After hundreds of people marched down Powell Street, amongst a blur of drunken Santas and Christmas shoppers, supporters verbalized their frustrations for all to hear.  Proclamations were not just heard about the Occupy movement, or any one cause, but several causes combined.

Tina Shauf from the San Francisco Committee for Human Rights facilitated the event and reminded everyone just why they were there.  “The Occupy movement needs to be educated,” she said.  “We want to empower the people to stand on their own.  We all deserve basic rights.  We want those rights here in the U.S.”

CODEPINK, The Haiti Action Network, San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, San Francisco Progressive Workers Alliance, Tibetan Youth Congress, StandUpForTibet.org and several other local organizations attended the human rights rally in support of the Occupy movement locally and globally.

Shauf and other members spoke about the disparity within the Philippines, stating that 1,215 political killings and 206 disappearances have happened there within the past ten years.  While the people are internally frustrated by corruption in government, they feel that they have no way to externalize by means of protest.  According to the San Francisco Committee for Human Rights, political organizing in the Philippines can be extremely dangerous for citizens, in some instances, resulting in death.

Disparities in China, Tibet, Haiti and even in San Francisco’s Chinatown were also discussed.  On a day where it seems citizens should be celebrating their rights, for some there is simply nothing to celebrate.  For the 12 Tibetans that had recently set themselves on fire in protest to China’s oppression to the labor laws in San Francisco’s own Chinatown, there is much to be fought for.

The bottom line is that Occupy is not about Occupy SF, or Occupy Oakland, or Portland, or even Wall Street.  While we may see more of an effect locally, economic disparity is a global problem.  Whether or not we choose to face it, the U.S. does have an effect and influence on every other country in the world.  Although we may not have work, or healthcare as a basic human right, we do have the right to protest.  And by exercising the right to protest we can make the changes that we want to see.  If there’s one message behind this movement, it is that we can make a global difference if we so choose to be heard.

“By healing the 99 percent, we heal the 100 percent,” Shauf said.  “Human rights and dignity for the 99 percent!”