Black Friday Buy Nothing or Buy Local 11 25 2011

Black Friday Mourning March, November 25, 2011

We propose a Silent March and a day of mourning on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, November 25.

Marchers will wear black, carry candles appropriate for a vigil, and remain silent.

For decades our leaders have guided Americans towards destructive emotions. We were taught to FEAR terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. We were taught that GREED was the core value of the American dream. We were taught to TRUST in our financial systems, that they were “too big to fail”. We see now that we were cold-heartedly manipulated.

As we began to understand the illusion of these emotions imposed upon us, we reacted with an emotion of our own. That anger took us to the streets. It created the Occupy movement. It’s been several weeks now, and our anger still lives, but as we move forward in our efforts towards action, we must first process another necessary emotion that we all share, BETRAYAL.

Whether we in the 99% participate in the movement actively, or quietly observe from home, we share a feeling of utter betrayal from the very government and financial institutions which were supposed to protect us. Let's make that real. It’s time to express our sense of BETRAYAL and allow ourselves to mourn together. This will be an opportunity for us to unite in a very real and powerful sense. Once we acknowledge our pain, we'll be better equipped to personally recover and to take our nation back from those who betrayed us.

Apart from the resonance of the name "Black" Friday, this march is not a comment on the commercialism associated with this day.

The route and times of the Black Friday march in Portland are yet to be determined.