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Occupy Allston coming
By adamg on Sun, 12/11/2011 - 2:00pm
Organizers plan first general assembly for Thursday, once they find a spot. At Occupy Boston's first general assembly after their Dewey Square encampment was bulldozed under, participants agreed to try to build neighborhood Occupy movements, to work with existing groups on their projects.
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Comments
I'd be nervous about sleeping
I'd be nervous about sleeping in tents in Allston, home of Sparky.
Sparky
As long as they don't pitch their tents in driveways or back-of-house parking areas they should be safe. Sparky hasn't shown any interest in setting anything other than vehicles on fire.
occupy allston?
i thought this already started about 15 years ago?
can you break a mirror off a tent?
"Neighborhood Initiative?"
How, when none of the participants are actually from there?
"Cause" notwithstanding, isn't that basically saying "screw you" to the actual locals, taking over their neighborhood?
I am saying this, because to so this in this way is going to precisely replicate the same points people were griping about at Dewey Square.
isn't that basically saying "screw you" to the actual locals
no
"No?"
I AM a local. Why do you think I'm making mention of this? As in, I might have a feel for local opinion you may not.
Somehow I doubt the residents
Somehow I doubt the residents of the various neighborhoods to be 'occupied' are going to be thrilled with having political squatters in addition to their usual homeless populations. People thought clipboard panhandlers were bad, wait until they have to deal with this!
This is Occupy 2.0
I doubt we're going to see actual tent encampments this time around. Instead, if it continues, we'll see people joining up on specific causes in specific neighborhoods. City Life is already looking at ways to get Occupy folks more involved in their work, which seems like a natural fit - they've been holding protests over foreclosures for years now.
I'm some what supportive of
I'm some what supportive of their cause but I'd like to see these kids come down to Mattapan. Occupying an area that is populated largely by college students that go to private universities doesn't help anyone who faces the everyday struggle. I would like to see some more direct action. Marches don't raise the graduation rate.
I've been saying the same
I've been saying the same thing from day one. The Occupy crowd can't think outside of it's own urban hipster box. Some of the poorest people live outside the hip neighborhoods in the city center. Think the Occupy crowd could ever think about Brockton?
On the other end, a lot of businesses are located in suburban office parks, especially lining Route 128. Again, if Occupy wants to impact the corporate decision makers, they need to branch out.
"I'd like to see these kids
OccupyTheHood is in Mattapan.
Yes they are. I've met a few
Yes they are. I've met a few of the organizers good dudes. I think they have some real goals ahead of them. I just hope they get some notice. Also Black People for Better Public Schools is trying to get started as well.
Protests happen in cities for a reason
Thats where the people are. What are you going to do out by Route 128? Occupy Parking Lot?
The antagonists in this story are the irresponsible financial executives who made bad bets with other people's money and got bailed out with big bonuses. They work downtown, therefore thats where the protests make sense.
That, or in front of the statehouse where the corrupt politicians are.
That is the story of rich and poor in Boston
Bankers and old-money hedge funders make billions of dollars, and hand some cash over to the city government to hire people from Mattapan for low-level jobs, just enough to keep blacks from rioting.
City Democrats and college professors do their rather small part with theories that work to destroy the private middle class.
The only middle class left is public and non-profit, with no way to break in except by who you know, in low-productivity industries like education and health care.
Occupy Disconnect from reality
This is a perfect example of the disconnect between the Occupy movement and reality.
It's support from middle-class Americans that the Occupy movement needs, and they don't live in urban hipster enclaves in trendy lofts downtown. They are in the burbs. The Occupy movement is starting to sound like it's own 1%, oblivious to the remaining 99%. Bring the movement to where the American people are, not the cool bars and coffee shops.
Most business is in the burbs. Even the finance industry and their antagonists are out there, just look at the 128 Trade Center in Woburn.
And the Statehouse? Please! No one but political hacks and activists hang out there. You want to see Americans, you're better off in the malls.
You're right. Nobody lives in cities.
They're way too crowded.
National/International Movement
You do realize that Occupy is shutting down the Port of Oakland, right? That they got retirees and workers on their days off in Chicago to hold a massive demonstration? Did you somehow miss the whole series of incidents in NYC?
Even in Boston, those of us who work downtown know that Dewey Square was the base for a number of marches and protests that brought in a number of people from other organizations - e.g. nurses, union construction trades, etc.
We are talking close to a hundred cities with encampments in the US and Canada alone. If you are going on and on about Brockton, I think the national scope of this protest has yet to sink in to your suburban box.
About that Oakland Thing...
I would be very careful about that one. Those Longshoremen aren't too happy with you guys, and they won't screw around if you push them.
I mean, unless you like having your bones broken. They're like that. It's their way.
The Dockworkers are Joining them
Yes, Archie Bunker, this isn't 1971 anymore.
Dockworkers make 6 figures a
Dockworkers make 6 figures a year. They are part of the 1% when family income and benefits are factored in.
6 Figures <> the 1%
You need to not just make six figures, you need to make well into the six figures. I'm not disagreeing that dockworkers are well paid, but it is worthwhile to demand accuracy, and your statement was factually incorrect. They are not 1 percenters.
Hardly
and if this is the thinking of the movement, you'll have a very, very short shelf life.
Dock work is hard, and lots of it require special training and abilities. Plus, most of it is unionized.
Further, blockading ports is really only going to hurt workers and mom and pop shops. Blockading a port for a day or two is a drop in the bucket of a major corporation.
You guys need to be smart, and grow your support. Antagonizing the 98% of others who support you, but don't make it out every day is flat out stupid.
find qualified, down to earth candidates, volunteer, get going on GOTV and registration drives. Work toward electing smart, fair politicians into office that will fight for the 99% and don't have to worry about corp money. Build a movement to co-opt the existing power structure.
When will OCB learn that you
When will OCB learn that you can't fight the system if it won't fight back.
If anyone is paying attention here is what OCB's next steps should be:
-raise funds
-get out the vote effort (corporate financing is killing this country and so is apathy)
-day of service
-using their man power joining with other nonprofits for direct action ie. work at homeless shelters, staff clinics or even pick up some trash.
OCB and OWS will lose sympathy among the middle and lower class if they don't start showing results. Said it once I'll say it again marches don't raise graduation rates, they don't bring nutritious options to poor urban neighborhoods they don't get guns off the streets.
Why stop there?
OWS will lose sympathy if they don't end corporate welfare, stop wasteful spending, bring our troops home, make peace in the middle east, solve world hunger, save the planet from global warming, land a manned mission on Mars, and build the Green Line extension.
If they manage to do all that and more, then maybe the American people will start to warm up to them.
sure, they should do the
sure, they should do the cliche status quo bullshit that a million other no-name activist groups have been doing with no results for decades.
the point was people live in
the point was people live in the burbs not the center city. you replied with more center cities.
And breaking out of your suburban box...
You might want to check out the below article about the Port of Oakland shutdown:
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/...
And just a tidbit from the same:
"Port spokesman Josh Thomas said longshore workers at terminals 5 and 6 were told to stay home. They will not be paid for today, he said.
Jennifer Sargent, spokeswoman for the Coast Longshore Division of the ILWU, said about 200 longshore workers are affected.
"Ironically the union does support the overarching goals of the Occupy movement, even though we don't endorse this particular action today," she said. "
One will not win, and I repeat, one will not win anyone over to your cause by causing the said them to be hit in their pocketbooks.
Rightwing Mouthpiece
Google search the union's own webpage.
Shutting down the port will
Shutting down the port will really hurt the 1% that can afford to pay for more expensive goods trucked or flown in. Meanwhile the 99% that relies on cheap bulk freighter shipping gets screwed. Great job morons!
makes no sense to occupy Allston
I'm sorry, why? It seems to me the next logical step is to take the occupation from work to home which means occupying the suburban towns where the 1% who work in the Financial Center live. Actually, I know of a great location southwest of Boston that was going to be a huge affluent mixed use community until the financial crisis killed the financing...it would be sort of poetic justice to see an encampment spring up there amidst the half-developed failure that never was Westwood Station...
Occupy Allston vs the Liberal Democrats
Actually it's perfect -- there is nothing done in Allston that doesn't have Liberal written all over it. Boston is run by liberal Democrats, the public face of Harvard is limousine liberal.
This will be a good test to see if an Occupy movement will actually identify the oppressor or just use vague generalities, or devolve into typical city-Democrat suburb-bashing.
I don't completely agree but
I don't completely agree but that is a very valid point to make.
You're almost as weird as I am
.
Occupy Natick Collection
Are the Occupiers still planning on protesting at the Natick Collection on the 18th? Just curious.
Are they really going to
Are they really going to protest the bankruptcy & partial foreclosure of the Natick Collection? The irony would be amazing if so.
It's now Occupy Allston-Brighton
Occupy Allston has been renamed to Occupy Allston-Brighton, to rightfully include the next door neighbor!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Allston-Brig...
GA still on for Thursday. Still looking for an indoor space. Have some leads, trying to get confirmation. Any help or space offering is appreciated.
Thanks.
First GA, Thursday, December
First GA, Thursday, December 15 at 6:30pm at Palestine Cultural Center For Peace, 41 Quint Ave, Allston, MA.
Free Dinner Courtesy of FNB starting at 6:30pm.
GA starts promptly at 7pm.
Please respect this space which was kindly offered to us. We hope to use it for future meetings.
https://www.facebook.com/events/242184102515386/