I just signed on to an open letter to mayors across the country urging them to allow the Occupy Wall Street participants to peaceably assemble and I hope you'll do the same.

http://action.momsrising.org/letter/Right-to-Assemble1/?referring_akid=2985.1696866.e6XNnA&source=taf

See the forwarded email below for more information.

Thanks!
From

********Forwarded Email Below*******

There's an URGENT need to speak up. Mayors across the country are threatening to shut down peaceful assemblies of Occupy Wall Street participants. Friday plans to clear Zuccatti Park in NY were canceled after a nation wide outpouring of support for the Occupy Wall Street movement, but it's not over yet.[1]

Earlier this week I brought my kids and several of their friends to a children's event at Occupy Wall Street in New York City. It was a wonderful experience for them. Eleven-year-old, Nisa, had this to say:

"I thought Occupy Wall Street was very moving and inspiring. The moving part of it was that so many people were taking time out of their life to stand up for people in this country."

The Occupy Wall Street gatherings are generating critical and much-needed coverage about the economic issues ordinary families are facing when they try to feed, clothe, and educate their children. Every day, MomsRising members fight for leaders to prioritize Main Street, not only Wall Street--and the Occupy Wall Street movement is bringing more attention to these issues and must not be shut down.

Right now Mayors are considering whether or not to shut down these gatherings.[2]

*Take a moment to sign on to our open letter to Mayors across the country--including the Mayors of New York City, Boston, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, and other cities--urging them to allow the Occupy Wall Street participants to peaceably assemble: http://action.momsrising.org/letter/Right-to-Assemble/?referring_akid=2985.1696866.e6XNnA&source=taf

Your message to Mayors underscores that there are vast numbers of people, beyond those who are able to participate in-person, who are deeply concerned about the growing economic inequality, poverty, and declining median incomes in our country. So please take a moment now, after you click the link above and take action, to forward this email to friends and family--and also to post the action link on your Facebook page--so others can show their support too.

It's particularly important that mothers and families speak up in support because the Occupy Wall Street movement is an important wake up call that ALL leaders need to hear: Our leaders can't keep balancing budgets on the already overburdened backs of children, families, and regular people--the 99%--while giving Wall Street a free ride.

What, and who, are the 99% anyway?

As the New York Times recently wrote: "When the protesters say they represent 99 percent of Americans, they are referring to the concentration of income in today's deeply unequal society. Before the recession, the share of income held by those in the top 1 percent of households was 23.5 percent, the highest since 1928 and more than double the 10 percent level of the late 1970s. That share declined slightly as financial markets tanked in 2008, and updated data is not yet available, but inequality is most certainly on the rise. In the last few years, for instance, corporate profits (which flow largely to the wealthy) have reached their highest level as a share of the economy since 1950, while worker pay as a share of the economy is at its lowest point since the mid-1950s." [3]

*Don't forget to sign on to our open letter to Mayors across the country urging them to allow the Occupy Wall Street participants to peaceably assemble: http://action.momsrising.org/letter/Right-to-Assemble/?referring_akid=2985.1696866.e6XNnA&source=taf

Our voices are critically important to getting the message through to our leaders that changes are needed--and that it's time to prioritize the people on Main Street, not Wall Street. As my 12-year-old daughter, Naima, said, "Sometimes people don't want to understand that what they are doing is wrong. Especially, when they don't want to stop doing it."

In a situation like this, all of our voices are going to be needed to demand necessary changes that will help get our economy back on track for everyone, not just for bankers.

We all need to be able to speak up to secure a better future for Main Street, for ourselves, and for our children.

Thank you for taking a moment to support getting this message out loud and clear all over the country! (And don't forget to forward this email and post the action link on Facebook too!)

- Monifa and the entire MomsRising Team



P.S. Share why you would like leaders and Congress to prioritize families on Main Street instead of Wall Street here: http://action.momsrising.org/go/1284?akid=2973.5403.Gwd1BP&t=16&referring_akid=2985.1696866.e6XNnA&source=taf

Here are some quotes from children at Occupy Wall Street in New York City to inspire you to share what you think too:

"We are here because it is mean not to share and the banks are not sharing."
"A few people control everything [and] are not sharing with everyone else, the 99 percent."

"Some people are not sharing and they control a lot of money that could help our schools and hospitals. And they are only like 1 percent."

"Banks are being greedy and so people lose their homes and jobs, and they get homeless."


P.P.S. Here's a link to my blog about our visit to Occupy Wall Street in New York City: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/children-occupy-wall-street-it%E2%80%99s-about-sharing-they-get-it-why-doesn%E2%80%99t-everyone/?referring_akid=2985.1696866.e6XNnA&source=taf

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/nyregion/occupy-wall-street-protesters-remain-in-zuccotti-park-as-cleanup-is-canceled.html?hp

[2] http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/14/us/occupy-wall-street/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/opinion/sunday/protesters-against-wall-street.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general