WHEN: THU., May 28th, 2-4 PM
WHERE: PSU Park Blocks, between Smith and Library

Strike Debt Portland invites students, debtors, teachers, artists, staff, professors, the public and allies to join us for a student Debtors’ Assembly at 2-4PM on Thursday May 28, 2015 at the Portland State University Park Blocks. We will be outside Smith Memorial Student Union which is located at 1830 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97201.

A Debtors’ Assembly is a public forum to talk about debt, to dispel stigmas, myths and taboos about debt, to learn about debt, and to organize ourselves to change the state of debt in our lives. We’ll have various short presentations from organizers, academics, debtors, artists and musicians, and there will be opportunities for anyone to share openly about their debt and how it affects their lives.

Full-time and part-time adjunct professors and PSUSU – the Portland State University Student Union organizers are expected to attend. Free admission, all-ages, outside, disability-friendly. Surprise at the end!

PS: Divest Portland State is having an action to demand its trustees to divest $52.3 million from its endowment from the top 200 oil companies. They are meeting up exactly right at the end of the DA. Check it out!

FROM THE CONSUMERIST: Your Corinthian-Operated School Is Closing, But You Might Not Be Completely Screwed

“Heald College” is part of the Corinthian College network, the for-profit career college network that Occupy-founded Strike Debt and the Debt Collective have been battling through a student debt strike, citing numerous predatory loan practices that the DOE and other governing agencies have determined. Now Heald has announced that they are closing its doors (including its Portland campus) effective tomorrow, April 27, 2015, so current and recently graduated/withdrawn students (up to 120 days) are eligible to having their Federal student loans cancelled. Know your rights before the adminstrators put pressure on you! And join Strike Debt Portland on Facebook or Google Groups (their email list) to organize around local debt resistance!

PSU students! The adminstration has proposed the following tuition increases for the upcoming academic year:

• Resident undergrad: 5%
• Non-resident undergrad: 3%
• Resident graduate: 3%
• Non-resident graduate: 3%

ARE YOU PISSED? So are we. The Board of Trustees is to vote on this proposal next Thursday, and Portland State University Student Union invites everyone to FLOOD THE BOARD MEETING and demand a strong “NO” to this proposal.

Rally at 12 noon. Meeting from 1:00 PM ~ 5:00 PM. Sign up for public comment here.

]]> https://occupyportland.org/2015/03/06/psu-trustees-no-tuition-hikes/feed/ 0 https://occupyportland.org/2015/02/21/1st-portland-renters-assembly/ https://occupyportland.org/2015/02/21/1st-portland-renters-assembly/#comments Sun, 22 Feb 2015 01:38:00 +0000 Ninety-nine Percent https://occupyportland.org/?p=6323

WHEN: Tue., Feb. 24 ~ Thu., Feb. 26
WHERE: HQHQ Project Space, 232 SE Oak St. #108

The Portland Renters’ Assembly is a gathering of people united by the burden of rent. The housing struggle in Portland, much like activism of our time at large, often operates in a state of emergency. There is a need to stand behind those facing foreclosure, eviction, renoviction, homelessness, and rents rising well beyond livability. It is time for these concerns to stand in solidarity with the basic injustice underlying the concept of ‘rent’ itself. Come and share your experience as a renter or with rent-related issues, learn about the history of rent and tenant struggles, and share resources for moving forward together.

Day 1: 7pm. February 24th, 2015.

Introduction and General Assembly (come share your stories!)

Day 2: 7pm. February 25th, 2015.

History of Resistance (presented by Know Your City and members of Right to Dream Too)

Day 3: 7pm. February 26th, 2015.

Tools, Resources, and Next Steps (Former city council candidate Nick Caleb, and Oregon Community Alliance of Tenants)

WHEN: FRI., Feb. 27th ~ SUN., Mar. 1st
WHERE: The Eliot Center, 1121 SW Main St.
Register Here

Join us at the Economics of Happiness conference to discuss, discover and devise better systems for now and the future. Get involved in a new project. Find out how to make your work more effective. Link up with local initiatives. Debate the details. Explore new policies. Deconstruct the old. See the connections. Articulate solutions. Get engaged in creating a new economy – one that works for people and the planet!

The program will include plenaries, panels, interactive workshops and other participatory sessions. The wide range of inter-connected topics will include: local food, public policy, democracy, local business, the commons, cooperatives, local finance, spirituality, connecting to nature, economic indicators, health, education, bridging the North-South divide, the new economy movement, climate justice, cultural diversity, biodiversity, environmental justice, income inequality, and the impact of the economy on our psychological well-being.

WHEN: SAT., Jan. 24th // 12:00 PM ~ 03:00 PM
WHERE: Capitol Building Salem
BUS RIDES AVAILABLE!

Portland buses leave promptly at 10:30 a.m. and will leave Salem at 3 p.m. The buses will leave Portland from the parking lot of SEIU Local 49, which is located at 3536 SE 26th Ave.

The Fight for $15 is spreading across the country and Oregon is no exception. Employees at Home Forward (formerly The Portland Housing Authority), seasonal parks workers in Portland, and Multnomah County workers have all recently won $15 minimum wages, unions and community organizations around the state are endorsing a $15 minimum wage, and workers from Ashland to Portland to The Dalles are organizing to fight for $15 in Oregon!

During the upcoming 2015 legislative session, Democrats will likely push to raise the state’s minimum wage. They not only need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage of $15/hr, but they need to repeal the preemption law that prevents cities and counties in Oregon from raising the minimum wage locally.

On behalf of 15 Now PDX and Portland Jobs with Justice, bills to repeal the intrusive and undemocratic preemption law and to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr in Oregon will be submitted for the 2015 legislative session. We can win, but we need the working class of Oregon to stand up with us and demand $15 Now!

We call all on Oregon’s working class to rally on the steps of the capitol building in Salem on January 24, 2015 from noon – 1pm in order to get out in front of this eventual legislative discussion and ensure that our state legislators know that Oregon’s working class demands a real living wage of $15/hr!

Protesters arrested during the attempted Shemanski Park occupation in Dec. 2011 had all their charges DROPPED today under a judge’s order. Citing multiple constitutional rights infringed upon, including the right to a quick and speedy trial, the Defense made a proper and effective argument to dismiss the charges, and they won!

The only remaining Occupy cases pending are the protesters arrested during Eviction Night in Nov. 2011 and during the attempted Jamison Sq. occupation in Oct. 2011. Like the Shemanski case, these cases have been subject to severe delay, but they are to finally commence next month in Feb. Stay tuned for these!

Background:

“On December 3, 2011, almost 2 months after the Portland Police violently evicted Occupy Portland from Chapman Park, hundreds of people attempted a reoccupation at Shemanski Park. That night an emergency park closure was declared and militarized riot police violently raided the park, arresting 19 people who refused to leave the park.

“After more than three years, after having to go all the way up to the state Supreme Court to stop the DA from denying us our right to public defenders and a trial by jury, and after many motions to dismiss the cases for lack of a speedy trial being denied, those arrested at Shemanski Park are finally getting their jury trial.

“It has been a very long and frustrating legal battle to get our constitutional rights. We are the 99%.”

WHEN: SAT., Jan. 3rd // 02:00 PM
WHERE: PCC SE Campus, 97216 SE 82nd Ave.

Note: Rally starts at 2:00 sharp with the Town Hall meeting scheduled to start at 2:30 PM.

Sen Wyden is having a series of town hall meetings and, at this one in Portland, we will rally to let Sen Wyden know that we do not support the same old Fast Track Authority (FTA) which he has opposed in the past. FTA has been used in the past to speed corporate trade agreements through Congress without the usual democratic process – FTA allows limited debate and no amendments. More information on other town halls meeting is available on the Economic Justice Action Group of 1st Unitarian Church website at http://www.ejag.org/events.html

Please please please — DONATE! And SHARE!

WHEN: TODAY // 02:00 PM ~ 04:00 PM
WHERE: Allen Temple C M E Church, 4236 NE 8th Ave.

The police violence happening across our nation is hard to comprehend, especially for our children. Our city is not immune to the injustice of police targeting and harassing people of color, and our youth are bearing witness to this. Let us create a safe space for all ages, to help amplify their thoughts and feelings. Young voices be heard! #PDXKids4Justice

Youth Rally & March Against Police Violence

• 02:00 PM – 03:00 PM: Sign Making Party
• 03:00 PM – 03:30 PM: Youth Rally w Drumming & Singing
• 03:30 PM – 04:00 PM: March that will lead back to Allen Temple for those that wish to join AMA’s Vigil & March
• 04:00 PM ~ 07:00 PM: AMA’s Vigil & March

Sign making materials, percussion instruments and snacks provided, but please feel free to bring more of your own .

In solidarity for Tamir Rice (12-years old), Aiyana Jones (7-years old), Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Keaton Otis, Kendra James and all those who have lost their lives at the hands of police misconduct.

#BlackLivesMatter