After the team took a break from all of the amazing TPP outreach, we put our energies into a variety of important actions and events that took place around San Diego that needed the Occupy stamp...
OYC Comic-Con
Occupying Comic-Con was amazing! We had a committed group of Occupiers head over to Comic-Con to Occupy the entrance of the Convention Center as well as strategic points all around the Gaslamp handing out over 450 flyers to the throngs on Comic-Conners. Plus, we distributed piles of little comic books the OSD GA created about
"How to Leave Your Bank" and
"The Glass Steagall Act". We even had some racy political comics positioning Rumsfeld and Cheney as lovers!
Everyone was very responsive to us proclaiming things like
"Be a real Super Hero! Occupy!" and
"Save the World! Smash the State!" Many people, when they heard "Occupy" reacted like
"Oh yeah!" and took a bunch of flyers. We were also happy to see a small group of young protesters taking on the Bible-Thumpers big condemning signs with small, funny signs of their own!
The rallying against the Westboro Church and their ilk is finally in fashion!
The crowning achievement was the amazing "chalkupying" that spontaneously appeared as Comic-Conners joined Occupiers in exercising their right to chalk! Check out how OSD/OYC occupied random street theater like the Zombie march with pointed politics... educated and entertained!
World Beat Center Update
Anyone paying attention to the many issues that OYC has been working on knows we've worked to ease the plight of the World Beat Center, San Diego's only Multi-Cultural Center that is under threat due to the City Council's attempt to privatize the century-old public Balboa Park. After months of flyering, calling, outreach, meetings, and testimonies to City Council, we joined Occupiers, Concerned citizens, and organizations such as SOHO on July 9th to stand firm against the privatization of this landmark and the destruction of it's history and intention. After 6 hours of testimony, the paid-off City Council sold the park to the highest bidder,
but not before promising to give the World Beat Center a 25-year lease to protect it! Success! Next up: Save Balboa Park!
Occupy Gay Pride
OccupYrCorner, Occupy San Diego, Women Occupy San Diego, and many other area Occupies joined Canvass For a Cause, SAME, ASD, and multiple San Diegan organizaitons in the 2012 Gay Pride Parade this July!
It was an amazing and hot day as we marched through Hillcrest, San Diego to the cheers and chants of the crowd! Being one of the only floats and marchers that weren't trying to sell something, many spectators became extra vocal as we passed by! Happy to see a group that cares!
Oddly enough, we were positioned between two banks (Chase and Wells Fargo) so, of course we made some large
"Thieves" and
"Liars" signs to designate our opinions on our parade mates!
City Heights Profit Prisons Corner Occupation
The Impromptu City Heights Corner Occupation on August 1st went amazingly! We had 5 Occupiers join in as we handed out about 160 flyers in an hour talking to interested pedestrians about the
For Profit Prison System. We spoke to one man who JUST got out of jail on false charges... he was lost in the system for 38 days, they broke his wrist, and he lost everything! He is working on a lawsuit and going to the media, so he wouldn't give me details, but he was elated to see us talking to people about this institutionalized injustice.
We also talked to an old time protester who told us about how he was arrested and released almost 100 times during the Brian Wilson Train Incident era... he said nowadays, the laws are so strict you couldn't possibly voice your opinion about outrage in public!
Also, some members of the community jumped in and chalked up the
sidewalks with some facts and figures about the Corporate Corrections
System...
Chalkupy!
OYC CityFest
OYC City Fest on August 12th went without a hitch! We had 7 undercover Occupiers handing out 350 flyers amonst the other flyer-distributors, partaking in meaningful and informative conversations with the throngs at the festival about
Breaking Up with Bad Banks, switching to
Credit Unions, and the shenanigans following the
Bail Out...
Oh and...
WE STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH
PUSSY RIOT!
