Yesterday, well over 300 different people showed up to participate in Iowa City's local version of Occupy Wall Street.
They gathered around pitching tents, collecting donations of food and water, and putting up signs declaring themselves. Many of the Occupy Iowa City participants carried signs and were talking about why they were participating.
Despite a clear list of demands, everyone we talked to agreed on two ideas. They agreed corporations are not people, and that it is unfair for 1% of people to own everything. They represented these ideas with nametags saying "99%", and signs reading "People before profits."
"Corporations have taken over everything," said Iowa City resident Brandon Ross. "You can't even have small farming, as companies like Monsanto have copyrighted basic things that occur in nature."
And then at 7pm they gathered for a direct democracy meeting to plan their night, with all two hundred people then present participating.
Everyone in the crowd could vote, everyone could get a turn to speak, and anyone could veto items they didn't agree with. Agenda items included drafting a preliminary statement of intent, agreeing to nonviolence, and sorting people into seperate groups to handle sleeping arrangements, communications, food, and overnight security.
There was a lot of democracy in the group.
"I went to the first meeting after I saw people posting about it," said Christina Carberry. "There was a lot of voting and people talking about whether we should occupy somewhere."
While only a handful, under a hundred, were planning and prepared to stay the night, many people in the crowd said they would be coming back after they took care of responsibilities with work and children. Some had brought extra tents and blankets to share with others.
Over an hour into the meeting, they decided on a preliminary statement of intent that everyone agreed with. Among the many changes suggested, they agreed to add "In solidarity with Occupy Wallstreet" to the beginning of their statement.
Direct democracy took a while, but it's been working for them. And their meeting has once again demonstrated the power of social media to help organize.
We will post their preliminary statement of intent when we can verify our copy was correct. Update: In solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, we will transform this space and create our community. From there we will use this community and the park as a base from which to challenge economic, social and political injustice.
Update: Added video.
They gathered around pitching tents, collecting donations of food and water, and putting up signs declaring themselves. Many of the Occupy Iowa City participants carried signs and were talking about why they were participating.
Despite a clear list of demands, everyone we talked to agreed on two ideas. They agreed corporations are not people, and that it is unfair for 1% of people to own everything. They represented these ideas with nametags saying "99%", and signs reading "People before profits."
And then at 7pm they gathered for a direct democracy meeting to plan their night, with all two hundred people then present participating.
Everyone in the crowd could vote, everyone could get a turn to speak, and anyone could veto items they didn't agree with. Agenda items included drafting a preliminary statement of intent, agreeing to nonviolence, and sorting people into seperate groups to handle sleeping arrangements, communications, food, and overnight security.
There was a lot of democracy in the group.
"I went to the first meeting after I saw people posting about it," said Christina Carberry. "There was a lot of voting and people talking about whether we should occupy somewhere."
While only a handful, under a hundred, were planning and prepared to stay the night, many people in the crowd said they would be coming back after they took care of responsibilities with work and children. Some had brought extra tents and blankets to share with others.
Over an hour into the meeting, they decided on a preliminary statement of intent that everyone agreed with. Among the many changes suggested, they agreed to add "In solidarity with Occupy Wallstreet" to the beginning of their statement.
Direct democracy took a while, but it's been working for them. And their meeting has once again demonstrated the power of social media to help organize.
We will post their preliminary statement of intent when we can verify our copy was correct. Update: In solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, we will transform this space and create our community. From there we will use this community and the park as a base from which to challenge economic, social and political injustice.
Update: Added video.
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