Tavis Smiley, Cornel West in town Friday

By Nathan Crabbe
Staff writer



Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 8:50 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 8:50 p.m.




Talk show host Tavis Smiley and author Cornel West will focus on the Occupy movement Friday at a University of Florida event, with West appearing beforehand with the local Occupy group.



Smiley and West are bringing their “Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience,” an effort to highlight the plight of poor people, to UF's Graham Center for Public Service. The theme of the UF event is whether the Occupy movement is the civil rights movement of our time, a question that the Graham Center also has posted on its new Civil Debate Wall.

The event, starting at 6 p.m. in Pugh Hall, is free and open to the public.

Earlier in the day, West will be speaking at an event co-sponsored by Occupy Gainesville. That event will start at 1 p.m. at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza before a march to the Gainesville federal courthouse. The march is a protest of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Citizens United case that overturned limits on political spending by corporations.

The march's co-sponsor, Move to Amend, is pushing for a constitutional amendment establishing that corporations do not have the same rights as human beings.

Smiley is a longtime broadcaster who hosts “Tavis Smiley” on PBS and “The Tavis Smiley Show” from Public Radio International. West has taught at Princeton University and other schools and has written 19 books, including “Race Matters, Democracy Matters” and his new memoir, “Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud.”

Contact Nathan Crabbe at 338-3176 or nathan.crabbe@gvillesun.com.

Talk show host Tavis Smiley and author Cornel West will focus on the Occupy movement Friday at a University of Florida event, with West appearing beforehand with the local Occupy group.

Smiley and West are bringing their “Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience,” an effort to highlight the plight of poor people, to UF's Graham Center for Public Service. The theme of the UF event is whether the Occupy movement is the civil rights movement of our time, a question that the Graham Center also has posted on its new Civil Debate Wall.

The event, starting at 6 p.m. in Pugh Hall, is free and open to the public.

Earlier in the day, West will be speaking at an event co-sponsored by Occupy Gainesville. That event will start at 1 p.m. at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza before a march to the Gainesville federal courthouse. The march is a protest of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Citizens United case that overturned limits on political spending by corporations.

The march's co-sponsor, Move to Amend, is pushing for a constitutional amendment establishing that corporations do not have the same rights as human beings.

Smiley is a longtime broadcaster who hosts “Tavis Smiley” on PBS and “The Tavis Smiley Show” from Public Radio International. West has taught at Princeton University and other schools and has written 19 books, including “Race Matters, Democracy Matters” and his new memoir, “Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud.”

Contact Nathan Crabbe at 338-3176 or nathan.crabbe@gvillesun.com.


http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120119/ARTICLES/120119407

The Riverside Church Hosts Cornel West, Rabbi Michael Lerner and Other Scholars for Panel Discussion Exploring the Direction of Progressive Moral Agenda for the 21st Century





By The Riverside Church


The Riverside Church

Last modified: 2012-01-19T19:59:55Z


Published: Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 - 11:59 am



NEW YORK, Jan. 19, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- In exploration of the revolutionary phenomenon that is the Occupy movement, The Riverside Church will host Dr. Cornel West, Rabbi Michael Lerner and other progressive scholars and forward thinkers for Occupy the Mind: Progressive Moral Agenda for the 21st Century, a panel discussion examining the future of the progressive movement on Sunday, January 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., in the Nave of The Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive (bet. 120th & 122nd Sts.), Morningside Heights.

At the event, the panel will feature the shared reflections and conversations of Dr. Cornel West; Union Theological Seminary President, Reverend. Dr. Serene Jones; Editor of Tikkun, Rabbi Michael Lerner; Professor Richard D. Wolff (U Mass); Professor James Vrettos (John Jay College); and Riverside's Interim Senior Minister, Reverend Stephen H. Phelps.

"In his 1967 speech Beyond Vietnam, Martin Luther King Jr. pressed again and again upon his listeners how America must undergo a 'true revolution of values,'" said Rev. Phelps. "The Occupy movement is exactly about that kind of revolution. It tells us that only a change of heart can steer America onto the road of the future. Occupy the Mind aims to give everyone space to think and feel after what is needed for a true revolution of values. Occupy the Mind is not an event. It is a learning lab."


As setting a progressive moral agenda is neither liberal nor conservative, the goal is to set a template by which people can work out differences of opinion while keeping shared core values as first priority—and to guard those shared values with nonviolent practices at every step.

Occupy the Mind is free, open to the public and will be live streamed on The Riverside Church website at www.theriversidechurchny.org.

The Riverside Church (www.theriversidechurchny.org) is an interracial, interdenominational and international church built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1927. The 1,200-member Riverside Church in Morningside Heights has a rich tradition of providing a forum for important civic and spiritual leaders. Past speakers include: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President William J. Clinton, the Dalai Lama, Fidel Castro, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.

SOURCE The Riverside Church

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/19/4200104/the-riverside-church-hosts-cornel.html

i definitely support the occupy movement. it's sad about the infiltrations and attempts at destroying them by police and such, but it's good they strong and stand their ground. we need their voice. hopefully they aren't successfully infiltrated and destroyed from within.

it seems in the end they all learned this, eventually if you allow yourselves to be lead the system will infiltrate you, take over and ruin you. better off working leaderless. the fact bloomberg's administration was telling recently released prisoners to go to zuccotti park to get free food and shelter and then turned around and said, "they have been attacking each other, raping each other, etc" should have been anticipated. people need to be on guard against the system especially when you're trying to change it.


it would be nice to see they learned their lessons, and come back this summer sans political affiliation and leaders.

Posted at 12:43 PM ET, 02/21/2012

Occupy is back? Movement gets a TV show, issues concrete demands, begins new protests

By Elizabeth Flock
If you thought Occupy was over, you may want to think again.




Demonstrators march toward the gates of San Quentin Prison during an Occupy the Prisons protest in San Quentin, Calif. (BECK DIEFENBACH - REUTERS)


Over the last several months, much of the media has reported that the movement had run its course. “Today it looks like a lot of Occupiers have decided that two months is enough,” wrote CNBC from New York in November “Occupy movement is dead as a skunk,” conservative blog the Gateway Pundit cheered the following month. “Occupy protesters lose steam,”Christian Broadcasting Network wrote in January, as the last protesters in Washington’s McPherson Square were evicted. And last week, a question was posed on Yahoo Answers: “When did Occupy Wall Street lose its credibility?” That question has now been deleted.

But as the first signs of spring appear, Occupy Wall Street seems to be alive and kicking once again. Or at least starting to get there. Here’s a short of what’s been “occupied,” in the last two weeks alone.

— Prison: Hundreds of Occupy protesters, some of whom had once been imprisoned themselves, rallied outside the gates of San Quentin prison in California on Monday to protest high incarceration rates and harsh living conditions, RawStory.com reports.

— The SEC: Last week a group calling itself “Occupy the SEC” submitted a 325-page letter to federal regulators, in which it laid out concrete criticisms and proposals, Time Magazine reports. The letter was an answer to criticisms that the protesters have not been able to produce a single concrete demand.

— The University of Rhode Island: A tent has been erected on campus, a “teach-in” has been scheduled, and a rally is scheduled for March, Boston.com reports. Some protesters have suggested that if public parks are off-limits, the occupations should be moved to college campuses.

— Maine television: Occupy Maine’s television show is now gaining steam, with its newest episode focusing on the Occupy movement’s actions post-eviction, AP reports. TV shows may represent a new way for Occupy to organize.

— Corporate interest groups: Protests are currently being planned in some 60 cities against right-wing corporate interest group American Legislative Exchange Council for Feb. 29, the Guardian reports. The organizing group “Shut Down the Corporations” has other protests in the works.

The Guardian’s map showing which Occupy protests are still active around the world is now dotted with hundreds of red markers:

That said, the Occupy movement is nowhere near what it was in October, when it dominated the news headlines daily, garnered the support of unions, large student groups and celebrities, and occupied spaces across the United States.


By Elizabeth Flock | 12:43 PM ET, 02/21/2012


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/occupy-is-back-movement-gets-a-tv-show-issues-concrete-demands-begins-new-protests/2012/02/21/gIQA00vRRR_blog.html

Occupy is back?

So they've gone Hollywood? They've crossed-over into 'the main-stream'? Do I hear: SELL OUT?

What's next a sequel? Occupy Everywhere part 10 (The Chicks come home to boost).

How about a Walk of Fame for protestors at Zuccotti Park with stars for each participant?

Will they go on tour? We are the World (Occupiers)

How about a Occupy WS, Cannes (Cons) Film Festival? Occuppy Wall Street Salad Dressing?

The conference will be funded through donations.

By Patrick Walters | Wednesday, Feb 22, 2012 | Updated 1:57 PM EST


AP
Occupy Wall Street protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge in October.


A group of protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement plans to elect 876 "delegates" from around the country and hold a national "general assembly" in Philadelphia over the Fourth of July as part of ongoing protests over corporate excess and economic inequality.

The group, dubbed the 99% Declaration Working Group, said Wednesday delegates would be selected during a secure online election in early June from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

In a nod to their First Amendment rights, delegates will meet in Philadelphia to draft and ratify a "petition for a redress of grievances," convening during the week of July 2 and holding a news conference in front of Independence Hall on the Fourth of July.

Any U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who is 18 years of age or older may run as a nonpartisan candidate for delegate, according to Michael S. Pollok, an attorney who advised Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge last year and co-founded the working group.

"We feel it's appropriate to go back to what our founding fathers did and have another petition congress," Pollok said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We feel that following the footsteps of our founding fathers is the right way to go."

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and cited King George III's failure to redress the grievances listed in colonial petitions as a reason to declare independence.

One man and one woman will be elected from each of the 435 congressional voting districts, according to Pollok, and they will meet in Philadelphia to deliberate, draft and ratify a "redress of grievances." One delegate will also be elected to represent each of the U.S. territories.

Organizers won't take a position on what grievances should be included, Pollok said, but they will likely include issues like getting money out of politics, dealing with the foreclosure crisis and helping students handle loan debt.

Details of the conference are still being worked out, Pollok said, but organizers have paid for a venue in Philadelphia. Pollok would not identify the venue, but said it was "a major state-of-the art facility." Pollok said the group planned to pay for the conference through donations.

Once the petition is completed, Pollok said, the protesters will deliver copies to the White House, members of Congress and the Supreme Court. They will demand that Congress takes action in the first 100 days of taking office next year. If sufficient action isn't taken, Pollok said, the delegates will go back to their districts and try to recruit their own candidates for office.

Philadelphia Managing Director Richard Negrin said the city has been in communication with the conference organizers and said the biggest concerns are logistical. The conference is coming at a time when thousands of tourists flock to the City of Brotherly Love for Fourth of July festivities.

"It's mostly a police and traffic control concern," Negrin said. "We think that as the cradle of liberty we have to be careful and hold our constitutional rights especially reverent here. ... We're not going to be heavy handed."

Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York


http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Occupy-Wall-Street-Convention-Delegates-July-Philly-140016303.html

i don't know about selling out. they got infiltrated and then systematically destroyed through a discrediting campaign and north african/ middle eastern dictator style crackdown. a sideshow would only help to ruin it. sad this happened under the man of hope and change.

Reuters Mar 1, 2012 – 12:16 PM ET



Protesters demonstrate during an Occupy Wall Street "Shut Down the Corporations" protest on February 29, 2012 in New York City


By Gianna Palmer

NEW YORK — About 10 Occupy Wall Street demonstrators were arrested in New York City on Wednesday during protests that failed to pull in big crowds or draw much attention on what organizers had hoped would be a nationwide day of revival for the movement.

A similar protest in wet and cold weather in Portland, Oregon, drew a crowd organizers said numbered about 500 people and saw at least seven arrests.

The coast to coast demonstrations were aimed at revving up the movement known as “Occupy,” which has been relatively quiet in the months since police cleared encampments in New York, Oakland and other major cities.

In New York, as rain clouds gathered overhead, several dozen police officers on motorcycles escorted a group of about 50 protesters that marched from a park outside the New York Public Library to the world headquarters of Pfizer Inc and back. They denounced Pfizer as a corporation that lobbies for legislation to create tax breaks and other benefits for large businesses.

“Shame on Pfizer! You’re a bunch of liars!” chanted the protesters as they milled around barricades in front of Pfizer, the world’s largest drug maker.

Afterward, Pfizer acknowledged involvement with legislative organizations but said in a statement that its aim was strictly to “advance the health of all Americans.”


Related

Violent Occupy Oakland protests leave hundreds arrested


Occupy Wall Street invades Tournament of Roses Parade with ‘human float’

.
Most of the roughly 10 protesters taken into custody in New York were people with sleeping bags arrested overnight in Zuccotti Park, birthplace of the Occupy movement and strictly off-limits for camping since police evicted protesters from their tent city there in November, a police spokesman said.

A rallying cry of the movement has been that 1 percent of the population has too much of the nation’s wealth and the remaining 99 percent is disadvantaged.

Hoisting a sign reading “I can’t afford to get sick” was Jennifer Roberts, 44, a painter who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.

“I’ve lived the bulk of my adult working life without insurance,” Roberts said. “I feel it’s very important to pursue a single payer system for this country.”

Across the country in Portland, hundreds of protesters snaked through the city’s downtown and stopped at a number of businesses to shout slogans or sing.

Two protesters were arrested for damaging a van along the route, and another five demonstrators were arrested later in the day for trespassing, said Portland police spokesman Lieutenant Robert King.

Overnight, windows were shattered at two banks and a Starbucks coffee shop, according to the Portland Police Bureau. No arrests have been made yet in those cases, King said.

Meanwhile, in the suburban community of Mira Loma about 40 miles east of Los Angeles, a crowd of about 200 demonstrators massed outside a Wal-Mart Stores Inc distribution center.

Demonstrators, who said they opposed the company’s labor policies and carried signs such as “Stop the War on Workers” and “People Before Profits,” found the distribution center was closed. Day-to-day operations at the center are run by a company that contracts with Wal-Mart.

“We expect our vendors to meet the needs of our businesses and it’s their call how to manage the workload and the scheduling and the operations,” said Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman.


REUTERS/Alex Gallardo
Sheriff deputies in Mira Loma, California were able to back down demonstrators protesting against a WalMart distribution center by walking in a line to make them retreat and disperse


http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/01/occupy-wall-street-demonstrators-arrested-as-renewed-protest-push-fizzles/

NYPD investigating apparent Occupy Wall St. protester's online threat

Tweeted "we wont make a difference if we dont kill a cop or 2.”

By Barry Paddock / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Sunday, March 18, 2012, 5:00 PM


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-investigating-apparent-occupy-wall-st-protester-online-threat-article-1.1041830#ixzz1pVcKBIDS


Bryan Smith for New York Daily News
Police and activists clashed on Cedar Street Saturday after activists gathered in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan to mark their sixth month anniversary.


Police are investigating an apparent Occupy Wall St. protester’s online threat to kill cops.

Someone with the Twitter handle “smackema1” tweeted this message at 11:39 p.m. Saturday, following a clash at Zuccotti Park.: "we wont make a difference if we dont kill a cop or 2.”

The tweet was directed to a page on Ustream showing live footage of the protests.

The writer was had tweeted several comments about the protests Saturday night.

PHOTOS: OCCUPY WALL STREET 6-MONTH ANNIVERSARY RALLY

The NYPD is seeking a subpoena to find out who’s behind the Twitter account, according to Paul Browne, the department’s top spokesman.

Protesters attempted to stay overnight in the park Saturday, after their encampment was booted out Nov. 15.

“We had planned on being there for 24 hours,” said protester Aaron Black, 38, of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “They were using their clubs and beating the crap out of people.”

Police swept them from the park again early Sunday, arresting dozens in the process.

Cops are also pursuing phone threats to two cops and their families made Saturday, officials said.

Activist Cecily McMillan, 23, is seen elbowing her arresting officer in the face as she is lead from Zuccotti Park in video released by police.

She then appears to suffer a seizure in video released by activists.

She was treated at New York Downtown Hospital and released into police custody, cops said. She was charged with assault on a police officer.

Her arresting officer suffered a cut to the eye but refused medical attention, police said.

A second protester, Daniel Murphy, 25, of Palo Verde, Cal., was also charged with assault on a police officer, officials said.

Christopher Geist, 38, who is homeless according to cops, was charged with attempted robbery and sexual abuse during the chaotic protests, officials said.

Most of the 73 people arrested Saturday night and early Sunday were charged with some combination of trespass, disorderly conduct, obstruction of government administration, and resisting arrest, police said.

bpaddock@nydailynews.com


Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-investigating-apparent-occupy-wall-st-protester-online-threat-article-1.1041830#ixzz1pVbWnSoE