You're Invited to join Women Occupy Wall Street and CodePink in supporting and elevating women's voices. Tomorrow night we will join thousands of activists around the country who will participate in Feminist GA's. Together we can build another world where peace and justice prevail. Please join us as Women Occupy for social and economic justice and to fight the War on Women.

Who:      Women Occupy and CodePink

What:     Nashville's first FEMINIST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Where:    Legislative Plaza, downtown Nashville, TN

When:    Thursday, May 17, 7pm

Why:      To elevate and empower women's voices, and to organize and develop local strategies to fight the War on Women!

Will Feminists step up to the mic?
For more information or to have your group placed on the agenda, please email loveliz77@yahoo.com.

This is only a Test….

So you may have some questions! We'll try to answer them!

Why do we still have a port-a-toilet in the first place?

We still have several activities on the plaza, including General Assemblies 4 times per week (Tues, Thurs, Sat & Sun), along with direct action and other working group meetings. We also have an information table that out plaza outreach group staffs periodically throughout the week on the plaza. 

Who pays for the port-a-toilet?

Occupy Nashville pays the monthly fee for the rental of the port-a-toilet. The city has always provided the permit for free to us, and we have never been asked to pay for the permit, but would do if it were ever required.

Where can I go now?

During the daytimes (except Mondays) the public library has public restrooms, however they are closed by the time our General Assembly's start during the week. There are public restrooms as the MTA Bus Station, a couple of blocks away on 5th.

Will the port-a-toilet return?

We will discuss our options during our General Assembly on Tuesday. We welcome everyone to come out and be a part of the process!

Event Flyer, please print, share, and tell everyone you know!

view/print/download PDF version: Nashville May Day Strike Flyer

• We will gather at 11 am at Centennial Park.
• We will have a Picnic at Noon.
• Then We will have actions and marches w/ Occupy Vandy in the afternoon.
• Then the People will gather Downtown in the evening.
• More will be announced as we get closer to the date.

MayDayNYC

Nashville MayDay

Dear Nashville Adult Literacy Council (NALC), Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), and Progreso Hispanic Community Center:

Thank you so much for helping those whom you serve. We know that you play a vital role in American society, in that you help those who may otherwise be without help. We know that the current xenophobic tendencies in America have left many feeling as if America is not the place for them. However, we want you to know that we stand with you against such bigotry. Not only do we want to change and prevent anti-immigration laws, but also, we want to change the hearts and mind of our fellow citizens concerning immigration. If there be anything Occupy Nashville can do to assist in your goals and work, please feel free to let us know. Together, “we SHALL overcome!”

Representing the 99% in the capital of Tennessee,
Occupy Nashville (drafted by James Lauderdale, Jr.)

Thanks for everyone’s patience while these issues are resolved and return here often.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2012

Event:
Sunday, April 1, 2012 at Legislative Plaza, Nashville

Homeless Advocates Host Rally and Sleep-In for the ‘Right to Exist’

Nashville participates in a national day of action to draw attention to the criminalization of homelessness

Nashville homeless advocates will host a “Rally for the Right to Exist” on Sunday, April 1, culminating with a mass “sleep-in” to demonstrate against Metro Nashville and the State of Tennessee’s onerous anti-homeless laws. The event is part of a larger bi-national day of action with more than a dozen other cities across the United States and Canada participating to raise awareness about the ongoing criminalization of homelessness in our communities.

The rally will take place on Legislative Plaza and will include food, discussions, music, a film, teach-ins and trainings. The evening will culminate in an act of civil disobedience in the form of a sleep-in to stand (and sleep) in solidarity with our unhoused neighbors and to support the civil and human rights of all, particularly the poor and homeless.

On March 2, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed HB 2638/SB 2505 into law, making camping, sleeping and cooking on state property a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by almost a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. In addition, “quality of life” ordinances enforced by Metro Nashville Police officers have disproportionately targeted members of the homeless community for carrying out non-criminal acts in public spaces, especially since 2007. Laws that prohibit sleeping on public property and staying too long in public passageways may make our cities more “attractive,” but the downside of these “quality of life” laws is that they criminalize the very existence of people with nowhere to go. On any given night, there are not enough shelter beds or affordable housing units to accommodate everyone in need. Hundreds of men, women, and children have no place to go save the streets and public spaces, yet these laws further victimize them for doing so. Furthermore, in Davidson County alone, vacant housing units (24,479 in 2010) vastly outnumber the people who lack affordable housing (approximately 4,000).

Schedule of Events (subject to changes or additions):

1:30 p.m.         Free lunch with Food Not Bombs

3:00-4:00         Meditation and talking circles

4:00-5:00         Mobile foot clinic

5:00-6:00         Pot-luck dinner with music

6:00-6:30         Welcome and introductions

6:30-7:30         Teach-ins including “Know Your Rights” and “Criminalization in Nashville”

7:30-9:30         Screening of a documentary

9:30-Sunrise    Sleep-in on the Plaza

Nashville Stats (Summary Report of Committee on Police/Homeless Issues to the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission, February 7, 2011):

-       From 2004 through 2009, the number of physical arrests by police for obstructing a passageway increased by approximately 500% (from 102 in 2004 to 520 in 2009).

-       From 2004 through 2009, the number of physical arrests by police for public intoxication more than doubled (from 2029 in 2004 to 5,031 in 2009).

-       As physical arrests of homeless individuals for “quality of life” offenses were increasing between 2004 and 2009, the number of state citations issued during that same period of time drastically reduced.

National Stats (Western Regional Advocacy Project – WRAP):

-                Since 1995, the United States has lost over 290,588 existing units of public housing and 360,000 Section 8 units with another 7,107 approved for demolition and disposition since March 2011. In those same 15 years, over 830,000 new jail and prison cells have been built.

-      While citizens suffer and are criminalized for simply trying to survive, the banking and financial industry continues to contribute to homelessness. In the last 15 years, 2.5 million foreclosures have taken place, an additional 6.9 millionforeclosures have been initiated, and a projected 5.7 million borrowers are at risk. Many of these foreclosures are the direct result of the speculation and predatory lending environment that banks created in order to increase their own profits. Banks have been bailed out while millions of homeowners find themselves in foreclosure proceedings. In Middle Tennessee, as a result of the federally-negotiated foreclosure settlement involving the state’s attorney general and big mortgage servicers, foreclosures are expected to occur at a more rapid rate, spiking by 15% in 2012.

Additional Rallies and Actions will be Held In:

• Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP)
• USA/Canada Alliance of Inhabitants
• Take Back the Land
• Social Welfare Action Alliance
• National Health Care for the Homeless Council
• National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
• Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights
• Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign
• Organizing for Occupation
• Causa Justa: Just Cause
• Homes Not Jails
• Brass Liberation Orchestra
• American Friends Service Committee,
• Pacific Mountain Region
• National Alliance of HUD Tenants
• Victoria Street Newz, Victoria Canada
• Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group
• SF Living Wage Coalition
• St. Mary’s Center
• Street Spirit
• Safe Ground
• Loaves & Fishes
• Poor Magazine/Poor News Network
• Housing Rights Committee
• Hospitality House
• Great Tortilla Conspiracy
• Amos House Community
• Community Housing Partnership
• Berkeley Cop Watch
• #Occupy SF
• Occupy Nashville

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

At approximately 3:50 am, March 12, approximately 30 Tennessee Highway Patrol officers moved onto Legislative Plaza and evicted the last tent remaining of the Occupy Nashville encampment, ending one of the longest standing 24/7 occupy camps in the country.

Occupier Christopher Humphrey was in a tent and was dragged out by state troopers but was not arrested under the newly enacted unconstitutional anti-camping and anti-homelessness law. State officials initially seized and inventoried occupy property, including the information table, signs, flags, donation box, and all other protest materials. After a prolonged discussion with the legal team and occupiers, where concerns about first and fourth amendment rights were expressed, troopers agreed to return some of the property. The occupiers immediately reestablished the information table and prepared for a busy Monday morning.

The new anti-homelessness law does not prevent occupiers from using the plaza 24/7 to continue its protest against corporate personhood and money in politics. Occupy Nashville will maintain an information table on Legislative Plaza and will continue organizing, rallying, building alliances with other community organizations, fighting foreclosures and organizing tenants against slumlords. General Assemblies will continue to be held on plaza on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7pm and at 1pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Videos from the eviction:

5 minute clip: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/7246174/VIDEO0004.3gp

18 sec clip: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/7246174/VIDEO0006.3gp

Information table was set back up immediately, after talking the THP into returning some of our property. Sign up to help staff this table!

Hope blooms, even on the plaza. ]]> http://occupynashville.org/2012/03/12/eviction-day-you-cant-evict-an-idea-protest-continues-new-videos/feed/ 0 http://occupynashville.org/2012/03/08/international-womens-day-celebration-event-march-8-2012/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=international-womens-day-celebration-event-march-8-2012 http://occupynashville.org/2012/03/08/international-womens-day-celebration-event-march-8-2012/#comments Thu, 08 Mar 2012 04:03:40 +0000 0v3rki11 http://occupynashville.org/?p=803 Occupy Nashville Hosts International Women’s Day Celebration Event March 8, 2012

11:30am to 1:00pm

at Legislative Plaza with a march to Broadway Street Bridge

Women make up 51% of the world’s population but 70% of the world’s poor. Women perform 66% of the world’s work, produce 50% of the food, but earn 10% of the income and own less than 1% of the world’s property.

Women’s work continues to be unpaid, underpaid and undervalued, making women’s contribution invisible to economic indicators and ineligible for the rewards reaped by the so called “productive” members of society.

Over half of the homeless are women and children, often fleeing domestic violence and neglect.

Everyone is invited to participate and join Nashville women as they make a strong statement for women’s rights and economic justice in Nashville and around the world! You and we are the 99%.

Meet at Legislative Plaza at 11:30am. The schedule of events includes a welcome and remarks by organizers, a dance and time for mingling, and a march to meet up with activists from Join Me On The Bridge/Women for Women International/Women In Black/CodePink, at the Broadway Street Bridge (near the Union Station Hotel) in downtown Nashville (about a 10-15 minute walk). The march will leave plaza at approximately 12:15pm.

Bring drums, musical instruments, colored cloth, signs, anything to add to the event. For further information contact Elizabeth Barger at npjceliz@gmail.com or pr@occupynashville.org.