Tag Archives: Occupy Raleigh

Occupy Raleigh: Follow Up

I just finished a post I started this afternoon.  I had to wait until I got the family fed, the lawn watered, the driveway power washed, the grass sprinkled and the kids to bed.  Finally, I had to watch the NASCAR race.

NOW I can read some.

And I found this:

RALEIGH — Early on, Occupy Raleigh had the look and feel of a 1960s peace rally, with songs by Pete Seeger, Gil Scot Heron and John Lennon blaring from loudspeakers. A crowd that resembled a family gathering streamed from the old State Capitol grounds and onto Fayetteville Street….

That is exactly as I said it was:  A festival.  But then….

But by late afternoon Saturday, after most of the crowd had dispersed, about 200 protestors debated whether to stay overnight in the park, like their counterparts in New York and other cities, and risk arrest. After nightfall, police arrested 19 people and charged them with second-degree trespassing.

What the hell is the point of THAT!?!?

They got attention.  They got respect.  They got press.  What in the world is the point in getting arrested?

None.

They are adolescent children.

And the response from the official crowd:

Lynn DuPree commented 3 hours ago · Flag

It was a great protest and I want to be the first to say THANK YOU to the 20 brave people who stayed at the Occupy site and gave us the additional media attention we need by getting ARRESTED tonight. As Dr. King taught us, civil disobedience will often involve being willing to offer up our wrists to the police. Gandhi also said non-violent civil disobedience is the backbone of any serious movement intent upon real change; and if I were younger and healthier I would have been happy to stand beside these heroic young citizens and go peacefully to jail. To the RALEIGH 20: I will be honored to march along side you at our next rally!

Nice.  They praise it.

And as long as they do that for people doing that; they’ll never be taken serious again.

Occupy Raleigh

I took some time this afternoon to drive downtown Raleigh and see what there was to see as Raleigh was Occupied.

I have to say upfront, I never expected the same time of scene in Raleigh that I would expect to see in NYC currently.  The folks in New York have been at this for nearly a month now and have a permanent camp in the park.  Here in Raleigh, the scene is different.  From what I understand, the organization has a permit.  They have attended informal conversations with like minded lawyers who have advised them on how to interact with people and the police.   They have urged their members to commit to non-violence.

This is to their credit.

Continue reading

OWS Coming to Raleigh

Today is the day that the Wall Street protesters come to Raleigh.  Certainly not the original group, but rather, a related organization that is taking the movement in New York as their inspiration.

They call themselves Occupy Raleigh.

We are a group of concerned citizens who wish to raise awareness and demonstrate before the Capitol in support of economic justice and against corporate influence over our elections and political process. Our purpose is to engage the public in this dialogue and make the voices of the people heard. We want local and national legislators to hear our concerns about ways to remedy economic injustice and the unfair influence the wealthy have over the political system.

We are a peaceful, non-violent resistance movement that aims to encourage people to participate in democracy and use their voices to influence positive change.

We are not a Democratic party movement nor are we anarchists trying to overthrow government. Rather, we are a populist uprising that seeks to place the political power back in the People’s hands where it belongs. We are willing to extend our protest indefinitely to effect change.

Better.

A clear and succinct statement.  Much better than the nonsense spewing from NYC.

But still a ways to go.  For example:

We want local and national legislators to hear our concerns about ways to remedy economic injustice and the unfair influence the wealthy have over the political system.

What are those concerns?  And what are the remedies?  What influence?

This is certainly nice, and, in the same way that the Tea Party is non-affiliated, these guys are non-affiliated:

We are not a Democratic party movement nor are we anarchists trying to overthrow government.

I’m sure the protest will be non-violent.  There’s too much at stake for them to remain positive.  Further, they aren’t here to “occupy”.  As far as I know, they come in today and go home today.  And THAT is a reasonable thing that reasonable citizens do.