In solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street Movement's May Day protests, Brooklyn Skillshare on Tuesday held a daylong series of free workshops at .
Called “” there are classes on how to start a worker cooperative, sew a reuseable shopping bag, moving your money to a credit union and how to fix a flat bicycle tire. The day will be topped off with an 8 p.m. screening of the Atlantic Yards documentary “.” (See full schedule ).
Started three years ago, Brooklyn Skillshare offers free classes taught by Brooklyn residents.
Brooklyn Skillshare organizer Meg Wachter put together today's event. “We don’t necessarily have any sort of political lean, but we wanted to support the efforts of today in a way that I feel coalesced with our vision,” she said.
As of 5 p.m., about a half-dozen people had attended each workshop. Not bad, considering the event is happening on a weekday. Wachter expects more people to come to the evening events.
Nicole Fiscella, a 30-year-old, nanny who lives in Crown Heights, came to the sewing workshop. “In the spirit of May Day I wanted to learn ways to support my community to become less dependent on the mainstream,” she said.
Glenn Robinson, co-founder of Bags for the People, led the sewing workshop.
"I don’t really know how I feel about the protests, but I feel people need to take a stand and take action," he said. "I feel there needs to be change but I think there are other things people can do to make a change that is long lasting." Learning how to sew and cook allows people to buy fewer products and be less dependent on commercial industries, he said.
Patrina Huff, a 36-year-old evaluator for afterschool programs who lives in Bushwick, spent the day going to all the workshops. “I’m super interested in looking at alternatives to capitalism,” she said.
The flat tire repair clinic was run by Robert Cleary, 36, who lives in Clinton Hill and works at the new store Bicycle Roots.
“Since I didn’t feel like I had the option of striking today, and since my work situation is such that I wouldn’t have wanted to strike, I feel really good that I could participate in this way," he said. "I feel it’s a contribution I could make."
