In Boston, Massachusetts, a protest inspired by the Occupy Wall Street demonstration endured have cold temperatures and hard rain for days now, changing the city’s political and physical landscape. This is what the financial district of Boston looks like now:
The Occupy Boston protesters aren’t just demanding to be heard. They’re also helping their neighbors in need. The demonstration’s General Assembly committed to providing excess food at the demonstration to the city’s homeless – people who have no place to stay because America’s corporations are sitting on two trillion dollars of liquid assets, and refusing to use it to create jobs.
This act of compassion from the protesters came as Bank of America announced that it will now charge its customers five dollars every month as a cost of using ATM machines. Some Americans still remember that ATM machines actually save banks money by allowing them to cut labor costs. So, Bank of America has slashed jobs, and then billed Americans, as if a cost was incurred. Bank of America is taking two loaves of bread from working Americans every month, just for the privilege of accessing their own money.
24 Occupy Boston protesters were arrested at a demonstration outside of a Bank of America office this weekend. The demonstrators were loud, but never resorted to violence. The Boston General Assembly today reiterated that, “We are a nonviolent movement and so we expect all occupiers to follow this rule. Respect everyone!”
Many young Bostonians are there, but grey hairs, bald heads, and wrinkled skins are there too. College students are there, but homeowners are protesting as well. The diversity of the 99% is well represented in the occupation protest.
“The top 1 percent has too much of the control, too much of the power, and the bottom 99 percent is not heard at all,” explains one Occupy Boston protester. For more voices from the demonstration, see the video below.
