Via Understory:
Mourning Democracy, Coaltion Vows Spring Of Resistance To Bank Of America
Bank of America’s policies are killing our country. At every crime scene, we find the same corporate fingerprints. At the site of a foreclosure where a family has suddenly become homeless, we find Bank of America’s fingerprints. At the mountaintop removal mine site, where an Appalachian community has been permanently destroyed, we find Bank of America’s fingerprints. And on the bank statements of a student crushed by debt, simply because she chose to pursue an education, we find Bank of America’s fingerprints.
So today RAN activists in Charlotte, North Carolina joined a broad coalition of economic and social justice organizations in a pledge of resistance to Bank of America’s reckless profit seeking. The event, organized by RAN, the Pushback Network, Occupy Charlotte, and a plethora of local labor and community organizations, began with a “funeral for democracy” marking the 2-year anniversary of the Citizens United supreme court decision, which has drowned American democracy in a flood of corporate cash. Activists processed to the base of Bank of America’s corporate headquarters bearing coffins for democracy, dignity, equality, and the environment.
We issued a set of demands, which you can read here, and announced plans to mobilize thousands of activists in a week of direct action resistance around Bank of America’s May shareholder meeting, which is to take place in Charlotte. Brigid Flaherty, Pushback Network Director, issued this call to action at today’s event:This May, we’re going to take this city over.
We invite you to join us now and in the months leading up to May in what we’re calling the Spring of Discontent. Imagine that large, unaccountable corporations who violate basic democratic principles of fairness and decency are on the defensive this spring in the lead-up to their high-profile shareholder meetings. Envision a Spring of Discontent with hundreds of thousand of people from across the country occupying the headquarters and shareholder meetings of corporations representing the worst of the worst…
This spring, Charlotte, the state, the South and the nation will be part of that wave as we organize a week of large-scale actions to deliver a clear message to Bank of America — pay your fair share, get your money out of our democracy, invest in American jobs that protect workers and support families, and stop funding climate change.
