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Indybay Feature
Culture Jam at Big Banks in three SF Bay Area cities
Sending the message via creative culture jam...Break up with your big bank!
How to start: FIRST Move your money by starting with a small deposit at a local bank...
Next: Cut up that big bank credit card!
Photos available to use under Creative Commons License by Eunice Wentworth and E. Moran.
Top photo: a tiger at Wells Fargo by E. Moran
How to start: FIRST Move your money by starting with a small deposit at a local bank...
Next: Cut up that big bank credit card!
Photos available to use under Creative Commons License by Eunice Wentworth and E. Moran.
Top photo: a tiger at Wells Fargo by E. Moran
Handing out flyers and talking to folks about breaking up that affair with their big bank around the Valentine's Day holiday was fun...but what is activism without a little creativity?
The Raging Grannies and an artiste took the campaign led by grassroots group A New Way Forward a step further with a test. The Grannies wanted to see if graphics would help get the message across. Their culture jamming action led to some interesting conversations. Customer reactions to animal faces and a sandwich board message were varied. From shock, to WTF? to...well, see for yourself in the photos. Some people were too busy talking on their cell phones to even notice that they had put their bank card into an animal mouth of teeth!
What better location than Silicon Valley to test the waters? The Grannies interacted with (willing!) customers at Wells Fargo and Bank of America in three Silicon Valley cities. And in case you are wondering how to cancel your credit card quickly and easily, here are some tips from our friends at A New Way Forward:
Find the contact info on the back of the card. Write it down, keep it around. Call your credit card company, don't tell them you plan on cancelling, and ask how much you will owe on your balance in 15 days (balances constantly change due to interest). Send in a check for the amount you'll owe in 15 days to pay your balance down to $0.
Wait a week, then call your credit card company, confirm that the balance is $0, and tell them you are canceling. They will try to convince you to keep the card because it's more profitable for them to retain customers than to recruit new ones. Stay firm. Tell them you want your credit report to reflect that the account was "closed at the consumer's request."
Ask who you can send a cancellation request letter to. Make sure they mark down that the account was closed at the request of the customer. Send a letter to confirm all this!
A New Way Forward suggests that if you need a new, fairer, cheaper credit card, try AM Trust, American Pacific, or Bendigo.
The Raging Grannies and an artiste took the campaign led by grassroots group A New Way Forward a step further with a test. The Grannies wanted to see if graphics would help get the message across. Their culture jamming action led to some interesting conversations. Customer reactions to animal faces and a sandwich board message were varied. From shock, to WTF? to...well, see for yourself in the photos. Some people were too busy talking on their cell phones to even notice that they had put their bank card into an animal mouth of teeth!
What better location than Silicon Valley to test the waters? The Grannies interacted with (willing!) customers at Wells Fargo and Bank of America in three Silicon Valley cities. And in case you are wondering how to cancel your credit card quickly and easily, here are some tips from our friends at A New Way Forward:
Find the contact info on the back of the card. Write it down, keep it around. Call your credit card company, don't tell them you plan on cancelling, and ask how much you will owe on your balance in 15 days (balances constantly change due to interest). Send in a check for the amount you'll owe in 15 days to pay your balance down to $0.
Wait a week, then call your credit card company, confirm that the balance is $0, and tell them you are canceling. They will try to convince you to keep the card because it's more profitable for them to retain customers than to recruit new ones. Stay firm. Tell them you want your credit report to reflect that the account was "closed at the consumer's request."
Ask who you can send a cancellation request letter to. Make sure they mark down that the account was closed at the request of the customer. Send a letter to confirm all this!
A New Way Forward suggests that if you need a new, fairer, cheaper credit card, try AM Trust, American Pacific, or Bendigo.
For more information:
http://www.anewwayforward.org
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Wish I could have been there!
Another question for the "talking heads" on CNN, FOX, MSNBC, etc... is "Would it really have been that catastrophic had the big banks and mortgage lenders NOT been bailed out by billions of taxpayer dollars and instead left to the free market, as is every other person who loses their money and is evicted into the streets? Why the double standard for corporations?"
Follow up question; "Would the workers from the big banks not be able to find employment at locally operated smaller banks and credit unions?"
Of course it is all hypothetical speculation, though we seemed to listen intently to the people who made the hypothetical claim that not bailing out the banks with billions would have resulted in the entire sky collapsing on our collective heads!!
Are people not resilient enough to recover and find jobs in local credit unions? Those who had their accounts at BofA or other bailed out mega-banks would have opened accounts at local banks and credit unions, thus helping them grow and prosper, which would have helped the local communites as the credit unions are more supportive of their home regions than the big corporate banks ever would be. No, just more corporate CEO bonuses and money lost from hardworking taxpayers. Thanks ObamaBush!!
To say that i feel anything less than pure rage towards the CEOs of AIG, BofA and other large corporate banks would be an outright lie! Maybe being lied to and given false promises of "hope" and "change" is another reason i distrust the current establishment and feel they should be treated based upon their actions, very similar to the as of yet untried war criminals of the previous Bush regime..
Next bailout for AIG could come in the form of 70 billion A.S. delivered in person to their corporate boardroom one fine day. God says it is OK!!
Guess what "A.S." stands for?
Here's a clue;
first word;
Rock band that performed song with Public Enemy
second word;
rhymes with "s'mores"
(The "guessing game" is for entertainment purposes only!!)
Follow up question; "Would the workers from the big banks not be able to find employment at locally operated smaller banks and credit unions?"
Of course it is all hypothetical speculation, though we seemed to listen intently to the people who made the hypothetical claim that not bailing out the banks with billions would have resulted in the entire sky collapsing on our collective heads!!
Are people not resilient enough to recover and find jobs in local credit unions? Those who had their accounts at BofA or other bailed out mega-banks would have opened accounts at local banks and credit unions, thus helping them grow and prosper, which would have helped the local communites as the credit unions are more supportive of their home regions than the big corporate banks ever would be. No, just more corporate CEO bonuses and money lost from hardworking taxpayers. Thanks ObamaBush!!
To say that i feel anything less than pure rage towards the CEOs of AIG, BofA and other large corporate banks would be an outright lie! Maybe being lied to and given false promises of "hope" and "change" is another reason i distrust the current establishment and feel they should be treated based upon their actions, very similar to the as of yet untried war criminals of the previous Bush regime..
Next bailout for AIG could come in the form of 70 billion A.S. delivered in person to their corporate boardroom one fine day. God says it is OK!!
Guess what "A.S." stands for?
Here's a clue;
first word;
Rock band that performed song with Public Enemy
second word;
rhymes with "s'mores"
(The "guessing game" is for entertainment purposes only!!)
lets not forget however that gorillas and tigers are going extinct BECAUSE of the big banks. perhaps a cardboard face of david rockefeller would be appropriate here. overall this action (withdrawing your money) will do more to end the fucked up system than any big "permitted" march that doesnt involve direct action ie where groups like ANSWER do crowd control for the cops.
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