Category Archives: Holiday

Imagine an Occupy New Years Eve 2012

On New Years Eve in Times Square they will probably play John Lennon’s  Imagine.  It has also resonated with folks from the Occupy Wall Street movement. “Imagine” was one of the tunes sung by the small group of stalwarts who gathered at Liberty Square/Zuccotti Park for Christmas. [See story at DNA Info: here]

Below the first video are links to lots and lot of videos of Occupiers singing Imagine.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5F5SK63voxE]

If you want to spend New Years Eve with Occupy:

http://www.nycga.net/events/occupy-new-years-eve-smash-the-baricades/

Date/Time: Mon. Dec 31, 2012 until Jan 1 2013, 9:00 PM – 6:00 AM

Location: Liberty Plaza (aka Zuccotti Park), New York, NY

A time to ring in the New Years with family and friends, this event is dedicated to the brave souls who last year took done the barricades in the park and danced in the New Years, come one and all and ring in 2013 in style and meet new friends old friends and map out the coming year.  Starts at 9:00pm to 12midnite and beyond. As always no drama, we are one! We will try to have small toy barricades for everyone to have at midnite and smash as a symbol of our right to protest any public space.

Contact: Apollo OWS Special Projects Affinity Group and OWS Outreach Working Group.

Email: owsspawg@Gmail.com or Phone: 917-225-3704 or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/146642922152523/

 

Continue reading Imagine an Occupy New Years Eve 2012

Progressive Holiday Music Mix

Happy Holidays 2015. Here is a post from the Peace Couple Archives:

from 99 Silver Bells and other Occupy Christmas Carols ………(was our Peace Song of the Day for 12/13/11)

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FyroWM65rF4]

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMdo6l5x_7k]

from Happy Xmas (War Is Over): Peace Song for 12/12/2011  Continue reading Progressive Holiday Music Mix

Occupy Holiday Gifts

Occupy This AlbumIt’s the eternal question for a gift-giving activist:

How do I give a good present and at the same time do good?

There is always fair trade, organic, vegan chocolates or non-toxic toys.

This year we added a musical choice.  Occupy This Album: a compilation of music by, for and inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99%.  Lots of good stuff here.  The album artists include: Ani DiFranco, Aeroplane Pageant, Crosby and Nash, Devo, Immortal Technique, Jackson Browne, Joseph Arthur, Lloyd Cole, Loudon Wainwright III, Lucinda Williams, Patti Smith, Stephan Said, Tao Rodriguez Seeger, The Guthrie Family, Third Eye Blind, Thievery Corporation, Tom Morello, Toots And The Maytals, Warren Haynes, Willie Nelson, Yoko Ono, Yo La Tengo & more.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws7zy5y1vN0]   Continue reading Occupy Holiday Gifts

The Genius of “Alice’s Restaurant”

I realized a little after 12 noon this Thanksgiving that Arlo Guthrie has had a much broader cultural impact in terms of bringing a progressive message to the general population than his father, Woody Guthrie.   As a reader of this post is probably aware, across the radio dial across the United States, it is a tradition to play Arlo Guthrie’s song, Alice’s Restaurant at 12 noon on Thanksgiving.  This tradition has been going on for four decades.  We are not just talking about the anti-war song being played on granola-crunchy college radio stations.  I listened to Alice’s Restaurant on a Clear Channel owned classic rock station that won’t even play Imagine most of the year.  The DJ announced and dedicated the song as a favorite Thanksgiving tradition of a recently deceased listener.  No mention was made of the song’s lengthy anti-war message.  The song had transcended into a widely-celebrated annual tradition for the general population who never expresses a sentiment about war for the rest of the year.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8DtpdXZi0M]

Continue reading The Genius of “Alice’s Restaurant”

Black Friday: Buy Nothing! Demand Peace! Support striking Wal-Mart workers!

Occupy Long Island: Buy Nothing Day sign
Occupy Black Friday

Black Friday for some people means lining up for bargains at the doors of big corporations. Though, people who want our country to be more sustainable, and less dependent on war money,  have often asked people to “Buy Nothing” on the day after Thanksgiving.

This year, there are several ways to celebrate the empowerment that is Buy-Nothing-Day:

-Make sure you do not buy anything on Friday, November 23, 2012

-On all the other shopping days leading to Christmas and Chanukah…shop local, union, Fair Trade, organic, natural, and/or sustainably when possible. [See our Peace Couple website for Kind Shopping ideas.]

-Join Occupy Wall Street in your area, as they protest at Walmart, in support of striking Walmart workers.

An anti-Black Friday shopping video at Youtube: here and below.

An excellent (archival) speech by Reverend Billy about Black Friday, Consumerism, and Buy Nothing Day: here.

An example of a local  Occupy  Black Friday Demo at Walmart:   Continue reading Black Friday: Buy Nothing! Demand Peace! Support striking Wal-Mart workers!

What will the PAXi number be on International Peace Day 9/21/12?

Peace Child at Occupy Wall Street by PeaceCouple(See bottom for running tally of Peace Index numbers leading up to and after International Day of Peace.)

On July 15, 2012, Duchess Susanna introduced PAXi, which is the nickname for the Daily Peace Culture Index for the United States [DPCIUS]. PAXi is designed to describe the amount of energy and discussion devoted to peace in The United States each day. The PAXi number is  posted prominently at Peace Couple every day.

According to our friends at the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR):

Each year on Sept. 21, the United Nations marks the International Day of Peace. Passed by the U.N. General Assembly in 2001, the day is to be “devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.” Beginning in 2004, the World Council of Churches has marked the day with an International Day of Prayer for Peace. A spiritually-based, multifaith 24-hour vigil for peace has taken place each year around the world.

There will global celebrations of peace leading up to September 21st.  The Fellowship of Reconciliation will be marking “the occasion in a couple of ways, including an all-day event with affiliate Global Days of Listening. FOR is also sponsoring On Earth Peace’s network of local events around the theme Peace Day: Praying for Ceasefire. Read on for more information!”

Please check in with us everyday to see if the global focus on peace raises the PAXi number. Continue reading What will the PAXi number be on International Peace Day 9/21/12?

Memorial Day Weekend: Thoughts for peace

Two thoughts:

One way to change the ch’i energy is with music. So, two videos below. One with the peaceful, joyful energy of friends drumming, and the other with the peaceful, soulful energy of meditation music.

The second video also reminds us of this Memorial Day idea: If we honor those who gave their lives for war, when do we honor those who gave their lives (and time, and energy, and heart and soul) for peace?

Hope you will be attending some Memorial Day events in you neighborhood, and bringing a message of peace and no more war. On Long Island, you can attend the Memorial Day Parade in Bellport*, and be present with the South Country Peace Group.

Continue reading Memorial Day Weekend: Thoughts for peace