[lbo-talk] Report from occupy Oakland

123hop at comcast.net 123hop at comcast.net
Sun Oct 30 19:17:17 PDT 2011


I went to take some donations to Occupy Oakland early this evening.

There was a kitchen set up, first aid tent, childcare, a few informational tables by various commie sects, a sort of altar set up for Scott Olsen, the guy whose skull was fractured by a tear gas canister, and there was a video running of a guy discussing the nature of capitalism with about a half dozen people watching.

It was a very diverse crowd both ethnically (black, white) and age wise, though most were young. I had hoped to sit in on any ongoing meetings, but the only one I could see and approached announced that unless I identified as a person of color, I should go away. So I did.

Drum circle of course. Not too loud.

All the tents are back. No police presence; some media.

There's a general strike announced for Wednesday. Unfortunately, the major unions are only marginally supporting it. Here's the teachers' union announcement:

"In a unanimous vote tonight, the OEA Executive Board endorsed Occupy Oakland's November 2 "General Strike/Mass Day of Action" and is urging members to participate in a variety of ways, including taking personal leave to join actions at Frank Ogawa Plaza, doing informational picketing at school sites, and holding teach-ins on the history of general strikes and organizing for economic justice."

So, we'll see.

Joanna



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