Cars honking their horns on Milton are nothing new in downtown Flagstaff. The normally congested street was graced with a new reason to honk, Occupy Flagstaff.
The event was in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. What is Occupy Wall Street many have asked? It is a protest that started last month in New York City. Protesters are angry at who they are calling the 1%, who they say have "corrupted" our democracy.
This movement has spread across the country, with troves of "Occupy (town name here)" popping up all over. It has reached Flagstaff, as the movement spreads.
On Occupy Flagstaff's official Facebook page, the real reason for the protest is being described as:
“We are the 99 percent . . . We are not fighting the wealthy here, but rather the one percent who control everything from political to social to economic institutions, who — with their greed and corruption — had killed our dream, the American dream, and left us with no choice but to revolt.”
Many of the protesters wore bandanas to hide their face, and many spoke on conditions of anonymity. Present amongst the grout was a NAU alumni, who was dressed up like Uncle Sam, but went under the name of "Uncle Scam."
“If they can forgive J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs for their transgressions, they can forgive some college graduates in America for some of their transgressions and their debts . . . there’s plenty of money to go around,” the protester said.
Uncle Scam has been following the actions with the Occupy Wall Street movement, and has noticed how it has spread. He said he think that it is great. “We took it from Wall Street to Main Street, and it’s all over now. It’s in Germany. It’s in London. It’s everywhere . . . because most of the people in the world are the 99 percent. We just want to live a decent life. We don’t want to be greedy. We don’t want to be piggish. We want to be happy and healthy and human beings,” Uncle Scam went on to say.
A theme that went through out the group was this is only a start. More protests are being planned.
“It’s a process,” Kyle Schorey, a protest said. “Raising awareness, recognizing social injustices and forming corrective actions as a society to the benefit of humanity instead of the corporation — the one percent.”
