Overnight vigil for the Eradication of Poverty Occupy Democracy starts at 5pm on Friday 17 October with an overnight vigil to mark the UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This will be a candlelit event with speakers and acoustic entertainments where we will stand in solidarity with the victims of the widening wealth inequality that we see in the UK today as a result of our broken democracy. We will also stand in solidarity with the victims of our foreign policy which impoverishes and exploits many parts of the world through economic, diplomatic and military means. We invite members of faith and development groups as well as those of no faith to join us. Bring a candle in a jam jar and, in case of rain, an umbrella (yellow if possible). As a gesture of solidarity with those suffering homelessness we feel we should not have shelters in the square that night. Inequality is a growing problem in the UK. While austerity measures in Britain continue to hit the poorest families hardest, a wealthy elite has seen their incomes spiral upwards, exacerbating income inequality which has grown under successive governments over the last quarter of a century.Today, the five richest families in the UK are wealthier than the bottom 20 per cent of the entire population. That’s just five households with more money than 12.6 million people – almost the same as the number of people living below the poverty line in the UK. A Tale of Two Britains: Inequality in the UK (Oxfam, 2014) And meanwhile, globally, almost half the worlds wealth is owned by just 1% of the population and the richest 85 people have more wealth than the poorest half of the worlds people. Working for the Few: Political capture and economic inequality (Oxfam, 2014) youtube/watch?v=X6kLTcxbnFg (embed this but at a much smaller size than the main OD vid at the top of the page) Outline timetable: 5:30pm John Sinha reads a short statement introducing Occupy Democracy 6pm (sunset) arrange candlelight (assuming no rain) - speakers: John Hilary (War on Want) Ruth London (Fuel Poverty Action) Keith Hebden (End Hunger Fast, author of Seeking Justice: The Radical Compassion of Jesus) Kofi Mawuli-Klu (Pan-African Reparations Coalition in Europe) 7pm General Assembly 8:30pm Speakers Corner - 5 minute speeches, spoken word and acoustic music slots - throughout the night Contact us at [email protected] if you would like to input into the design of this event, or contribute an element of it. We welcome and encourage your involvement.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 11:04:51 +0000
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