Chaplains Occupy Thanksgiving PDX 11 24 2011

Occupy Thanksgiving PDX

• Date: Thursday, Nov. 24
• Time: Noon until 7 p.m
• Location: Wallace Park, Northwest Portland (Please RSVP)
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Purpose

Our invitation to #OccupyThanksgivingPDX

We are park-upying Thanksgiving Day!

• This is a quintessentially American holiday, and is an important part of American cultural narratives.
• This is also a holiday that commemorates the fact that the European colonizers began their expansive ambitions and conquest and genocide of the First Nations, in the name of "freedom" -- something this holiday tends to sugar-coat.
• On this day, there are many -- and growing number of -- Portlanders who are unhoused and, since most of other Portlanders have a privilege of being able to stay home, take a day off, and spend time with family, they are left outside often with no place to go and nothing to eat. We recognize this social inequity.
• Today, Thanksgiving Day is the official beginning of the "Holiday Season," which is essentially an orgy of consumerism orchestrated by the top 1%. Many publicly-traded big corporations count on this season, and the Fourth Quarter earnings report affects share prices significantly.
• We occupy this day to reclaim the Thanksgiving as a time for community, sharing, and abundance.

PLEASE RSVP so that we can prepare for the number of people who will be attending.

Here is a direct link to RSVP form:

RSVP Form Click Here

The festivities run from noon until 7 p.m.; everyone is welcome to participate in part or all of this event.

You are invited to come when you can and leave when you must. With people coming in and going there should be something going on throughout the event. Also feel free to bring your friends and neighbors, and any random person you might meet on the street. This is about community-building and re-capturing the spirit of autonomous, collectivist collaboration that was a big part of our occupation in the downtown parks (minus tents, troubles, and A-camps).

We will be having:

• Lunch and dinner, potluck style
• Open-mic music and spoken words
• Community discussions on various topics
• Games
• Thanksgiving General Assembly. But mostly a fun exercise where people who are new to the Occupy movement can learn how to participate in a GA, or organize their own GAs.

Tell your friends about this. #ChaplainsOccupyPDX Interfaith Guild of Chaplains

More details with this update on Nov. 21

printable flier

The weather report indicates a good possibility of rain on Thanksgiving Day. We will be park-upying the Wallace Park in Northwest Portland, and there is a covered picnic area with a table.

The park is accessible by TriMet 77 bus and also a short distance from the nearest 15 stop, as well as the Portland Streetcar (23rd & Marshall).

So far we are expecting a pretty low-key event, with some people coming and going, with a total of no more than 20 at any given moment (take this into account when making food, although it is always nice to have more than not enough) -- which should keep us below the crowd level that would technically require a permit. In any case, with the history of #OccupyPortland-related events so far, the City has not been too stringent on permits, due to the possible issues with the freedom of assembly. Since this event is sponsored by the Interfaith Guild of Chaplains, it is further protected under religious freedom, any less than any church picnic at a park. The reason why we are requesting RSVP also has to do with health regulation -- as we cannot really give away food to the "general public" even if we aren't selling it (as they say on Last Thursdays on Alberta every year).

We are also inviting a number of VIPs as a gesture of goodwill and peace-building.

Sponsored by : This event is sponsored and organized by the #OccupyPortland Interfaith Guild of Chaplains, an independent and autonomous group. This is not an official #OccupyPortland General Assembly-sanctioned event.

Other details
[Donation or Volunteer suggestions.]

RSVP Form Click Here more information