Occupy conference in Olympia focuses on next steps for movement

Over the weekend, activists gathered in Olympia, Washington for a conference on the Occupy movement. The Occupy Solidarity Social Forum featured workshops and talks on the state of the Occupy protests and next steps for the movement. Angelina Llongueras was in attendance. She said she’s originally from Barcelona, Spain. She said the occupy protests had sparked a conversation in the US.

“Everybody now is taking politics, whether they love or hate Occupy they’re talking politics and I think that’s a very good thing. That’s given me a good feeling of community.”

Llongueras said her activism over the years had taken her through Latin America -- from Mexico to Ecuador - and she came to the conference in Olympia to exchange ideas and strategize for the next phase.

“I think the winter is a good time to do this for a fresh new spring. It’s the right time to get together, to what works, to see what doesn’t, to see our different approaches and to understand what goes on.”

Another participant was Tucson resident Chuck Kaufman, national co-coordinator with the alliance for global justice. He described how the idea for the event took shape.

“This Occupy Solidarity Social Forum came out of a board meeting of the Alliance for Global Justice in November where we discussed what more can we do to build the Occupy movement...steps toward turning this from a lot of local occupations to a national Occupy movement.”

Workshops and panels addressed topics including nonviolent action, local government’s response to encampments and the occupy movement’s role during the 2012 election. 26-year-old Danielle Cohn, who participated in the Occupy Wall Street encampment, conducted a workshop on Occupy Accounting. She said the Occupy protests were a call to get involved.

“It’s a platform for your message and the messages are worldwide...we're really encouraging people to reclaim their voices in this democracy, or in this republic."