Around 25,000 people participated in a
general strike in Oakland, Calif., on Nov. 2, called by the Occupy
movement. The strike shut down the Port of Oakland, as well as many
businesses throughout the city.
On Oct. 25, the police attacked the
Occupy Oakland encampment and nearly killed Scott Olsen, an Iraq war
veteran, during a pro-Occupy protest. Since that time, Occupy Oakland
has increased in size and militancy.
The Occupiers retook their camp, the
San Francisco police were forced to back down from a planned raid of
Occupy San Francisco, and a new chant became commonplace throughout
the Bay Area Occupations: “This system has got to die! Hella, Hella
Occupy!”
When the occupation began on Oct. 10,
it was composed of 10 tents. By the time of the raid on Oct. 25, the
size of the camp had grown to roughly 100 tents. Since the camp has
been reclaimed, it has swelled to 175 tents.
The Occupiers have enjoyed an increase
in public support since retaking their camp, which was made clear by
the many people from the city bringing donations, and residents
hanging signs in their windows that read “We support Occupy
Oakland!”
The idea started circulating inside the
camp to invite the city’s residents to demonstrate their support by
partaking in a one-day, citywide general strike and marching to the
Port of Oakland, the fifth busiest port in the United States, to shut
down its night shift. The event was widely promoted on Facebook and
Twitter.
By morning, thousands of people had
gathered around City Hall and Oscar Grant Plaza, the site of the
Occupy Oakland camp. Many businesses had to shut down for lack of
staffing. Three hundred sixty teachers from the Oakland school
district attended the strike.
‘Death to capitalism’
A multinational crowd gathered under
huge banners overlooking major intersections that read “Occupy the
banks,” “Death to Capitalism” and “Long live the Oakland
Commune.”
In a sign that the Occupy movement
might be beginning to address issues of gentrification, one of the
many marches of the day protested the closings of five Oakland
schools, all in oppressed neighborhoods. The march began from Laney
Community College and ended at the Board of Education. Members of a
primarily African American and Latino contingent spoke about how the
school closings would negatively affect their communities.
Three banks in the vicinity of the
occupation did not open for the day. A Citibank that did open had its
entrance blocked by around 100 protesters.
At 2 p.m., 3,000 participants took off
on a “March Against Capitalism” through the downtown area.
Teachers, parents, children, college students and other workers of
all ages took to the streets. Among those leading the march was an
ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) contingent with
a banner that read: “Stop the War on Working People!”
ANSWER activists led chants such as,
“Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” and “We are the
99 percent!” The spirited protesters marched past several banks,
including Wells Fargo and the Bank of America. When they passed by
the banks, they yelled out, “Close it down!” Visibly absent were
the police; yet marchers maintained order and safety as demonstrators
were directed back to Oscar Grant Plaza.
Indeed, the police seemed surprisingly
absent until the evening. It was later discovered, however, that
several undercover police were disguised as “anarchists.” The
mainstream press would later report that there were isolated cases of
vandalism perpetrated by “anarchists.”
People block port entrances
At 4 and 5 p.m., two different
demonstrations, each of roughly 10,000 people, marched to the Port of
Oakland. Protesters blocked the entrances with chain link fencing. A
contingent of San Francisco State University students, led by Party
for Socialism and Liberation member Omar Ali, raised a banner reading
“In solidarity with Egypt!”
By 10 p.m., it was announced that the
night shift at the port had been canceled. The day shift was not
canceled, but had only been partially operational as so many port
workers had participated in the strike.
Around 11 p.m., some protesters began
occupying the now vacant Travelers Aid building close to the Occupy
campsite. The building had previously housed the Travelers Aid
Society,
a charitable organization that provided shelter for homeless people
and those traveling on a low budget and that had been foreclosed
upon. The occupiers decided to restore the building to its original
purpose and seize it as a shelter. Once inside, the occupiers erected
barriers in front of the entrances.
The Oakland police could no longer
contain themselves. Occupiers were using a building left vacant by
its owners, the banks, for shelter, and this, the enforcers of the 1
percent, could not tolerate. They attacked the building and retook
it, arresting around 80 occupiers.
The police also tear-gassed the camp
late that night, severely injuring at least one protester. Occupy
Oakland was, however, no smaller by sunrise.
Many leading Oakland capitalists have,
in the days since the strike, been urging Mayor Jean Quan to destroy
the Occupy camp once and for all. They are starting to view the
Occupy movement as truly dangerous to their interests. The success of
the general strike cost the capitalists of the city and revealed what
an effective weapon a mass strike can be against the 1 percent.
Christopher Banks, Anne Gamboni,
Paul Greenberg, Forrest Schmidt, and William West contributed to this
article.
