FEB 6, 2012 – Occupy in a museum? That will be a display in the future at various museums in New York soon. ArtNet.com is reporting that the Smithsonian Institution, The New-York Historical Society and the Museum of Jewish Heritage and other cultural repositories are collecting buttons, posters, and other memorabilia from the Occupy movement.
They have also launched a photography show by photographer Accra Shepp called, "Occupy Wall Street: A Photographic document", that includes pictures of Occupy activists. Check out some pics and read more on ArtNet here.
NOV 11, 2011 – Legendary musical activist Joan Baez swore she would visit the Occupy Wall Street, and now she has kept to her word and has announced she would do a concert today from 1PM to 5PM, the 11/11/11 Veterans Day Concert and the slogan will be, "Honor the Dead, Fight Like Hell for the Living!" Tens of thousands are expected, and speakers will include Marine Sgt. Shamar Thomas who became famous for decrying police brutality against unarmed peaceful protesters, and other speakers. At first she wanted to hold the concert in Zuccotti Park, but officials balked at that, and Foley Square was chosen instead. JTMP will post videos of the concert when they are posted, so check back.
The visit to Zuccotti Park and impromptu acoustic guitar set by the legendary musical activists David Crosby and Graham Nash has generated a lot of buzz in the last 48 hours. Washington Post has a great article about it and music and Occupy here, and several more videos came out from their "concert" at Zuccotti Park.
NOV 5, 2011 – David Crosby, a musical activist for over 50 years, briefly visited Occupy Wall Street at Zuccotti Park yesterday. Perhaps like the song of his longtime bandmate Stephen Stills he was thinking, "Stop, Hey, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down!", and he wanted to see what was going down at Zuccotti Park with his own eyes. It looked like a show of support, and the word on the street says he hovered around the edge of the park near the drummers before venturing in and talking several of the peaceful Occupy activists. Check out some more pictures here, and watch him below playing with his bandmates Stills and Nash performing the Buffalo Springfield classic, "For What It's Worth".
OCT 28, 2011 – Bette Midler was on the Joy Behar show and said about the Occupy activists that "It's a good thing." When the subject of the Zuccotti Park residents and their complaints of sanitation in the area she said they should, "Chip in and buy some toilets, they're cheap. Porta-potties are cheap." Then she (joked?) that she would pay for the porta-potties.
They both talked about how they grew up in the 60s protests and Bette said, "We did it all the time. It was something you did because you were a citizen and you had something to say and you wanted to support your point of view."
As far as people on the right who are attacking the activists and calling them "dirty hippies" she says, "It's like they have taken a page out of 1969. So old school. Folks, 50 years have passed, get a new line." Watch the video below.
OCT 27, 2011 – Drummers have played a big role in marches and rallies for years, and have been an integral part of the Occupy movement in Zuccotti Park but have unfortunately recently been the center of a "controversy" of some kind and pose an early test of the "GAs" or general assemblies that have no central leadership where every person is respected and heard when meeting to make decisions and resolve issues and disputes. In a way it is like watching a new form of democracy emerge and evolve.
It all started when residents living near Zuccotti Park held community board meetings and asked the activists to curtail the drumming. The activists held GAs, and after deliberation it was agreed to limit the drumming for 2 hours during afternoon hours. Later however drummers said they felt slighted and not heard fairly, another GA was held and it was increased from 2 hours to 4. Some drummers have even "broke off" in a way from the main group and have stated they have no intention to limit their drumming, which they feel is their free speech. One activist drummer Elijah Moses told the Wall Street Journal, “We do respect the fact that you live here, but at the same time we are still activists. I’m not here to cater and negotiate, I’m not here to play tit-for-tat,” he said forcefully, fiddling with his drumsticks in one hand. “What I am here for is to make change.”
Many people who come to Zuccotti Park love the drums and dance to them, but some who come to the park complain that it prevents and drowns out soft poetry reading, acoustic guitar playing and other softer expressions of art and activism. They have stated that the drummers are virtually impossible to talk to, because they are pounding constantly and unresponsive to people trying to approach them and talk to them. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few weeks. JTMP will keep you posted on this. Here is a video on the issue:
OCT 24, 2011 – Sean Lennon, along with Gasland director Josh Fox, sang "Material Girl" in Zuccotti Park in a show of solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protesters and movement, and they also spoke out against "fracking" which has severely impacted New York.
To view the video please click on icon or this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZeYhTE3TAg
