Occupy Venice: 9am Windward Circle

Add Venice to the growing list of cities with residents showing support for the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy LA movements. A group of Venice residents are forming “Occupy Venice” starting tomorrow at 10 am in the Windward Circle.

Jodie Evans from Code Pink will speak at 11am. It should be a mellow crowd so go check it out! Click here for the most up to date news.

The Occupy Venice Vision Statement:

We, the occupants of Venice, gather together from all walks of life in an effort to represent the community that we are each a part of.

“We” are actually a group of individuals with basic human needs.

We are the 1% and the 99%. We are 100% of us human beings, looking to make our selves and our lives better.

It is not a big request but it is a big idea- how do we make things better?

How do we determine what better is?

Paul Hawken writes: Social justice, environmental movement and indigenous movements are intertwining and morphing, and have become the largest social movement in the history of the world. They are, in essence, humanity’s immune response to political corruption, economic disease, and ecological degradation… What we know now is that over the years the ingenuity, genius and imagination of organizations, social entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, and individuals have created a powerful arsenal of tools to redress what ails the world.”

We must ask ourselves: What do I need.
We must ask each other: what do You need?
We must ask our community- and our country- what do you need from us?

If we hold each other accountable we do not need one sole leader but we need a group of individuals with balanced minds who have the ability to communicate well within themselves and with anyone who wants to talk- or listen.

So what is our vision?

We want to start focusing on the tiny things that we can change in Venice.

Let’s start small, with our small communities, and try to start something fresh and new; that said, we need to focus on how we can refresh and sustain the old-

Let’s see if we can reinvent ourselves.

We have the power to support each other and give each other platforms for our dreams; we have the ability to provide for each other everything we could possibly need.

PLEASE remember: “We” are not saying we have answers; but we are saying that we have questions.

We have voices and we want to hear yours- send us your questions.

And complaints.

And celebrations!

Let’s enjoy ourselves.

We must believe that someday, like Rilke said- we will live our way into the answers.

If we start now- in this small community of ours that allows for the rich and poor, for the homeless and the far-from-home, for the canals and the boardwalk and Abbot-Kinney, and Washington Pier, and the bike path, and all the other places and spaces that we occupy- like our homes- if we start here, we can do something.

So we’ve started. We’re building.
We’re here.
Where are you?

(PS: The hysterical claims that this event involves the Occupy LA protestors all coming to Venice is hilarious.)