Occupy Wisconsin’s first state General Assembly

Poor and working people from all over Wisconsin participated in Occupy Fond du Lac’s peace rally and Occupy Wisconsin’s state General Assembly on May 5 in Fond du Lac — an area known as the Fox Valley. Dozens of youth and students attended all of the day’s events.

The day began in Veteran’s Park with a series of speakers and continued with marches to the city and county jails to protest the prison-industrial complex and on to the Armed Forces Recruiting Center to protest U. S. wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Representatives from Occupy Milwaukee, Veterans for Peace, the WI Bail Out The People Movement, Occupy Fond du Lac and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression spoke or helped lead chants.

The main theme of the peace rally was “No War with Iran.” “Almost half of our federal tax dollars go to fund the U.S. war machine,” stated Occupy Fond du Lac youth and student leader James Loki. “That money is from the 99% and should be spent on education, jobs and health care — not war profiteering.”

Protesters hoisted signs including “Jobs Now: Make The Banks Pay,” “Legalize, Organize, Unionize,” “No Justice, No Peace” and “Bail Out The People, Not the Banks.” They stopped at banks to demand an end to the foreclosures and evictions of millions of poor and working people and to the cancellation of student loan debt. Chants included, “Racist police have gotta go!” “Free Palestine!” “Money for Jobs and Education not War and Incarceration!” and “Bail Out the People, Not the Banks!”

At each stop, protesters staged street theater die-ins to remember the 7,000 U.S. military and 1.5 million Iraqi civilian casualties and other victims of the wars waged by the U.S. worldwide.

Kellie Jacobs-Stewart, with Occupy Wisconsin, drove across the state to help organize and facilitate the first ever statewide General Assembly in Fond du Lac.

“I’ve never been political, but I felt I had no other choice but to join in pointing out the 1%,” she said. “I’ve seen people losing their First Amendment rights, our government hindered by special interest groups, and people in our communities losing their homes while banks continue their monopoly. We have to stand up for our rights.”

The General Assembly unanimously agreed that the following demands would be the focus of Occupy Wisconsin in the immediate future: mobilizing to protest NATO in Chicago; assisting to build June 6 “Keep It In The Streets” actions statewide after the June 5 gubernatorial recall election; opposing iron ore mining in Wisconsin; canceling student loan debt; stopping foreclosures and evictions, a moratorium now!; opposing the American Legislative Exchange Council and other anti-worker, right-wing organizations; solidarity with immigrant rights: stopping raids and deportations; justice For Trayvon Martin and Bo Morrison: no to police brutality and vigilante terror; endorsing the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and opposing the Carlos Montes frame-up; opposing budget cuts to public education; and supporting the 11 x 15 campaign, an effort to reduce the prison population by half by 2015.

The day concluded with protesters singing on Main Street after nightfall as neon lights flashed out text saying, “Tax the richest 1%,” a visually dramatic message provided by the Overpass Light Brigade.

For more information, go to facebook.com/Occupy.Fond.du.Lac; occupywi.org; wibailoutpeople.org and occupyriverwest.com.

—Report and photo by Bryan G. Pfeifer