Members of the Occupy Somerville movement, including Tufts students, will hold a rally tomorrow in Davis Square in protest of the business practices of Bank of America Corporation and other major financial institutions.
Protesters will gather in Davis Square Statue Park and then walk down Highland Avenue to protest outside of Bank of America, according to an Occupy Somerville press release.
The rally will include speeches by local residents and students, signs and a performance by Somerville's Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band.
Some attendees of the rally plan on closing their Bank of America accounts and withdrawing their money during the rally to protest the bank's practices, according to sophomore Rae Axner, a member of the Occupy movement.
"I'm closing my account, because in this economic system, it's really the only way to show Bank of America that we don't agree with their practices," Axner said.
She believes that Bank of America's policies profit its highest−earning executives at the expense of account holders.
"The only way to show them that we don't support practices like high−risk loans, credit default swaps … is to hit them where it hurts, which is in their wallets," Axner said.
Bank of America was selected as the target of tomorrow's protest because it is one of the country's largest banks and did not pay federal taxes in 2009 and 2010, according to junior Matt McLaughlin, a member of the movement who helped organize the rally.
"The past two years, they have paid no taxes," McLaughlin said. "A year ago, they accepted billions of taxpayer dollars. They have actually gotten money back from the government instead of paying taxes."
Protestors also selected Bank of America because it is one of the only large national banks that has a branch in Davis Square, according to Rand Wilson, a Somerville resident who helped organize the rally and has worked as a union organizer for over two decades.
"I think Bank of America has been singled out as one of the bad actors, one of the banks that's been really most abusive, but it's not the only one," Wilson told the Daily.
McLaughlin raised concerns that Bank of America may not allow protesters to close their accounts.
"There's a chance that they might give us a problem with removing our own money, in which case we're going to let the world know that that's how they operate," he said. "I hope they behave responsibly, because we plan on being responsible, and just treat us like the customers we are."
People who choose to close their Bank of America accounts should open accounts at small banks or credit unions, McLaughlin said.
Axner believes that it is important that Tufts students attend the rally to show solidarity with the City of Somerville.
"We've talked about how important it is to continue building a relationship between Tufts and Somerville through using this movement," Axner said.
She emphasized that working−class Somerville residents are on board to participate in the protest by closing their accounts. "It's not just rich college students and people with trust funds that are taking their money out," Axner said.
Axner believes the event will show the Occupy Boston movement and Bank of America that Somerville's working−class residents are aware of the bank's business practices.
"I think that it's important to show the city what's going on there and show Somerville residents that we can have somewhat of a voice here," Axner said.
McLaughlin and Wilson stressed that the event is meant to be peaceful.
"We're not going to be engaging in civil disobedience, we're not trying to get anybody arrested, we're not trying to do anything outside of speaking our mind," McLaughlin said.
"We want to emphasize that this will be a family−friendly, peaceful event, and we're hoping that it reflects all of Somerville," Wilson added.
Occupy Somerville formed after a group of Somerville residents visited the Occupy Boston encampment in October, according to Wilson.
"The first thing we did was when we mobilized people to go down to the occupation at Boston," Wilson said. "Everybody in Somerville went down to Occupy Boston, but the response to that was so strong that we felt like we wanted to keep it going."
Occupy Somerville plans to have its first General Assembly meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Davis Square to give structure to the group and discuss different ways to implement its goals, according to McLaughlin.
"You don't have to physically occupy something to be a part of Occupy," McLaughlin said. "You don't need to get arrested to be a part of Occupy. You just need to speak your mind and let people know that you don't accept what's going on right now."
