Here is some information put out by the Occupy Caravan organizing folks we have been in contact with – it’s good to see our barbeque idea made the list!
We want to help you create entertainment & education events that bring new faces and energy to the Occupy movement – showing that we are about community, about participation, and about enacting democracy through our collective actions. When the Occupy Caravan comes to town, here are some suggested ways to share our common messages of economic justice – and anything you come up with as actions, concerts, talks, performances and events in your area, fantastic! This can happen in a park, on Main Street, in a square, a community center, a church, theater, school… anyplace that brings Caravan participants and people in the community together! There are no costs here: the price of entry is our Participation.
1) One word: BARBEQUE! – The Caravaneers will be traveling long distances for many days and it goes without saying that any kind of cookout, BBQ or meals donated from a local kitchen or restaurant would be a celebrated gift! Eating brings people out and it brings us together; call it a potluck and invite contributions from friends and neighbors. Filling the tank and filling the belly are basic needs on this Caravan and we’d love to see people’s travel costs defrayed where possible.
2) MUSIC – Invite local or well known bands to come perform. Rally musicians around the themes, inviting them to play in the spirit of the movement (the 100th anniversary of Woody Guthrie’s birth is a great place to start). And get ready guitarists: the traveling OCCUPY GUITARMY will be rocking the scene coast to coast, so come out and join! Occupy Guitarmy songs and lyrics will be sent out shortly…
3) THEATER – The types of theatrical performances that this Caravan invites are limitless. Skits, flash mob protests, entertaining dialogue, informal (or formal!) staged shows, monologues… everything’s welcome! We are talking with Playback theater troupes in cities across the country to join; the National U-Haul Caravan for Underwater Homeowners will hopefully be performing as well. If you have local groups that want to put on a show, bring ‘em in – we want to educate as we entertain!
4) LECTURES/TALKS – This is pretty self-explanatory: are there speakers, authors, teachers, activists, poets, community leaders, students, organizers or others in your community that you’d like to invite, who can talk and inspire people at this democratic road show? We want them to show up! If the person is well known it can help draw greater crowds. If they have important things to say and are passionate about how they say them—that’s what matters most.
5) RECORDED PERFORMANCES/FILMS/SPEECHES – A good fallback option for the Caravan event is to have a roll of prepared videos (as simple as those assembled from Youtube), historic civil rights speeches, poignant or famous lectures, or other format that can be easily shown and which can spark dialogue about the issues people want to talk about. We are here to meet one another – but some moments of displaying powerful images, voices, performances, etc, can do a lot to both educate and entertain.
6) COMEDY – Call or write to us to see if we can help arrange a standup comedy show in your area – or arrange one on your own. We will be bringing comedians with us and we have great contacts to performers nationally. Ask for Buddy on info@occupycaravan.com.
