Occupy Boston Attracts Diverse Protestors

Economic inequalities, social injustices, foreclosures, and $5 debit card fees attracted a variety of people on the first day of Occupy Boston, Sept. 30. They called their march Take Back Boston.

White-collar workers, activists, immigrants, gays and lesbians, low-income citizens, youth, and the elderly marched from the Boston Common to Bank of America's Headquarters on Federal Street.

The Bay State is familiar with protests, but this march was remarkable because of the eclectic population it attracted. Young men marched in their Timberland boots and Boston-fitted caps holding up colorful signs and chanting alongside the elderly and disabled in wheelchairs. Race, age, religion, or class didn't matter, because protesters all rallied and marched for one purpose, to fight what they call greedy corporations.

Protesters Rose Nozea and Morine Webster both marched because their homes are facing foreclosure.

"I have lived in my home for 35 years. My parents, who are immigrants, came to this country, they worked hard and they passed away recently within the last two years, and unfortunately I'm experiencing foreclosure because I'm the heir to their home," Nozea said. "By the increase of foreclosure it's bringing the value of our home in the community down."

The Take Back Boston march was an extension of the growing national movement to hold Wall Street accountable for the economic woes and high unemployment rate. It was organized by the Right to the City Alliance, an urban movement for economic justice, which used the Sept. 30 event as a signal of the rising tide of outrage at the deepening recession and the ongoing mortgage crisis.

"Across the country, we are seeing the same story: the mortgage bubble created by Wall Street pushed predatory lending on urban communities and, since the bubble burst, the fallout has been catastrophic. Unemployment and foreclosure have hit communities of color first and worst," Rachel Laforest, executive director of the Right to the City Alliance, said in the organization's press release. Laforest said "urban communities are at the forefront of the movement against Bank of America."

Boston Community Workers Alliance, Lynn United For Change, Worcester Anti-Foreclosure Team, MassUniting, Chinese Progressive Association, and City Life Vida Urbana were just a few of the various organizations participating.

Organizers and supporters traveled from New Orleans and New York City to participate in the march, which some say is a microcosm of what the civil rights movement might look like in 2011. Protesters sat in the Bank of America lobbies on Federal Street and refused to leave the premises. Twenty-four people were arrested and charged with trespassing; they yelled their signature chant, "What do we do when the banks attack? Stand up, fight back!" while being escorted to police wagons.

Bullhorns sounded and homemade picket signs stood high. More than 3,000 people stood outside the Verizon office to stand up for the 45,000 Verizon workers who say they are fighting for a fair contract. Protesters were also supporting the housekeepers fired by Hyatt hotels in 2009.

As the crowd moved their way through downtown Boston, many corporate employees stared out of their office windows at a march that included women pushing baby carriages and children holding "Take Back Our City" posters. The numbers grew as protesters marched on Summer Street downtown with curious and supportive bystanders joining the march.

A hip-hop artist sang an original composition: "WE GONNA BEAT BACK THE BANK ATTACK! WE GONNA BEAT, BEAT BACK THE ATTACK," sang Antonio Ansaldi, an urban-apparel designer and organizer at City Life Urbana Vida. Ansaldi, whose home is in foreclosure, said he is not going to give up his home.

"It's just like we're in a boxing match, when you got your fighter on the ropes and you're posted back ready for the kill. This is what it is, because they're going in for the kill on us," Ansaldi said. "They don't care about anything that is personal to us."