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We all marched here to prevent all semis from
going into the Port and leaving the Port.
It's completely shut down.
No one is getting in and out of this area right here.
We represent the union that employs
labor workers for the docks here in Oakland
and we're here showing our support for the cause.
We're here to spread the truth
that 1% of the world's population owns 99% of the world's money.
[megaphone] We've lost homes! We've lost jobs!
We've seen racist attacks by the police
on innocent young black and brown people in our streets
and we're fighting to keep our schools open.
This is our day today!
[chant] Close the Banks! Shut 'em down! Oakland is a People's Town!
We're blocking the bank.
We're gonna be trying to shut down the bank.
We're gonna drop a banner from the top of the bank.
I'm here because I'm one of the ninety-nine percent.
I'm a homeowner who is facing foreclosure
and I work every day with other folks here in Oakland
who are facing foreclosure at the hands of the banks.
I'm out here because I'm speaking out
for those who cannot speak for themselves.
My sister lost her house of 45 years.
My sister had one child that died and left four children.
They came and put her and those four children out in the rain.
In the rain, with no where to go, no money ...
[chant] We're here! We're loud! Disabled and Proud!
I was moved to come out today because
people with disabilities are being so strongly affected
by cuts to the state budget
and also nationally to Medicaid services
and it's just making it impossible to live independently
because they are just ... the cutbacks are so severe.
[chant] ... 2, a little bit louder! 3, we want justice for our people, 1,
I work with young people in East Oakland and so
seeing on the ground the impact of
a very exploitative and
a very oppressive economic system
and the impact that it has had
on people of color, especially young people
and then you combine that with this whole move to privatize education
close down schools
and you have 50% of households, black households, run by women
you have to take into account gender difference in earnings
and how that impacts intergenerational poverty.
Well I'm here because I don't think it's right what they are doing
how they are trying to give the money over to jails
and not to schools. And if they think about it
if they would put more money in schools there wouldn't be criminals out there.
[chant] The system! Is about to die! Hella Hella Occupy!
..they have destroyed the American Dream
[crowd] THEY HAVE DESTROYED THE AMERICAN DREAM
and we're taking it back!
[crowd] AND WE'RE TAKING IT BACK!
Who are we?
[crowd] WHO ARE WE?
Home defenders!
[crowd] HOME DEFENDERS!
Residents!
[crowd] RESIDENTS!
Teachers
[crowd] TEACHERS!
Public workers!
[crowd] PUBLIC WORKERS!
Unions!
[crowd] UNIONS!
Environmental groups!
[crowd] ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS!
Activists!
[crowd] ACTIVISTS!
Students!
[crowd] STUDENTS!
Simply put, we are the 99%!
[crowd] WE ARE THE 99%!
[kids chant] Let's go Oakland, Let's go!
I'm a military veteran. I spent five years in the Marine Corps
and I did two years in Iraq.
Military service members, they've been really preyed upon by Wall St
There is Payday lenders
all across the United States surrounding military bases.
That's been a huge problem.
We've had military veterens get caught up in the housing crisis
with these sub-prime mortgages.
[chant] ... what do we do? STAND UP FIGHT BACK!
We gotta beat, beat back! The bank attack!
Wells Fargo is the city of Oakland's bank
and the city of San Francisco's bank
and owes San Francisco millions of dollars in unpaid property taxes
and at the same time is foreclosing people and evicting people from their homes.
Wells Fargo also invests money in private detention centers for immigrants
while simultaneously targeting immigrant communities with bad loans.
Right now we're in front of Chase bank.
Laney College just joined us. It's over 1000 people here.
We just left Wells Fargo bank, and we're just shuttin' it down!
We're banging on the walls, we're demanding attention, and we're demanding to be heard.
[chant] Shut it down! Shut it down!
I have a mortgage from Chase bank. I've been trying to get it modified
and they have not modified me.
I've been in my home for eleven years. I've never been late on my mortgage
and I'm still not able to get a modify.
Well, I would call it a crime. If it were up to me it would be called a crime
because in fact the bankers know exactly what those instruments were designed to do.
When George Bush came on TV about a decade ago and he said
well we're an ownership society and
you all have to get out there and buy yourself a house
it was a setup.
We closed our Wells Fargo this morning. We closed down Chase bank.
We closed down B of A, and we closed down Citibank.
And we're gonna continue to come after them
and let them know that there is no more business as usual
if they think that we are like dead mice
and we are just going to be swept out of our houses and not fight back.
That day is over. We're finished with that.
We are constituents of all of these legislators
all of these people that are in power. And they tell us one thing to
get out our votes, and then they do the very thing
that's really going to kill a lot of us or hurt a lot of us
have more of us sleeping on the streets.
[megaphone] Longshoremen ... in solidarity
... with the General Strike of Oakland...
... have shut down the port!
We will continue to organize
and to stand together, and to show up until we have a system
where people matter more than profit.