Description:
WHAT: 1,000+ people to take over the street of Downtown, Los Angeles.
WHEN: Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 7:00am
WHERE: Activists will meet at Bank of America Plaza at 333 S Hope St. and march to the corner of Figueroa and 4th St., where we will shut down the intersection.
VISUALS: Protestors with signs, banners and noisemakers. Large banners dropped from overpasses. Rally in the Downtown, L.A. financial district. People taking over the streets, stopping traffis, and setting up tents in the Downtown, L.A. intersection.
MORE INFO: More than 1,000 people from struggling LA communities organized by Good Jobs LA, along with unemployed workers, community groups, clergy, labor organizations and Occupy LA activists, will take over the streets in downtown LA on Thursday morning, calling on Congress to hold Wall Street accountable for fixing our economy and to make wealthy corporations and the rich pay their fair share, so our communities can have jobs, not budget cuts.
Wall Street corporations are leaving LA communities and the 99% behind. When Wall Street needed help after their greed and recklessness crashed our economy, Congress rushed to bail them out with billions in taxpayer money – now Wall Street corporations and banks are sitting on $2 trillion in cash but failing to invest in local communities to create good jobs. Congress is making the crisis worse by refusing to tax millionaires and wealthy corporations to fund job creating legislation and prevent devastating budget cuts.
***Bank of America took $230 billion in bailouts, made $4 billion in profits over the past two years and paid its CEO $10 million in 2010, but contributed $0 in federal taxes in 2009 and 2010 while cutting small business lending by 89% since the economic crash. Figueroa and 4th St. are adjacent to “structurally deficient” and “functionally obsolete” overpasses, some of the many projects that could put people back to work building LA.
Protests will continue in LA throughout the day, including a second downtown march with hundreds of activists starting at the civic center at noon. Similar protests will be held on November 17th in dozens of cities around the country, including New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, Seattle, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Houston and Miami.
Media Contacts for Event:
Jacob Hay, jacob.hay@goodjobsla.org or (310) 855-2640
Refugio Mata, refugiomata@goodjobsla.org or (310) 293-0266
10 Comments
I am a huge supporter of
Submitted by silent_nick on
I am a huge supporter of Occupy but I do not see the purpose in shutting down a busy intersection. All that will accomplish is pissing off people on their way to/from work. We should be trying to get these people on our side as they are the 99%. Instead, this will just irritate them.
Rallying in front of banks is something I can totally get behind. Shutting down a busy intersection is not.
Yes and No
Submitted by JoviMan on
You may be right. However, this movement needs to show strength after the Zuccotti Park raid. Unfortunately, today's media responds best to some form of disruption to the day to day (albeit non-violent of course!). I really hope you'll come down. I have to believe that showing the world we have not given up on taking the money out of politics is worth one morning of really bad traffic. PS At the last Day of Action (10/15 I believe), various downtown streets were shut down. Even though it was a Saturday, there was significant car traffic that needed to be diverted. Most of those cars were honking and passengers waving in support of the movement as police waved them down the detours. We have the support. Please, come join us. We need you!
The Owners of OWS' Zucotti Park in NYC,
Submitted by tovangar2 on
...Brookfield Properties, owns Bank of America Plaza here in LA too, the site of tomorrow's action.
Details here: http://la.curbed.com/archives/2011/11/a_guide_to_brookfield_office_propertiess_downtown_la_sites.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
I'm 110% with silent nick! Illconceived idea!
Submitted by furbie on
BAD IDEA!
I’ve spent as much time down there with you as I’ve been able, & I’ve kept my 2 cents to myself to see how you younger folks are gonna handle this, ‘cause god knows our generation has screwed it up by the numbers. But I can hold my tongue no longer.
The disclaimer: I’m 64 YO, former law enforcement, military, & covert DOD, so if you’re still stuck in the sixties, & can’t trust anyone over 40, or anyone who’s been part of the establishment, read no further.
Here’s the deal:
1. To change the system, you must, for now, work within the system. You NEED leadership. Van Jones, Elizabeth Warren, & Allen Grayson are but a few that come to mind. You’ll grow old in your “drum circles” if you’re unable to be represented in the halls of Congress. The Teaparty put 14 Reps into Congress AND they got co-opted. You MUST get into the system while remaining true to the cause.
2. Truth & morality is the heart of the movement, but to those less involved than you, PERCEPTION is everything. The truth is irrelevant
3. You need a “perception planning committee”. Your biggest weapon is the positive perception of the movement, vs. the negative perception of those who would destroy it. Eg: an 80 YO woman peppersprayed & rescued by a soldier(Seattle). Eg: Former Marine Shamar Thomas shaming NYPD for abusing peaceful, unarmed citizens. Eg: NYPD Dep. Insp.Tony Bologna pepperspraying corralled, compliant women (you had NO MSM coverage prior to that incident). And speaking of perception, lose the goddamn face mask bandanas! Yeah I know the cops have cameras, but it’s a bad optic, & the guy your’re passin’ the doobie around with at your tent, takin’ the group-hug picture is ALSO a cop. I speak from experience when I assure you that if they want to know, they know what brand of toilet paper you use! Be proud of who you are & what you’re fighting for.
4. Know your enemy. Google the Art of War. It’s won battles for about 2,600 years. It’s a short easy read, & applicable to all of life. Your enemy will not concede this war easily, & they will throw nearly unimaginable assets at winning it.
If you took the time to read this, thank you for your time. You have the power of right & the Constitution on your side. Thousands of service members have given their live to preserve it for you. Claim your rights now! This is your Valley Forge!
NEWSFLASH: Radicals advised to work within system. Film at 11.
Submitted by PC on
To change the system, you must, for now, work within the system. You NEED leadership. Van Jones, Elizabeth Warren, & Allen Grayson are but a few that come to mind. You’ll grow old in your “drum circles” if you’re unable to be represented in the halls of Congress.
To be fair, many people have grown old and died in their political circles trying to work within the system. Many more have simply been swallowed up by it, losing their ideals and their souls as they gain political power. People who think that the Occupy movement is going to rip "the system" down and replace it with something better may be deluded fools (and some of them indisputably are), but let's face it: it's not entirely irrational for a reasonably perceptive person to look at the way the existing wealth/power structure has rigged the game, and conclude that the game itself is what needs to go. How do you propose to persuade them that liberal democratic capitalism is both savable and worth saving?
While some of the drummers
Submitted by nobody on
While some of the drummers are probably radicals the vast, vast majority of radicals, who have been at Occupy LA or not, are not about that culture. A lot don't remember the 60s and think of that era as a failed attempt at revolution.
Like PC said, working within the system has failed so far. Just like working with the current oppositional organizations (NGOs, unions, political orgs, even 3rd parties) has not mobilized the masses of new people that Occuply everything has. It's time for new ideas, new experiments. They won't be co-opted as much as adopted. The 99% idea - that has been adopted widely by the politicians and organizations - is a huge success. The general assembly: it's giving voice to a lot of people who don't have one within the existing structures of both power, and opposition to power. It's another success.
Getting good optics - making the "Rosa Parks" moment - is important, but there is such a thing as "too contrived", and people see through it. The stuff happening so far has been real - keep it real. The reality of the Occupy movement is that it's diverse, particularly in being able to mobilize the middle class or formerly middle class, and that is not being recognized in the media. But that isn't really a surprise, because the media is often about hiding the facts about what's really happening to the middle class -- the middle class is really a kind of "stick" used to beat the poor, and now that more of them are becoming poor, the possibility of solidarity between the working and unemployed and middle class is difficult to present. Getting the big media (and even the progressive media) to piece together this story is a challenge. It's also a challenge to bring these groups together at Occupy.
The real problems at the encampment are also a looming issue. For one, the media like Ted Hayes, who seems to have become a problem at the camp. A lot of campers are not protesting or participating in the self-governance of the camp. There have been assaults and theft. The local bureaucracy is pecking away at the food tent. LAPD told the press it's planning a move.
speaking of the art of war
Submitted by nobody on
Read Charlie Beck's bio at the LAPD website.
See how Occupy is being attacked - because it is being attacked - just not by the LAPD riot squad.
Plan a strategy that works within this new style of policing.
More from the old guy
Submitted by furbie on
Actually few have actually done ANY work within the "system" for a very long time. They let it take care of itself, while they're distracted by Survivor, Dancing w/the Stars, et al. Unlike the demise of Rome, bankrupting itself with evermore costly spectacles to distract their citizens, the power elite has found a way to make very good money producing the distracting entertainment that now numbs the sheeple (even getting them to PAY to vote for their favorites!). So I would suggest again that like it or not, we still need to work within the system to put representatives into the House & Senate, as the coopted Teaparty was able to do. You can't get around the Constitution (& why would you want to? It's what assures your right to protest, & is the sole reason we're not being shot as in Syria) It's absolutely necessary to be represented in Congress to bring about change, & NOW before the 1% consolidate their victories by disenfranchising voters, rigging the election machines (completely), & capitalize on the Citizens United decision. I admire pure idealism, but I'm a pragmatist.
Change of subject: My wife & I would have participated in the Day of Action March, had anything other than the "block traffic at 4th & Fig" been noted on the calendar. Just a friendly suggestion to the webmaster, or did I miss something?
The normal functioning of the
Submitted by nobody on
The normal functioning of the system is based on the non-participation within it. This allows for the subversion of democracy. Every vote suppressed is like a small victory for the elitists.
I'm not saying don't participate. Not hardly. The thing is, you have to participate knowing that merely voting is not enough. It's important to form pressure groups. It's important to have discussions about the economy, class, poverty, and freedom.
It's also critical to deconstruct why it is that people are not voting, not participating, and not challenging the current system.
perception!
Submitted by furbie on
Just reread the WHOLE calendar & realize the block traffic thing so dominated my perceptions & put me off that I read no further. Apologies to webmaster.
All of you are making a difference. Sixteen mayors having to put their heads together, NYPD blacking out the news ("for the reporter's safety". Interesting. Helicopters too? Some of you must have really strong arms to throw anything at a chopper! & I haven't seen anything quite as violent as the 2 wars we're fighting & we embed journalists in combat units there). No you've got 'em worried. But you do need to manage perceptions. None of the aforementioned incidents were contrieved. They were spontaneous. And they won sympathy for the cause. Resist the urge to fight back with violence. It plays into their hands, will allow them to escalate force, & will lose sympathy.
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