While the general strike in Oakland has not shut the city down,
many businesses closed in solidarity:
Many businesses in downtown Oakland are closed during today's Occupy Oakland general strike, whether in support of the movement or in preparation for the mass of protesters marching through the streets.
The closed stores included national chains such as Rite Aid, Tully's Coffee and Foot Locker. Some of the stores that remained open would only accept cash to honor the strike and avoid sending credit card fees to multinational corporations and banks.
Some schools also closed, and hundreds of teachers did not go to work:
The staffs at two Oakland elementary schools and a small high school had decided to close their campuses for the day as of Tuesday afternoon, Oakland Education Association Secretary Steve Neat said. At least 182 school district employees, the vast majority classroom teachers, had asked to be replaced with substitutes on Wednesday, Neat said.
Instead of staying home, these teachers joined a march with students to deliver an "eviction notice" to the Oakland Unified School District:
The teachers and student marchers that started at Laney College served a symbolic eviction notice at OUSD.
Joel Velasquez, a parent of two children at Westlake school, read the school members names out and said they are "on notice that they will be evicted from office in the next election for doing the dirty work of the 1 percent."
Protesters also marched on several banks, including local branches of Wells Fargo, Citibank, Bank of America and Chase, forcing them to close temporarily. Outside of a closed Citibank branch, protesters hung this sign:
The protest also expanded outside of Oakland, with
solidarity actions in several cities:
As Oakland has become an epicenter for the Wall Street movement, demonstrators in other cities including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia planned to hold solidarity actions on Wednesday.
Protesters will converge on the Port of Oakland tonight. Even before the protesters arrive, the port is reportedly running at half capacity with many workers joining in the strike.