MAIN Society Politics Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street was born from a loosely organized New York City grass roots protest in September 2011.

The movement took only weeks to become a social cause celebre as the jobless were joined by senior citizens, students, and Hollywood stars. Politicians, labor unions and activists from around the world soon joined in to lend their support to what has now become a worldwide phenomenon.

With the promise of US unemployment figures hovering at 9% or more for the foreseeable future, and a college education becoming more out of reach for many of its youth, more US cities have already signed up for similar 'Occupy' movements including San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Jose, Boston, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Portland, Maine, Kansas City, MO, Portland, Oregon, Ann Arbor, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Sacramento, Tampa, Atlanta, Trenton, New Jersey, and Jersey City, New Jersey.

Outside the U.S., London, England as well as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary Canada also have voices raised in protest for economic equality at the local and national levels.

Other protests are now promising to gear up in at least 25 other international cities that stretch from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires to Dublin in the weeks ahead.

Although Occupy Wall Street was initially criticized for a lack of focus, the protest has since coalesced under a single banner, "We are the 99%" protesting the 1 percent of the wealth being accumulated by the super rich — as the working poor are left to fend for themselves.

In addition to individual support for the movement, workers unions which have announced their support for street demonstrations include the AFL-CIO, United Steel Workers, the American Federation of Musicians, the United Transit Workers, the United Federation of Teachers, and the Service Employees International Union.

While the movement is still in its infancy, the question remains whether governments will respond with more equitable policies in regard to banking regulations, home mortgages, taxation, education - and especially in the US, affordable health care.

Occupy Wall Street: what started it all

Meanwhile, around the Web, learn more about Occupy Wall Street and other such movements that continue to grow, as a worldwide recession threatens to leave millions more homeless, jobless, and without much else to do but to take to the streets...

More about Occupy Wall Street around the Web:

Occupy Wall Street - Wikipedia survey chronicling the movement's quiet start in downtown Manhattan to its growth as a worldwide social phenomenon with related photos, references and resources.

Occupy Wall Street: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News - Extensive coverage from the Huffington Post including breaking updates, blog posts, links to live webcasts, photo galleries. .

theguardian.uk - Occupy Wall Street - The UK newspaper with regular columns and news features dedicated to the worldwide movement including editorials, photo galleries, visitor comments.

Occupy Wall Street Movement - About.com guide with a good overview of the movement's published manifesto with related news updates.

Mother Jones - Occupy Wall Street - Interactive map tracking the movement's growth across the US, with related Occupy Wall Street timeline of events, charts and images.

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