“99% Spring” Organizes Occupy’s Momentum to Fight Inequality and Corporations

The Occupy movement received a major boost from the progressive establishment which will impact American society and the upcoming elections.   The 99% Spring movement has arrived and is already creating a stir at shareholder meetings and in the streets.  This article provides full details on the 99% Spring (including their recent national trainings and links to their tools.)  I also summarize media articles about the debate over whether the two movements are compatible. I believe they clearly are given that many of the same people and groups are involved with each.  Read on in order to learn how and why to get involved with future actions.

I attended the three-hour training session in Durham, NC on April 12, 2012 (and have reviewed the entire seven-hour workshop training guide.)   About 25 people were there – with only a few folks under 40.  The training was well-designed and well-received.   We gained important insights and skills – even from this abbreviated session.  To provide a context, during my 25 year tenure as Sociology Professor at North Carolina State University, I designed and conducted similar training sessions and produced companion documents and videos (e.g., team-building, social change, community organization, and watershed management.)  I also have written extensively about the Occupy movement since its beginning.  

Click below to learn how you can join this important initiative.

Bob Marley Would Say “Occupy Yourself Before You Occupy Outside”

The Occupy Movement has focused on occupying physical spaces to draw attention to important issues.  However, it is even more important that each of us work hard to get our own lives together.  We need to free our minds and resist the outside forces of capitalist consumption.   Be ready to live with less and avoid entrapment by credit schemes.  As the system continues to melt down, only those who are resilient and self-sufficient will be able to thrive.  One of the best ways to do this is to understand and practice the Rastafarian lifestyle as modeled by Bob Marley.   His words that inspired this title are “Judge not, before you judge yourself.”   Get your own life in order if you want to be able to challenge the Babylon system.  He summed it up perfectly:  “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery.  None but ourselves can free our minds.”

I personally became aware of and interested in Rastafarianism about ten years ago through Bob Marley’s life and music.  I did my own research into what it means to live the Rasta lifestyle.  I found that this social movement has much to teach us about how to free ourselves and take down the system.  We can’t get one without the other.  I began to teach about this in my social change and social movement classes.  I found many young people eager to embrace the principles and practices that Bob Marley and others preach about in their music.  In fact, the Occupy fighters already believe in and live many of the values and practices espoused by the Rastafarian way of life.  I developed a series of slides to use in my lectures and have included them here.  Each should be self-explanatory.  Then, I include lots of great pix and quotes from Bob Marley’s music and interviews.  This tribute recognizes that Bob Marley’s music and messages are more relevant today than ever.

Occupy 4:20 for Civil Disobedience and Building Community

One social issue that should be of great interest to members of the occupy movement is the legalization of marijuana.  This cause clearly cries out for organized civil disobedience (as it did in the 1960’s.)    Growing and using both hemp and marijuana were rights for all Americans when our country was founded.  We all have the obligation to finally end this unethical and ineffective war against an ancient plant.  This situation is urgent given how President Obama has actually escalated the war on medical marijuana despite earlier promises and his personal history   Ending the drug war will save billions in police, legal and prison costs.  States like California and Colorado are already harvesting millions of new tax dollars by allowing patients to safely buy medical marijuana.

Fortunately, pot possession laws are easy to break and involve very little chance of getting caught (if you follow the approach outlined here.)  I first explain how we can Occupy 420 to build and sustain the global occupy movement.  Then, I share tips about how to get away with getting high, whenever, and virtually wherever you want.  I have also included some key quotes to inspire you as to why marijuana needs to be legalized NOW.  This article also includes reports of recent Marijuana Activism and a historical perspective on the Flash Mob phenomenon. As an added bonus, the article concludes with insightful and inspiring quotes about Civil Disobedience.  Click Below to Learn How and Why to Get High and Become Free!!

Class War Rages Inside the Viper Dens and Out in the Streets

Repressive and brutal class warfare has been waged for centuries in this country and elsewhere.  The rich use their ill-gotten power to grab more wealth – leaving the majority of people shut out in the cold.  For the last two weeks a brave group of protestors has been trying to wake and shake up the 99 percent of Americans who have been screwed by the “banksters.”  These protests on Wall Street represent the leading edge of a larger assault against those who have manipulated the system to gain power and money.  Too bad Obama is also beholding to Wall Street or else we might see some arrests and prosecution for these despicable characters.  This article provides a detailed overview of the Wall Street protests to date, along with the participants’ motivation and movement structure.  I highlight the main messages and implications for the future.

Clearly, these protests show a great need and opportunity to Occupy Charlotte, NC next summer  with all manner of activists for engaged descent and civil disobedience (glad to be two hours away!!).   I wrote an article in 2008 encouraging people to come to Denver and have their voices heard.  This also provides many lessons from Chicago in 1968.  Click here to read Get Involved to Recreate the Spirit of 1968.  This type of street protest is already expanding across the country – having drawn inspiration and insights from Cairo, London, and elsewhere.  One of my earlier articles entitled Karl Marx Would be Marveling at Capitalism’s Colossal Collapse.  This is widely read article will give you  details  on the reality and inevitability of class conflict in a capitalist society.  Marx would say that the protests are an attempt to create a class consciousness among the 95 percent of Americans who have been screwed to feed Wall Street’s greed.   You will learn how this constitutes a legitimate, grass roots movement that is likely to grow quickly – according to Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon and others profiled here.  Click Below to Get Fired Up!!

Freedom is Our Power, So Use it or Lose It

American society is at a historical crossroads. We now have the chance to rebuild our lives and communities; but only if we are left free from excessive corporate and federal government meddling. It is clear that the Bush administration has tried aggressively to take away our freedoms and control our behaviors. However, as Bob Marley it is time to “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.” In this post I give you some well-tested strategies for regaining our personal and collective freedom. As always, I hope you enjoy the pix and cool quotes!!

Marley’s Prophecy and Our Future

This is one of the many BLOGs I have written about Reggae music over the last few years on MySpace. Here is one of the more politically oriented messages that Bob Marley and the Wailers taught us – which are now being carried forward with honor by Bob’s sons and others.