The Final Countdown: May Day 2012
Zubeyda Akil
Greetings Comrades!
For the past four and a half months we have all been working tirelessly to organize and build towards May Day, a day of massive economic withdrawal and non-compliance. As many of you know, Occupy Wall Street stands in solidarity with the calls for a general strike, a day without the 99%, and asks 99%ers all over to not go to work or school but instead take the streets! May Day will be a catalyzing moment in our movement and beyond – the participation in strike, efforts bound by solidarity, will display the instrumental power of the people and the ability we have to build alternative, sustainable systems based on reciprocity and voluntary association.
Please join us in our final organizing efforts and on May 1st!
Final Organizing Meetings:
Coordination Spokescouncil – Wednesday April 25, 6PM @ 33 W 14th Street
General Meeting – Saturday April 28, 1 PM @ 239 Thompson Street (Judson Church)
Action Spokescouncil – Sunday April 29, 7PM @ 50 E 7th Street (Middle Collegiate Church)
Check the calendar for smaller May Day cluster meetings, open spaces for art fabrication, and escalation actions!
Ways to build up and participate on May 1st:
Propaganda: Download and print posters, fliers, zines, and more at http://occuprint.org/ and http://maydaynyc.tumblr.com and post them around your neighborhood; give them out to your friends, family, and co-workers; or bring them to community based organizations or local businesses and ask them to post them in their windows or leave a visible stack for members or customers!
Social Media: Social media is the first stage of creating a sustainable alternative media environment. Support user-generated media sources by creating your own media/art on YOUR terms, not corporations! Tweet using the hashtags #GeneralStrike #MayDayNYC & #M1GS. Submit to various tumblrs (http://whyistrike.tumblr.com/ andhttp://maydaynyc.tumblr.com/). Invite your facebook friends to the May Day festivities: https://www.facebook.com/events/327486667289414/
May Day Arts/Call to Create: On May 1st, 2012, everyone in New York who leaves their house or looks out their window will see public art as part of an historic MayDay celebration. Some of the projects underway are the 1,000-player guitarmy, Occupy Dance, and OWS Poetry. Visit http://call2create.org/ for details about where you can see them and how you can participate in their creation.
99 Pickets: Got a particular loathsome corporation in mind that you’d love to see shut down on May 1st? From 8am-2pm, up to 99 marches will leave at scattered times from Bryant Park and hold pickets in front of various government or corporate headquarters. Contact may...@nycga.net to view a list of targets in midtown or come to an Action Spokescouncil, Sundays at 7pm at 50 E 7th Street http://atrium.occupy.net/mayday/node/114
Free University: The Free University is an open invitation to educators around New York City to participate in May Day 2012. During the day, lectures, workshops, skill-shares, and discussions will be held — all open to the public. University professors will bring their classes to the commons. http://maydaynyc.org/freeuniversity
Really Really Free Market [RRFM] & Food: RRFMs are temporary capitalism-free, self-sustaining zones instituting the gift economy as an alternative means of resource distribution. Bring clothes, books, toys, tools, and other usable things for the market! For the food tables, bring food, water, coffee, or any eating utensils (including paltes, napkins, etc). Also, volunteer at Bryant Park or Union Square to help run the RRFM or food tables and remind folks that the items are really, really free.
Jail Support: It is reasonable to expect a massive amount of arrests on the days leading up to and on May 1st itself. During the 7 months (which included thousands of arrests) of Occupy Wall Street’s existence, only a handful of hard working organizers have dedicated themselves to doing jail support. Jail support includes communication with the National Lawyers Guild, tracking comrades in the legal system, and greeting released arrestees with food, water, cigarettes, and support.
Mutual Fucking Aid: Wherever you go on May 1, 2012 bring and share your skills (like haircutting or medical knowledge) and services and offer them up to folks for free! If you can’t come to the RRFM in NYC, open a free store in your neighborhood or somehow otherwise explore the excitement of mutually beneficial, voluntary exchange!
Embrace Autonomy!: During a general strike, we withdraw from capitalism and instead spend our lives exploring the creative and liberating aspects of a culture of resistance. Once you’ve taken the day off, spend your time doing whatever it is that you love to do and make it an act of protest! The options for various autonomous actions are endless– organize a banner drop, employ a fare strike, disrupt consumerism in the act. Use your creativity to decide on a symbolic or instrumental action that you and friends would invest a portion of your day into executing!
For more information on why we're striking, the history of may day, and the schedule of actions lined up for may 1st, visit Maydaynyc.org!
Please forward this email widely!!
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