As some of you may know, I have originally became involved with Occupy Defiance. I have since moved to Toledo and have joined forces with the infamous Occupy Toledo. As a few of you may well know, on April 1, 2012, Occupy Toledo held a ‘mock’ funeral. During the week of The General Strike a.k.a. MAYDAY, we held a series of events. On the Eve of May 1st, we held a presentation where three of us had dressed as corporate zombies, makeup by Ani Copti. Occupy Toledo’s and TopPun founder Dan Rutt, was the creative mind behind these events. During the General Strike, we had many speakers among them Steven Vines, Baldemar Vasquez, who spoke on the history of May Day, Michael Leonardi, and Keith Sadler. Each gave input on worker’s rights. We then marched from Levis Square onto The Government Center in solidarity with the local union workers for the Red Cross who have been fighting for better benefits and went on strike for 6 weeks prior to the event.
On May 2nd, We held a mock retirement party for Julia Bates, Prosecutor in the case of Danny Brown. Danny Brown was imprisoned 18 years for a crime he did not commit and was released due to DNA evidence. However, the court denies his exoneration. A Main Street VS. Wall Street event was held the following. Speakers were Johnathon Ross for Physicians for a National Health Program, Greg Coolridge for Move To Amend:Abolish Corporate Personhood, Michael Leonardi for Occupy Toledo and C.A.N.(Coalition Against Nukes), Joe DeMare for the Green Party, and Greg Lyons for SEIU’s Fight For a Fair Economy.
Among these week’s long event’s were a children’s festival held at Third Space/B-Bop Records on N.Michigan in Toledo. Also Free Concerts were held at Levis Square. To symbolize the end of events, a tearing down of a wall covered with corporate oppression symbols that was initially put up on May Day Eve.

Photos Courtesy of Katrina Bacome

A young local named Eyad Jaara showed his support by expressing chants such as “People, people, open your eyes! How many Syrians have to die?”. When I asked Jaara about his thoughts on this event, he expressed the following: “People in America are unaware of what all is happening in Syria. Peaceful protesters are being killed under Assad’s Regime with no exceptions. Our mission is bring awareness to these people.”

Two young sisters, Shahrazad and Yasmeen Hamdah, also stated such when I asked the same question: “It is important to stand up against Assad. We just want the tyranny to end. Even children are being killed. We just want peace.”

News had been spread that the Obama Administration had supplied assistance to Syrian rebels opposing the Bashar Al-Assad Regime. It has also been stated that the Free Syrian Army has joined the Anti-Assad protests. Senator McCain has also called for U.S. airstrikes among Assad’s army to protect the citizens of Syria from a year-long deadly crackdown.

On a personal note: The gathering in Toledo was very overwhelming as many people showed their support for those in Syria suffering from the many bloodshed of opposing Bashar Al-Assad’s Regime. Many thoughts and prayers go out to the Syrian rebels and relatives of Hadi Al-Shammaa. My heart goes out to you all.

Russell Simmons, founder and owner of Def Jam Records and Phat Farm Clothing, joins Congressman Dennis Kucinich on March 3, 2012 at Scott High School in Toledo, OH. Also at this event  was Toledo’s own, DJ One 1x Tyme. Kucinich will be running at the polls on March 6 for the 9th district Democractic Primary. He is renowned as “….truly a Man of the People.” I had the pleasure of getting statements from Simmons And Kucinich, along with DJ One 1x Tyme. During my review, I had found Kucinich And Simmons to be supporters of the Occupy Movement as well.

When asking DJ One 1x Tyme about the impact he was hoping to come from this event, he stated “Im hoping to see progression in our community, I personally came from the hood. Im hoping this goes well.” Everyone seemed anxious to hear the views and opinions from Kucinich and Simmons.

During his speech, Simmons made statements that he truly believes that Kucinich has what it takes to bring what the community needs. He stated that we need more involvement from the communities and more progressive approachs. I had asked Simmons “What do you think about the Occupy Movement?” His answer was this, “I think the media has been saying many negative things about the Occupy Movement, but I find the Occupy Movement to be important, especially when it comes to getting money out of the politics. Politics should be in the interest of the people.”

Dennis Kucinich made important issue statements. He is a proud backer of the all communities, African-American, Latino, Asian, as well as Caucasian. Kucinich made statements on how he believes that MLK Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” Speech was not just about African-Americans but for all people. He also mentioned Davis-Besse and how this local nuclear plant is unsafe, how he plans to fight against, and getting the community involved. When asked what hes hoping will be the biggest impact as a result of this event, he simply states, “To let people know the power in the people, that is all that this is about.”