Freedom of Speech and Assembly

Taking The Next Step

August 23, 2013 Tarak Kauff, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Wars and Militarism

This October 7 at 5 pm, veterans and allies will gather at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza in NYC, as we did last year, when 25 veterans and allies were arrested as we peacefully remembered the fallen, reaffirmed our commitment to ending war, exposed the lies and betrayals of U.S. wars and stood with dignity and resolve for our inalienable right to assemble. The police normally do not bother anyone passing through or lingering at the Memorial at any hour although there is an arbitrary 10 pm closing time posted. We were arrested slightly after 10 pm as we read the names of the fallen and placed flowers at the base of the memorial wall.

Awakening From Nightmare Of War: Join Us October 7, 2013

August 22, 2013 Staff, www.stopthesewars.org Resist! Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Wars and Militarism

This October 7 at 5 pm, marking now 12 years of war in Afghanistan, we will regroup in greater strength at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza in NYC to nonviolently reaffirm our commitment to justice, ending war, and exposing the lies of war and to stand with dignity and resolve for our inalienable right to assemble, especially at this hallowed place. _ERD1341_hastie Vietnam medic Mike Hastie, first to be arrested Oct. 7, 2012. Photo by ELLEN DAVIDSON We will gather at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to voice our opposition to 12 years of war and war crimes committed by the U.S. military and private mercenaries upon one of the poorest nations on earth—Afghanistan.

Movements Need Catalysts And Voices Not Leaders

August 20, 2013 Bill McKibben, www.tomdispatch.com Strategize! Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Organizing

All through my activist life, I’ve seen police looking for leaders to negotiate with or suppress. A body with a head can be decapitated, but headless organisms charge on as long as some of us remain. And many people -- Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatistas, David Graeber of the Occupy movement, Bill McKibben in the climate-change movement, possibly even Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement -- have been mistaken for leaders when they were really something else: catalysts and voices for our movements. They weren’t and aren’t leaders because we aren’t followers. We don’t obey them, but sift through and adopt their ideas, frameworks, and strategies as we see fit, while contributing ourselves. No shepherds, no sheep -- which is a triumph of political evolution and a measure of how far we are from the authoritarianism of the past.

Wells Fargo Locks Out Richmond Mayor At San Francisco Headquarters

August 20, 2013 Mark Calvey, www.bizjournals.com Organize! Finance and the Economy, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Housing

Wells Fargo locked its San Francisco headquarters branch at noon Thursday when Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and fellow protesters arrived to speak with CEO John Stumpf over the bank's lawsuit fighting the California city's plans to use eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages. As McLaughlin stood before Wells Fargo's locked doors today, she captured the frustration many feel today about the foreclosure crisis that persists even as San Francisco and other markets see a recovery in home prices. "Nothing has been done for the last five years or more. A fix is needed," she said. When a reporter asked whether the former school teacher, who was elected in 2006 [running as a Green], ever thought she'd be taking on Wells Fargo, McLaughlin responded, "I feel right at home here with my community. I'm committed to taking a stand."

Swedish Athlete Told To Repaint Rainbow Nails For Olympics

August 18, 2013 Jim Heintz, www.abcnews.go.com Educate! Democracy, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, LGBTQ

" The Swedish high jumper who painted her fingernails in rainbow colors to support gay rights at the world championships took the field Saturday with bright red nail polish this time. Emma Green Tregaro had been told by Swedish officials that the rainbow gesture, which brought international attention as a protest against Russia's new law against gay "propaganda," could be a violation of the competition's code of conduct."

Chris Hedges on “Murdering the Wretched Of The Earth”

August 18, 2013 Chris Hedges, /www.truthdig.com Educate! Corporatism, Egypt, Freedom of Speech and Assembly

The belief systems the oppressed embrace can be intolerant, but these belief systems are a response to the injustice, state violence and cruelty inflicted on them by the global elites. Our enemy is not radical Islam. It is global capitalism. It is a world where the wretched of the earth are forced to bow before the dictates of the marketplace, where children go hungry as global corporate elites siphon away the world’s wealth and natural resources and where our troops and U.S.-backed militaries carry out massacres on city streets. Egypt offers a window into the coming dystopia. The wars of survival will mark the final stage of human habitation of the planet. And if you want to know what they will look like, visit any city morgue in Cairo.

How Psychologists Subvert Democratic Movements

August 18, 2013 Bruce Levine, www.zcommunications.org Educate! Democracy, Freedom of Speech and Assembly

Over the years, I have become increasingly confident that there is a huge group of anti-authoritarian activists who are being pacified by the mental health profession and taken off democracy battlefields. I think this is one important reason why the number of Americans actively involved in democratic movements is so low. All power structures throughout history have sought to use groups of people, especially among so-called professionals, who will control the population from rebelling against injustices. Power structures have used clergy—that’s why clergy who cared about social justice and who were embarrassed by their profession created “liberation theology.” Power structures have certainly used police and armies, as has been done throughout American history to try to break the U.S. labor movement. The U.S. power structure now uses mental health professionals to manipulate and medicate people to adapt and adjust and thereby maintain the status quo.

Moral Monday Marches On With Dr. King In Mind

August 18, 2013 Sue Sturgis, www.southernstudies.org Organize! Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Government, Human Rights

On Aug. 28 -- the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom demanding civil rights for African Americans -- 13 Moral Monday gatherings will take place in each of North Carolina's 13 Congressional districts. These are being billed as the "Taking the Dream Home" rallies. And if some North Carolinians get their way, also speaking at the Washington march will be Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of the N.C. NAACP, the leading force behind the Moral Monday movement. People who've been involved in Moral Mondays have launched a petition at Change.org calling for Barber and U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the sole surviving speaker from the 1963 March on Washington, to address the 50th anniversary event.

Update On Camp-Out Protest At Berkeley Post Office

August 17, 2013 Euna Park, www.berkeley.patch.com Resist! Corporatism, Democracy, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Solidarity

It's been almost three weeks since the July 27 rally and beginning of the 24-hour camp-in protest to save the landmark building of the Berkeley Post Office. Twenty or so campers have been living in a tiny village of more than a dozen tents next to the Post Office at Allston Way and Milvia Street. "The plan is to stay here until we achieve some kind of victory, namely the reversal in the decision to sell the Post Office," said Mike Wilson from Strike Debt Bay Area, one of the groups organizing the protests.

Chalk The Police State–Sidewalk Chalk Could Land Four Protestors in Jail For A Year

August 15, 2013 Six, www.interoccupy.net Educate! Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Police abuse

On August 10th, during a monthly chalking protest against police brutality in solidarity with the families of people killed by LVMPD officers, four Las Vegas activists were arrested by the LVMPD. Each was charged with two counts of “defacing property” and two were additionally charged with two counts each of “conspiracy to commit a non-felony crime.” For sidewalk chalk.

Censorship Backfire: Surge Of Interest In Zinn’s ‘People’s History’

August 15, 2013 Andrea Germanos, www.commondreams.org Resist! Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Government, Human Rights

"But since his "anti-Howard Zinn witch-hunt" has been exposed, Zinn's People's History has become "a hot read at libraries" in the state, the South Bend Tribune reports. St. Joseph County Public Library, for example, which only had one copy of Zinn's People's History just weeks ago, has now upped the number to 19 due to patrons' interest, but even that wasn't enough. They're all checked out now, and there are 10 people on a waiting list. "

Olympic Committee Threatens To Punish Athletes Who Fight For Gay Russians

August 14, 2013 Tris Reid-Smith, www.gaystarnews.com Educate! Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Human Rights, LGBTQ

"LGBT rights campaigners have called on athletes to wear ‘rainbow pins’ to show their support for LGBT people in the opening and closing ceremonies.But the IOC pointed GSN to rules banning that. "The Olympics own charter describes such things as ‘propaganda’ – the same word used by the Russians in their new anti-gay law which stops homosexuality being ‘promoted’ to minors. Under rule 50 of the IOC’s charter: ‘No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."

11th Day of Arrests At Madison Capitol

August 14, 2013 Blue Cheddar, www.bluecheddar.net Resist! Freedom of Speech and Assembly

Arrests returned to the rotunda. Today August 6th is the 11th day of mass arrests since July 24, 2013. (See the timeline at the end of this post for a recap) “Department of Administration spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis says police issued 20 citations on Tuesday for gathering in the rotunda without a permit.”

Occupy (Inter) National Gathering Endorsed By 60 Occupy Groups

August 14, 2013 jackiews, www.interoccupy.net Strategize! Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Occupy

In a broad show of support, over sixty Occupy groups have now endorsed the second Occupy National Gathering, known as Occupy Wall Street (Inter) National Gathering: Decolonize the 99%, taking place Wednesday August 21 through Sunday August 25, 2013, in Kalamazoo, MI.

Moral Monday Movement—13 Weeks and 1,000 Arrests

August 13, 2013 Tanya Glover, www.occupy.comL Resist! Democracy, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Government, Moral Monday, Racism, Women's Rights, Worker Rights and Jobs

"North Carolina was one of the first states in America to raise its voice against the immoral behavior of their state legislature[...]Each Moral Monday mobilized around a single issue. One week was for labor issues, another for women’s rights, another for voting rights, and so on. The beautiful thing was that no matter what the theme, people came out in droves. This is the meaning of intersectionality -- just because an issue may not affect us on a personal level, we’re still willing to speak up and fight for the fairness and freedom of others."

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