I witnessed the waning of Occupy Philly's encampment, but also saw what looks to me like a pattern of energy and development that suggests that occupy evictions will lead to a Metamorphosis of the Occupy Movement to something that not only walks but flies, that is more beautiful, more powerful than anything we have seen so far.

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I witnessed the waning of Occupy Philly's encampment, but also saw what looks to me like a pattern of energy and development that suggests that occupy evictions will lead to a Metamorphosis of the Occupy Movement to something that not only walks but flies, that is more beautiful, more powerful than anything we have seen so far.

Celebratory Dancing and singing at Occupy Philly in anticipation to eviction photo by rob kall

Video of Dancing and Celebration at Occupy Philly

I spent 11 hours at Occupy Philly last night, from 6:00 PM through 5:00 PM, staying in solidarity as a journalist, with OEN colleague Cheryl Biren,  there to report the threatened eviction of the occupiers from the occupied territory at Dilworth Plaza, at the foot of Philly's city hall. 

I've been to the Occupy Philly encampment many times, to donate food or clothing, to interview members of different working groups, and sometimes just to be there and soak in the vibes of courageous, mostly young people, mostly out of work, participating in the embryonic emergence of a revolutionary new movement. 

Last night, things were very different. The place felt and looked like a ghost town as I walked through the now familiar "neighborhoods" of this occupy village. 

people packed, moving and remnants of a tent on the right photo by rob kall

Fairly confident that the police would not move into action at the 5 PM time when the permit for Occupy Philly expired, I arrived at 6 PM.  A quick walk around the circumference of Occupy Philly revealed that many, many tents, large and small had already been removed. The biggest resource tents were gone, assumedly with supplies and food. 

Not all the Occupy Philly folk were dancing. Some built a fortress from wood pallettes photo by rob kall

and stayed within them.  photo by rob kall

When I first arrived, there were about 300 people, in a large crowd, at the front of the Plaza. There were more police than usual-- plain-clothes and uniformed. There were also a slew  of local news vans, the ones with the big antennas on the top. 

I'd headed down to Occupy Philly with the intention to cover what was happening as a journalist, but knowing that across the US, journalists have been arrested along with the protesters and occupiers they were covering. So I stopped on the way at an automatic teller machine and withdrew $200, in case I needed bail. You never know. 

Once I arrived and started finding and talking with the people I'd met, interviewed on my radio station and hung with, it seemed pretty clear that the police were expected to wait out the occupiers and wait for attrition to wear them down. It was working. Already, many of the homeless occupiers had moved to Port Richmond. The number of tents on the plaza was already way down. By midnight, there were about 100 people grouped together on the steps where those who were going to resist eviction had resolved to stay. The food working group was handing out all kinds of food and beverages. The safety and medic working groups were there in strong numbers.  People were singing, playing drums, literally celebrating. 

Food working group sends food to a newly developing encampment for the homeless. photo by rob kall

A contingent of supporting occupiers from Occupy Wall Street, Zucotti Park New York joined the crowd and started dancing, playing drums and singing, really raising the energy of the group. They exultantly spoke of how beautiful it was, that Occupy Philly could go out celebrating, dancing and that they hadn't had a chance to do that at Zuccotti Park. 

Occupy Philly people raised questions. Should they be putting themselves at risk for noise violations? The crowd voted to keep it going. They were going to be arrested anyway. Cheryl speculated observed that it would be ironic if, after all the time the occupiers had spent sleeping in tents, occupying the site, they were arrested for making noise, instead of engaging in the civil resistance of holding their ground. 

 One plainclothes cop was clearly heard saying he wanted to "arrest the bastards now."  But another officer had told me it wasn't happening tonight. I've had enough experience with these police misleading activists so I didn't buy it. It seemed that, if the police were going to do arrests at Occupy Philly, it would be in the wee hours of the morning, enough before dawn so arrests and cleanup would not affect business traffic in the nearby vicinity. So we resolved to stay until 5:00 AM, since any later, it would affect morning traffic. 

OEN former managing editor Cheryl Biren  and I talking with Lt. O'Brien. We asked what he thought of the UC Davis use of Pepper spray. His response-- a mistake. Image a screen grab from live feed. 

The police shift change was coming at 3:00 AM. We speculated that then, with double the number of police present, that might be when the eviction might be initiated. The time came and went quietly. 

By 4:00 AM, there were under 50 occupiers visible at the Plaza. Some had gone off into nearby tents. Some were sleeping out on or in front of the steps. It seemed that this time might be when the police would come, but no. Things were very quiet. We had reports from LA from our correspondent, Linda Milazzo, that there were thousands of people supporting the Occupy LA encampment. 

Occupy Wall Street allies from NYC Zuccotti Park train Occupy Philly people in peaceful, non-violent civil disobedience-- at about 4:00 AM.  photo by rob kall

During my 11 hours at Occupy Philly (Cheryl Biren arrived at least two hours earlier) I learned that there were plans for a gathering a Rittenhouse Square for the following day, to reconnoiter, gather people and make plans, and then, the following day to meet in Kensington. We'd seen people packing and moving possessions and supplies. 

My take is that the police will probably move in and start the evictions in the next day or two, perhaps when the occupiers are at the meetings away from the Dilworth Plaza, or perhaps, in the middle of the night Tuesday or Wednesday morning, when it is likely the numbers will be even lower. That's the way police departments trying to keep a low profile are doing it. 

Once they clear the Plaza, it will be mostly closed for construction, unlike Zuccotti Park where it was re-opened, but tents and back-packs were banned. 

This eviction process has hit many of the biggest Occupy Wall Street locations. I don't think it forebodes the end of the movement. Rather, it signifies a new stage that will emerge. Think of it as similar to a caterpillar going into a cocoon. The activity seems to cease. Time passes, and then, an incredible, magical metamorphosis occurs and a butterfly or moth emerges, ready to fly instead of walk. 

There were many signs at Occupy Philly stating "the movement is an idea that cannot be evicted." If you've seen caterpillar cocoons, you know how dingy and grey they can look. You don't see the incredible transformation happening inside. I am certain that the Occupy movement is going through a metamorphosis stage-- one that will shock and amaze the world-- one that will take the movement to a higher, soaring level. 

I know because I've gotten to know the people who make up the movement. I've seen their energy, their integrity, their passion and believe in a future that they will grasp and intentionally transform. They will do it as Occupy Philly faced the end of the encampment phase of their journey-- joyfully dancing, singing taking care of each other. One might look at the eviction of Occupy Philly through attrition as a sad or negative event. I saw something very different-- an energy, hope and intensity that will continue to shine, continue to give hope to the millions of 99 percenters who are being screwed by corporations, disavowed and betrayed by legislators and abused by police. 

I have to give Philly's mayor Nutter and the leadership of the Philadelphia police department credit for avoiding violence and treating the occupiers better than most other cities. 

I'm sure in the next day or two, Occupy Philly, the encampment will be gone. I do not mourn the loss of a caterpillar gone to cocoon. I will not mourn the loss of the old Occupy Philly. One member of their legal team mentioned an exciting idea-- flash Occupations... tents placed for a short time, with people occupying-- on the lawns of billionaires, in the high rises of the biggest corporate offenders. It made me think of the fake cardboard TVs you sometimes see in furniture stores. They could do the same thing with tents. Flash Occupations is just one idea. The movement will grow and mature and diversify, as the Is Occupy Wall Street Fetishizing  of The Public Square fades and transforms. These are interesting times, worthy of your participation. 

Submitters Bio:

Rob Kall is executive editor, publisher and site architect of OpEdNews.com, Host of the Rob Kall Bottom Up Radio Show (WNJC 1360 AM), President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com

With his experience as architect and founder of a technorati top 100 blog, he is also a new media / social media consultant and trainer for corporations, non-profits, entrepreneurs and authors.

Rob is a frequent Speaker on the bottom up revolution, politics, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates, and optimizing tapping the power of new media. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.

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