MEDIA ROOTS – On Wednesday, November 2, 2011, the
Media Roots team was on the ground in the streets of Oakland witnessing some great energy and bringing you
first-hand coverage of the historic Occupy Oakland General Strike.
Although the corporate media tried to shift the focus from the crimes of the ruling-class to
petty vandalism by unrelated opportunists, for the tens of thousands in attendance, as this footage evidences, the daylong events were about solidarity and
peaceful protest against the obscene inequality borne of class warfare waged by
the 1% against the 99%. Various businesses closed in solidarity, as the Oakland City Administrator gave City workers the day off to participate.
Media Roots covered the day’s events from Oscar Grant Plaza
where a festive atmosphere of unions serving barbeque, speeches, arts, and
multicultural activities set the positive tone.
Participants included parents with children and teachers amongst the
diverse spectrum of people. As the day
progressed, the marches swelled to some 10,000 protesters with multiple marches
shutting down various Oakland banks, including Bank of America, Chase, Wells
Fargo, and Citibank. By that evening, tens
of thousands of peaceful protesters successfully shut down the Port of Oakland,
the nation’s fifth busiest port.
Messina
***
Media Roots delivers
first-hand coverage of Occupy Oakland’s historic General Strike.
MEDIA ROOTS – On Wednesday, November 2, 2011, Abby
Martin of Media Roots was on the front lines of the bedlam in the streets of
Oakland providing unembedded coverage during the aftermath of the Occupy Oakland general strike and shutdown
of the Port of Oakland.
Tens of thousands of peaceful protesters successfully shut down the Port of
Oakland, the nation’s fifth largest port, at 8pm earlier that evening. About two hours later, so-called “Black
Bloc” ‘anarchists,’ or opportunists, arrived in downtown Oakland, smashing
windows of banks and setting trash cans on fire.
In full riot gear, the Oakland PD lined up at about 11:30 pm and marched toward the rally, now tainted by masked “Black Bloc” saboteurs. Police started
firing smoke grenades and tear gas into the crowd of people, provoking some, particularly the masked “Black Bloc” individuals, to respond
by throwing bottles and other objects back at the police. Rather than detaining the individuals engaging in property destruction, the police advanced on everyone in sight.
After the crowd scattered, the police lined up in apparent hammer-and-anvil
formation to close in and arrest the remaining protesters at the Occupy Oakland
encampment.
MR
***
Abby Martin, Media Roots Founder, catches a dose of tear gas reporting from the front lines.
MEDIA ROOTS— In 1946, Oakland was the last city in the U.S. to have a
general strike. Now, 65 years later, the people are going to shut the city
down again in another historic strike taking place tomorrow, November 2, 2011. Tomorrow’s strike was voted on last week at the Occupy Oakland General Assembly, where over 1,600 people voted in favor to “liberate Oakland and shut down the 1%.”
Media Roots will be on site in downtown Oakland during the strike doing real time coverage of the events and interviews with the participants.
Abby
***
SFIST– The proposed strike intends to close all banks and corporations for the
day, while calling on laborers, teachers and students to join mass gatherings at 14th and Broadway at 9 a.m, 12 noon and 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Support for the general strike extends beyond the protesters at Frank Ogawa Plaza, as the strike has also been endorsed by labor union SEIU Local 1021 and the the teachers of the Oakland Educational Association.
In addition to staging a walkout of businesses and schools, the protest intends to shut down the Port of Oakland by forming a picket line before the 7 p.m. night shift.
While we are calling for a general strike, we are also calling for
much more. People who organize out of their neighborhoods, schools,
community organizations, affinity groups, workplaces and families are
encouraged to self organize in a way that allows them to participate in
shutting down the city in whatever manner they are comfortable with and
capable of.
The whole world is watching Oakland. Let’s show them what is possible.
***
Occupy
Oakland held a press conference yesterday at Latham Square, the historic site of the
Oakland General Strike of 1946 at Telegraph & Broadway, to discuss the strike.
Occupy
Oakland General Strike Press Conference October 31, 2011
Among the speakers, Boots Riley (Oakland resident and
member of “The Coup” and “Street Sweeper Social Club”) read from an inter-office
memo from Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana agreeing to SEIU’s call to
shield Oakland City workers from retaliation should they participate in
tomorrow’s historic Oakland general strike.
Clarence Thomas (of ILWU Local 10 and Million Worker
March Movement) is “a third-generation longshore worker” from the S.F. Bay
Area. Clarence Thomas spoke “as the Co-Chair
of the Million Worker March Movement:”
“The reason why I and other workers will be standing in
solidarity on Wednesday for the call for the general strike by the Occupy
Oakland Movement is because this is a movement about fighting corporate rule with
worker power. I’ll say it again, fighting
corporate rule with worker power, the 99%.
For the last 30 years, with the introduction of computer and othe
technology, American workers have been providing their employer with increased
production. At the same time, workers’
wages have remained stagnant. It looks
like this. That gap represents corporate
profits. The profits that the 1% have
been living off of, and participating in, to the detriment of the 99%. Today, only 7.2% of workers in the private
sector belong to a union. That is the
lowest percentage since the year 1900.
And one of the reasons for that is because of corporate rule run
amok. But we must be very clear about
something. This is not about a crisis on
Wall Street. This is capitalism run
amok. Capitalism has failed us.”
Elaine Brown (former Chair of the Black Panther Party,
now with SEUI/United Health Care Workers), Cat Brooks (of the Onyx Organizing
Committee), and School Teacher Javier Armas all joined Occupy Oakland occupiers
and others in this historic press conference.
Occupy Oakland features a growing list of endorsements
and statements of solidarity, including:
MEDIA ROOTS— In 1946, Oakland was the last city in the U.S. 