Grassroots Action

Denver became the hub of antiwar activities last week, as thousands of activists and the major antiwar groups in the US staged their own protests and, to some extent, ‘counter-convention’ to the DNC. UFPJ stood at the intersection of a number of these different events, participating through panel discussions and tabling at the PDA’s headquarters in downtown Denver, marching and helping to organize the IVAW-Tent State March to the Pepsi Center, and leafleting to delegates outside the Convention Center, amongst a host of other activities.

Perhaps, the events in Denver signaled to all that the antiwar Left had, at its root, a great amount of diversity, with a number of various groups building their own constituencies and staging their own events and activities during the DNC. The Progressive Democrats of America [PDA] were stationed at a Presbyterian Church in downtown Denver for four days, hosting several panels and lecture discussions with both important group advocates of antiwar activities, healthcare reform, and media matters, as well as renowned activists. Tent State organizers had scheduled a week’s worth of their own events at Cuervanaca Park near Coors Field, bringing at least a thousand students to Denver. The Iraq Veterans Against the War had perhaps the most successful week, organizing a Rage Against The Machine-Flobots concert at the Denver Coliseum, in which 10,000 people were in attendance, and later staging a march from the Coliseum to the DNC’s headquarters at the Pepsi Center with the support of between 3,000 to 5,000 fellow activists. The list goes on, too: Code Pink, for instance, participated in all of the above-mentioned events, but also had their own base located at the Mercury Café not far from the heart of Denver.

UFPJ was able to participate in almost all of these events and activities, having a different kind of participation in each of them. Reflections on specific activities and events will follow shortly…