Occupy Oakland’s general strike

Occupy Oakland protesters capitalized on the newfound public awareness and on Nov. 2 organized the first General Strike America has seen since 1946, which also occurred in Oakland.

The strike followed less than a week after the early-morning police action on Oct. 25 led to day-long protests that ended with 102 arrests and four injuries, including Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen, who suffered a skull fracture due to a projectile.

Since then, the city of Oakland has been the focus of international scrutiny and borne witness to a maelstrom of community engagement, with tens of thousands representing peaceful protest and an unfortunate few bent on committing violence.

During the strike on Nov. 2, over 10,000 marched the streets of Oakland and successfully closed the Port of Oakland.

Occupy Oakland began as a small tent city modeled after its sister camp in New York's Zucotti Park, but quickly became the political center of this leaderless movement, which has succeeded in raising awareness and has renewed public interest in economic inequalities.

With the closure of schools and disruption of classes on Nov. 2, further attention has been directed at school closures, department cuts and program disappearances.

Betty Olsen-Jones, president of the Oakland Education Association, urged those attending the demonstrations to "ensure Oakland children do not receive a second-class education."

Nationally, perhaps the biggest victory of the Occupy movement was Bank Transfer Day on Nov. 5. Over 650,000 people closed their accounts at major banks and transferred their funds to local credit unions across the country in the month leading up to Nov. 5. Fifty thousand more people switched to a credit union in that period than in all of 2010. A report issued by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) states that on Nov. 5 alone, Credit Unions received nearly 40,000 new customers.

It is difficult to determine the future of Occupy Wall Street. With winter setting in, many believe the rain and snow will shut down protests across the country. However, protesters continue to plan political action.

Protestors in New York City plan to pack up their gear and march from city to city, until they arrive in Washington, D.C. Locally, in Oakland, at a press conference on the morning of Nov. 9, protesters shouted down several city council members who called for the removal of the encampment at Frank Ogawa Plaza.