Update | By Trisha Maczak
Occupy activists involved in the 99 Mile March from Philadelphia to New York City arrived at their destination around 2 p.m. today.
The march was a continuation of the Occupy National Gathering, which wrapped up July 5 in Philadelphia. Activists joined the Guitarmy on the last day of the Gathering in a 99 mile march to signify the slogan that has put Occupy on the map: “We are the 99 percent.”
In New York, Occupy activists marched through city sidewalks, singing songs and holding banners, chanting, “Occupy Wall Street, All Day, All Week.”
Watch the Livestream here.
(MintPress) – After five days of workshops and demonstrations, Occupy National Gathering attendees packed up their bags for a 99 mile march to New York, in an effort to spread their message throughout the country and to the door steps of the place where it all began: Wall Street.
Activists gathered prior to the march in 90 degree weather Thursday at Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell, chosen for its iconic symbol of American freedom. Equipped with umbrellas to block the sun, backpacks and guitars, the crew left Philadelphia in the late morning.
The date of the march not only comes at the conclusion of the Gathering and a night of Fourth of July Fireworks — it’s also the 100th birthday of the late Woody Guthrie, a folk musician known for using his music to highlight issues of the poor and oppressed.
Leading the march is the “Guitarmy,” a group of activists who use guitars to raise awareness. Following the activists is a caravan, equipped with stickers and posters symbolizing the Occupy movement.
The group expects to pick up musicians along the way, adding to the ‘noise’ and building a stronger army of guitars for the ascension into New York City, where they’re expected to arrive July 11 to a “Wall Street Welcome” party.
In addition to raising awareness of issues related to social justice and inequality, the musician crew will also collect donations through their website, 99milemarch.org, with all proceeds benefitting The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a non-profit supporting music in public schools.
Continuing the Gathering
Marchers will carry with them a ‘vision for a democratic future,’ a compilation of ideas produced by the collective agreement of activists who attended the National Gathering.
Ideas were identified through various small groups assembled by Occupy activists. Each group represented a different idea or topic, ranging from the role of human rights within the Occupy movement to the impacts large political donors have on American democracy.
The process of compiling ideas came through a method of horizontal leadership, which Occupy activists use as a way to gather a general consensus of the group, without appointing one leader to make decisions on their behalf.
Michael Hardt, an Occupy activist, told MintPress on the first day of the Gathering that many within mainstream society don’t understand the horizontal leadership style and tend to look at it as a disorganized way to manage a movement. But Hardt and others don’t agree — and it’s not likely they’ll change.
Continuing the march
The 99 Mile March is one of many activists took part in during the Occupy National Gathering. While the intent of the Gathering was more focussed on facilitating ideas and viewpoints on various issues, there were ‘actions’ throughout the event intended to highlight concerns to the people of Philadelphia — and the world.
Residents of Philadelphia, including friends of the Quaker faith, welcomed activists with open arms, allowing demonstrators to camp out in their parking lot. Law enforcement in the city was amped up for the Gathering, with dozens of municipal police officers on hand at all times to monitor the event.
Located in the city that houses the Liberty Bell, activists took to the streets Sunday in a demonstration in solidarity of the “Casserole Protests” of Quebec, Canada.
Highlighting the issue in Canada and America, activists joined the march, organized in associated with ‘All in the Red,’ an activist network that specifically focuses on the issue related to student debt.
A flyer handed out at the protest defines the group as one that “raises awareness about student debt through direct action, political theatre and spreading the image of the red square, the symbol of our struggle worldwide.” That struggle, according to the network, is a collective student loan debt in the U.S. of more than $1 trillion — a number that has tripled from what it was 10 years ago.
On Monday, demonstrators disrupted rush hour traffic when they broke out in marches through Philadelphia’s downtown streets around 5 p.m. Along the way, Occupy activists were joined by Communication Workers of America, Chapter 13000, who were protesting what they saw as unfair wages with Verizon and Comcast communication companies.
Victims of foreclosure also met with activists along the walk, telling the stories of what they considered shady practices by banks undergoing foreclosure procedures, including lack of communication and inability to answer questions relating to the loss of their homes.
Marches continued throughout the events, all of which caused tourists and local residents to stop and pause, to read signs and take in the sights of hundreds of people — young and old — close down the streets in a march against corporate greed.
Livestream: http://opdxlive.org/