In The Black:
Blackout Oakland by shopping local on Black Friday.
Friday, November 25, 2011, 11am - 6pm
(Oakland, CA) Oakland in the Black is a holiday shopping and community festival on Black Friday to support local business profitability by helping downtown businesses stay in the black.
By supporting our locally owned shops and restaurants we can make a difference. Centered downtown, a wealth of stores, vendors, pop-up shops along with restaurants and local food vendors plus art, live performances, and a fantastic roster of local DJs and musicians will be participating in the festivities. We encourage all downtown businesses, and all local businesses throughout the city, to join in and host an event or activity.
We have all heard about the smashed windows at stores such as Oakollectiv, Tully's, Dryclean Time and art stolen from Refa Senay at the Cathedral Building. These downtown businesses have been significantly impacted, suffering decreased business and even theft and vandalism. They stood in solidarity during the general strike. Now it's time to support them.
The Occupy movement is committed to ending the strangle hold big finance and those that act on their behalf have on our systems. These businesses are our friends, our neighbors, and the 99%. The best way to dismantle the corporate power structure is to create a sustainable local economy where we support each other and take back our community by walking our dollars into local stores.
We, along with other great community groups and other organizations such as Plaid Friday and many others, support the boycott of large corporations on Black Friday, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. The best alternative to camping out at Target or Best Buy is to come have some fun in the heart of our downtown.
Take back the holiday season, enjoy good food and music, be kind, be peaceful, shop for family and friends by spending our money where our hearts are with the wonderful folks who bring us joy and laughter. Come out and celebrate. Come out and hella love Oakland!
We are a small group of local residents, community members and shop owners, not an organization, volunteering our time and talents as a labor of love for our community.
