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We are the 99 percent

Articles tagged strike debt


Today: Strike Debt Bay Area Presents Oakland’s First Debtors’ Assembly

Posted 11 years ago on Feb. 2, 2013, 9:10 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: oakland, strike debt

strike debt bay area 1st debtors' assembly poster

Saturday, February 2, 2013 - 2pm
Eastside Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd.
Oakland, CA

On Saturday, February 2nd, Strike Debt Bay Area will host Oakland’s first Debtors’ Assembly.

As individuals, families, and communities, most of us are drowning in debt for the basic things we need to live, including housing, education, and health care. Even those of us who do not have personal debt are affected by predatory lending. Our essential public services are cut because our cities and towns are held hostage by the same big banks that have been bailed out by our government. All of us are outraged that big banks don’t have to pay their debts, but we do.

Debt keeps us isolated, ashamed, and afraid—of becoming homeless, of going hungry, of being crippled or killed by treatable illness, or of being trapped in poverty-level jobs. Those facing foreclosure, medical debt, student debt, or credit card debt feel alone, hounded by debt collectors, and forced into unrewarding work to keep up with payments.

Strike Debt is building a movement to challenge this system while creating alternatives and supporting each other. At the Debtors’ Assembly we will come together as a community and begin to rethink debt, not as an issue of individual shame, but as a political platform for collective resistance and action. Come to the Assembly to learn about tools for escaping the closing walls of debt, to share resources and skills, and to magnify our assembled energy. As we share our experiences we can begin to take back from the financiers what they have taken from us: our freedom and our future.

Debt resistance is just the beginning. Join us as we imagine and create a new world based on the common good, not Wall Street profits.

ORGANIZATION INFO: Strike Debt Bay Area is the local chapter of Strike Debt, an international movement of groups working to build popular resistance to all forms of unjust debt. Strike Debt has organized the Rolling Jubilee, the Debt Resistors Operations Manual, and local debtors’ assemblies. Strike Debt supports the creation of just and sustainable economies, based on mutual aid, common goods, and public affluence. We owe the financial institutions nothing. It is to our friends, families and community that we owe everything.

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OWS Updates for the Week of January 25th

Posted 11 years ago on Jan. 25, 2013, 12:02 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: occupy sandy, people's recovery summit, strike debt, events, nyc

Last week's petition delivery action was a great success, delivering a clear message that OWS would not stay silent while the New York Post lied about us yet again. People from Occupy Faith and concerned activists spoke with humor and eloquence against a backdrop of banners printed with the names of the thousands of people who signed the petition. Music was played and songs were sung, but we’re still waiting on our apology, let alone a thank you note for the good time!

--from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

OWS in Media

The brides were blushing, the grooms oddly impersonal, as the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling was marked with a magical direct action wedding on the steps of Federal Hall.

The discussion at Strike Debt’s MLK day event at Judson Church was enormously stimulating. If you missed it, take a look at Strike Debt’s Visioning Workbook to get up to speed with the issues raised that day.

New York City school bus drivers have been out on strike since Wednesday, January 16th and as is now standard treatment for striking workers, have been smeared and vilified for it. Our featured blog post "Strike Lessons" offers up a refreshing alternative in an analysis of the situation that explains why we can and must strike, as well as a list of picket locations so that we can show some on-the-ground solidarity.

Occupy these Actions and Events

Friday, January 25, 8pm
Debt Resistors Dance Party
207 Starr Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn; Off Jefferson L train stop

A caravan of 13 people is heading out to Detroit Feb 1st-4th to reach out to movements and struggles in Detroit and folks from Strike Debt Detroit. Our goal is $1,000 to cover the entire trip for 13 people for 4 days. This will cover gas and emergency funds. We are seeking to learn what people are doing in terms of alternatives that can help us un-plug from the system and develop new bonds and relations with one another. Come dance all night to the best jams - no corny stuff. Hear more about Strike Debt and how you can get involved. $5 at the door. 1 Free beer. BYOB allowed.

Sunday, January 27, 3pm
Occupy the Climate: Hurricane Sandy, Eco-activism and the Vegan Option
Jivamuktea Café @ Jivamukti Yoga School
841 Broadway, 2nd floor, (212) 353-0214

A gathering/teach-in and an urgent call-to-arms on Post-Sandy life. Climate change contributed to the impact and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and the number one cause of human-created greenhouse gases is the global animal by-products industry. Mickey Z. will help you do the math!

Sunday, January 27, 1pm
Screening of “We’re Not Broke”
Unitarian Church of All Souls, Reidy Hall, 1157 Lexington Avenue

Screening of a film by Karin Hayes and Victoria Bruce. “The story of how U.S. corporations have been able to hide over a trillion dollars from Uncle Sam, and how fed-up Americans from across the country have taken their frustration to the streets.” With special guest J.A. Myerson, founding member of UncutNYC and early participant in the occupation of New York City, Zuccotti Park. Free and open to the public. Refreshments served.

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.

Occupy Sandy Update
Occupy Sandy is looking for individuals and groups for food preparation, canvassing, muck-out, mold remediation, construction, driving, coordinatoing volunteers and more. To find out more about how to get involved please email OccupySandyVolunteers@gmail.com or call 347-770-4520. For more information go to occupysandy.org. Support local businesses by using the Occupy Sandy Local Registry.

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12/16: #StrikeDebt Holiday Open House

Posted 11 years ago on Dec. 15, 2012, 1:40 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: nyc, strike debt

strike debt invitation card

When: Sunday, Dec. 15 @ 2:00pm until 6:00pm
Where: 55 Walker Street, New York NY 10013
RSVP on Facebook

Open house & holiday festival hosted by Strike Debt NYC and featuring special guests Silvia Federici, George Caffentzis, David Graeber, and more!

Come one, come all: friends, families, faith groups, community organizations, artists, students, Occupy Sandy, Northeast Strike Debt Affiliates...

We will have report-backs, speak-outs, collective visioning, food, drinks, art, music, radical children's area, and more!

7 Comments

OWS Updates for Dec. 12 - 18

Posted 11 years ago on Dec. 12, 2012, 4:58 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: events, occupy sandy, strike debt, nyc

We don't know when the next flood or economic storm will hit. But it will, and our networks of resistance and solidarity will be even more necessary, even more fruitful.

Below, you will find ways to engage in our mutual recovery from the man-made disaster of climate change, debt and financial collapse.

This Sunday, Strike Debt is hosting a regional open house and Holiday festival to celebrate the success of the Rolling Jubilee Telethon which raised over $471,999 to abolish $9,444,811 of debt!

Join us to celebrate and learn about Strike Debt projects while enjoying food, art, music, (even a children’s area) with allies including Occupy Sandy, Northeast Strike Debt Affiliates, faith groups and community organizations. Hope to see you there!

-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

Occupy These Actions & Events

EVERY DAY
Volunteer with Occupy Sandy
520 Clinton St., Brooklyn, C Train to Clinton/Washington.

Join us every day to help in the Rockaways, Coney Island, Staten Island, Sheepshead Bay and Red Hook. There continue to be thousands of New Yorkers in need of help restoring their homes from mold and other damage. New and returning volunteers are welcome to meet at 520 Clinton to be sent to help at recovery sites around the city.

Wednesday, December 12th, 7pm
The Legacy of the Puerto Rican Art Workers Coalition: A Talk with Yasmin Ramirez
Taller Boricua, 1680 Lexington Avenue

OWS Arts & Labor invites you to a talk about The Puerto Rican Art Workers Coalition (PRAWC), where art workers in New York City came together to demand reforms to the exploitative and exclusionary practices of the art world.

Saturday, December 15th
Rebuild the City: Restore Power to the People

We are living in mold, without heat or sanitation. We need local emergency housing, emergency mold remediation, and an end to the red tape. FEMA isn’t listening. The Mayor isn’t listening. We are doing the work ourselves. Sunday, we come together to ask the government: Will you work with us?

12pm Community Rallies:
Rockaways - Parking lot at Mott Ave and 21st st.
Staten Island - 1128 Olympia Boulevard, Across St. Margaret Mary's Church
5pm City Wide Convergence @ Mayor Bloomberg’s home:
17 East 79th btwn 5th Ave & Madison Ave

Sunday, December 16th, 2pm
A Winter’s Jubilee: Strike Debt Regional Open House and Holiday Festival
55 Walker St., Manhattan

Interested in Strike Debt? Want to join up and help build a global debt resistance movement? Just want to learn what a global debt resistance movement might look like? Come to this open house & holiday festival hosted by Strike Debt NYC, featuring special guests Silvia Federici, George Caffentzis, and more! Bring your friends and family, Jubilation is in the air!

Sunday, December 16th, 3pm
Neil Barofsky Visits OWS Alternative Banking
Room 411 of the Columbia University International Affairs Building at 118th and Amsterdam

Neil Barofsky, author of Bailout and former Special Inspector General of Tarp, has agreed to visit the Alternative Banking group of Occupy. He’s joining us at our regular weekly Sunday meeting time up at Columbia. Everyone is welcome, please come with questions for Neil. We will assume the audience has read his book.

Tuesday, December 18th, 8pm
Immortal Technique Hip Hop Jam for Sandy Relief
Brooklyn Bowl

Immortal Technique and Music For Occupy team up to bring you a dope night of REAL Hip Hop to to provide much needed relief to NYC and beyond from the devastating effects Hurricane Sandy brought to our city. For more information please contact us at musicforoccupy@gmail.com $15.00 minimum donation. Proceeds to go to "Occupy Sandy" relief efforts.

For Text Message alerts on your cellphone about daily events, actions, and important information, sign up for the ComHub SMS blasts by texting @owscom to 23559.

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Shouldering the Costs: Who Pays in the Aftermath of Disaster? StrikeDebt Report

Posted 11 years ago on Dec. 4, 2012, 1:17 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: strike debt, occupy sandy

Sandy Destruction

A report by Strike Debt on the disaster wrought by Hurricane Sandy and the government’s response. This is a preliminary and living public service document that highlights the use of loans as the main form of assistance to help those affected better understand the choices being imposed on them. You are not a loan!

INTRODUCTION

This report is a preliminary and living document highlighting the economic effects of Hurricane Sandy on New York City. It examines how the use of loans as the main form of “aid” to disaster-impacted communities is not effective at addressing individual or community needs. Further, the use of loans may lead to disastrous longer- term economic consequences for the impacted communities.

Although Hurricane Sandy was the first “Frankenstorm” to hit New York City, in recent years climate disasters have become a regular sight on the evening news. From Hurricanes Katrina and Irene to Midwestern droughts and wildfires in the Southwest, many communities are facing these types of crises all across the country. As our climate has changed, the burden of the cost of disaster has also been shifting. Individuals are now expected to shoulder relief expenses that used to be shared publicly. Victims are faced with long-term, unexpected economic consequences as well as displacement from the communities they call home.

This report was compiled based on observations made at a community meeting in Midland Beach, Staten Island on November 18, 2012, as well as on interviews with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Small Business Association (SBA) representatives, legal assistance volunteers, volunteer relief workers, local business owners and community members throughout New York City. Data was drawn from newspaper articles, statements from advocacy organizations and official reports.

FINDINGS

  • The economic costs of the disaster are placed on individuals. Federal aid programs require victims to first apply for loans before qualifying to apply for FEMA aid.
  • “Aid” programs favor those who can take on debt. Preexisting inequalities are further exacerbated by this form of aid.
  • Federal programs are inflexible and fail to meet even basic needs of affected individuals and communities.
  • Relief options are not clearly communicated or well understood. Policies are so complex that even lawyers are confused and are “learning as they go.”
  • Mold is at a crisis level. Residents will not receive FEMA aid to pay for the mold remediation necessary to make their properties even temporarily livable.

read more at interoccupy.net or download the entire report as a .pdf.

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