Altagracia Guzman, 81, Marches From Washington Heights To Wall Street With Occupy Protesters

[Kadie]

Altagracia Guzman, 81, Marches From Washington Heights To Wall Street With Occupy Protesters
First Posted: 11/8/11 08:55 AM ET Updated: 11/8/11 12:16 PM ET



Altagracia Guzman, 81, walked slowly but purposefully from northern Manhattan to the financial district, virtually the entire length of the island, in an Occupy Wall Street demonstration intended to introduce more Latinos and blacks to the cause.

"When I came here 45 years ago there was inequality and racism, and still to this day the same is happening, and some of it has even gotten worse," Guzman, a native of Cuba, said in Spanish.

Answering criticism that the burgeoning Occupy Wall Street movement has remained largely white and young, hundreds of black and Latino residents of all ages joined local elected officials Monday in an 11-mile march from the tenements of Upper Manhattan to the high-rises of the financial district.

Marching to the beat of drums and horns, black and Latino community activists, labor leaders and ordinary New Yorkers kicked off their procession in Washington Heights, one of New York's most racially diverse neighborhoods. They dubbed Monday's march the "End to End for 99 percent," a reference to its path from one end of the Manhattan to the other.

Guzman, like many other protesters, seemed to break the mold of the typical Occupiers -- who critics say are mostly white and young.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/altagracia-guzman-occupy-wall-street-washington-heights_n_1080829.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. Bless her heart! What a lovely lady! nt