This month’s Occupy National Gathering in Philadelphia was the latest effort to recapture the national spotlight for Occupy after a winter plagued by raids, evictions and inclement weather.

May Day, NATO, and now NatGat paint a picture of a movement now coming together from disparate parts of the country to prove they are still going strong and ready to tackle issues on the national stage. These efforts also show how Occupiers are actively searching for a path forward to overcome the myriad challenges their unique protest has faced so far.

Over the course of the past 10 months, Firedoglake’s Occupy Supply Fund has worked closely with dozens of Occupy groups. After hearing of the challenges facing Occupy from our local member-liaisons stationed across the country, we were able to see the Big Picture obstacles facing this movement: fear of raids and eviction, fear of arrests and police violence from raids and eviction, destroyed personal property, rattled nerves and the need to start all over, from scratch, which was likely disheartening for many and inevitably led to the demise of many encampments.

At the time, FDL was helping by posting livestreams of raids for all to see, flooding city government switchboards with phone calls in opposition to police actions. We tried to provide whatever material support these brave protesters needed, but oftentimes the chaos was so great that there was not all that much we could do. It became clear that Occupy needed to pre-empt this tactic and develop ways to neutralize its effect on their ability to protest.

To us, that meant equipping Occupiers with the skills and supplies they need to be more mobile at a moments notice, and encourage each and every protester to be more self-reliant and not depend as much on the camp for their basic needs.

In the end, while I believe encampments are an important symbolic and organizing space for the movement, I think it’s time to re-assess their role. To be clear, I don’t think the movement should no longer encamp — I actually believe Occupations give this movement a leg-up on other past (failed) movements. But encampments need to be more flexible, without the requirement of endless defense and protection. If Occupiers are more mobile and rely less on the camp itself for their needs, protesters can expend less energy on defending their belongings at camp and dealing with the police and city officials and more on direct action, spreading their message and growing their base of support.

I was honored to speak on this topic at #NatGat, and I sincerely hope, whether Occupy embraces our suggestions or not, that the movement begins to consider a positive evolution that preserves their values, beliefs and ability to exercise basic rights without presenting such an obvious Achilles’s Heel for opponents.

Check out the video of my talk and consider chipping in $10 to help Occupy Supply continue to support the movement with quality supplies and innovative ideas.

Transcript

Hey folks!

Just a heads up that we’ll be taking FDL down briefly for a little scheduled maintenance tonight at 10:00 PM Eastern. All should be back to normal by 10:15 PM at the latest *knock on wood.*

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Thanks!

The Occupy National Gathering is almost here — just in time for a brutal heat wave.

From June 30th to July 4th, Occupy activists from around the country will meet at Philadelphia’s Independence Mall for a week of activism and movement building, culminating in a 99 mile march from Philadelphia to Wall Street!

#NatGat organizers anticipate thousands to attend, camp out and engage in sleepful protests on city sidewalks. But with the National Weather Service advising people to “wear light clothing whenever possible and drink plenty of water,” Occupy Supply has sprung into action, donating lightweight, union-made National Gathering t-shirts (the proceeds for which directly support the event).

Now we need your help to send some of our new BPA-free collapsible water bottles to help Occupiers stay hyrdated, too. Can you help us support Occupy National Gathering with donations of BPA-free, collapsible water bottles?

BUY one of our water bottles for $6.00 and we’ll donate one to the National Gathering…

– OR! –

DONATE $6 or more to Occupy Supply and we’ll use the funds to send water bottles to the event.

These water bottles are perfect for staying hydrated on the go. Made from BPA-free plastic, they actually fold up into a small packet that you can clip to your belt, backpack or wherever you like via a sturdy carabiner.

We’re also beginning to ship our new summer line of supplies to help Occupiers continue to exercise their first amendment rights. Our revamped online store now even has a special section to give Occupiers access to discounts, special items, store credit and more.

Finally, if you’re in the area between June 30th and July 4th, we encourage you to come down and check out the National Gathering. Firedoglake/Occupy Supply staff Kevin Gosztola, John Washington and I will be there distributing supplies and information, as well as meeting with Occupiers to see how we can be of assistance, and they are eager to meet you there.

Help Occupy Supply send collapsible, BPA-free water bottles to the National Gathering.

BUY one of our water bottles for $6.00 and we’ll donate one to the National Gathering…

– OR! –

DONATE $6 or more to Occupy Supply and we’ll use the funds to send water bottles to the event.

Contrary to what you’ll read in the press, Occupy is not dead, as evident in major actions and events from May Day to the Occupy National Gathering. With your help, Occupy Supply can and will continue to be there for the Occupy movement.

When you’re this deep in the trenches, everything seems like an uphill battle. Rarely, it seems, do we see justice truly served or fairness truly honored.

But (!) this past week was different. FDL activists saw some inspiring progress on a variety of campaigns, and since it’s Friday and we could all probably use a little pick-me-up, I thought I’d share our week with you.

What’s important to keep in mind here is that Firedoglake activists played an important role in each of the following. Great job, everyone!

Last Friday, we found out that AARP dropped it’s falsely-limited survey on the future of Social Security and Medicare benefits in favor of a more open-ended survey. Our campaign of over 20,000 activists including over 9,000 AARP members, from FDL, CREDO Mobile, the National Organization for Women and Social Security Works were able to pressure the nation’s largest elderly advocate to drop this effort to use their members as human shields for future support of benefit cuts.

The New York State Assembly voted to pass medical marijuana legislation 90-50 after Just Say Now activists launched hundreds of calls alongside activists from CCPR/NYCA and NORML in support.

Then, this past Wednesday, we learned that the Rhode Island General Assembly had approved marijuana decriminalization for the state and Gov. Chafee signed it, after our Just Say Now campaign launched dozens of calls to his office in support.

After Just Say Now activists called city officials in February to oppose efforts to block it from the ballot for the 2nd time, the MI State Supreme Court ruled that Detroit voters would decide on marijuana decriminalization in August.

Finally, we also learned this week that Rep. Dennis Kucinich is leading a group of 26 members of Congress in writing a letter demanding the White House release what we’ve called the Execution Memos, or the legal justification behind the ‘secret kill list’ and the authority to murder anyone suspected of ‘terrorism’ – including American citizens – anywhere in the world without due process or judicial review. This follows pressure applied by over 22,000 FDL activists, who have been for months demanding this legal rationale be made public by the administration.

They’re small victories, and they are certainly to be shared with the other activists and organizations rallying behind them, but they are victories nonetheless.

If you’re feeling generous on this Friday afternoon, consider chipping in $5 to help Firedoglake continue our advocacy on issues from marijuana to Social Security and beyond.

Help Us Tell Local Media to Cover Bradley Manning's Next Pre-Trial Hearing, 6/6

Each time Bradley Manning goes to Ft. Meade for a pre-trial hearing, I flip through all of my local news channels to see if maybe someone mentions it – but I have not seen so much as a 5 second nod by a single anchor towards perhaps one of the most important whistleblower cases in US history.

In some ways it’s surprising, and in some ways it’s not.

Bradley was tortured for over 9 months in solitary confinement at Quantico Marine Brig until the public caught on to what was happening and it became impossible to keep him there. Today, Bradley remains in pre-trial confinement at Ft. Leavenworth until his court martial, but we hear from his attorney that his living conditions have drastically improved thanks to the outpouring of concern from activists and supporters.

Even so, the government’s campaign of misinformation and secrecy has allowed them to maintain the outrageous charge that he ‘aided the enemy,’ while keeping Manning and any evidence or witness testimony relevant to his defense behind lock and key, almost completely unchallenged.

The point here is that the media’s general carelessness and lack of interest in this case is what has allowed these government charades to continue unabated, spreading damaging misinformation, allowing for his mistreatment, and pushing his case towards unjust conviction behind closed doors. When the public is privy to details about Manning’s treatment, the uproar makes it difficult for these abuses to continue, and the same should be true with regards to the details emerging from the courtroom.

I think there’s a good chance that with enough support we could get some local media to start picking up this story. It would be enough to get some people talking about this case again, and as we near September’s court-martial, that’s exactly what we all need to be doing because the only thing that will complicate the governments plans is intense public scrutiny.

So we’re running targeted Facebook ads urging Bradley Manning supporters everywhere to contact their local news outlets and request coverage of Bradley Manning’s pre-trial hearings and eventual court-martial. We even put together an easy-to-use tool that allows supporters to contact all their local outlets at the click of a mouse.

We need your help getting this campaign off the ground, activating as many Bradley Manning supporters as possible to call on their local media outlets for coverage of this important case.

If you can help out, click here to chip in $5 or more to help us run these ads: https://secure.firedoglake.com/page/contribute/manning_ads

“I didn’t care if I died – I was completely insane.”

That’s what 23-year-old Daniel Chong told reporters after he was abandoned in his cell for 5 days after a 4/20 Drug Enforcement Agency raid at UC San Diego. Handcuffed, alone and forgotten in a windowless, 5×10′ room without food or water, Daniel began to hallucinate, was forced to drink his own urine, and even tried to commit suicide by eating the lenses of his glasses.

Daniel was nearly tortured to death for attending a 4/20 party, and while this is an extreme case, it’s not the first time the DEA has trampled our civil rights and unnecessarily put lives at risk.

The House Oversight Committee is already considering an investigation and we want to join the call for justice by demanding the Senate Judiciary Committee launch one as well – but we need your help.

Can you sign our petition to Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) demanding an investigation into the DEA’s abuse of Daniel Chong?

Click here to sign: http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/daniel_chong

Daniel’s story once again highlights the destructive, regressive drug war as it’s being waged by the DEA. It is a symbol of how the war on drugs itself – meant to protect us from the “dangers” of drugs – is often more harmful to the public.

The bottom line is that if such authority can result in abuses as hideous as these, then the responsible agencies deserve intense scrutiny by our elected officials.

Please join our call for a Senate investigation into the DEA’s detention of Daniel Chong.

Tomorrow is May Day, and Occupy groups have spent months planning a general strike. Organizers are calling on people everywhere to show solidarity by abstaining from commerce, staying home from school and work, avoiding the bank, and other activities as part of a ‘day without the 99%.’

As one of the only outlets to have continuously reported on OWS since Day 1, we’re proud, excited and a little bit anxious for tomorrow, and we will have ongoing coverage of May Day events. I just wanted to take a moment and preview some of what we will be doing tomorrow:

Kevin Gosztola will be joined at the Dissenter by Dustin Slaughter- an independent journalist, political photographer, activist and founder of the David and Goliath Project, which celebrates and examines protest culture. Dustin has also been covering the Occupy movement since it began, and we’re excited to have him and Kevin doing our live blog throughout the day.

We’ve also teamed up with The Media Consortium as part of the Media for the 99% campaign, which seeks to confront the inaccurate portrayals and lack of depth and analysis in corporate media reporting on Occupy by pooling together the coverage of independent media outlets including Firedoglake, The Nation, Truthdig, Yes! Magazine, Mother Jones and others.

Media Consortium put together some really cool tools for May Day and we’re so happy to share them with you all on our May Day 2012 coverage page. They include:

- Interactive Map that plots events, articles and arrests across the country.
- Live Broadcasting featuring reports from around the U.S. and in-studio commentary.
- Curated Social Media via Storify with breaking news from Twitter, Facebook, blog posts and more.

Head on over to our May Day 2012 page tomorrow for breaking news and updates on May Day activities from across the country.

Citizen Journalists: Planning on writing about May Day events here at myFDL? Tag your post “MAY DAY” or email it to me at brian@firedoglake.com and I’ll make sure it gets on our coverage page.