Occupy casinos?

The past several weeks have seen an exciting movement for economic justice being born. Beginning with Occupy Wall Street and continuing with Occupy Philly and other cities, individuals have taken to the streets to talk about the corrosive influence of corporations on our politics and society, and begin to build ways to push city and state officials to prioritize human needs.

As a part of Casino-Free Philadelphia, you have experience in pushing for economic justice in our city. And we in Philadelphia have "occupied" casinos — sometimes literally! — in an ongoing struggle against their predatory industry.

While the action planning working group continues to work on events for our campaign against Quicksand Credit (see below for more), we'd like to invite you to join us at Occupy Philadelphia in the coming week, to bring new people into the fight, and connect our struggle for community self-determination and economic justice with those happening across Philly.

This Sunday: Prioritizing the city's budget

Occupy Philadelphia will be hosting a forum for community groups across the city to talk about the unjust expenditures the city undertakes — underwriting corporate expansion, funding the hidden costs of private development (like casinos!) and privileging the voices of wealthy investors over city residents. We'll get to hear from one another, learn from one another, and engage participants of Occupy Philadelphia, who are eager to get involved with the struggles for economic justice happening all around us.

Casino-Free Philadelphia will be there, sharing our successes and our continuing fight. Please join us, and invite your friends!

What's your vision for our city?
Sunday, Nov. 6, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
City Hall, 15th & Market Streets
View map and more info | View on Facebook

Next Friday: Fighting casinos as a model for economic justice campaigns

This fun, interactive workshop will explore the ways Casino-Free Philly has waged successful campaigns for economic justice in Philadelphia — and the challenges we continue to face in our ongoing struggle.

This will primarily be a way to bring new individuals into the fight against casinos and Quicksand Credit, but everyone is invited. We promise you'll have fun! And if you have friends or neighbors who have been wondering about the issue — or wondering whether it's worth it to keep fighting casinos when one is already open — please encourage them to attend!

Fighting casino capitalism: An interactive workshop on successful economic justice campaigns
Friday, Nov. 11, 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
City Hall, 15th & Market Streets
View map and more info | View on Facebook

Upcoming actions against SugarHouse and Foxwoods to be announced

Finally, we are still digging in to fight against Quicksand Credit at SugarHouse. We'll be announcing new actions in the coming weeks and, if you're anxious to get involved sooner, keep an eye out for an email in the next week announcing action planning meetings.

If you'd like to help support the work Casino-Free is doing fighting casinos and connecting our struggle with economic justice issues at Occupy Philly and elsewhere, we'd greatly appreciate a donation to Casino-Free Philly. Thank you for all of your support!