You're invited! Calling all musicians, buskers, artists, circus clowns, flag corps, mimes, puppeteers, regular folks, irregular folks, cats, dogs, baboons, dancers, lovers of music, Every-Damned-Body!

Sunday, May 5th at 6pm, we will show our support for all the good folks that make New Orleans great!

The Free The Music parade will bring free music to the streets of the Jazz Fest neighborhood to raise awareness about the city's ridiculous crackdown on live music venues and musicians.

You don't need to buy a ticket.

You don't need a corporate sponsor.

Just come out Sunday, May 5, 6pm and be ready to play music and dance in the streets.

Costumes encouraged.

The Bywater Rising Protest/ Second Line in support of live music venues, musicians, buskers, artists, DJs was great. We decided we wouldn't stop there.

RSVP on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/232432533555103/

NOTE: This has nothing to do with Jon Bon Jovi.

The second week of Justice Fest will last from Thursday, May 2 - Sunday, May 5.

2013 Celebrate justice and music at the location formerly known as the Sacred Shrine of Jon Bon Jovi.

Justice is not dead. Lady Justice has merely been taken hostage. And when there is no justice, there will be no peace.

We do not support the fact that Shell Oil is a corporate sponsor of Jazz Fest. We love NOLA music and culture but not Shell Oil.

We do not support Mayor Landrieu’s crackdown on live music venues, musicians, buskers, artists, and performers. We will resist the ridiculous citations residents living near Jazz Fest have received for having Yard Sales or "transient vending."

We do not forget Guadalupe.

And we hate Clean Zones!

We welcome you to bring info related to Social Justice Issues to this location during Jazz Fest.

In addition to Free Aqua Net Hairspray, the shrine will offer information about different Social Justice issues in New Orleans.

Please feel free to stop by during festival hours and be ready for some creative demonstrations.

Justice Fest Events - You can RSVP on the individual Facebook event pages if you like!

We might add more events or have spontaneous events. Some activities are ongoing, so stop by any time during Jazz Fest.

___________________________________________________________________
Friday May 3 DIY Stencil Party 2:00pm until 8:00pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/374830725968708/

Let's stencil! We have some great stencils and spray paint and will stencil anything you bring! Or, bring your own stencils and we can swap designs.

Want to learn how to make stencils? Have stencil skills to share? The more the merrier! We have spray paint! If you can, bring your own exacto blade!

___________________________________________________________________

Saturday May 4 9:00 to 11 pm
Let’s send 100 postcards to political prisoners - Mail to the Jail

https://www.facebook.com/events/158326777669320/

Let's get 100 postcards to send to political prisoners. Bring an original handmade postcard (handmade is ideal, but if you want to bring one you didn't make, that's okay), or come and make a postcard at Justice Fest.

We'd love to get a photo gallery of all the postcards and then mail them to political prisoners.

We'll have addresses and info on political prisoners so you can learn about their different circumstances, but check out Op Pen Pal http://oppenpal.wordpress.com/mailing-list/  and Mail to the Jail if you have a specific political prisoner you know you'd like to write to. http://mailtothejail.org/ 

We'll also have fun prizes for original hand made postcards!

You can just drop off your postcard on the way to Jazz Fest, or spend some time making postcards and learning about different political prisoners!

We'll be showing short films about various prisoners on the porch!
____________________________________________________________________________

May 4 - May 5 Chalk Party
https://www.facebook.com/events/543195785731834/

Let's make the sidewalks and streets around the Jazz Fest area beautiful before Sunday's Free The Music Parade!

Feel free to stop by Justice Fest for chalk ideas and some chalk, or just get out there and CHALK THE WORLD!

__________________________________________________________________________

May 5 Sunday - Face Painting Party 2pm - 5:30pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/118444485020416/

Come get your face painted in time to march in the Free The Music Parade! HERE: https://www.facebook.com/events/232432533555103/

We have face paint, and if you have your own face painting kit and skills, feel free to come by, set up, and accept donations.

_________________________________________________________________________

Free The Music Parade 6- 8pm May 5
https://www.facebook.com/events/232432533555103/

Calling all musicians, buskers, artists, circus clowns, flag corps, dancers, lovers of music!

Free The Music parade will bring free music to the streets of the Jazz Fest neighborhood.

You don't need to buy a ticket.

You don't need a corporate sponsor.

Just come out Sunday, May 5, 6pm and be ready to play music and dance in the streets.

Costumes encouraged.

The Bywater Rising Protest/ Second Line in support of live music venues, musicians, buskers, artists, DJs was great. We decided we wouldn't stop there.

DISCLAIMER
NOTE: These events are not sponsored by Shell Oil or Jon Bon Jovi, Bon Jovi, or in any way connected to them except some of them will be taking place at a location that holds the remnants of a Shrine devoted to Jon Bon Jovi that small affair made years ago.

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!

The Super Bowl's presence in New Orleans changed the parade schedule, so we had a whole weekend to focus on OpSuperBowl, which involved winning an ACLU lawsuit against Mayor Landrieu and the City of New Orleans. 

We won the right to carry signs and banners that did not contain 60% NFL branding.  

See Our Press Release! and The Gambit Weekly's Update "ACLU reaches agreement with city on Clean Zone lawsuit" for details. 

It didn't end there. We spent the week leading up to the Super Bowl conducting outreach about the NFL's non-profit status and the negative effect the Super Bowl had on local businesses and New Orleans taxi drivers (for full coverage of small_affair's citizen journalism, see her blog Whose Streets. 

Full text from slide show is available here!

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.

This was a wonderful day, and we enjoyed the local artists' enthusiasm for our performance. 

Our antics did not go unnoticed by the FBI's Joint Task Force. When the power went out in the Super Dome, police radio scanners mentioned that the FBI was monitoring Occupy NOLA members.

AUDIO: at 18:26 mark dispatcher says FBI monitoring “Occupy NOLA” movement during Super Dome outage.

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

The People's Convention Organizing Committee will meet 4:30pm Saturday at Café Flora in the Marigny section of New Orleans.  All who believe that there’s got to be a better way to organize a society than by putting the pursuit of profit ahead of human and environmental need are invited to attend. Additional information concerning the Peoples Convention project is presented below.


This is what democracy looks like in 2012:  THE PEOPLE'S CONVENTION

The People's Convention will be held on October 27, 2012 from 1-5pm at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans 5212 South Claiborne Avenue. New Orleans

The People's Convention is where the  99%, not the 1%, sets the political agenda.  We the people, as opposed to we the rich, have needs and interests that are in fundamental conflict with the 1%.  We need, for example, low and moderate income housing, the right to organize ourselves into unions, living wage jobs,  public education, an end to imperialist war, and an end to the rampant discrimination against and brutalization of African Americans.  Given the 1%’s domination of  the leaders of  the Republicans and the Democrats the conventions of  America’s two ruling parties cannot help but sacrifice the interests of  the many to satisfy the seemingly boundless greed of the privileged few.   To allow the Republicans and Democrats, in this time of economic crisis, to continue to monopolize the setting of  the nation’s political agenda is a recipe for disaster for the 99 percent.

       So why hold a People's Convention before the November 4 Presidential Election? Because the Budget Control Act of 2011, passed by the standing U.S. Congress and signed into law by the current President, guarantees that draconian cuts in federal funding for public services that we need and regressive tax increases that we don’t need will be the focus of Congressional activity during the weeks and months following the November 4.  The People's Convention and the organizing for it will put the people in strong position to give a 99 percent to an attempt to shove a 1 percent budget down our throats.

What should  the People's Agenda include?

• A public works program open to all that pays a living wage?
• Democracy not  oligarchy?
• Respecting the right of everyone to safe and decent housing?
• And end to brutalization of and discrimination against African Americans?
• Immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan?
• Selection rather than election?
• Environmental justice rather than pillage of the environment?
• And….?

Help Decide the People's Agenda: Come meet with us Saturday Sept 15 or RSVP to THE PEOPLE’S CONVENTION Facebook Event!



 

Hey Folks,


On September 15-17th in New York City, we are organizing three days of education, celebration and resistance to economic injustice with a full slate of permitted convergences, family friendly assemblies, a big concert, and mass civil disobedience on that Monday in the heart of the financial district. The evolving schedule as well as detailed information can be found at s17nyc.org . 

Below is everything you need to know, whether you are planning to join us in NYC or planning a solidarity action locally.  

Register: If you are planning to come to NYC, please fill out our registration form here: http://s17nyc.org/support/registration/  and please spread the word to others in your local occupy or affinity group and tell them to fill out the reg form too. By registering, we can keep you up to date on housing, food, convergence and action plans.
Transport:  We are encouraging folks to find their own transportation. We have resources up on the s17 site here: http://s17nyc.org/support/join-us-in-nyc/  about rideshares, amtrak discount and buses.  PLEASE DO NOT RELY ON OWS TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION.

Housing: We secured a big factory in Brooklyn where out of towners can crash on the floor.  If you register and indicate that you need housing, you will be sent all of the address and all the info you need.  If you plan to stay at the factory, please bring a sleeping pad and sleeping bag and pack light. 
Monday NYC Action: BRING BUSINESS ATTIRE to wear on the 17th. There are a bunch of actions happening Monday morning, one of which is 99 Revolutions. We will disrupt business as usual in the financial district by blockading the Stock Exchange and surrounding intersections.  Action Framework can be found here:s17nyc.org/peoples-wall/.  

Affinity Groups: Some of the organizing is happening in affinity groups.  If you have an affinity group and you want to find out how to plug into the action, you can join  the S17 Affinity Group Spokescouncil every friday night from now until S17 Fridays at 6pm in Foley Square. If you're coming from out of town you can plug by registering for the S17 Affinity Group Spokescouncil Remote Participation call here: http://interoccupy.net/blog/ai1ec_event/s17-affinity-group-spokescouncil-remote-participation-2/?instance_id=3370142) 

Solidarity Actions:   A lot of cities are planning solidarity actions either on the 17th or around their own anniversary.  You can find ideas about possible solidarity actions and planning tools here http://s17nyc.org/organize/organize-your-own-action/) .  Do you know if anyone from your city is planning a solidarity action? If so, please submit the action info here http://s17nyc.org/organize/submit-solidarity-action/  so we can help spread the word.  If you are organizing other actions in and around NYC for the weekend, please submit them here: http://s17nyc.org/organize/add-your-action/ 

Join our organizing calls, e-mail lists and text loops: The last S17 InterOccupy call is this Tuesday at 7PM EST where you can find out more info and ask questions/discussions. You can visit the S17 interoccupy hub at interoccupy.net/s17nyc/  to register for the calls and sign up for any and all of the S17 e-mail lists.  We also have a text loop, where you will get up to the minute S17 info via text messages, and you can sign up for that by texting "@S17NYC" TO 23559. All of this info is up on the s17nyc.org  site too. 

Help us make outreach calls: We need help making outreach calls!  If you want to do outreach to other occupiers from around the country, fill out this form here: http://interoccupy.net/ios17/  and you'll get info on how and who to call.

Submitting a workshop or teach-in: If you would like to lead a teach-in, workshop or any other event during the occupy town square portion of the weekend on the 15th and 16th, please fill out this form here: s17nyc.org/join-the-convergence/

Organizational outreach: To find a list of organizations who are participating or have endorsed s17, please go here: http://wiki.occupy.net/wiki/S17_Endorsement .  If you are connected to an organization or an occupy that would like to endorse s17, please go here: http://s17nyc.org/support/pledge/ 

Legal: The OWS legal group will be giving know your rights trainings on the 15th and 16th.  If you are traveling with an affinity group or on a bus, please designate one person to get in touch with legal at mutantlegal@riseup.net.   If possible, please do know your rights trainings specific to NYC laws in your cities before arriving.
Thanks so much for your time. Don't forget to register if you are planning to attend!:  http://s17nyc.org/support/registration/ 

I look forward to seeing you on the streets in NYC!

In solidarity,

OWSInteroccupy.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Donate Here!
The Occupy The Stage community warehouse was suffering financially before Hurricane Isaac made landfall in New Orleans, LA on August 28. Despite this, Occupy The Stage is committed to hosting a Labor Day BBQ at the warehouse on September 3 at 7pm at 2735c Toulouse Street. Live performances will follow. However, without help, Occupy The Stage's infrastructure may come to a halt due to losses suffered during Hurricane Isaac and existing economic problems.

The rent for the Occupy The Stage warehouse is 1800 a month. Utilities cost about 300 per month.

Members of Occupy The Stage have missed several days of work due to Hurricane Isaac. The warehouse lost power on Tuesday, August 28 and has been running on one generator to keep food for the community kitchen refrigerated. Power has not been restored as of September 1. Members of OTS waited in line at 700 Poland - a designated ice, water, and MRE drop-off - on Friday August 31 when FEMA was unable to deliver these resources. They have been busy networking with InterOccupy and Community Kitchen assisting NOLA residents without power (especially the elderly and people with children).

Prior to Isaac's arrival, a number of tools from the wood-working and mechanic shop were stolen including a compressor, wrenches, and ratchets (a more complete list can be provided upon further assessment).

The Occupy The Stage Warehouse hosts regular live performances, Occupy NOLA GAs, a community kitchen, a community bike shop, a community wood-working shop, a sign/banner making station, a digital media station, and a place for local activists to meet. Teach-ins and discussions are often held at the warehouse. Occupy The Stage has hosted The Occupy Caravan, Radical Resistance Tour, New Orleans Socialist Alternative, and is expecting visitors from Less Wall More Street. Materials for tent-monsters, signs, banners, flyers, a portable state, etc have all been paid for out of pocket by members of Occupy The Stage.

Members of Occupy The Stage also typically use their wages to pay the lease on the warehouse, the utilities, to contribute to the community kitchen, to print and circulate materials about the Occupy Movement, and to support other occupations by donating to Jail Support, Livestreamers, DNC Housing and to sometimes pay musicians who perform at the FREE shows Occupy The Stage welcomes the community to attend. These shows sometimes include more prominent New Orleans bands that request a small fee as well as budding musicians who are trying out the stage for the first time.

Members of Occupy The Stage have traveled to Occupy DC, Occupy Birmingham, Occupy Charlotte, The Occupy National Gathering, and other locations and have livestreamed and live-tweeted while participating in actions. Members include Occupy NOLA's only livestreamers @small_affair and @ots_nola.

Occupy The Stage began in Duncan Plaza when Justin Warren (founding member and master carpenter) built a stage at the encampment and musicians performed there. When The Occupy NOLA encampment was raided and Occupy NOLA was evicted from Duncan Plaza, Justin Warren secured the warehouse, installed sewer lines, and renovated the space so occupiers could have a safe space to meet and NOLA citizens could learn skills needed for employment (i.e. carpentry, mechanics, digital literacy, web design, performing). Sustaining this infrastructure is vital to the New Orleans community.

Email: occupythestagenola@gmail.com


Donations made to Occupy The Stage will go to:
1. Buy food and water for Labor Day BBQ which all are invited to attend as New Orleans recovers from Hurricane Isaac.
2. Pay the rent: 1800 per month
3. Pay utilities: around 300 per month (electric, phone, internet used by Occupy NOLA Digital Media Working Group and GA)
4. Purchase gas for generator
5. Install better lock on door
6. Strengthen roof
7. Replace tools stolen from Woodworking shop and Bike shop in warehouse
8. Stock community kitchen that provides free meals to occupiers, activists, and community members
9. Print flyers to promote actions and FREE performances that give local musicans an opportunity to perform before an audience
10. Livestream Isaac recovery, actions and performances
11. Assist with Isaac recovery
12. Provide a safe indoor space where traveling occupiers can meet, shower, and rest

Occupy NOLA holds General Assemblies at the OTS warehouse on Tuesdays at 7pm.

Members of this working group are employed and only ask for donations to help cover costs of warehouse and Isaac recovery materials/supplies.

Please contact us if you have any questions about donations.

occupythestagenola@gmail.com

Thank you and solidarity!

~ Occupy The Stage

Thank you InterOccupy for this wonderful networking. The Common Ground Clinic does need help. We are sincerely grateful to you and to them.


NEW ORLEANS NEEDS VOLUNTEERS TO HELP WITH SUPPLIES DUE TO HURRICANE ISAAC

It has been communicated that local organizations in New Orleans have been ravaged by budget cuts and will not see money from the FEMA and the FEDS till Tuesday/ Wednesday. The Common Ground Clinic in particular will need ice to keep insulin/other meds cool till then, medical supplies, and potable water. This list will only increase as Isaac sits on the city with rain & wind gusts. This city was left behind after Katrina and Occupy folks as well as local groups are trying to organize a distribution network to get supplies to NOLA prior to the release of FEMA money.

THEY NEED VOLUNTEERS FROM: Mobile, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, Jackson, MS, and Houston to drive.

IF YOU CAN HELP PLEASE EMAIL INFO@INTEROCCUPY.NET

http://interoccupy.net/blog/new-orleans-needs-volunteers-to-help-with-supplies-due-to-hurricane-isaac/

You can reach Common Ground on their Facebook page - they are updating it.

When: Tuesday, August 28 7pm

Where: Occupy The Stage 2735 C Toulouse Street, New Orleans, LA

Activists from Less Wall More Street will be visiting New Orleans August 28- 30.

Occupy The Stage invites the 99% to join activists Jen Waller and Tom Hintze for brainstorming and training as part of “Less Wall, More Street: From Mass Arrests of OWS to Mass Incarceration” – a national campaign to raise awareness and build solidarity around issues of state targeting and social control.

This training will address the scope of the growing problem of political repression directed at the 99 percent. Jen Waller and Tom Hintze’s brainstorming and training session is part of “Less Wall, More Street: From Mass Arrests of OWS to Mass Incarceration” – a national campaign to raise awareness and build solidarity around issues of state targeting and social control. These two OWS activists have been driving across the country doing legal solidarity trainings and working to raise awareness and build solidarity around issues of state targeting and social control.  Please check out their website Less Wall More Street to learn more about how they are Building Solidarity to Fight Repression from Coast to Coast.

“Less Wall, More Street” seeks to build alliances between new activists who are just recently experiencing repression, more experienced activists who have long been subject to it and members of targeted and oppressed communities – to share experiences, build understanding and work in solidarity together.

After the arrest of more than 7,000 members of Occupy Movement engaging in peaceful acts of dissent, many of which are supposedly protected by the law of the land, state sanctioned repression remains a reality of life for the 99% in the United States.

Jen and Tom will also point out things that 99 percenters can to more effectively resist repression here. That political repression is a real and serious problem for 99 percenters in New Orleans is clear enough. Under the general direction of the local Homeland Security leadership, New Orleans police have arrested scores of 99 percenters for engaging in peaceful dissent in recent years. Targets of these arrests include members of the local public housing movement, Krewe of Eris revelers, anti austerity protesters at UNO, supporters of the Avery Alexander Occupy Encampment, and an organizer of Occupy the Stage. The time is long overdue for 99 percenters to give the problem of political repression in the US that it deserves.

Come to this free and timely discussion concerning a grim political reality in Barrack Obama’s America. This event is free and open to all.

Note: This training will occur during the regularly scheduled GA. The G.A. will meet after the training.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CALL MIKE AT 504-587-0080 or RSVP to this  Facebook Event.

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 Com

Below is the footage from today's livestream. Thanks for streaming, small affair.

~ Occupy The Stage

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:

Driftwood
Institutional Research & Data Management (IRDM)
Petition
Facebook Event

UPDATES: This dilemma is receiving national attention. Read more:

Another Press on Chopping Block
Director of U. of New Orleans Press Loses Job Amid Budget Cuts
Amid 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

Get your sidewalk chalk ready!

The Occupy NOLA Direct Action Working Group met August 2 and has declared August 9 a Day of Chalkupy in response to Occupy Los Angeles’ #A9 Call for Global Day of Action – Chalkupy the World

We will meet at 11:am at Duncan Plaza and chalk the city! Meet us there, meet up with us, or Chalkupy your neighborhood and send us pictures! We'll have a route  and details soon!

"On August 9th, Occupy Los Angeles calls for you to fill your squares and take your streets and sidewalks with chalk. Call to all people everywhere to show that dissent is as simple as writing your grievances on the sidewalk, as accessible as hopscotch in the streets- reclaiming public space and engaging in public dialogue and expression. Join us (if you're close enough) for a day of solidarity and fun to celebrate the human spirit and chalk for our collective liberation. Together we will remake the art of public life in our alley ways, on the doorsteps of banks whose only allegiance is to profit, and in the streets built by our labor.  In solidarity, regardless of all nations and borders, we will engage in willful public expression against political repression."

They ask that you SUBMIT CHALK PHOTOS HERE: http://chalkitout.tumblr.com/

You can also share your photographs on the Chalkupy Facebook page!

The Fresh Juice Party has a wonderful Chalkupy gallery for inspiration!

This is a creative way to show solidarity while exercising your first amendment rights.


#ChalkTheWorld #ChalkAllTheThings #OpChalk #ChalkIsNotACrime #Chalkupy