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On the Docket – Worker’s Economic and Social Rights that Require OWS Attention

On May 16, 2012
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15MOF is a series of interviews with people either directly involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement or people and causes which reflect the basic principles espoused by OWS – fairness and justice being at the top of that list.

Today’s guest will serve as an example of information that never reaches the media…or at least reported on poorly, if at all, and these are complaints by workers on workplace issues such as racial discrimination, safety, or unhealthy work environments. 

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Rio+20 Meets OWS – the Environmental Movement & Greening of Occupy

On May 15, 2012
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No one needs to cite the sins of Fox News, nor the tepid and not-quite-accurate reporting of main stream media, to support my contention that you have to go the source directly, if you want to know something correctly.

This is especially important when the subject is the UN Rio+20 Earth Summit on the environment and how this of necessity connects with the Occupy Movement.  By being both under-reported and poorly reported, the struggles to save our planet and our financial well-being by both #Occupy and #Green are met with tepid enthusiasm or even resistance.

This interview should help redress that condition for the listener who wants to truly be informed.  If you are an environmentalist – the upcoming Rio+20 Conference on June 20-22 is a hot topic, as you will hear.  If you are an occupier, thanks to this conversation with Ted Schulman you will be encouraged and energized as well.

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Occupy Wall Street Finds its “Protest” Voice! Meet Singer, Songwriter, Artist and OWS Activist, Matt Pless

On May 4, 2012
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“Some may find them merely diverting melodies. Others may find them incitements to Red revolution. And who will say if either or both is wrong? Not I.” — Pete Seeger in Rolling Stone, April 13, 1972

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Mayday! Mayday! “Mayday!” Wall Street Sez It’s Going Down, Going Down, Going Down!

On April 27, 2012
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“Technical note:  In this interview the guest’s audio is occasionally distorted.  We have minimized the problem and believe the information warrants sharing even though the audio is not up to our usual standard. Thank you for your understanding.”

“Mayday,” which is used as a distress signal and derives from the French “m’aider (“come help me”), is already being sounded by Wall Street and its Bankers in reference to the upcoming “May Day” national protests.  And, they nervously claim to have good reason.

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5 Things “Mad Men” Can Learn From Occupy Wall Street And 3 Tips Madison Avenue Can Offer OWS In Return

On April 23, 2012
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Did you know that Madison Avenue and Occupy Wall Street have a lot in common, and that there is quite a bit that each can learn from the other?

That’s what you will be hearing in this interview with Ad-Exec-Cum-Occupier David Everitt-Carlson…a former six-figure “Mad Man” sleeping at night in front of a Bank of America branch in Manhattan to show his solidarity with the Occupy Movement, showing up regularly over the past seven months at his task of painting his near-famous cardboard protest signs at various Occupation sites in the city, and then manning his laptop to consult with advertising clients.

David is a native of New York and alumni of some of the top ad agencies in the world, including Leo Burnett, The Richards Group , his own award-winning firm in Seoul, Korea, and a career in mass communications, branding and international marketing which has taken him from New York to Asia, Europe, and back again.
A survivor of both plush carpet and unforgiving sidewalk enables him to share some potentially valuable insights, which he does in this interview titled: “The 5 Things Madison Avenue Could Learn from OWS, and The 3 Tips That Madison Avenue has for Occupy.”
Exactly how might #Occupy tutor the Ad Industry? David elaborates on passion, action, commitment, permission to fail (big time), and client relations. Alternatively, OWS needs to listen carefully to three tips from Mad Ave: targeting and editing, reach and frequency, and the need to stop worrying about the problem.
Occupy solutions crafted with professional marketing skills – what a concept.

As you are listening to this interview, I wonder if you might think to yourself…as I did…if there is an agency in existence smart enough to hire this guy? Talk about being au current and providing your clients with a verified ‘Guerilla Marketer’”…

David Everitt-Carlson can be found on LinkedIn, or by way of his columns at The Morton Report on OpEd News or Cowbird.

Check out this story on Jerry Ashton’s Huffington Post blog

 

 

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Occupy Wall Street Nails Down its Protest Music Stripes!

On April 17, 2012
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“OccupyThisAlbum” – 99 Artists on 99 Tracks for the 99%

Patriotism and Protest – inexorably bound and oftentimes indistinguishable – have always had their say through music.  Whether it be the American Revolution (“The Liberty Song”), World War I (“Over There” competing with “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier”), WWII (“God Bless America”), and the Vietnam War (“Ballad of the Green Beret” countered by “War – What is it Good For?”), and now our latest struggle – the 1% vs. the 99%.

Check out this story on Jerry Ashton’s Huffington Post blog

Without needing to think of it, we carry in our thoughts the musical heritage created by fabled artists Pete Seeger, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Peter, Paul & Mary, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton and so many more.  Where are the songs for Occupy’s time in history?  Who will write the words and music and poetry?  Will we find our Voice?

These questions have been answered in full and emphatically with the debut on May 15, 2012, of “OccupyThisAlbum,” the brainchild of executive producer Jason Samel created in collaboration with scores of musicians, industry professionals and a spectrum of supporters in business as well as the private sector.

This improbable person (no industry experience) for this task used his well-honed sales ability, networking and Twitter talents to bring artists on board.  Early on he connected with Maegan Hayward of SoundTrack Studios in NYC and her friend, Alex Emamuel, who then recruited entertainment attorney Shirley Menard.  Jason welcomed their help, and knew he had found a great team to complete this project.

What has been created?

Artists both well-known and not offered to contribute their time and talent to create tracks for an album to benefit the Occupy Movement – Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Lucinda Williams, Yoko Ono, Jackson Browne, David Crosby & Graham Nash, Patti Smith, Warren Haynes, Our Lady Peace, Thievery Corporation, UNKLE, Mogwai, DJ Logic, Immortal Technique, Toots & The Maytals, to reach a final – and symbolic – count of 99.

“100% of all monies less expenses are being donated to the Occupy Movement,” Jason declares proudly.  With the dust barely settling, he is already planning his next albums with the intention of creating a new genre of music – properly tagged as Protest Music – also with a portion of the proceeds going to OWS.

You can locate Jason Samel on Twitter as @MusicForOccupy, on Facebook as MusicForOccupy, and via email:  musicforoccupy@gmail.com.

And, not to forget – to pre-purchase, go to:  http://amzn.to/HLC8ot.

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Occupy & the Unions – A Missed Opportunity, or Just Round One?

On April 17, 2012
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What is it about the Unions and the Occupy Movement?

What would appear to be a marriage-made-in-activist-heaven appears now to be a series of uncomfortable “dates” which could use some pre-marriage counseling.

At least in part, that is Bennett Kremen’s view on this matter, and this comes from someone who is both an activist (present, past and ongoing) and a union man…and a published author (his present work, Savage Days Haunted Nights, can be found on Amazon at http://amzn.to/IgZuUN).

I might also add that, as an author, he is prescient.

Bennett wrote a book of non-fiction published by The Dial Press in the early ‘70’s called “Dateline America” in which he somehow recognized in the protests of the time the potential for what we now know as Occupy Wall Street almost 50 years later.

His general theory at that time was that the baby-boom generation was about to take over America and that it doesn’t believe in the moral and working codes its predecessors did.  Thus, when the younger generations takes charge, the country will drift leftward and somehow deal with economic and population problems in ways that reflect a lessening of concern with money and status.

Does that sound like “Deja Future” to you?

Chicago-born but now residing in New York City, Bennett has been writing in one form or another for many years. He’s contributed articles to The New York Times Book Review and Financial Pages and to The Nation, The Village Voice and many other publications and along the way gathered the credentials to open a psychotherapy practice which he has maintained on and off every since.

Take 15 minutes to listen to this veteran of the Alaskan pipeline, working class bars, and the 60’s protests as he compares and contrasts Occupy Wall Street with those times – and makes a solid case that both unions and occupiers need to stand together.

As he sees it, if ever the word “solidarity” had meaning before, it most definitely has meaning now…and it may decide the future of the United States for decades to come.

Write Bennett Kremen at bennettkre@aol.com or find him on on LinkedIn.com as Bennett Kremen where he can be found in the OccupyEverywhere chatroom.  “Chat him up” – especially if you think you can keep up with him on politics or history.

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15 Minutes Of Fact: “Whistleblowers Prevail – State Attorneys General Fail”

On March 13, 2012
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Abigail C. Field is a complex and accomplished blogger, journalist, attorney and activist, but it can be agreed that she has settled on two simple article guidelines:  hate State Attorney Generals who fail their office, and love Whistleblowers.

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A 15 Minutes of Fact Interview with Author, Occupier and Prison Rights Activist, Ahjamu Umi

On March 9, 2012
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Why Will They Put You In Jail? Because It Is Profitable.

After my hosting an interview with a participant in the Occupy San Quentin protest earlier this week, I decided to do a bit more research on the subject that few people even believe to be necessary to discuss – the prison-industrial complex that has grown to huge size here in the U.S. over the past two decades.

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“Reasserting the Role of Citizen Journalism – The Occupy Wall Street Journal” – A WGRNradio.com interview with Priscilla Grim

On March 1, 2012
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I first encountered today’s guest, Priscilla Grim, without knowing it, when I picked up my first issue of the Occupy Wall Street Journal at Zuccotti Park in September, 2011. As a founding editor, Director and Project Manager of Occupied Media, she has been described by none other than Dan Rather in his appearance on the Chris Matthews show as – and I quote – “the real moving force behind … what’s happening in the Wall Street protests.”

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