Members of Occupy LA Plan a Peaceful 2-Hour Walking Tour of OLA Points of Interest near City Hall

LOS ANGELES – On September 23, 2011, a small group of people came together in Pershing Square to start the first General Assemblies associated with the rag-tag group known as Occupy Los Angeles (OLA). By October 1, 2011, the small group turned into hundreds who began camping at City Hall Park.

This weekend, participants of Occupy LA will guide a walking tour that features dozens of points of interest, near City Hall, that have significance to OLA’s first year.

The tour starts on Saturday, September 29th at 11:15am at Fletcher Bowron Square, located on the north-east corner of Temple and Main Street, where the group will be holding educational and cultural events both Saturday and Sunday from 10:30am – 7pm.

The tour goes through City Hall ground with Occupier-led stories about the various features of the park and surrounding buildings.

The tour stops at several local businesses where Occupiers would meet, eat, and socialize.

The tour may stop by 118 Winston Street where Occupiers had an art show and had dozens of classes as part of their Freedom School, a committee dedicated to free educational workshops, classes, and discussions to help advance the movement.

The tour will walk passed some of the current and previous nightly encampment locations. 

The tour also stops by the Los Angeles Community Action Network to highlight the involvement of organizers for skid row, houseless people, and low-income families in the downtown area.  Occupy the Hood and Occupy Skid Row both sprang up from the occupy movement and contributed greatly to Occupy LA’s history. 

Tour guides will lead participants past protest locations, giving a history of the events in each location.

Depending on time and participants’ willingness, the tour can also walk by Spring Street and 5th Streets to highlight the events of the Chalk Walk LAPD riots from July.

Participants will walk passed both local businesses that have supported Occupy LA and local businesses that have not been as supportive to the group. The tour guides will also stop by the LA Times building and the County Courthouse where many Occupiers faced trial.

Organizers of the walking tour say it gives them an opportunity to tell some stories from the last year in their own words. The tour is open to the public and will be interactive. The organizers also plan to stream the tour live and record it for posterity.

Organizers encourage interested parties to “Occupy: the Walking Tour” and encourage people to bring comfy shoes, friends, some water, a light snack, and sun protection (if they need it).

*PLEASE NOTE: This was written by an individual participant in Occupy LA but it is not an official statement. All official statements have to have consensus from Occupy LA's general assembly.