Most of RAN’s staff joined the call from Occupy Oakland for the general strike yesterday. We had an energizing and inspiring time marching in the streets in solidarity with the emerging Occupy movement. We were there, we took part, and we are against any violence. But the issue galling many of us today is how the mainstream media corporations are once again playing up minor property destruction as “violence” and ignoring the historic nature of what happened yesterday.
The mainstream coverage of the Occupy Oakland demonstrations has been, by and large, so shallow and narrowly focused it is outrageous. Last night’s shut down of the Port of Oakland left many of us with a deep sense of optimism and inspiration from participating in a collective action with tens of thousands of people from all walks of life — young and old, black and white, Teamsters and Longshoreman, anarchists and hipsters — people from across all divisions of class and identity, gathering peacefully to express a deep dissatisfaction of the status quo with a firm and remarkably unified voice.
