( CNN ) -- People are turning . The misery is too widespread . The privileged are too brazen . The injustice too apparent . On Wall Street , young students have created a free democratic space in a place they call Liberty Square . They protest that Wall Street has been rescued , but there is no help for most Americans . In a moving statement , they presented their view : `` We are the 99 % . We are getting kicked out of our homes . We are forced to choose between groceries and rent . We are denied quality medical care . We are suffering from environmental pollution . We are working long hours for little pay and no rights , if we are working at all . We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything . We are the 99 % . '' Their demonstrators were scorned in the beginning . They had no clear demands . They were organized with no formal structure . They were squatting out in the rain , not allowed tents or bedding . But they understood the value of nonviolence . In the face of pepper spray and police provocation , they stayed disciplined . As they were being dragged away to be arrested , they said to the police : `` We are the 99 % . We are fighting for your pensions . You should stand with us . '' They made no demands but their analysis was dead on . The wealthiest few are capturing all the rewards of growth in this society , while the large majority falls behind . Wall Street got bailed out , rescued without being reorganized , while homeowners were left to fend for themselves . Inequality has reached levels not seen since before the Great Depression . With this kind of inequality -- with the top 1 % having as much income as the bottom 60 % , according to the Campaign for America 's Future -- the economy does n't work well . The rich turn to speculation . The middle class sinks . And the country suffers . Now conservatives are talking about sending the bill for Wall Street 's excesses to the most vulnerable -- cutting Medicare and Social Security , slashing spending on public education . Many of the kids in Occupy Wall Street are graduating from college with thousands in college debt and no jobs are to be found . They are the 99 % . The discipline of their demonstrations , the clarity of their moral voice , has touched a chord . Now groups are organizing to occupy financial districts all over the world . I 've been to many of the occupy sites : in New York , Chicago , Washington DC , Phoenix , Atlanta , just last month in London . I 've seen the faces and places of the Occupy movement . But Occupy is more than places . Occupy is a spirit whose time has come , capturing the people and the world 's imagination with a keen focus on the gaps of inequality , unfairness and corruption . The Occupiers ' cause is a just cause , a moral cause . It can not and will not be dismissed , but heard . Listen to the message : . They are the canary in the mine warning us of the dangers ... Too few have too much ; too many have too little ; too much poverty , too much wanting in the land of plenty ; too many costly wars . Biblically , Jesus was an occupier . Born under occupation , facing a death warrant on his life , He fled to Egypt -- an immigrant , a political refugee . He represented hope for the oppressed ; his mission was to serve the poor . He challenged the prevailing ethos and power of Rome . Gandhi was an occupier . He marched to the sea protesting colonialism and British occupation . He prevailed . Mandela was an occupier , his country occupied by the ruthlessness of apartheid . But Mandela occupied his jail cell on Robben Island , turning it into a library , a center for peaceful , non-violent revolution . He prevailed . Dr. King was an occupier , our country occupied by the vicious and divisive legal segregation . His last great campaign was the Poor People 's Campaign , aimed at occupying the Mall in the nation 's Capitol to address abounding poverty , the demands for a job or an income for all , health care for all . When Dr. King was shot down on April 4 , the campaign moved on to Washington DC , setting up Resurrection City and occupying the nation 's Capitol in tents . It was the precursor to today 's Occupy movement . We prevailed . Deep into a recession that nearly drove the world economy over the brink in 2008 , the eurozone crisis and the recent downgrades of European countries remind us ever to starkly that the dangers of economic collapse remain with us today . Banks got bailed out ; people got left out . Banks are making record profits and issuing billions in executive compensation bonuses again . But protestors are criminalized -- homeowners are still being foreclosed on while others find themselves `` underwater '' with debt exceeding the value of their homes . Student loan debt now exceeds credit card debt , and our youth are finding it increasingly difficult to enter , and stay in , college . Big banks are still not lending to small businesses . Yet for all of the excess and scandalous trading practices and policies , not a single top executive from a U.S. bank has gone to jail for their crimes of corruption and greed that drove the global economy to the brink of disaster . In this mirror , a movement for change is building across the country . It was reported that the Wall Street traders drank champagne in their offices as they looked down on the drenched and straggly demonstrators in Liberty Square . They should hold their scorn . This is how change takes place . The courageous stand up -- and more and more people come to their side . The movement for jobs and justice has started up again . As we commemorate Dr. King 's birthday this month , we occupy . We are not just dreaming , we are occupying . Occupying until justice rolls down like mighty water . Occupying until a new day of justice appears . Occupying until the bright morning appears . Occupying until peace and love , hope and justice prevails in our land . Keep hope alive . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Reverend Jesse Jackson .
Rev . Jesse Jackson supports the non-violent protests that took place on Wall Street . He thinks the Occupy movements have spotted the widening gap between rich and poor . Comment: Jackson calls for further movements to commemorate Dr. King 's birthday this month .