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Desi Brown, a graduate student in American Studies and faculty adviser for the Peace Studies Program, speaks during the (un)Occupy Albuquerque’s First Anniversary Party at Yale Park on Saturday. Brown is an activist for issues such as voter rights, health care, peace studies and curriculum development.

(un)Occupy Albuquerque celebrates one year

news@dailylobo.com

Although members of the (un)Occupy Albuquerque movement were arrested last year for protesting at Yale Park on campus without a valid permit, the group gathered there Saturday in celebration of the one-year anniversary of the group’s formation.

Rather than protesting, members held plates of homemade food and listened to guest speakers and live music.

Event organizer Amalia Montoya said the gathering celebrated all of the hard work members had put in over the last year to protest corporate greed as well as other issues, such as racism and discrimination. She said the group is interested in issues of tribal land.

“We renamed ourselves (un)Occupy in the very first week because we do live on indigenous land,” she said. “We want to raise awareness as to what decolonization looks like and how we can start doing that.”

Montoya said members of (un)Occupy staged protests at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to stand in solidarity with Native Americans.

The (un)Occupy movement, formed in alliance with the Occupy Wall Street movement, works with individuals and various other activist groups. One of these groups is the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition, which is an branch of the Albuquerque Coalition Against Police Brutality.

ANSWER Coalition representative Joel Gallegos said the organization got involved with (un)Occupy because both groups shared similar goals and ideals.

“For us it was a breath of fresh air to see that this was a movement that started spontaneously,” he said. “We’re here to provide logistical support for (un)Occupy and any other group fighting against injustice.”

UNM student Jaen Emanuel Ugalde, who is a member of New Mexico DREAMers in Action, a group that focuses on immigrant students, said he likes that both groups work to end racial discrimination. He said he hopes the organization will host more open lectures and workshops to get as many people involved as possible.

“It opens your eyes to know that racism does exist and that oppression is real,” he said. “We’ve been in the same struggle as the (un)Occupy movement.”

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