Showing posts with label No One Leaves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label No One Leaves. Show all posts

Monday, October 17, 2011

Occupy/Take Back Springfield

No One Leaves and others start the rally
Too tired to write much text tonight, but Occupy Springfield did happen...about 35 people...more if you count the ones who came and went.  And at the Take Back Springfield rally tonight, Occupy folks joined in and swelled the crowd to about 150 people.  many people were then headed in to a Springfield City Council meeting, and i don't know what happened there, because I had another meeting.  But I'll post when i do know.  Basically, there were three big issues propelling ralliers to the meeting:
  • protecting the recently passed  ordinance requiring banks to put money in escrow (most of which they'll get back) whenever they foreclose on a property;
  • a non-binding resolution urging the City of Springfield to remove its funds from Bank of America;
  • encouraging city councilors to protect their vote revoking Palmer Renewable Energy's special permit to construct a biomass plant by appealing the building permit PRE seems likely to receive!

Jesse Lederman, speaker from Stop toxic Incineration in Spfld


Patti and Bill, Arise/STIS

Arise members: Ellen (recently pepper-sprayed in D.C) & Christina, founder of 2004's Sanctuary City
By the way, at a General Assembly meeting today, Occupiers decided to be back next Monday, Court Sq., from 3 to 6 pm.  Yippee!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Right to the City; Anti-foreclosure activists protest Bank of America

No One Leaves in Boston (photo Joe Oliverio)












Yesterday forty of us from Springfield hopped on a schoolbus and drove to Boston under the No One Leaves banner to join 3,000 other activists to protest the brutality of Bank of Boston's foreclosure policy.  Here's a link to a MassLive article which talks about the rally and the arrest of protesters, and a link to Right to the City, the conveners/organizers, and here's a photo history of our day.

We had a short protest at BofA in Springfield before loading


Candejah Pink Bank Tenants leader, goes over the logistics of the day


City Life/Vida Urbana gets ready


Rally at Boston Commons





people block entrances of the Bank of America











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Ruben (red on the right) rallies us in front of the bank