MEDIA RELEASE

For More Information Contact:

Rev. Carol Been Staff Person, Council of Elders Organizing Committee cbeen@clueca.org 831-239-1254 Mrs. Joyce Hobson Johnson Member, Council of Elders Organizing Committee joycej@belovedcommunitycenter.org 336-601-7041

Elders from Across the Nation Declare Solidarity with the Occupy Movement
Council of Elders Organizing Committee
Rev. James Lawson, Jr.
Los Angeles, CA

Veterans of Americas 20th Century civil rights movement will enter the 21st Century Occupy Wall Street movement in New York, Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles on Sunday, November 20. Known as the Council of Elders, they will step inside the nationwide encampments to symbolically share the torch of hope and justice and engage the Occupiers in dialogue about defining movements of the past. We want to contribute to this intergenerational movement, says Dr. Vincent Harding, activist and writer in the civil rights movement. We are thankful for the efforts of Occupy Wall Street to unite the 99% and bring the many gifts and great energy of millions into effective action to transform our nation. The Council of Elders is an independent group of leaders from the farm workers, sanctuary and human rights movements that shook the nations conscience with public protests over the past 50 years. We see Occupy Wall Street as a continuation, a deepening and expansion of the determination of the diverse peoples of our nation to transform our country into a more democratic, equitable, just, and compassionate society, excerpt from the statement of solidarity by the Council of Elders to be read at each of the Occupy encampments. By bringing their voices to the Occupy Wall Street movement, the elders are addressing a litany of social grievances, including poverty, mass incarceration, and what they call a culture of war and violence. Dolores Huerta, activist with Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers movement, believes todays conditions create bitter divisions among peoples across the United States and throughout the world. We applaud the miraculous extent to which the Occupy initiative around the nation has been non-violent and democratic, especially in light of the weight of the systematic violence under which the great majority of people are forced to live, says Rev. James Lawson, leading theoretician, tactician and theologian of the civil rights movement. The economic crisis which sparked the Occupy Wall Street movement also motivated the veteran protesters. They cite soaring unemployment rates, home foreclosures, and inadequate health care as issues that require public outcries. The Council of Elders promotes compassion and non-violent action as the highest values to reverse trends that put profits ahead of people in its quest to contribute to the muchneeded movement for a more just society and a more peaceful world. The council members are urging elders from around the nation to join the Occupy Wall Street movement. In New York City on November 20th, members of the Elder Council will spend time with those encamped at Zuccoti Park, beginning at 2:30 PM. They will lead a worship service in front of the red structure within Zuccotti Park at 3:30 pm. Elders will then host a dialogue with Occupy Wall Street demonstrators and other interested individuals at 5pm, at 74 Trinity Place. Both events are open to the public.

Dr. Vincent G. Harding

Denver, CO

Rev. Phillip Lawson

San Francisco, CA

Dolores Huerta
Bakersfield, CA

Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon

Washington, DC

Dr. Grace Lee Boggs

Detroit, MI,

Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons

Gainesville, FL

Sister Joan Chittister, OSB

Erie, PA

Marian Wright Edelman

Washington, DC

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

Philadelphia, PA

Rev. Dr. George (Tink) Tinker

Denver, CO

Rev. John Fife

Tucson, AZ

Dr. Mel White

Lynchburg, VA

Rev. Nelson Johnson

Greensboro, NC

Joyce Hobson Johnson

Greensboro, NC