Occupy Wilmington NC - Coming to a City Near You

Particpate To Create Wilmington

on May 15, 2013

On Tuesday, May 14th the City of Wilmington, NC held a wide open public meeting that was organized very much in the way Occupy Wall Street general assemblies were held across the world almost two years ago. One of the most important concerns raised at this meeting was establishing a way to communicate the activities of the City government more clearly to our communities. After the meeting it was noted that many people in the city were not aware that Participate to Create Wilmington was happening even thought the City has a webpage for it on their website and a separate website has been constructed specifically for it.

Participate to Create Wilmington

Point of information: The African American community was economically alienated as a result of the 1898 coup, the civil rights movement helped but was not enough in Wilmington. As you can tell from the photo there were African Americans there, but nowhere near a true representation of their population in this city. Also lacking were a significant number of young adults but there were a few there helping to tow the line

Dozens of tables with seating awaited the public and each table had a facilitator who asked that each person write down on an index card desires and undesirable goals or conditions for the city. Each person got to share these items as the facilitator recorded them on easel boards.

Each page was taken and posted on walls in the room. Desired pages on one wall and undesired on another. Everybody was given 10 stickers to post beside the items they felt were the most important. When everybody finished all items that had four or more stickers beside them were read aloud to the room.

Among these were:

Get the City to persuade the county to distribute funds to the City schools more fairly
Promote and educate the community more about the Cooperative Business Model
Support offshore Wind Turbines and renewable energy BUSINESS
Continue the implementation of bicycle paths and lanes
Preserve greenspace, construction of buildings should be vertical to diminish urban sprawl
Titan Cement is UNdesired, reduce mercury, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide pollution
Corporate rule of public education is UNdesired
City or County public TV with a fully accountable broadcast of issues taken up by the City and their actions; reach minorities and African American communities

The meeting convened with the announcement that the next meeting will be posted on the aforementioned website and should be in September.

This entry is filed under Local News, OUTREACH.

HK on J March, February 2013

on January 11, 2013

Last year the annual HK on J rally in Raleigh, NC blossomed in peace and love and spread a Economic Justice message of justice that bounced off the walls of our conservative establishment of both republicans and democrats. Outcry against amendment 1, which would pass on the primary ballot in May and discriminate against the LGBT community, was overwhelming. The NC constitution was written to prevent against the subjugation of social differences but now the LGBT community has an unconstitutional amendment suppressing their social freedom.

The state of NC is a right to work for less state which dates back to the Taft Hartley Act of 1947 at a time when many Red Scare laws were passed to subjugate workers and allow corporate profits to soar by managerial maneuvers to cut payroll.

What is economically unsustainable is when investment is provided from outside the community and they expect to receive a profit on the money they have lent because they do not benefit from the goods and services produced. This results in debt and a subsequent extraction of wealth from those who use the goods and services that are produced. If profit is converted into payroll and subsequently more revenue is raised through better pay of workers the necessity of borrowing money is significantly reduced.

Let’s send a clear message to our legislature at this years rally. For updates visit HKonJ.

This entry is filed under Events.

Retaking our Schools, Remaking Society! A Statewide Organizing Conference

on January 11, 2013

By NC Student Power Union

***REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE HERE: http://goo.gl/J5LG2

On February 16th 2013, The NC-Student Power Union will be holding a statewide organizing conference in Raleigh, North Carolina—our state capital. This conference will bring together leaders of social justice organizations, university faculty, and most importantly, students like us for a day of education, inspiration, and action.

In the past several years we have seen incredible social movements spanning the globe in response to the still worsening economic crisis and punishing austerity measures that followed it. Young people, students, and workers are standing up to the abuses of a system bent on denying us a future. These forces, driven by greed, will continue a path of wealth accumulation for the few on the backs of the many. North Carolina is no different.

Wealthy right-wing donors bought the North Carolina legislature and put Tea Party conservatives in the driver’s seat of our state. Their program is clear: public education and services will face massive cuts, and the general welfare of our state will be undermined to benefit the richest few. From voting rights to women’s rights, those in power want to take us backwards. North Carolina families, students, and workers cannot afford this regressive agenda — and we will not accept it. It is more urgent than ever to build upon multi-issue, grassroots mobilization efforts in NC. Our state has a rich history of activism and resistance, and as in the past, students must serve as leaders in the fight for social justice. The time for organizing a powerful student movement is now!

Instead of accepting a future shaped by low wage jobs, racism, and a warming planet, our generation is coming together to demand a world with opportunity for all people and justice for our earth—a world without fear of deportation, crushing debt, or heterosexist discrimination. Join the movement on February 16th. Help build student voice and student power to reclaim our education and create the state we want to live in.