Nationwide Capacity-Building for Occupy Together

The Ruckus Society Supports #OccupyTogether!

Check our blog report on Oakland's General Strike actions November 2, 2011!

October 2011:

The U.S. has caught Occupy fever! The Occupy movement has spread across the country and now across the globe at a remarkable rate over the past month. The Occupation at Wall Street has led news cycles day in and day out, and occupations have sprung up in hundreds of locations across the country. A populist rising from the left has finally taken hold, and wrestled the air waves away from the Tea Party. Mainstream America is talking about the root causes of our problems at a systemic level. Political discourse is finally being pulled to the left for the first in a very long time. This is an exciting and truly game-changing political moment for our movements for justice!

But success lies in our ability to effectively harness the massive energy that has developed, to not only sustain the occupations, but propel the movement forward towards real changes for the 99%. And we at Ruckus know that we cannot afford to waste this opportunity. The incredible growth of this movement has created serious capacity needs that must be met to sustain the movement and continue its exceptional growth.

Luckily, Ruckus was designed for exactly this type of moment.

With Ruckus's decentralized network of highly experienced activists spread across the U.S. and Canada we have the unique capability and flexibility to plug in to many Occupations simultaneously. Many of our trainers have been on the ground at Occupy Wall Street or their hometown Occupations since Day 1; and many more are plugging in every day, or are ready to be deployed to where the needs are greatest.

Ruckus is taking a multi-pronged approach to supporting the Occupy movements, working as a cohesive network of skilled direct action trainers and practitioners, and with our allies in other training networks and base-building community organizing groups to support local occupations and coordinate nationwide collaborative efforts to create a strong and unified movement.

With our allies, we are helping convene a national training and capacity-building project for the Occupations, to:

• Assess needs on the ground

• Provide trainings for occupy activists in nonviolent direct action, strategic planning, facilitation, legal/know your rights, media, and more

• Set up and run secure technology and communications systems, and share these tools with others

• Host Trainings for Trainers, to grow the movement's skill-sharing capacity exponentially

• Mentor less experienced activists by pairing them with veteran organizers

• Develop local and national action strategies to propel the movement forward

The needs are great, but the energy is greater, and Ruckus was born ready for this. We have jumped in with both feet, and our network of trainers is eagerly using this opportunity to share its decades of experience, skills, and strategic insight to help develop new leadership, infrastructure, and movement strategy in this critical moment. We know a good movement-organizing opportunity when we see one, and this is it!