Community Corner

"Occupy" Protest Update: Walnut Creek, Oakland and San Ramon

Occupy Walnut Creek moves back downtown, Oakland plans a general strike and new protests will target Walnut Creek and San Ramon banks on Saturday

As the "occupy" movement continues in communities in the United States and around the world, local activists plan to demonstrate in Walnut Creek today as well as in Walnut Creek and San Ramon on Saturday. Oakland gears up for a general strike today.

Occupy Walnut Creek

The Occupy Walnut Creek protest returns to downtown today, gathering at 4 p.m. outside the Bank of America building near the corner of Main Street and Mt. Diablo Boulevard, according to an article in the Contra Costa Times. This is the fourth week of Wednesday afternoon protests for the group, with the first two rallies held downtown and held on Ygnacio Valley Road near the Walnut Creek BART station.

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Oakland General Strike

Hundreds of teachers will be among thousands expected to participate in the general strike organized by Occupy Oakland today. Oakland Unified School District spokesman Troy Flint said teachers are being allowed to join the general strike as long as they provide prior notice to their supervisors so that proper supervision can be arranged for students.

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Flint said 268 requests for leave were made by teachers in the district — about 10 times the average number for a single day. Substitutes will be arranged to supervise students in the teachers' absence, Flint said.

City of Oakland spokeswoman Karen Boyd said Tuesday that Oakland police "will facilitate peaceful marches downtown and elsewhere" and "we anticipate that the marches will be peaceful."

Several rallies and marches are planned Wednesday at 14th Street and Broadway in Oakland. At 5 p.m., marchers will head to the Port of Oakland to try to shut it down.

Make Wall Street Pay

Contra Costa activists will hold a Make Wall Street Pay National Day of Action protest in Walnut Creek on Saturday, Nov. 5. The Walnut Creek action will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the corner of Newell Avenue and South Main Street, near the Chase Bank across from Kaiser Hospital, according to the organizers.

A San Ramon action, also on Saturday, is planned at 3100 Crow Canyon Place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The location was chosen because four banks are in the nearby shopping center at the Interstate 680 Crow Canyon Rd East exit, the organizers said.

Eloise Hamann, San Ramon coordinator said, “Grassroots groups and individuals from all over Contra Costa and the TriValley who cannot stand by while our country is decimated by greedy corporate interests are encouraged to join in. Bring signs and energy."

Make Wall Street Pay is targeting banks that are “too big to fail” with bankers who are “too rich to jail,” Hamann said. The group is focusing largely on the banks' role in the mortgage lending crisis and subsequent foreclosures.

In Walnut Creek, bankers will be will be satirized by a Daddy Warbucks being arrested, Hamann said, and participants will be offered black arm bands "mourning the inequality in income like we haven’t seen since 1929."

In San Ramon, bankers will be satirized as "piggies" and people dealing with foreclosures, eviction, job loss, denial of credit or other problems caused by sub-prime mortgages will be asked to step forward and tell their stories, Hamann said.

Both actions will include pledges for people to move their money, information on where to move the money and a banks fact sheet, she said.

Bay City News Service and Dixie Jordan contributed to this report.


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