Ed. note: On Nov. 17, we sent two reporters out to cover the Occupy the Subway protests in the Bronx. This is the story of the rally at Fordham Road. A version of this story appears in this week’s print edition of the Norwood News, which is being distributed throughout the northwest Bronx over the next two days.

At the intersection of Grand Concourse and Fordham Road two weeks ago, about two dozen people showing their support and affiliation with the Occupy Wall Street movement were joined by Bronx State Senator Gustavo Rivera.

“Six months ago, we were not having the conversations that we are having today about economic inequality,” said Rivera before protesters heading downtown to join thousands of others at Foley Square, the final gathering for the Occupy movement’s National Day of Action.

In a movement that began on the opposite end of the city, protesters are sprouting up in the Bronx, where residents represent a highly concentrated slice of the marginalized so-called, “99 percent.”

“The 99 percent live in the Bronx,” said Rivera. “They are the people that I represent.”

The group was an even mix of men and women of different ages and ethnicities.

Handing out copies of the Occupied Wall Street Journal in Spanish, a publication produced by the movement, James Duarte is a student from the Bronx who stressed the importance of bringing the movement north.

“I realized it was about outreach, and bringing the message out to the Bronx,” Duarte said. “This is nothing new for us; the African American and Latino communities have always had the glass ceiling [over our heads].”

Duarte also sees the obstacles many Bronxites have in participating in the movement, like subway fare and time.

“It’s time that many families don’t have,” he said. “If you’re employed you probably have three jobs.”

The complications of joining a movement, however, should not impede your right to protest, Rivera said.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Nov. 16 — the day before Thursday’s National Day of Action and one day after police evicted protesters from their two-month residence at Zuccotti Park — Rivera urged the Bronx community to come out to their local gatherings at several subway stops.

“The median income of the people I represent is $25,000 a year,” he said. “Unemployment hovers around 13 percent. They understand the most the impact that this has on their lives.”

Protester Carlos Rivera, a man in his mid 50s who spoke out on the people’s mike, shared a personal story that lead to him joining the movement. After he had lost his job, he said his bank refused to modify his loan payments.

“I now join the 41,000 homeless people living in this city,” he said.

The group corralled itself into one subway car heading downtown to Foley Square, and participants and passengers on the train exchanged the personal stories that led to them joining the movement.

One story that had heads nodding in agreement regarded the price of Yankees tickets in comparison to the minimum wage jobs that the stadium created.