Occupy Wall Street Protesters in New York. Credit: CNBC
I knew this would happen.
The company that owns Zuccotti Park also owns the office building where I work. On Friday, about 40 protestors made their way to our front door. I’m not sure if they know the company I work for is housed there. Once they make the connection, I’m sure the protestors will be a daily occurrence at our door.
The protestors are spending a lot time and effort occupying different areas all over the country. Say “Occupy Wall Street” and every American knows what you’re talking about. The movement they have built on a shoestring is very impressive. Their digital megaphone is stretching across the globe, and here is a sad and sorry truth: banks, the target of many of these protests, hear the protestors but they aren’t really listening. They don’t have to and they won’t, at least not to conventional communication.
The only way to get through to banks is via money – it’s the only language they understand or even want to understand. Protestors, you need to talk with your wallets. Banks only respond to outcries that are framed in the form of federal regulation or an impact to their bottom line. They actually don’t care that you’re losing your home, struggling to pay your student loans, and barely scraping up funds to put food on the table. Individually, there are a lot of people within banks who care and feel paralyzed by the organizations they work for. I work for a bank and I spend a good deal of my time trying to get us to behave better. Most of the people I work with are living in fear that their job is the next on the chopping block. The banks themselves, as their own living, breathing entities, sadly are not the people who occupy the desks in their offices. They are another beast entirely.
Protestors if you want more than public sympathy and a chance to be heard, if you care more about actually creating change than you do about news coverage – and I 100% believe you do – then you’ve got two choices to change the banks’ tune toward yourmessage:
1.) Go Occupy Washington, the local offices of your representatives, and the lobbyists who get their attention by hitting them in their fundraising efforts. They can put federal legislation in place to make the banks change the way they do business. What gets regulated gets done.
2.) Stop supporting banks with your spending and savings. My sister, Weez, reminded me that Bank of America reversed the debit card fee they had planned to charge in response to the Durbin Amendment because so many people closed their accounts or threatened to do so if the fee was charged. Take your business to local credit unions, online banks like ING Direct who have more transparent practices and policies, and community financial development institutions (CFDIs). Cut the spending on your credit cards and stop buying their products and services. Your wallet is your microphone.
These two methods are the only kind of occupy movement – essentially occupying the banks’ balance sheets and strategic plans – that will truly be heard loud and clear.
IN BRIEF
Author, journalist, digital product manager, and licensed New York City tour guide. Creator and host of NYC's Secrets and Lies. Alumna of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA), Arizona State University (Biomimicry), and the University of Cambridge (MSt in Sustainability Leadership).
I build digital media platforms, report on urban climate resilience and biodiversity, and produce live narrative experiences that connect communities to history, nature, and place.
THE DEEP DIVE
My work centers on a single thread: building systems and stories that foster deep connection to our shared world. Across digital streaming, environmental reporting, and live civic storytelling, I design experiences that help people understand complex ideas and the environments around them.
DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY & MEDIA LEADERSHIP
At Carnegie Hall, I serve as Digital Product Manager, leading product strategy, operations, and technical delivery for the video streaming platform Carnegie Hall+. I translate artistic mission into scalable, high-performance streaming architecture that reaches audiences globally. Previously, I led agile product and delivery teams across operations and compliance at American Express, managed Broadway theatrical productions and national tours, and guided strategic initiatives across cultural institutions.
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM & AUTHORSHIP
As a freelance journalist, I investigate how living systems, urban infrastructure, and human culture intersect. My reported features on urban decarbonization, biodiversity, coastal resilience, and biomimicry appear in publications including Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Mongabay, Natural History Magazine, and Foreign Policy Magazine. In fiction, I write the Emerson Page young adult novel series, alongside upcoming historical fiction and nonfiction works on New York history, mythology, and human resilience. I also write Togetherhood, a LinkedIn newsletter focused on urban ecology and community restoration, and co-host the podcast Frameworks in the Wild.
LIVE EXPERIENCE & CIVIC STORYTELLING
As a licensed New York City tour guide and live event producer, I transform urban landscapes into shared narrative encounters. I created, produce, and host NYC's Secrets and Lies, an interactive live storytelling series staged across cultural landmarks including the New York Transit Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the historic tall ship Wavertree. I also design and lead site-specific walking tours exploring coastal ecology, food history, and neighborhood evolution, often with partners at Climate Week NYC and the Natural Areas Conservancy.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING MEDIA
Through my independent production studio, Double or Nothing Media, I develop ventures across media, ecology, and public history:
Digital Products & Strategy: Architecting scalable digital platforms, streaming experiences, and operational models for mission-driven institutions.
Environmental Reporting & Publications: Delivering long-form reporting, books, and newsletters grounded in climate resilience and regenerative design.
Site-Specific Live Storytelling: Producing immersive live shows and educational walking tours that engage public audiences in community history.
CONNECT
Website & Production Hub: doubleornothingmedia.com and christaavampato.com
Newsletter: Togetherhood on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/newsletters/togetherhood-7273771832221089792/
Instagram & Threads: @christarosenyc
Emerson Page Novels: emersonpagebook.wordpress.com/
View all posts by Christa Avampato
4 thoughts on “Beginning: Advice for Occupy Wall Street Protesters – You Need to Occupy the Banks’ Balance Sheets and Strategic Plans”
You might like this. I called my credit card’s customer service line to do some negotiating. Having a bit of leverage, I thought it presented a great opportunity to mess with them a little and make a few points about the unfairness of the credit card lending system. I made video of the call and posted it on my blog and Youtube. It is quite funny even if you are pro-megabank. Since it’s a protest at home, I called it my kitchen counterstrike against Bank of America. http://www.ragingwisdom.com/?p=508
My favorite part is your disclaimer that others should be careful before trying this at home. I absolutely love the idea of the Kitchen Counter Strike! Thanks for sharing!
as always, love reading your insights. This whole occupy thing is really just annoying the crap out of me at this point. They’ve been at it two months and have everyone’s attention – NOW WHAT?
Thanks, Urs! I agree – they really need to get this question answered quickly. They’ve built an amazing audience, but if you ask for the microphone, you better have something worthwhile to say!
You might like this. I called my credit card’s customer service line to do some negotiating. Having a bit of leverage, I thought it presented a great opportunity to mess with them a little and make a few points about the unfairness of the credit card lending system. I made video of the call and posted it on my blog and Youtube. It is quite funny even if you are pro-megabank. Since it’s a protest at home, I called it my kitchen counterstrike against Bank of America. http://www.ragingwisdom.com/?p=508
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My favorite part is your disclaimer that others should be careful before trying this at home. I absolutely love the idea of the Kitchen Counter Strike! Thanks for sharing!
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as always, love reading your insights. This whole occupy thing is really just annoying the crap out of me at this point. They’ve been at it two months and have everyone’s attention – NOW WHAT?
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Thanks, Urs! I agree – they really need to get this question answered quickly. They’ve built an amazing audience, but if you ask for the microphone, you better have something worthwhile to say!
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