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 Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a left-wing populist movement against economic inequality, capitalism, corporate greed, big finance, and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial ...

movement, founding member of the Detroit Water Brigade and CEO o
The Liberati Group
a strategic communications firm, an
Flow Video
a production company specializing in Education and Non Profits.

Early life and education

Justin Wedes was born in

Huntington Woods, Michigan Huntington Woods is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Huntington Woods is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit. As ...

a suburb of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. He attended Berkley High School, graduating class valedictorian in 2004. Wedes graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

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 Pace University is a private university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, United States. It was established in 1906 as a business school by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace. Pace enrolls about ...

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 The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (more commonly known as New York City Publ ...

, 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. 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

. Wedes was an organizer and unofficial spokesperson for the movement, appearing on

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...

with

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

in October, 2011. In 2012, Wedes accepted the Activism Award at the

Shorty Awards The Shorty Awards (also known as "The Shortys") are awards for outstanding and innovative work in digital and social media content by brands, advertising agencies, and creators. The awards, which generally focus on short-term content, honor achiev ...

on behalf of the Twitte
@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 Occupy Sandy was an organized relief effort created to assist the victims of Hurricane Sandy in the northeastern United States. Like other Occupy Movement offshoots, such as Occupy Our Homes, Occupy University, Occupy the SEC, and Rolling Ju ...

movement from 2012 - 2013. After the closing of the

Paul Robeson High School for Business and Technology Paul Robeson High School for Business and Technology was a high school in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York City, New York. It was part of the New York City Department of Education. The school was named for Paul Robeson, a singer a ...

in 2011, Wedes co-founded the

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...

Freedom School in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, 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 The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

International Day of Peace The International Day of Peace, also officially known as World Peace Day, is a United Nations-sanctioned holiday observed annually on 21 September. It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, such as might ...

. 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 The former Temple Beth-El is a historic building located at 8801 M-1 (Michigan highway), Woodward Avenue (Woodward at Gladstone) in Detroit, Michigan.

, 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

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

urging them to investigate the

Flint water crisis The Flint water crisis was a public health crisis from 2014 to 2019 which involved the drinking water for the city of Flint, Michigan, being contaminated with lead and possibly ''Legionella'' bacteria. In April 2014, during a financial crisis, ...

. 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 manage
@OccupyWallStNYC
"Tweetboat" social media account. In response, the rest of the collective wrote a statement denouncing his actions. Wedes responded with his version on his private blog. 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 Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account they claimed ownership of. The lawsuit was ultimately terminated in January, 2015.Moynihan, Colin
"Occupy Wall Street activists file suit over control of Twitter account"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 17 September 2014. Retrieved on 11 October 2016.

Published works

"Occupy Wall Street, two years on: we're still the 99%"
— ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''
"The Cathie Black fiasco: Lessons for confronting entrenched power"

"Why Paul Robeson would have walked out of Paul Robeson High School"

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wedes, Justin 1986 births Living people University of Michigan alumni People from Huntington Woods, Michigan American social justice activists Shorty Award winners