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Occupride community assembly rescheduled

According to the weather forecast this week may be rainy at times, except on Thursday.  In addition, in response to an extremely tepid support and general lack of interest from both the local LGBTQIPA+ communities and from the Occupy movement, we find that it is probably a good idea to reschedule the Occupride community assembly to a yet-to-be-decided future date.

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Happy Pride from the Occupride PDX Team (even to you, Wells Fargo)!

Good morning.  It is sunny and 64 degrees already in lovely downtown Portland at 8:55 a.m.!  I suppose the weatherman was wrong about the rain.  Instead, the World Naked Bike Ride folks got some drizzles last night!

Apparently from what I see from Twitter, there was quite a bit of police spectacle (SERT?!) at the so-called “diversity of dance styles” Queers F*ing Queers dance party last night.  There are a few who got arrested and reportedly a music bike was stolen.

Much kudos also go to one (or more) rather vigilant Wells Fargo employee who has been checking in on this site several times every day for the past week, including at 11:57 p.m. on Saturday (overtime pay, I hope!?)!  I understand your worries especially in light of the June 6 incident at your MLK branch.  Like you, I hate to see how “diversity of tactics” became an euphemism for senseless and irresponsible acts of random violence — although it is an inevitable product of the very nature of an overarching, decentralized, non-authoritarian popular movement that, among others, Occupy Wall Street has inspired (the fact: most of the radicals and anarchists have deserted Occupy Portland in recent months).

Although it is tempting to scapegoat Wells Fargo for a lot of things what is wrong about today’s society, the real issue is not Wells Fargo; rather it is a deeper, more systemic issue that Wells Fargo, among others, became an epitome of.  And certainly the employees of Wells Fargo — who are just like workers in any megacorporations endure stressful, long work hours and diminishing workplace rights — are not to be blamed or attacked.  Personally I have come to know quite a few people who have been employed as a bank clerk — none of them is rich.  Neither workers nor the depositors/customers own the bank, the One Percent does.

So happy Pride to everyone — it is OUR Pride!  Let’s all re-Occupy our Pride and make it OURS!

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See you all tomorrow!

Greetings beautiful people,

As we have planned, we will be having an alternative Pride parade-watching picnic near the end of the main Pride parade route at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park (between SW Ash Street and Pine Street in the open field).

There will be livestream — tune into the Occupy City Hall Vigil TV.

And thanks to Mary at RumorZ, one of the few remaining Portland crew (most of the RumorZ is now in the forest at the Occupy Cascadia Rainbow convergence!), there will be some supply of free coffee.

This Occupride mini-park-upation has two purposes both of which complement each other: (1) to strengthen the LGBTQAIP+ voices within the Occupy movement in Portland and build a stronger queer bloc; and (2) to engage parade-goers into a meaningful dialogue and ultimately connect them closer to the Occupy movement.

To all who are marching in the main Pride parade, those who are participating in the autonomous actions (such as “Crash the Pride bike swarm” and “Rainbow Ecstatic Dance Walk”) — you are all welcome to join us at the end.  We will be around till about 2 p.m. (or even longer if it gets more interesting!).

And remember: Saturday, June 23, the Occupy the Pride Portland Community Assembly.

Whose Pride? Our Pride!

 

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Dance party info

According to the organizers of the event: “Once again: THIS IS NOT AN OCCUPY EVENT. People affiliated with Occupy are welcome to attend as long as you don’t try to limit how anyone else resists the people and institutions that oppress us.”