Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

LOS ANGELES, October 7, 2011 - OccupyLA Day Seven. The encampment at City Hall continues to grow. The camp now numbers close to 100 tents with at least two occupants per tent. Rain on Wednesday failed to discourage the occupiers, and the encampment is now larger and more organized than ever. Tomorrow the camp will have completed its first full week. It has been an action packed week and has drawn much media attention even competing with the Jackson murder trial just down the street.

Everyday there has been a march kicking off from the encampment to the financial district or a government building in the downtown area. Yesterday, Thursday, saw the occupiers teaming up with a group called Make Banks Pays for a march and a civil disobedience action at a Bank of America office. Ten arrests have been reported from Thursday's action.

Today the camp was visited by Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornell West who are in Los Angeles as part of their nationwide poverty tour. The camp has received support from the Los Angeles City Council in a resolution adopted on Tuesday. And unlike the police behavior in New York, San Francisco and other cities, the Los Angeles Police Department has to date been uncharacteristically restrained towards the protesters.

This weekend more actions are expected and occupiers say they are planning to stay indefinitely. Selected Reports from the Newswire: Occupy LA: One Week Old and Going Strong | Photos by Robert Stuart Lowden: Day One: Occupy Los Angeles Photo Set 1, Set 2, Set 3 | Day Two: Occupy Los Angeles Day 2 | Day Three: Occupy LA Day 3 UTLA Teach- In Photo Set 1, Set 2, Occupy LA Day 3 Evening Speeches |
PHOTOS: OCCUPY LA & DAY 2, Occupy Wall St LA by Marcus

AUDIO: Indymedia on Air - Occupy LA Day 3 by LA-IMC | Occupy L.A. 4 Oct 2011 by Yvonne de la Vega; James Maverick

VIDEO: Occupy Los Angeles Day 2 Video by by Alex de Cordoba | Occupy LA - Day 2

Commentary: Brief Anaylsis Of LA and Seattle Occupations by Al | We Pay for Their Crisis by Holger Marcks

On July 31st an overflow audience filled the Southern California Library for the Public Forum on and Fundraiser for Haiti. Guest speakers included actor and activist Danny Glover; Pierre Labossiere, co-founder of Haiti Action Committee; and Robert Roth, board member of Haiti Emergency Relief Fund. Chairing was Margaret Prescod, host of KPFK's Sojourner Truth and Women of Color in the Global Women's Strike. The event raised $3,242 for Haiti. The event both helped get the word out about what's happening on the ground in Haiti and raised funds to support the Haitian grassroots.

In the action part of the event, a call was made for signatures to a letter to Latin American governments asking them to withdraw their troops from Haiti, and for a follow-up meeting which is scheduled for Saturday September 24th, 2pm at the Blazer Learning Center, 1517 West 48th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90062 to broaden the work of the Haiti Working Group/LA.

Report and photos: Report Back: LA Forum on and Fundraiser for Haiti by Haiti Working Group/LA

For four nights in September, the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum presents the controversial one-woman play that has become a flashpoint for opposing viewpoints about Israel's presence in the Gaza strip. Susan Angelo directs Samara Frame in "My Name is Rachel Corrie,"composed from the journals, letters and emails of the 23-year-old American peace activist who died protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home in Gaza. Four performances take place on September 1, 8, 15, 22 at 8 pm in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Pavilion at Theatricum Botanicum. A moderated audience talk-back will follow each performance.

When the play premiered at the Royal Court in London, England in the spring of 2005, it played to sold-out houses and rave reviews. Despite this success, the New York Theatre Workshop put the planned U.S. premiere on hold in the face of public protests, including threats of violence. In the end, the play opened as a commercial production at the Minetta Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village in the fall of 2006, and has since seen productions throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Preview: "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" Opens in LA by Theatricum Botanicum

Chevron threatened the City of Fullerton with a lawsuit unless it reconsidered and approved the the same development the City turned down in May 2010. Sadly, the current City Council bought into this threat and agreed to reconsider the same Chevron proposal on July 12, 2011. They then followed up on July 12 with an approval of the same bad development plan that they denied the previous year.

The fight is not over. The Friends of Coyote Hills is taking the vote to the public. We are currently in the qualifying round for our referendum to overturn the City Council's July 12 decision. We are circulating petitions to gather signatures through about mid-August to qualify for a ballot measure.

More information: Fullerton City Council Votes to Develop Coyote Hills by Referendum to Oppose Development

In an apparent attempt to make the 14-acre space at 41st and Alameda more attractive to developers, city councilmember and mayoral candidate Jan Perry is trying to waive the requirement that 2.6 acres be devoted to green space. Instead, seller Ralph Horowitz would pay about three million dollars to existing park services nearby.

A petition against this proposal is being circulated. People are encouraged to print out the petition featured here and collect signatures.

Supporters are also encouraged to e-mail public officials.

On Thursday August 4, the Harbor Commission in San Pedro held a public hearing to consider Perry's proposal.

Reports and photos: Jan Perry Proposes Waiver of Green Space Requirement for South Central Farm Land By RP

Farmers Fighting for South Central Again by Leslie Radford