Help Publish the Declaration of Occupy Wall Street

Help Publish the Declaration of Occupy Wall Street
A Public Art project in New York, NY by Andy Stepanian

Video as well at link...





http://www.sparrowmedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Declaration-N+1-Paper.jpg




ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Media outlets have attempted to dismiss Occupy Wall Street as a movement without a message. This baseless indictment falls apart once you have read their declaration, and this is why we think it is so important to publish it and distribute it widely!

We are going to need your help to reach our goal of printing and distributing 100,000 copies!

This document is the first and only official declaration to come from the New York City General Assembly at Liberty Plaza, the epicenter of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. It is a summation of the grievances expressed by the occupiers, it is a call to action, and moreover it is a historic mile marker in the global fight for social, environmental, and economic justice. The Declaration of the Occupation of New York City, as transcribed and edited by Ryan Hoffman, Lex Rendon, and the Call to Action Working Group of Occupy Wall Street is a powerful reference for blossoming social struggles everywhere. In this second printing of 100,000 copies we will be including two other texts from the New York General Assembly, The Principals of Solidarity, and OWS' Statement of Autonomy, we also will be including a letter from the activists at Tahir Square to the Occupiers at Zuccotti Park. The Declaration of the Occupation, The Statement of Autonomy, and The Principals of Solidarity, are reflections of every voice amplified by the people’s mic at the NYC General Assembly at Liberty Square. You own this document. ...Everyone owns it.

Please consider donating to our printing and distribution, and please share this fundraising effort with others on facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc... We love you!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1385231108/help-publish-the-declaration-of-occupy-wall-street

:kick:

They should release a Kindle version, too--much cheaper, and a lot more people will be able to download and read it immediately.

Thinking seriously about donating, but don't want to get fooled by someone not associated directly.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1385231108/help-publish-the-declaration-of-occupy-wall-street

49
BACKERS

$2,111
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

14
DAYS TO GO

THIS PROJECT WILL ONLY BE FUNDED IF AT LEAST $10,000 IS PLEDGED BY SUNDAY DEC 4, 8:00PM EST.
BACK THIS PROJECT

$1 MINIMUM PLEDGE

===

To those skeptical, I do not know what to say. I will only say i donated, and actually hope to get one of the posters they offer. I'm going to have it mounted too. I hope its legit, and in fact, believe it is.

==

PROJECT BY
Andy Stepanian

Andy Stepanian is the cofounder of the Sparrow Project (http://sparrowmedia.net), a grassroots PR and creative consultation agency that champions activist endeavors and creative projects for social change. Andy also writes about activism and social justice for The Huffington Post. Andy has made appearances on Democracy Now!, has been featured in New York Magazine, The Nation, Arte TV, and WNYC. His creative work has been featured in Print Magazine.

sparrowmedia.net
huffingtonpost.com
imprint.printmag.com

PLEDGE $10 OR MORE
A heartfelt shout out on twitter http://twitter.com/sparrowmedia and a thank you on our website http://sparrowmedia.net
Estimated Delivery: Dec 2011

PLEDGE $25 OR MORE YOU SELECTED
The stunning 27"x27" OWS Declaration Poster with a beautiful hand-drawn typographical flow chart as designed by Occupy Wall Street's Arts & Culture Working Group.
Estimated Delivery: Dec 2011

PLEDGE $50 OR MORE
Become an OWS publishing partner! We will ship everyone who donates $50 a box of 50 booklets once they are printed. Along with booklets you'll get the poster, a twitter shout out and thank you on our website!
Estimated Delivery: Dec 2011

PLEDGE $75 OR MORE
A copy of the book "Muzzling a Movement" by Dara Lovitz as well as the poster, 10 booklets, a twitter shout out and thank you on our website!
Estimated Delivery: Dec 2011

PLEDGE $80 OR MORE
A copy of the book "The Lifelong Activist" by Hillary Rettig as well as the poster, 10 booklets, a twitter shout out and thank you on our website!
Estimated Delivery: Dec 2011

PLEDGE $100 OR MORE
A copy of the book "Green is the New Red" by Will Potter as well as the poster, 10 booklets, a twitter shout out and thank you on our website!

=====


Dear Friends,

First, let me thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting this project!

After I first read the declaration on September 29th I was baffled as to why the media seldom referenced it, and I was infuriated by the fact that more often then not the media repeated the same soundbite that "Occupy Wall Street is a movement without a message."

We are taking a completely D.I.Y. approach to publishing this document and want to assure that these booklets will be made available free of charge to everyone who wants to distribute them. YOU are our base, by supporting this project YOU are giving it life. YOU are invested in it just like I am...

There is a lot YOU can do to insure that this project gets the backing it needs. YOU can share this kickstarter page on social networks like tumblr, twitter, facebook, etc. YOU can make daily updates on your blog letting your friends know about this effort and how they too can help until we reach our goal, YOU can let your friends know about this effort by word of mouth, over dinner, the phone, etc.

YOU are our base. One of the reasons why the Occupy Movement has spread so widely is because it is so inclusive. We want to include you in this effort. We don't see you as donors, we consider you partners. YOU can help us publicize this effort, YOU can share in the joy of knowing the declaration has out-printed some of the books on the NYT best seller list, YOU can get a box of them in the mail and hand them out in your own town, Juno, Alaska?, Boise, Idaho? YOU name it! YOU can start your own general assembly, YOU can organize with us.

YOU can help shape an alternative future for ALL of us!

Again, thank you for donating, now lets get to work!

In Solidarity,

Andy

66
Backers

$2,767
pledged of $10,000 goal

13
days to go

:kick:

I'm really wanting that drawing/graphic/poster to frame.
Its fantastic.

69
BACKERS

$2,847
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

12
DAYS TO GO

84
BACKERS

$3,442
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

12
DAYS TO GO

okay, we got another...

85
Backers

$3,492
pledged of $10,000 goal

12
days to go


=====

Sort of suprised this isn't getting any attention. Oh well. when it gets worse, and it will, maybe more will contribute. Thats if you have anything. Its going to get worse. These words are the opening statements.

91
Backers

$3,883
pledged of $10,000 goal

12
days to go

105
BACKERS

$4,964
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

11
DAYS TO GO

=======

Halfway there... Every small amount adds up. I see there were some high rollers as of late. Thank you Thurston Howel!

"This project will only be funded if at least $10,000 is pledged by Sunday Dec 4, 8:00pm EST."

122
BACKERS

$5,516
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

10
DAYS TO GO

131
BACKERS

$5,751
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

9
DAYS TO GO

Thank you Huey for helping spread the word about our fundraising through kickstarter.

For those of you who want to learn more about our effort please check out - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1385231108/help-publish-the-declaration-of-occupy-wall-street

For anyone who has their doubts about the effort feel free to email me at andy@sparrowmedia.net

We have been working closely with the Arts & Culture Working Group, Outreach Working Group, and Call to Action Working Group at Zuccotti Park. They assemble the texts and art we have been doing the layout and production end. Some of the posters and other mass printed art has been paid for with funding directly form the GA. Our working group however recognized that other issues took priority over printing at the GA especially after the eviction so we headed out on our own to fundraise to pay for the second printing of 100,000.

We are making the PDF available online as well for free, but we thought it would be important to have physical copies to use as conversation points. The booklet is a great introductory outreach tool.

I hope this answers some of your questions, feel free to email me any others you may have.

WE HAVE 9 DAYS TO GO AND STILL NEED TO RAISE $4,000

Please consider donating whatever you can, and for those of you who cannot donate, please consider sharing the link to our kickstarter page on your twitter accounts, facebooks, tumblrs, etc.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1385231108/help-publish-the-declaration-of-occupy-wall-street

Wishing you all the best,
Andy

142
BACKERS

$6,581
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

8
DAYS TO GO

---

Only $3500 more to go...

:kick:

If this is the declaration that I read a week ago, I found it a bit muddled and weak. And altogether the wrong approach to the problem.

This is why this consensus model is so ridiculous. Revolution has never been done this way, and with good reason. It produces unworkable, or at the very least weak, solutions. There are people out there that have been doing this stuff for decades. They have a much larger frame of reference than a bunch of kids (no dis). They know the pitfalls that always get overlooked.

I don't like this set of mini-demands approach. Google "the New Common Sense". That approach is one that could work. This approach - the declaration - won't.

At first the question was if I should donate. Now the question is how much I will donate. I just tried to recommend this thread and was surprised to see that it's been up too long to do so. The reason I'm surprised is the low reply count and the low recommend count. I know that there are a lot of Occupy supporters here at DU. Let's open up our wallets here and put our money where our mouths are.

Kick.

Yeeeeeeehawwww! :)

157
BACKERS

$7,356
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

7
DAYS TO GO

===

Okay, only $3k to go, and only 7 days left.

Media mogul Russell Simmons showed his support with this tweet, feel free to be as creative as you like when encouraging others to donate and get involved!



---

Today I mailed out the last of the 1st edition booklets and as I looked at the addresses from all across America I felt inspired. This movement is only as strong as each of its individual contributors and collectively these newly emboldened contributors can affect global change!

Today, please try to make an effort to reach out to friends over the phone, over email, over social networks like twitter, facebook, tumblr, and in person to let them know about our publishing effort. Let them know the link to our kickstarter page and encourage them as well to share the link with their friends -

162
BACKERS

$7,491
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

6
DAYS TO GO

--

Hummm...Simmons' either doesn't carry any weight with his tweets, or his 'followers' are cheap asses.

So its up to us! Just $2500 more to go...

163
Backers

$7,541
pledged of $10,000 goal

6
days to go

164
Backers

$7,516
pledged of $10,000 goal

6
days to go

168
BACKERS

$8,141
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

5
DAYS TO GO

170
Backers

$8,176
pledged of $10,000 goal

5
days to go

It's important to get this information out there although I am puzzled why it's not mentioned on occupywallst's site.

if you have any questions....and thank YOU.

185
BACKERS

$8,451
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

4
DAYS TO GO

186
Backers

$8,501
pledged of $10,000 goal

4
days to go

====

Only $1500 to go, come on people.

Dear Friends,

Thank you so very much for choosing to back this project! There are so many beautiful, creative, and forward-thinking projects on Kickstarter, and you chose to support this one; this means a lot to me.

I personally understand that everyones budget is different, I respect that and frankly feel the strain myself. So all I can ask of you is to continue to join me in helping to make this project possible, by being vocal about it, by increasing your pledge if possible, by staying excited about it, and by being proactive!

I was instantly moved by the Occupy Wall Street statement. I thought finally someone is addressing the entanglement of big money and policy making. I thought about all of the social issues I personally care about ...animal rights, environmental sanity, poverty, hunger, and I how each of these issues can directly be linked with special interests that lobby for corporate profits ...even when increased profits result in poor treatment of animals, the environment, or economic inequality. By taking on the injustices of Wall Street we are helping to level the playing field of policy making, to create a more democratic and sane environment to live in.

I started going down to Zuccotti Park every night after my day job at Princeton Architectural Press, I attended the General Assemblies and marches, and wondered about just how I could best lend my support to this movement. My job at Princeton has allowed me to surround myself in some of the best designed books in the world, there I have met some of the world's greatest designers and typographers, and even though I was not designing books myself I constantly would look over their shoulders, and ask for their input when designing printed materials for myself. Their boundless talent inspired me to learn more about the language of design, and it was this inspiration that moved me to act and start printing the Declaration of the Occupation of New York City as a physical document. I wanted to design it in such a way that people would want to keep it forever. I started laying it out and then reached out to my friend Julie Gueraseva who has designed album covers for Def Jam, she helped me perfect my design concept while making sure we stay true to the message and sensibilities of Occupy Wall Street. I then initiated the production with our friends over at Consolidated Printing in Seattle, we opted for soy inks, and post consumer recycled papers.

It has been an exciting journey. We have successfully printed and distributed 10,000 copies and now we are on to another 100,000. We need your help in these final stages to push us over the top. There are many ways to do this, the quickest way is to adjust and increase your pledge, (if each of you opted to increase your pledges by as little as 30% this would put us over 10,000). Another effective way to help is to share this kickstarter effort with all of your friends. We need people to do this for the next few days as we approach our goals.

I personally understand that everyones budget is different, I respect that and frankly feel the strain myself. So all I can ask of you is to continue to join me in helping to make this project possible, by being vocal about it, by increasing your pledge if possible, by staying excited about it, and by being proactive. I am confident this will allow us to exceed our $10,000 point and make this a complete success!

With Love & Liberation,

Andy

191
BACKERS

$8,606
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

4
DAYS TO GO

198
BACKERS

$8,873
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

3
DAYS TO GO

208
BACKERS

$9,193
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

3
DAYS TO GO

==============


Project Update #4: Meet Rachel Schragis, OWS Artist & Booklet Contributor
Posted by Andy Stepanian
After the Declaration of the Occupation of New York City was penned by the Call to Action working group and read aloud to the New York City General Assembly, Rachel Schragis, an artist with the Arts & Culture Working Group of occupy wall street was inspired to illustrate this flow chart detailing the issues within the declaration.



Rachel's flow chart was then hand-screened as part of a limited edition of 200 prints by New York City's Printed Matter Inc, hosts of the now famous New York Art Book Fair. In an effort to make the poster accessible to everyone The Sparrow Project helped Rachel print 5,000 posters, they are set to arrive in New York next week. We also will be including her illustration in the center spread of the Declaration booklets!

The poster itself has drawn the attention of both political media outlets and the fine arts community. Rachel was interviewed by Jesse Meyerson for Truthout.org about her process and Rachel was featured by Jews For Racial & Economic Justice on thier website. The critically acclaimed art magazine Art in America will also be featuring Rachel's flowchart in their next issue!

As a thank you for your support we will be giving a 27"x27" offset poster with Rachel's flowchart to all donors who pledge $25 or more.

As our deadline approaches we are asking everyone who reads this to let everyone know about our effort on kickstarter, to double your efforts, and where possible increase your pledges. We know with your support anything is possible.

All the best,

Andy

215
Backers

$9,413
pledged of $10,000 goal

3
days to go

228
BACKERS

$10,000
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

3
DAYS TO GO

====

Please continue to give a bit so that we push it over.

230
BACKERS

$10,115
PLEDGED OF $10,000 GOAL

59
HOURS TO GO

=====

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

We have reached our Kickstarter goal of $10,000 with 3 days left to go and will continue to fundraise! We ask that all of you join us in building off this momentum, and help us until the very end.

To give you a better idea of just how much printing & distributing 100,000 copies will cost us in the end, it will take a base of $18,000 to print the copies, and we estimate over $6,500 in shipping costs to get flats of these booklets to major cities, and to each of you who have pledged. We have been fundraising through other channels outside of Kickstarter as well in order to assure that this will happen.

Every dollar over 10,000 raised here will go directly towards our shipping costs. If we surpass our shipping fees, each additional $1 will create another 6 booklets in overflow to be handed out on the streets.

We invite you to celebrate with us, and continue to fundraise until the very end!

All the best,
Andy

========

I'm not sure if backers are checking this thread, and sort-of feel I'm talking to myself here, but folks, we did it!
100,000 copies will be made and distributed....and we get the great poster.

Good job everyone, and thank you. I celebrate our success.