Labor groups join local movements to Occupy Texas, careful to avoid getting too close

As soon as the Occupy Wall Street spinoffs began popping up in Austin, Dallas and Houston, local labor unions stepped up to endorse the movements around the state, in keeping with many of their national parent organizations.
“We’re just going as participants,” Texas AFL-CIO spokesman Ed Sills told the Texas Independent before the Austin protest’s first day. “We haven’t organized it.”
Now that the demonstrations have turned into campouts — proper “occupations” of city parks — workers’ unions continue to have a presence at Occupy protests, as union spokesmen stress their groups aren’t calling the shots or financing the efforts.
For demonstrators wary of being, or appearing to be, co-opted by larger groups, there’s a delicate balance required as they accept support from workers that believe in their cause.

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'Ya Basta!' - Latinos plan to 'occupy City Hall' tomorrow to protest redistricting map

5-4-5. That's the new catch-phrase from Dallas' Latino Redistricting Task Force, the group of Hispanic leaders and advocates vowing to fight the redistricting map passed by the City Council two weeks ago.
That is, their demand is 5 Latino seats, 4 black seats, and 5 white seats on the City Council.
The group plans to show up en mass at tomorrow's council meeting, according to an email blast just forwarded to me:

Ya Basta! The city council has passed a map that puts our communities back for another decade. Tomorrow we will OCCUPY CITY HALL AND DEMAND a city map that reflects the growing Latino population JOIN US!!! For months community leaders and neighbors have fought to create 5 Latino majority seats, last week the City of Dallas took a illegal and unexpected vote on a map that gives us only a possible 2 Latino seats,we currently have three. This is an injustice, a violation of the Voting Acts Rights and an act of discrimination to the Latino Community. It is up to us to demand fair representation and the allocation of appropriate seats 5 latino, 4 African American, 5 white. The Action that we take today will determine the future of Dallas for the next ten years!

Check out the rest of the email here.

http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/10/ya-basta---latinos-plan-to-occ.html

What I’ve Learned Occupying Wall Street and DC

In squares, parks, and plazas all over the country, we’re taking the time for true democracy to work.

I was standing on a street one evening near my home in Washington, DC — it seems like ages ago now — with a chatty friend who travels often to New York. He mentioned that a few New Yorkers were planning an “occupation” of Wall Street.
Not knowing what I was getting myself into, I said, “I’m there.” A few days later, I boarded a bus, backpack and sleeping bag in tow. I was there when Occupy Wall Street began.
After some chilly nights in Liberty Plaza, I returned to Washington to help plan an occupation in my city. Others in Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, and so many more cities have begun their own occupations. Occupy DC started October 1, and is still going strong.

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Local protesters show solidarity Denton Record Chronicle

Tents went up under a stand of oak trees at the corner of Hickory Street and Avenue A over the weekend, their occupants joining the chorus of Occupy Wall Street.

Organizers of Occupy Denton estimated between 15 and 30 people started camping out at this corner beside the Language Building at the University of North Texas, in solidarity with other protesters who have occupied Wall Street and other financial centers around the world for the past month.

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Scenes from Occupy Dallas 10/15 march [video]

A Library Occupies the Heart of the Occupy Movement

The People’s Library at Occupy Wall Street in New York City started spontaneously shortly after the protest began on September 17, when a pile of books was left in a cardboard box at Zuccotti Park on Wall Street. The books were passed around and organized, and more were soon added. Unfortunately, this first collection was lost due to inclement weather and another collection was quickly begun. Several weeks later, Betsy Fagin brought the idea of a people’s library before the General Assembly of the occupation and was appointed librarian of Occupy Wall Street. Since then the library has been growing and expanding exponentially. There are dozens of plastic bins dividing the books into categories and areas of interest. There is lighting in place, a reading room, and a constant flow of visitors and patrons.

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Once upon a time: How #OccupyWallStreet came to be ...

I admit it,  I'm fascinated at what's called " the creation myth" of the #Occupy movement. The "myth" of course,  is not a myth and there were hundreds of people and great organizations who worked months/years to put the wheels in motion and help it succeed.

Occupy Timeline HERE

The origins of Occupy Wall Street explained READ  [Salon]

Intellectual Roots of Occupy READ [Journal of Higher Education ]

‘You’re creating a vision of the sort of society you want to have in miniature.’ READ [Washington Post]
*David Graeber on MSNBC video here 

A Report from the Frontlines: The Long Road to #OccupyWallStreet and the Origins of the 99% Movement READ

** Other articles ?

Cold Front Moves into North Texas [video] FOXDFW

Cold Front Moves into North Texas: MyFoxDFW.com

As the storms approached downtown Dallas they also brought headaches for people in the “Occupy Dallas” tent city. Several tents were blown over and rain soaked many protestors.

Read more on myFOXdfw.com: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/weather/101711-cold-front-moves-into-north-texas#ixzz1b8GWnhme