Occupy Berkshires

Occupy Christmas

Mickey Friedman
December 25, 2011

As 2011 comes to a close, it’s fair to say Occupy has occupied the land.

Graphic Image: Alexandra Clotfelter

Far from the opening and closing bells of Wall Street, and its powerful bull, here in the southern Berkshires, Occupy Berkshires demonstrates each Sunday (excepting this Sunday) from 1 PM to 2:45 PM in front of Great Barrington’s Town Hall on Main Street. It then holds its General Assembly at 3 PM at the Quaker Meeting House on 280 Main Road (Route 23 towards Monterey.) There are similar groups in Pittsfield and North Adams.

It’s easy to get rhetorical about the extent and impact of Occupy but a recent study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) found occupy movements in 143 small towns and cities in California alone.

“Big cities got the movement early. The spatial depth of the movement to small towns is not well-known,” said Christopher Chase-Dunn, a distinguished professor of sociology who is known internationally for his research of social movements.

People in medium and small-sized towns are occupying space, organizing events, and lending their voices to the movement in their own towns, graduate student Michaela Curran-Strange added. “They are focusing on local issues as well as national and regional ones.”

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A Million Faces

By Mickey Friedman
November 7, 2011

This Sunday morning, after an hour of serious shoveling, I was able to get my car to Fuel for my Sunday latte.

My deepest sympathies to our Great Barrington pear trees which fell overnight, victim of our premature nor’easter. And an apology to those who said the trees needed to be replaced. Nature voted with you. And it’s time to pick more wisely. Maybe trees with no leaves and no limbs.

Great Barrington Pear Trees vs October Snow Storm - Photo: Hayley Weller © 2011

Anyway, this was one of those deadline-approaching-mornings when I had absolutely no idea what to write about. But lucky for me, the Berkshire Eagle was handy. I began reading in the Entertainment Section about my friend, local potter Daniel Bellow. According to Eagle writer Jeremy Goodwin, Bellow’s decision to replace writing editorials for the Eagle for making beautiful porcelain pottery, was motivated “by a sense of the newspaper industry’s decline.”

Jeremy’s words made sense. So naturally I turned to the Opinion page to read the morning’s editorial for an up-to-date status report on Daniel’s replacement. For some reason, the Eagle never credits its editorial writers so I don’t know who’s responsible for some of this silliness.
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Bill Shein & Occupy Berkshires

Bill Shein, Red Crow writer, reporter, racounteur and small-scale duck farmer, hits the airwaves to explain to WGBY’s Carrie Saldo what Occupy Berkshires is all about:

Occupy Movement comes to Western Massachusetts from WGBY on Vimeo.

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