Lake Merritt is bigger than a breadbox, but a lot smaller than Lake Michigan. It also pleasantly #occupies the middle of Oakland, CA. Early this morning an intrepid crew decided to return the favor.
Now they've apparently multiplied, cocooned, and decided to stay for the night!
Why build a junk raft and float it on Lake Merritt?
A large part of the explanation is beyond words, you look at it, if you feel it you know.... it has something to do with the future...
We did this because it’s big, beautiful and stupid and daring.
We needed to do something that couldn’t be dismissed as typical protest.
Something playful and innovative in a way that will get people excited and thinking about other creative ways to continue to occupy public space.
Kick us out of here, kick us out of there, where else could we go? In our case we chose Lake Merritt.
Take chances. Be daring. Occupy everything!
There is no port on Lake Merritt to shut down (and if there were it would probably only unload gooseshit), but
The occupants of the SS Don't Let the Banks Punk You Out also hope to bring attention to the upcoming coordinated west coast port shutdown happening tomorrow. The shutdown is in solidarity with the longshoremen against the multinational corporation EGT and the truckers against one of the main culprits of the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs.
Cities participating in the port shutdown include: Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tacoma, Olympia, Seattle and Vancouver. There will be solidarity actions in cities without ports, such as Denver and Houston.
Not to mention sites in Hawaii and Alaska, Japan and New York, Minnesota and Coos Bay, Boston and Oxnard.
You can follow what's happening at #OccupyOakland tomorrow on twitter:
alyssa011968 (Kossack allie123)
who will be there from the very start, circa 5:30 AM, along with Kossack kith.
susie_c (Susie Cagle)
OccupyOakland
and the #PortShutdown and #OccupyOakland tags.
New York City's action against Goldman Sachs, which starts even earlier at 7:30 AM ET, can be followed at OccupyWallStNYC and the #GoldmanSachs tag.
If you are in the Bay Area you can meet up with some Kossacks at 2:00 PM in downtown Oakland at San Francisco Pizza at 16th & Broadway, just a few steps from Frank Ogawa Plaza / Oscar Grant Park.
8:28 PM PT:
The Lake Merritt refuge -- established in 1870 by Dr. Samuel Merritt (Oakland Mayor) -- is the oldest wildlife refuge in the United States. You'll see domestic ducks and geese at the Rotary Nature Center, as well as large numbers of wild birds and migrating ducks in the winter.
http://sanfrancisco.about.com/...
And now, a refuge (very temporary, I suspect) for #occupants!
8:30 PM PT: Who knew?
Lake Merritt has an active boating center offering lessons in boating and sailing.
9:36 PM PT: Port Of Oakland Port Blockade Info