Many people stood up at the Martin Luther King Jr Monument last Friday
and spoke.
Here they are (we may have missed a few).
At the MLK Monument —Occupy Valdosta
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
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A familiar scene from the Big Apple reaches Southern Georgia. It’s called “Occupy Valdosta.” More than 100 protesters take to the streets to fight corporate greed and social injustice.
Greg Gullberg wrote Friday for WCTV, Occupy Wall Street Comes To Valdosta,
Chanting before banks, monuments and courthouses, the rally reached its summit at the Chamber of Commerce.WCTV’s low estimate of 100 who chanted “no consolidation” on the Chamber’s doorstep is several times Continue reading
There the crowd cried two familiar words: ‘No Consolidation’.
In a demonstration designed to fight corporate greed and social inequality, the protest ultimately turned to the fate of the school systems and the children of Valdosta.
“My children go to city schools. I live in the county. I can’t vote. That’s not right,” said Susan Smith.
Words do not describe this:
Here’s the video:
Police encounter! @ Occupy Valdosta
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
OK, these words might: Thanks to the Valdosta Police for being completely professional and courteous throughout!
Just as we were leaving the Chamber of Commerce, they even called back with the permit for today’s event, 11AM this morning at MLK Memorial Park.
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Occupy Valdosta protests issues,
The occupy wall street movement that’s spreading around the country arrived in south Georgia.That’s her with the big camera in front of the palm tree, come to see what democracy looks like.
More than 100 demonstrators marched through the streetsThere you have it: WALB links school consolidation to corporate greed.of Valdosta Friday.
They’re protesting issues from corporate greed to unemployment all the way down to local issues including school consolidation.
How’s this for an ad linked to Martin Luther King Jr.?
Sam Allen says Vote No School Consolidation at the Martin Luther King Monument
Videos and pictures of Occupy Valdosta by John S. Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange
Back to Jade Bulecza: Continue reading
Erin Hurley spoke for Occupy America to Bank of America.
It’s national Take Your Money Out of Bank of America Day.Nobody came out to respond.
Who got bailed out?
They did!
Who did it?
We did it!
All right!
[laughter]
They are the 1%; we are the 99!
Here’s Part 1 of 2:
Take your money out of Bank of America Day –Occupy Valdosta Part 1 of 2:
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Then everyone headed on to the MLK monument.
Here’s Part 2 of 2:
Take your money out of Bank of America Day –Occupy Valdosta Part 2 of 2:
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
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Tony Daniels called for accountability at the MLK monument:
Stand up! Make the Bank of America be accounted. Make the Industrial Authority be accounted. Make the United States government be accounted.
Here’s the video:
Make the Industrial Authority be accounted —Tony Daniels at MLK Occupy Valdosta
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
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Mario Bartoletti stood up at the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument in Valdosta and said to Occupy Valdosta:
I’m just shy of 79 and I’ve been out here marching all the way today, and I’ll tell you why.
When I was your age, we were marching for civil rights. We made it. Now we’re marching for another kind of rights, and I guarantee we’re going to make it! I want you to promise, when you’re my age, you’re going to be leading a demonstration for those who march for those kinds of rights.
Here’s the video:
Marching for rights —Mario Bartoletti @ MLK Monument Occupy Valdosta
We are the 99%,
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, Occupy Valdosta,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
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Will someone pick up that sign?
As you can see in the
playlist, why yes, someone did!
More than 100 people (estimates ranged from 110 to 150) went Marching to Occupy Valdosta.
Tony Daniels and Freddie Richardson carry the Occupy Valdosta banner
They marched more than three miles from Drexel Park to Bank of America, where they noted BoA got bailed out and we got left out and recommended withdrawing your money. Then to MLK Park, where many people spoke on a variety of subjects ranging from stand together, to make the Industrial Authority be accounted, to vote No on School Consolidation on November 8th, to if MLK was alive he would be here today, to marching for rights for a lifetime, to no private prison, to tax the rich, and and of course come back here (MLK Park) tomorrow (Sat 15 Oct) at 11AM! Then to the VDT (where the Assistant Managing Editor was surprised by a cheer) and the Chamber (where the President didn’t care for a thesaurus lesson); more on all those stops later.
Marching to Occupy Valdosta, 14 October 2011:
Drexel Park, Bank of America, MLK Park, VDT, Chamber of Commerce.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Videos are still uploading, so check back later. I’ll also blog more about specific events along the way.
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The latest Lowndes County Lunch and Learn
was yesterday, with County Clerk Paige Dukes
answering the top 50 questions the county receives.
Code Red! Road paving! Tax Assessment! CHIP grants!
Some of these things affect all of you, and many of them could help you specifically.
Gretchen was there and videoed most of it, as well as asking some followup questions.
Among other surprising answers was that the new Commission districts as shown on the maps on the county website have still not been approved by the Department of Justice. All of the Commissioners and several of the staff travelled to Atlanta a few weeks ago to tweak the lines. Paige assured us that tweaking would be completed in time for next year’s Commission elections.
Paige noted Carmella Braswell is the go-to person for many questions about what to do if you want to sink a will or put up a building. She addressed the CHIP grant in question 3, in the second video below, noting Carolyn Selby’s comments at a previous Commission meeting: Continue reading
Mayor Sonny Vickers said he thought it was important for children
and grandchildren and proper for the City Council to take a stand
against school consolidation, and City Manager Larry Hanson read
the statement (transcript appended).
For:
James Wright District 1 
Hoke Hampton District 3 
Alvin Payton District 4 Ben Norton At Large Didn’t Have to Vote: 
Sonny Vickers Mayor |
|---|
Against:
Robert Yost District 6 
Tim Carroll District 5 Missing: 
Deidra White District 2 |
|---|
That means Ben Norton changed his vote since since their last non-binding vote related to school consolidation. (Nonbinding because they didn’t have any authority to decide whether the referendum went on the ballot or not.) Council Deidra White of District 2 was absent throughout the meeting, which I find rather odd since she seemed quite aware when I spoke to her the previous day that this vote was going to occur. Back in August she voted against putting the referendum on the ballot. Yes, I know the motion was not exactly the same, so the votes are not exactly comparable. In any case, this time there was no tie and thus no need for the (new) mayor to break a tie.
Here’s the video:
Valdosta City Council voted to oppose school consolidationo
education, consolidation, resolution,
Regular Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Here’s the statement transcribed as accurately as I could from the video: Continue reading