NewsTaco Visits Occupy LA

Los Angles, California — On a recent Sunday NewsTaco editors Sara Inés Calderón and Renée Saldaña visited the Occupy LA protestors in downtown. Tents, children, dogs, signs, fliers and a general mood of quiet excitement characterized the grounds as activists seemed to take Sunday to regroup and prepare for the coming week.

What was most interesting to this observer was the fact that protestors in LA seemed to feel like they were part of a broader movement.

We spoke to Gaby Gonzalez, who wore a Guy Fawkes mask with “99%” written in red masking tape over the mouth, who told us she’d been to Occupy San Diego, spent some days at Occupy LA and was set to begin organizing Occupy Santa Ana — her hometown. As a student, Gonzalez told us she felt the effect of the budget cuts being made these days, odd to her considering the huge bailouts given to Wall Street. She is also unemployed, unable to find a job despite her experience, and so cannot even afford to go to school.

A man who only gave his name as Maximilian told us that the idea of money, education, health care, all of it, is part of the problem. He advocated for abolishing “the system” of money and starting over. Meanwhile LaNordo Conn talked about “waking people up” to the fact that their lives are being run by corporate America.

Finally there was Estella Dreher, who said we need to build the metaphorical house from the foundation up, not from the roof down. A native of Belize, she decried the fact that her son who recently graduated from the University of Southern California is unable to find a job. It’s about the economy, it’s about jobs, she said, it’s about fairness for those who work hard.

Some of the protestors had spent days, weeks, occupying LA, others were simply passing through. But, overall people seemed to share the notion that this protest represents either part of a global movement (Greece, Spain, France, etc.) or a fundamental shift in the way they feel American. I wondered, as I spoke to the protestors, whether the Occupy movement could really denote a fundamental shift in our culture. In light of electing our first African-American president, and a terrible depression, and untold corporate power in the U.S., could the Occupy movement be helping us move into a new chapter in our history?

I don’t know, and only time will tell, in the meantime check out Renée’s video and we’ll have a photo slideshow for you tomorrow.

[Photo And Video By NewsTaco]

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