New York state senator Adriano Espaillat and New York city councilman Ydanis Rodríguez spoke to the Washington Heights Latino community yesterday morning about plans for this upcoming Monday's "End to End for 99 percent" march.
The 11-mile Occupy Wall Street march will begin at the same abandoned apartment building Espaillat spoke at yesterday, since the edifice is a local symbol of the crippling effects the country's economic situation has had on the community.
Continuing on from Northern Manhattan to Zuccotti Park, the community's march aims to spread OWS's message across all of New York City. Espaillat and Rodríguez invited all New Yorkers, in both English and Spanish, to walk in solidarity with the movement.
"We say enough is enough," Rodríguez said. "It is not fair to leave communities behind. This movement is about closing the gap between the working class, the middle class, the unemployed and the wealthy sector. We want to give color to the movement."
Noting the disparity in financial and educational opportunity between the wealthy and the Washington Heights community, Espaillat and Rodríguez said their goal is to promote action toward more accessible education, more jobs, universal health care and a millionaire's tax.
"In addition to education and housing, we [need] to have a robust working class," Espaillat said. "We need change from end to end of Manhattan. That is what gives the name to our march."
After the announcement, Espaillat and Rodríguez were also joined by city officials, including New York City Council Member Inez Dickens and pro-OWS activists from organizations like United New York, Workers United, Centro Altagracia de Fe y Justicia, the Transit Workers Union and the New York Civic Participation Project.
"This is not a message that is unique," said Lucia Gomez, executive director of the NYCPP. "We want justice. We want equality. We want to make sure it is everybody's message. This is not different from you. This is about you."
Washington Heights resident Jeff Smith said the people are realizing their voices can be heard.
"We have power as a megaphone," he said. "People are starting to hear the message. It's universal what we're talking about."
The march will start on Monday, Nov. 7 at 10:30 a.m. on 181st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue.
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