Activists gear up for March on Wall St. South

March on Wall Street South mobilizing meetings take place at the MOWSS convergence center every Monday at 7 p.m. For more information and to help with organizing, visit the MOWSS convergence center and the Charlotte Solidarity Center at 516 E. 15th Street or contact 704-266-0362, Twitter @WallStSouth, or email info@wallstsouth.org; go to wallstsouth.org or southernworker.org. To endorse the LGBTQ contingent on Sept. 2, email mowsslgbt@gmail.com.

Charlotte, N.C. — Volunteer activists with the March on Wall Street South coalition are in high gear mobilizing for a week of protest actions Sept. 1-6 around the Democratic National Convention. These events include a Festivaliberacion on Sept. 1, a march and rally on Sept. 2, and a Southern Workers Assembly on Sept. 3.

MOWSS volunteers are distributing thousands of leaflets and posters to poor and working people, including the unemployed and homeless, in Charlotte and throughout the region. They are going door-to-door canvassing neighborhoods, riding buses and visiting shelters. Organizers are attending numerous progressive events, including joining Charlotte city workers, members of the United Electrical union, at informational pickets every Monday evening at City Hall.

During the week of Aug. 12, activists from around the country came to Charlotte to help with organizing. These included Steelworker and Teamster school bus drivers from Boston; a member of the Moratorium NOW! coalition in Detroit; organizers of Occupy 4 Jobs from Boston, New York and Philadelphia; youth and student organizers; members of the May 1st Coalition for Worker and Immigrant Rights; and leaders of the International Action Center in New York and Los Angeles.

Major events that week included a special forum Aug. 14, sponsored by the MOWSS coalition, to oppose U.S. war threats against Iran and Syria and to demand money for jobs, not war. Another major activity was a Greenpeace forum Aug. 15 that exposed the ties of Duke Energy to the banks and how these entities have funded the DNC.

During the week, the coalition officially opened its convergence space at Area 15, a cultural arts space in Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood, the same location as the Charlotte Solidarity Center.

Exciting developments are taking place daily in the lead-up to MOWSS. The People’s Video Network has produced and is releasing videos of activists explaining why they are taking part in the Sept. 1-6 protests. Contingent organizing is underway for the Sept. 2 march and rally, which will include a lesbian/gay/bi/trans/queer contingent, along with youth, student and immigrant mobilizations. Numerous creative fundraising events are being organized, and much more.