Photos by Cydney McFarland
A visit by civil rights leader and Baptist minister Rev. Jesse Jackson revitalized the Occupy Phoenix protests Thursday afternoon at downtown Phoenix’s Cesar Chavez Plaza.
Jackson joined approximately 150 participants in a march to protest large banks and media organizations with locations downtown. His support came as one of his visits to occupy movements nationwide.
Jackson encouraged protesters to remain nonviolent before the march from Cesar Chavez Plaza to the Freeport-McMoRan building near Van Buren Street and Central Avenue. He referenced his work with figures such as Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King Jr. while part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1965, using their nonviolent protests as a model for the Occupy Phoenix movement.
“I was blessed in my lifetime to work with Dr. King and Cesar Chavez,” Jackson said. “They fought back with love and with nonviolence and with focus and discipline. We will not give up Dr. King’s legacy.”
The march began at approximately 4:30 p.m. with Jackson requesting that protesters link arms in groups of two or three and walk behind him. Jackson remained silent for the majority of the walk to Freeport-McMoRan, despite the crowd’s chants of “This is what patriotism looks like, this is what democracy looks like.”
At the Freeport-McMoRan building, Jackson once again reminded occupiers the importance of remaining peaceful in their efforts.
“We represent patriotism,” he said. “We are the people who care about and love this country. March on day after day until there is justice and love and healing in the land.”
The march continued east on Van Buren Street to the Republic Media building, where the crowd began the chant, “This is news.” Several occupiers expressed dissatisfaction with what they perceived as media organizations’ slanted representation of national issues.
“It’s about time for the country to wake up to what’s really going on,” said Dan O’Neal, state coordinator for the Progressive Democrats of America, an insurrection in the democratic party that has supported the Occupy Phoenix movement since its beginning in October.
The procession quickly moved on and returned to Cesar Chavez Plaza. Jackson ascended the steps of Old City Hall in order to better address his audience.
Jackson said in order for the movement to be successful, protesters must strive to prevent the growth of violence.
“Choose hope over hurt,” he told nearly 150 protesters — an unusually large number for recent evening occupations. “Occupy is a spirit — a spirit of patriotism and democracy. That spirit cannot be jailed or pepper-sprayed.”
Also present at Thursday’s protest were labor union executives who pointed out the necessity of economic reform.
“People in the movement have forced the nation and the world to look at the equality of our economic system,” said William Lucy, president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
Lucy, who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, said this protest is the first time he can remember people standing against the inequalities of the economic system. For the overwhelming majority of Americans, the system is designed in such a way that people who are in poverty are unable to pull themselves out, Lucy said.
George Gresham, president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, echoed Jackson’s entreaties for a disciplined occupation effort.
“We will not stop until we get justice if we have to occupy the planet,” Gresham encouraged protesters, who continued to chant and jostle each other for a better view of Jackson.
Jackson left the plaza around 6 p.m. to return to his room at the Wyndham Hotel. His departure triggered the dispersal of nearly half the occupiers present.
Jackson’s support of Occupy Phoenix is part of a national tour of similar occupations.
“When you look at all these occupy movements, most people involved don’t seem to understand what it’s all about. He keeps a focus,” said Joseph Harris, Jackson’s assistant. “When people hear about him, they research what it is he’s supporting and find out more about it. The more people you have researching, the better it is for everybody.”
Jackson stressed the prominent role students have historically played in such movements.
“When young America comes alive, it always has the power to transform the country,” Jackson said. “Students have the worst loans of all because they’re unforgivable loans. Their impact is that they block access to education.”
Jackson will speak Friday at the Phoenix Convention Center before returning home to Chicago. He said wherever he goes, he will also visit the nearest occupy movement and encourage individuals facing injustice and pressure to fight back.
“The movements we’ve fought for always prevailed,” said Jackson, citing the civil rights movement of the 1960s and voting privileges for 18-year-olds as examples of successful battles. “Whenever we fight back, we win.”
Contact the reporter at chloe.brooks@asu.edu
Aubree Abril and Connor Radnovich contributed to this report
