarity Committee who went to the
Labor Notes Conference in Chicago, May 4 – 6^th

for more info, call 503-752-5112

Published on Labor Notes (http://labornotes.org)

The Troublemakers Union Gathers, Stronger than Ever

Labor Notes Staff

| May 10, 2012

If there’s one consensus opinion about the weekend’s Labor Notes Conference, it’s certainly that there’s more than any one attendee could keep track of.

Or even a dozen. Sameerah Ahmad first came to a Labor Notes Conference as a student activist and was impressed to find a place where rank-and-file workers, union activists, and troublemakers of all stripes—from all over the world—had a home.

Now she’s the director of the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center, and she brought 12 members along with her to Chicago for the May 4-6 Labor Notes gathering. But even with a dozen folks participating in workshops, she said they couldn’t get to everything they wanted to at the 1,500-person conference.

“You can get depressed hearing all the stories of low-wage and immigrant workers,” Ahmad said. But at Labor Notes, “the energy is amazing.” Vision sharpens, and all of a sudden the movement that can stand up against the odds comes into view.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

With over 150 workshops and meetings, the conference provided training geared toward activists at all levels of experience. They covered a full range of topics from nuts and bolts workshops like aggressive grievance handling, beating apathy, and bargaining table tactics to sessions with a broader scope, like organizing immigrant workers, using direct action, and organizing without collective bargaining rights..

Amalgamated Transit Union President Larry Hanley spoke to the plenary session Saturday morning. The ATU made a special effort to send members, especially from the Chicago local, and they were conspicuous in their orange “OCCUPY TRANSIT” T-shirts.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

Hanley said that in 85 percent of U.S. cities, transit fares have gone up or service has been cut. When the Chicago local’s contract expired at the end of last year, members were pilloried in the newspapers for the unimagined luxury of having a paid coffee break (which actually turned out to be 10 minutes of paid time to check their steering and brakes).

Hanley told the crowd, “We have to fight injustice and somebody has to start it. A union officer’s job is not to move paper, it’s to move people.”

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

The Friday night plenary featured Ehab Shalaby, an engineer in a textile plant and member of the Egyptian Democratic Labor Congress; Alfredo Galdanez, a leader in ROC-Chicago’s campaign at the Capital Grille restaurant; Adrienne Pagac, co-president of the teaching assistants’ union at the University of Wisconsin; and Labor Notes’s Mark Brenner.

“From Cairo to Madison, 2011 was the year people stood up—or sat in—putting democracy back on the agenda,” Brenner said. “The game changer for most of us was Occupy Wall Street. 99 to 1—I like those odds!”

Proving once again that unionists in other countries know more of U.S. labor history than we do, Shalaby, speaking in Arabic, said he was happy to celebrate “labor’s day”—May Day—in the city where it began. Demanding an eight-hour day, 400,000 Chicago workers went on strike in 1886. Four were later executed on trumped-up charges.

“Nothing is without sacrifice,” Shalaby said, recounting the strike wave that has swept Egypt since last year, and the revolution that claimed many lives.

Shalaby said his union federation is reaching out to the whole Arab world because Egypt is the door to that world. “We all live under one sky,” he said. “In Egypt we have a saying: workers of the world, unite.”

Pagac told how her union had begun the occupation of the Wisconsin Capitol in February 2011. The fact that the union has high turnover means it is always organizing to maintain membership, she said—and that meant it had mechanisms in place to move quickly. Pagac said one lesson she’d learned from the four-week uprising was that there are many ways to participate in political struggle that don’t involve casting a ballot.

Galdanez, pictured below with interpreter José Oliva, said he makes $8.50 an hour as a dishwasher at the Capital Grille, target of a national campaign by the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC). He recounted stories of disrespect from managers and injuries that go untreated, conditions that ROC aims to address with its demands that the Darden Restaurant Group end discrimination and raise pay. The corporate food system, he said, literally cuts and burns workers, displaying the damage wrought to his body.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

In the Sunday plenary session, Occupy activist Michelle Crentsil lauded the cooperation of the Occupy Wall Street movement and labor but did not shy away from criticism. She pointed out that there are tensions within the 99%, and in order for labor and Occupy to move forward together, we must do the hard work of acknowledging and addressing racism and other oppressions among us.

Some unions, like the Chicago Teachers Union, UAW Local 551, SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana, the Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and AFSCME Local 3800 at the University of Minnesota, turned out big numbers and used the conference as a boot camp of sorts.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

Jen Johnson, a Chicago history teacher who spoke Saturday morning, said her union is facing off against “Mayor 1%” Rahm Emanuel over school closures, a longer day with no additional pay, and a draining of resources from the public school system into charter schools and corporate tax breaks.

The union’s fighting stance started with a caucus that organized against school closures because the old union leadership wouldn’t. When they got into office, state legislators ganged up to pass a special law limiting Chicago teachers’ right to strike. But because of the member to member organizing the union has undertaken, including practice strike votes, CTU can now present a credible strike threat.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

Union members from coast to coast are making it clear they’re hungry for a fighter in their corner. From the new leadership at the New York State Nurses to the second generation of reformers in AFSCME Local 3299 on California campuses, attendees at the conference brought plenty of reasons to be confident that rank and file workers see what so many union leaders don’t: that the power is still in our hands.

Between the workshops and special industry and sector meetings, where teachers, transit workers, and others had the rare opportunity to meet and discuss across their unions, participants had the opportunity to plan their own meetings in a DIY space.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

John Colleran is an Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2222 member, active in the Verizon strike last summer on the East Coast. He was targeted by management and fired in the strike, and has been waiting to win his job back as the wheels of the NLRB slowly grind. He particularly appreciated the “ask the experts” section of the conference, which gave him (and many others) time to buttonhole lawyers for advice.

Fellow Verizon worker and CWA Local 1101 organizer Ken Spatta spoke Sunday on the long road of reform inside his union, which culminated in a takeover of the local in the wake of last summer’s Verizon strike.

The strike showed who the local’s real leadership was. With no warning, Spatta said, the local’s reform caucus put picketers on the street just a half hour after the national union called the strike. Reformers stepped up to captain picket lines and take extra shifts protesting at wireless stores.

The strike stalled, but Spatta said his local and the other fighters inside CWA and the IBEW are still working to mobilize against a company whose CEO makes $55,000 a day—including weekends.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

Colleran and another 50 telecom workers spent all day Friday in a strategy session that took on special import this year with both AT&T and Verizon workers facing difficult contract talks simultaneously. One of the first orders of business was drafting a petition to CWA Local 7250 President Mona Myer, asking her to drop internal union charges against Labor Notes attendee and steward Kieran Knutson, an aggressive mobilizer and contract enforcer.

The two “core” sections of the CWA and IBEW don’t communicate with each other as much as one might think, leaving participants pleased that they had a chance to think through what a combined plan of attack might look like.

Labor Notes troublemakers don’t just talk, though: Hundreds turned out for three actions through the course of the weekend, in support of SEIU Local 1 airport workers, the Restaurant Opportunities Center organizing against the wage-thieving Darden chain, and, at a huge Saturday picket line, UNITE HERE members at a Hyatt down the street from the conference.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

“Up, up with the union, down, down with the Hyatt,” shouted hundreds of demonstrators at a rally that filled a city block.

The picket line greeted hotel workers coming outside on their lunch break. Jose Guevara, a 27-year member and steward with UNITE HERE Local 450, updated participants on the long fight to save affordable health care, improve health and safety by limiting rooms each housekeeper must clean per shift, and win an agreement from the chain to allow workers in non-union hotels to organize without interference.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

A late-night concert featured Rebel Diaz and Quinto Imperio, and tours Friday and Monday introduced out-of-town guests to important labor history sites in Chicago, including Haymarket Square and the Battle of the Viaduct.

Just over a year after the tragic Fukishima disaster, Japanese labor activists took the stage at the Saturday banquet to celebrate the shutting down of Japan’s last nuclear reactors with fellow conference-goers. The nuclear shutdowns, which happened earlier that day, coincided with Children’s Day, a Japanese holiday traditionally celebrated with carp flags and banners. The carp has become a symbol of the country’s anti-nuclear movement and the hope for a better future for the next generation.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

The Japanese delegation passed out paper fish flags and waved a large carp banner from the stage. Proving that solidarity transcends national, cultural, and linguistic barriers, they led the crowd in an anti-nuclear chant.

Elise Bryant, recently retired labor educator but fully employed hell-raiser, steered the Saturday night banquet and the Troublemaker awards. One of the awardees was the UAW’s Jerry Tucker, famous for troublemaking both inside and outside his union but now laid up. After Jerry’s daughter Tracy accepted the award on his behalf, Bryant led the crowd in a healing song.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

First-time attendee Seamus Whelan, a member of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, was impressed with the broad international participation at the conference—participants from more than 20 countries took part. He only wished that the Labor Notes Conference could set the outlook for the whole labor movement.

Read other impressions of the conference here.

Photo: Jim West | jimwestphoto.com.

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Source URL: http://labornotes.org/2012/05/troublemakers-union-gathers-stronger-ever

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5/24 5PM Rally for our Post Offices – Demand Resignation of Postmaster General

opdxmycelium — Thu, 24 May 2012 22:42:49 +0000

For immediate release 05/23/12
Contact: Laurie King (JWJ): 503-490-2309,

Lataya Dailey (Occupy): 971-409-3741

Occupy the Post Office:
Portland rallies to demand no cuts, no closures and the resignation of the Postmaster General

Portland, OR – Members of labor unions, faith groups, rural communities, neighborhood organizations, and Occupy will gather to support for the US Postal Service and to demand the resignation of the Postmaster General, Patrick Donahoe. The Post Office has long been a symbol of the national commitment to equal access to public services but has increasingly been facing the threat of privatization.

Organizers will host a rally at Terry Schrunk Plaza on Thursday, May 24th at 5pm. Supporters plan to march from the Plaza to a downtown Post Office. They will engage in creative action that highlights the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council [ALEC] in creating the financial difficulties of the Postal Service and to demand the resignation of the Postmaster General for, what organizers say, is his driving the postal service into a death spiral. ALEC is composed of multi-national corporations and elected officials who craft legislation to advance the interests of their membership; they were the target of a national mobilization earlier this year organized by Occupy Portland and the Portland Action Lab.

“People from across Portland are coming out to show that we value our public services and we will not allow those services to be sabatoged by corporate interests. Today we defend the Post Offices, but we know that these public services – our Post Offices, our libraries, our parks, and even our schools are all the target of corporate interests profit-driven machines, says Laurie King, organizer with Occupy the Post Office. “We are coming out to say that all communities deserve access to the mail service, and we will not have it handed over to the highest bidder.”

The Postmaster General is poised to close half the nation’s mail processing plants, including Portland’s Main Office, while reducing hours from 25% to 75% at 13,900 post offices. Donahoe is also pushing for an end to door-to-door and Saturday delivery. Organizers say that the financial problems that USPS is experiencing is due to a funding mandate passed by Congress in 2006 that requires the USPS pre-fund retiree health benefits 75 years in advance. This law was a product of ALEC and its Congressional members who focus on shrinking and privatizing public services. Community members are pressuring Congress to pass bills HR 3591 and S 1853 which will repeal the pre-funding mandate and protect the Postal Service.

“USPS is financially sound, the Congressional mandate to pre-pay benefits for 75 years is shackling the Post Office. This is clearly a part of Wall Street’s plan to privatize and destroy an honored institution of our community,” says Lataya Dailey, an organizer with Occupy St Johns. “The Postmaster is complicit in this plan to gut and cut our community Post Offices. We demand he resign immediately.”

This action is part of an on-going effort by a community coalition to support the Postal Service by Occupy St Johns, Occupy Portland, the Rural Organizing Project and Jobs with Justice.

Occupy St Johns and Occupy Portland are part of the international Occupy Movement fighting against the inequality of wealth and power in our existing economic and political systems. Jobs with Justice is coalition of labor organizations and community groups dedicated to protecting the rights of working people and supporting community struggles to build a more just society. JWJ has been an active supporter of public infrastructure like the Post Office since its founding in 1992.

###

Fabulous May Day PDX video

opdxjohns — Mon, 14 May 2012 02:25:44 +0000

This hour-long video from David Love commemorates labor history in Portland and all the actions from Mayday this year. Worth the watch!

May 4, 10:30 AM – PRESS CONFERENCE: MAY DAY POLICE BRUTALITY

opdxmycelium — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:47:29 +0000

Immediate Release
May 4, 2012

May Day Organizers To Hold Press Conference on Police Brutality

Portland – Today, organizers of actions on May Day, members of the legal community and victims of police brutality will speak about the police response. Speakers will include individuals from the Portland Liberation Organizing Council, which liberated a foreclosed home in the morning, and the May Day Coalition, which organized the afternoon march, among others. They will speak in a press conference about the brutality by the Portland Police Bureau and the unity of social justice movements in the face of this attempted repression. Supporting organizations have also issued a statement condemning the May Day police violence, which can be found below.

CONTACT: Kari Koch, (971) 266-0397

WHAT: Press Conference with organizers of May Day actions, legal support for those arrested and beaten and victims of police brutality

WHEN: Friday, May 4th, 2012, 10:30am

WHERE: Justice Center, 1120 Southwest 3rd Avenue

WHO: A broad representation of groups from across the Portland community including those listed below.
Speaking: Marco Mejia, May Day Coalition; Genevieve Goffman, Occupy Portland SpokesCouncil; Jim Canright, ELK – Elk Law Krew; Ahmaju Umi, Black Working Group; Rain Crowe, Portland Liberation Organizing Council (PLOC)

SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS:
Portland Liberation Organizing Council (PLOC)
May Day Coalition
Occupy Portland SpokesCouncil
Occupy Portland Livestream - opdxlive.org
Radical Anti-Capitalist Caucus of Occupy Portland (RACC)
ELK – Elk Law Krew
Hella503 Affinity Group
Oregon Jericho
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee (PCASC)
International Socialist Organization
Oregon Progressive Party
Portland Animal Defense League
Portland Action Lab

May Day Re-Cap

opdxmycelium — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:08:25 +0000

Thank you to all who came out yesterday to make May Day a spectacular show of love, solidarity and strength from the protesters and a showing of ignorance, hate, and fear from the Portland Police Department. If you captured any footage that could be useful in court, please contact the ELK Legal Krewe at 503-902-5340. Please do not post it online as it can potentially create legal problems for protesters in the future.

There’s a far more in-depth re-cap of all the excitement for those who missed out and for those who want to wax nostalgic. The Portland Occupier did a fantastic liveblog that can be checked out here.

STUDENT STRIKE AND PICKET OF PPS

STUDENTS STRIKE AND PICKET THE PPS

WHY?
Students on Strike is the beginning of a student led campaign aganist budget cuts and the falling quality of our schools. On May 1st in conjunction with International Workers Day – a day celebrating the victories that popular and grassroots movements have made – we will rally at PPS Headquarters and nonviolently shutdown work to express our grievances in an act building towards the May 11th mass demonstration at Pioneer Square currently being organized by Teachers, Parents and Students.

Why shutdown? Because we need to show that we will not stand by as another budget cutting austerity measure is pushed through as we have seen before in the past. Because we need to show that we mean business and that we won’t settle till solutions are found.

Why PPS Headquarters? Obviously PPS isn’t the source of the problem. There are larger economic and political reasons why we are being forced these budget cuts. It’d be great to bus thousands of kids down to Salem or to Washington DC, or the homes of every Multi – Millionaire and Billionaire who enjoys low taxes – but right now that’s not an easily realizable thing. However, PPS Headquarters is home to those who can put pressure on the people who are voting on where our money goes. These workers are facing cuts as well. More than anything this is symbolic; PPS Headquarters is after all the epicenter of the district and of its affairs.
We will hand out literature inviting other PPS employees to join us marching to downtown on May 11th.

PORTLAND LIBERATION ORGANIZING COUNCIL (PLOC) GIVES ALICIA JACKSON HER HOUSE BACK

WHY?

Living in a family house fully paid for, Alicia Jackson, facing foreclosure out of fear and confusion (as most homeowners in this situation are) self-evicted. There was no reason why Fox Capital should have so easily acquired her property. Therefore, the Portland Liberation Organizing Council made it’s first reverse-eviction, reclaiming her land in the name of community and her house as her own. With 1 in 7 homes empty, there’s no reason why developers and banks should be allowed to sit on empty property. This is capitalism in crisis and in direct opposition to humanity. To learn more about the Portland Liberation Organizing Council or P-LOC, visit liberatepdx.org . To join the Rapid Response Eviction Protection Text Loop, text @ploc-openrrn to 23559. A fuller story is available at the portlandoccupier.org

GENERAL STRIKE MARCH

Protesters gathered under the Burnside Bridge to march through the city, displaying the diverse tactics that can be used in protest. Several were beaten and arrested for nothing more than “looking guilty”.

UNDOCUMENTED/UNAFRAID ACTION

WHY?

MAY DAY MARCH – INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY

WHY?

Roughly 5,000 Portlanders filled the streets this May Day to show their love, strength, solidarity in this common struggle for social and economic justice. As the cogs of this massive economic machine, we rarely acknowledge the importance of every worker. On this day, we celebrate the power we have when we work together. In 1958, the US Government was so scared of May Day that they changed the US holiday to “Law Day”, in fear of the 99% being reminded that they are the ones that truly hold all the power.

PCASC ACTION

WHY?
Mobilizing around Wells Fargo during the main march, the Portland Central America Solidarity Committee targeted Wells Fargo for investing in GEO Group, a private prison corporation. Groups like GEO work within ALEC to pass laws that land more innocent people in jail. Private prisons create contracts with States to make sure the prison population stays at least 90%. What happens if crime drops? They write new laws criminalizing something else. This is the system we’re fighting, folks. If you or your company banks with Wells Fargo, please move your money.

DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION

WHY?
Because as Emma Goldman says, “If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution.” This festive activity turned into a skirmish with police as protesters tried to move from Pioneer Square to the Justice Center. A fuller story can be found on the Portlandoccupier.org

Please visit the portlandoccupier.org for full scoops on the day’s events.

Occupation Nation by B Media

opdxmycelium — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:09:39 +0000

B Media is part of the Occupy Portland Media Coalition. They’ve been touring around the country with their new episode and now it’s available for you to watch right in your own home. But really, grab a few friends before you do.

Occupation Nation: a remix movie exploring the philosophical roots of the recent movement for the 99%.

As zombies threaten to consume all that’s left of our spectacular society, B Media’s fifth video variety show explores the mycelia network of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Deeply rooted in historical and international precedents that have the potential to turn toxic assets and discarded derivatives into new communities where shared vision and collective decision making empowers us all, the film calls on our collective conscience to remember the Oaxacan teacher strikes and the Bonus Army, and it explores this new technological globalrevolution by riffing on the work of video ninjas everywhere.

Darryl Mitchell and David Graeber’s dialectics break down the bricks of Wall Street, PeeWee Herman interviews Ema Goldman about the black bloc, Mr. Bean gets peppersprayed, and Obama is mic-checked in his Disney World as the police protect the smart ALEC’s running the show.

Special halftime appearance by Clint Eastwood, and Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction.

The People’s Mail – Music Video

opdxmycelium — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:26:06 +0000

From the Occupy Labor Solidarity Committee

(Keep on Movin’) The People’s Mail from Peter Parks

Just Do It – Free Online Screening

opdxmycelium — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:01:25 +0000

Constellation and Occupy.com present…

A FREE 24-hour ONLINE SCREENING of Just Do It – a tale of modern-day outlaws

In celebration of May Day and in honour of the direct action being taken by thousands of people

5:30pm EST Monday 30th April to 5:30pm EST Tuesday 1st May

Plus live Q&A with director Emily James at 7pm EST, directly after the first showing

Occupy.com presents, in collaboration with Constellation, a FREE 24-hour online screening of Just Do It. Just released in the US, the film is not yet available online. But in honour of the many direct actions being planned for May Day on Tuesday 1st May, we are delighted to offer an exclusive opportunity to watch Just Do It – the direct action documentary from the UK, just released in the US – as a mark of our solidarity.

Director Emily James will be live online at 7pm EST on Monday 30th April to answer all of your questions.

How to watch the film
Simply head over to occupy.com/watch/, sign up for your free ticket courtesy of Constellation, and get watching! OH, and of course, make sure you spread the word before time runs out!

On Monday 30th, you can either watch the film whenever suits you (click “watch instantly”), or at a designated time with friends and family (showings every hour).

Just Do It is currently on release in the US with screenings sprouting up all over the country. To organise your very own screening for your community, simply head over here. Want to set up your own online screening and watch the film with friends from the comfort of your own screens? Drop us a line at info@justdoitfilm.com to find out more.

Occupy Portland » Media

Press Release: Following Yesterday’s Community Center Reclamation

Newly founded community center targeted by police

Rally for Housing Justice Documentary

J17 Labor Notes Report Back

The Troublemakers Union Gathers, Stronger than Ever

5/24 5PM Rally for our Post Offices – Demand Resignation of Postmaster General

Occupy the Post Office: Portland rallies to demand no cuts, no closures and the resignation of the Postmaster General

Fabulous May Day PDX video

May 4, 10:30 AM – PRESS CONFERENCE: MAY DAY POLICE BRUTALITY

May Day Re-Cap

STUDENT STRIKE AND PICKET OF PPS

PORTLAND LIBERATION ORGANIZING COUNCIL (PLOC) GIVES ALICIA JACKSON HER HOUSE BACK

GENERAL STRIKE MARCH

UNDOCUMENTED/UNAFRAID ACTION

MAY DAY MARCH – INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY

DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION

Occupation Nation by B Media

The People’s Mail – Music Video

Just Do It – Free Online Screening

Occupy the Post Office:
Portland rallies to demand no cuts, no closures and the resignation of the Postmaster General