Black Churches to Energize Occupy

By Scott Galindez
Reader Supported News
January 12, 2012

http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/441-occupy/9281-black-churches-to-energize-occupy

The mission, which is being called "Occupy the Dream,"
will start on Monday, January 16, 2012, in
commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday
holiday. On that day, Dr. Ben Chavis announced recently
during a press conference at the National Press Club,
pastors who are part of the Occupy the Dream movement
will connect with the well-known Occupy Wall Street
group to hold protests at Federal Reserve banks in 10
cities around the nation.

The strategy will be to raise the consciousness level
of African-Americans, starting in church pulpits, by
spreading the message of income equality, economic
justice and empowerment, leading up to the January 16
events. "It starts in the pulpit and then we're going
to go to the community at large," he said.

Led by Dr. Ben Chavis, civil rights leaders announced
the formation of Occupy the Dream, an organization to
mobilize Americans around the vision of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., who sought to wage war on poverty,
unemployment and economic injustice. Dr. Chavis
announced that the first major march of Occupy the
Dream would also take place on Martin Luther King Day,
January 16, in Washington, DC.

Dr. Jamal Bryant, pastor of Empowerment Temple in
Baltimore - which has 10,000 members, joined Dr. Chavis
and leading advocates of Occupy Wall Street at the
National Press Club, where they rallied their
followers.

Launching the movement, Dr. Bryant explained the crisis
now facing many Americans in stark, but eloquent,
terms:

    Ladies and Gentlemen, in just a few days, about
    200,000 of our sons and daughters will be returning
    back to the United States in a large way indicating
    the end of the war in the Middle East. Regrettably
    they are going to be coming to another war. It's
    not going to be a War on Terror as indicated by
    then-President Bush. It's not even going to be a
    War on Drugs implemented by Nancy Reagan or a War
    on Obesity by Michelle Obama - but they're going to
    be coming into a war on poverty - a war on poverty,
    unemployment and economic inequality and greed has
    in fact ravaged our nation down to its core.

Sgt. Shamar Thomas and David DeGraw of Occupy Wall
Street also read a statement welcoming the civil rights
and religious leaders to the movement. It included the
following:

    The Occupy Wall Street movement is about people
    coming together to say "enough is enough." Our
    families have endured economic oppression for too
    long. The Occupy Wall Street movement draws its
    strength from people of all different walks of
    life, with opinions across the political spectrum,
    coming together to find common ground and unite
    against the global financial interests that have
    bought control of our government.

    Dr. King's vision of economic justice is an
    edifying example of what we intend to achieve. The
    Occupy movement has become a powerful force by
    occupying communities throughout the country. The
    time has now come for us to embody the spirit of
    Dr. King and for us to "Occupy the Dream."

Occupy the Dream will not end on January 16th. This
will be the first of many actions leading up to a mass
gathering in Washington, DC, to be held April 4 - 7.

For more information go to http://www.occupydream.org/

___________________________________________

Portside aims to provide material of interest to people
on the left that will help them to interpret the world
and to change it.

Submit via email: [log in to unmask]

Submit via the Web: http://portside.org/submittous3

Frequently asked questions: http://portside.org/faq

Sub/Unsub: http://portside.org/subscribe-and-unsubscribe

Search Portside archives: http://portside.org/archive

Contribute to Portside: https://portside.org/donate