VICTORY IN OAKLAND
The sixth week of the international occupation movement closed with a decisive victory for economic justice in Oakland, California. After enduring several days of brutal police assaults that left the 24-year-old Scott Olsen–a former member of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines and a veteran of two tours in Iraq—hospitalized with brain swelling and a fractured skull, Occupy Oakland retook their camp with an overwhelming show of nonviolent resistance. Following the demonstrations, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan was forced to declare that protesters could stay indefinitely and would face “minimal police presence” in the future. This abrupt reversal of position came after the mayor declined to wait in line to speak at Occupy Oakland’s General Assembly.
The threat of violence remains constant. Occupations in Nashville (29 arrests last night), Chicago, Providence, and elsewhere are currently under threat of a police crackdown; Occupy Wall Street had all its generators stolen by the New York Police Department early Friday morning. Nor has the repression been limited to physical violence: When Goldman Sachs—recipient of a $10 billion taxpayer loan—found out that the Lower East Side Peoples Federal Credit Union was hosting Occupy Wall Street’s bank account, it demanded the return of a five-thousand dollar donation. This is roughly 1% of the average Goldman salary and less than one ten-thousandth of CEO Lloyd Blankfein’s record haul of $68 million in 2007.
In response to these escalating attacks by the few on a nonviolent movement of the many, Occupy Oakland has called for a general strike on November 2, and solidarity marches are planned for Saturday in cities across the nation. Occupy Boston will rally Saturday at 12 pm in Dewey Square for a 1 pm march before returning to camp to host award-winning Salon.com columnist Glen Greenwald at 4 pm. Please join us as we continue to peacefully seek economic justice, the removal of corporate interests from our democracy, and a better future for our world.
We are the 99%, and we are no longer silent.
UPDATE: October 27, 2:15 pm
An ally points out that “there is good reason to believe that that $5,000 is a necessary payment from Goldman Sachs to Lower East Side Peoples Federal Credit Union as part of the bailout Goldman received.”
Consider the following transcript from Democracy Now, linked above:
GREG PALAST: OK, commercial bank is the types where you put in your savings, and we, the taxpayers, and the government guarantees the profits, or guarantees the solvency of that bank. So, for Goldman to get into the $10 billion—to get their $10 billion check for bailout, they had to become—go from a gambling house, an investment bank, into a nice commercial bank. But they had to agree that they would then be subject to what’s called the Community Reinvestment Act and return some of that money, a chunk of it—most banks put in a billion dollars—return a chunk of it back into low-income communities. Well, Goldman doesn’t have any branches, so they gave money to the designated low-income bank of New York, Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union, and—but they’ve been giving out the money in eyedroppers, like this $5,000. Now remember, it’s not a donation. It’s a required payment under the law that they got in return for our $10 billion, OK? So it’s not a donation. This is mischaracterized. It’s a payment required by law, with an eyedropper.
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Occupy Boston is the beginning of an ongoing discussion about reforming Wall Street, removing special interests from government, and much more. The continuing occupation of Dewey Square—located outside of South Station in the heart of Boston’s Financial District—is just one of more than 500 separate Occupy encampments in cities across the world and a symbol for “Occupiers” everywhere who support real and lasting change.
18 Responses to “Press Release: Victory in Oakland”
You are right to stand in solidarity with all Occupiers…
But it is also the right of the Goldman Sachs creep to protest by withdrawing his donation from the credit union.
In this the movement seems to lack the generosity to acknowledge the rights of others (especially those with whom they disagree or hold in contempt. I am speaking of individual rights.
The non-violence of this movement is a farce in many ways. I am a regular visitor to Occupy Boston and am a supporter on the larger issues, however, the language of the movement is one of violence, and the overall tone toward dissenters, FOX News, etc., is abusive and spiced with verbal buckshot.
You can be a nonviolent movement in that you don’t cause violence, but the undercurrent is nothing but violent, intolerant, and self righteous. And yet, I stand with you on the major themes of protest because there is injustice and it needs to be ameliorated.
Polarization of the movement combined with the contempt and violence perpetrated by the cops is a recipe for disaster.
so many of you claim this is a spontaneous movement. Here is a link from 2.23/11 where van Jones announced this movement; his movement as part of Obama campaign 2012 as an answer to the tea party. It will take honest courage to read it, but i know so many are brainwashed that they won’t. as long as you know, that we the people know the truth, we the 53%, The true patriots. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/vans-grand-plan-to-span-the-land-a-union-protest-at-every-state-capitol/
Welcome back troll. No one has ever said this movement was spontaneous. OWS was in planning for a long time so it was done right. OB planned for at least a week before starting our occupation. Go home.
And your link is not about planning Occupy rallies. Jeez, read your own links.
Here is Van Jones celebrating the attacks on the twin towers on 9/12/01. Despicable! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loxUSUWkTh4
I also agree with the general ideas of all this-helping fix our political and economic issues. But your right, the undertone of criminal activity and violence is keeping me away. It’s all heading toward violence. Screaming in a cops face is not very peaceful. It’s not working. It makes great tv but your whole message gets lost.
The $5,000 was apparently taxpayer money GS was required to give the credit union; see, e.g., http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/25/goldman_sachs_v_occupy_wall_street
It was not a donation, and it seems they should not have the power to retract it. Calling it a “donation” sounds like an attempt at spin.
@Arnie,
Don’t confuse anger with violence. Though some would argue that the one equals the other, the emotions in the movement are just that, emotions. Truth: no one speaks for the movement, we all speak for ourselves. Some people definitely have anger and more going on, some people don’t. Some people are in response to anger and the buckshot of others, some are proactive and able to hold their own in the sea of communication.
It has sounded to me like we need more training about what non-violence is and how to deal with media and dissent. That’s one of the things that we are rarely if ever trained in and many people have no idea how to handle this as a conversation rather attack/defense. So pointing this out is good, but taking action and training is better.
The main problem is that if no one speaks for the Movement, then the media will find ways to speak for it. Most people are watching Occupy from a distance and the Media war is where public opinion is made.
But violence is inherent in human beings and it take effort and guts to become truly nonviolent. No movement or group can be truly nonviolent unless they are all enlightened beings. A group that is angry together veers toward violence by its very nature. Occupy will be pushed toward violence by violent forces imposed upon them by either police or infiltrators.
I hope not, but that’s the undercurrent I’m feeling these days.
What happened in Oakland was horrific.
We also have to watch out for the “rogue website bill” where criticism of the government is forbidden, and the website will be pulled at the request of some government agency…
If no one speaks for the Movement, then the media will find ways to speak for it. Most people are watching Occupy from a distance and the Media war is where public opinion is made.
But violence is inherent in human beings and it take effort and guts to become truly nonviolent. No movement or group can be truly nonviolent unless they are all enlightened beings. A group that is angry together veers toward violence by its very nature. Occupy will be pushed toward violence by violent forces imposed upon them by either police or infiltrators.
I hope not, but that’s the undercurrent I’m feeling these days.
What happened in Oakland was horrific.
We also have to watch out for the “rogue website bill” where criticism of the government is forbidden, and the website will be pulled at the request of some government agency…
If that boy dies, our message becomes so much more powerful.
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There are only fleeting moments in history where the opportunity to change the status quo is clearly present.
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This is one of those time.
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Get well Scott.
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Please know that in life or in death you will be the face of our movement.
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Destroy capitalism. We must shed our biases and instill communism.
Like Donny deutsche was hopping for and said what you needed was your own kent state. Msnbc is complicit in this. Only good thing is msnbc on larry o’donnel interviewed kids involved in attacking the police and they admitted to it. Of course larry was speechless when they admitted to it. We know it is in your game plan to incite violence. Reportes attacked, police attacked, van jones giving lessons on how to challenge the police and it being in Oakland is direct evidence at how dangerous a person Van Jones is. The jig is up, we have our own media that is reporting the truth, we don’t have to rely on the chardonay liberal elite media anymore to report progressive propaganda
If you’re advocating systemic cultural changes, and you’re in the minority, in a civilized modern society, violence never works.
If you have a vested interest in suppression of protest in that same civilized modern society, and you’re a powerful entity, violence is a useful tool and most times it works wonerfully.
Both sides were wrong in Oakland, but it’s good to see that Mayor Quan has essentially condemned the Oakland PD for their over-the-top methods. (If the statements attributed to the Mayor in this article are correct.)
I just hope the message of FIXING INEQUALITIES stays out front, instead of having ‘right to protest’ take center stage. That would dilute and marginalize what the Occupy movements are all about.
The focus of these banner headlines should be on data such as these:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/opinion/blow-americas-exploding-pipe-dream.html?hp
oakland protester admitts to assaulting police on the lawerence o’Donnell show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHlHiNEZ1wA
You’ve posted a few times about “that boy” dying. He’s a man. Give him the respect he deserves. He has served his country as a marine. If your looking for a matyr go take one for the team.
We’re not stupid. We know the state is behind all these fake reforms and government takeover of the economy being pushed by the “leaders” of the Occupy movement. We are just hoping that this remains a social movement of we the people coming together learning from each other and seeking real solutions. Are we now free to go to Occupy Oakland and freely use the park as the public space it is without being in fear of pit bull attacks and intimidation and fear of beatings and theft of our cameras by masked thugs?
I find it “funny”, well disgusting really, that some of the same people who vilified the Marines and the US military in general, accused of them of atrocities that were unfounded, and looked at and treated them with contempt during the Iraq War, are now putting them on up pedestals because a few Vets decide to show up at the encampments around the country. And despite what you want to through out in your propaganda, the number is small in the whole scheme of things. The hypocritical bullsh#t is so deep one could drown in it.
on February 25th, 2012 at 8:31 pm #
[…] “The sixth week of the international occupation movement closed with a decisive victory for economic justice in Oakland, California. After enduring several days of brutal police assaults that left the 24-year-old Scott Olsen–a former member of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines and a veteran of two tours in Iraq—hospitalized with brain swelling and a fractured skull, Occupy Oakland retook their camp with an overwhelming show of nonviolent resistance. Following the demonstrations, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan was forced to declare that protesters could stay indefinitely and would face “minimal police presence” in the future. This abrupt reversal of position came after the mayor declined to wait in line to speak at Occupy Oakland’s General Assembly.” Link […]