Who we are
September 17, 2011) the Occupy movement began in New York City’s Zuccotti Park in Wall Street. Like wildfire the movement that defined Us (the 99%) vs Them (the 1%) spread from city to city.
Three weeks later a large and exuberant crowd gathered in San Diego’s Children’s Park before marching defiantly to Civic Center Plaza, and Occupy San Diego was born.
And from that emerged a group of mostly “mature” women who use our experience and energy to advance the Occupy movement long after the camps in cities throughout the nation had been aggressively dismantled by an organized police campaign.
Like many activist efforts, after the initial surge of energy, our numbers dwindled but we continued to work together on social justice issues as they came up. Over time people’s lives have changed and the issues changed too. We worked on shutting down the SONGS nuclear plant, helping homeless people, labeling GMO ingredients on our food, protecting women’s rights, exposing police brutality, supporting a living wage, racial justice, immigration justice, Medicare for all and addressing climate change.
More recently we have been focused on making changes to the Community Review Board (Formerly the Citizen’s Review Board) to improve police accountability and transparency. We have also been supporting efforts to help people who are homeless, both in providing basic necessities and getting them housed.
But the current political situation has sparked a new fire in our “older” bellies! It’s time to put our collective graying heads together and OCCUPY in new and effective ways! It took some of us a little longer to catch on to the power of Social Media, but it’s time to turn the Tables on Twitterman and spend some quality Facebook-to-Facebook time with the folks who ain’t woke yet. The new WomenOccupySanDiego.org website is designed to do just that!
We remain WOMEN Occupy San Diego, because we are still badass women, working for justice. But we really welcome anyone looking for a way to support the voiceless, the impoverished, the abused, the oppressed and assaulted; to mother our earth and all of her threatened manifestations of life; to defend the rights of all people, regardless of race, gender identity, documentation or economic status, and to be protective and loving grandmothers to children everywhere.
We’ve rebuilt our website to facilitate conversations and innovative actions for change. Please step in and be a part of us, in whatever way you can.