[act-ma] The Rolling Jubilee is Coming!

Thu Nov 1 03:49:44 PDT 2012

Boston Meeting: 6-9:30 P.M. Mon. Nov. 19 at Community Church of Boston (565
Boylston St., Boston--COPLEY T)

*It’s finally time to talk about an exciting new initiative from Strike
Debt, called “The Rolling Jubilee” <http://www.rollingjubilee.org/>.  The
Rolling Jubilee is a bailout of the people by the people - we buy defaulted
debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, we abolish
it.  *
*
We're writing to ask the national Occupy network for help to spread the
word about it's launch.  Using social media, we hope to harness the
collective voice of Occupies against the predatory debt industry, in the
same way that the StopKony campaign marshaled southern churches against an
African warlord.  *
*
*
*Here's are the details.

THE PEOPLE’S BAILOUT
Our launch will be on November 15th, with a "telethon" called THE PEOPLE'S
BAILOUT<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jeff-mangum-plans-occupy-wall-street-fundraiser-20121024>.
 There will be roughly three hours of music, comedy, education, magic.
Confirmed guests include: comedian Janeane Garofalo, Daily Show co-creator
Lizz Winstead, actor/director John Cameron Mitchell, Hari Kondabolu, David
Rees, Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Guy
Picciotto of Fugazi, Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio, and more.  The
telethon will be at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City and will be streamed
live at www.rollingjubilee.org.  Tickets will go on sale on November 2nd at
10am.

Our goal is to raise $50,000, which will allow us to abolish more than
$1,000,000 dollars worth of medical debt. 100% of the funds go to buying
debt. If we raise more, we’ll buy more debt. Donations can be made online at
rollingjubilee.org <http://www.rollingjubilee.org/>.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
We're hoping you can help us spread the word about our launch via social
media.  We can't afford billboards or TV ads (especially during election
season!) but we can harness our global people power network to spread the
word about the Rolling Jubilee.  Let’s get the message out far and wide.
 Here’s how:

RIGHT NOW
The most important thing right now is to help us build the network for our
big push days.  There are a few simple things you can do, that will take
just a few minutes:

1. Forward this message to your friends and family.

2. Like our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/RollingJubilee?fref=tsand share the event
page:
http://www.facebook.com/events/394920527248194/

3. Follow @StrikeDebt on Twitter.

4. Post and tweet using the hashtags #PeoplesBailout and #RollingJubilee,
referring to our website (www.rollingjubilee.org) and twitter handle
(@StrikeDebt).
Some sample posts can be found here: http://bit.ly/RJSampleTweets.
Feel free to copy-and-paste those, or make your own!

5. Donate your Twitter or Facebook account for one daily re-post or
re-tweet:
http://donateyouraccount.com/StrikeDebt.  This is a safe and easy way to
help us keep spreading the message.

HELP US PROMOTE ON NOVEMBER 8TH and 15TH
We’re going to try two big coordinated social media pushes to promote
#PeoplesBailout: one when our donation site opens, and the other on the day
of the telethon itself.  In order to maximize the impact of a sudden spike
in social media buzz, we won’t announce the details of the campaign content
until the day before the push.  WE NEED YOU TO MAKE THIS WORK.  To get the
latest on our campaigns, sign up for our announcement
list<http://www.rollingjubilee.org/>,
or follow @StrikeDebt on Twitter. Or just reply to this email and let me
know you can help out with the big push, and I’ll put you on my private
list.

HOST A VIEWING PARTY FOR THE TELETHON
Invite your friends over to watch the telethon on the HQ stream. Direct
everyone to send donations via the website: http://rollingjubilee.org.  If
you’d like tips about how to do this effectively, email
rollingjubilee at gmail.com for more information, or get on our weekly
InterOccupy conference
call<http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/G4GWX72KCWJ8OP0>,
Thursdays at 8:30pm.

Please forward this request to all of your friends and family you think
would be interested.

We're happy to answer any questions you have about the Rolling Jubilee.
Just email rollingjubilee at gmail.com.

Three out of four Americans are in debt, many of whom are in default or
nearing it.  One in seven are already being pursued by debt
collectors<http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/matt-stoller-towards-a-creditor-state-%E2%80%93-one-in-seven-americans-pursued-by-debt-collectors.html>.
 People shouldn’t have to be forever haunted by debt that they accrued for
an education, because they needed medical care, or because they had to put
food on the table during hard times.  No politician is going to fix this.
Millions of people will be excited to hear that something is finally being
done.  *
*
*
*Thanks for your help!

~ Strike Debt / Rolling Jubilee

PS - To head off one common question, we cannot buy specific individual's
debt - instead, we help liberate debtors at random through a campaign of
mutual support, good will, and collective refusal.  As a trial run, we
spent $466 and successfully bought and abolished $14,000 of medical debt.

Here are some articles about Strike Debt and The People’s Bailout:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jeff-mangum-plans-occupy-wall-street-fundraiser-20121024
<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jeff-mangum-plans-occupy-wall-street-fundraiser-20121024>
http://pitchfork.com/news/48326-jeff-mangum-members-of-sonic-youth-fugazi-tv-on-the-radio-to-perform-at-occupy-wall-street-telethon/
<http://pitchfork.com/news/48326-jeff-mangum-members-of-sonic-youth-fugazi-tv-on-the-radio-to-perform-at-occupy-wall-street-telethon/>
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/10/27/occupy-movement-rallies-for-debt-strike-worldwide/
<http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/10/27/occupy-movement-rallies-for-debt-strike-worldwide/>
http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/ows-debtors-coming-out-first-step-toward-resistance
*

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-- 
"Our goal is a society that prioritizes the needs of all before the profits
of the few." passed by Occupy Boston General Assembly 11/29/11
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