FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCCUPY NATIONAL GATHERING UPDATE
Nate Kleinman: 215.264.0446
Dustin Slaughter: 213.999.5118
Larry Swetman: 404.386.7475
Lisa Ricci: 610.304.6783
Email: [email protected]
Website: occupynationalgathering.com
The Occupy National Gathering: Five days of Peace, Love, and Democracy commences this Saturday, June 30th in Philadelphia, with workshops, guest speakers and a multitude of direct actions throughout the five-day event. This event will reflect - and strengthen - the bonds activists share as they continue the struggle to end corporate corruption, income inequality, and a host of other issues, while upholding the right of all people to assemble peacefully for a redress of political grievances, as stated in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
●The Occupy National Gathering kicks off on June 30th with a creative direct action in opposition to Corporate Personhood.
●Exact location(s) where protesters will be sleeping will not be publicly announced. We
may take city sidewalks outside of Too Big to Fail Banks in protest of the unabated crimes these institutions continue to commit, as well as in solidarity with our homeless brothers and sisters.
●Confirmed speakers include Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and bestselling author Chris Hedges, Rolling Stone reporter and best-selling author Matt Taibbi, Reverend Billy from The Church of Stop Shopping, Alexa O’Brien (a Wikileaks journalist and expert on the Bradley Manning trial), Alexis Goldstein (an organizer with Occupy Wall Street’s “Stop Bank of America” campaign), David Gespass (President of the NLG), and Neill Franklin (ex-director of LEAP).
●There will be daily workshops and teach-ins during the first four days of the Gathering, ranging from economic education to a people’s legal collective. There will be topics of interest for the casual observer as well as the “die-hard” occupier.
●Each evening beginning on July 1st, attendees assemble to begin crafting a people’s blueprint for building a democratic future. By the end of the Gathering on July 4th, this “blueprint” will be a loose guide for occupations across the country to begin working collectively and nationally on movement goals participants deem most important. This should not be construed as a list of demands.
●The Occupy Guitarmy will lead a 99-mile march from Philadelphia to Wall Street on July 5th to deliver this new blueprint to the doorstep of corporate greed and criminality.