To many in the mainstream (and by consequence the general public), the Occupy movement is dead. Even once supportive voices like Bill Maher have joined in the condemnations being flung at Occupy for being too outside the process. Other critics would add that by being outside the structural political system (the voting booths), the movement is pathetically irrelevant.

Having just returned from a productive and enlightening trip to the Occupy National Gathering in Philadelphia, I can with confidence state that the Occupy movement is far from dead.

Upon first arriving in Philadelphia, it was actually difficult at first to find the Occupy encampment. While this may suggest to readers that the protestors were few in number, such was not the case. As it turned out, the morning before I arrived, the police had blocked off and scuffled with protestors at their original park encampment. After the public park was blocked off by police, the protestors had to scatter to prevent arrests from stopping the 5-day demonstrations before noon of the second day.

My arrival to a new park, Franklin Square, was met with a familiar site to any who frequented the occupations of past fall: tables, banners, signs, people sitting around in groups discussing politics, a water station, etc. It was clear the Occupiers were still coming in from their various dispersed locations to this new park. As the Occupiers settled, I began to notice something that was missing from the usual scenery: there were no sleeping bags, tents, or bedrolls to be seen anywhere. As it turned out, the organizers of the national gathering cleverly made arrangements for a secret bedding location with the help of a local institution that will remain undisclosed. The benefit of choosing this plan of action being simply that police can not come onto private property and arrest protesters without the consent of the owners. Additionally, only Occupiers who had actually gained the trust of their fellow demonstrators would be informed of the location.

Perhaps most impressive of all was the range of people at the protests. Protestors from across the United States had converged on this park with an enthusiasm that seemed as undaunted as on September 17 when the protests began. I personally had the privilege to speak with Occupiers from Hartford, San Jose, Santa Fe, Chicago, North Carolina, and New York. There were veterans, students, and even a member of the Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia. Simply put, it was not a gathering of a bunch of “spoiled middle class white kids”.

In terms of programming, the schedule was packed around the clock with a variety of speakers, break-out sessions, trainings, and marches. One such march, a downtown demonstration to show solidarity with Quebec student protestors over student debt and tuition costs, led to a police standoff on Penns Landing. When the insider tip of reinforcements determined to arrest began to spread throughout our group, our resolve and our numbers began to waver. However, even as the protestors were forced to retreat from the bridge, a cheerful protestor climbed the side wall of the bridge and threw confetti down onto the somewhat saddened protestors.

As I think back to that moment of returning from the bridge, I remember the purpose of our march. It was not to fight police, to get violent, or to be arrested. The purpose of the march was to raise awareness to the general public, to the tourists who had come to see the cradle of liberty. As the packed tour buses cheered and the cars honked their horns and raised their thumbs in jubilant support of our cause as we took the streets, it became clear that while our retreat from the bridge may have been a loss to the police, the march in the streets had been a victory for solidarity and democracy.

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Armando Chapelliquen is a recent graduate of Moravian College, where he graduated summa cum laude and received Honors in Political Science and Philosophy for his undergraduate thesis, "Huntington, Impact, and Occupy: The Makings of a New Global Paradigm". His current work revolves heavily around running UnSilentMajority.Org, a site committed to bringing new voices and perspectives to the larger political discourse in the United States and around the world.