Occupy Wall Street

May 11 2012

City is facing $237 million budget deficit

The city's response to last year's Occupy Los Angeles protests and two-month encampment at City Hall cost taxpayers at least $4.7 million, according to reports.
  
From early October to late November, hundreds of demonstrators camped in tents at the 1.7-acre City Hall Park as part of the national Occupy Wall Street movement. Protestors called for government and corporations to address what activists described as a growing disparity between the rich and poor. The encampment culminated in a massive overnight raid by the Los Angeles

Dec 29 2011

Spreads to Los Angeles

The Occupy movement is an international protest movement which is primarily directed against economic and social inequality. The first Occupy protest to receive wide coverage was Occupy Wall Street in New York City, which began on Sept. 17, 2011. By Oct. 9, Occupy protests had taken place or were ongoing in over 95 cities across 82 countries, and over 600 communities in the United States, including Los Angeles. As of Dec. 20, the Meetup page “Occupy Together” listed 2,751 Occupy communities worldwide.

Dec 22 2011

Urges Blacks to continue the fight

Legendary civil rights and political leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., speaking at the Urban Issues Forum on Monday, drew a comparison between the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s to the Occupy movement of today.

Jackson was the keynote speaker at the monthly event, and by way of metaphors explained the correlations between the Civil Rights Movements of 40 years ago and the biblical movements for social justice.

Although initially somewhat subdued, the audience warmed up to Jackson with chants and frequent “amens.”

Nov 30 2011
292 arrested

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Police officers in riot helmets arrested 292 people today and, in a mostly peaceful operation, dismantled the tent city that sprang up Oct. 1 outside Los Angeles City Hall as a western outpost of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The park where the encampment was set up was fully cleared by 5:10 a.m., about five hours after the operation began, Los Angeles police Officer Cleon Joseph said.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Nov 24 2011

Practical Politics

NOTE: The U.S. Human Rights Network (USHRN) National Human Rights Conference will be held in Los Angeles at the Airport Radisson Hotel from Dec. 9-11. For both Occupy Wall Street and L.A. folks and others involved in the larger struggle for people first and things second, the scheduled speakers include a plethora of those with full resumes of getting things done.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”