The ""Occupy Wall Street"" movement, a protest against economic inequality that started in New York and has spread to other major U.S. cities, is coming to Madison Friday evening.
The movement began spontaneously in the middle of September when a group of protesters camped out along Wall Street, claiming they were ""the 99 percent"" of the population the economy was failing.
The size of the demonstrations increased over the following weeks and received more attention from the media and police. As the movement expanded around the country, labor unions began to come out in support of the protests, including the Wisconsin AFL-CIO.
""They are an inspiration to all who are fighting for a better America,"" Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt said. ""Hopefully lawmakers, bankers and brokers will wake up and realize that they have a responsibility to the 99 percent, not just the global elite.""
UW-Madison history Professor William Jones called the movement a ""really interesting phenomenon"" because these types of demonstrations ""are rarely spontaneous.""
Jones said the Wall Street protestors have not expressed specific political demands and lack an institutional base, differing from the demonstrations at the Wisconsin state capitol earlier this year with the explicit goal of defeating the collective bargaining bill.
Jones said it will be tough for the ""Occupy"" protests to continue on this scale because it is ""very difficult to…sustain a movement without institutions and leadership.""
But spokesperson Bill Fetty said the Madison protests in February are linked to the ""Occupy"" protests through the ""recognition of the erosion of… the rights of all people everywhere.""
""Now people are rising up against the direct cause of this oppression,"" Fetty said.
The rally will take place Friday at 6 p.m. at Reynolds Park.
