Every person has a story to tell about what is important to them. A story about decisions they have made and the motivating factors for those decisions, whether it be family, friends, economics, ethics, or some other reason. Every person has a story to tell about an event that changed their life. A turning point…
Tag: ideas
The Four Legs of Activism
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By Michael Schultz The first leg of activism is knowledge. It is important to look squarely at the issues of the day without illusion. As a good friend of mine is fond of saying, the core of activism is “between your ears”. Critical analysis of the world is the first step toward understanding what is…
Why I Occupy: A Call for Essays
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Every person has a story to tell about what is important to them. A story about decisions they have made and the motivating factors for those decisions, whether it be family, friends, economics, ethics, or some other reason. Every person has a story to tell about an event that changed their life. A turning point…
Practicing the Politics of the Impossible
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This story is from the Occupied News Wire. It was originally published in the Boston Occupier. by Doug Enaa Greene The U.S. electoral system is all about what the system deems possible. During each election season we are given the choice between a few politicians who promise change; we vote and then things remain the…
I Give Up. Almost.
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by Angela Davis I give up. Almost. Watching the news lately I have tried to think like an independent, conscious person. I make an effort to investigate, fact check, and use a critical eye to see through the hype and canned political soup we are spoon-fed every day. Just today, I was struck by the…
March Forth with Occupy Portland
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by Wendy Lincoln The March Forth event represented the perfect opportunity to experience a march in person. March Forth’s call to action asked for every participant to make a sign about the cause that moved them most, then all causes would march in solidarity with one another. The event was scheduled on March “Fourth”, the…
Diverse Ideologies Fuel Diverse Tactics
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by Ahjami Umi A wise man in Africa once told me that, contrary to popular opinion, everyone functions based on an ideology. He said that even the simple act of using the bathroom is a political action that requires an underlying thought process. If you don’t believe that, try finding a welcoming bathroom when you’re…
Occupy’s ‘Shut Down the Corporations’ Action: Building Change One Action at a Time
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By Vargus Pike It can be said the Occupy movement’s national day of action, “Shut Down the Corporations”, was a success for many reasons. On the local Portland level a thousand people braved some of the worst weather of the year to demonstrate against a few of the corporate and legislative members of the American…
Occupy’s ‘Shut Down the Corporations’ Action: Success or Failure?
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By Shamus Cooke The Occupy movement’s national day of action — “Shut Down the Corporations” — is a difficult action to assess. Was the action a success or a failure? The first question that needs to be answered is, what were the action’s goals? Many of the activists who performed civil disobedience during the day…
Being Woody Guthrie
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By David Glenn Cox Today we have so many celebrities who take on social causes; it is almost a given that they will each have some charity or cause that they support. That is good, I suppose, but still there is a clear distinction between being socially conscious and being Woody Guthrie. Woody has…