Moreover, the abbey wants Massachusetts residents who supported Occupy Boston to put tents on their front lawns as a symbol, said founding director Lewis Randa.
“The goal is to have as many tents in front yards as the number of tents that have come down’’ in Dewey Square, Randa said. “A reminder of this important movement.’’
Suburban activists stress, though, that Occupy’s message goes beyond camping out. Organizers in Needham, Natick, Newton, and Lexington say the eviction of Boston’s protesters may come as a kind of bittersweet boon, a reenergizing moment for the out-of-city Occupy.
“What we’ll miss is the intense public focus that came with the media attention on the tents,’’ said Harmony Wu, one of the organizers of both Occupy Needham and Occupy the Burbs, a loose-knit coalition of Occupy groups in the region.
“One benefit, though, is that we’ll have more time to focus on electoral pieces, staying focused and organized in the future to effect political change.’’
On Monday evening, 15 protesters gathered in front of a Bank of America branch in Newton Centre, holding signs and waving at the rush-hour traffic as they have since early October. Cars honked their horns in support, with some drivers holding up their fists to show solidarity, as the sign-holders waved in reply.
The group included Margaret Zaleski, a retired judge who said she frequently took food to the Boston encampment. Zaleski, who said she saw firsthand the cost of economic inequality in her Boston courtroom, thinks the Occupy movement will continue to grow. “We are everywhere,’’ she said. “The ideas are there, the issues are there, and people feel the issues.’’
For Wu, 40, a mother of twins, the past 10 or so weeks of Occupy Boston’s presence on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway has meant expending time and energy to keep the Boston site supplied and supported from the outside.
That’s on top of helping to organize the weekly vigils in Newton, and planning a Needham event Saturday.
