walkLEX: #OccupyLexKY at 20 Days

A Small Crowd of #OccupyLexKY Protestors – Lexington, Ky.

One one end of the block that is home to Lexington’s main Chase Bank branch is a replica statue of the Flying Horse of Gansu. A gift from the Chinese government to the people of Lexington, the original statue dates to the Han dynasty some 200 years BCE. The donor, China, is not well-known for allowing public speech (see, inter alia, Tienanmen Square). But we aren’t in China.

So at the other end of the block are a group of individuals protesting corporate greed and the control of wealth and power in the concentrated few. I walked past the protestors when they first appeared on September 29 and contemplated writing this post, but decided against it. I thought at most it could be a #kernel post. But now the Occupiers have been standing sentry on behalf of the “99%” for 20 days. Day or night, rain or shine. They’ve upped themselves to a #walkLEX post as they’ve become a fixture of downtown for the time being.
Although I was displeased with their screaming at my friend (a bank teller, not an executive, dressed in a suit and wearing his XYZ Bank name tag) and calling him a “corporate big,”I understand this to be quite the exception to the behavior of the #OccupyLexKy crowd. They have been largely peaceful and have cooperated with police and Chase Bank requests regarding the location and condition of their demonstration. And it looks like the group’s peaceful demeanor is viewed positively by Americans as Time magazine shows the Occupiers’ approval at 54% (compared with 27% for the Tea Party movement). [*]

The group includes some unemployed persons, as well as veterans, nurses, students, and others who make up the 99% (a term which contrasts with the overused “wealthiest one percent”). Our #OccupyLexKy demonstrators range in number at any given time from 2 to 20+. The Lexington group began twelve days after similar demonstrations began in New York City (#OccupyWallStreet).

Other similarly-minded occupations have sprung up around the country and around the world. In Kentucky, occupiers have set camp in Lexington, Louisville, Berea, Ashland, Bowling Green, Owensboro and probably other towns as well.

For more information, check out OccupyLexKy.org or their presence on Facebook.