Occupy Boston, one year later

Nearly one year since protesters descended upon Dewey Square chanting about the 99 percent, a smaller Occupy Boston focuses its energy on more practical goals, members said.

Some Occupy members and sympathizers said the movement’s biggest accomplishment was making its issues part of the national conversation.

“We put the American people in the spotlight [and] opened people up to the oppression of the homeless and people of color to what’s going on in modern times,” said Occupy Boston member Brandon Cloran of Lynn.

Chris Faraone, a reporter for the Boston Phoenix who wrote a book on his experience at Occupy protests around the country, said the movement successfully brought attention to wealth gaps.

“The original goal was to raise awareness about wealth disparity, and it’s absolutely done that,” he said. “The ‘99 percent’ rhetoric has taken over. That conversation would never have reached that point without them.”

Occupy movements captured significant media attention.

At its height, the Occupy movement made up 10 percent of the total news coverage in the U.S. and captured 18 percent of total public interest, according to an October 2011 Pew Research Center report.

The media attention has dropped off considerably since the original protests, Faraone said.

“The news coverage is abysmal and pathetic,” he said. “[Reporters] are just looking in and don’t even bother to go to events or protests or interview the people involved.”

Despite the decrease in public attention, there have been several small victories in cities all over the country, Faraone said.

Occupy Boston members have attacked Bank of America’s foreclosure policy bringing about some settlement, he said.

They also exposed the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association’s racially charged newsletter that led to the dismissal of its editor, said Occupy member Bil Lewis.

Some members of the Boston community said they do not feel like Occupy was a successful or productive movement.

Christine Rossell, a political science professor at Boston University, said she agrees that Occupy members’ goals were unclear and that their target was unrealistic compared to past protest movements.

“Obviously we need wealthy people in companies because they’re the ones who hire us,” she said. “We didn’t need to be in the Vietnam War, we didn’t need to discriminate against black people.”

However, she said, the movement might have successfully forced candidates to look at different tax policies for the wealthy.

“The movement probably motivated candidates to focus on that issue,” she said. “That’s [the] only effect it could possibly have — differences in tax rates for salaries versus stocks and bonds. That’s the only positive effect in my view.”

Rebecca Manski, an Occupy Wall Street press team member, said people were disappointed with the movement because they had unrealistic expectations of what it could accomplish.

“It’s not something that can happen in one year,” she says. “Something like this can take 30 years.”

Since their last major demonstrations in the fall of 2011, Occupy Boston’s numbers have dwindled.

“The camp was hypnotizing in a way that I’d never experienced before,” Cloran said. “The feeling has changed a lot since then; it just doesn’t feel as alive.”

However, some Occupy members said they think the change can be positive.

“We’ve gone through a revolution,” said Occupy Boston facilitator Alex Ingram. “We look different, we’re smaller and less concentrated, but we can now focus on more practical and useful things.”

Some of these more focused projects include an Occupy newspaper named the Occupier and the Occupy Boston radio station, obr.fm.

“The newspaper and radio station are in some ways so much more powerful and lasting than plopping down in a tent and waiting for people to beat the crap out of us,” he said.

Ingram said the newspaper sells out every issue and that the radio station is expanding to full-election coverage.

“Our emphasis in the next year will be on debt,” Manski said. “It really ties together all of our grievances, whether it be housing debt or student debt or medical debt.”

Ingram said the fall should reenergize the movement, as students are returning to Boston.

Ben Franta, a graduate student at Harvard University and new Occupy Boston member, said he was once cynical about the effect Occupy could have on society but has changed.

“Lately, I feel it could be really influential,” he said. “I’ve learned about economic, political and social movements of the past, and Occupy is the most exciting thing in this generation.”