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Occupy the Farm Events May 12 – 13 & May 10 Update

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Albany, CA.  May 10, 2012 at approximately noon, the UCPD closed off the last remaining pedestrian access to the Gill Tract by chaining and locking the gate at San Pablo and Marin Avenues.  For the past 24 hours, that gate had remained open, and despite a heavy police presence people had been able to enter and exit freely through it.

This represents the latest in a series of measures taken by the UC Administration to force the Farmers off of this piece of public farmland.  To date, the UCPD has cut off all water to the Gill Tract, incapacitated the fire hydrant on the land, placed concrete barriers around the land preventing vehicular access, and locked all entrances shut.  Farmers note that these actions threaten more than just their plants: that in this dry, windy weather, which poses a high fire-risk, there are no working fire hydrants on the land, and significantly restricted access points for firefighters and exits for people on the land.

Farmers are upset that the UC Administration is preventing scientists from carrying out their research on the Gill Tract.  For the second day, UC Berkeley Professor Miguel Altieri has come to the Gill Tract to attempt to plant his crops. Whereas the Gill Tract Farmers Collective has directly assisted Altieri with his planting effort, the UCPD has physically prevented him from planting his dry-farmed tomato crop, saying he has no “authorization” to do his research.  Professor Altieri says that he is “disappointed that the University has missed this opportunity to acknowledge that a coexistence of researchers and occupiers is possible, and that they have blocked access to my experimental plot.”

Supporters are encouraged to bring food, drinking water, large water containers such as gallon jugs, duct tape, and farming supplies to pass to people inside the fence.  Supporters are also being encouraged to bring camping supplies, to stay overnight, and help maintain a permanent presence outside the fence to defend and supply the farmers inside.
The Gill Tract Farm’s 3 Week Anniversary Party!

This weekend is a critical moment. Come ready to work and envision. Support the Gill Tract against UC police threats and 14 new lawsuits

**Sat 5pm: Visioning Meeting for the Future of the Farm** (co-sponsored by Phat Beets, Planting Justice, Albany Farm Alliance)

Sun 1-3pm: Colorful Mamas of the 99% – Mothers’ Day Brunch and Children’s March

All Weekend: Live Music, Farm Work, Soil Remediation, Workshops, Kids Fun

Workshops

Saturday

  • 11-1pm Bio Remediation (Ralph)
  • 1-3pm Bike Workshop (Jose and Others)
  • 1pm Historical Lessons: The South Central Farm in LA (Alex Tarr and Meleiza Figueroa)
  • 2pm Food Crisis and the Role of Food Movements (Annie Shattuck and Eric Holt-Giménez)
  • 5pm Visioning Meeting For the Future of the Farm (co-sponsored by Phat Beets, Planting Justice, Albany Farm Alliance)
  • 3pm Setting up a CSA (Matt McCue, Shooting Star CSA)
  • 4pm First Aid 101 for the Farm (Occupy Medics)
  • 8:30pm Movie Showing


Sunday

  • 1-3pm Protest Tactics for Teens to Adults (Anka)
  • Sun 1-3pm: Colorful Mamas of the 99% – Mothers’ Day Brunch and Children’s March
  • 3-5pm Nuts and Bolts of Community Organizing (Boomer)
  • 7:30pm Photo Exhibit of Farm Photographs

#occupythefarm #takebackthetract #otf

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Stop using Facebook and Twitter, use iGoBig.org to communicate

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I support the Occupy wallstreet movement, but have a huge problem with people ranting and not offering up a solution. I have a solution. What is so ironic is that you ask people to follow you on Facebook and twitter. These two social media platforms represent the very thing that you are against. Does Facebook share its profits with its users, no! And yet by using these platforms you are supporting the very thing that youu stand against. Facebook does offer you a free profile page, but beyond that it exploits its users, without its users, what is the product that facebook sells. Its the users time spent on Facebook that is turned into revenue. And does facebook give back to their user’s, hardly.
So whats my solution. A non profit social network that gives its profits back to its users and public education (future users). iGoBig.org does just that, empowering it’s users and givening it’s profits to public education. If everyone in the Occupy wallstreet movement started using iGoBig.org instead of Facebook to communicate, the movement would flourish. iGobig.org is about to launch our iphone App, and our user empowered advertising program will follow shortly thereafter. For further information about iGoBig.org or to schedule a speaking engagnement or meeting, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Sincerely,
John Garrett
Director of Public Engagements
johngarrett@igobig.org

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OccupyTheFarm – The Gill Tract Farm Solidarity March – 5/9/12 Photos

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OccupyTheFarm – The Gill Tract Farm Solidarity March – 5/9/12 Photos

 

Want to speak with Vice Chancellor Dan Mogoluf directly? Call his personal cell phone at (510) 919-6954 and tell him that you support the Occupiers and that…

Farmland is for farming, not developers!

Occupy the Farm on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-the-Farm/342929665770200

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Occupy the Farm – all night May 9-10

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Mobilize tonight, May 9th-10th, for an entire night of farming, potluck, and to maintain and preserve open access to the land.

March from North Berkeley BART at 6:30 PM. (See map below) We will be farming all night long, continuing the water march to make sure that our food crops grow healthy and strong!

Come in shifts or stay the whole night. Sleep in a tent on the tract or outside of the gates.

Poncho Ramos will help facilitate a midnight meditation on the agricultural land at midnight.

Farmland is for farming. Public land is for public use.

Click Image for directions to the Farm: San Pablo Avenue and Marin, in Albany, CA

Click image for Farm directions: San Pablo Avenue and Marin, in Albany, CA

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Rally at OPD against the murder of Alan Buford

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This Friday, May 11th, there will be an action in front of the OPD Station at 7th and Broadway to protest and bring light to the murder of 18 year old Alan Buford this past weekend. It will begin at 5pm and will include such speakers as Jack Bryson from Occupy Oakland amongst others.Y

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LONG LIVE THE GILL TRACT FARM – SOLIDARITY MARCH TONIGHT!

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*Meet at North Berkeley BART (Acton and Delaware St.) at 6 PM TONIGHT, 5/9. We will march to the Gill Tract Farm!*
At 6:30 AM this morning, UC Police arrived at the Gill Tract Farm in Albany. They set up cement barricades to block entrances to the land, announced that ‘chemical agents’ would be used against those who interfered, and as of now are still mobilized around the farm with riot gear and zip ties. No arrests have been made.
If you haven’t yet had a chance to experience the farm – or if you’ve been there since the occupation began – tonight is the night for us to mobilize in support of this beautiful project. Meet at North Berkeley BART at 6:00 PM (Acton and Delaware St.) and we will march to the Gill Tract Farm to support our comrades, the land and food sovereignty. Bring banners, signs, warm clothes, tents and sleeping gear (if you’d like to stay overnight)!
The UCPD has been issuing daily warnings to occupiers since the occupation began. Today, they escalated these warnings by barricading entrances to the farm, where they remain mobilized. Let’s show UC administrators and UCPD that we will not be intimidated. FARMLAND IS FOR FARMING!
History:
On Earth Day, April 22, hundreds of urban farming advocates – including community members, students and occupiers – reclaimed the five-acre plot known as Gill Tract, planting rows of vegetables, establishing a youth garden and building community in a sustainable and peaceful way.
The land represents one of the only agricultural spaces with ‘class-one’ soil left in the East Bay. UC Berkeley administrators would prefer to develop the plot, ignoring the work and voices of community members for at least the last decade. In 2000, the Bay Area Coalition for Urban Agriculture presented a proposal to the university for the creation of the ‘world’s first university center on sustainable urban agriculture and food systems.’ It was ignored, as was a later one presented in 2005 by Urban Roots to create the Village Creek Farm and Gardens, ‘a farm that would provide Bay Area students from preschool to community college and university with an educational resource par excellence.’
Urban Agriculture:
From UCB Professors Miguel A. Altieri (Agroecology) and Claudia J. Carr (Environmental Science):
“The rapid urbanization that is taking place in the Bay Area goes hand in hand with a rapid increase in urban poverty and food insecurity, a situation aggravated by the economic crisis affecting California. Half a million people are at risk of hunger every month. About 38 percent of them are children…Many low-income urban residents in the Bay Area reside in ‘food deserts,’ i.e. in areas having limited access to affordable and nutritious food, particularly in lower income neighborhoods and communities.
The benefits of urban agriculture go beyond producing food: they extend to the promotion of local economic development, poverty alleviation and social inclusion of the poor — and of women, in particular. Urban agriculture also contributes to the urban ecosystem by greening the city, productively reusing urban wastes, conserving pollinators and wildlife, and saving energy involved in the transport of food (in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions!).”
From ‘Occupy the Farm’:
“We are reclaiming this land to grow healthy food to meet the needs of local communities. We envision a future of food sovereignty, in which our East Bay communities make use of available land – occupying it where necessary – for sustainable agriculture to meet local needs. This particular plot of land is very special:
– These are the last acres of Class One soil left in the urbanized East Bay. Ninety percent of the original land has been paved over and developed, irreverisibly contaminating the land.
– Students, professors, and community have fought for decades to save this amazing land from development and use it for sustainable agriculture.
– UCB capital projects currently administors this land and has slated it for rezoning and redevelopment in 2013 (i.e. supermarkets, parking lots, and apartments).
– The University uses the land to research corn genetics. This research can be conducted anywhere as opposed to this unique site.”

UCPD, WE DON’T NEED YOU!

FARMLAND IS FOR FARMING!

LONG LIVE THE GILL TRACT FARM!


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Update: Occupy Farm Say Police Plan No Arrests as of 8:30 am 5/9/12

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Re-posted from the Patch
UPDATE, 8:27 a.m.

Activists are planting dry farm tomatoes in Miguel Altieri’s plots in the Gill Tract after a flurry of activity this morning when police closed off one entrance to the site and brought in concrete barriers.

(See tweets and photographs from the morning here via Albany Patch.)

Lesley Haddock of Occupy the Farm said police told activists they weren’t planning to arrest anyone today, but that they were planning to evict people from the Gill Tract.

“It looks like we’ll be able to continue farming,” she said. “We’re still picking up our shovels and helping Miguel Altieri with his planting.”

Altieri had announced plans to visit the Gill Tract with a group of students this morning to work with activists to plant about 1,500 dry-farm tomatoes.

He said his goal had been to show the university that research and the occupation could coexist, but that he wasn’t sure about bringing in his students given the police presence. Altieri, a professor since 1981, said he didn’t want to put any of them in harm’s way, or put them in a position that would threaten their coursework.

Activists have been taking down Altieri’s cover crop of fava beans, and digging up the soil in his plots to plant tomatoes.

Altieri added that “all the other researchers” on the Gill Tract are adjunct faculty affiliated with the USDA.

“They don’t have an academic title,” he told several filmmakers. “I’m the only one. They don’t have the same rights.”

Around 7:30 a.m., activists coordinated to move many tents and camp items to the lot south of Village Creek.

Altieri said that had been “the plan all along,” to leave the agricultural land clear for the other researchers.

He said he didn’t know if the activists planned to stay on the southern lot or not.

Multiple news agencies and helicopters came to the site to report on the morning’s police activity.

University of California police officers remained around the site, keeping watch over the entrances and filming people who walked in and out of the site on the eastern side of the access road.

They had closed off the western entrance to the side, near Ocean View School, but left the eastern entrance to the access road slightly open to allow people to enter and exit.

Just after the police arrived, several activists piled up sleeping bags and other posessions on the outside of the Gill Tract fence. They said they removed them from the site to protect them from seizure.

As of 8:45 a.m., it appeared that at least 40 people remained at the site working and preparing for the day.

6:47 a.m.

An early-morning text went out from Occupy the Farm on Wednesday describing developing police activity at the Gill Tract.

According to the 6:24 a.m. message, “UC police just locked the West gate to the Farm. They barricaded the East gate to San Pablo. No arrests but ‘chemical agents’ will be used on those who interfere.”

A second message followed just before 6:40 a.m.: “Looks like UCPD is staging to raid the Farm. Please mobilize. Come to the Gill Tract if you can.”

Via AnonCodeframe on Twitter: “URGENT! #ucpd locking entrances to #OccupyTheFarm with ulocks and padlocks! Threatened use of chemical agents if interfered with. We need people down here NOW”

AnonCodeframe said he or she would be “live-streaming” from the Gill Tract, as of 6:11 a.m., but the page for the live stream was down as of 6:37 a.m. with the following message: “The service is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”

Another live stream was broadcasting as of 6:45 a.m.

This story will be updated as soon as possible, but visit Albany Patch on Twitter for updates, or check #occupythefarm search results.

Click the “Keep me posted” button below for an update when we publish future stories on this topic. Read more on Albany Patch about the Gill Tract occupation.

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ALERT!! SUPPORT NEEDED!: The Farm is being raided by UCPD 5/9/12 7:11am

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Click Image for directions to the Farm: San Pablo Avenue and Marin, in Albany, CA

Click image for Farm directions: San Pablo Avenue and Marin, in Albany, CA

According to the Occupy Oakland alert system we been informed that early today 5/9/2012 the farm is being raid.

Here are the messages:

5/9/2012 6:24am: “UC police just locked the West gate to the Farm They barricaded the East gate to San Pablo. No arrests but “chemical agents” will be used on those who interfere”

5/9/2012 6:38am: “Looks like UCPD is staging to raid the Farm. Please mobilize. Come to the Gill Tract if you can.”

5/9/2012 7:03am:  “All of the gates to the farm are blocked. But the fence is not that high. Local residents mobilizing in front of Albany city hall.7:03am

5/9/2012 7:11am: “Occupy the Farm is being raided right now. Please support if you can.”

 

 

Photos taken 4/28/12, more at this location: http://occupyoakland.org/2012/04/occupythefarm-family-weekend-at-the-gill-tract-urban-farm-saturday-4282012-photos/

 

On the news about the raid: http://albany.patch.com/articles/gill-tract-activists-uc-locks-gates-threatens-use-of-chemical-agents

 

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Foreclosure Defense Group Update – May 5, 2012

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FORECLOSURE DEFENSE GROUP UPDATE – May 5, 2012

1. ACTION THIS THURSDAY!
2. OOFDG Debrief on Mayday DnR march
3. Updates: Emergency callout, Marquinita’s eviction, etc.
4. Upcoming: canvass, shifts in focus, la Fruitvale
5. CHECK THIS OUT! : Portland throws down!
6. GA announcement policy for OOFDG

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1. Action this Thursday: We are collaborating on a fight in the Fruitvale: a teacher who has had her hours cut back to the point that she is now fighting to keep her home. She and other homeowners have organized a collective action to put the bank on notice. Here’s the callout from ACCE:

“Folks:
ACCE Home Defenders have been ramping up again and getting ready to take action to stop sales and be part of the movement to demand that Banks reset mortgages to current market value or stop foreclosing on our neighborhoods and communities.
This Thursday, May 10th, Home Defenders are getting together with the Occupy Oakland Foreclosure Defense Group and other supporters to stop the sale of an Oakland resident and Adult Education Teacher who has had her hours severely reduced in part due to the economic downturn that the Big Banks helped to create. Now she is facing a sale date on her East Oakland home for May 15th and we are ready to fight to make sure this teacher, resident and activist isn’t the next casualty in the foreclosure crisis and as always, we can use your help!

What: Home Defense and “Move in” Action. The Bank is moving her out, so we plan to move into the Bank until they commit to stopping her sale

When: Thursday, May 10th @ 3pm

Location: We will be meeting in the parking lot behind the Peet’s Coffee off of Lakeshore Ave.

If there are any questions please email me or Lupe, ACCE’s new home defense organizer at lcazares@calorganize.org”

You want to face the banks? You want to get involved with an organizing crew in Oakland working in the neighborhoods in a real way? Come out!

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2. Mayday DnR march with the OOFDG: We turned out to support the march from start to finish. Over a 1000 flyers were handed out along the way. Our banner was in full effect as dozens of photographers stopped in their tracks to grab a shot of it and us. Positive feedback all the way round and we even had folks coming up to us asking us for our bilingual flyers.

[*Note: we have already received a hit off of the flyering effort, have visited with the homeowner and have initiated the strategizing and fight formulation process.)

¡Adelante!

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3. Reportbacks: last week’s Emergency Callout: We received an emergency email from a 77 yr old woman in Walnut Creek last Sunday before last about an impending eviction coming Monday 6am. you might recall the alert we sent out to our lists and online summoning people to back her up as she faced down the Sheriffs. A member from Oakland got out there plus three folks from Vallejo answered the call getting up to drive out there at 5 in the freaking morning! [big props to the Occupy the Yard crew from Vallejo!] Ms. Aguero, her daughter a total of 5 allies turned the sheriffs around convincing them to examine the eviction documentation that the family claims are illegal and the fruit of a fraudulent foreclosure and in violation of the protections of the bankruptcy that is in place. They now have until May 17th to regroup and fight back. This is what is possible with solidarity. Real solidarity. …. To get into these fights in this real way, be a part of our emergency response text alert system and text “ooforeclosure” to 69302. …

Update on an earlier emergency callout: You all might remember the case of Ms. Marquinita, the east Oakland woman who came to a GA and made her appeal directly to OO to help her fight an eviction. Folks responded and the OOFDG wasn’t there in the house at first but lent a hand in the sending of legal resource and fightback counsel tyo aid in what turned out to be a struggle over a will with other family members. A group of occupiers and local squatters offering support and defense turned the sheriffs back and gave her an opening to seek legal counsel and redress. She decided on her own course of action but alas was evicted on Monday, May 4th. Even though this isn’t a foreclosure case and is pretty complicated we have a member accompanying her to the County Recorders office this week to help with her personal fight. Yeah it sucks. And yeah it’s complicated… but I never like seeing somebody put out.
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4. Neighborhood organizing: We are focusing on a sector of the Fruitvale. Individual fights are just little sparks in what is a forest fire of displacement and class warfare. We are moving towards neighborhood based organizing, towards collective fights and the creation of neighborhood councils. Social atomization and shame isolate people from each other, from solidarity, from real power. Why did we choose the Fruitvale? We didn’t. It chose us. Three fights in a row have come to us out of the same neighborhood.
We are canvassing now in an intensive way. If you are one of those that is good with people face to face, if you are one of those people that would like to be better organizing face to face, if you are tired of lipservice about “community” and want to get into the trenches, come to the members meeting 12:30 Sundays at the park, 19th St and Telegraph Avenue and join us -or- just reach out to the hotline 510.207.0182 or email: foreclosure@occupyoakland.org. You can bet that we will put you to work.

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5. CHECK THIS OUT!: Portland Steps It Up!

Mayday Foreclosure Occupation in Portland!

http://www.kptv.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7110835#

More here: http://www.liberatepdx.org/

Portland Liberation Organizing Council reoccupies Alicia Jackson’s home with her on Mayday. w00t!

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6. We pledged to regularly update the GA on our activity. We are modifying our commitment and are disclosing such publicly:
Due to time demands, the less than perfunctory operation of the GAs, and the limited content that we can deliver in a short standup announcement format, we will now be reporting back as we are able and as the urgency of upcoming actions and plans demands. We would be more than pleased if more committees were at GAs to facilitate the inter-organizing potentials between committees but as it stands it is a disproportionate demand on our time and members. We will announce and report though if any of our members are in attendance and feels so motivated.

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Owned & Operated + The Point & Why We Must Get To It

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Owned & Operated

OWNED & OPERATED (by Crackin Films)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njSV5LtVmR4

###

THE POINT & WHY WE MUST GET TO IT

The traditional Left/Right, Liberal/Conservative, Democrat/Republican dichotomy is a false and failing paradigm propagated by the powers-that-be to perpetuate division. The true political spectrum is not a straight line but a circle: There is a point where Far Left meets Far Right, where Anarchism merges with Libertarianism and these and the rest of our outmoded labels melt away. In that point must we place our hope, for only from that point can we build a better future.

NO MORE LEFT. NO MORE RIGHT. TIME TO UNITE. STAND AND FIGHT!

IronBoltBruce via VVV PR ( http://veritasvirtualvengeance.com | @vvvpr )

Related Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=powBwGDTR-Y

Show Your Support: https://www.wepay.com/donate/ironboltbruce

Tag: #ownedandoperated, #corporategreed, #fascism, #occupywallst, #occupy, #ows, #vvvpr

Key: owned & operated, corporate greed, fascism, occupy wall street, ows, vvv pr

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