The 99% on Kaua’i held a couple of demonstrations today in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement that is spreading across the country.
We went to the one on Kuhio Hwy, in front of Safeway in Kapa’a (there was another one later in Puhi, by the community college). There were about 150 people spread along the sidewalk on both sides of the road to show our support for the causes and protesters in New York City.
We made signs, Leilani even came up with her own slogans. After Andy explained the Occupy Wall Street protest to her in kids’ terms, she came up with “NO More Tricks, Occupy Wall $t” and painted the sign herself (hence the pink and turquoise, with a heart over the i). The other side of her side said “No more stealing the money”
The back of Andy’s sign says “Make Wall $t Pay for Toxic Greed,” in reference to the toxic derivatives and mortgage-backed securities that Wall Street cooked up and burned the economy with. But in the end, I like the “Green Not Greed” message much better.
And mine just said “Make Corporations Responsible”
“Get Up, Stand Up” refers to both the Bob Marley song (next verse is “Stand up for your rights”), and stand-up paddleboarding which has taken over the surfing world, at least here in Hawai’i.
Andy reused his sign from the No-Ferry protest and just added another layer of cardboard:
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The Sleeping Giant is both the mountain near Kapa’a and the 99% in America. Hopefully, the Occupy Wall Street movement will lead to some real changes on Wall Street, but together we can move mountains.
