Watch slideshow — Photos by Bill Hackwell
The report below was submitted by Meghann Adams for ANSWER San Francisco Bay Area. The Party for Socialism and Liberation is a member organization of the ANSWER Coalition and joined the Nov. 26 Occupy SF demonstration for immigrant rights.
Focusing on immigrants’ rights this week, Occupy SF and
supporters marched along Market Street and down the Latino Mission District to
demand equal rights for all. Echoes rang not just of the traditional chant, “We
are the 99%!” and its Spanish counterpart, “Nosotros somos 99%!”
ANSWER organizer Gloria La Riva called out to those on the
sidewalks to join the march in the fight for immigrant rights and against war
and oppression: “If you don’t get enough in wages, if you don’t have enough to
live on, if your children are going into debt going to school, you belong with
us! Join this march!”
The Saturday, Nov. 26 demonstration saw more than 300 Occupy
SF campers and supporters take to the streets, while many others showed their
support from the sidelines. Chants of solidarity were shouted out to students,
teachers, bus drivers, and all workers who have been suffering under the weight
of the economic crisis and facing attacks from the 1%. The response came not
just from car horns in support, but cheers and smiles from the sidewalks and
from inside public buses.
Other chants along the long route included: “From New York
to the Bay, Occupy the USA!”, “The banks got bailed out, we got sold out!”, and
“¡Aquí, allá, la lucha seguirá!” The march continued to the 16th Street BART
station, where it joined with the rally of La Colectiva, La Raza Centro Legal
and the Day Labor Program.
The crowd was greeted by a woman from La Colectiva, who
said: “¡La communidad immigrate es parte del 99%! The immigrant community is
part of the 99%! Our community has been suffering the detention of our family
members, separation between children and their parents, incarceration of an
entire generation. So we send the message loud and clear tonight to Wells Fargo
and Bank of America and Citicorp and the rest of you a——s, that here in the
Mission, you do not control us. We are in control of our destinies. Day
laborers, domestic workers, women, mothers, young people, and workers…that’s
who we are!”
Announcements were made for a march the following Saturday against
foreclosures that will be preceded by neighborhood actions in different parts
of the city for people to speak up about the needs of their communities. The
united crowd continued on through the heart of the Mission to 24th Street BART
for a closing rally calling out: “¡La Misíon escucha! ¡Estamos en la lucha!”
