Speaking at the National Press Club on Wednesday, African American ministers announced their plans to join the Occupy Wall Street protesters on income inequality in the country with Occupy The Dream (OTD), a grass roots effort designed around the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Today we are mapping out change", said Reverend Dr. Jamal Bryant, pastor the Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, MD. "The war on poverty, unemployment, economic inequality and greed has, in fact, ravished our nation down to its core."
The Occupy The Dream movement spearheaded by Bryant (National spokesperson), Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Jr. (national director), and others plan to take back main street, at the expense of Wall Street.
Bryant, and others, are calling on major Wall Street banks like Bank of America, Capital One, Chase and others to invest money into the community for jobs training and jobs creation, instead of lining the pockets of company CEOs and taking from the American poor and middle class.
Joining forces with Occupy the Dream is David DeGraw, independent journalist, on the front lines of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
"It's shocking, once you know the fraudulent activity of Wall Street", said DeGraw, calling Wall Street the largest ponzi scheme of all time.
DeGraw married with one child, and another on the way, told us "I've dedicated my life to this. If we don't do something now the situation will just get worse."
Since 2009 the country has seen unemployment rates unlike never before. While the national unemployment rate still hovers at the 9% mark, major cities, like Washington, DC find the unemployment rate, especially among African Americans, to be in the double digits.
The organization is also also hoping for a moratorium on home foreclosures. Many families have lost not only their jobs, but their homes, leaving far too many Americans homeless. It is estimated that as many as 1 in 4 American children are homeless as well, or living in poverty. The country's youth are also facing attacks on the education front, with legislators cutting back the amounts given in Pell Grants to college students, an issue the organization also plans to address, and sees as an opportunity to get the nation's youth involved.
The group is planning an official launch on January 13, 2012, the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It has plans to hold a job fair in Baltimore on this date. Further plans include occupying US embassies.
With several Occupy protesters jailed, beaten, and pepper sprayed, the movement is still going strong with over 300 'Occupy' movements.
Many have asked why more African Americans haven't participated in the Occupy movement.
"From Washington, DC to New York, to Oakland, we are occupied until poverty is completely eradicated", said Bryant. "The next 60 days there will be some strategic movement."
OWS's DeGraw promises that "come this spring, we're going to be unstoppable."
Related
See also AmpedStatus.com, OccupyWall Street.org,
"Today we are mapping out change", said Reverend Dr. Jamal Bryant, pastor the Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, MD. "The war on poverty, unemployment, economic inequality and greed has, in fact, ravished our nation down to its core."
The Occupy The Dream movement spearheaded by Bryant (National spokesperson), Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Jr. (national director), and others plan to take back main street, at the expense of Wall Street.
Bryant, and others, are calling on major Wall Street banks like Bank of America, Capital One, Chase and others to invest money into the community for jobs training and jobs creation, instead of lining the pockets of company CEOs and taking from the American poor and middle class.
Joining forces with Occupy the Dream is David DeGraw, independent journalist, on the front lines of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
"It's shocking, once you know the fraudulent activity of Wall Street", said DeGraw, calling Wall Street the largest ponzi scheme of all time.
DeGraw married with one child, and another on the way, told us "I've dedicated my life to this. If we don't do something now the situation will just get worse."
Since 2009 the country has seen unemployment rates unlike never before. While the national unemployment rate still hovers at the 9% mark, major cities, like Washington, DC find the unemployment rate, especially among African Americans, to be in the double digits.
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Dr. Benjamin Chavis (l) and Pastor Jamal Bryant announce 'Occupy The Dream' joined by members of the African American clergy in support of the Occupy movement. |
"You'd be amazed at how many people with PhDs and master degrees are at soap kitchens", said Bryant.
The organization is also also hoping for a moratorium on home foreclosures. Many families have lost not only their jobs, but their homes, leaving far too many Americans homeless. It is estimated that as many as 1 in 4 American children are homeless as well, or living in poverty. The country's youth are also facing attacks on the education front, with legislators cutting back the amounts given in Pell Grants to college students, an issue the organization also plans to address, and sees as an opportunity to get the nation's youth involved.
The group is planning an official launch on January 13, 2012, the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It has plans to hold a job fair in Baltimore on this date. Further plans include occupying US embassies.
With several Occupy protesters jailed, beaten, and pepper sprayed, the movement is still going strong with over 300 'Occupy' movements.
Many have asked why more African Americans haven't participated in the Occupy movement.
"From Washington, DC to New York, to Oakland, we are occupied until poverty is completely eradicated", said Bryant. "The next 60 days there will be some strategic movement."
OWS's DeGraw promises that "come this spring, we're going to be unstoppable."
Related
See also AmpedStatus.com, OccupyWall Street.org,
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