Justin Wedes

Justin Wedes (born March 20, 1986) is an entrepreneur, community organizer and social justice activist. He is a former member of the Occupy Wall Street movement,[1] founding member of the Detroit Water Brigade[2] and CEO of The Liberati Group, a strategic communications firm, and Flow Video a production company specializing in Education and Non Profits.

Justin Wedes
Born (1986-03-20) 20 March 1986
Huntington Woods, Michigan, United States
Alma materUniversity of Michigan and Pace University
Occupation(s)Founder of the Liberati Group and Activist
Websitejustinwedes.com

His history before Occupy Wall Street includes leaving his position as a teacher with the NYC Board of Education when caught forging documents. Wedes "quit his job as a city public school teacher after getting caught red-handed falsifying time sheets." Wedes "cut and pasted" the signature of a supervisor onto his time sheets while applying for a national education grant. [3]

Wedes is also well-known for hijacking the Occupy Wall Street twitter account. Wedes changed the password without letting the other administrators know, so that he could retain sole control of the account.[4]

Early life and education

Justin Wedes was born in Huntington Woods, Michigan a suburb of Detroit. He attended Berkley High School, graduating class valedictorian in 2004.[5]

Wedes graduated from the University of Michigan in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Linguistics with High Honors. From 2007 - 2008, Justin was an organizer with the Rural Migrant Outreach Program. Wedes continued his education from 2008 - 2010 at Pace University earning his Master of Education in Adolescent Science Education.

Career and activism work

From 2008 - 2010, Justin Wedes was an educator with the New York City Department of Education, teaching truant and low-income youth in subjects ranging from science to media literacy. His work with high-risk youth was recognized with a Teachers Network Leadership Institute MetLife Fellowship.[6] Wedes was forced to resign from that position when it was discovered he had forged his supervisor's signatures on documents.

Wedes helped co-found the US Uncut movement in 2009 and acted as Social Media Director, connecting networks of activists and social change-makers through the Internet and on the streets.

In July 2011 Wedes co-founded the New York City General Assembly (NYCGA), the group that organized Occupy Wall Street.[7] Wedes was an organizer and unofficial spokesperson for the movement, appearing on The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert in October, 2011.[8] In 2012, Wedes accepted the Activism Award at the Shorty Awards[9] on behalf of the Twitter @OccupyWallStreetNYC "Tweetboat" social media team. In 2012 Wedes received the Labor Communicator of the Year Award from the Metro NY Labor Communications Council.

Wedes was an Organizer and Volunteer Coordinator of the Occupy Sandy movement from 2012 - 2013.[10]

After the closing of the Paul Robeson High School for Business and Technology in 2011, Wedes co-founded the Paul Robeson Freedom School in Brooklyn, NY in 2012 with an emphasis on social justice and building community resilience. For this work, he and his partner received the 2013 United National Humanitarian Peacekeeping Award at the United Nations International Day of Peace.

From June 2014 - May 2015 Wedes served as head organizer of the Detroit Water Brigade, helping lead the humanitarian and advocacy response to Detroit’s municipal water shutoff program. This non-profit advocacy group provided rapid relief to thousands of families without running water and, in coalition with other local groups, participated in blockades that temporarily shut down the program. In response, the city of Detroit implemented a temporary moratorium on water shutoffs and a host of reforms making water more affordable for low-income residents.

Wedes founded the Liberati Group in May 2015, a strategic media consulting firm.

Wedes serves as a Board Member at Bethel Community Transformation Center (formerly known as Temple Beth-El (Lighthouse Cathedral), a non-profit that works to renovate a former Detroit Jewish synagogue and serve as an inter-faith community center for community empowerment and reconciliation.

In February 2016, Wedes testified to the United Nations in New York City urging them to investigate the Flint water crisis.[11] Wedes currently owns Flow Videos startup production company, specializing in Education videos, with offices in Detroit and New Jersey.

Controversy

In August 2014, Justin Wedes changed the password of the collectively managed @OccupyWallStNYC "Tweetboat" social media account. In response, the rest of the collective wrote a statement denouncing his actions.[12] Wedes responded with his version on his private blog.[13] In September 2014, a group of Occupy Wall Street organizers filed suit against Wedes in NY State Supreme Court in Manhattan, accusing him of censoring them from the use of an OWS Twitter account they claimed ownership of. The lawsuit was ultimately terminated in January, 2015.[14]

Published works

References
  1. Katz, Andrew. "Q&A: Occupy Wall Street's media man"[Usurped!], The Brooklyn Ink, 25 October 2011. Retrieved on 25 October 2016.
  2. Fagin, David. "Detroit rocked city: the land that time, and everyone else, forgot", Huffington Post, 30 January 2015. Retrieved on 25 October 2016.
  3. "OWS teach faked docs". 12 December 2011.
  4. "Occupy Wall Street leader hijacked group's Twitter account, other leaders claim in $500K lawsuit". New York Daily News.
  5. "Justin Wedes 2004 Berkley HS Valedictory Speech". YouTube.
  6. "MetLife Fellows: Biographies". Teachers Network Leadership Institute.
  7. "Stern's Government and Business Association MBA Club Hosts a Dialogue on Occupy Wall Street". New York University.
  8. "Colbert Super PAC - Stephen Colbert Occupies Occupy Wall Street Pt. 1". The Colbert Report. November 2011.
  9. "#OccupyWallStreet Shorty Awards Acceptance Speech". YouTube.
  10. Kavner, Lucas. "Occupy Sandy emerges as relief organization for 21st century, mastering social networks", Huffington Post, 5 November 2012. Retrieved on 25 October 2016.
  11. Warikoo, Niraj. "Activists ask United Nations to intervene in Flint", Detroit Free Press, 7 February 2016. Retrieved on 25 October 2016.
  12. "Wolf of Occupy Wall Street: Statement on Justin Wedes's hijacking of @OccupyWallStNYC". OCCUPY WALL STREET. Retrieved 2018-05-20.
  13. "Why I Closed the #TweetBoat —". JustinWedes.com. 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2018-05-20.
  14. Moynihan, Colin. "Occupy Wall Street activists file suit over control of Twitter account", The New York Times, 17 September 2014. Retrieved on 11 October 2016.
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