How To Occupy Wall St From Main St: Move Your Money by Grant Marcus

Even though Bank of America has said they will rescind their policy to charge fees for the use of a credit card, Bank Transfer Day or Move Your Money Day is about a much bigger issue than a $5 monthly fee–many feel, as one person put it, that this is just a “token response to how the banks have completely betrayed our public trust.”

Personally, I’ve had my money in Ventura County Schools Federal Credit Union since 1997; tomorrow my husband will be moving the rest of his money from Citi to County Schools and he will move his dad’s money from a bank to a credit union as well. We may not have a lot to move, but every dollar adds up to a significant amount.

Read on for more about “move your money day” in this guest post by activist and poet Grant Marcus. Photo from the Occupy Ventura Facebook Page as posted by Michel Cicero. Need to know where to move your money to? Check out the Move Your Money Project Site: they’ve got answers for your questions.

Friday November 4th Occupy Ventura will kickstart National
Move Your Money Day a day early, with rallies and marches
at all the major banks on Victoria, by the Ventura Govern-
ment Center.  The action will begin 3pm and go until 6pm.
The group is also planning Move Your Money protests
in several areas of Ventura County on Saturday November 5th.

The Ventura County Credit Union, and all its six branches
are staying open on Saturday, November 5th, in honor of
Move Your Money Day.

Through the practice of fraudulent loans, big banks
were a major contributor to the housing bubble, which lead
to a double-dip recession.  The ripple effect has lead to
foreclosesures and joblessness across the country.

Many members of OccupyVentura were against bank
bailouts.  Members are also concerned with how banks like
B of A, CitiBank, Wells Fargo, and Chase-Morgan are not
using bailout money for what it was intended.

“They continue to use it to lobby Congress for lax laws,
pay off their CEOs with bigger bonuses, while they foreclose on
our neighbors here in Ventura,” said one member, choosing
to remain anonymous.  “And they’ve cut off loans to our
residents and small businesses, almost entirely.”

OccupyVentura believes local banking in community
banks and credit unions will better serve Ventura County.
“Credit Unions have the same amount of ATMs, and they
are non-profit, so they don’t charge you fees for services.
and they are NCUA approved, which is actually a better
rating than FDIC,” said a media spokes person.

OccupyVentura will also hold an art showing of protest
activities at Bell Arts on Ventura Avenue directly following
the rally.  The art showing is a part of Art Walk and will
be from 6-9pm.

To find out more about the rally on November 4th, or
National Move Your Money Day on November 5th, go to
http://moveyourmoneyproject.org/, or local contact Grant, at 805-259-
9725, Or OccupyVentura’s legal assist, 654-0200.  You can
contact the group on the web at occupyventura.805word
press, or occupyventura googlegroups.