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Community Rally "No to UNJUST evictions! REOCCUPY OUR HOMES!"

No to UNJUST evictions!

October 31, 2011

Stonewall Jackson Homes

5751 Airport Rd
Charlotte, NC 28208

In June 2011, the company TriTex bought the Stonewall Jackson Homes Community. Now they are trying to evict us all, to sell the property. At the same time, when they bought the property, they stopped giving tenants 12 month leases. If they knew at this time that they were going to sell the community, why didn’t they let us know? They waited until the beginning of October to tell us we had 30 days to leave. Included in this mass evictions are families with leases that have not expired. This is a violation of the law. Now they are kicking everyone out with no options on where to go. This is a violation of our human rights! REOCCUPY OUR HOMES!

Enough with the attacks on poor families!
Enough with the attacks against immigrant families!
Let us say NO to the abuses & YES to our dignity!
Let us say NO to the abuses & YES to our children!
They will not evict my family nor my neighbors’ families!


UPDATE: We've decided to cancel the protest. The tenants will be able to stay. Thanks to everyone who put in hard work to help these renters. Thanks to everyone who supports them. Thank you Creative Loafing for such a great article. This definitely helped.

In 2 weeks, we will hold a party to celebrate this great victory and to acknowledge the hard work that these tenants put in and their development as great leaders for their community.

For more information:
704.244.1100

Oct. 25: Protest Condoleezza Rice speech in Charlotte - Arrest Condi for War Crimes!

Tues., October 25, 2011

Protest Condoleezza Rice speech in Charlotte!
Arrest Condi for War Crimes!

The Iraq War has cost us over $1 trillion!

March from Occupy Charlotte at 5:30 pm
Protest starts at 6:00 pm
We'll be there the whole time

Belk Theater

130 N. Tryon St.
Charlotte, NC 28202

For more information:
Action Center For Justice
704.759.6529

www.charlotteaction.blogspot.com

#OWS VICTORY: The people have prevailed, gear up for global day of action

Posted Oct. 14, 2011, 8:51 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt

People power triumphs over Wall Street’s bid to end the protests mayor bloomberg and Brookfield Inc. back down on eviction world prepares for day of action Saturday October 15 in 950+ cities in 82 countries. We Are Winning!

NEW YORK, NY – Over 3,000 people gathered at Liberty Plaza in the pre-dawn hours this morning to defend the peaceful Occupation near Wall Street. The crowd cheered at the news that multinational real estate firm Brookfield Properties will postpone its so-called “cleanup” of the park and that Mayor Bloomberg has told the NYPD to stand down on orders to remove protesters. On the eve of the October 15 global day of action against Wall Street greed, this development has emboldened the movement and sent a clear message that the power of the people has prevailed against Wall Street.

“We are winning and Wall Street is afraid,” said Kira Moyer-Sims, a protester from Portland, Oregon. “This movement is gaining momentum and is too big to fail.”

“Brookfield Properties is the 1%. They have invested $24 billion in mortgage-backed securities, so as millions face foreclosure and eviction due to predatory lending and the burst of the housing bubble that Wall Street created, its not surprising they threatened to evict Occupy Wall Street,” said Patrick Burner, an organizer with Occupy Wall Street from the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn. “But Brookfield and Bloomberg have backed down and our movement is only growing as the 99% take to the streets world wide to call for economic justice.”

The early morning announcement from the Mayor’s office in New York came after 300,000+ Americans signed petitions to stop the eviction, and flooded the 311 phone network in solidarity with those in Liberty Square. At 6 AM this morning, 3,000+ New Yorkers, unions, students, and others joined the occupiers in the square to send a clear message to the 1% who want to silence this peaceful assembly of the 99%. Donations poured into the protesters from Italy, England, Mexico and many other countries by everyday people hoping to help the movement grow.

“For too long the 99% have been ignored as our economic system has collapsed. The banks got bailouts and we’ve been sold out, ” said Harrison Schultz, business analyst from Brooklyn . “Wall Street’s greed has corrupted our country and is killing our planet. But today we celebrate victory and vow to keep fighting for justice and change on Wall Street, and in over 100 cities in the US and over 950 cities globally.”

On October 15th, Occupy Wall Street will demonstrate in concert over 951 cities in 82 countries and counting as people around the globe protest in an international day of solidarity against the greed and corruption of the 1%.

Occupy Wall Street is a people powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations on the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy and are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality.

October 15th Call to Action

Posted Oct. 14, 2011, 1:07 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt

Over the last 30 years, the 1% have created a global economic system - neoliberalism - that attacks our human rights and destroys our environment. Neoliberalism is worldwide - it is the reason you no longer have a job, it is the reason you cannot afford healthcare, education, food, your mortgage.
Neoliberalism is your future stolen.

Neoliberalism is everywhere, gutting labor standards, living wages, social contracts, and environmental protections. It is "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." It is a system that ravages the global south and creates global financial crisis - crisis in Spain, in Greece, in the United States. It is a system built on greed and thrives on destablizing shocks.
It allows the 1% to enrich themselves by impoverishing humanity.

This has to stop!
We must usher in an era of democratic and economic justice.
We must change, we must evolve.

On October 15th the world will rise up as one and say, "We have had enough! We are a new beginning, a global fight on on all fronts that will usher in an era of shared prosperity, respect, mutual aid, and dignity."

Actions in NYC
October 15th: Occupy Banks from Mary Matthews on Vimeo.
Actions worldwide
Take The Square

EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION: Prevent the forcible closure of Occupy Wall Street!

Posted Oct. 13, 2011, 2:14 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt

EMERGENCY #OWS EVICTION DEFENSE:
Prevent the forcible closure of Occupy Wall Street


Tell Bloomberg: Don't Foreclose the Occupation.
NEED MASS TURN-OUT, SHOW UP NO LATER THAN 6 A.M.


This is an emergency situation. Please take a minute to read this, and please take action and spread the word far and wide.

Occupy Wall Street is gaining momentum, with occupation actions now happening in cities across the world.

But last night Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD notified Occupy Wall Street participants about plans to “clean the park”—the site of the Wall Street protests—tomorrow starting at 7am. "Cleaning" was used as a pretext to shut down “Bloombergville” a few months back, and to shut down peaceful occupations elsewhere.

Bloomberg says that the park will be open for public usage following the cleaning, but with a notable caveat: Occupy Wall Street participants must follow the “rules”.

NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said that they will move in to clear us and we will not be allowed to take sleeping bags, tarps, personal items or gear back into the park.

This is it—this is their attempt to shut down #OWS for good.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION

1) Call 311 (or +1 (212) NEW-YORK if you're out of town) and tell Bloomberg to support our right to assemble and to not interfere with #OWS.

2) Come to #OWS TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT to defend the occupation from eviction.


For those of you who plan to help us hold our ground—which we hope will be all of you—make sure you understand the possible consequences. Be prepared to not get much sleep. Be prepared for possible arrest. Make sure your items are together and ready to go (or already out of the park.) We are pursuing all possible strategies; this is a message of solidarity.

Click here to learn nonviolent tactics for holding ground.

Occupy Wall Street is committed to keeping the park clean and safe—we even have a Sanitation Working Group whose purpose this is. We are organizing major cleaning operations today and will do so regularly.

If Bloomberg truly cares about sanitation here he should support the installation of portopans and dumpsters. #OWS allies have been working to secure these things to support our efforts.

We know where the real dirt is: on Wall Street. Billionaire Bloomberg is beholden to bankers.

We won't allow Bloomberg and the NYPD to foreclose our occupation. This is an occupation, not a permitted picnic.

Occupy Wall St

Oct. 15: Protest for Jobs, Housing, Education & Healthcare Not Corporate Bail Outs, Cut Backs, & Wars!

National Day of Coordinated Actions

On the 10th Anniversary of the U.S. war on Afghanistan:

Protest for Jobs, Housing, Education & Healthcare
Not Corporate Bail Outs, Cut Backs, & Wars!


Saturday, October 15, 2011

Noon Gather at Charlotte Board Of Education
701 E Martin Luther King Blvd, Charlotte, NC
(next to Marshall Park)

March on Bank Of America

When the U.S. government began its attack on Afghanistan 10 years ago, President Bush called it a “war on terror.” It was followed by 8 years of U.S. war in Iraq and now war in Libya and drone wars on Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan under President Obama. These are all wars for oil, resources and markets in the interests of corporate power.

At the same time, the U.S. government is carrying out attacks on working people within the U.S., cutting back on health care, education and vital services while bailing out the Wall St. banks and insurance companies. Every time people call for money for social services, we are told there is no money, but the government always finds money for its wars & corporate bail outs.

Join us in a march to demand an end to U.S. wars in Afghanistan & Iraq, an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, and an end to U.S. bombing and destruction in Libya and an end to the growing repression at home.

We will protest home foreclosures, corporate greed, and the billions spent on war that could be used for peoples' needs here at home instead. Each U.S. cruise missile being used to bomb Libya could pay ten teachers for a year here in the United States.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have the cost the U.S. more than $3.7 trillion according to the Cost Of War report issued by Watson Institute for International Studies.

In addition, over 5,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed and tens of thousands wounded. It is estimated that over 1,000,000 Iraqi civilans and at least 10,000, but possibly up to 30,000, Afghan civilians have been killed as a results of the wars.

We will gather at noon at the Charlotte Board Of Education and rally to save our public schools and teachers.

From there we will march through uptown to the square and rally in front of Bank Of America. This will be followed by a march to join our sisters and brothers at the Occupy Charlotte protest encampment (similar to the action planned for NYC).

This is a day of nationally coordinated antiwar actions in cities across the U.S. called by the United National Antiwar Coalition. Protests are scheduled across the country including New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Charlotte, NC, Portland, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Sacramento, CA.

This will be a peaceful, nonviolent protest and it is legal and all necessary permits have been obtained. Bring signs, friends and family.

For more information on the Charlotte protest
see the International Action Center of Charlotte's website at
http://www.charlotteaction.blogspot.com.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113705242071600

Over 500 join Occupy Charlotte Oct. 8 March on Bank of America HQ

By David Dixon

On Saturday, October 8, over 500 people of all ages and races joined together at Old City Hall and marched on Bank of America's HQ in uptown Charlotte, NC. The group Occupy Charlotte, part of the nationwide Occupy Wall St Movement, protested and spoke out against corporate greed.

Participants then marched back to Old City Hall for a General Assembly to form working groups and begin setting up the permanent Occupy Charlotte encampment.

Another Assembly of occupation participants was held at 7:00 pm where the working groups gave reports.

About three dozen protesters stayed at the encampment overnight and plan to  stay as long as it takes to achieve economic justice. They have vowed to stay for at least a year and will be a major presence during the Democratic National Convention.

Press Reports, Video & Photos:

Protesters set up 'tent city,' start weighing options for what's next
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/09/2677860/protesters-set-up-tent-city-plan.html

Protesters gather for 'Occupy Charlotte'
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/09/2676392/protesters-gather-for-occupy-charlotte.html

"Occupy Charlotte" protestors plan march to city council meeting
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/29428409/detail.html

"Occupy Charlotte" protests Bank of America
http://www.wcnc.com/news/131404033.html

WCNC Photo Gallery
http://www.wcnc.com/news/131404033.html?gallery=y&c=y

Occupy Charlotte Protesters March in Uptown (video)
http://www.foxcharlotte.com/news/local/Occupy-Charlotte-Protesters-March-in-Uptown-131401468.html

Several hundred people "Occupy Charlotte" uptown Saturday (w/ videos)
http://www.wbtv.com/story/15616216/occupy-charlotte-plans-bofa-protest

Spreading protests reach in No. 2 US banking city
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/49645--spreading-protests-reach-in-no-2-us-banking-city

Protests Emerge Around the U.S.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203476804576619440086145216.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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Occupy Charlotte Facebook page

Oct. 15: Occupy Charlotte General Assembly Meeting

Occupy Charlotte General Assembly Meeting

Sat., October 15, 2011

3:00 PM

Old City Hall lawn
600 E. Trade St.
Charlotte, NC

Occupy Charlotte Facebook page

Oct. 12: "Reality on the Ground: What About Human Rights"

Wed., October 12, 2011

6:30 PM

Mary Lou Leiser Smith
Edith Garwood

Covenant Presbyterian Church
100 E. Morehead St.
Charlotte, NC 28204

"Reality on the Ground: What About Human Rights"

Longtime educator and Middle East peace activist, Mary Lou is the founder and Coordinating Director of the Coalition for Peace with Justice. She also serves in a leadership capacity with other peace and human rights groups that support just peace efforts in Israel and Palestine. Her frequent travels to Israel-Palestine inform her work in education and advocacy of the dynamic changing realities that impact the prospects for justice and peace. Edie Garwood is Amnesty International's country specialist for Israel-Palestine.

Dinner Available Before the Event
Covenant Connection Dinner: 5:30 - 6:30 pm
$6/adults; $4/children and youth; $20 family
Dinner reservations and cancellations needed by noon each Monday prior to the Wed. event
Phone (704) 333-9071

CODEPINK Weekly Peace Vigil Every Wed.

Peace Vigil

Every Wednesday

4:30pm to 5:30pm

7th St & Hawthorne Ln
Charlotte, NC

Sponsored by CODEPINK Charlotte

Oct. 11: Duke Energy Public Hearing on Rate Increase

Charlotte: Oct. 11, 2011, at 7 p.m.,
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County,
Francis Auditorium, 310 N. Tryon St.

More info:
  
Duke Energy looks to justify rate increase to public, utility commission

Oct. 10: Picket Rep. Sue Myrick to Save Postal Workers Jobs

What: Picket Congresswoman Sue Myrick
When: Monday, Oct. 10, 2011 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm.
Where: Sue Myrick's district offices, (6525 Morrison Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28211)

Who: Charlotte-area postal employees, AFL-CIO, and progressive allies

Why: While Sue Myrick frets about deficits and protecting herself and her big-money backers in the 1% from having to pay their fair share, the other 99% of us are tired of waiting for her to focus on what matters. We have a JOBS CRISIS, and Sue Myrick needs to get to work putting Americans back to work.

Contact: Tim Rorie, NALC, 704-905-9406

Note: Some signs will be provided. Bring your Save America's Postal Service signs, too.

RSVP: http://bit.ly/AWTWcharlotte

Oct. 8: Today is the Day! Occupy Charlotte, Old City Hall @ 3pm

Today is the Day! Occupy Charlotte, Old City Hall @ 3pm
600 E. Trade St, Charlotte, NC 28202

Saturday, October 8, 2011

FaceBook Event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=169636109785623

Today at 3:00pm


Gather at 600 E.Trade Street and OCCUPY!

Get your small tents, sleeping bags, food, signs, camera, courage etc. ready and let's set up camp :3


IMPORTANT: Take these numbers with you! Do it.
National Lawyers Guild: (888) 654 - 3265
North Carolina National Lawyers Guild: (919) 967 1967

BATHROOM/NECESSITIES INFO:

Many public restaurants/bars/businesses are available for bathroom/food/drinks. Also there are grocery stores in the near area: Follow Trade St. east towards Kings Dr, make a right, the shopping strip will be on your right.

PARKING/TRANSPORTATION INFO:

Some free parking is available around Marshall Park, but very limited. If you get there early enough, you may be able to park for free. Also see time restraints at the said parking place.

If you are local, you can take the Lynx: http://www.charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/lynx/Pages/default.aspx
or you can take the bus:
http://www.charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/Bus/Pages/default.aspx

ALSO PARKING GARAGES:

Central Parking System
700 West Trade Street, Charlotte, NC

Central Parking System
531 West 4th Street, Charlotte, NC

E-Z Parking
312 W Trade St # 301, Charlotte, NC

Standard Parking
227 West Trade Street, Charlotte, NC

Stephanie Parking
123 South Church Street, Charlotte, NC

If these do not suffice, or fail, you can always use: http://maps.google.com/ to find information on parking and the surrounding area :)

!---------------------------------!

If you are not able to attend, please support us by donating food, water, medical/hygiene stuff and clean clothes!
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Also, please lurk:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Bank-of-America-Headquarters-Charlotte/253428618033129

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Charlotte/180107322067252

http://www.facebook.com/occupycharlotte

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Who: The 99% in Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street
When: 3PM, Oct. 8th 2011

We are union members, students, teachers, veterans, families, the unemployed and underemployed. We are all races, sexes and creeds. We are the young and the old. We are the majority! We are the 99 percent. And we will no longer be silent.

As members of the 99 percent, we will occupy Trade Street, Charlotte NC (Banking district) as a symbolic gesture of our discontent with the current economic and political climate and as an example of a better world to come. Therefore we invite the public, our fellow 99 percent, to join us in this peaceful protest.

This is a call for individuals and families, community and advocacy groups to stand in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.


_______________
From OccupyCharlotte website:

In preparation for our gathering we would like to share some information. Since we are a leaderless peaceful gathering, you have the ultimate say. We can only help organize the day. While chaos is wonderful part of the creative process some people just can’t cope with it.

Our tentative schedule has changed a bit and probably will again and again since we all need to decide. Providing you with a tentative schedule will help a bit.

3pm Announcements General Assembly

3:30pm Safety and Twitter escorts

4pm March to Bank of America

5pm Volunteer Working Groups

5:30pm Open forum

Let’s not forget we are will be together regardless of our differences. Take care of each other! Also, remember we are practicing peace and we ask that there be no violence or destruction. Acquaint yourself with the guide to General Assembly.

Important Announcements!

Did you start a Occupation Charlotte Facebook page to help organize the protest against corporate America ? The planning committee would like you to join the internet committee. The community needs people who are driven and motivated to help us. We want everyone in the process and are asking you to join the team ! Please contact us http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Charlotte/180107322067252
We need Twitter escorts , We have est…ablished twitter accounts to aid in the street protesting to avoid some of the incidents that happened in New York. If we can communicate we can take care of each other. A twitter escort will be linked by an twitter account so the group can communicate in mass. They will be responsible for maintaining safe passage at pedestrians cross walks and relaying information to the protesters as information develops. If you would like to volunteer please bring some comfortable shoes and sox and a cell phone that can access Twitter.

For more information and to stay informed visit:
Occupy Charlotte Facebook page