The Occupy Buffalo movement doesn't appear to be breaking camp anytime soon.
Months after the initial Occupy Wall Street protest began in New York City, the local chapter, Occupy Buffalo, is still going strong. On Tuesday, the protestors will celebrate the one-month mark of their occupation of Niagara Square in front of City Hall.
Despite the problems that other Occupy movements have had with authorities, Buffalo's chapter has been arrest-free and violence-free since its inception. Group members claim that their numbers are growing, and they have been working hard to get their message across to City Hall and the local government.
Last Friday, 32 members of the Occupy Rochester movement were arrested for being in a public park. The following day, Occupy Buffalo members marched to indicate their solidarity with the movement.
The group has held marches from Niagara Square to a downtown Bank of America location to protest national banking injustice. The group often holds meetings and "information sessions" about how to support its cause.
Occupiers have brought requests to City Hall, asking the Buffalo Common Council to divest city money from Chase National Bank and urging lawmakers not to support large corporations that damage the economy.
Occupy Buffalo actively supports the Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2011, currently a bill in the U.S. Congress. The act would separate risky investment banking from commercial banking.
The protestors have been busy in the last month. There are Occupiers on site at Niagara Square 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, the majority of people have to schedule their protesting around their work and school schedules. Many people camp out only on weekends or just drop in for a few hours when they have the time.
"There is this huge façade being shown that none of us have jobs. Almost everyone here has at least one job. Most of us have two," said Sydney Blake, a student at Frontier High School who balances school with her two part-time jobs. Blake spends her weekends camping out, and she drops in after school during the week.
Like many students, Blake is worried about the future. Many agree that the 2008 downturn left the U.S. economy is in its worst shape since the Great Depression. The unemployment rate is at 9.1 percent as of August 2011, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
By living and protesting outside of government buildings like Buffalo's City Hall and financial institutions like Wall Street, the protestors hope they can effect real change.
The City of Buffalo has been, for the most part, supportive of the cause. Most recently, City Hall voted to waive a $500 dollar permit fee associated with staying on city property. Some council members argued that sleeping in a public space is illegal, and that when the protestors eventually leave, they will leave behind ruined grass, and taxpayer money will be spent cleaning up after them.
However, in Buffalo, authorities, including the government and police, have been sympathetic toward the cause. The protestors haven't had problems with securing their right to protest, and they haven't been worried about legal action forcing them to leave. In fact, they say that many police officers and fireman honk their horns as they pass the square, indicating their support for the group.
"Hard-working Americans are working two jobs, living paycheck to paycheck, and barely making ends meet. And that's not right," said Jamie Stewart, a Buffalo resident who lives and works just minutes from Niagara Square.
Various cynics have criticized the Occupy movements for lacking clear goals and focus. The members of Occupy Buffalo acknowledge the confusion about the movement and invite cynics to come down to Niagara Square to find out the facts for themselves.
Contrary to popular belief, the Occupy Buffalo movement does have a list of demands. The page-long list is a summary of what the occupiers feel are major problems facing Americans today. The list includes requests like taxing and inspecting corporations that refuse to manufacture their goods within the U.S., an end to outsourcing American jobs overseas, and an end to corporate welfare.
The Occupy Buffalo protestors have ideas about how they hope to accomplish these goals. They support and encourage many of the Occupy Wall Street plans to discredit large corporations. Saturday is National Bank Transfer Day, and the Occupy movements are encouraging everyone to take their funds out of large corporate banks and transfer them to local banks and credit unions.
"Simply the fact that we are here is a statement in itself. Whatever it gains, whatever specific things happen as a result, it's a strong statement either way," said Kurt Schneiderman, a Buffalo resident, stay-at-home dad, and artistic director of the Subversive Theatre Collective.
The protestors at Niagara Square in Buffalo are aware that their demands will require time to take effect. They agree that they will be battling for reforms and regulations for years to come.
"Realistically, I have no idea what to expect. I think that's kind of what's so cool about it," Schneiderman said. "It's a movement that doesn't have a simple goal; it's much broader than can what be summed up by one agenda. There are a million things that ought to be achieved. There are any number of things [that] could be taken on that desperately need to change."
Critics question how a protest with no political affiliation or clear solutions for problems can even begin to change America's political and economic structure. Though the group has a list of demands and protestors are voicing their opinions, it remains to be seen how far any reforms might go because of this movement.
Despite the controversy and uncertainty of the movement, the Occupy Buffalo protestors have no intention of leaving. They are "winterizing" their camp in order to keep their movement going strong through the coming cold weather.
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