It's been a busy Mardi Gras season at Occupy The Stage. On January 19, Occupy The Stage rolled in krewedelusion - the parade that follows Krewe du Vieux, which kicks of Mardi Gras. Our Krewe "Guise of Fawkes" made a "You can't jail an idea" float to show solidarity with imprisoned hactivists and Free Anons.We were thrilled to receive donations of flags and stickers from Hammond Support Network and Blastedrat to use as throws during the parade. Along with our own handmade throws (voodoo dolls, chalk with Chalkupy instructions, and buttons we made with our button machine), these stickers made our parade great, and we hope to have raised awareness about Jeremy Hammond's unfair bail denial and the prison sentence he is facing. Check out our full write-up and the photo set below! Guise of Fawkes "Go Fawkes Yourself" in krewedelusion 2013 #OpSuperBowl #OpSuperBowl Info! Full text from slide show is available here! Interview with Local Artist Interview with NOLA Cab Driver unable to get inspected despite fact that he upgraded to meet city standards.
ResistSB47 Action:
The Super Bowl Should Not Be NOLA's Cross to Bear
Occupy The Stage met at 3pm in Jackson Square on Super Bowl Sunday and held a creative procession to celebrate our First Amendment right to free speech show solidarity with local artists, vendors, and workers. A female Jesus led a procession of monks who chanted while holding wooden hand-painted signs bearing slogans that included "Thou Shalt Not Create a Police State" and "Honor The Small Businesses." Our slideshow and video are below.
Mardi Gras and #OpValentine
Occupy The Stage's Mardi Gras Krewe - Guise of Fawkes - rolled with the Society of Saint Anne on Mardi Gras Day (February 12). Our Free Anons float included paper hearts people could use to write Valentines to mail to political prisoners as part of #OpValentine! We've collected and addressed the Valentines and will be sending Mardi Gras love to political prisoners. See our Mardi Gras Day slideshow below! It's been a busy few weeks, and we are really grateful to all of our online and on ground supporters.
Happy Valentine's Day!
~ OTS
October 18 11 am - Join Us for A Global Day of Action To Reclaim Education
Join Occupy NOLA, Students and Workers! Thursday, October 18 11 am - 2pm New Orleans Meet on Neutral Ground between Delgado & City Park (Marconi & City Park) http://goo.gl/maps/NtqI9 Unite in solidarity with students and workers of the word! We are all struggling against cuts in education. Only by uniting globally will we be able to overcome these and enable free emancipatory education for all. Because everyone must have access to education no matter their monetary or social status!See the Facebook Event for the Global Day of Action! How to Get Involved!- RSVP to our Facebook Event.
- Visit http://ism-global.net/call2action_GES for details about the Global Day of Action.
- Contact info@occupyneworleans.us to see how you can get involved in the local action.
- Organize! Learn more at the forum "The Budget, The University and The Student Debt" Tuesday, October 9 at 4pm University of New Orleans Room 129 Kirschman Hall RSVP to Facebook Event for October 9 forum
- Come to the Occupy NOLA GA - Tuesdays at 7 pm Occupy The Stage 2735c Toulouse and Saturdays Cafe Flora 4:30 pm
The Occupy NOLA GA endorsed The International Student Movement at the Tuesday September 18, 2012 G.A. “The International Student Movement (ISM) is an independent communication platform for groups and activists around the world to exchange information, network and coordinate activities in our struggle against the increasing commercialisation of education and for free emancipatory education for all!” Moreover Occupy NOLA will be conducting Outreach on local campuses. This Outreach will include (but will not be limited to) information about the following Events: GLOBAL EDUCATION STRIKE Oct.18th & Nov.14-22nd 2012We invited many members of Occupy NOLA to the Facebook event to the Global Education Strike. Please like the ISM Facebook page to stay updated. Also, here are some great links to All In The Red and other organizations that help students organize. Squarely In The Red The Project on Student Debt EDU Debtors Union Occupy Education Occupy This Flyer!
Happy Birthday to #OccupyAustin, #OccupyCleveland, #OccupySaltLakeCity, #OccupyHouston and #OccupyNOLA
October 6!
Occupy This Flyer!
When I first went to Duncan Plaza in mid-November of 2011, it was as a citizen journalist and supporter. I'd spent October and early November staying in a hotel in Baton Rouge where my boyfriend at the time was working on location as an electrician for the movies. I'd been watching dogs there, walking them in the parking lot of the hotel, working online, and watching friends of mine upload photographs from October 6 - the first day of Occupy NOLA - on Facebook.
As October bled into November, I started watching livestream from Occupy LA and Occupy San Fransisco but couldn't find much about Occupy NOLA online. So my introduction to the national Occupy movement was through livestream, but I had to go to Duncan Plaza in real life to find Occupy NOLA, which I did when I returned to New Orleans in November (I first went to Duncan Plaza on November 18).
Sometimes I'm sad that I missed the beginning (almost all) of the encampment. Today I've been finding videos of Occupy NOLA on YouTube and sharing them here.
On October 6, 2012 it will have been one year since the beginning of Occupy NOLA. Here is what it was like the first day:
Yesterday, two writers interviewed me and Robert about Occupy NOLA, and as I tried to show them the encampment on Google maps, Robert noticed that the satellite of Duncan shows the encampment.
In my quest to learn more about Occupy NOLA and to create some type of archive of its history, I've even found YouTube footage of the square dancing that occurred in Duncan.
I'll try to post a more cohesive history after I interview some people who were there before I was.
With love and solidarity,
~ small affair
Occupy The Stage in New Orleans is hosting a Community BBQ today September 3 at 7pm. So many people in New Orleans still do not have power due to Isaac! All are invited for FREE Labor Day food. Come join Occupy The Stage for a Post Isaac BBQ Potluck and a live show! BBQ/ Potluck will start at 7 PM, and we will be doing everything we can to share food with people who have been suffering due to Isaac. Currently we are working with InterOccupy and volunteers who are helping us gather resources. If you want to bring anything to throw on the grill, you are welcome to. If you are hungry, please come and eat! People can come at 5 if they want to bring food to cook, or come at 7 to eat. Music starts at 9 with Willow, Followed by Sweet Street Symphony at 10 and The Reverend Spooky LeStange and her Billion Dollar Baby Dolls!Thank you InterOccupy and Occupy Isaac for helping us make this happen through your relief donations! 2735 c Toulouse Street New Orleans, LA (Toulouse and Broad) RSVP to our Facebook EventTo donate to Occupy The Stage (in case we need to get more food) people can go HERE
We really want to provide as much food as we can for the New Orleans community!
 Today Governor Jindal and Wisconsin Governor Walker at their $25,000 a plate fundraiser for the Louisiana GOP at Calcasieu Ball Room in the Warehouse District of New Orleans.We demanded the following, especially that Jindal Save Southeast Louisiana Hospital and end his School Voucher System. - Louisiana opt in to federal Medicaid expansion.
- Keep Southeast Hospital open.
- Jindal and company restore recent funding cuts to higher education including UNO, SUNO, and Delgado budgets.
- Jindal and company restore recent funding cuts to public education and public healthcare.
- Jindal and company repeal the Louisiana Right to Work Law.
- Walker keep hands off workers’ rights to organize
Jindal was seen emerging from a vehicle but quickly ducked into the building, at which point those in the ballroom upstairs began photographing us. When we used the People's Mic to voice our concerns and demanded Jindal's recall, those inside the ballroom drew the curtains. They obviously heard us.It rained throughout most of this event, but the rain did stop long enough for us to Chalkupy "Recall Jindal" on the sidewalk. Authorities photographed us but did not attempt to interrupt our protest. Sign or start your own Recall Jindal petition at Recall Bobby Jindal Dot ComBelow is the footage from today's livestream. Thanks for streaming, small affair. ~ Occupy The Stage
Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC)created the event Tell City Council No New Jail, and we just now learned of it on Facebook.Sheriff Gusman has been in secret negotiations to build another jail, in violation of the 1438 cap on beds that was passed unanimously by the City Council in January 2011. The new jail being proposed would mean a 45% increase in the number of beds and the number of people who will be locked up. ****************************** TOMORROW, August 15th at 1pm Sheriff Marlin Gusman's budget will be proposed to City Council. ****************************** JOIN US IN URGING CITY COUNCIL TO SAY NO NEW JAIL! ****************************** We must demand that the Council question the Sheriff about these backroom negotiations for a new jail and reject this effort to increase the size of the jail and the cost to the city for operations and maintenance by 45%. ****************************** PLEASE WEAR WHITE! ****************************** If you are unable to attend, please call your Councilperson (sample phone script below): Jackie Clarkson 658- 1070 Diana Bajoie 658-1020 Ernest Charbonnet 658-1050 Stacy Head 658-1060 Susan Guidry 658-1010 Cynthia Hedge-Morrell 658-1040 Kristin Gisleson Palmer 658-1030 "I am calling because I am concerned by reports I've seen that the Mayor and the Sheriff are conducting hidden negotiations that would violate the 1438 cap on jail beds that was passed unanimously by the council in January 2011. I am asking you to publicly reject this 45% increase in the size of the jail which also means a parallel increase in the cost to the city for jail operations and maintenance."
 The University of New Orleans Press has be put on "hiatus." UNO professors have lost jobs amid state-mandated budget cuts. As tuition and class size increase and faculty are faculty jobs are cut, any new administrative positions should be made public. Are you upset about budget cuts at The University of New Orleans? Demand President Fos reveal UNO budget cuts and all administrative salaries! OCCUPY NOLA demands the University of New Orleans · Publicize list of budget cuts · Publicize all administrators' salaries to show that administration is bearing its proportion of the cuts · Stop utilization of the budget cuts for political ends · Publicize a list of all new administrative positions (including salaries) created by President Fos See the following links for details:DriftwoodInstitutional Research & Data Management (IRDM)PetitionFacebook EventUPDATES: This dilemma is receiving national attention. Read more:Another Press on Chopping BlockDirector of U. of New Orleans Press Loses Job Amid Budget CutsAmid growing furor, UNO spokesman assures: 'UNO Press is not being closed'Responses posted on Facebook Event Wall (note, we did not post anyone's names here in case anyone was concerned about his or her privacy. Please Contact Us if you would like to be quoted or would like to have your quote removed).Things seem to keep getting worse. Now, we've been told by Bill Lavender that his last day is Wednesday (and not at the end of the month as we were originally told) and today I see that UNO has an open position posted for an Assistant Professor of English who will be responsible for "the direction and reading of MFA theses."
Perhaps I am jumping to conclusions, but it appears like the individual who will be directing and reading my thesis hasn't yet been hired. I am supposed to turn in a draft of my thesis on the first day of the Fall Semester. It's extremely distressing to me to think that I don't have a contact in the Low-Res Program.
I expect to graduate this December. I have worked very hard over the past 2 years to get to this point and I am very concerned about how this will impact me and the other students in the program, especially those who, like me, are on the cusp of graduation.
Again, I certainly realize that things like budget cuts have an impact on programs and institutions. However, it seems disingenuous to dismiss the elimination of Bill Lavender's position as a "budget cut" while hiring for a strikingly similar one simultaneously.
Today, I am an embarrassed student of UNO. As I watch this situation unfold, I am truly heartbroken.
At this point, short of reinstating Bill Lavender, I'd recommend an honest and clear communication with all Low-Res MFA students that clearly outlines both the situation and the plan to move forward, including a contact person who will be available and knowledgeable to help us through this tough time. This should have already been done.
Thank you for taking the time to hear my ongoing concerns. I wish that I hadn't felt compelled to write again. Unfortunately, as the situation deteriorates, I felt it necessary._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I think it's important, "closed," "on hiatus" or whatever, that the administration and the governor see that the press has support and is an important instrument. Too often arts and "liberal" studies get the shaft when budget cuts happen. You should see the shakeup in the Talented Arts programs of the state's school boards. The one thing this state has been doing right-- supporting kids who are "good at art" who otherwise might not get personal attention from a good artist-- and the state is making it increasingly difficult for them to do their jobs. The squeeze is on._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Now the MFA program is being disassembled! Who is calling the shots? Is the new chancellor just another flunkie for Jindal just so the chancellor can keep HIS LOUSY job? Come clean on it all if Mr. Chancellor you are really serving us in the New Orleans Metro area, no denials, just come clean show all or it will be time to go to court!____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It's happening all over. Cut the budget, slash the humanities, raise the tuition, cut the teachers, increase administration. Education becomes big business. Students become consumer at the beginning, product at the end, deep in debt and have to take whatever job they can get. All of this to increase the wealth of that same small percentage of the population.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For an interesting timeline, read The Curious Timeline of the Bill Lavender Case Expect Us!
~ Occupy The Stage
Occupy This Flyer and Print It Out!
On July 25 in New Orleans, we Chalkupied the Amphitheater near Jackson Square with messages to President Obama, whose $250 Victory Reception was nearby. We had to wait for the torrential downpour to stop before chalking, but we learned that chalk looks brighter when the pavers are wet. The French Market Security and Manager told Occupy NOLA Chalk is "graffiti" and a felony, threatened to have everyone arrested if they didn't clean up the Chalkupy, and then had their employees clean up the Chalkupy. Here is the video the livestreamer took of security telling Occupy The Stage chalk is graffiti. http://bambuser.com/v/2854777Thank you to everyone who came out in the rain and supported this action!
Join OTS & Occupy NOLA when Obama Visits NOLA to "Occupy The Vote"
On Wednesday President Obama will visit the French Quarter to attend a campaign fundraiser Reception For the Obama Victory Fund (OVF) at the House of Blues. The National Urban League Conference is billing Obama's visit as as “Occupy the Vote.” This suggests that the Occupy Movement is supporting a fundraiser for a holder of public office who has been the fervent supporter of a trillion dollar plus bailout of the banking giants at the expense of everyone else. Nothing could be further from the truth! Here is what Occupy NOLA will be requesting from the President on his July 25th visit to New Orleans. - Withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan now!
- Issue an executive order preventing LA Governor Jindal and company from gutting medicaid and public hospital funding
- Stop the demolition of The Iberville Housing Development
- Create jobs for All
- Mass, direct-government employment program, now!
- Put all New Orleans teachers fired after Katrina back to work now! No more scabs for America's teachers
- End government support of for-profit education.
- Institute a Federal Public Works Program paid for by big oil companies including Shell and BP to clean up the Gulf of Mexico and restore the infrastructure of the Gulf.
Give President Obama a 99% UnWelcome: Meet 2pm Wednesday. June 25th to Chalkupy The Amphitheater across from Jackson Square (near the corner of Decatur and St. Ann). Bring chalk, signs, pots and pans, chants, friends, and, most importantly, yourself. Image Gallery - Occupy These Flyers If You Need Inspiration To Make Signs!
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