What life experiences brought people to join the Occupy Oakland general strike on November 2? And what do they hope Occupy Oakland will accomplish? A sampling of sights and sounds form the day reveals that participants came from a wide range of backgrounds and had different goals for the movement. Brenda Reed of Richmond joined Occupy Oakland because her home was put into foreclosure by Chase bank. She hopes Occupy Oakland will lead to financial reform and an equitable restructuring of our current system. Margaret B., a retired teacher from Richmond, wants Occupy Oakland to help raise consciousness and bring about the overthrow of capitalism. Kyle Kilgore of Berkeley is disabled and wants to see affordable healthcare. He explained that everything he is protesting “falls under the umbrella” of “economic justice.” More broadly, it seems that Kilgore named what ties together those who participated in the general strike: their different perspectives coalesce around a demand for economic justice.