MARVIN GAYE -"WHAT'S GOING ON"

What's goin' on? 

 Now this is mellow. Real chillaxin'.  I suggest you pour yourself a nice one, sit back and kick up your feet while brother Marvin Gaye explains the reasons behind occupying the hood. When he's finished you'll be right on track with the rest of the brothers and sisters listening to his rap. He may have produced this over 40 years ago but it is so today. Don't wait for that time when the flowers won't grow and the bells won't be ringing. Hook up with the fam at your local Occupy The Hood now and start taking care of business. Mercy me.

 

Welcome Back Occupy The Hood Website

Finally some sign of life at the Occupy the Hood Official Website.

After 6 or 7 months of inactivity the OTH web site is finally active again. I'm so glad. I hope you folks will be able to keep someone at the helm of your site this time. I and I'm sure many others are looking to you for inspiration and information. Props for getting it back up. Here's a song in your honor.

 

HoodWeek NYC 2012 w/ S.A.G.E Coalition

The American Spring - Occupy Our Hood

 For those who are concerned with the direction that America is taking or who are interested in actually getting involved with the growing mass movement emerging throughout the Nation. Dr. Ben Chavis offers an insightful article on the Occupy Consciousness. I believe this article expresses the spirit that most of us felt as the various groups came together and made possible the election of Barack Obama to the position of President of the United States. I personally believe, that it was as much a question of diverse portions of our society, wanting to come together to move forward as a nation, as it was anything to do with Barack Obama the politician. The fact of Obama being a "Black man" coupled with the promise of "Change" is what I believe led to his election. It was a brilliant campaign that sold the idea, of what greater change could we have than to change the "race" of the President. The 1% knew that we truly wanted (and still do want ) change and they spent a whole bunch of millions of dollars in order to convince us that Barack Obama represented "that change we could believe in".

 Well, as our civil rights continue to be eroded, the rich continue to get richer, the foreclosures haven't slowed pace, the labor unions are under attack the prisons are still overflowing with African Americans, the wall is still under construction between Mexico and the US plus the "undocumented alien" problem is still with us, the cost of health and education is spiralinging out of reach, the war budget is as outrageous as ever, all the while Wall Street and the Banks are raking in the dough like never before and Americans are being turned against one another as much or more than ever, I don't believe these were the changes we  had in mind. I also don't believe that we can leave it completely up to politicians and lobbyists to decide which direction it is that we are going to take. We had all hoped that Obama was going to lead us in bringing the changes we wanted but that is clearly not working out. It won't help if the other political party comes back into power either. In my mind at least, it's coming clear, that if we don't get involved directly, the changes we want will not be forthcoming. Things may not be as bad as they look on the surface because it all just might cause, those in America who feel in their hearts that the right thing has to be done by the people, to coalesce and realize the full potential of the 99%.  Forget the Tea Party, let's assemble the 99% and form "The We Party"




Occupy Consciousness: The American Spring arrives

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
24 MARCH 2012

Spring is Coming To - Occupy The Hood

 Back in November 2011 I saw an article in The Michigan Citizen regarding a challenge that was put to the youth of African descent to improve their world. Now as spring is coming into bloom  the organization that made that challenge - OCCUPY THE HOOD (OTH) is also starting to show some buds. There are now chapters  in 17 US cities coast to coast and north to south with more in the works.  Their official web site seems to be a bit slow at the moment so rather than link to their mission statement, I'll just include it in this post. October and November saw a lot of activity on the official OTH website but at the moment they tell me their webmaster is a bit overwhelmed for the time being (Read- could use some help). If you want to keep current on OTH activity they suggest following your local chapter on Facebook or Twitter.

OTH LOGO

 Remember an organization like this can only be as effective as the people involved and their dedication to their cause. Keep in mind that every little bit that you can do, will go towards making the movement into something that can bring some improvements into your hood. People working together on a project can always accomplish more than those same people could working separately.  So check into your local chapter in your Hood or if there is no local chapter the talk to the folks on the corner or the barber shop or the salon or in school or where ever you meet and get something started. Lets don't forget that youth includes the young at heart.  SPRING IS COMING TO THE HOOD.



Malik Rhasaan, co-founder of Occupy the Hood, talks with Sue Hilderbrand of KZFR radio (Chico, CA) about marginalized voices in the Occupy Movement, racism in society, white privilege and more. Recorded live on 1/28/2012.

See the excellent article -Why I support Occupy The Hood
by Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin on Monday, October 10, 2011

Cincinnatti OTH support for Treyvon Martin 

 OTH Mission statement

Occupy The Hood is an autonomous national grassroots movement comprised of activists, organizers and community members working with like-minded individuals and organizations across the US. Occupy The Hood stands in solidarity with any progressive organization or movement who desires and works towards the liberation, benefit and improvement of the quality of life of disenfranchised People of Color.
From Occupation to Liberation, De-Colonize, Empower The Hood.
People of Color, and in particular Black, Brown and Native/Indigenous People, have been disproportionately affected by the issues that the Occupy Movement has recently raised.
Unemployment rates double nationwide, disproportionate incarceration rates, wealth gap, subprime mortgages/foreclosures.
OTH seeks to present solutions to our collective problems and effect changes in policy that will improve our condition.
OTH is relying on methods of organization that have been going on prior to the origin of the Occupy Movement in the realization that we must craft a movement that uniquely and directly speaks to the issues of People of Color.  Occupy The Hood looks forward to see what develops from the Occupy Movement.  Occupy The Hood will work to re-establish a goal based National Black Agenda combining new energy with pre-existing efforts.
Occupy The Hood will work to address many critical issues affecting our communities:
un/under employment, poverty, mass incarceration, political prisoners, school to prison pipeline, police brutality, racial profiling, violence/murders/illegal guns, housing/foreclosures/homelessness/gentrification, health care disparities, educational disparities, food deserts, community development, reparations, economic development, entrepreneurship, gender-specific programs, youth programs, environmental justice, civic engagement, discrimination/racism
Occupy The Hood is officially active in the following Cities:
NYC (NY), Detroit (MI), Pittsburgh (PA), Seattle (WA), Philadelphia (PA), Atlanta (GA), Boston (MA), Tacoma (WA), Dallas (TX), Nola (LA), Cincinnati (OH), Portland (OR), St. Louis (MO), Cleveland (OH), Washington (DC), Richmond (VA), Los Angeles (CA) and growing
Occupy The Hood recognizes previous movements and efforts by People of Color for Liberation:
Civil Rights Movement, Black Power Movement, Poor Peoples Campaign, March on Washington, Million Man March, “Arab Spring”
Occupy The Hood acknowledges the philosophies and ideologies of:
Afrocentrism, Pan-Afrikanism,
Occupy The Hood recognizes the tremendous sacrifice and individual revolutionary examples of:
Martin Luther King jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Black Panthers, Kwame Nkrumah, Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture),  Fredrick Douglass, Toussaint L’Ouverture, W.E.B. DuBois, Amilcar Cabral, Paul Robeson, A. Philip Randolph, Ella Baker, CLR James, Fannie Lou Hamer, Frantz Fanon, Anna Julia Cooper, Bell Hooks, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Pedro Albizu Campos, Cesar Chavez, Luisa Moreno, Harry Pachon, Chicano Movement, Brown Berets, Young Lords, Che Gueverra and the numerous others from our rich, ancient and continuing History.
Occupy The Hood recognizes the holocausts and genocides of our People:
-The Native/Indigenous Holocaust; Jamestown, VA., Plymouth, MA., Trail of Tears
-Colombus’ assault on the Americas/Caribbean; W. Indies, Central, South, Latin America
-The African Holocaust; Trans-Atlantic Slave trade (MAAFA) and Slavery in America
-Jim Crow & Over 5000 Lynchings in America, Black Wall Street, Hate Crimes
-African genocides fueled by US & European interests theft of natural resources (Gold, Diamonds, Oil)
-The Colonization of our people by: England, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, The Dutch
WE ARE THE MOST AFFECTED of the 99%
It has been said that:
“Black People are on the bottom of every list that is good, and on the top of every list that is bad”
“When White America has a cold, Black America has pneumonia”
* Black unemployment is almost double the national average and in many cities/states is triple and quadruple. Unemployment rates nationally for specific groups such as Black Men and Black Teenagers are even more glaring.
USA Unemployment = 9.1%  Black Unemployment = 16.2 % Black males = 17.5%  Black teens almost 41%
*Black and Latino incarceration rates
Black man = 1 in 3 (32%) Latino man = 1 in 6 (17%) White man has = 1 in 17 (5.9%)
It costs $35-50,000 annually (varies state/federal) to incarcerate
*Black and Latino Wealth Gap
The wealth gaps between whites and minorities have grown to their widest levels in a quarter-century. The recession and uneven recovery have erased decades of minority gains, leaving whites on average with 20 times the net worth of blacks and 18 times that of Hispanics, according to an analysis of new Census data
*People of Color Poverty Rates
Poverty rates for blacks and Hispanics greatly exceed the national average. In 2010, 27.4 percent of Blacks and 26.6 percent of Hispanics were poor, compared to 9.9 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 12.1 percent of Asians.
Poverty rates are highest for families headed by single women, particularly if they are Black or Hispanic. In 2010, 31.6 percent of households headed by single women were poor, while 15.8 percent of households headed by single men and 6.2 percent of married-couple households lived in poverty.
There are also differences between native-born and foreign-born residents. In 2010, 19.9 percent of foreign-born residents lived in poverty, compared to 14.4 percent of residents born in the United States. Foreign-born, non-citizens had an even higher incidence of poverty, at a rate of 26.7 percent.
Our voices are going to blend as one.
Malik Rashaan, Founder of The Official Occupy The Hood
PreachdaTruth Freedom, Co-Founder of The Official Occupy The Hood
We Reserve all rights to the official name “Occupy The Hood”…
We are NOT affiliated with anyone who is misrepresenting “Occupy The Hood” or looking to profit from the use of the name “Occupy The Hood” .