[Occupymendocino] Occupy 5 Years Later

[Richard Karch]

 (CNN)Nearly five years after Occupy Wall Street's eviction from a small Manhattan park, the movement that shined the spotlight on the 99% has spread its seeds across America.

From the shade of honey locust trees in Zuccotti Park near the New York Stock Exchange, the group's creed against income inequality, corporate greed and the influence of money in politics helped spawn a variety of causes -- from Black Lives Matter to the ascent of Bernie Sanders to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's quiet protest against institutional racism.
On Saturday, the fifth anniversary of the birth of their movement, Occupy veterans will gather at the Lower Manhattan park and later march to police headquarters. There will be speeches about Black Lives Matter, the minimum wage, gentrification, prisoner rights, HIV/AIDS and other topics.
"What a movement that has any kind of success does -- not necessarily practical results but any kind of excitement -- is acquaint or reacquaint people with some of the pleasures of being involved in a social movement," says Todd Gitlin, a Columbia University professor and author of "Occupy Nation: The Roots, the Spirit, and the Promise of Occupy Wall Street."
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