To kick off Tax Day weekend, Friday afternoon 4/15/11, Ruckus joined members of US Uncut and Brass Liberation Orchestra (BLO) in San Francisco to Flash Mob Bank of America and tell them to "PAY UP!"
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Bank of America is the #1 largest bank and the 5th largest corporation in the U.S., but it pays less in taxes than the average American household! If they and their corporate tax dodger friends paid their fair share of taxes (like the rest of us), we wouldn’t ‘need’ to slash community services in the budget.
It’s time Bank of America pays their taxes! So we took action to tell them just that.
Dozens of activists took Bank of America employees by surprise downtown San Francisco Friday, by breaking out in a song and dance in the middle of the bank, to the tune of Salt-n-Pepa’s classic hit, "Push It", re-mixed as "Pay Up!"
Two activists from US Uncut played the parts of Salt and Pepa, singing original lyrics about BofA’s corporate tax dodging offenses and how we were there to demand they pay their share, while dozens of dancers performed a coordinated dance routine and the band accompanied.
For the finale, all the singers, dancers, and band ended the song with a simple message for Bank of America, loud and clear: "PAY YOUR TAXES!" (to the tune of "Push it Real Good!").
Afterwards, the crowd broke out in chants and dancing in the middle of the bank. Eventually, we wove out the door and down the street to another branch of Bank of America on the heavily trafficked Market Street, where we gave a second performance of our Push It/Pay Up Mash-Up outside the bank entrance for an audience of financial district workers and passersby!
All in all, it was a great action, and lots of fun.
Check out the list of actions against Corporate Tax Dodgers happening around the country this Monday and join a Tax Day action near you!
Photo Credits: Douglas Zimmerman