You could hear the roar of the crowd blocks away.

Festival Park in downtown Greensboro was teeming with protest signs, people and an atmosphere of community created by the participants of Occupy Greensboro.

“I believe in creating economic, racial, gender and social justice,” said John St. Louis, a junior at Guilford, when asked why hir (gender neutral pronoun) was part of the Occupation. “And I don’t believe the current system is set up to create those.”

Brandon Sampson, a participant in the Occupation, strongly believes that people need to be concerned with the unbalanced state of our society. And like so many participants, he wants people to comprehend their power to ignite change.

Some think the protesters are unsolicitedly voicing their discontent with the wealthy.

The protesters are not necessarily angry with wealthy individuals. They are upset that our current system allows and supports a sliver of people becoming wealthy, while poverty still flourishes.

This is not the wealthy vs. the poor. This is the people vs. the system. The wealthy and the poor are both supporting the movement.

“A lot of Guilford students and people in this country do not have access to the same wealth and money I’ve had,” said St. Louis.

Contrary to negative stereotypes of protesters, the participants of Occupy Greensboro are peacefully demonstrating their dissatisfaction with the inequalities that exist today.

“They are taking action,” said Rosie Butchart, an observer of the Occupation. “They aren’t just sitting around complaining.”

The environment at Festival Park was not one filled with hatred and chaos. It was composed of people uniting to support their desires for changes in our society.

St. Louis explained that the issues being protested are not new. We have been wanting human equality for ages.

Instead of individually promoting the need for change, people are uniting to fight for their rights. The familiar “99 percent” slogan embodies the diversity of the Occupation. This is a movement that spans ethnic groups, families and ages.

We have seen the people in New York who wear crazy costumes, and the protesters who have decided against showering.

The fashion police may disagree, but Occupation Greensboro did not look like a Halloween party, and it did not smell like a reenactment of Woodstock.

I bet most of the Occupy movements are similar.

The majority of participants are not trying to enrage people. They are trying to get people off their butts.

Discrimination exists in our society. The American economic system is unfair to the majority of its citizens and people are collectively voicing their frustrations.

Bobby Pacheco, a sophomore, said, “Wall Street has lawyers to defend them, Main Street has us.” 

Occupy Greensboro is an organization that is evolving.

“They have a lot of room to grow, and that’s a really great thing,” said St. Louis.

Contributing to this growth is important to the supporters of the movement. The Occupation does not have all the answers, but it is asking the questions.