Kenmore Square protesters demand corporate accountability

Saturday at noon about 40 people sang, chanted and handed out fliers outside Bank of America in Kenmore Square to protest the bank, which paid no federal income taxes in 2010 after receiving a tax refund of nearly $1 billion.

While the bank claims it owed no income taxes because it did not profit in 2010, members of the grassroots organization U.S. Uncut accuse the bank of cheating on its taxes.

Northeastern University senior Megan Lazar said she helped organize the protest through U.S. Uncut, which models itself after the British movement against banks and tax dodgers, U.K. Uncut.

A horizontal movement, U.S. Uncut has no official leadership or centrally planned protests, just a few key organizers, Lazar said.

U.S. Uncut encourages citizens to organize in their own communities, capitalizing on social media to raise awareness about demonstrations.

Lazar emphasized that the group has no socialist intentions to redistribute wealth.
“I’m just asking these corporations, who consider themselves American, to simply pay what they owe,” she said.

Medford resident Gary Floyd described the location of the Kenmore Square branch of the bank as “corporate central.” The bank lies adjacent to a McDonald’s, 7-Eleven and Dunkin Donuts and beneath test preparation center Kaplan, which is owned by The Washington Post Company.

Protesters said that if major corporations paid their due taxes, the U.S. government could refrain from cutting civil services such as education.

“I’m here today because I’m tired of seeing important public services cut again and again. I’m here because I’m tired of seeing corporations walk away with billions of dollars,” Lazar said.

“Bank of America is avoiding their taxes and [the government] wants to cut all our social programs,” said Emmanuel College senior Natalie Honsinger, an intern with Jobs with Justice, a workers’ advocacy organization. “If they paid their taxes, we wouldn’t have to cut valuable programs like Planned Parenthood and public television.”
Protesters said the conversations in Washington D.C. and among Americans should focus on closing loopholes and holding corporations accountable for their actions.

“We need to stop talking about cutting services and start talking about revenue enhancing,” said protester and Brookline resident Marcia Hnatowich. “It’s criminal how little people who can afford to pay are paying.”

“The Democratic Congress is saying next to nothing about this issue,” said her husband Don Hnatowich. “They’re afraid to mention the fact that there’s such great disparity.”

Several protesters called on more U.S. citizens to get involved to protect their own interests.

“I do think American people are just too disengaged,” Hnatowich said. “It’s our responsibility to show we care.”

“We should develop more engaged citizenship,” said protester Dianna Vosburg, a resident of Holliston. “It doesn’t take long to do some research, find some credible sources, get involved and fight for a viable future.”

Floyd said his primary goal is to incite action within Congress.

“I’d actually like to see some pressure being put on Washington,” Floyd said. “There are an awful lot of connections between these companies and Senators and Congressmen making money from them.”