#Occupy Charleston #sc has just opened its 99 hour occupation of the Holy City from a city permitted camp on the shore of the Ashley River at Brittlebank Park. 1/9th of those 99 hours for the 99% will be include a tent teach in beside the river on some of the major ideas and issues driving the occupation movement around the planet. These discussions will bring a strong local focus to those issues in sessions lead by some of the state’s most seasoned and courageous activists. The sessions will be participatory. We hope to either stream them live or upload them later. Anyone coming to the park is encouraged to bring a folding chair.
Overnight camping during the 99 hour occupation is allowed by city permit. The area has been wet, so be sure to bring a good, waterproof groundcloth in addition to your tent and sleeping bag. A community kitchen will be providing some meals. Many other activities are planned for the occupation and others will be considered and approved at the GA meetings to be held during the event, including the first on October 19 at 6 pm. For full information see www.occupycharleston.org or find #occupycharleston on Facebook or Twitter.
Press and other persons needing to reach Thursday teach in organizer William Hamilton may call (843) 870-5299. Another set of teach in sessions at the occupation are being planned for Saturday. Full teach in schedule in the main body of this post below.
Download Thursday's Schedule as a PDF Tent Teach in Schedule, Oct. 20, 2011
10 am- Shock Doctrine
A participatory seminar on the significant books about the problems of the global economic transition and the ways people can recognize how it can be manipulated to change the distribution of resources and power. Books discussed will include: Shock Doctrine By Naomi Klein; Class War in America by Michael Kelly; The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan; The Betrayal of American Prosperity by Clyde Prestowitz; Making Government Work by Fritz Holilngs; Washington Rules by Andrew Bacebich; Aftershock by Robert Reich; The Big Short by Michael Lewis; The Disuniting of America by Arthur Schlesinger: The Family of Secrets, the Bush Empire by Russ Baker. This teach in will be led by Vic Rawl, Charleston County Council, retired Judge and former member of the SC State Legislature. The seminar will include a book swap. Bring a book you have read and trade it for one you have not.
11 am- Is the Party Over?
Local Political party leaders talk about their differing views regarding the continuing relevance of traditional political parties. George Temple, Chairman of the Charleston County party and Carol Temple, will represent the Democrats. Stuart Flood, will represent the Libertarians. Stuart has been actively involved in the political process since the early 1990s. He became a member of the Libertarian Party in 2005 and currently serve as Chairman for Charleston County. He also serves on their National Committee, representing the states of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. In "real life" Stuart is a systems and networking consultant. Larry Carter Center, will represent the Green Party. Larry is executive director of the Charleston County Green Party and also on the SC Green Party Steering Committee. Republicans TBA.
12 noon- Equity and Mobility
We're used to considering Politics and Economics as mechanisms by which our society distributes wealth, power and opportunity, but our transportation system also performs this function. What do our decisions about roads, public transit, pedestrian facilities and cycling opportunities say about the way we distribute opportunity in the Lowcountry? Does the invisible subsidy for each car on the road represent a decision to favor certain types of people and parts of the economy over others? What ways to move increase efficiency and freedom for the most people? How do our existing autocentric priorities increase a sense of isolation which helps shift political power? Do CARTA and Tri County Links have the resources to provide equity in mobility for the 99%. Led by William J. Hamilton, attorney, coordinator for www.eastccrider.com and Porches to Sidewalks columnist for the Moultrie News. Hamilton is too nearsighted to drive and has been a rider on local transit since 1976. He also blogs transit on the Daily Kos at http://www.dailykos.com/...
1:00 pm- Voting in SC, New Challenges and Opportunities
Rose Davis will lead a teach in on voting rights, the new voter law and the many new restrictions it places on the right to vote in SC. You will learn how you can avoid a surprise at the polling place by preparing to protect your own right to vote and the rights of others now. Voter registration will be available throughout the encampment. Expert assistance on being sure that the ID you have and your current registration mesh perfectly will be available. If the WI-FI is working we'll be able to check your voter registration from the camp to be sure everything meets the new standards.
2:00 pm- SC and the 99%
Dot Scott, head of the Charleston Branch of the NAACP and Rev. Joseph Darby, Pastor of Morris Brown AME Church will discuss economic, social and civil rights issues in South Carolina as they relate to the interests of the 99% here.
3:00 pm- “We Shall Overcome” in Charleston
Veterans of the Civil Rights movement in Charleston and their children (now grown) will be invited to share the lessons they and their parents learned from the struggle for equal rights in Charleston including the sit ins and hospital strike. If you know anyone who was an activist in those efforts, please invite them to join us and bring their scrapbooks, pictures and memorabilia.
4:00 pm- Religion, Repression & Resistance
Amberjade Mwekali will teach about the roles of the world's religions in transforming society, offering different stories about how religious traditions have responded non-violently to oppression. We will discuss a variety of practical and theoretical strategies for relating to 'the other' and each other through religion. Religions discussed include Buddhism, evangelical Christianity, Nation of Islam, Judaism, and more! Are you are wondering how your religious tradition can contribute to your political involvement? Are you not religious but interested in how others make sense of religion and politics? What can we do to better understand each other if we have different commitments? These questions and more will be addressed. For more information, contact (amberjadetaylor@gmail.com).
5:00 pm- Healthcare in America, Time to Heal
Donna M. Ellington, a retired school psychologist, former member of the United States Air Force, and a current healthcare advocate with Americans for Healthcare, Too, will facilitate a group discussion of universal healthcare. She will share some of her experiences as a member of this group, as a volunteer with several of the large-venue healthcare clinics run by the National Association of Free Clinics, and will be interested in ideas of the group regarding how WE THE PEOPLE can obtain "equally accessible, affordable, quality healthcare for all Americans". Weather and technical conditions permitting, a brief clip of the HEALTHCARE MOVIE, by Terry Sterrenberg and Laurie Simons, narrated by Kieffer Sutherland may be shown.
6:00 pm- Other #Occupations
Veterans of other occupations around the United States will lead a panel discussion about what they have seen and done elsewhere including Wall Street, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Charlotte and Columbia, SC. Get an overview of the movement around the world and find out why camping out, protesting, playing music, feeding each other, reading books and talking might really change the world for the better.
7:00 pm- The New Guilded Age
History does repeat itself and while many people compare our current crisis to the Great Depression, in terms of social inequalities, contemporary America looks like the Gilded Age of the late 19th century. Recently, new technologies fundamentally reorganized our economy and consolidated economic activity in the hands of the power elite. These elites used newly emerging markets to their advantage and seized control of massive amounts of wealth and political power, creating a socio-economic system that allows relatively few to exploit the vast majority of their fellow citizens who increasingly struggle to sustain themselves. But much like the first Gilded age, citizens are beginning to fight back to usher in a new progressive era of prosperity for all. Led by JASON T. EASTMAN, Ph.D. Coastal Carolina University, Department of Psychology & Sociology, http://ww2.coastal.edu/... online.
8:00 pm- Strike for America- Lessons from a Longshoreman
Ken Riley, President of the International Longshoreman's Union, Local 1422 in Charleston and an internationally recognized labor leader will discuss the possibility of using a European style nationwide general strike to force change in our economic and political system in the United States.