About 100 people met in Davis’ Central Park Friday night for Occupy Davis, an interpretation of the national Occupy Wall Street movement. The movement began in New York City in mid-September.
Participants in the movement are primarily protesting against social and economic inequality, corporate greed and the influence of corporate money and lobbyists on government.
Emma Kluge, who started Occupy Davis’ Facebook page and is a facilitator for the group said the first meeting dealt with creating short-term goals.
Community members brainstormed ideas for how to organize Davis’ branch of the campaign.
“We formed this group to support Occupy Wall Street,” Kluge said. “We also want to spread education and awareness about the movement and empower the community.”
At least one person at the meeting felt the group should create more specific objectives. The majority – via hand signals – agreed that having looser goals allows for anyone to identify with the movement and prevents specific people from taking over.
There have also been demonstrations in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Texas, Cleveland, Ohio and other places. The first protest in New York City garnered over 2,000 people, all who marched to police headquarters. Earlier last week, 500 protestors gathered in Sacramento for a similar event.
Occupy Davis will hold a their next general assembly in Central Park on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. during the Farmers Market.
– Angela Swartz
