My Occupy book release party/March Against Monsanto after-party

May 25^th, 7pm.  Top level of Denver Art Society.

Come celebrate the release of My Occupy: An Account of One Person’s Adventures in the Occupy Movement by Christopher Mandel.

All proceeds will go to the Denver Art Society, which has supported Denver area artists and activists graciously and has already made a real difference for a lot of people in its short existence.   Thank you  DAS!

Organic, Non-GMO food will be provided by Food Not Bombs, and there’ll also be drinks available.

There will be a one of a kind, interactive musical demonstration of “Sound Painting” led by DU music professor and former heavy metal singer, Conrad Kehn.  Sound painting is a unique musical language designed to bring order to improvised music while allowing participant to freely express themselves.

There will also be other performers, to be announced later.

Chris Mandel will be signing all books sold, and will donate $2 per copy to DAS.

My Occupy is the day-to-day journal of an Occupy organizer who, for several months, dedicated his life to the movement. It’s a one-of-a-kind, detailed account of how activists in the Denver area struggled to organize themselves while dealing with the authorities, philosophic differences among the activists themselves, and a public that was all too ready to turn its back on the would-be revolutionaries. My Occupy holds detailed accounts of conflicts between protesters and police forces; the specific measures activists took to organize themselves; and the organic evolution of Occupy culture. This is the story of Occupy from within Occupy, and is particularly focused on Denver.

$$ Suggested donation of $3 dollars at door.  Donations also taken at food table and bar.

Due to legal restricts associated with selling drinks you must be on the guest list to participate so please click “join” on the Facebook Event or email cloudlessrain541@gmail.com.

Please share this invite with your friends.

An Open Letter to The Palm
First Anniversary of the “Urban Camping” Ban (pdf)

This action seeks to highlight the role of The Palm and the Colorado Restaurant Association in pushing an ordinance through the city council that criminalized the survival act of sleeping by our homeless friends. Wendy Klein, the sales manager at The Palm, testified for the Downtown Denver Partnership in support of the “Urban Camping” Ban. Detailed information on the impact of the “Urban Camping” Ban on the homeless can be found at Denver Homeless Out Loud.

Wendy Klein, sales manager at The Palm, spoke in strong favor of the ordinance criminalizing homelessness at the April 30, 2012 city council public hearing about the “Urban Camping” Ban. She also brought the unanimous vote of the Colorado Restaurant Association in support of the ban to the City Council.

According to Kline who could only refer to the homeless as they or it, “they are lining up outside our doors even as we speak this evening placing their property on our property to save their nights real estate so that they will have a safe, warm place to sleep impeding our guests and even those who are walking back and forth from the restaurant…Now with the warmer weather descending, we are seeing it come back in full force. Our people are asking us what we can do.”

The wealthiest “movers and shakers” in Denver meet to eat, socialize and make deals at Palm Restaurant.

Occupy Denver calls on The Palm, the Colorado Restaurant Association, the Downtown Denver Partnership and the City Council to take the lead of other cities and pursue compassionate, justice-based alternatives instead of criminalizing homelessness. We call on business groups to increase funding for initiatives that will eradicate homelessness.

Homes Not Handcuffs: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities, a report from the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, provides many alternatives to the criminalization of homelessness.

The report makes the following recommendations:

• Instead of criminalizing homelessness, local governments, business groups, and law enforcement officials should work with homeless people, providers, and advocates for solutions to prevent and end homelessness.
• Cities should dedicate more resources to creating more affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, emergency shelters, and homeless services in general. To address street homelessness, cities should adopt or dedicate more resources to outreach programs, emergency shelter, and permanent supportive housing.
• Business groups can play a positive role in helping to address the issue of homelessness. Instead of advocating for criminalization measures, business groups can put resources into solutions to homelessness.
• When cities work with homeless persons and advocate for solutions to homelessness, instead of punishing those who are homeless or poor, everyone benefits.

- Boycott Snooze, Occupy Denver and MoveOn Denver Metro –

The Snooze AM Eatery statement in full:

Since we established Snooze in the heart of the 5 points/Arapahoe Square and the Ballpark Neighborhoods, Snooze has worked to support and help Denver’s homeless community. We have embraced this endeavor by hiring and providing employment, sitting on the board of the Denver Homeless Commission, fundraising, creating a mentoring program through Urban Peak, volunteering and spreading awareness to support the homeless. When the Urban Camping Ban proposal was presented to us, we believed the Ban would provide and allow for more services and support in the form of shelters, mental health and general assistance for our area homeless. We believe that the Urban Camping Ban has not provided these opportunities and should be repealed or amended to more effectively meet the needs of our homeless community. As always, our goal at Snooze is to support and assist any endeavor that strives to improve and better the lives of our homeless community. To that end, we believe that the Urban Camping Ban has not met the needs of Denver’s homeless community and we respectively ask the city of Denver as well as the business community at large to work towards repeal or modification of the Urban Camping Ban and work towards an effective solution for Denver’s business and homeless communities.

Respectfully,

Snooze

Occupy Denver calls on all occupiers & occupy networks to attend and support the Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance training camp in Oklahoma from March 18-22.  If you cannot attend the action camp, you can attend or organize a solidarity action targeting tar sands investors in your own community. If there are no investors close to you, take action against other harmful energy extraction methods such as fracking.  While the Keystone XL pipeline does not come through Colorado, fracking for natural gas has already decimated Colorado’s ecology and the fracking industry here has imposed political dominance over the direct welfare of our citizens.  Natural gas from fracking is a necessary ingredient in the toxic tar sands extraction process; and direct action against both tar sands AND fracking are crucial elements of the emerging extraction resistance movement.  All of our struggles are connected.

Sign up for the GPTSR Direct Action Training Camp here.

Find a local tar sands investor to host your direct action here.

More detailed information on tar sands and fracking profiteer/eco-terrorists here.

You can donate to Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance here to help them bring indigenous organizers & participants to the camp, as well as to secure bail funds for direct actions.

Information about the camp from Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance:

“A coalition of Great Plains residents against the Tar Sands is excited to announce a training camp in March, this time in Oklahoma. Long a stronghold of the oil empire we must ignite a fire of resistance in the belly of the beast. See you there!

Please, begin to make your travel arrangements today for the Ponca City, Oklahoma area and we’ll be contacting you with more details soon. $0-50 sliding scale donation Food, climbing gear, camping gear and other in kind donations are well appreciated.

SCHEDULE:

Sunday, March 17th – Travel & Arrival

Monday March 18th-Thursday March 21st – Training Camp

Friday, March 22nd – Debrief and Cleanup

Come prepared to camp out. Bring warm clothing and sleeping bags/blankets and tents. Meals will be provided. This camp will be a drug and alcohol free environment. Questions? In the meantime if you have any questions about travel or details please email: gptsresistance@riseup.net

Together we have the power to stop this toxic tar sands pipeline!”

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Occupy Denver also stands in solidarity with the following groups engaging in related struggles:

-Red Lakes Blockade, an ongoing blockade carried out by members of the indigenous Red Lake nation against an Enbridge tar sands pipeline illegally built on their tribal lands. #RLBlockade

-Protect the Sacred, a group of indigenous nations that signed a treaty committing to halting the Keystone XL project.

-Stop the Tennessee Pipeline, an awesome group in Pennsylvania that has been using civil disobedience to halt construction on a fracking natural gas pipeline being built there. #NoTGP

-The Poudre Canyon Sierra Club Group in Fort Collins, CO, who are engaged in a power struggle to get the national Sierra Club organization to demand a nationwide ban on fracking:

Idle No More, both here in Denver and Internationally

Across the country and across the world, let’s SHOW the toxic extraction industry that we will no longer sit idly by as they poison our communities and our planet.

Exposing war crimes is a duty, not a crime!
Feb 23rd marks 1000 days that Bradley Manning has been in prison without a trial for doing the right thing and exposing war crimes against innocent civiliansCome together with us in downtown Denver to show that “We the people” will not stand for this extreme injustice. This will be a fun informative family friendly event. All inclusive, open to everyone who believes in peace and truth.

Visit bradleymanning.org to see the event page and learn more about this heroic whistle-blower and click here to see the infamous “Collateral Murder” video that he exposed.

Show support by adding your photosignature to the i am bradley manning project iam.bradleymanning.org

While Occupy Denver and the Sierra Club operate on radically different organizing principles, it is crucial to America’s future that mainstream environmental organizations like Sierra Club take strong stances against toxic oil and gas extraction methods such as hydraulic fracturing. We support any effort to hold environmental NGOs to their commitments to ecological protection, and also recognize that due to political inertia, pressure will need to be applied to these groups, both from within and from without.

It is known that the leadership of the Sierra Club is wary to call for a fracking ban, and may formally reprimand those calling for this ban, expel them from Sierra Club, or pursue litigation against them. Occupy Denver stands in solidarity with the call issued by the Poudre Canyon Sierra Club in Fort Collins, and calls on the national Sierra Club to do the right thing, enact their mission statement, and call for a nationwide ban on hydraulic fracturing. Anything short of a complete rejection of fracking would demonstrate that Sierra Club is an environmentalist group only on paper, willing to trade away their ecological principles for political convenience.

Ways you can help!
Sign this petition asking Sierra Club Director Michael Brune to lead a nationwide ban on hydraulic fracturing:

Share this letter – Poudre Canyon Group (Fort Collins) letter to Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune (In addition to being a good call to arms, this letter is a comprehensive collection of diverse research data proving the many dangers of fracking):

Call Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune at his office, (415) 977-5500 and ask him to call for a nationwide ban on hydraulic fracturing.

Fax Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune at his office, (415) 977-5797 with the message:
“If your child’s life was in danger, would you pause to ask a politician if it is OK to save their life? What would John Muir do? It is time for Sierra Club to call for a nationwide ban on hydraulic fracturing.” Or another message of your choosing.

Occupy Denver calls on all Occupy networks to circulate this petition & letter from the Poudre Canyon Sierra Club group, and to participate in the call-in & fax-in actions listed above.

Solidarity to everyone everywhere fighting the toxic extraction industry

Occupy Denver stands in solidarity with the indigenous Idle No More movement. We call on all to stand in solidarity and join the January 11th Idle No More day of action. Stand up for Indigenous sovereignty, and the protection of our land and water!

Idle No More calls on all people to join in a revolution which honors and fulfills Indigenous sovereignty which protects the land and water. Colonization continues through attacks to Indigenous rights and damage to the land and water. We must repair these violations, live the spirit and intent of the treaty relationship, work towards justice in action, and protect Mother Earth.

On December 10th, Indigenous people and allies stood in solidarity across Canada to assert Indigenous sovereignty and begin the work towards sustainable, renewable development. All people will be affected by the continued damage to the land and water and we welcome Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies to join in creating healthy sustainable communities. We encourage youth to become engaged in this movement as you are the leaders of our future. There have always been individuals and groups who have been working towards these goals – Idle No More seeks to create solidarity and further support these goals. We recognize that there may be backlash, and encourage people to stay strong and united in spirit.

Video: Idle No More flash mob in Broomfield. January 2, 2012.

In response to the Tar Sands Blockade call out for Solidarity on January 7th, radical groups and organizations from across the Colorado Front Range are joining forces on January 5th and 6th to raise donations and material support in the fight against the tar sands and industrial extraction. Deep Green Resistance, Denver Anarchist Black Cross, and other local groups are collaborating to organize Extraction Resistance: Solidarity with the Tar Sands Blockade & Unis’tot’en Camp.

In addition to collecting funds and supplies for both the Tar Sands Blockade and the Unis’tot’en Camp, the two-day event will include workshops and teach-ins at the 27 Social Center (2727 W 27th Ave Denver, CO) on radical resistance to extraction across Colorado & North America.

With the aim of providing a space for education and discussion around a wide range of topics, the organizers hope to foster further discussion and facilitate new relationships that will cultivate resistance against industrial extraction in Colorado and solidarity with those fighting it elsewhere.

Workshops–which will cover a variety of topics including radical environmentalism, social justice, anti-extraction and direct action–will be hosted by Deep Green Resistance, Denver Anarchist Black Cross, indigenous organizer & NVDA trainer Robert Chanate, the Beehive Collective, Glenn Morris of the American Indian Movement of Colorado, and more. Updates on the program and more information on the workshops will be published on our site here: deepgreenresistancecolorado.wordpress.com

Besides building local capacity and networks, the event also aims to directly support those who are on the front lines in the fight against the tar sands and industrial extraction. The event will serve as a fundraiser, with a requested donation at the door of $5-20, with all proceeds going to the Tar Sands Blockade and the Unis’tot’en Camp. However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Lunch will be provided for those attending, including vegan and gluten-free options.

We will also be collecting donations of materials for these groups, so please bring any camping gear (tents, sleeping bags, etc.), bicycles (working or not), warm winter clothes, climbing gear, rain gear, non-perishable food, rope, medical supplies, and tools (shovels, saws, drills, etc.). For a complete list, see the Tar Sands Blockade’s ‘Wish List’: http://tarsandsblockade.org/donate-3/wishlist/

The Facebook event can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/events/533775263301257/

For more information, contact DGR Colorado at deepgreenresistancecolorado@riseup.net

Anarchism: From Theory to Practice

When: Begining Tuesday, January 8th, 5:30-6:45pm
Where: @ the Deer Pile (13th and Sharman – above City O City – 206 East 13th Avenue )

“One of the ablest leaders and writers of the French New Left describes the two realms of ‘anarchism’—its intellectual substance, and its actual practice through the Bolshevik Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, the Italian Factory Councils, and finally the role in workers’ self-management in Yugoslavia and Algeria… An important contemporary definition of New Left aims and their possible directions in the future.” – Noam Chomsky

This reading group will begin January 7th and continue every Tuesday for four or more weeks. Anarchism: From Theory to Practice is an accessible text, delving into issues of authority, freedom, power, and mutural aid. This reading group will open up a valuable dicussion of anarchism for people of all political leanings. We hope you will join us!

The full text of the book can be found here:
http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/daniel-guerin-anarchism-from-theory-to-practice

Contact educate@occupydenver.org for more information.

The purpose of Social Forum is to organize, educate and empower people on critical issues; sharing knowledge; and teaching skills to build alternative and sustainable systems that better meet our human needs. Through the Social Forum model, individuals reflect on their own purpose and how to make a difference, and hopefully we can create the consciousness that we have the knowledge and skills and the power to create the change we desire.

Workshops: 9am to 12:30pm

Worker Cooperatives – This workshop will discuss the Worker Cooperatives (employee-ownership model) which are business entities that are owned and operated by their employees. It creates a sustainable economy, stable, and non-competitive jobs that can’t be sold out, and that build community. Bill Kirton & Dick Peterson http://www.rmeoc.org/

Alternative Currency – In this workshop, we will explore Denver’s brand new local currency.  This becomes a self-financing revolution to create a bottom-up economy with self-sufficiency, and self-government. No waiting, voting, or asking permission from the corrupt.  You can learn how you can benefit from Hours as an individual, or business. We have set up 5 local, currency systems in 8 months. Each can trade with one another, and none support big-box stores. “The People are the gold, and can create a more abundant future immediately!” Wayne Walton  http://www.milehighhours.com/

Money, Public Banking, and Global Transformation –
In this workshop, we will examine the following: Money is ubiquitous, but few people understand what it really is and how control over its creation and availability affects global, local, and individual conditions. Clarity, regarding what money is, enables us to transform the monetary system so that it serves people, rather than the other way around, which is currently the case. The transformation process requires, at a minimum, three initiatives: public banking; verifiable voting and public-only campaign financing; and decentralized media ownership. Robert Bows  http://publicbankinginstitute.org/

Open Forum: 12:30pm

Time to brainstorm and choose the next step for our community.

Please bring a healthy dish to share, if unable, please come anyway