It's May Day, and Occupy Wall Street will be acting in force across New York City.

Join us on this day of celebration and agitation for the struggles of workers the world over. As the May Day music video "We Stand For Justice" depicts.

"We stand for justice. We know what it feels like. We stand together, for justice we will fight!"

Indeed, the most important way you can show your support is by joining us in the streets on May Day. But we also need financial and material resources to spread the word and to support actions.

Please donate today to support OWS May Day 2013 activities.

Then tomorrow, stand together with us and fight for justice for the 99%!

-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

May Day NYC

See the full May Day NYC schedule, as well as specifics on the events below:

all day: The People’s Puppets

We begin the day early in 2 groups: Uptown (meeting in Bryant Park at 10am) and Downtown (meeting in Union Sq at 11am). After marching with different groups, we’ll meet back at Union Square for more performances, especially game time at 4pm!

11am- 230: Free University @ Cooper Union

The Free University of NYC invites neighborhood organizations, schools, unions, spiritual centers, and other community education-oriented groups to create your own Free Universities this May 1st. The impetus behind this May Day call to education is to encourage local communities to host your own gatherings of free education to ensure they’re directly relevant and empowering on a ground level.

noon: Immigrant Worker Justice Tour @ Bryant Park

Join immigrants and workers this May Day as we highlight the daily struggles facing immigrants and workers in New York City. We will visit several workplaces in midtown to demand an end to exploitation of immigrant workers, ending at Schumer's office for a speak-out on what real immigration reform looks like.

2:30: #99PKTS Solidarity Swarm @ Union Square

Join 99 Pickets, the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, and allies as we march on employers around Union Square to demand fair pay and justice for all workers. We'll be visiting the offices of Frieze Art Fair to call for a fairer art world, Wendy's to support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Travel Channel to support members of the Writers Guild. Gather at 2:30pm in the NE corner of Union Square; we'll leave at 3pm. Look for Rude Mechanical Orchestra!

3:30: Everybody Now! Sing along @ Union Square

Everybody Now! is a choir that you join as soon as you start to sing (or whisper or hum). On May Day, we will be sharing this song, "We Stand For Justice", at the beginning of the rally at Union Square, and we would love to you to lift your voice and sing with us! Our goal is to make it as resonant and contagious as possible - ideally everyone at the rally will feel empowered and excited to sing along! Listen to a demo of the song and meet us at the SE corner of Union Square (14th St between Broadway and Lafayette, right across from the Duane Reade) AND THEN SING WITH US IN THE RALLY AT 4 PM!!

4pm: Unified Rally for Immigrant & Worker Rights @ Union Square

Joint rally with the May 1st Coalition; the Alliance for Labor Rights, Immigrant Rights and Jobs for All; immigrant rights groups; and Occupy Wall Street. The rally will be a mix of speakers and entertainment drawing attention to the struggles and victories of labor unions, workers, immigrants and the 99%. Followed by a march down Broadway to City Hall.

7pm: May Day People’s Assembly @ Foley Square

This Assembly will be the first in a series of monthly People's Assemblies that will take place on the first Wednesday of each month. What do we have in common, how do our experiences vary, and what can we build together? As the march ends, gather in Foley Square starting at 7pm. We will split into multiple groups based on the struggles, campaigns and people present.

7:30: Occu-Evolve Kimani Grey Assembly @ Zucotti Park

Emphasis on current labor struggles, ending Police Murder and Brutality, stop & frisk, mass incarceration and the War on Black and Brown People, justice for victims of Hurricane Sandy and building Occupy Wall Street to truly reflect and fight for all of the people in New York City.

9pm: Dance Your Debt Away @ Washington Square Park

A party to end the day!

Learn more about the plethora of events and actions happening all day at http://maydaynyc.org/schedule/.

Since their first issue in December 2011, Tidal has made it their practice to give name to our struggle, wrestling with the big ideas that propel us into the streets, with what we should do when we get there, and with where there in fact is.

This Friday, the folks at Occupy Theory will release their fourth issue of the magazine, featuring original pieces by organizers of Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Sandy, Strike Debt and Free University. Join them that night for conversation as we move together towards the empowerment that greater clarity and the free exchange of ideas can bring.

-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

Occupy in the News

Jenna Pope documented last Sunday’s Forward on Climate Rally. Beautiful sights--the vistas of activists in D.C. to make their voices heard about climate change--beautifully captured.

Kevin Gosztola writes at FireDogLake’s The Dissenter blog about the recent history of climate change actions and points out just how high the stakes are. Our only hope to defeat the monstrosity of the Keystone XL Pipeline is continued, passionate action, that is to say, “...if everyone demonstrating channeled the spirit of the Occupy movement...”

Les Leopold of the Huffington Post explains why “the raison d’etre for Occupy Wall Street is proving correct. Much of high finance is based on a ‘corrupt business plan.’” Proof of Wall Street’s corruption continues to mount, with ratings agencies on the take, money laundered for drug cartels, and rampant insider trading, among many other ethical and moral malignancies.

On occupywallstreet.net Heather Marsh argues for a society with no financial system at all, a currency-free system in which the endless cycle of excessive consumption and meaningless busywork is ended. The proof that this could work already exists. “With no financial incentives,” Marsh says, “the internet has managed to create collaborative efforts which have pushed the potential of society far beyond what could have been possible before the internet.”

On the OWS Direct Action Blog, Mark Adams gives us the push we need to meet, to talk, to plan for spring.

Revisit Liberty Plaza in full swing in Why We Occupy, an open-source book of interviews gathered in the park in 2011. See the park grow and change in real-time through the heartfelt words of the participants.

Continue reading »

Occupy Wall Street "One People" flash mob.

From February 1st to the 3rd people from across the grassroots community--organizers, volunteers, activists and storm-impacted residents--will meet at The People’s Recovery Summit to address how we can rebuild a stronger, fairer and more sustainable New York City together.

How do we strengthen access to good public schools for our children? How do we rebuild sustainably and equitably? How can we best organize our relief networks before the next time we need them? How do we make our communities healthier places?

Join us this weekend to explore these questions and participate in workshops, listen to speeches, attend trainings, share meals, hear music and help draft a unified people’s recovery statement. Restore power to the people - a better future is in our hands!

--from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

Occupy these Actions and Events

Saturday, February 2nd, 10:00am-1:00pm
Sandy Walk, Ends at Staten Island Community Hub, 1128 Olympia Blvd., Midland Beach
Join Staten Island resident Bill Johnsen for a walk on the first Saturday of the month leaving from Brighton St & Billopp Avenue, Tottenville, ending at St. Margaret Mary’s Church, The Occupy Sandy community hub in Staten Island. The walk is in support of Uniting the Victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Sunday, February 3rd, 1:00pm-4:00pm
Occupy the Ferry, St. George Staten Island Ferry Terminal
Staten Island, New York 10301 82nd Street-Jackson Heights / Roosevelt Avenue 7 Train
As outreach to the 99% and in support The WORKERS at Golden Farm in Kensington Brooklyn we will be Occupying the Subways beginning at 1pm and meeting the Boycott/Picket of Golden Farm at 2pm and staying there until 4pm.

Friday, February 1, 2013, 6:30pm-9:30pm
Occupy Beyond Sandy
The Atrium 60 Wall St.
Despite all the GREAT work of Occupy Sandy, the problems of both Sandy Victims and the 99% remain and will only get worse with the plans of the 1% to gentrify in the aftermath of Sandy. With the many issues that still remain before and after Sandy, it’s time we examine our work and continue to organize for the 99% to fight Wall Street and build the Occupy Movement. Please join us. We are involved in several continuous actions all around the city and attempting to build a mass movement

February 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
People's Recovery Summit
The Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew, 520 Clinton Ave.
The People's Recovery Summit is a three day event of workshops, trainings, horizontally facilitated discussions, and evening entertainment. Residents, activists, organizers, volunteers, and all concerned citizens will unite to build a more equitable and sustainable New York City post-Hurricane Sandy. Come participate for any and all parts of the weekend and help ignite a people-powered recovery! Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner will be served.

Tuesday, February 5, 7pm
Divesting from Fossil Fuels
Cooper Union, The Great Hall, 7 East 7th Street between 3rd & 4th Avenues.
America’s colleges and universities prepare the nation’s young people for their future. Yet those same institutions invest in the fossil fuel companies that are profiting enormously from the carbon that’s going to wreck the climate. Thousands of students are building a national movement demanding that university endowments divest from the fossil fuel industry.

Wednesday, February 6th, 9:45am
Flood the Court, 40 Centre St. (40 Foley Square)
The 2nd circuit court of appeals will be hearing oral arguments in the lawsuit against section 1021 of the NDAA. Your attendance will communicate that the public is invested in the outcome of this ruling and unwilling to sit idly by as due process rights are eroded. RSVP on Facebook.

[Via OccupyWallSt.org]

When: Tuesday, December 11 @ 4:30pm
Where: Harold Pratt House, 58 East 68th Street, New York, New York 10065
RSVP on Facebook

Just weeks after the massive demonstration of the #WalmartStrikers Black Friday day of action, Walmart CEO Mike Duke is visiting NYC on Tuesday, Dec. 11 to give a speech for the Council on Foreign Relations entitled "The Responsibility to Lead" - talking about women's economic empowerment, food security & the global middle class.

That's ironic, since Walmart represents the epitome of corporate greed: from use of sweatshop labor, to the poverty wages it pays associates, to discrimination, to illegal retaliation against workers who organize. Mike Duke has no right to speak about the "global middle class", and IT'S TIME WE TAUGHT HIM THE MEANING OF RESPONSIBILITY.

Join ALIGN, 99 Pickets, Walmart Free NYC, Occupy Bergen County, Retail Action Project, MoneyOut/VotersIn, and allies for an afternoon of action -- picket lines, street theater, and more.

Text "@pickets" to 23559 for day-of text message alerts.

We will publicly hold Mike Duke accountable for:

The deaths of 120 workers from a fire at Bangladeshi sweatshop producing clothing for Walmart in incredibly unsafe conditions.

Paying Walmart workers poverty wages, forcing many to file for public assistance, and for retaliating against workers when they began to organize and speak out about working conditions.

Mistreatment of workers across Walmart's supply chain, especially warehouse workers and immigrant workers at Walmart suppliers.

From Occupy Wall Street:

Guess what's just a week away? May Day! Join an unprecedented coalition of workers, immigrants, and occupiers of all kinds to step, for one day, out of work, school, stores and homes and into the struggle against an inhuman system. See you in the streets!

Ready to help now? Occupy Wall Street's Direct Action working groups could use materials and funds to help make May Day 2012 a historic day of protest and celebration.

Occupy these Upcoming Events

Thursday, April 26, 1pm
Direct Action Trainings
Union Square on the north side, & Washington Square at the center fountain
Two introductory Direct Action: 101 trainings will be held concurrently in both Union Square and Washington Square, concluding with a practice march leaving from both locations and converging.

Thursday, April 26, 4pm
People’s Assembly: Speak Out on Wall Street
Federal Hall, Wall Street side steps
We began a literal occupation of Wall Street on April 9th, which the 1%’s police proxies have brazenly attempted to suppress. The People’s Assembly goes to the true source of the suppression, Wall Street, and aims to reclaim our right to peacefully assemble at the birthplace of the Bill of Rights.

Thursday, April 26, 6pm
Occupy the Panel for Educational Policy
Prospect Heights HS, 883 Classon Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Learn how we can help build a movement of parents, teachers, and students to stop school closings and win democratic control of our schools. Stand in solidarity with the teachers, students, and parents of the 26 “turnaround schools.”

Thursday, April 26, 8pm
Occupy Your Mind - The American Spring
Choir Loft, Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square Park South
Join us for an evening of live performances based on interviews with the Occupy Movement featuring members of The Civilians Ensemble, members of the Judson Memorial Church community and members of the Arts Diaspora NYC.

Friday, April 27th, 2pm
Weekly Wall Street Marches: Final Spring Training Day!
Liberty Square
For six consecutive weeks, we’ve trained in street tactics, learned to creatively move and communicate together, built a community of trust, and rung the People's Gong as a call to action. Join us for the final Spring Training Day!

Continue reading »