“Occupy The Future” by Noam Chomsky 1

Noam Chomsky, photo by John Soares

(This article is adapted from Noam Chomsky’s talk at the Occupy Boston encampment on Dewey Square on Oct. 22. He spoke as part of the Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture Series held by Occupy Boston’s on-site Free University. Zinn was a historian, activist and author of A People’s History of the United States.)

Delivering a Howard Zinn lecture is a bittersweet experience for me. I regret that he’s not here to take part in and invigorate a movement that would have been the dream of his life. Indeed, he laid a lot of the groundwork for it.

If the bonds and associations being established in these remarkable events can be sustained through a long, hard period ahead – victories don’t come quickly – the Occupy protests could mark a significant moment in American history. More…

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The Straw Man Comes to Zuccotti Park by Naomi Wolf | Photos from November 15 Reply

Written by:  Naomi Wolf Nov. 16, 2011

Yesterday morning, when I learned that Zuccotti Park had been cleared overnight by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who justified his action in a statement that cited health and safety concerns — the first thing I did was call my lawyer. I wanted to go and show my support for the protesters’ First Amendment right “to assemble and petition government for redress of grievances” — a right that a 1925 Supreme Court decision confirmed superseded municipalities’ laws that sought to restrict its exercise. But my partner and I had already been arrested on Oct. 19 for standing peacefully on Hudson Street after informing protesters outside an event I was attending of their right to assemble. The wonderful National Lawyers Guild advised us that we would probably be O.K. — the New York police department would have to alert us before a second arrest.

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