On NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt, Tucker Discusses D.C.’s Ongoing Occupations

Posted on October 14, 2011 by admin

Watch TheFightBack‘s Pete Tucker and NewsTalk‘s Bruce DePuyt discuss the ongoing occupations beginning at 46:37

Appearing on News Channel 8’s NewsTalk, TheFightBack‘s Pete Tucker joined host Bruce DePuyt for a discussion on the ongoing occupations in D.C. (at Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square) and Wall Street, where protesters secured a major victory this morning when they forced New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to back down from his order to clear Zuccotti Park, now renamed Liberty Plaza.

Also discussed was the high level of professionalism the Metropolitan Police Department has shown towards the occupiers. MPD’s conduct stands in stark contrast to the excessive force used by NYPD in several recent instances.

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Chuck Hicks On the MLK Jr. Memorial Dedication, the Occupy Movement and D.C. Statehood

Posted on October 14, 2011 by admin

Listen to the extended, hour-long interview with Chuck Hicks:

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(In this extended interview, Hicks discussed growing up in Mississippi in a family deeply involved with the civil rights movement, which will be the focus of an upcoming piece.)

“I think the [Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial] is a tribute not just to Dr. King, but to all the men and women of all races and creeds and colors who fought for the freedom, the privileges, [and for] democracy for everybody in this country,” said Chuck Hicks, who grew up in Bogalusa, Louisiana during the civil rights movement and met King a couple times.

“I remember one time asking [King] in Mississippi if he ever got scared and he said, ‘Well, I think every man gets scared, but you continue to do what you believe in.’ And that sort of stuck with me,” said Hicks.
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Occupy DC @ Freedom Plaza: Meet Xan Sam Joi

Posted on October 13, 2011 by admin

LISTEN TO XAN SAM JOI:

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“People like to say, ‘They’re not listening.’ I like to say, ‘We’re not talking loud enough,'” said Xan Sam Joi, as she stood beside her vegetable oil-fueled truck, which she drove from California to D.C. to take part in the occupation of the nation’s capital.

“We have to be activists. We have to rise up. We have to get out in the street. And we have to do it today,” said Joi, who has slept at Freedom Plaza since the occupation began there on Oct. 6.

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Rethinking Columbus Day: A Conversation with Catalina Nieto

Posted on October 10, 2011 by admin

Catalina Nieto (below) and Occupy DC protesters (above)

LISTEN TO CATALINA NIETO:

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“He deserves no holiday, no parades, no statues,” read the flier Catalina Nieto passed out earlier today at the foot of the Christopher Columbus statue outside Union Station, as a Columbus Day event took place.

The thirty-year-old Nieto, who hails from Columbia, said, “It’s horrifying to me to see that history books make Christopher Columbus a hero when in reality he started a whole culture and philosophy of domination of other people.”

Like the history books, today’s event glorified Columbus. “Let the power of his exemplary life challenge us,” said one speaker. The inside-front-cover of the 84-page event program had a full-page ad from the defense contractor CACI which stated, “May the Vision and Courage of Christopher Columbus Inspire Us All.” Continue reading →

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Justin Rodriguez on the Ongoing Occupation of K Street

Posted on October 9, 2011 by admin

From the Miami Herald

LISTEN TO JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ:

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“Let’s put the politics of the old aside [and] let’s come together and do something new,” said Justin Rodriguez, a participant in the ongoing occupation on K Street, just two blocks north of the White House.

“For too long, people have been protesting for just a day and then leaving,” said the 25-year-old Rodriguez, who’s been sleeping at McPherson Square since the occupation began Oct. 1. “But nothing gets solved [and] no one knows what the issues are.”

The U.S. occupation movement, which began Sept. 17 on Wall Street and has quickly spread throughout the country, has a central theme. “Pretty much the main goal is to bring people’s attention to how corporations have been controlling and dominating politics,” said Rodriguez.

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“Occupy the USA,” Says/Sings Emma’s Revolution

Posted on October 8, 2011 by admin

LISTEN TO EMMA’S REVOLUTION:

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Yesterday, sitting in Washington, D.C.’s Freedom Plaza, where an ongoing occupation is taking place, Pat Humphries and Sandy O., the guitar-wielding duo that make up Emma’s Revolution, discussed the origins of their newest song, “Occupy the USA.”

“A friend of ours who’s a labor organizer in New York City [said], ‘We need to invade the U.S. and win the hearts and minds of the people.’ And we thought, ‘Oh, well, if it’s an invasion that makes it a war. And if it’s a war then it will be funded. Wouldn’t that be a great idea?’ So it inspired this song,” said Humphries.

Shortly before the interview, and less than a block away, the duo performed “Occupy the USA” before hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Ronald Reagan Building, where the State Department was holding its final hearing on the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline. Continue reading →

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From Occupy Wall Street to Occupy DC

Posted on October 5, 2011 by admin

As the Occupy Wall Street movement enters its third week, similar occupations are popping up all over the country, including here in D.C. At McPherson Square, located just a couple blocks from the White House on K Street, an occupation which began Oct. 1 appears to be growing stronger.

Yesterday evening, the Occupy DC group marched on the headquarters of Koch Industries, whose owners, Charles and David Koch, are major backers of the Tea Party. The protesters cited a recent report by Bloomberg Markets which details the company’s use of bribes in order to obtain foreign contracts.

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Michele Bachmann’s Mostly Right About the HPV Vaccine

Posted on October 3, 2011 by admin

“Little girls who have a negative reaction to this potentially dangerous drug don’t get a mulligan,” Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann said about the controversial HPV vaccine at a Sept. 12 debate. “They don’t get a do-over. The parents don’t get a do-over.”

Bachmann’s comments on the HPV vaccine have struck a nerve in this country. Unfortunately, the media has focused almost exclusively on her unsubstantiated claim, which she’s since rolled back on, that the vaccine may lead to “mental retardation.” Bachman’s other points about the vaccine have gone largely overlooked by the national media, which isn’t all that surprising since they’ve failed to seriously report on this issue for the past four years. Continue reading →

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Occupy Wall Street: A Movement is Born

Posted on September 30, 2011 by admin

Most major media have ignored the Occupy Wall Street movement, but not this Fox News impersonator.

LISTEN TO JASON MCGAUHEY 

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“Wall Street is War Street” – A sign at the Occupy Wall Street protest

As trading came to a close on Sept. 28, Day 12 of the Occupy Wall Street movement, hundreds of protesters took part in what has become a now-regular march on the U.S.’s leading financial institutions.

As the demonstrators filed by Wall Street’s iconic statue, calls to “castrate the bull” erupted. While passing One Chase Manhattan Plaza they chanted, “The banks got bailed out, we got sold out.”

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Grandmother Walks From West Virginia to D.C. for Oct. 6 Protest

Posted on September 28, 2011 by admin

Carrie Stone begins her journey to D.C. from Wallace, West Virginia

“If you are tired of waiting for politicians to fix what’s wrong & if you believe our policies are going in the WRONG direction, here is your chance to join with thousands of other Americans to DO something besides complain,” writes Carrie Stone, a 56-year-old gay grandmother and cancer survivor who has begun a 200-mile trek to D.C.

Stone started her walk from her hometown of Wallace, West Virginia on Sept. 26 and she’s scheduled to arrive in D.C. on Oct. 5. (You can follow her progress along the C&O Trail on Facebook, on Twitter @papercrete, and at her website.) She explained the significance of the timing of her arrival: “Beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, people are going to start occupying Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC. There we will stay indefinitely until something changes.”

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