Oakland and After: Lessons from the General Strike

by Gabriel Thompson
posted Nov 03, 2011

After reporting on Occupy Oakland's large and overwhelming peaceful protest yesterday, I woke up this morning to read about arrests, tear gas and vandalism. Yes, some property was destroyed. In the afternoon I saw a black-clad group smashing the windows of a Chase bank and a Whole Foods. Later in the evening, some occupiers took over an abandoned building that once housed a homeless advocacy group (since closed due to funding cuts). At some point, a bonfire was set, cops arrested plenty of people and more property destruction occurred. But the title of USA Today's article, "Port of Oakland reopens after violent OWS protests," misses what mainly happened, as did most of the mainstream media's coverage.

Follow the link: http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/oakland-and-after-lessons-from-the-general-strike?utm_source=wkly20111104&utm_medium=yesemail&utm_campaign=titleThompson