Occupy Oakland takes to the streets once again with an agenda that the whole worl can relate to…….LOVE!

[ Caution: Videos in this post may contain language not suitable for work.] Police teargas Oakland protesters at May Day general strike Around 400 protesters have been confronted by police who used tear gas, causing hundreds to scatter on May 1. Some activists blocked streets throughout the day and vandalized two banks, a news van and police vehicle. Nine people were taken into custody in Oakland, California, after hundreds of people took to the streets. Police reportedly used Taser against at least one of them. Officers ordered protesters out of the street after firing the tear gas and “flash-bang” grenades. RT’s correspondent Madina Kochenova has the latest from Los Angeles. Occupy Oakland May 1st 2012 Flash grenades, riot police and a smashed channel 5 news van. Anarchists Storm Bank of the West in Oakland 5-1-2012 A group of Black Bloc anarchists go on a rampage inside a branch office of a Bank of the West. Aside from the bad publicity this gives to the Occupy movement, the anarchists run off and blend in with the large crowds outside and innocent peaceful activists could be mistaken for one of them and be not only arrested, but possibly injured by violent police actions. Yet somehow, they continue to believe this sort of vandalism is “okay.” Snatch and Grab, Arrests, and Tear Gas at Occupy Oakland 5-1-2012 In the beginning of the video, police are seen pulling an individual off of her bike onto the ground, and arresting her. Occupy Detroit Marches for May Day Occupy Detroit protesters march to recognize the international holiday that originated in the US called May Day. They began the hike at Patton Park and ended at Grand Circus Park with brief rallies a locations on the way including the abandoned Michigan Central Train Depot. As it’s Detroit, there was dancing and rap music, naturally.

old Lady dancing To Rack City during the Oakland Occupy…

Ron Jones is live in Oakland with latest on the MAYDAY protests turning violent. Cast: Kenny Holmes Tags: CBS , Sacramento , Oakland , occupy , mayday , riot , violent , ron jones , kenny holmes and arrest

Ron Jones is live in Oakland with latest on the MAYDAY protests turning violent. Cast: Kenny Holmes Tags: CBS , Sacramento , Oakland , occupy , mayday , riot , violent , ron jones , kenny holmes and arrest

Turnout for the Occupy movement’s May Day protests was respectable in New York and Chicago. In some West Coast cities, police resorted to tear gas or pepper spray. Did the movement do itself any favors during its relaunch on Tuesday? The Occupy movement joined the world’s busy May Day schedule Tuesday, in hopes of jump-starting a movement that had languished over the winter months. In their quest to regain the media buzz of their early tent-powered days, Occupyers in Chicago chanted anticorporate slogans at a downtown Bank of America office, and in Manhattans Madison Square Park, intellectuals held a free university. Police in Oakland, Calif., fired tear gas and in Seattle they pepper-sprayed protesters. While crowds were sizable in cities from New York to Oakland, analysts say the Occupy movement faces an uphill battle, in part because some protest groups have adopted tactics that confront law enforcement officers or disrupt the lives of average people. I would give the effort a B, says George Ciccariello-Maher, a professor of politics and history at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Although turnout was more than respectable in major cities such as New York and Chicago, the Occupy activists will have to work hard to overcome the media images of such things as the bridge bomb plot in Ohio and the various skirmishes with police, he says. In all, about 66 people were arrested during the Occupy protests nationwide 30 of those arrests in New York City. The movement has challenges going forward, says Catherine Wilson, a political scientist at Villanova University in Philadelphia. From the use of tear gas on Occupy supporters in Oakland to vandalism in the streets of Seattle, the May Day events showcased a range of skirmishes between movement participantsand law enforcement, she says via e-mail, adding thatthere were incidences of disrupting trafficand ferry service in other parts of the nation. While some of the incidences point to legitimate cases of civil disobedience, she notes, others like vandalism demonstrate the difficulty of monitoring the actions of those whomay have ulterior motivesin ‘showing up’ to rallies and other direct actions advanced by social movements.” While turnout Tuesday was less than at demonstrations last fall, the solidarity actions across the country hint at where the movement goes from here, says Professor Wilson. In partnering with labor and immigrant rights activists on May Day, the Occupy movementdisplayed its interest in expanding his core group of allies, she says. This expansion is a necessary feature of coalition advocacy, she notes, in which like-minded groups work alongside one another to advance each other’s causes. In Los Angeles, several thousand protesters marched from the four compass points of the city to converge in downtown Pershing Square Park. At the same time, Occupy activists joined a union local in trying to shut down Los Angeles International Airport. The action closed Terminal 4 for about an hour an underachievement compared with the aim. But media spokeswoman Lisa Clapier nonetheless characterized the event as hugely successful,” noting that it “reminded people of the reasons Occupy began in the first place, namely income inequality and corporate greed.

Turnout for the Occupy movement’s May Day protests was respectable in New York and Chicago. In some West Coast cities, police resorted to tear gas or pepper spray. Did the movement do itself any favors during its relaunch on Tuesday? The Occupy movement joined the world’s busy May Day schedule Tuesday, in hopes of jump-starting a movement that had languished over the winter months. In their quest to regain the media buzz of their early tent-powered days, Occupyers in Chicago chanted anticorporate slogans at a downtown Bank of America office, and in Manhattans Madison Square Park, intellectuals held a free university. Police in Oakland, Calif., fired tear gas and in Seattle they pepper-sprayed protesters. While crowds were sizable in cities from New York to Oakland, analysts say the Occupy movement faces an uphill battle, in part because some protest groups have adopted tactics that confront law enforcement officers or disrupt the lives of average people. I would give the effort a B, says George Ciccariello-Maher, a professor of politics and history at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Although turnout was more than respectable in major cities such as New York and Chicago, the Occupy activists will have to work hard to overcome the media images of such things as the bridge bomb plot in Ohio and the various skirmishes with police, he says. In all, about 66 people were arrested during the Occupy protests nationwide 30 of those arrests in New York City. The movement has challenges going forward, says Catherine Wilson, a political scientist at Villanova University in Philadelphia. From the use of tear gas on Occupy supporters in Oakland to vandalism in the streets of Seattle, the May Day events showcased a range of skirmishes between movement participantsand law enforcement, she says via e-mail, adding thatthere were incidences of disrupting trafficand ferry service in other parts of the nation. While some of the incidences point to legitimate cases of civil disobedience, she notes, others like vandalism demonstrate the difficulty of monitoring the actions of those whomay have ulterior motivesin ‘showing up’ to rallies and other direct actions advanced by social movements.” While turnout Tuesday was less than at demonstrations last fall, the solidarity actions across the country hint at where the movement goes from here, says Professor Wilson. In partnering with labor and immigrant rights activists on May Day, the Occupy movementdisplayed its interest in expanding his core group of allies, she says. This expansion is a necessary feature of coalition advocacy, she notes, in which like-minded groups work alongside one another to advance each other’s causes. In Los Angeles, several thousand protesters marched from the four compass points of the city to converge in downtown Pershing Square Park. At the same time, Occupy activists joined a union local in trying to shut down Los Angeles International Airport. The action closed Terminal 4 for about an hour an underachievement compared with the aim. But media spokeswoman Lisa Clapier nonetheless characterized the event as hugely successful,” noting that it “reminded people of the reasons Occupy began in the first place, namely income inequality and corporate greed.

Global Revolution is livestreaming from multiple locations, inluding New York City: Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com Occupy Oakland livestreaming : Watch live streaming video from occupyoakland at livestream.com Live from London: Watch live streaming video from occupylsx at livestream.com Boston : Watch live streaming video from occupyboston at livestream.com Detroit: Watch live streaming video from detroit99 at livestream.com Look here to find livestream links for too numerous to list locations.

(Reuters) – Oakland police used “an overwhelming military-type response” to disperse Occupy Oakland demonstrators and fired at a former Marine and Iraq war veteran who was critically injured in the clashes in October, according to a report issued on Monday. The report by an outside monitor of the Oakland Police Department came one day before anti-Wall Street protesters plan nationwide rallies on …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2012 Occupy the Farm Activists Reclaim Prime Urban Agricultural Land in SF Bay Area Contact: GillTractFarm@riseup.net (Albany, Calif.), April 22, 2012 – Occupy the Farm, a coalition of local residents, farmers, students, researchers, and activists are planting over 15,000 seedlings at the Gill Tract, the last remaining 10 acres of Class I agricultural soil in the urbanized East Bay area. The Gill Tract is public land administered by the University of California, which plans to sell it to private developers. For decades the UC has thwarted attempts by community members to transform the site for urban sustainable agriculture and hands-on education. With deliberate disregard for public interest, the University administrators plan to pave over this prime agricultural soil for commercial retail space, a Whole Foods, and a parking lot. “For ten years people in Albany have tried to turn the Gill Tract into an Urban Farm and a more open space for the community. The people in the Bay Area deserve to use this treasure of land for an urban farm to help secure the future of our children,” explains Jackie Hermes-Fletcher, an Albany resident and public school teacher for 38 years. Occupy the Farm seeks to address structural problems with health and inequalities in the Bay Area that stem from communities’ lack of access to food and land. Today’s action reclaims the Gill Tract to demonstrate and exercise the peoples’ right to use public space for the public good. This farm will serve as a hub for urban agriculture, a healthy and affordable food source for Bay Area residents and an educational center. “Every piece of uncontaminated urban land needs to be farmed if we are to reclaim control over how food is grown, where it comes from, and who it goes to,” says Anya Kamenskaya, UC Berkeley alum and educator of urban agriculture. “We can farm underutilized spaces such as these to create alternatives to the corporate control of our food system.” UC Berkeley has decided to privatize this unique public asset for commercial retail space, and, ironically, a high-end grocery store. This is only the latest in a string of privatization schemes. Over the last several decades, the university has increasingly shifted use of the Gill Tract away from sustainable agriculture and towards biotechnology with funding from corporations such as Novartis and BP. Frustrated that traditional dialogue has fallen on deaf ears, many of these same local residents, students, and professors have united as Occupy the Farm to Take Back the Gill Tract. This group is working to empower communities to control their own resilient food systems for a stable and just future – a concept and practice known as food sovereignty. Occupy the Farm is in solidarity with Via Campesina and the Movimiento Sin Tierra (Landless Workers Movement). The Gill Tract is located at the Berkeley-Albany border, at the intersection of San Pablo Ave and Marin Ave. • Join us: Come dressed to work! We need people to help till the soil, plant seedlings, teach workshops, and more. • Donate/lend: We need shovels, rakes, pickaxes, rototillers, drip irrigation tape, gloves, hats, food, and anything else farming related! • Monetary donations can be sent through our website at www.takebackthetract.com (via reclaimUC )