What I See at the Showdown in Chicago

The reports have trickled in the same way that proponents of Reaganomics might suggest to poor and working class folks that if they just wait a piece of the pie that Big Banks control will drip down soon enough.

The American Bankers Association (ABA) and the banks and people of Chicago saw at least a thousand people get off buses and surround the entrance of Goldman Sachs headquarters in Chicago.

Then, they witnessed those same people move to Well Fargo headquarters and enter the lobby. Those in the lobby decried the actions of Wells Fargo and fought to deliver a letter to Wells Fargo executives.

More than a thousand boarded the buses they came in on and went to the Sheraton Hotel where the ABA is holding their convention.

People read testimony, acted out a skit to remind the Big Banks of what they have done to America, and then they proceeded to declare that they would be coming back to confront the ABA again on Tuesday.

This is the biggest mobilization of people since the Wall Street bailouts were pushed through Congress like a resolution for unjust pre-emptive war on a Middle East country.

I do not know where this will all lead but let me tell you what I see and why I have dropped what I am doing in college to lend support as a citizen journalist to all who have come out to protest.

I see people from all over finally saying they are not going to let the banks have the power over Congress anymore.

I see individuals from many, many states demanding that Congress finally be the representative body we think it should be.

I see leaders and organizers channeling the anger and frustration into a clear, concise message that will be impossible for Congress, the Big Banks, or the Obama Administration to ignore.

I see a possibility to capitalize off of this action and turn this mobilization into something that ends up truly empowering more and more communities across America.

I imagine that with YouTube video and reports of these actions circulating other Americans will mobilize and hold actions outside branches of “too big to fail” banks like Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

I imagine each of the 50 states will begin to take action to create their own state-owned public bank.

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