Occupy Phoenix Aims To List Grievances
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By Staff Report
Modern Times Magazine
Nov. 1, 2011 — Just about one month after it was formed and a few weeks into their occupation at Cesar Chavez plaza, Occupy Phoenix has begun a process that the group hopes will result in three official grievances to help define their movement by Saturday.
The process began Saturday and five brainstorming sessions have been held through Monday night. The proposals have been numerous and run the gamut from reforming the political system to revamping the financial industry.
Additional brainstorming sessions are scheduled for Tuesday at 9:30 p.m, Wednesday at 6 p.m., and Thursday at 9:30 p.m. The multitude of proposals collected by that time are expected to be cut to about eight Friday at the 4 a.m. and 6 p.m. sessions.
The proposals will then be brought to the general assembly Saturday at noon.
As of Monday, the only statement that has been approved by Occupy Phoenix is, “We struggle for social, economic, political, racial, cultural, and environmental justice.”
Immediately after the general assembly meeting Saturday where the three grievances are expected to be brought to the general assembly for consensus, a march will be held through the downtown financial district, ending at the Downtown City Space, 424 N. Central Ave., for “The 99% Unityfest.” Although the event is not an “official” Occupy Phoenix event, it is being done in support of the movement.
The 99% Unityfest will feature live music — rock, hip hop, mariachi, soul, funk, punk, indie, R&B, folk — live visual artists, family activities and presentations.
After the event is concluded at 9 p.m. a march back to Cesar Chavez plaza is planned.
The Occupy movement has also grown a bit bigger with the creation of Occupy Tempe. This “branch” of Occupy Phoenix so far is merely holding a rally every Friday at 4 p.m. at the corner of Mill Ave. and University Drive.
It is not all easy sailing for Occupy Phoenix, however, as fallout continues from folks not aligned with the non violent principles of the movement becoming more prevalent at the plaza and online. Late last week, the Arizona Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center issued a warning that a flyer titled “When You Should Shoot A Cop” was reportedly found at the plaza by two Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office have not responded to repeated requests from Modern Times Magazine to review any reports in the case.
For more information, visit the group's webpage at http://occupyphoenix.net/, the #OccupyPhoenix Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/occupyphoenix, the group’s Twitter page at http://twitter.com/#!/occupyphoenix or catch the livestream at http://www.livestream.com/occupyphoenix.
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