Occupy Boston Marches On Despite Arrests
This article was first published by New England Post on December 13, 2011.
- Courtesy of Noah Fournier
The Occupy Boston camp may be gone, but the movement is certainly not over.
A small group of protesters, gathered at Government Center on Monday evening for a march through the city to Dewey Square. Most of the organizers that served as the backbone of the movement were noticeably absent, posting on social media that they were taking the day off. In their place, others emerged from the crowd to take turns steering the conversation and the march, as has been the way of the movements’ horizontal democracy.
Last night’s march is just the first of several actions protesters have planned for the week. Friday they will reenact the Boston Tea Party and on Saturday, they will hold a march as a part of a national Occupy movement day of action in support of immigrant rights.
Occupy Boston protesters did not miss a beat in transitioning their two month occupation of Dewey Square to a mobile movement. As the last of the male protesters were released from custody, they announced to their waiting friends and supporters watching at home on a live internet feed that they had held a general assembly meeting while in jail.
Alex Ingram, a protester who has called the encampment home since October has participated actively in a number of the movement’s working groups. The former member of the air force became a trusted voice around camp and a welcoming ambassador to visitors. Just minutes after being released, he ran off down the street to attend a planning meeting to hold a post-raid general assembly on Boston Common.
Guy Sands, operator of the former signs tent at Occupy Boston now turned sign wagon, said the movement is going mobile. “The mobile sign unit is a perfect example,” he said motioning to the red wagon carrying art supplies and poster board at his feet. “The majority of the views expressed in [the camp] are things that can be addressed without [the camp].”
It looks like their first post-Dewey cause might be families facing eviction due to bank foreclosure.
In meetings, on marches, on social media, and in snippets of conversation, the issue of foreclosures arose again and again. “There are many plans in the works to address issues of foreclosures,” said Rachel Plattus, a part time student and an active participant in the movement. She added that protesters’ experiences in Dewey Square brought them face to face with issue of homelessness.
“I feel like Dewey Square was phase one. It served it’s purpose,” said Martin Dagoberto, a consultant from New Bedford. Now the movement has brand recognition making it possible for more marches and more affinity group organizing under the Occupy banner, he added.
With all of the working groups that once met at Dewey Square now meeting off-site, affinity groups may become more important. Only time will tell if they can focus the messages of the movement or add to the din of chanting marches.
