Occupy Oakland to Re-Occupy at 19th & Telegraph During Nov 19 Day of Action

During the Mass Day of Action on Saturday November 19, Occupy Oakland will set up a new occupation to continue the growth of our movement in the park and empty lot on 19th & Telegraph adjacent to the Fox Theater in the rapidly gentrifying Uptown neighborhood and entertainment district. The mass march planned for the day will end at this park and Occupy Oakland will begin setting up a new camp. All Occupy Oakland committees (food, security, medics, media, entertainment etc) should begin making plans in whatever way they can to support this new occupation and come prepared on Nov 19 to make it happen.

Proposal Background:

We believe that the park and unused plot of land located at 19th St and Telegraph ave and bordered by the Uptown apartment complex and the Fox Theater is the best candidate for Occupy Oakland’s re-occupation.

The park and adjacent land offer several strategic and symbolic advantages:

- The park is only three blocks from OG Plaza and 14th & Broadway
- The park is rarely used and features a raised platform that can be used for large meetings as well as tables and chairs for smaller meetings
- The park features a “remember them” sculpture with famous social justice and freedom fighter figures such as Coretta Scott King, Ghandi, Fredrick Douglass, Malcolm X, Cesar Chavez, and Harvey Milk among others
- The sculpture was overseen by the Chamber of Commerce which is a direct opponent of the Occupy movement
- The park is only one third of the block and the rest of the block is unpaved land that has been neglected for two years. Moving the occupation here cancels out the argument that we are taking up space that others are trying to use.
- This location is in the middle of an entertainment district with lots of foot traffic and many opportunities to interact with others who are visiting Downtown Oakland
- It is near numerous residential areas so any police operation to evict the encampment will happen in front of hundreds of onlookers
- The park is located in the uptown neighborhood which is the area that the Chamber of Commerce, the Lake Merritt/Uptown District Association and Downtown Oakland Association, major real estate developers, and city hall are all actively trying to gentrify. These groups represent the interests of the 1% in Oakland and are also the groups that are directly trying to destroy Occupy Oakland. Setting up a camp here will be a symbolic move to put pressure on these groups and send a message that they only look out for the interests of big business and developers, not the needs of all people in Oakland.

FURTHER READING ON OAKLAND’S 1%:

East Bay Express:
Business groups dominated by representatives from large corporations lobbied for the crackdown on Occupy Oakland.

Indybay:
Lake Merritt/Uptown District Association calls on Mayor to forcefully end Occupy Oakland
Oakland Chamber of Commerce Represents Big Business and Multi-Nationals NOT Oaklanders

SF Bayview:
Whose streets? Oakland’s shadow government presses City Hall to end the occupation