Occupy 2.0 cannot be evicted
This morning, Occupy LSX found out that the courts have turned down their appeals, which leaves them wide open to eviction very soon. Yet the atmosphere at the camp is far from despondent. Many will make a point of peaceful resistance when the eviction comes, but all are well aware that this movement has long moved on from being something in tents outside a big church.
As I write, the eviction working group has leapt into action, making sure that all the movement's valuable props and tools are moved to safety and the welfare working group are engaged in ensuring that the many homeless and vulnerable who have been welcomed and supported by Occupy LSX are being supported through official organizations.
The City of London Corporation is already too late to stop the Occupy momentum. Occupy 2.0 is up and running with many and various forms of outreach, including lectures in universities (Caius College in Cambridge hosted Occupy last week) and Occupy Citizenship workshops in schools. There will also be a tour of the 33 boroughs of London in May, where Occupiers will hold assemblies, teach outs, teach ins, and skill shares all around the issues of economic justice with special attention to what matters most in each community.
Assemblies will still regularly be held at LSX and the many working groups will continue to meet on a weekly basis in that area. The main website has began its facelift whereby it will be easier for members of the public to find out how they can take part as well as keep up to date with what the various facets of this extraordinary movement are up to.
For many in the movement, not having to expend energy keeping the camp safe means they can focus more on the reasons they came here: to provide a platform where the 99% can challenge an economic system that is unsustainable and unjust and a political system that is undemocratic and colludes with the status quo.
Other initiatives in place include ‘Rockupy,’ a wing of the Occupy Citizenship working group, where young people are able to engage in one-day workshops with pop stars and create a song around the issues that matter the most to them, recording and releasing the song the same day. The first of these happened last week and featured Kate Nash and Get Cape helping with the song writing and recording while a well-known NME journalist helped with the press release that had six different media groups come to the event before the end of the day.
Other working groups are now linked in with Occupy camps nationally – as well as countless other pressure groups and direct action organizations globally – where they have the opportunity to pool and utilize skills and interests and shall eventually coordinate days of action across the UK. Soon this will become an initiative whereby we will be seeing global days of action instigated by Occupy.
Occupy 2.0 cannot be evicted. The campers are determined that whether or not the tents stay, the cause will continue forward, growing in numbers as the weather becomes more clement and the impact of unnecessary and unjust cuts begin to bite.
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