Candelight Vigil For Trayvon Martin

Candlelight Vigil For Trayvon Martin

There will be a candlelight vigil to honor the life of Trayvon Martin, a young man who was shot to death by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida.

The vigil will be held at Albert Johnson Park in front of the Branigan Library on Friday 3/30 from 7—8:30 p.m., approximately one month after Martin was killed.

If possible wear a hooded sweatshirt or all black to the vigil.

People will light a candle, tell a story, sing a song or just quietly observe the moment.  This is a space for people to peacefully mourn, share anger, and give each other strength and hope in the long fight for justice.

Like citizens in many cities across the nation and members of the local Occupy movement seek to remember Trayvon and countless others who have been wrongfully murdered because of prejudice and fear.

Florida is among 31 states that have some form of the “Stand Your Ground” Law that allows the use of deadly force against perceived aggressors and specify that individuals have no ‘duty to retreat’ from confrontation in a public place.

This is an opportunity to stand together as a community in solidarity .

Here is a YouTube  video snapshot of the Million Hoodies March for Trayvon Martin at Union Square, New  York City.

Say No to Monsanto’s GE Sweet Corn!

Say No to Monsanto’s GE Sweet Corn!

Occupy LC is supporting  Food & Water Watch in an effort to pressure Walmart to reject Monsanto’s Genetically Engineered  (GE) sweet corn.

We will be holding a protest on Saturday 3/24 from 9—11 a.m. at the Walmart on Valley Dr. All are welcome to join.

Monsanto’s new genetically engineered sweet corn could be planted this spring, but it hasn’t been tested for human safety, and it contains three different genetically engineered traits that have never been used in food eaten directly by people.  Walmart can refuse to accept it, protecting consumers from this untested and unlabeled product.

The GE sweet corn will not be labeled, so you won’t know what you’re buying.  Whether you shop at Walmart or not, they are the largest U.S. food retailer, and if they won’t sell GE sweet corn, it’s likely that farmers won’t plant it.

Please sign the petition  here. and  remember to  participate in the individual actions throughout the week.  Just go bit.ly/nomonsanto and click on Campaigns and Stop GE Sweet Corn  to find an action toolkit..  For letters to Walmart managers click here.

Save Our Homes Rally

Save Our Homes Rally

Occupy LC will join MoveOn, Café, and others to hold a national initiative at the OFA Office in Las Cruces 151 S. Solano (Solano North of Lohman ) on Thursday, March 15th, at 12:00 noon.

The 99% keeps winning!  In the past two months, President Obama was pushed to launch a full investigation into the Wall Street Banks and got a promise from his administration to allow the Bush-era tax cuts to expire.  But even with these huge wins, millions of homeowners are still underwater on their mortgages and need immediate assistance.

60% of homeowners have their mortgages through government-controlled Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.  But the agency that oversees these programs is run by Bush appointed ED DeMarco who refused to allow underwater homeowners to adjust mortgages to reflect real home values. President Obama has the power to make sure Fannie and Freddie change their policy to provide relief to the ten million Americans struggling with mortgage debt.

That’s why on Thursday, March 15, we’ll head to Obama for America offices to tell the president::  We’re sinking in underwater mortgages-throw the 99% a lifeline to keep us in our homes.

Sign the Petition here.

National Call to Action! Occupy Las Cruces targets Bank of America

Bank of America banks on ALEC ( American Legislative Exchange Council) to craft anti-democratic and repressive legislation, legislation which hurts THE REST OF US. ALEC is99 and 44/100 percent evil.

Occupy Las Cruces and MoveOn.org demonstrated Wednesday outside Bank of America on Telshor Blvd. We have some pictures for you, followed by three short videos, two of which have been uploaded to Shut Down the Corporations, which is collecting similar videos from more than 70 cities around the country.

Photo album from yesterday’s event is available on Facebook.

Join Occupy Las Cruces and friends this Wednesday as we participate in a National Call to Action

Join together with Occupy Las Cruces and friends Wednesday at 4 p.m. outside Bank of America as part of a National Call to Action.

Why are we targeting Bank of America? Read on…

“We call on people to target corporations that are part of the American Legislative Exchange Council which is a prime example of the way corporations buy off legislators and craft legislation that serves the interests of corporations and not people. They used it to create the anti-labor legislation in Wisconsin and the racist bill SB 1070 in Arizona among so many others. They use ALEC to spread these corporate laws around the country.”

“Almost all of the biggest corporations are part of ALEC including ExxonMobil, Bank of America, BP, Monsanto, Pfizer, and Wal-Mart. You can find a full list of ALEC corporations on the Source Watch website.”  ”You can also find a list of all the politicians that are involved in ALEC, many of whom will be state legislators from your area.”

So please join us as TOGETHER we demand better banking for EVERYONE!
(NOTE – If you are unable to meet there at 4 p.m., that’s OK. We’ll be there until 6 p.m., so you have plenty of time to come by and lend your support.)

We are successful! Here are two videos from the February 21, 2012 Las Cruces City Council meeting wherein we argue our First Amendment Rights

By following this link you will be taken to a blog with two videos. The first video is the complete portion of the city council meeting regarding a proposed change to Parks and Recreation rules, rules which we believe would violate our First Amendment rights.

The second video is shorter and contains only the public input before city council.

If you wish to watch the entire video from which the above two portions were pulled, follow this link and follow these directions… Click on the “Video” link on the far right of the Archived Videos box, the one that says 5h 24 m, and the video player window will open. If you wish to find where the section dealing with the Parks and Recreation rules change begins, move the little handle to 49:10.

We need EVERYBODY (that’s you!) to attend Tuesday’s City Council meeting… speak your mind/protect everyone’s freedoms

Just a reminder…

Tomorrow, Tues 2/21, Parks and Rec will be proposing a resolution to the City Council that would grossly and unnecessarily infringe on our 1st Amendment rights. Please attend the Council meeting at City Hall from 1-5 if you can. Also we need people to express their feelings on this to our local officials. For more info, including contact info go to:

http://occupylascruces.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/urgent-call-to-action-please-help-us-protect-everyones-first-amendment-rights/

and

http://occupylascruces.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/update-urgent-call-to-action-please-help-us-protect-everyones-first-amendment-rights/

Thanks for all that you do!!

UPDATE – URGENT CALL TO ACTION – PLEASE HELP US PROTECT EVERYONE’S FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS

I talked to Wayne Hancock from the Parks and Rec Advisory Board and we talked about the proposed resolution to restrict “Occupation” of public land. He said that he didn’t believe the “camping” rule should apply to protests such as our Occupation of Albert Johnson Park. He is going to ask the City Council to remand the resolution back to the Parks and Rec board so they can discuss it more and listen to public comments. He thanked us for what we have been doing and said that he definitely wasn’t the only one on the Board who thought that an Occupation protest was different from camping. It was a joy to talk to him.

With this in mind, I think it would be a great idea to contact the 7 members of the Parks and Rec advisory board and voice our belief that an Occupation protest is not to be confused with camping. We should also voice opposition to any encroachment on our 1st Amendment rights and, specifically, the proposed rule change. Here is the contact info:

Mr. Isaac E. Chavez                                                        Mr. Ron Camunez

isaacchavez@hotmail.com                                           wroncamunez@yahoo.com

Mr. Eli Guzman                                                              Ms. Dawn Rue

 guzmankarate@yahoo.com                                             drue64@gmail.com

Ms. Alice Ward                                                              Mr. Mark O’Neill

aliceward@zianet.com                                                     coachoneill@msn.com

Mr. Wayne D. Hancock

                                          wdhancock@gmail.com Thanks for all that you do!!

In lovingkindness,

Jason

Occupy Las Cruces – Look for us!

One week to the day of Occupy Las Cruces dismantling their campsite, members today kicked off phase two of the movement by offering three “thank you” mic checks to the citizens and city of Las Cruces at the Farmers Market in the downtown mall.

Five videos are available for viewing by following these links:

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

Urgent Call to Action – Please help us protect everyone’s First Amendment rights

Please Help Occupy Las Cruces Protect the 1st Amendment Rights of the People of Las Cruces

On Tuesday, 2/21, at the Las Cruces City Council Meeting, Parks and Rec will be asking the Council to pass a new rule that would basically make it impossible for us or anyone else to “occupy” a public space. The rule says that any “camping” has to be in conjunction with an event and is limited to 7 days. Though I haven’t been able to find out what the fee for this would be, I think we can reasonably assume that it will be much more than the $20-$25 per day we were paying for permits. This would effectively price us (and most citizens) out of carrying on an “occupation” protest.

Occupy Las Cruces’ occupation of Albert Johnson Park (in front of Branigan Library) was a huge success and we would hope and expect that future occupations would be allowed. There is no doubt that they are trying to squelch our 1st Amendment rights to free speech and peaceable assembly, and we must stop them.

I do want to remind everyone of how cooperative the City, LCPD, and Parks and Rec have been up to this point and we are extremely grateful for this. HOWEVER, this proposed rule change is a move by Parks and Rec to take away the rights they have previously respected. I have talked to the Director of Parks and Rec and he has told me that this is in direct response to a few voices who disapprove of the Occupy movement. Even though our supporters far outnumber these detractors, Parks and Rec is willing to take away our constitutional rights in order to appease a couple of loud (and probably wealthy) folks.

We have the much greater numbers, so let’s teach them what LOUD truly is. We are asking our supporters to make calls, write emails/letters, and/or attend the City Council meeting on 2/21 from 1-5 at City Hall (adjacent to Branigan Library). Obviously write or say whatever your heart and mind tells you to.

If you do want an idea of what you could include, you can write/say something like:

“The Occupy Las Cruces movement has been great for our city. They peacefully and respectfully created a space for the community to gather and have a dialogue. Though they have recently left the park to take the movement to the streets, they, and all citizens, should be able to occupy public spaces in order to peaceably assemble and demonstrate. I urge you to respect the 1st Amendment rights of the people of Las Cruces and deny the rule change proposed by Parks and Rec. that would effectively render any similar future occupation impossible.”

Please contact as many of these officials as possible in as many ways as possible (Letters and Sound Offs in the LC Sun-News are great too)

Mayor-Ken Miyagishima mayor@las-cruces.org 575-541-2067

City Councilor (District 1)-Miguel Silva miguel.silva@las-cruces.org 575-541-2066

City Councilor (District 2)-Greg Smith gsmith@las-cruces.org 575-541-2066

City Councilor (District 3)-Olga Pedroza opedroza@las-cruces.org 575-541-2066

City Councilor (District 4)-Nathan Small nsmall@las-cruces.org 575-541-2066

City Councilor (District 5)-Gill Sorg gsorg@las-cruces.org 575-541-2066

City Councilor (District 6)-Sharon Thomas sthomas@las-cruces.org 575-541-2066

City Manager-Robert Garza rgarza@las-cruces.org 575-541-2076

Parks and Rec 541-2550

Director-Mark Johnston mjohnston@las-cruces.org

Executive Administrative Assistant-Carol Conners-Lyons clyons@las-cruces.org

LC Sun-News

Letters to the Editor (300 wds or less)(Name, Address, Daytime Phone) letters@lcsun-news.com

Sound Off! (1-3 sentences) soundoff@lcsun-news.com

Please also sign our petition at:

City of Las Cruces: Protect the 1st Amendment Rights of the People of Las Cruces

or

http://signon.org/sign/please-help-occupy-las

Occupy Las Cruces thanks you all for your support. We hope to see you at the City Council meeting on Tues, 2/21. Let’s make sure they know that WE ARE THE 99%!!

In lovingkindness,
Jason