‘Occupying’ the suburbs

When you think about the Occupy movement, you might not picture a group of people sitting in a quiet suburban library, most of whom have mortgages, jobs and at least a few gray hairs.

But that’s exactly who the members of Occupy Littleton are – parents, even grandparents who remember joining hands to encircle Rocky Flats in 1983.

“Rather than just sitting here in the suburbs and feeling depressed, we’re trying to get people together,” said Claire Hanley during a meeting at Southglenn Library Feb. 20. “Let’s change the system. That’s very empowering.”

Although the group has nearly 300 Facebook “likes,” just 15 people attended the last meeting. Five live in Littleton, and the rest are from nearby south-metro suburbs like Parker and Highlands Ranch.

Members say the group’s name is more a reflection of wanting to raise awareness in Littleton, not any specific gripe with the city. They would, however, like Littleton City Council to pass a resolution against the Citizen United 2010 Supreme Court ruling that deregulated political spending by corporations and unions.

“It’s really about fairness,” said Deidre Adams.

Many of the members were first involved with Occupy Denver, but Eric Rothermel said they wanted a venue closer to home to build a community and serve as a conduit to the larger organizations. Since they just started meeting in the cold weather of January, they haven’t actually “occupied” anything yet. But Adams noted that a major goal of the Occupy movement is to reclaim civic spaces as a venue for citizens to make their voices heard.

“When there’s warmer weather, we’ll be in the parks,” said Mikal Whitney. “We want to be more visible to the public.”

Another major focus of Occupy Littleton is non-violence. To that end, they started a working group to study such tactics and are planning a “teach-in” for the public that will feature the Emmy-nominated film “A Force More Powerful,” which explores successful non-violent movements. For more information on that or other Occupy Littleton events, visit www.occupylittleton.org.