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For Grassroots Protests, Big Gains In 2011

From New York to Syria to Cairo, protesters took to the streets and parks and squares in 2011. The demonstrations in Tunisia were right at the beginning of the year.

"You had a situation where people were just feeling disconnected from their leadership at the same time that poverty was increasing," says NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson.

It's a sentiment that fits for many protests, from Yemen to Wall Street. These stories will continue into 2012. There are still crackdowns in Syria and an uncertain political situation in Egypt.

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