The US news media currently ignores most events and protests associated with the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Activists from across the nation will be gathering in Sacramento, California on July 31st, to prove that the campaign which started in New York City in 2011 is still an effective, inspired movement to promote social, economic and environmental justice.
Occupiers will be joining together to celebrate their long term mission to push for political change. They plan to network with other US and foreign activists, and they say they will continue to educate themselves on a wide range of issues affecting the United States and the world.
The Occupy movement has gone international, with active groups on every continent except Antarctica. From Paris to Melbourne, people are demonstrating against the status quo and calling for a more conscious and compassionate global culture.
Previous national conferences were held in St Louis and Philadelphia. This year many of the same themes will be explored, including the injustices caused by economic inequality, the prevalence of government/corporate corruption, the problem of student debt, new attacks on the rights of indigenous peoples, and the dangers of fossil fuels and their impact on global climate change.
These are only a few of the topics that will be discussed during Nat Gat 2014 (http://natgat2014.net http://interoccupy.net/...).
Workshops and forums will be held by activists from Move to Amend and Code Pink.
http://interoccupy.net/...
(http://movetoamend.org http://codepink.org.)
Other activities will include anti-racism training, and panel discussions on Native American sovereignty, labor issues, and immigrant/refugee rights.
Nat Gat 2014 organizers are planning workshops on the following topics:
1) A Homeless Bill of Rights; 2) Proposed Robin Hood Tax; 3) The National Fight Against Home Foreclosures; 4) Campaigns For Media Reform; 5) How To Do Video Livestreaming; and 7) Jesus As A Radical Economic Activist.
Participants also plan to present a film screening, create political street theater, and stage a musical memorial. They will also sponsor a spoken word/poetry event.
Nat Gat 2014 has its own Youtube channel. There will be an online component to the conference which will allow for interactivity with people following the proceedings on the world wide web.
On August 1st Occupy activists in Sacramento will participate in a protest rally against home foreclosures.
Most mainstream political consultants and media pundits in the US were critical the original Occupy Wall Street movement. They claimed that OWS had been rendered ineffective due to the activists' refusal to form an organized political party during national elections.
Surprisingly, activists in Detroit have now put out a call for Occupy movement candidates to run for local political office. This group calls itself the After Party.
The After Party are also promoting the idea of holding local community forums to address many of the same issues that will be addressed at the Occupy National Gathering in Sacramento. (http://afterpartyusa.org).