Occupy Lowell

When: May 5th and 8th, 10am – 5pm

Where: Pawtucket Street (Along the Riverside Park, across from the Hess Gas Station-558 Pawtucket Street

What: Bring your small, lightly used good to the park with a blanket to lay the on. Take what you need and give what you can! Free to swap items. No money or business! Teach-ins are welcome!

Skill sharing is encouraged. Teach others skills for free, and do what you love!

Volunteers welcome to help organize items, clean up the park and direct traffic through the park.

FB event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/351367504922363/

Occupy Lowell was fortunate enough to be invited on air on the “Feminist Edition of Thinking Out Loud” hosted by Charlotte Crockford at 10am this morning. Both Dan and I wish to extend our sincere gratitude to Charlotte for giving us an outlet to speak about Occupy and local issues near and dear to us personally. We look forward to more exposure through local media outlets.

May Day is fast approaching. We encourage, and support all who strike on May Day, a day of solidarity with the 99%.

We look forward to seeing you all out there on the streets on May first in Boston. 

As announced this morning on air, the Really, Really Free market will be hosted by the river, across the Hess station near UMass Lowell South campus. All are welcome to come, we ask that you bring what you can spare and take what you need. No business will be transpiring on the greens, nor amplified music. We hope you come with high spirits, and come out to meet your fellow neighbors in an exchange of not only goods, but ideas and dialogue.

We request that you only bring small goods, and a tarp or blanket to lay your goods on. If you have larger goods to offer, such as furniture or a television, please bring a picture and some contact information to give out to people willing to pick up the goods at your location.  As a public park, we want to keep the area clean, and better than before we found it.

If you would like to perform a teach-in on particular issues, offer a service for free, or would like to help volunteer, please e-mail us at OccupyLowell99@gmail.com, we would love to hear from you.

In Solidarity,

-Tim from OccupyLowell

We have not organized an area within the city yet to host our next GA, however the concerns about being accessibility can be temporarily solved by moving the meeting into Dugan hall.
Dugan hall is across the street from Coburn, and is accessible. We will meet out front at 6pm, and find a room. We can discuss our progress, and move from there.
Thank you.

FB event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/425676990789330/

If you have any questions please e-mail us at occupylowell99 (at) gmail.com,

We will respond ASAP, I’ll be checking it every 20 mins or so.

Solidarity,
-Tim from Occupy Lowell

GA on April 18th, 2012 at Coburn Hall.

Meeting started at 5pm.

Discussion on new meeting areas other than Coburn hall- not handicap accessible,  intimidating to residents of the city.  Looking for forging a new relationship with institutions within the city to find a suitable, accessible place to meet.

Planned protest outside of Coburn hall next week to ask the University why it hasn’t made the building accessible, even though they have a ‘historical exemption’.  Most of the other buildings on campus are accessible- and with the ‘rapid expansion’ of the university and 40$ million dollar new buildings, there is doubt to the ‘shortage’ of funds needed to make such renovations.
(Source from Press Release here: http://www.uml.edu/News/press-releases/2011/Media-Advisory-South-Topping-Off.aspx)

Really, really free market, or one for one swap.  Students leaving the dorms will have a lot to throw away that can be recycled.  Organizing a swap on the last few days of campus, open to everyone, is a way to promote sustainability, recycling and promote alternative methods to acquiring and distributing goods that are needed, or not wanted.

May Day. Discussed quickly the relevance and importance of May Day as a traditional holiday for workers around the world. Organizing ride shares to Boston, while giving others who cannot afford to come, methods of showing solidarity at work. For more info go to: www.BostonMayDay.org

Volunteer work in Lowell: Volunteering is a necessary part of our work, to mitigate the suffering of all fellow people in our area. We are actively searching for fellow volunteers and opportunities to help the community at large.  Please contact us at OccupyLowell99 (at) Gmail.com with information.

- Solidarity from Occupy Lowell

Hello everyone!!

Please share this with your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, congregation… whomever!

Call in sick!
Turn off your alarm!
No work, no chores, no school!
Let’s show the world a day without the 99%!

In 1886, the right to an 8-hour work day was won…. and now, we continue the fight for the rights of all workers, all people, all communities!

Stop attacks on workers!
Stop detention and deportations!
Stop racial profiling!
Stop police brutality!
Money for jobs, education, and transportation… not war!
Keep education public!
End corporate rule…. AND RETURN POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!

Events for the day:

7am – Financial District Block Party
*corner of Federal and Franklin
*we’ll have breakfast!
*we’ll have music!
*get your morning started with a celebration for the 99%!
*more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/339241909452308/

11am – March from Block Party to City Hall Plaza

11am – Anti-Capitalist March to City Hall Plaza
*meet at Copley Sq.

NOON – Boston May Day Coalition Rally!
*meet at City Hall Plaza
*there will be speakers, music, screen printing!
*maybe a few surprises!!
*more info: http://www.bostonmayday.org/

2:30 – East Boston, LoPresti Park
*Summer and New Streets, Maverick Square
*rally begins at noon
*march to Everett leaves at 2:30pm
*hop on the Blue Line after City Hall Plaza to Maverick!
*Solidarity!!
*MORE INFO for East Boston/Chelsea/Everett: https://www.facebook.com/events/191008327673191/ or https://www.facebook.com/m1coalition

Noon-2 – Chelsea, City Hall
*if you can’t make it into Boston, check out the event in Chelsea!
*500 Broadway, at Hawthorne Street
*march to Everett leaves at 2pm

4pm – Everett, Glendale Park
*Ferry and Elm Streets
*Mass gathering and rally!
*Fun for the whole family!
*Fight for the rights of all!

7pm – May Day “Death of Capitalism” Funeral Procession
*meet at Copley Square
*procession will begin at 8pm
*come in costume!
*arrive early for face painting!
*mourners (dress in black)
*celebrators (wearing neon/bright colors/glow stuff)
*skeleton block (bring your own skeleton costume)
*more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/336141823111931/

Tuesday 4/10/2012 6:30pm – 9:30pm

UNH, MUB Strafford Room (240)

FB event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/370779419620351/

The UNH Peace and Justice League is honored to present Lawrence Lessig, speaking at the Strafford Room at 6:30pm on April 10. Lessig is the Director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics at Harvard University, and a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. His current academic work addresses the question of “institutional corruption” — roughly, influences within an economy of influence that weaken the effectiveness of an institution, or weaken public trust. His current work at the EJ Safra Lab oversees a 5 year research project addressing institutional corruption in a number of institutional contexts.
We are working on organizing a book signing, if you have your own copy, be sure to bring it with you, and hopefully we will be selling Lessig’s most recent book, Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress – and a Plan to Stop It. An excerpt can be found at http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/lawrence-lessig-on-how-we-lost-our-democracy-20111005

The 1% have stolen our future, now they want to steal the Occupy name. Koch brother-funded Americans for Prosperity are hosting an ‘Occupy Jobs’ event in Nashua this Thursday, after a visit by President Obama. This is not partisan. The wealthiest and most corrupt people in the country are deliberating hijacking the Occupy label.

We will not tolerate the 1% stealing the language of the 99%. Time to crash their party and expose this fraud. Bring loud drums, whistles, and banners. Be at Norton’s Diner 233 Main St., Nashua 5:00pm. Raise holy hell!

Here’s AFP’s Press Release for the event: http://www.americansforprosperity.org/022812-we-people-and-americans-prosperity-nh-host-%E2%80%9Coccupy-jobs-now%E2%80%9D-rally

Occupy Lowell stands in solidarity with Occupy NH and all Occupy groups around the world.  Please come out and show your support with what you can- dress warm. It’ll be cold after the storm. Rideshares are being organized on the event page.

The facebook event can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/339338926108934/
http://occupynewhampshire.org/

Time/Date: 2:45 P.M. Tuesday, February 7th, 2012.

Location: Lowell High School, Room 204, 50 Father Morissette Blvd. Lowell, MA 01852

Mr. Sam Khoeun has agreed to be the faculty advisor for this group so if you get the chance to thank him, please do.

OccupyLowell member Keith Boulanger is organizing an event this Saturday with Veterans for Peace(He is a veteran himself). Find all the details below and contact Keith directly if you have any questions.

Date and Time: Saturday Jan. 28th 2012, 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Location: Abu Nawas Restaurant
21 Hurd Street, Lowell, MA

“There are two Iraqi restaurants in Lowell. Because of the hateful vandalism at the Babylon restaurant they have gotten a lot of business over the past week or so. Special thanks to everyone who has rallied to help this family.

The second restaurant could use your business as well. It is family run by Ahmed and Ghaidaa Jassim, two wonderful Iraqis and their two teenage children Mohammad and Sally. Ahmed spent two months getting this restaurant up and running. It has the feel of a Cambridge coffee shop. You walk in, into a small little shop and then a few stairs down into the restaurant. It is cosy and warm, decorated very middle-eastern. Did I mention the food is delicious.

Each of these Iraqis have unbelievable stories. A little background on this family. Ahmed worked with a “peace group” in Bagdad. They were trying to bring the Shia and Sunni Muslims together, in peace, trying to stop the sectarian fighting . His life and that of his family were threatened by the militias. He had to get out of Bagdad. He and his family had just arrived in Lowell, I met them a few days after they were here, when they got the sad news. Some men burst into his parents home, mistook his older brother for Ahmed and killed him in the living room. Shortly thereafter, militia members tried to kidnap his fourteen year old brother. Luckily his younger brother was able to escape. This brother is now safe and living in Jordan with his mother. Ahmed’s father and two sisters have remained in Bagdad.

Because of the events taking place at the Babylon restaurant this other, newly opened Iraqi restaurant, has not gotten very much attention. Ahmed (the owner) opened this wonderful little restaurant a couple of months ago and is struggling.

We have been invited to a special event at the Abu Nawas restaurant this Saturday night. There will be an Egyptian singer and Middle Eastern dancer. This should be a lot of fun.

There are two options:
Come eat dinner early (off the menu) – 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm and stay for the entertainment. Cover for the entertainment – $10.00
Or come at 9:00 pm – Dinner (special prepared plate) – $15.00 and cover for entertainment – $10.00 = $25.00 total

If you cannot attend this Saturday, do plan to eat lunch or dinner at Abu Nawas some time soon and thanks again for your support of this new small business in Lowell.”