TAMPA—The sun starts to rise over the skyscrapers of downtown Tampa, revealing bundles of blankets and pillows on the sidewalk outside Curtis Hixon Park. As the sun ascends, the bundles take form, revealing people sleeping on the pavement.
The sidewalk slumberers look like more like a camp of homeless people than the local version of a global protest movement which hopes to improve human society.
One by one the shapes stir as sleeping figures awaken, gazing around bleary-eyed in the chilly morning air. They gather up their bedding before six each morning, to avoid arrest by local police.
The sleepers stand stiffly as they pack belongings into plastic bags, piled neatly on the sidewalk. After a few minutes, someone arrives with cartons of coffee and donuts, bringing exclamations of joy and appreciation.
It is still only half light, but the day has begun for members of Occupy Tampa, a local representation of the “Occupy” movement that has spread around the world.
Despite recent media focus on New York, Oakland and Portland, Occupy Tampa is perhaps representative of the hundreds of smaller gatherings conducted across the country. Among the crowd are lawyers and housewives, college students and military veterans, employed and unemployed people. Most of the participants seem to be mid-20s and older.
