Occupy protests discourage Black Friday shopping

[cory777]

Source: Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Anti-Wall Street protesters took their message about corporate greed to Black Friday shoppers, staging demonstrations in commercial areas around California on one of the busiest days of the year for retailers and bargain-hunters.

In San Francisco, a few dozen people in tony and touristy Union Square used signs to spread an anti-consumerism message. One, 9-year-old Jacob Hamilton, held a sign that read, "What is in your bag that's more important than my education?"

Some of the protesters from the Occupy movements in San Francisco and Oakland clashed with police when they briefly blocked the city's iconic cable cars until officers pushed them out of the street.

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"We are here today to ask you to shop local and sustain our local economy," the group's leader, a man who identified himself only as Brother Carter, read into a bullhorn. "And not reward the 1 percent, large corporate stores like Macy's, whose profits enrich the 1 percent, while they pay next to nothing to their workers, the 99 percent."

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/occupy-protests-discourage-black-friday-005123429.html

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Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com/

[ThatsMyBarack]

1. +1

Love the photo!

[RoccoR5955]

2. BUY NOTHING DAY

and #OCCUPYXMAS!

[russspeakeasy]

3. +1,000,000,000,000

[lbrtbell]

4. We stayed home today - n/t

[CBHagman]

5. Blocking access to cable car passengers and to motorists...

...could also mean stopping people from getting to their jobs, running errands, and so forth. That's not going to reduce corporate greed, and it isn't going to make allies for the OWS movement.

On edit: Today a friend forwarded me information about the concept of the cash mob, which is a coordinated effort to support a local business. It's more about what you're for than what you're against.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article513906.ece

[jwirr]

9. That is a neat idea. Would work in almost any community. Think I

will pass it on here in my community.

[IDemo]

10. +1, great idea

That's a concept I would like to see go viral.

[CBHagman]

14. Cash mobs.

The following story has background and a general link for cash mobs:

http://www.cleveland.com/tipoff/index.ssf/2011/11/cash_mobs_replace_flash_mobs_u.html

"Cash mobs" won't cause commotion; they'll create commerce.

"We were talking about flash mobs and how they were constructive, then destructive. Positive, then negative. And something popped off in my head," said Samtoy, a lawyer with Dworkin & Bernstein.

The idea came during a session with Cleveland Bridge Builders, which trains the region's future leaders.

"We had 65 people there and I thought, 'What if 65 people showed up at a local store with 20 bucks each to spend. What kind of impact would that have?' "

(SNIP)

Check them out on Twitter or Facebook, or log on to the group's blog: cashmobs.wordpress.com. After word got out this week thanks to writer Mansfield Frazier's blog, more than 1,000 people ended up on the Facebook invite and a couple dozen have confirmed they'll come.

I figure there are multiple positive impacts here: Introducing people to local businesses they might not otherwise have known about, getting people together in a good cause, getting people together, period.

[bemildred]

6. Good. nt

[McCamy Taylor]

7. They were trying to save us from Wal-Mart's brutal cops.

Shop online. It's safer than having your face slammed into a concrete floor.

[wordpix]

8. Buy local is the way to go, esp. when locals sell local stuff

In CT, I buy lots of maple syrup for gifts and it's always appreciated.

[Odin2005]

11. Free Hugs, not junk!

[BlueIris]

12. I stayed home that day, but it was mostly to protect myself from shoppers.

In fact, I can't remember the last time I went to a Black Friday sale. Probably some time before those damn Tickle Me Elmos. After the TME brawls, I no longer wanted any part of the Consumer Craze.

[No Elephants]

13. Misleading headline. They encouraged shopping from small, local businesses.

AP sucks. What's left of all media sucks.

A guy who had the nerve to ask tough questions of a visiting Saudi got suspended from the National Press Club.

We don't have media anymore. What is left of it is a propaganda arm.

[Islandlife]

15. It is better to give than to receive, but sometimes you have to buy before....

You can give.