Occupy Wall Street Plans For Anniversary

Occupy Wall Street Plans For Anniversary, The grassroots movement marks one year on Monday and looks to rejuvenate itself. Occupy Wall Street plans to surround NYSE to mark anniversary, Occupy Wall Street marks its first anniversary on Monday, and, in a bid to rejuvenate a movement that has failed to sustain momentum after sparking a national conversation about economic inequality last fall, activists plan once again to descend on New York’s financial district.

The group, which popularized the phrase “We are the 99 percent,” will attempt to surround the New York Stock Exchange and disrupt morning rush hour in the financial district, according to a movement spokeswoman.

Monday’s protests will cap a weekend of Occupy Wall Street seminars, music and demonstrations in New York, said Linnea Paton, 24, an OWS spokeswoman. Demonstrations are also planned in other U.S. cities, other OWS organizers said.

The grassroots movement caught the world by surprise last fall with a spontaneous encampment in lower Manhattan that soon spread to cities across North America and Europe.

Occupy Wall Street briefly revived a long-dormant spirit of U.S. social activism, and drew enduring attention to economic injustice.

But the movement’s colorful cast of theatrical demonstrators struggled through last winter to sustain the momentum that first drew attention to its patchwork of economic grievances – including corporate malfeasance on Wall Street, crippling student debt and aggressive bank foreclosures on American homes.

On Sunday, organizers will provide live music, including a Foley Square concert featuring Tom Morello, guitarist for the rock band Rage Against the Machine.

At 7 a.m. Monday, some protesters will try to surround the NYSE, while others will engage in a loosely choreographed series of “sit-ins” at intersections throughout the financial district, according to OWS’s website.