OccupyAsheville.org

On May 1st, 2012, over a hundred people celebrated the International Workers Holiday, May Day and the Occupy General Strike call in Asheville.

The protest and celebration was organized by an impromptu May Day Coalition of anarchists from the Anti-Authoritarian Anti-Capitalist Caucus and Asheville Mutual Aid (AMA), and marxists from the International Socialist Organization (ISO), along with other unaffiliated activists and radicals. This showing the possibility of people of different political persuasions working together proactively to accomplish something great.

This May Day could be said to be a roaring success. On that beautiful afternoon participants were treated to speeches by local activists from Defensa Comunitaria, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), ISO and AMA, music led by the May Day Chorus and a number of historical speeches. Read the rest of this entry →

On a gorgeous spring-like Sunday, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Swannanoa Valley held a service dedicated to the Occupy movement.  The service, entitled “The Spirit of Occupy,”  was an exploration of the seven principles of Unitarian Universalism, the “American Dream,” and how they relate to the Occupy movement. Through personal stories, Carolyn and Thembi explained how Occupy can be a forum to express one’s deepest truths and transform them into action.

Rebecca of the Street Art & Theater Affinity Group led the service, playing contrasting versions of the song “Which Side Are You On” and quoting Howard Zinn.

Thembi, of the Facilitation and Outreach Working Groups, shared how his training to become a traditional healer in Southern Africa inspired him to work with people with mental health and substance abuse issues and get involved with the Occupy movement.  He described how his principles, the principles of Unitarian Universalism, and those of the Occupy movement overlap. Read the rest of this entry →

Monday  February 20th, Occupy Asheville, Occupy Hendersonville, and the American Postal Workers Union held a joint rally at Pack Park’s McGuire Green.  At the rally participants called for an end to attacks on postal worker jobs and attempts to privatize public services and resources.

This will not be the first time USPS workers, participants in the Occupy movement, and other members of the public have come together to stand against attacks on postal worker jobs.  On the evening of November 21st, about 250 union and community members attended a hearing at AB Tech on Postal Service management’s plans to close the Asheville Processing Facility. Among those hundreds of people standing up for union jobs in western NC, were about thirty participants in the Occupy Asheville movement. They wore signs that read: “Occupy Asheville stands in Solidarity with APWU. We are the 99%.”

After about an hour of public comments, postal service management said that the building would be closing soon and called the hearing to an end. But as Angela Curtis, Mid Carolina’s district manager quickly exited the building, she had to pass by a circle of Asheville community members who were continuing the hearing.

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The Occupy Movement is alive and well, in spite of what you may read in the media.

Tracing its genesis to a spark from the Canadian activist publication Adbusters, viral beginnings of the Occupation Movement, erupting on Saturday, September 17, 2011 in New York’s Manhattan, quickly caught on like wildfire world-wide.  Here in Asheville, less than two weeks later, on October 1, 2011, Occupy Asheville began…appropriately on Asheville’s Wall St.

From its slow start, within weeks the Occupation Movement world-wide had filled both alternative as well as major media news reports and editorials, albeit major media slanted by the 1%.

Protest encampments nation-wide have become a sign of outrage at economic injustice by a society controlled by the richest 1%.  The encampments and other acts of civil disobedience have also been a major thorn in the sides of local authorities. Much of the negativity has been attributed to the homeless, dysfunctional and alcoholics at encampments. Read the rest of this entry →

On Friday, December 16th, four members of Occupy Asheville (Inna Zhuravlёva, Mike Goodman, Davyne Dial, and Tom Adams) participated in what we hope is the first of many Occupy Asheville volunteer days. As part of Habitat for Humanity’s “Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative”, which provides low-income residents with interest-free loans for weatherization and home improvement projects completed by volunteers, we set out on an overcast morning to help a local Buncombe county family make improvements to their mobile home.

According to Ariane Kjellquist, Communications Director at the Asheville Habitat for Humanity, “to help more families in need of decent housing and to respond to a community need, Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity introduced the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI). Repairing homes and revitalizing neighborhoods is tangible, and it’s rewarding for volunteers.” Event organizer Tom Adams also commented: “While the Occupy movement has been extremely successful in raising awareness about the deep systemic problems in our current economic and political systems, I think it’s also important that we simultaneously focus on doing what we can to help solve real problems in our own communities. Safe, secure housing is a basic human need, and we are happy to support Habitat for Humanity’s efforts to provide affordable home improvements for some low-income members of the ninety-nine percent.” Read the rest of this entry →

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Kids, parents, members of Veterans for Peace, and other Asheville Occupiers gathered on a sunny December afternoon to Occupy the Future at Pritchard Park.  Around 75 to 100 people participated in an afternoon of food, fun, and community spirit.  There were activities for kids of all ages, including sign making, face painting, four square, a cupcake walk, and rides on a four-wheeled scooter.  (And, as is usually the case in Pritchard Park, there were a few hula hoops.) Read the rest of this entry →

The October 15 Global Day of Action echoed through downtown Asheville Saturday with now familiar chants of “Human needs, not Corporate greed” and “This is what Democracy looks like.” Always emphasizing a commitment to nonviolence, OccupyAsheville marked its 2-week anniversary right in the shadow of Wells Fargo and Bank of America with a General Assembly in Pritchard Park. The day’s action culminated in a picket to Vance Monument where the Asheville Police Department carried out its first arrest of an Occupy Asheville member… for jaywalking. Read the rest of this entry →

Occupy Asheville’s Commitment to Nonviolence will help sustain this movement through the passages necessary to arrive at our many goals. Our Occupy Asheville General Assembly felt that taking direct action towards the many laws and those governing those laws here in Asheville was a necessary step toward change. Because of the many options that idea brought forth, the General Assembly recognized the importance of refraining from all violence, both physical and verbal. Read the rest of this entry →