Below is a collection of responses from members of the Occupy Richmond community. While they demonstrate both the diversity and unity of the movement, they do not speak for the movement. It is through these individual statements and the conversations they forment that we arrive at the collective sentiment guiding our General Assemblies and coordinated actions.
Statements on Mayor Jones’ Actions
-
We The People of the United States of America stand in Solidarity with one another in defense of our Constitutional rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to Free Speech, Expression, and Assembly. These rights have been explicitly and intentionally denied by individuals elected to office to represent we the people; as this representation has failed to uphold our rights, we must contest the validity and intent of this representation. Therefore, We The People will adhere to the Constitution in lieu of any legislation or special process that prevents us from the unalienable guarantee of our aforementioned rights. Consequentially we may be arrested. We may be purposefully impeded. We will not be silenced. We will Occupy, in line with the foundations of the formation of these United States, and dismiss any attempts to prevent us therein. Unity will fortify our principles and Solidarity will supplement our cause; totalitarianism has no place in our democracy, community, or existence. You may try to strip the leaves of purpose from our collective conscience, but like the aspen tree we exist as one, deep rooted and communal. We do not fail. As such, we respectfully demand suspension of all encampment restrictions and regulations. This is an important movement in the history of humanity, one seeking to restore a sense of community discourse into the fabric of society. Any harmful actions against this restoration are crimes against humanity and will not be tolerated. Civil Disobedience is a powerful tool, and tools exist for implementation. So implement WE will. Give us liberty or give us…
-
Occupy Richmond does not recognize Mayor Jones proclamation as legitimate, because we do not recognize a political establishment that places the well being of political careers before that of the rights of the people. The Mayor has issued this decree in direct opposition to the rights of the people to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom from illegal search and seizure. As conscientious members of a free society, it is both our freedom and our responsibility to address those institutions, individuals and ideas that threaten or impede those freedoms. We, the people, intend to assert our rights to those freedoms we have stated. We have made no threat to the disruption of civil society. We have made no threat of violence, nor have we threatened the security of property. We have been law abiding citizens. We have lived, worked, and attended school here in Richmond and in Virginia. We have not participated in the corruption or fundamental undermining of the American political system. We are taking our place in line behind the men and women who have defended this nation since it’s inception. We do not do it with bullets, bombs, missiles or money. We do it with ideas and ideas are bulletproof.
We are not thugs, or hippies, or beatniks, or dropouts, or any other label you would like to stick on us. We are simply the people of Richmond, Virginia, and we are citizens of the United States. We wish to assemble peacefully and cooperatively in our city, as is our right. We wish to assemble peacefully in public space in order to bring attention to the blatant corruption of our broken system. We wish to draw as many people and as many voices as we can to our assembly, so that every voice may be heard, and heard as one voice. One voice, united, that can not be divided.
Until this week, many of us did not know each other. Many of us had never even met. Have we passed one another on the street before now? If we did, we may not have seen each other as the brothers and sisters that we are. But things have changed in this country, and now, we see. And what we see is beautiful. Now we see that although we may look different from each other, and speak differently, and we may live in different neighborhoods and lead different lives – now we see that these things no longer matter. These things no longer matter because we are no longer divergent in our intent. Our intent is to stand together as one people. We are taking the first step, together, to directly challenge the right of the status quo to go on as it has. We are no longer content to ignore the truth, and we are no longer content to be ignored.
-
Rumors have been sweeping through the nascent Occupy Richmond movement concerning alleged orders by Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones explicitly directing Richmond Police to enforce all encampment restrictions in city parks. This is a clearly a move designed to allay the concerns and support the 1% who bankroll and dominate the city’s agenda. As a group of citizens united against the kind of unwarranted influence exerted by rich and powerful interests in city government for too long, we would not expect Mr. Jones to take our side.
However, we would also remind Mayor Jones and the police of our rights — rights enumerated in the constitutions of the United States and Virginia. These documents don’t just entitle us to the kinds of actions we will undertake today; they underlie any legitimate authority Jones or the police would lawfully exercise. Momentary bureaucratic policies and foolish kneejerk reactions are immaterial in comparison. Our rights to assembly, speech, and petitioning for the redress of our grievances are not diminished simply because it becomes politically or administratively inconvenient.
If the Occupy Richmond movement alarms the rich and powerful, perhaps they can help the 1% address our concerns and come to a more balanced arrangement with the 99%. Genuine engagement of these concerns would represent the kind of leadership the city needs right now, unlike clumsily cracking down on one’s own constituents.
We The People of the United States of America stand in Solidarity with one another in defense of our Constitutional rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to Free Speech, Expression, and Assembly. These rights have been explicitly and intentionally denied by individuals elected to office to represent we the people; as this representation has failed to uphold our rights, we must contest the validity and intent of this representation. Therefore, We The People will adhere to the Constitution in lieu of any legislation or special process that prevents us from the unalienable guarantee of our aforementioned rights. Consequentially we may be arrested. We may be purposefully impeded. We will not be silenced. We will Occupy, in line with the foundations of the formation of these United States, and dismiss any attempts to prevent us therein. Unity will fortify our principles and Solidarity will supplement our cause; totalitarianism has no place in our democracy, community, or existence. You may try to strip the leaves of purpose from our collective conscience, but like the aspen tree we exist as one, deep rooted and communal. We do not fail. As such, we respectfully demand suspension of all encampment restrictions and regulations. This is an important movement in the history of humanity, one seeking to restore a sense of community discourse into the fabric of society. Any harmful actions against this restoration are crimes against humanity and will not be tolerated. Civil Disobedience is a powerful tool, and tools exist for implementation. So implement WE will. Give us liberty or give us…
Occupy Richmond does not recognize Mayor Jones proclamation as legitimate, because we do not recognize a political establishment that places the well being of political careers before that of the rights of the people. The Mayor has issued this decree in direct opposition to the rights of the people to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom from illegal search and seizure. As conscientious members of a free society, it is both our freedom and our responsibility to address those institutions, individuals and ideas that threaten or impede those freedoms. We, the people, intend to assert our rights to those freedoms we have stated. We have made no threat to the disruption of civil society. We have made no threat of violence, nor have we threatened the security of property. We have been law abiding citizens. We have lived, worked, and attended school here in Richmond and in Virginia. We have not participated in the corruption or fundamental undermining of the American political system. We are taking our place in line behind the men and women who have defended this nation since it’s inception. We do not do it with bullets, bombs, missiles or money. We do it with ideas and ideas are bulletproof.
We are not thugs, or hippies, or beatniks, or dropouts, or any other label you would like to stick on us. We are simply the people of Richmond, Virginia, and we are citizens of the United States. We wish to assemble peacefully and cooperatively in our city, as is our right. We wish to assemble peacefully in public space in order to bring attention to the blatant corruption of our broken system. We wish to draw as many people and as many voices as we can to our assembly, so that every voice may be heard, and heard as one voice. One voice, united, that can not be divided.
Until this week, many of us did not know each other. Many of us had never even met. Have we passed one another on the street before now? If we did, we may not have seen each other as the brothers and sisters that we are. But things have changed in this country, and now, we see. And what we see is beautiful. Now we see that although we may look different from each other, and speak differently, and we may live in different neighborhoods and lead different lives – now we see that these things no longer matter. These things no longer matter because we are no longer divergent in our intent. Our intent is to stand together as one people. We are taking the first step, together, to directly challenge the right of the status quo to go on as it has. We are no longer content to ignore the truth, and we are no longer content to be ignored.
Rumors have been sweeping through the nascent Occupy Richmond movement concerning alleged orders by Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones explicitly directing Richmond Police to enforce all encampment restrictions in city parks. This is a clearly a move designed to allay the concerns and support the 1% who bankroll and dominate the city’s agenda. As a group of citizens united against the kind of unwarranted influence exerted by rich and powerful interests in city government for too long, we would not expect Mr. Jones to take our side.
However, we would also remind Mayor Jones and the police of our rights — rights enumerated in the constitutions of the United States and Virginia. These documents don’t just entitle us to the kinds of actions we will undertake today; they underlie any legitimate authority Jones or the police would lawfully exercise. Momentary bureaucratic policies and foolish kneejerk reactions are immaterial in comparison. Our rights to assembly, speech, and petitioning for the redress of our grievances are not diminished simply because it becomes politically or administratively inconvenient.
If the Occupy Richmond movement alarms the rich and powerful, perhaps they can help the 1% address our concerns and come to a more balanced arrangement with the 99%. Genuine engagement of these concerns would represent the kind of leadership the city needs right now, unlike clumsily cracking down on one’s own constituents.
Here is my list of demands…
1. Break up the monopolies. The so-called “Too Big to Fail” financial companies – now sometimes called by the more accurate term “Systemically Dangerous Institutions” – are a direct threat to national security. They are above the law and above market consequence, making them more dangerous and unaccountable than a thousand mafias combined. There are about 20 such fir…ms in America, and they need to be dismantled; a good start would be to repeal the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and mandate the separation of insurance companies, investment banks and commercial banks.
2. Pay for your own bailouts. A tax of 0.1 percent on all trades of stocks and bonds and a 0.01 percent tax on all trades of derivatives would generate enough revenue to pay us back for the bailouts, and still have plenty left over to fight the deficits the banks claim to be so worried about. It would also deter the endless chase for instant profits through computerized insider-trading schemes like High Frequency Trading, and force Wall Street to go back to the job it’s supposed to be doing, i.e., making sober investments in job-creating businesses and watching them grow.
3. No public money for private lobbying. A company that receives a public bailout should not be allowed to use the taxpayer’s own money to lobby against him. You can either suck on the public teat or influence the next presidential race, but you can’t do both. Butt out for once and let the people choose the next president and Congress.
4. Tax hedge-fund gamblers. For starters, we need an immediate repeal of the preposterous and indefensible carried-interest tax break, which allows hedge-fund titans like Stevie Cohen and John Paulson to pay taxes of only 15 percent on their billions in gambling income, while ordinary Americans pay twice that for teaching kids and putting out fires. I defy any politician to stand up and defend that loophole during an election year.
5. Change the way bankers get paid. We need new laws preventing Wall Street executives from getting bonuses upfront for deals that might blow up in all of our faces later. It should be: You make a deal today, you get company stock you can redeem two or three years from now. That forces everyone to be invested in his own company’s long-term health – no more Joe Cassanos pocketing multimillion-dollar bonuses for destroying the AIGs of the world.
Great ideas. Nice to see someone so well versed on the issues.
with all the money youve been able to raise…why dont you run for office (virginia state representatives and senators) and make change that way as well. i plan to come out and i want to bring up this idea as well.
The corporations that took the bailouts should be repaying them.
The speculators on wall street that see a hurricane in the bahamas and raise our fuel prices because they think it might effect us should be fired.
The oil companies record profits should be used to lower the prices. They should not be allowed to reduce the suppy in order to raise the prices sighting the demand is higher than the supply.
AAA Mid Atlantic should be held accountable for their fraudulent survey plan that has cost so many towers their livlihoods just so they can line their own pockets putting in their own trucks and repair shops, how are they non profit anyway?
The politicians should show us what they are doing for us, and when their term is up, they can get the additional pay based on what they have done. They are suppose to be working for the people, not working to line their own pockets.
The politicians that sight how much they saved us at the expense of not upkeeping the wonderful pothole filled roads, should lose their jobs.
And where is all the money from the lottery that went to education and roads? anyone know where that went?