Whenever a company (or a company’s top executive) does something that ticks off a segment of the population, there’s usually talk of people calling for boycotts of that company’s products and services. But can a boycott bring about change on its own, or does it risk only hurting the low-level employees who are probably not the target of the protest? A boycott’s success frequently has less to do with an immediate loss of revenue than it does with the public’s reaction to the boycott. [More]
activism
Protesters Get Boiler Fixed In Harlem
By 11.11.11
Those good-for-nothing bums down at Zuccotti Park put down their free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for one minute and became quite good-for-something. Instead of occupying Wall Street, they occupied 142nd Street, and got a new boiler installed in a building where the heat and hot water has been spotty for years. [More]
Artists Adds $0 Tags To Her Clothes, Reshelves Them
By 11.7.11
Artist Jess Dobkin takes her clothes, attaches realistic-looking tags that say “free” on them, and puts them back on the shelves at the original stores she bought them from. She calls the project, “Restored,” and made a cheery video about it. [More]
Video: Occupy Portlanders Open Credit Union Accounts On Bank Transfer Day
By 11.7.11
Saturday was the fifth of November, and many remembered to take a stand and shut down their big retail bank accounts, transferring their cash to a new credit union account. Here’s a video out of Occupy Portland covering what happened on Bank Transfer Day. Interviewees talk about why they’re switching to a credit union, and how this is just the beginning. [More]
Video Of People Closing Down Their Accounts At Big Banks
By 11.4.11
Tomorrow is Bank Transfer Day. By this date, people all across America are shutting down their accounts at large, costly, name-brand banks and transferring their funds to new bank accounts at their local credit union or community bank. Here is an excellent video made in Portland that follows along with several different people as they close their bank accounts and give their reasons for doing so. One person wants to save money, another disagrees with the bank’s foreclosure practices, a third is mad about the bailouts, and the last is a union withdrawing its funds to show solidarity with holding Wall Street accountable. [More]
McRib Pork Supplier Hit With SEC Filed Complaint Over Alleged Pig Abuse
By 11.3.11
Can you taste the tears in your McRib? The supplier of pork products to McDonald’s, Smithfield Farms, just got hit by a complaint filed with the SEC by animal rights group Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Citing their own shocking undercover investigative video, HSUS allege that Smithfield is making false and misleading claims to shareholders and consumers about how well they treat their pigs and that those claims are in violation of federal securities law. [More]
Video: Meet Your Wall Street Occupiers
By 10.28.11
The Internet Celebrities headed down to Occupy Wall Street to find out more about what was in the protesters’ heads and how they operate. Besides the colorful characters we’ve seen on the news, they found dedicated press relations volunteers, a chalk board listing the times for various working groups and direct actions everyone could participate in, and a free library. [More]
What Wall Street Did To Earn The Ire Of Those Occupying It
By 10.27.11
If you need a catchup-slash-refresher on why those folks down at Occupy Wall Street are so mad at the street they’re occupying, ProPublica has put together a nice juicy primer. [More]
Groups Call On TransUnion To Stop Selling Employee Credit Reports To Employers
By 10.26.11
Employers pull the credit reports of prospective employees as a way to determine whether they’re trustworthy and good at managing money. But now more than 25 civil rights groups, labor unions and consumer groups have banned together to demand that TransUnion stop selling credit reports to employers. They say the practice is invasive, discriminatory, and worst of all, doesn’t even work. [More]
Protesters Arrested At Citibank For Making A Scene, Closing Their Accounts
By 10.18.11
Video shot around the ‘net this weekend of a group of Occupy Wall Street protesters at a New York City Citibank who were arrested after they entered the bank with placards, began holding an open forum inside the bank where they talked about how they were saddled with debt, and then tried to close their accounts. At one point a woman wearing a suit is forcibly arrested after telling the police several times, “I’m a customer.” [More]
After Getting Slammed, Keurig Promises To Find Recyclable Versions Of K-Cups
By 10.14.11
Keurig’s single-use coffee pods might be convenient, but they can’t be recycled. Clean Water Action is calling on them to clean up their act, and Keurig has promised to try really hard. [More]
High School Bans Cheerleaders From Wearing Breast Cancer Awareness Shirts
By 10.14.11
High school cheerleaders in Gilbert, Ariz. aren’t allowed to wear shirts meant to boost breast cancer awareness that read “Feel for Lumps, Save Your Bumps.” Administrators call the slogan objectionable and have banned the girls from wearing the shirts at football games. [More]
Zuccotti Park Cleanup Called Off, Occupy Wall Street Protesters Remain
By 10.14.11
The owners of the New York City park where the Occupy Wall Street protesters camped out for a month have called off a scheduled powerwashing that would have forced a showdown between the movement and the NYPD. [More]
Bloomberg Tells Occupy Wall Street Protesters To Leave Park By Friday
By 10.13.11
New York City Mayor Bloomberg has asked the Wall Street Protesters to leave their encampment at Zuccotti Park in the financial district by Friday. Though the park is open to the public, it’s privately owned, and its landlords have asked the city to assist in clearing the park so that it may be cleaned. [More]
Occupy Wall Street Protests Galvanized By 700+ Arrests On Brooklyn Bridge
By 10.3.11
Over 700 Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested when they marched across the Brooklyn Bridge this weekend, blocking traffic and shooting the movement into the national consciousness. [More]
Established Agitators To Join Occupy Wall Street Protest Next Week
By 9.30.11
Going into its 14th day, the Occupy Wall Street protest is not only not fading out, it’s about to get a big injection of support, and bodies. The established New York City labor and community groups who normally organize local marches, rallies and sit-ins, have announced they plan to join up next week. [More]
Animal Rights Group Says It Torched Idaho Fur Shop
By 9.28.11
An Idaho store that sells fur coats and fireworks was set on fire Monday, and a group of animal rights activist say they started the blaze that caused $100,000 in damage. The admitted arsonists say they will strike again if the business resumes operation. [More]
California Court Says Guy Can't Change His Name To Web Address
By 9.7.11
If you want your name to be your website URL, you’re most likely going to have to settle for the moniker as a nickname. A man described as a marijuana activist who tried to name himself after his pot advocacy website had his name change request denied by a trial court, and the decision was affirmed by an appeals court. [More]
