99Rise
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99Rise "was a grassroots organization born out of the Occupy Wall Street movement..." They are the parent organization of Democracy Spring, which has been folded into their organization according to an email from Kai Newkirk, Curt Ries, Kyle Amsler, and Lola Ellis, "99Rise leaders and members of the Democracy Spring Interim National Coordinating Committee" that went to supporters in July 2017.
The Email
- "We’re excited to share some big news with you. 99Rise, the parent organization of Democracy Spring, is officially adopting Democracy Spring's name and principles, integrating fully into the new organization it originally launched.
- "What's 99Rise?
- "99Rise was a grassroots organization born out of the Occupy movement, in the spring of 2012. From a living room in Los Angeles, seven people launched an experiment, seeking to build a momentum-driven organization capable of waging growing campaigns of escalating nonviolent action to end the corruption of Big Money in politics.
- "From 2012 through early 2015, 99Rise organized sit-ins in Wall St. banks; trainings across California, in New York, DC, and Philadelphia; a 480-mile march and 12-day occupation of the state capitol in California; an extended fast; many creative actions; and three different video-captured disruptions of the Supreme Court, elevating the issue of big money corruption in unprecedented ways and bringing new momentum to the democracy movement.
- "Then in the fall of 2015, 99Rise leaders conceived of a campaign to radically shift the political weather on our issue. That winter, they convened a coalition of that grew to 120 organizations and in the spring of 2016 they spearheaded a 140-mile march from Philadelphia to Washington DC, followed by a historic week of non-stop sit-ins at the US Capitol.
- "Our demand to Congress was simple: immediately enact existing legislation that would end the corruption of big money in politics and establish free and fair elections for all. Refusing us, our government instead decided to arrest hundreds of people. Day after day, for a week, we sat-in and after over 1,300 arrests, the campaign was one of the largest American acts of civil disobedience of the 21st century. It was a watershed moment for the democracy movement. That was the beginning of Democracy Spring.
- "Coming out of the epic April 2016 campaign, it was clear to the 99Rise leadership team that the best path toward accomplishing the mission of getting big money out of politics was to continue to build with the thousands of people who had been mobilized as Democracy Spring. 99Rise leaders came together with other members of the Democracy Spring coalition steering committee and members of its staff team to form an Interim National Coordinating Committee that worked over the last year to adapt the DNA (or defining principles and practices) of 99Rise to define a new movement organization that would carry 99Rise’s mission forward while integrating the lessons and strengths of the April campaign under a banner that was now much more widely-known: Democracy Spring.
- "Now the volunteer leaders who built 99Rise to be the kind of organization that could make Democracy Spring possible have voted overwhelmingly (85%) to fully integrate 99Rise and Democracy Spring and to adopt the revised DNA and name of Democracy Spring.
- "99Rise provided the original DNA, leadership, vision, and base that bloomed into Democracy Spring. All that we’ve done since the April campaign—mass civil disobedience at the DNC, training hundreds in the DNA, nationwide protests of the Electoral College, and nonviolent direct actions targeting Trump Tower, Congress, Inauguration Day, Jeff Sessions, Neil Gorsuch, and Senate Republicans—has grown from the visionary seeds sown by the founders, organizers, and activists of 99Rise.
- "As some of the leaders who built 99Rise from it’s early days—when it wasn't much more than a big idea and a tiny group of dreamers in California—we are deeply humbled, proud, and inspired to think of the journey from there to here. We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of this critical struggle. Without you, none of this would be possible.
- "From the seeds sown by 99Rise and the fields of resistance we have grown together as Democracy Spring, we will build the mass nonviolent movement we need to win a democracy that works for all of us, not just the wealthiest 1%.