Occupy Wall Street marks its second anniversary

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It was September 17, 2011 when Occupy Wall Street launched its nationwide movement against corporate greed. Protesters set camp throughout public squares in every major city, including Los Angeles.

"I remember taking donations from moms who were taking care of their kids and they couldn't come down and protest with us," says Claire Moss, a member of OccupyLA's Resource's Committee. "I think when you look at the number of people who cared about what was going on, it was an immense number of people. I don't even know how you could go about measuring the impact."

Although the movement famously fizzled out in the end of 2011, OccupyLA is still active online. New movements were also born from OccupyLA, such as Occupy Fight Foreclosures, which uses education and outreach to bring attention to the nationwide foreclosure crisis. Most OccupyLA marches now follow specific current events, like the Zimmerman Trial verdict and environmental news.

Today, Occupy protesters around the country returned to the spots where they first pitched their tents. In New York where the movement began, tens of thousands have gathered around Zuccotti and Washington Square Park.  For now, OccupyLA plans to look forward by keeping the conversation going.

"I can't see any real change in policy," says Moss. "There are some discussions that are positive. But did we achieve changing the Citizen's United or putting Glass-Steagall back into place? No. So we can't measure ourselves based on those things. But we can measure ourselves based on whether we got people talking."

Studies show that 6 million Californians still live in poverty. The statistic continues to exceed the rest of the country. Perhaps that will give California something to talk about.