Minneapolis, MN – About 600 people, chanting “the banks got bailed out, we got sold out,” joined Occupy MN, along with labor unions and community groups for a march on the banks here, Oct. 29. The protest coincided with the anniversary of the 1929 Stock Market Crash.

Chicago, IL – The Occupy Chicago movement and the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda (CANG8) came together 150 strong, Oct. 26, to defend the right to protest against war and corporate greed.

Des Moines, IA – The movement started by Occupy Wall Street continues to spread. Occupy Des Moines has been in place for over two weeks. 13 were arrested on their first night, Oct. 9, and the city responded by granting them a park to camp in. On Oct. 22 they marched to Obama's campaign headquarters.

State government here is considering a bill, SB207/AB286, that will permanently economically disenfranchise over 62,000 Wisconsinites who have been convicted of felonies. The bill makes it legal for employers to discriminate against them, not only in the hiring process, but also to terminate them from jobs where they are already employed whether or not their felony conviction is substantially related to the job. It would also ban cities and municipalities from creating laws to protect constituents from this type of discrimination. The bill has already passed the Assembly and is on its way to becoming law.

Winston-Salem, NC – Over 100 Occupy Winston-Salem activists protested Oct. 22 in front of the local Wells Fargo branch to expose the bank’s racist policies against African-American and Latino communities.

Chicago, IL – Registered nurses from across the U.S. today condemned Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel for his decision to arrest nurse volunteers, as well as peaceful protesters, in a late night crackdown, Oct. 22 at the Occupy Chicago protest.

More than 2500 people gathered in downtown here, on the night of Saturday, Oct. 22. Trade unions again embraced the Occupy movement and committed to turn their members out. Young and old took to Jackson Avenue, taking the entire width of the street as they marched through downtown.

Milwaukee, WI – Occupy Milwaukee held a theatrical “Crisis 101” teach-in, Oct. 20, at M&I Bank, a TARP bailout recipient.

Gainesville, FL – Occupy Gainesville has witnessed a healthy level of involvement from people here, with recent protests against Wall Street. Rallying at the central downtown location of Bo Diddley Plaza Oct. 13, community members were pleased to see Bo Diddley's son, Ellas Anthony McDaniel, speaking out in support of Occupy Gainesville and Occupy Wall Street.

Minneapolis, MN – Seven people were arrested as over 100 people from OccupyMN protested outside of U.S. Bank Plaza, Oct. 20. The seven arrested set up tents outside the bank and blocked traffic at a major downtown intersection. The protest highlighted the hypocrisy of big banks foreclosing people’s homes while U.S. Bank’s bosses’ pay doubled over the past year and the bank rakes in record profits.

Irvington, NJ – On Oct. 29, a March and Rally against Foreclosures will be held in Irvington. “We want the banks to give the overpricing money back. No principal reduction, no recovery. It’s that simple. Join us! Come to the Irvington Bus Terminal at noon for the rally,” say the organizers.

Winston-Salem, NC – 200 people demonstrated on the sidewalk in front of the Bank of America branch in Winston-Salem on Oct. 15. For three hours the protesters rallied against Wall Street and the big banks, exposing the Bank of America’s misuse of bailout money, as well as the ongoing loss of jobs in Winston-Salem and the rest of North Carolina, where unemployment is over 10%.

First of four articles

Across the country, the movement sparked by Occupy Wall Street has caught fire. This movement, identified by the slogan, “We are the 99%” targets the 1% of rich and powerful who are running the country for their interests and profit, at the expense of the rest of us who face high unemployment, lower wages, soaring tuition costs, home foreclosures and lack of affordable health insurance. In addition, servants of Wall Street are pushing to dismantle Social Security and Medicare and to raise taxes on the poor while cutting taxes even more on the rich. They say that they have no money, but are sending bombers and troops to more and more countries, so that military spending is now the single largest expense of the federal government, costing more than $800 billion a year.

Chicago, IL – More than 4000 marched here tonight as Occupy Chicago moved from its occupation of La Salle Street (the banking center of the city) to Congress Plaza on the edge of Grant Park. Organizers intend this as a permanent home for the occupation.

Raleigh, NC – Over 1000 people gathered on the State Capitol grounds today, Oct. 15, as part of the [Occupy Raleigh demonstration](http://www.occupyraleigh.org). The rally lasted four hours, as speaker after speaker stood to denounce the budget cuts and austerity measures being forced upon working people of North Carolina.

Minneapolis, MN – The Hennepin County Government Plaza – known now as the People’s Plaza – sprouted several tents on the evening of Oct. 15. At this writing, dozens are risking arrest to defend protesters’ rights to have safe and warm shelter for overnight stays at OccupyMN. Since the occupation began on Oct. 7, county officials have said that no tents or shelters would be allowed.

Boston, MA – Students and union workers met at Dewey Square, Oct 10 and marched, 10,000 strong, all over downtown. All the groups identified as the 99% and had agreed to march together on Columbus Day. The occupiers made a point to call the day Indigenous People’s Day, an acknowledgement of the colonial terror associated with Christopher Columbus.

Milwaukee, WI – More than 3000 people marched here, Oct. 15, as a part of the Occupy movement, which began about a month ago on Wall Street in New York. At 11:00 a.m. in Milwaukee’s Zeidler Park, protesters gathered to stand against continuing cuts to education and public services carried out by Governor Scott Walker and to stand against rampant corruption in the powerful financial sector.

Raleigh, NC – Close to a thousand people are expected to mobilize for a mass rally at the Capitol Building in downtown Raleigh tomorrow, Oct. 15. The [Occupy Raleigh](http://www.occupyraleigh.org) general assembly, which in the past several days has seen between 50 and 200 people participating, called for the protest.

New York, NY – Thousands of supporters showed up early on Friday, Oct. 14 to foil an attempt to dislodge the Occupy Wall Street protesters from their Zuccotti Park location in the Manhattan financial district. The pretext was that a ‘cleanup’ of the site was needed. The park has been kept clean all along.