OYC Occupies the Ocean Beach Farmers Market

As the Summer starts slowly, we brought the Occupy message to the Ocean Beach Farmer's Market as we took our Sidewalk March tactic to the next level. We met by the beach and then marched around the whole market, handing out flyers and talking to people about Occupy and the new GA schedule, Occupy Our Arts, the World Beat Center, and the Profit Prison System we live in.

We eventually chose a corner near the stage that attracted a flowing crowd of people from all directions, handed out info and talked up people, ate snacks (thanks to Occuiper Cristie) and hung up a bunch of Lost signs (thanks to Occupier Josephine). We were happy to meet up with the amazing Occupier Louise and no one was unstoppable like Occupier Fungi to draw in a crowd as he discussed how prisons make more money the more full they are, so it makes it profitable to incarcerate basically anyone for anything. 

On our second march around the Farmers Market we broke up into groups and shopped, handed out the remainder of our flyers, stood around holding up some of Louise's awesome signs for everyone to see and take pictures of. 

It was a great day for outreach to another community near the beach! 

PS - Much love to our Occupy Walkers who are in the fray protesting NATO in Chicago! 

Occupy!

OYC Solidarity Corner Occupation against the Bank Of America Shareholders Meeting

We had an amazing Corner Occupation and Sidewalk March in solidarity with the thousands of protestors across the country as the Bank of America Shareholders meeting in North Carolina was rallied against by Occupiers, Environmentalists, Unions, and Foreclosed Families. We took to the corners around the main Bank of America branch in San Diego as we handed out hundreds of flyers to some really interested folks.

After doing a Sidewalk March to collect some 99% Springers at City Hall, we returned to the main B of A branch to talk to people about the Big Bank problem; the benefits of breaking down Bank of America into smaller, more manageable community banks; as well as the personal and social values of joining a Credit Union. But the most powerful mover was when we each took the opportunity to inform people of how B of A has been the major player in the current recession, the foreclosing of homes on families and veterans, loan discrimination against minorities, the "robo-signing" away of the American Dream, and their funding of for-profit prisons. 

Handing out flyers is one thing, but stopping to talk to fellow citizens about the dangers that corporate greed and main stream media neglect are having on our way of life definitely shined through as a positive, peaceful tactic for Occupying. One Occupier talked to a woman about foreclosures that sent her reeling and promising to switch, and we saw many others having in-depth talks about the needs and values of keeping their money local. One person we talked to happen to see a City Councilman crossing the street and he walked right up to him and told him what was up!

We also met many people interested in what OSD and OYC are doing, and met a lot of folks on the street who were very impressed to hear about our work with the World Beat Center (we got news today that they are backing off!), the Sherman Heights WalMart (those actions garnered national attention on major news outlets), the Fight against California Medical cuts (thank you to Occupy Labor Solidarity and Raul Carranza for keeping up the fight), and bringing economic inequality and corporate greed to the fore ("Hella, hella Occupy!"). 

We also made a new chant: "Break Up B of A, this Corporate Greed Must Go Away!"

Thank you to Occupiers Tammy M and Cristie P for photos and livestreaming!

From Earth Day to May Day

So many awesome things have been going on in OYC, let's break it down by event:

Earth Day, San Diego

OccupYrCorner, Women Occupy San Diego, and Occupy Encinitas had a table at this years Earth Day which was an enormous success! We had Occupiers from OSD and beyond helping us let everyone know "We're still here!" as we handed out 1,000s of non-GMO seed packets, gathered hundreds of signatures on petitions ranging from ending Corporate Personhood to GMO labeling to saving local landmarks from the 1%er wrecking ball.

We handed out tons of flyers, sold tons of badges, and informed the thousands  at the event how political crookedness was bending the environment into a mess. Which was well-received at this years very politically charged Earth Day. We even mic-checked the Wal-Mart booth into leaving!

The badges that were sold were made a few days earlier at a OYC Badge-making party where we had a pile of unstoppable Occupiers help create over 500 badges to sell to the public for funds to be used for future events.

One very special Occupier, our friend Fish, was later that week sentenced to 90 days in jail for a misdemeanor... but really his crime was standing up for people's rights. Occupy did what it does best: repsond. Members of OSD and OYC have been working day and night to keep Fish informed through letters and postcards, well fed through commissary donations, and visited weekly. "An Injury to One is an Injury to All!"

Sidewalk March with Occupy City Heights for the World Beat Center

The next weekend we took to the streets for our second Sidewalk March: a sort of experiment on bringing our OYC message to all the corners of an area. The members of Occupy City Heights helped us map out a route, and after attending their GA we all walked through Farmers Markets, commercial areas, and public parks all around City Heights handing out hundreds of flyers about the institutional racism that is threatening one of San Diego's only multi-cultural landmarks, the World Beat Cultural Center.

Threatening to turn it and the Centro Cultural De La Raza into a parking lot, the Powers That Shouldn't Be in San Diego are trying to white-wash away any African, Asian, and Latino culture from the area. We wont stand for this injustice... so we march! 

Sign the petition: http://chn.ge/savetheworldbeat

May Day 2102, San Diego

OccupYrCorner, Occupy San Diego, Women Occupy San Diego as well as many Unions for Janitors, Hotel Workers, Teachers, Taxi Drivers, and Students were invited to a full-day of events by the unstoppable Occupy San Diego Labor Solidarity Committee for this years May Day.

We literally marched all over downtown San Diego, standing up against unfair contracts, inhuman health care cuts, unbelievable education cuts, and over-bearing companies like Wal-Mart and I.C.E. Rallys, marches, street theater, concerts, Mariachi bands, bank shutdowns, sit-ins, sleep-ins... the day was packed!

San Diego held it's own with 125 other US cities as we helped the laborers of the world celebrate their true power!  

(Thank you to Occupiers Nick P, Holly H., Martha S., Jennie M., Anoki C. and others for the amazing pictures)