Tea Party, Scott Lively picket Arise while Occupy Springfield pickets them right back!

Today the Stop the Hate and Homophobia Coalition, along with Occupy Springfield, spoke out against homophobia in Springfield with a march up State St., a stop outside Commerce High School for a "people's mic," and a demonstration outside Scott Lively's Holy Ground Coffee House, only a few doors down from Arise.  .  But before our folks got up to Lively's, I looked out the storefront window to see three or four Tea Party members picketing in front, carrying American flags and holding signs that said "Trust Jesus" and "Arise Lies!"

Tea party members have shown up at every Occupy Springfield event but I wonder if today they found themselves with strange bedfellows.  Are Tea Party members homophobes?  I wouldn't have automatically thought so...

Lively's group was handing out flyers to passerbys with big red letters at the top and bottom saying, "Arise Lies" and "Tell Arise to Apologize!"  I won't type the whole thing, but a few lines should give you the feel and I'll add a few comments (and the bizarre punctuation, which I will replicate, is theirs, not mine):

Arise for Social Justice is a Marxist Front Group that Hates Biblical Truth and Persecutes Bible-Believing Christians.  (I wonder if the Christians in Arise feel persecuted?)

Like the Communists of Soviet Russia, and their Fellow Traveler Saul Alinsky, Arise uses Lies and Deceptive Propaganda to Destroy Their Enemies.  (Wow!  Didn't know we had that much power!  Usually we just go for the systemic change approach.)

Arise has Promised to Drive Pastor Scott Lively Out of Springfield because he Holds to Biblical Truth About Homosexuality.  (Completely wrong on this one.  Just like the radioactive material in a decommissioned nuclear power plant, we would much prefer for Lively to remain in our community where we can keep an eye on him.)

Arise LIED to Portray Pastor Lively as a Heartless Monster and put his personal Safety At Risk.

So let me stop right here on this line because while today's event had its humorous moments, homophobia is deadly serious.  Lively's safety at risk?  The hate crime statistics for 2010 were released just three days ago, and according to the figures, " roughly 1.5% of all hate crimes in the United States in 2010 were against Christians while 19% were against gays. That means that lesbians, gays, and bisexuals were more than twelve times likely to be the victim of a hate crime than a Christian."  LezGet Real.  And of that 1.5% of hate crimes committed against Christians, how many were perpetrated by gays?

Homophobia's effects don't stop with hate crimes, of course.  Nearly 400,000 gay and transgendered youth in this country are homeless. Gay youth attempt suicide three times more often than straight youth.  Joblessness is higher.  Discrimination is still a daily experience.  Just whose personal safety is at risk?

But OK.  Today wasn't about being a victim.  Today was about facing down hate and homophobia and taking back our power.  We WILL not live in fear, we will not fail to confront hate.

Springfield's own Joe Olivero took this great video that says it all.

Getting Ready: Civil Disobedience Training Nov. 7

For all interested:  as our people's movement is growing, we will be offering an upcoming CD Training (see email below) in Springfield on Monday November 7th at 6:30pm.  The place is still being worked on.  Let me know if you are interested so we can get a sense of the numbers.  These trainings are good for all of us to go through, no matter our ability to risk arrest. 

Also, from Lara:

This Saturday, Oct. 29 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Steve Thornton will conduct a training in nonviolent CD in Hartford at the King-Davis Labor Center (or at Turning Point Park… I’m trying to find out which). We’ll make it back with plenty of time to spare for the Springfield General Assembly from 5-6pm. Please send me a message (at larasb@hotmail.com) or call me at 413-218-4496 if you’d like to carpool with me and Joe to the training. Steve has a long history in labor and other social justice organizing, and I was proud to get arrested with him as part of the “Park Place 21” for striking workers last year. Participating in Saturday’s training doesn’t commit you to doing CD with them. Local activists are also discussing incorporating CD in upcoming actions. The more of us who are trained and ready, the better. Occupy Hartford is asking training participants to register at occupyhartfordct.com. i just did!

And, finally - REMINDER: we will be gathering for the 3rd time in the (un)Occupy Springfield Movement.  We are building momentum.  Please come join us this Saturday, October 29th, a day of national action - in Springfield's Court Square (intersection of Court St. and Main St)  from 12noon - 6pm, with a General Assembly from 5-6pm.  We are doing outreach to the homeless community and inviting folks to join us. Bring food if you can as we will be meeting through supper at the shelters and people need to eat!

For peace and justice,

Holly Richardson

Hello all,

This is Catherine Ady-Bell, I've been organizing the legal observers for Occupy Springfield actions.  I had the chance to speak with a few of you about the National Lawyers Guild's plan to host a Civil Disobedience training in the area.  I now have some details of the event and I would love it if you could circulate this info to the broader Occupy Springfield movement and any other groups/individuals who might find it of use.

 

The training will be on Monday November 7th at 6:30 pm at a Springfield location TBD.  As soon as I know the location I will get in touch again but I hope having the date known will make it possible to spread the word asap.

 

Sol,

Catherine

Photo from A.F. Litt's photostream at Flickr.

Occupy Springfield - Monday, October 24th * 3 PM - 6 PM * Court Square

 *********************** Please Forward Widely! ******************************

The Occupy Wall Street movement has spread to Springfield MA and it is building momentum.  This past Monday, October 17th, from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm - several dozen people converged on Court Square in downtown Springfield.  With signs such as "We are the 99%" "64 Million in Poverty," "Hey Bank of America: Suck my Debt," and "No More Displacement," among others - students, toddlers, nurses, mothers and fathers, teachers, and community activists joined together to proclaim: 

WE'VE HAD ENOUGH! NO MORE CORPORATE GREED!  WE ARE TAKING OUR COUNTRY and OUR DEMOCRACY BACK!

Please join us this Monday to grow the Occupy Springfield movement!  Tell your friends, your relatives, your co-workers, your classmates!  Bring your bodies, your signs, your outrage and your love!  

Monday, October 24th * 3 PM - 6 PM * Court Square 

We will gather for both a rally and a general assembly.  General assemblies are the decision-making bodies of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Based on a model of non-hierarchy, consensus, and mutual respect, the general assemblies have become a source of strength and empowerment for our burgeoning movement.  To learn more about the Occupy Wall Street movement in general, check out www.occupywallst.org.  To find out the latest about Occupy Springfield, check out our facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Springfield-MA/126281187474760?ref=ts 

With respect,

Dan Keefe

Resource Developer, Out Now! 

617-460-5238 

P.S. Just to be clear: I in no way speak on behalf of the Occupy Springfield participants.  It just so happened that Holly (also of Out Now!) and I decided to circulate a contact list this past Monday.  Hopefully at this week's General Assembly, we can develop a real outreach committee tasked with mobilizing for the next event.  In the meantime, however, a disorganized handful of folks have been doing what must be done to get the word out - using emails, fliers, personal outreach, facebook, etc.