Protestors stand downtown Portland Oct. 6 shouting and demanding support o f local schools by increases taxes on the top 1 percent of all Americans.
‘Occupy Portland’ takes over city streets
By Mandie Gavitt
A rts & C ulture Editor
Today in the heart o f downtown Portland you can find
a city within a city: tents are set up for food, medical sup
plies and even a library, not to mention the other smaller
tents and sleeping bags covered with tarps. There’s a lot
of cheering and chanting as the group gathers together
in hopes of making change.
Occupy Portland is well under way as people
from all walks of life are joining together in
hopes of seeing change for the 99 percent of
Americans who don’t fall into the 1 percent
of people who control the majority of the
money. It is now considered the biggest
“occupy” event in the country.
The motivating factor of what brought
people to Occupy Portland seems
to vary but with common theme.
“People are here for a lot of dif
ferent reasons but the common
thread is corporate control over
the American experience,” said
Tripp Jennings, a film producer
that came out to show his sup
port for the movement start
ing on day one. “The over-
lying sense that I get is that
people are tired of profit
being put over people,”
he said. “Corporations
control our lives and our
government and it has
to stop. And*what we’re
saying here is enough.”
Jennings said that
he came out on the
first day, Oct. 6,
Alt photos by Patty Salazar Clackamas Print
but didn’t camp because he had to work a twelve hour can willingly leave camp with it.”
Vick said the support the community has been receiv
shift the following day. He does, however, plan on being
at the protest every moment he’s not working until it’s ing is outstanding. “It has been the most amazing thing
I’ve ever witnessed,” he said. We have more food than we
over.
The variety of people at Occupy Portland vary from •know what to do with. We have medical people ready to
infants to senior citizens, from people in suits, to people take care of anyone. There’s even people walking around
sleeping on the street. “I came out here because I ’m asking if you need a cigarette.” A lot of this support has
homeless and self employed and self educated which been coming through a website called kickstarter.com,
means unemployed and uneducated and that helps inform people of what is needed at the protest.
Vanbarriger said that it was easy for people to come
I ’m really excited to see everyone else
is doing the same thing as well,” said together at this event because despite the diversity of
Maya Holden, who has been at the event the people involved the issues at hand are not about
since day one. “It’s been really beautiful. political parties or religion. “This isn’t a Christian thing
It’s really nice to see all these people get or a Muslim thing or an atheist thing. This is about our
ting together... We have everything we need rights.”
“We just want a chance,” said Vick.
... We aré totally self-sustained at this point,”
he said.
One elderly couple who lost their house to
foreclosure are sleeping under their walkers with
tarps draped over them.
Bosh Baro, a Portland Community College stu
dent, has been involved in Occupy Portland since the
Facebook group was at 25 mémbers. He said his moti
vation for getting involved was the amount of homeless
people he sees on a daiiy basis.
“I’m tired of seeing people going to bed starving,
wet, freezing their asses off,” he said. I’m tired of 401k
cuts; I’m tired of people feeling they don’t have a voice
... We are one of the richest, wealthiest nations in the
world and we have third world levels existing in our
sect.”
Baro said that he is determined to stay until it’s over,
“I told the news I’m not leaving and I’m sticking to it.”
However, he is still devoted to his education.
“All of my teachers are super supportive and I don’t
plan on missing any classes either,” he said.
Conveniently for Baro, the Occupy Portland com
munity has set up a shuttle that meets at Portland State
University every hour and runs to the various college
campuses. This is just one example of the various
forms of support that have been coming in for Occupy
Portland attendees. “I can’t tell you how amazing
it is to see pound after pound after pound of food,
medical supplies, blankets, clothing that are being
donated by people who know that we are out here
fighting for them,” said Baro.
The group considers it a peaceful movement with
“peace keepers” walking around to try to defuse any
unsafe situations that may come up. “We don’t have
any more authority than anyone else ... we are just folks
that deescalate violent situations,” said peace-keeper
Richard Vanbarriger. Fellow peace-keeper James Vick
agreed.- “We try to moderate and precipitate open con
versations,” he said.
While protestors begin to f i l l Pioneer Square, a
The camp has a no-drinking policy it takes seriously
with signs up that read, “Drinking negates the cause.”
women holds a peace fla g as a reminder to keep the
According to Vick, “Most of the people here can’t even
occupation peacful.
afford alcohol anyway and the 95 percent of those that