The “Occupy Niles” rally that brought more than 100 area protestors to downtown Niles earlier this month has earned a little national attention in recent weeks.
Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore mentioned the rally in Niles on the MSNBC program “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” Oct. 14. He then gave the Niles protest another shout-out Monday on the national news program “Democracy Now.”
The Occupy Niles rally stems from the Occupy Wall Street Movement, which began in New York City and focuses on economic inequality in America. Rallies are popping up in cities across the country.
Said Moore on Democracy Now: “Niles, Michigan, a town of 11,000 people — that’s all there are in Niles — it’s actually a very conservative part of Michigan…they had 100 people out there at Occupy Niles…It’s going on all over the country where there aren’t cameras, where the media is still ignoring it.”
Moore’s Occupy Niles mention came after Glenn Greenwald, a writer for salon.com, tweeted a link to a Niles Daily Star story about the rally to his 59,000-plus followers.
Matthew Rosenhagen, a Niles resident and organizer of Occupy Niles, said he was encouraged to see rallies in smaller towns get some recognition.
“It’s good that people notice the little guy, too, and see that we are in solidarity with them,” he said.
Rosenhagen said he used social media to push the rally, but he attributes the strong turnout to people being “fed up with politics as usual.”
“I think people are definitely paying attention to the national dialogue and turning locally to see what they can do to help that,” he said.
Rosenhagen, a disabled war veteran and student at Andrews University, also believes the movement is gaining steam nationally because it “transcends party lines.”
The Occupy Wall Street movement revolves around the slogan, “we are the 99 percent,” referencing the supporters’ belief that the wealthiest 1 percent of the country thrives while the working class is struggling.
Another Occupy Niles rally is slated for 4 p.m. Saturday in downtown Niles.
To read Moore’s comments on the Occupy Niles rally, check out http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/24/michael_moore_cornel_west_on_ows.