Digest – Feb 20 & 21 – National Day in Support of Prisoners

Cleveland, Events, General Assembly, Home, Local, Needs, Occupy Everywhere, People

Feb 202012

Digest for Feb. 21 & 21 (Monday & Tuesday)

National Occupy Day in Support of Prisoners * Preparing for a huge spring – various national calls for organization and assembly * Current needs * Petition Roundup * International, national, state news * Upcoming events * Today’s quote * GA recap links * February is Black History Month! * Occupy Pittsburgh Impressions * New Recurring Event on Saturdays – Occupy Cleveland "Organizer Boot Camp" * More upcoming events * Meetings / WAGs * More reading / links * Call for information

Weekday Schedule: Today and Tomorrow’s Special Events; 6-7 PM GA M-W-F, OPEN FORUM T-Th; 7 PM Community Chat; 8-10 PM Entertainment; 10 PM-2 AM Night Shift #1; 2-6 AM Night Shift #2; Upcoming Events; We are continuously in the NW Quadrant of Public Square 24/7 at the Info Tent

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National Occupy Day in Support of Prisoners

Occupywallst.org has called for a Monday, Feb. 20 to be the National Occupy Day in Support of Prisoners. OccupyCleveland has nothing planned for this day but it is good to know what is going on nationally with the movement. The reasons for concern:

Prisons have become a central institution in American society, integral to our politics, economy and our culture.
Between 1976 and 2000, the United States built on average a new prison each week and the number of imprisoned Americans increased tenfold.
Prison has made the threat of torture part of everyday life for millions of individuals in the United States, especially the 7.3 million people—who are disproportionately people of color—currently incarcerated or under correctional supervision.
Imprisonment itself is a form of torture. The typical American prison, juvenile hall and detainment camp has been designed to maximize degradation, brutalization, and dehumanization.

Thoughts to meditate on, hopefully a catalyst for healing action in this area. At least twenty prisoners in Ohio State Penitentiary are going on a hunger strike today in solidarity with the idea.

Preparing for a huge spring – various national calls for organization and assembly

Call to Occupy DC Starting March 30

NOW DC invites any occupiers who are interested and dedicated to the NOW DC mission to join in organizing NOW DC. NOW DC organizing calls are on Sundays at 9 pm eastern/6 pm pacific. Register for the organizing calls on InterOccupy.org: http://interoccupy.org/nowdccall/ if you are interested in joining a working group. Info

Peoples Movement Assemblies Gear-Up for 2012

Movement organizers across the US are gearing-up for Peoples Movement Assemblies in 2012. Twenty-six PMA organizers joined a call at the end of 2011 and shared updates and visions for how Peoples Movement Assemblies will be used to build movement power in the year ahead. PMA events include assemblies on queer and LGBT issues, incarcerated people, ending poverty, Palestine solidarity, education, elders, Occupy groups, and many local issues around the country. Click below and read more about these events and find something happening in your area! Info

Current needs

Call for bike donations! Have an old bike in danger of rusting away in your garage? We’re looking for bike donations!
Looking for items such as a fridge, stove, basically anything and everything for our new warehouse space.
Still need consistent food donations of prepared meals at the tent along with healthy nibbles for energy throughout the cold days
Donations

Petition Roundup

Petition to request immediate hearings regarding fracking in Ohio
Petition to request transitioning to clean, renewable energy in Ohio
Petition to submit ACTA to the Senate for Ratification (so that the Senate will kill the bill)
Petition to ask Senators to reject the tentative Keystone XL
Petition to ask Governor Kasich to stop the death penalty in Ohio
This comes on the heels of the release of Joe D’Ambrosio, who had spent twenty years on death row for the death of someone he did not kill. Info | Petition

International, National, State News & Opinion

International:

This American Life – Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory - Podcast on the conditions of workers who make Apple products

National:

Ohio & Cleveland:

Upcoming events

In addition to our regularly scheduled weekday events, here are some special events that are happening today! Lots to do! Unless otherwise noted, events are in NW Quadrant (Tom Johnson/Free Speech Quadrant) of Public Square or nearby in the white tent area. More upcoming events after today are here…

Special Events Through Sunday

Mon., Feb. 20 – President’s Day - we will be reading landmark speeches of or relating to our great presidents
Mon., Feb. 20 – National Occupy Day in Support of Prisoners – At least 20 prisoners at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP- Ohio’s Super-Max prison) will refuse food on Monday February 20th in Solidarity with the National Occupy for Prisoners Day of Action. http://occupy4prisoners.org/
Wed., Feb. 22 @ 7:30 PM - We have been invited to a town hall meeting by the Save Our Benefits coalition–all are welcome to come. This is at St. Paul’s Community Church, 4427 Franklin Blvd., Cleveland. The coalition is concerned about Social Security and Medicare, etc.
Wednesdays @ 8 PM – Drum Circle at Info Tent
Wednesdays @ 8 PM – Womens meeting
Saturdays @ 6 PM - Occupy Boot Camp – at Info Tent
Sun., Feb. 26 @ 1-3 PM – Outreach WAG at Lakewood Library
Sun., Feb. 26 @ 3-5 PM – Occupy the Rust Belt Second Regional Assembly – Oscar Ritchie Hall, Kent, Ohio http://www.facebook.com/events/223924557701212/
More Events

Upcoming GA Votes - see Proposals section

Regular Daily Events

6 PM General Assembly on M-W-F, Open Foum T-Th- GAs are formal assemblies at the NW corner of Public Square or in white info tent west of this area. At this assembly, proposals and announcements are made. This is where consensus items are decided. Please review stances/thoughts at viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1003 for discussion in today’s GA. Recent GA recaps
Community Chat Following GA Today & Tomorrow – Informal assembly
Today & Tomorrow – 10 PM – 2 AM and 2 AM – 6 AM Evening Shifts – Please sign up at the white tent for an evening shift so that we can maintain effective occupancy overnight and relieve people who are overburdened. Dress extremely warmly with lots of layers and bring appropriate gear to keep yourself warm.

Working Group Meetings

Check for Meetings Here

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“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

~ Maya Angelou

More Maya Angelou quotes…

Please send poetry submissions to occupyclevelandpoetry (_at symbol_) gmail.com. If you agree, let’s work on keeping things positive and promoting positive perspectives in this space…

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GA recap links

Thanks to all who help with the movement, and thanks to notekeepers and videographers! Please post written GA minutes in the GA portion of forums in written format: http://unju.st/forum.

Friday Feb 17 Video | Wednesday Feb. 15 Minutes | Monday Feb. 13 Video | Friday Feb. 10 Minutes | Archived Minutes and Videos

Recent Concensus Items

2-10 CONCENSUS on proposal to rent 2,400 sq. ft. warehouse space
HAVE BEEN MISSING SOME CONCENSUS ITEMS. PLEASE POST NOTES IF YOU HAVE TIME & IT’S NOT TOO MUCH TROUBLE.
2-7 CONSENSUS-PROPOSAL PASSED: Proposal for Occupy Cleveland to sign on to a call for mass action in response to what seems to have been an attempt to suppress the movement, and to do a march in solidarity with a related national day of action on Feb. 28. This might involve some flyers and notification of the media.
2-7 CONCENSUS-PROPOSAL PASSED: Proposal for the person who rented a storage unit to be reimbursed for the expenses so far and the monthly rent. He’s already paid $91.59 plus a $25 initial fee.
1-6 CONCENSUS REACHED to modify 10% blocking to 5% blocking with granularity of 1 additional person supporting the person who is blocking for it to be a block per each 20 people in attendence at GA
1-6 CONCENSUS REACHED to do remembrance ceremony for Nick Christie & peaceful community involvement. Date TBD.

Recent proposals

2-15 PROPOSAL – funding/reimbursements on various items to be voted on Friday, 2/17.
2-15 PROPOSAL – Partnership with "One Mad Mother Against Vaccinations"
2-10 PROPOSAL to order "We are the 99%" stickers.
2-7 PROPOSAL in Facebook Open Forum for Warehouse unit rental – proposal will be introduced 2-8
2-7 PROPOSAL in forums – "Buy stock in the banks and companies we want to change"
1-9 INFORMAL PROPOSAL announced to help the poor with programs
1-6 UPCOMING PROPOSAL re "Prommunity"
1-2 PROPOSAL for consideration Wednesday, Jan. 4 for event of remembrance of Nick Christie (Ohio man who was pepper-sprayed to death)

Occupy Pittsburgh Impressions

One person’s experience visiting Occupy Pittsburgh: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/20469948

February is Black History Month!

Every February I am kind of whapped up the side of the head by my own ignorance, forgetting that February is Black History Month and that I’d planned to spend more time learning about history last year… and failed to do so. Thankfully the Plain Dealer is printing a month long series of profiles of Cleveland innovators and leaders who have African American heritage.

Cleveland Plain Dealer Intro Article…

New Recurring Event on Saturdays – Occupy Cleveland "Organizer Boot Camp"

OK, folks, time to get busy. Last Saturday at the tent we held the inaugural Occupy Cleveland Organizer Boot Camp, which will be held every Saturday at the tent at 6pm. Anyone can attend, but there are rules.

It’s not a teach-in. It’s a boot camp, which means there is homework. Last night’s homework assignment was (1) participants must read Saul Alinsky’s "Rules for Radicals", and (2) participants must organize to permanently solve the problem of food at the tent long term. If the homework is done properly, next Saturday’s Boot Camp will be conducted over a healthy meal, because healthy meals will always be at the tent at meal hours, every day, reliably, because occupiers have organized to make it so. Part of organizing is accountability, which is why I’m posting the homework assignment publicly.

Now get to work. There are no excuses in a boot camp. Get ‘er done.

More upcoming events through February

Events are in the NW Quadrant (Tom Johnson Quadrant) of Public Square unless otherwise noted.

Mon., Feb. 20 – President’s Day - we will be reading landmark speeches of or relating to our great presidents
Mon., Feb. 20 – National Occupy Day in Support of Prisoners – At least 20 prisoners at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP- Ohio’s Super-Max prison) will refuse food on Monday February 20th in Solidarity with the National Occupy for Prisoners Day of Action. http://occupy4prisoners.org/
Wed., Feb. 22 @ 7:30 PM - We have been invited to a town hall meeting by the Save Our Benefits coalition–all are welcome to come. This is at St. Paul’s Community Church, 4427 Franklin Blvd., Cleveland. The coalition is concerned about Social Security and Medicare, etc.
Wednesdays @ 8 PM – Drum Circle at Info Tent
Wednesdays @ 8 PM – Womens meeting
Saturdays @ 6 PM - Occupy Boot Camp – at Info Tent
Sun., Feb. 26 @ 1-3 PM – Outreach WAG at Lakewood Library
Sun., Feb. 26 @ 3-5 PM – Occupy the Rust Belt Second Regional Assembly – Oscar Ritchie Hall, Kent, Ohio http://www.facebook.com/events/223924557701212/
Tues., Feb. 28 – National protest against attempted suppression of Occupy movement.
Saturdays @ 6 PM – Occupy Cleveland "Organizer Boot Camp." We’ll most likely have a healthy meal at this boot camp, and there will be homework!
Mon., Mar. 5 @ 7:30 AM – Occupy the Presidential Primary – Join us for coffee and donuts in the info tent in Public Square, and then at 8 we’ll do a musical march! Bring your kazoo, your instruments, your noisemakers for a most excellent time. http://www.facebook.com/events/281571378579290/
Tues., Mar. 6 – Don’t forget to vote in the primaries! There are also county issues to vote on.
Tues., Mar. 13 – National call to action addressing Chase Bank’s predatory lending practices
Thurs., Mar. 15 @ 7 PM – Occupy the Midwest Regional Conference (St. Louis) – http://www.facebook.com/events/264828373580309/

Events for next month and the future can now be found on the Events page of the Occupy Site.

Workgroup/Affinity Group Meetings / WAGs*

This section of the newsletter is under rehab as it had a lot of outdated info – will post WAG meeting times as I see them under the regular events listings. You might be able to find times in the wiki below.

WAGS are located in the northwest quadrant of Public Square by the Tom Johnson statue or in the white tent adjacent to the quadrant unless otherwise noted, and all are welcome to come and participate!

Working Groups and Contact Information Wiki

* WAG: Working/Affinity Group

Check the forums for more info on working groups. There are probably working group meetings that are happening that are not on the above list. Here are some known working groups: Outreach * Phone & Q&A * Arts & Culture * Spirituality * Food * Mission/Vision * Legal * Peacekeeping * Entertainment * First Aid * Sanitation * Nightwatch * Direct Action * Facilitators * Finance * Tech * Logistics * Transportation * Permanent Occupation Base

Interesting Links

Occutrip.com – a chronicle of the travels of a person surveying the Occupy movement in Europe to report back to the U.S.
The Occupied Wall Street Journal
Occupy First, Inc. – Banking for the 99%
OCCUPY CLEVELAND T-shirts

Recurring info

Weekend Schedule: Today and Tomorrow’s Special Events; 10 PM-2 AM Night Shift #1; 2-6 AM Night Shift #2; Upcoming Events; We are continuously in the NW Quadrant of Public Square 24/7 at the Info Tent

Info Tent #: (216) 202-4999 | Phone Rules

Wiki: http://wiki.occupycleveland.com

Call for information

Dear Readers/Occupiers:

People who are planning events and work groups–please email these events to occupyclevelandstories (_at symbol_) gmail.com so I can post them rather than having dig and dig every morning through the forums and multiple facebook pages to find these items. It is taking between one to three hours to do this Digest every morning, so emailing info to me will help me get this out more quickly.

For posting to event calender on occupycleveland.com, please email occupyCLE.media@gmail.com.

Please continue to post GA notes daily in the forum "General Assembly" here: http://unju.st/forum/. It is vital to post these notes for the larger Occupy community so that we know what items are being consented to and what events are consensus events. Thank you to those who have been posting notes!

Peace,

The Temporary Editor

What Would You Like to See?

Please mail letters to the editor, story ideas, meeting times, articles, etc. to occupyclevelandstories (_at symbol_) gmail.com. Also, the Daily Digest is having a working group meeting Sunday, 10/30 at noon in the Tom Johnson (NW) quadrant of Public Square. If not right in the quadrant, please check the white tent west of the square.

Call for Poetry/Creative Writing/Art Submissions – we’re looking for poetry seeds from the larger poetry community, again, a great outreach action. We’re putting together an Occupy Cleveland poetry zine and I’d like to feature some creative items in the Daily Digest as well. Please send submissions to occupyclevelandpoetry (_at symbol_) gmail.com.

Thank you to all people who are making information available!