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Protesters Banking On Persistence

Organizer April Browning holds a sign as part of the Occupy Lexington protest.
Organizer April Browning holds a sign as part of the Occupy Lexington protest.

It's close to noon and a handful of young demonstrators are assembled on Main Street. That number will swell to 30 or 40 by rush hour. Like their counterparts across the country, the Occupy Lexington Kentucky protesters see a direct connection between Wall Street and their own fortunes. "I have a four-year college degree and I work at a coffee shop," says Greg Capillo, an activist who claims hard economic times have put his hopes for a career, and those of several fellow protesters, on hold. "We did what we were supposed to. We graduated high school. We graduated college. And now we cannot start living our lives the way we're supposed to," Capillo says. 

Organizers say the protests have attracted everyone from the homeless to Marines who say they're having trouble collecting benefits from the government. Laura Guthrie is using what free time she has between two part-time jobs to sit in. 

"The people that have come down have been really supportive and have their own stories. They feel very strongly about their lives and where they sit and the opportunities that are lacking in their lives," she says. 

Capillo and Guthrie say the group plans to stay put indefinitely, with the hope that their persistence will pay off.

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