Hilo joins in Worldwide Day of Solidarity

Hilo, Hawaii – A three block length of Kilauea Avenue was filled with colorful signs, umbrellas, and people voicing support for Occupy Wall Street and other similar protests around the globe as part of the Oct. 15, 2011 Worldwide Day of Solidarity.

Encouraged by the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York, demon­strators in nearly 1,000 cities in 82 countries expressed their discontent with capitalism, inequality and economic crisis.

The movement began on Sept. 17 in Zuccotti Park in Manhattan and quickly spread throughout the country. U.S. citizens were inspired by the Arab Spring movement, a series of protests taking place throughout the Arab world that began in 2010.

The Occupy Wall Street motto, "We are the 99%," refers to the economic gap between the top 1 percent of wealth holders and every other U.S. citizen

At 10:00 a.m., there were 30 people gathered in front of the Merrill Lynch building on both sides of Kilauea Avenue. Three uniformed Hilo Police De­partment officers were stationed across the street and two security guards were posted in the Merrill Lynch parking lot. By 10:30 a.m., the crowd had doubled and the number of officers had increased to 10. Soon, over 100 pro­testors stood united in sentiment and action.

People driving by honked, waved and shouted out support. Some shouted their thanks to the demonstrators. The rain came down hard at times, soaking everyone and even washing the print off of some of the signs. Through it all people smiled, waved, shared ideas and gave aloha.

At noon, the group split up. Some stayed on Kilauea and the rest marched down to Mamo Street, where they passed the Hilo farmer's market and crossed Kamehameha Avenue to the Mooheau bandstand.

Once the bulk of the marchers had regrouped, someone suggested that everyone take a few minutes to eat and rest. At 12:45 p.m., people began to give short talks, one by one, in the center of the bandstand. Some were in­formative, some spoke of ways to support each other without relying on the corporations, but all of them were inspirational.

A wide variety of issues were addressed including student loans, health care, free energy and getting rid of the Federal Reserve.

Police officers were there to ensure everyone's safety and gave plenty aloha themselves. At one point a sign blew over and an officer picked it back up. Another officer said he wished he could give a comment as a civilian, but was prohibited from doing so by HPD rules. He said the demonstra­tors had been a peaceful, polite crowd, and the only issue was some traffic interference due to a few people jaywalking with signs. He said nothing had occurred to give them cause for concern.

The Hilo demonstration was a stark contrast to protests in other cities such as New York and London where much larger groups marched through the streets. According to the New York Times, 92 people in New York City were arrested by Sunday, Oct. 16 while dozens of London protestors and law en­forcement officials were injured.

The Hilo demonstration was peaceful and positive. Weekly demonstra­tions are now taking place in Hilo in front of the Merrill Lynch building every Monday at 4:00 p.m. For more information, both Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Hilo have Facebook groups and Twitter accounts that can be found online.