What began as a direct action by a PCASC affinity group on November 17th, 2011 (N#17 – Occupy the Banks) has now developed into full 2-year campaign partnering with community organizations taking on Wells Fargo for their continued investments in private prisons.
Get involved! Join us to demand Wells Fargo end their investment in private prisons!
Timeline:
November 17th – Occupy the Banks
9 members of PCASC were arrested for refusing to leave a downtown Wells Fargo.
December 17th – D17 March
As a part of Occupy Portland’s Immigrant Rights’ Are Workers’ Rights March, a stop was held by PCASC at Wells Fargo to voice continued opposition to their racist investments in private prisons.
January 16th – MLK March
During the Sisters of the Road 19th Martin Luther King Jr March & Rally, PCASC stopped at Wells Fargo to express outrage over the destruction to communities of color which is caused by their investments in private prisons. A banner was dropped during the march calling for Wells Fargo to “dump [their] prison stock”.
January 24 – As part of a National Day of Action Against Wells Fargo, PCASC joined forced with We Are Oregon and Enlace to show that the community was organizing together to call out Wells Fargo for their terrible business practices.
Portland, OR Wells Fargo Protest, 1/24/2012 from Peter Parks
Feb 19th – PCASC Planning Retreat
PCASC members agree to take on a 2-year campaign against Wells Fargo for their investments in Private Prisons. They map out a 2 year vision on how to dismantle a major financier of the prison-industrial-complex.
February 29th – #F29 : Shut Down the Corporations
Focused on the connection Wells Fargo has with Correction Corporation of America, PCASC exposed the dirty connection to ALEC and their racist and unjust laws which turn people into commodities.
March, 19th – Celebrating Wells Fargo’s 160th Birthday!
To celebrate their proud history of economic exploitation and their bold new strategy of investing in private, for-profit prisons and immigrant detention centers, PCASC joined forces with our friends at We Are Oregon to deliver a special birthday message. We put together a boisterous cadre of clowns and prisoners, and invited ourselves to Wells Fargo’s birthday celebration at the Wells Fargo museum, housed in their massive tower in downtown Portland. Their small birthday celebration of cake and balloons was nicely complemented by our clowning, confetti, bubble-blowing, noise-making, and a spirited speech about their history of empire-building and their current investments in racial profiling and criminalizing communities of color. Our departing birthday wish was that Wells Fargo divest from the private prison industry. After leaving the Wells Fargo museum, we visited two other Wells Fargo branches and brought the same revelry there, making a scene and passing out information to passers-by. A festive time was had by all.
April 17th – Tax Dodgerball
PCASC’s Solidarity Swifts took to the field to take on Don Pearson and a team of powerful tax-dodging 1%ers.
April 24th – Wells Fargo Shareholder Meeting
PCASC went down to San Francisco with thousands of others to speak truth to power at Wells Fargo’s annual shareholder meeting. With shares of Wells Fargo in hand, we demanded entrance to the meeting. A massive police response denied the majority of shareholders their legal right to enter the building. We then found a more accessible Wells Fargo nearby and dropped a banner. The 22nd floor sure is far away from the street! An artistic interpretation of the moment seems more accurate.
May 1st – May Day
PCASC had the first stop on this year’s May Day march & it was at the Wells Fargo building downtown. We flooded the phones of Regional President Don Pearson’s office (503-886-1400) demanding that Wells Fargo divest entirely from GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America. A banner demanding divestment and the end to the criminalization of immigrants was dropped at the stop.
The PCASC “Stop Criminalizing Immigrants” banner made additional appearances at the incredibly powerful Northwest Immigrant Youth Alliance direct action.
June 25th – City Wide, Synchronized Letter Drop
With teams at 8 separate branches across Portland. PCASC organized a letter to be delivered to each branch manager in an attempt to notify branch managers that their banks were actively supporting for-profit prisons. The action received immediate attention from the higher-ups in Wells Fargo, within 3 days we received a letter from their legal team informing us that any member of the PCASC community was banned from entering a Wells Fargo branch for anything other than business related matters. Their investments and financial backings of GEO Group and CCA were obviously not the business they were referring to. Shhhhh! Read about the action here.
August 3rd – Weekly Bank Action
PCASC teamed up with Occupy’s Weekly Bank Action and educated community members about the support Wells Fargo provides to for-profit prisons and detention centers. The protest included a dramatic re-enactment of the correspondance between Wells Fargo’s VP, President, and legal team and PCASC members who are fighting for divestment. Read “Wells Fargo Makes Bank On The Big House” by Peter Shaw.
August 6th & 7th – National Divestment Strategy Session
PCASC sent two members to Denver, CO to attend the National Divestment Strategy Session lead by Enlace. With over 50 folks in attendance from groups all over the country, it became clear that the campaign is working and that divestment from for-profit prisons is a reality within reach!
October 22nd – Wells Fargo’s Blazer Fan Appreciation Day
PCASC was out in full force at the Wells Fargo Portland Trailblazer Fan Appreciation Day! We handed out hundreds of coupons and talked to community members about Wells Fargo’s shady ties to for-profit prisons and detention centers. It was a blast!
October – Wells Fargo divests 33% from GEO Group
Wells Fargo drops enough GEO Group stock to get under the radar. By reducing their ownership to 4.98%, they no longer have to disclose as much information to SEC. This means they’re continuing to hide in plain sight. It also means we have more work to do!
#N3 – Solidarity Against Austerity – Sin Permiso Marching Band
PCASC leads the Sin Permiso Marching Band (along with the Portland Radical Choir) with a special stop at the Lloyd Center Wells Fargo branch!
December 13th – Wells Fargo History Museum Walking Tour
This video speaks for itself. This action was a part of the national day of action against Wells Fargo.
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Contact: Claire @ Pcasc.net or Craig @ Pcasc.net to help the work along.