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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2011
Contact: bayanusanorcal@gmail.com, nafconnorcal@gmail.com

Filipino Americans Join Hundreds of Protestors to Greet “Wall Street West” at Dawn, in Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and the Global Day of Action

[SAN FRANCISCO]--As the sun rose in the east, Filipino Americans under the banners of BAYAN-USA, GABRIELA USA and the National Alliance of Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) Northern California descended on “Wall Street West” as part of the several hundred strong protest in San Francisco in solidarity with the spreading Occupy Wall Street movement and the Global Day of Action against imperialist plunder, repression and war. The ranks of the protestors swelled as workers, teachers, parents and youth from Hunters Point to West Oakland, Daly City to Stockton, the Excelsior to the Fruitvale and dozens of neighborhoods in between joined one of the most diverse solidarity contingents to unite with the call “We are the 99%.”

Waving organizational banners and bearing signs with the slogans “People over Profit,” “Dismantle Financial Oligarchy,” “Down with US Imperialism,” “Filipinos for the 99%,” and “No to Corporate Greed,” the Filipino contingent led chants that echoed through San Francisco’s financial district during the morning rush hour. Protestors marched several blocks down the city’s main downtown artery Market Street to the doorstep of Wells Fargo Bank, one of the world’s Big 5 banking giants.

Together with allies including the multi-racial Progressive Workers Alliance, the Filipino contingent continued protesting in front of Wells Fargo for 1-1/2 hours, listening to many speakers who told of their experiences as part of “the 99%” who had lost their jobs, foreclosed their homes, and are barely surviving as a result of the economic crisis. Filipino emcees Anthony “Pele” Navarro of NAFCON Northern California and Kiwi Illafonte, Deputy Secretary General of BAYAN-USA, rapped for the crowd with lyrics that broke down the connection between the trillions of dollars raked in by the Wall Street elite, imperialist war, and the exploitation and joblessness of the average person on the street. Protestors succeeded in temporarily preventing Wells Fargo from opening its doors at 9 AM.

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BAYAN-USA is an alliance of 15 progressive Filipino organizations in the U.S. representing youth, students, women, workers, artists, and human rights advocates. As the oldest and largest overseas chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-Philippines), BAYAN-USA serves as an information bureau for the national democratic movement of the Philippines and as a campaign center for anti-imperialist Filipinos in the U.S. For more information, visit www.bayanusa.org

GABRIELA USA is the first overseas chapter of GABRIELA National Alliance of Women, a grassroots-based alliance of more than 200 organizations, institutions, desks and programs of women all over the Philippines seeking to wage a struggle for the liberation of all oppressed Filipino women and the rest of our people. While we vigorously campaign on women-specific issues such as women’s rights, gender discrimination, violence against women and women’s health and reproductive rights, GABRIELA is also at the forefront of national and international economic and political issues that affect women, as a member of the recently formed International Women's Alliance.

NAFCON, the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, formed in 2003 as a national alliance which forwards the advancement of community-based and worker-based organizing; spearheads national campaigns on behalf of the most marginalized and impoverished sectors of society; fosters the growth of community-based leadership; and promotes positive cultural exchange based on Filipino perspectives and experiences.

Links to media coverage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn_fkm4XJtk&feature=colike

http://www.ktvu.com/video/29465324/index.html

http://www.youtube.com/user/MiniRtist#p/a/u/2/mh7rINV6Lo8

Photo credits:
Princess Bustos (Babae San Francisco), Ryan Leano (SANDIWA), Jack Stephens (San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines), Shine Velasco (Anakbayan East Bay)