Occupy Contra Costa 99%

About Occupy Contra Costa 99%

Like Rosa Parks in the 1950s, it probably all started with one man’s action -  Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire in December 2010 to protest conditions in his country.  The actions to commemorate

his action sparked the “Arab Spring”, facilitated by the Internet and cellphones to become a movement of gatherings that toppled dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt.   The most famous gathering was in Tahrir Square in Cairo, a round the clock bazaar of politics,

Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt

theater and music, which in February 2011 became the focal point of a democratic revolution.  From there is was a short leap to city centre encampments in Madrid and Athens …

In the summer of 2011, a group of cultural and political activists in New York City publishing a journal called Adbusters announced plans to “occupy Wall Street” beginning on 17 September 2011.  It started with a few dozen, but grew quickly, as a challenge to the financial and political oligarchs, privileged corporate “personhood”, and change the process.   The movement is now viral.  By 10 October 2011 there were 1400 cities that have actions and/or #occupy groups.

Where we are:

Contra Costa is a county in the San Francisco Bay Area (California), east of Alameda County (which has Berkeley and Oakland), and across the bay from San Francisco.  Most of us come from the central part of the county, Walnut Creek and Concord.   The closest ongoing #Occupy encampment is is Oakland, with several hundred encampers in a tent city.

Occupy Contra Costa 99% formed on 9 October, 2011 with a group of seven, diverse, to support the occupation.  We have grown dramatically. Join us!