Over 130 people were led away and ticketed by police in Chicago as thousands of teachers, parents and students protested against a decision to close 54 public schools. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has refused further negotiations, apparently making the closings a done deal.

Via:

CTU President Karen Lewis was cheered when she took the microphone at Daley Plaza late Wednesday afternoon and repeated her argument that the Chicago Public Schools' decision to close schools with predominantly African-American enrollments is racist.

"Let's not pretend that when you close schools on the South and West sides, the children affected aren't black," Lewis said. "Let's not pretend that's not racist."

In an event rife with political symbolism, the size of the crowd was anybody's guess. The official police estimate was 700 to 900 people, according to the department's news affairs office. A CTU spokeswoman said the union was "appalled" by the department's number, saying between 5,000 and 6,500 were on hand.

Those at the protest were loud but disciplined, sticking to a script the CTU provided earlier in the day in a news release. Most of the vitriol was aimed at Emanuel, with protesters carrying signs included "Rahm's brain is underutilized" and "School Closings = One Term Mayor."

127 protesters were led away peacefully by police after sitting in the street at the intersection of Washington and LaSalle outside City Hall. Their hands were behind their backs, but not handcuffed. Despite earlier warnings from CTU that the protesters would "risk arrest," police made a point of noting that 127 people were issued tickets on site, and not arrested.

The district says that the 54 schools slated for closure are "underenrolled," and need to be shut to deal with a $1 billion dollar deficit.

Via Idlenomore.ca:

Check out this stunning, short documentary on "Idle No More" from the San Francisco and Oakland solidarity rallies created by Grounded TV.

Idle No More calls on all people to join in a revolution that honors and fulfills Indigenous sovereignty which protects the land and water. Colonization continues through attacks to Indigenous rights and damage to the land and water. We must repair these violations, live the spirit and intent of the treaty relationship, work towards justice in action, and protect Mother Earth.

Idle No More Toronto -Over 1000 people! Idle No More FlashMob Round Dance Took Over Yonge-Dundas Square today in downtown Toronto as part of the Idle No More rallies happening in solidarity with First Nations across Canada and the world.

There's a google map of all the worldwide #IdleNoMore events and rallies scheduled, find your local rally/Flashmob! View the Google Map here: http://bit.ly/ZWzvNA

RALLIES ARE HAPPENING IN EGYPT, OTTAWA, TORONTO, MONTREAL, QUEBEC, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, LOS ANGELES, -BRITISH COLUMBIA, SASKATCHEWAN, EDMONTON, WINNIPEG, SUDBURY, SIOUX LOOKOUT, YUKON, OWEN SOUND, SAN FRANCISCO, HAMILTON, VANCOUVER AND MORE!

FOR UPDATES AND MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.IdleNoMore.com/

LIKE THE IDLE NO MORE FACEBOOK COMMUNITY PAGE: http://www.facebook.com/IdleNoMoreCommunity

From Press TV: This episode of the show reports on the Anaheim solidarity marches across the U.S., Frack attack rallies in D.C., Stand Up Chicago and raise the minimum wage rallies, the Obama fundraiser in Portland as well as the AIDS awareness rallies.

This episode also interviews many Occupy Wall Street protesters including the “Stand Up Chicago” policy analyst Elizabeth Parisian.

From Reuter's photographer's blog, photojournalist Andrew Burton decided that he wanted to get a look at Occupy Wall Street's everyday activities rather than the sensationalist activities that are covered by the mainstream media. So he ended up following a friend of mine, Austin Guest, to take photos and talk with him.

Reuters:

As a journalist, Guest helped re-shape my own notions of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Like many people, I thought the OWS movement seemed unorganized and unwilling to state clear political desires. On the contrary, Guest demonstrated that the movement does have organization and leadership, though at times they focus so extensively on each person having a voice, it can be hard to reach consensus and mobilize. Regarding political goals, Guest explained that Occupy Wall Street is a social movement, not a political one.

Austin Guest was one of the occupiers who "moved in" to the lobby of a Bank of America branch office, and you can see that video here.

During a brief clash with police, Occupy SF protesters were beaten with batons, and sprayed with pepper spray, after an energetic day of protests in the city's financial district, a federal courthouse, and rallies.

Via Reuters:

Hundreds of Occupy activists clashed with police and stormed a vacant hotel in San Francisco on Friday, capping a day of protests in the city's financial district and separate anti-Wall Street rallies at federal courthouses across the country.

The rallies were seen as a bid by the Occupy Wall Street movement to reenergize protests against economic inequality and excesses of the U.S. financial system weeks after demonstrators were driven from tent camps in a wave of evictions nationwide.

The raucous takeover of the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco's upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood followed a march from downtown by about 1,000 demonstrators chanting, "Whose streets? Our streets!" and "Cops go home!"

The protesters were met by a phalanx of police in riot gear who had set up barricades at the front entrance to the U-shaped hotel complex, which stands several stories tall and takes up an entire city block.

The crowd surged toward the barriers to try to remove them and briefly scuffled with police, who jabbed protesters with batons and doused them with pepper spray, forcing demonstrators to retreat. Police said demonstrators hurled rocks, bottles and bricks at them, with two officers suffering minor injuries.

One man lay on the ground surrounded by fellow protesters yelling that he had been struck in the head. Demonstrators regrouped to march around the block, some breaking windows of a nearby car dealership, as police largely dispersed.

The following video shows the protesters as they occupy the Cathedral Hill Hotel. Note the protesters who take to the roof of the building to hang a banner. Via KCBS: