By Tiffany Marceaux, The Lens contributing opinion writer
Over the past two months, both the numbers and the excitement at Duncan Plaza (symbolically renamed Avery Alexander Plaza, in honor of the late civil rights leader and state legislator) have ebbed and flowed. Seasoned activists and first-timers have come and gone; an influx of homeless people proved challenging, and disorganization and infighting persisted right up to the moment, Tuesday night, when city police threw out the last of us – a motley crew ranging from stubborn optimists to the certifiably masochistic.
The thing about Occupy NOLA is that it is a product of New Orleans. This city is a seething, borderline schizophrenic mass of contradictions that somehow, by sheer force of will, manages to hold itself together no matter what ugliness is thrown our way. It is a city where crime and corruption live side by side with a commitment to community and beloved traditions. It is beautiful and messy, and Occupy NOLA is its spitting image.
