Report from an occupier who attended one of the "99% Spring" trainings

[limpyhobbler]

4. That's true...

It's not Occupy. It's sponsered by a bunch of activist groups and labor unions that claim to be inspired by Occupy. For me to see CWA, Greenpeace, CodePink, anti-sweatshop, etc all united behind this, I think it has potential to be awesome. And it never would have happened without Occupy. I think this is a huge success for Occupy.

But this is not the original Occupy, and it's probably not going to be horizontal and all that good stuff. It is important to be aware of the difference. I'm happy to support both, but there is a difference.

I was just reading this article about it.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/167253/occupy-wall-street-activists-respond-99-percent-spring

Occupy Wall Street Activists Respond to the 99 Percent Spring
Allison Kilkenny on April 6, 2012 - 10:38 AM ET

Seizing on the popularity of Occupy Wall Street, a broad coalition of liberal-left groups and organizations created the 99 Percent Spring, a movement aiming to recruit and train 100,000 Americans to learn the ways of non-violent direct action. The initiative includes support from MoveOn.org, AFL-CIO, Greenpeace, the Working Families Party, 350.org, Campaign for America's Future, United Students Against Sweatshops, CodePink, Global Exchange and Color of Change, among other groups.

The plan has been heavily promoted by celebrities such as Edward Norton, Elijah Wood, Marisa Tomei and Jason Alexander and political heavyweights like Van Jones, founder of Rebuild the Dream.

However, Occupy Wall Street protesters have expressed mixed feelings about the 99 Percent Spring, a response that should have been expected given a statement like, "Occupiers have varying opinions," is a beige platitude akin to"humans have varying opinions on life." OWS is a big tent movement, and as such, it attracts the entire gamut of the (generally) lefty political spectrum.

"I can't blame the Occupy movement for being at best suspicious," says Joe Macare of Truthout and the Occupied Chicago Tribune, and observer of the Occupy movement, pointing out the 99 Percent Spring has adopted the language and imagery of Occupy Wall Street."