I was walking through the park blocks in downtown Portland when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a large vehicle pull up. Approximately 20 police officers proceeded to disembark a van, slowly moving towards me. Initially I thought I might be cited or arrested for reckless breathing (ha, ha), but as it turns out, this was a designated standby area. Apparently there was a protest taking place one block away and the riot police were serving as back-up in the event the protest got out of control.

I walked over to the Hilton Hotel, where the protest was taking place, and spoke to a few people. Evidently, the CEO of Chase was speaking at a conference being held at the hotel and people were protesting Chase and other for-profit banks. There were roughly 50 protesters on either side of the hotel entrances chanting their displeasure. Despite the relatively small number of people, there was a heavy police presence. I noticed 10 bicycle patrol officers standing in front of the protesters, a few police cars on the corner and a group of 4 motorcycle officers who kept driving around the block in addition to the riot police on standby.

As I type this, I am reminded that Saturday is Move Your Money Day. The 5th of November was selected to commemorate the arrest of British folk hero Guy Fawkes. The organization is calling for people disenchanted with their banks to withdraw their money from large, corporate banks and open accounts with smaller community banks, also known as credit unions. Credit unions are non-profit, member owned, and more financially and socially responsible. If you are interested in learning more you can access the website: http://moveyourmoneyproject.org/blog/2011/11/02/move-your-money-november-5th