Protesters Deliver Trash to Bank of America as Week of Action Continues

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.takebackchicago.org/




No link. From an email.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 11, 2011

Contacts:
Catherine Murrell, Stand Up! Chicago
312-523-3882 | [e-mail]
Stephanie Gadlin, Chicago Teachers Union
312-550-4143 | [e-mail]

Take Back Chicago Week of Action Kicks Off With Massive Mobilization and Bank Protests
As 7,000 Take to the Streets, Protesters Deliver Trash to Bank of America; Over 20 Arrested

High resolution video and images available:

Protesters Demand that Bankers Should be Arrested Too https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=1252551943&email=4eddb59b2f40b89900786578323b503a

Protesters Occupy Hyatt Regency Walkway, Demand Halt to Foreclosures https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=1252559605&email=dc4069e9cba9fd0679663d31bb867e8e

Chase Bank Confronted about its Neglect of Abandoned Properties https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=1252565333&email=85be737293dffd704e4efd2a75804e08

Protesters Take Trash from Foreclosed Homes to Bank of America https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=1252570121&email=296d7efc300d78a6b991a02c5229deee

CHICAGO — On Monday, October 10, as the big banks responsible for the recession converged on Chicago for financial industry expos, thousands of the city’s working families kicked off a week of action, marching in downtown Chicago to begin taking back the jobs, homes, and schools we have lost to their greed. 7,000 working Chicagoans representing dozens of community and labor organizations began in five separate issue-focused feeder marches concerned with high unemployment, unfair foreclosures, and bankrupt schools, then joined together in one massive rally with a unified voice and a common purpose—to take back our city.

As members of the Futures and Options Industry sipped cocktails on the rooftop of the Art Institute’s modern wing, protestors carrying homemade signs and banners filled Monroe street from Columbus to Michigan, accompanied by marching bands, giant puppets, a troupe of acrobats, and several dramatic banner drops from nearby buildings. Protestors then sat down en masse for a moment of silence, before a group of 25 protestors from groups such as the Chicago Teachers’ Union and Arise Chicago were escorted away and cited by Chicago police.

“Both my wife and I lost our jobs,” said Alfonso Pulido, a Brighton Park resident who attended the march and rally. “They say the recession is over, but if that’s the case then why did I get laid off? The big banks are making billions of dollars and giving their CEOs record salaries — what about the rest of us? Families and neighborhoods are hurting, and we’re here to say ‘Enough is enough.’”

Tuesday marked a day of direct action across the city called Taking Back Our Homes, in which dozens of community groups mobilized to put the big banks on notice that Chicago families are holding them accountable for the damage they’ve done. The day of action began with community groups coming together to clean up vacant and blighted properties owned by Chase and Bank of America. According to city ordinance, banks are responsible for all upkeep and maintenance of foreclosed properties, but thousands of vacant homes across the city owned by the big banks are being neglected, becoming magnets for crime, drugs, rapes and even dead bodies.

This morning, over a dozen members of Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL) occupied the walkway of the Hyatt Regency in downtown Chicago, where the Mortgage Bankers Association is meeting this week, to demand that the banks halt foreclosures. As hundreds rallied outside, SOUL members, including a foreclosure victim and several clergy, were arrested—prompting protesters to chant, “Now arrest them!” referring to the gathering of mortgage bankers.

In Brighton Park, the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council boarded up a vacant home owned by Chase located at 4325 S. Albany, then joined hundreds of protestors in front of Chase Plaza in downtown Chicago to present the bank with a bill for their maintenance services. As hundreds of protestors chanted “Shame on Chase,” representatives from the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council presented a Chase spokesperson with photos of the abandoned property and a bill for services.

“Chicago has the largest inventory of abandoned homes in the nation, many of which are now owned by the big banks like Chase,” said a Brighton Park Neighborhood Council spokesperson. “When the banks kick people out of foreclosed properties, they have an obligation to maintain those properties, and that is not happening. We are here to tell Chase that it is time they cleaned up the mess they created in our neighborhoods.”

Also this morning, in Garfield Park, the group Action Now cleaned up a Bank of America owned property at 3328 W. Monroe, then delivered the trash collected to the Bank’s downtown branch on Jackson and LaSalle. Five mothers and grandmothers, ages 55 to 80, entered the lobby to deliver the garbage, as hundreds of protestors formed a picket line around the building, chanting “Bank of America is bad for America.” The five protestors inside the bank lobby were arrested and removed from the building by police.

Among those arrested was 80-year-old Gloria Washington, who said “I’m doing this for my children and grandchildren. There is no excuse for what Bank of America has done to our community. These kids shouldn’t have to walk by dangerous, abandoned properties on their way to school. Bank of America’s bad loans and greedy practices have made our neighborhoods unsafe, and it’s time they took responsibility for all the damage they’ve done.”

Take Back Chicago’s week of action will continue with schools protests on Wednesday the 12th and jobs protests on Thursday the 13th.

More information is available at www.TakeBackChicago.org.

Action Now | Albany Park Neighborhood Council | Brighton Park Neighborhood Council | Chicago Teachers Union | Chicago Jobs with Justice | Arise Chicago | United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) | Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL) | SEIU | Stand Up! Chicago | Grassroots Collaborative | Illinois Hunger Coalition | Chicago Coalition for the Homeless | Lakeview Action Coalition | Northside Power | National Peoples' Action | Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP)

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[sarcasmo]

1. Kick.

[Omaha Steve]

2. Kick

[lunatica]

3. This sounds like highly organized activity.

Solidarity like this is exactly what we need. From the Press Release:

organized by:

Action Now | Albany Park Neighborhood Council | Brighton Park Neighborhood Council | Chicago Teachers Union | Chicago Jobs with Justice | Arise Chicago | United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) | Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL) | SEIU | Stand Up! Chicago | Grassroots Collaborative | Illinois Hunger Coalition | Chicago Coalition for the Homeless | Lakeview Action Coalition | Northside Power | National Peoples' Action | Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP)

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If this has been organized since only 4 weeks ago, imagine what can be done from now on!