Press Release - Sept 17th OWS Anniversary: Honolulu Events

[Occupy Honolulu General Assembly]

- Apologies for possible double posting -

For Immediate Release
September 15, 2012

(de)Occupy Honolulu celebrates Occupy Wall Street’s one-year anniversary

Occupy Wall Street, the first of many public demonstrations that have now spanned into a world-wide grassroots movement, will be celebrating its first anniversary on September 17th, 2012. In solidarity with OWS’s calls to action, (de)Occupy Honolulu has plans for the upcoming days, with a focus on GMO food corporations in Hawai'i and the UH system.

On Sunday, September 16th from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm activities kick-off with a celebration; Food Not Bombs and a live streaming party marking the anniversary of the Occupy movement by joining a countdown to midnight in time zones across the United States.

Beginning Monday, September 17, at 10:00 amand continuing throughthe week, “Occupy UH Manoa-santo,” a public forum and encampment, will be formed on the sidewalk at University & Dole Street. A rally will be held at the Hawai‘i State Capitol from 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm, followed by a discussion on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) at Thomas Square from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm, featuring guest speakers and soap box. At 6:00 pm, a march will commence from Thomas Square and end at University & Dole to join the encampment there. Documentaries, music, and other media will be shown at the UH encampment media center.

"At the UH Manoa campus, you have CTAHR," explains Blade W., “It stands for College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. They've received $620,000 from Monsanto to establish the Monsanto Research Fellows Fund. We’re setting up an encampment at UH to bring public attention to the University’s connection to this harmful form of agriculture.”

"Monsanto's money has blinded the University to the downsides of GMO." tells Michael Broady Jr., UH student and permaculture practitioner "When you listen to the official story, biotechnology seems like a positive thing. It is supposed to help farmers grow more food, prevent loss of crops, while Monsanto is able to provide the University with funding. However, those first two claims have not been substantiated, instead leading 250,000 farmers in India to suicide due to the increased dependence on Monsanto which comes with patented GMO seed. I urge UH CTAHR to question the paradigm of monoculture, which is not profitable if all factors are considered including damages to the environment and human health."

(de)Occupy Honolulu stands in solidarity with the larger Occupy movement and all those in occupied territory throughout the world. Organizers have kept a full presence at Thomas Square since November 5, 2011. It is the longest, sustained Occupy encampment in the world.