"Occupy" activists brave rain

Buffalo can be a cold, damp place in mid-October, especially if you're spending the night outdoors. That hasn't deterred the members of Occupy Buffalo, who have made Niagara Square their temporary home, including Richard Lambert, a roofer who's been sleeping under tarps and make-shift tents for the past week.

"It's awesome," he said. "Everyone is just supporting each other, even when it's just 15 to 20 people."

It gets cold, but community support has made it worth staying, he said.

"We've experienced difficulties, but we're fighting through it," he said. "Pizza places have been dropping off five or 10 pizzas for us."

Occupy Buffalo started several weeks ago to show solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has grown over the last month to include worldwide occupy movements, said Michael Niman, associate professor of journalism and media studies at Buffalo State.

It's a response to the failed policies both major political parties have presented to the American people, he said.

"Occupy is a reaction to conditions that were brought on by both democrats and republicans," Niman said. "Both parties are funded by Wall Street."

One of the main tenets of the occupy movement is that it is leaderless, he said. This provides the movement with the ability to keep growing, without being co-opted by party politics.

"As long as the conditions exist that caused this movement to come together, the movement will continue to grow," Niman said. "You cannot stop it. You cannot negotiate with it. It is a reaction to social conditions. The only way to stop it is to change the social conditions."

The goal of the movement is not to get a candidate or party elected, he said. It's bigger than that.

"It goes beyond elections," Niman said. "It's moving the population in ways the population has never moved in my lifetime."

The number of people at Niagara Square at any given time varies, from a handful of people at night, to the 250 people who braved the cold, wind and pouring rain on Saturday to show support for the movement. Union members and teachers mixed in with grandmothers, families and students.

The weather offered the group the chance to try out a new chant.

"Through rain, through snow, occupy Buffalo," the crowd yelled together, predicting what the Buffalo winter may have in store in the upcoming months.

Rachael Alicia, a student at the University at Buffalo, came down to see what the movement was all about Saturday, despite the cold and rain.

"I think it's great," she said. "I think it's awesome that so many people came together in such terrible weather."

Not everyone at Niagara Square Saturday was there to support the movement. One counter-protester held a sign reading "Support Capitalism" and argued with various supporters of Occupy Buffalo throughout the afternoon. The man, who would only give his first name, Jeff, wanted to make the point that the majority of Americans support capitalism, and don't want to see it changed too drastically.

"I'm tired of this seditious behavior," he said. "I'm tired of socialists trying to co-opt our youth."

The movement continues to grow, however, and it's important to maintain the foundation it's based on, Niman said. Recent polls show the majority of Americans support Occupy Wall Street.

"The trick is to keep this energy alive and keep it growing and keep it from getting co-opted," he said. "If someone is violent, or someone claims to be the leader, then they've broken the tenets of the movement, and aren't a part of it. To be in the occupy movement means to be nonviolent and leaderless."

Michael Canfield can be reached by email at Canfield.Record@live.com.