Convention protest hit by groups' split
Breakaway activists worried by Re-create 68 tacticsActivists who plan to protest at the Democratic National Convention this summer are splitting with the umbrella organization, Re-create 68, because of concerns over its rhetoric and tactics.
The new coalition, called Alliance for Real Democracy, is a network of local and national groups, including Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice, the American Friends Service Committee, the Green Party of Colorado, the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Colorado Street Medics, and Students for Peace and Justice....
Glenn Spagnuolo, an organizer with Re-create 68, said he doesn't mind the new structure.
"More power to them," he said.
Spagnuolo characterizes the groups that are splitting with his as liberal Democrats who are largely white and middle-to-upper class and want their party to guide the country out of the war in Iraq.
Michael Heaney, a political science professor at the University of Florida who has studied the antiwar movement, looks at the local split against the larger backdrop of the new political scene now that Sen. Barack Obama is the presumptive Democratic nominee.
"This forces them to strategically rethink the whole idea of protest (tactics).
"Do they really want to create chaos in the Democratic Party at a time when the Democrats are poised to nominate the first African-American candidate in history who many are satisfied with?"
If you want conventional wisdom, ask a professor. Especially a "political-science" professor. "New political scene?" The only thing new I've seen is a fresh handsome face -- repeating the same old mantras.
And of course it's always nice to see UFPJ and Code PInk running true to Democratic
lapdog form. At left, Medea Benjamin; below, Leslie Cagan.
Comments (2)
"R-68 agrees with the proposition, POTESTAS IN POPULO, "all power comes from the people." What stands between the people and power are the party machines. The parties were devised as a means to represent the people. Today they represent nobody, not even party members, but only party bureaucracy. The people have been left without appropriate institutions for their representation. We intend to create those institutions!
Join us in the streets of Denver as we resist a two-party system that allows imperialism and racism to continue unrestrained. "
from web site http://www.recreate68.org/
Posted by op | June 10, 2008 6:36 AM
Posted on June 10, 2008 06:36
"Sometimes we need to look back to move forward. In 1968 there existed a spirit of change, the Paris Rebellion, Prague, Chicago, Vietnam, etc. People believed, around the world, that they were capable of taking over the institutions that controlled their lives. The smell of revolution was in the air. Over 1 million college students openly identified as revolutionist. People believed that through mass participation in the movement, it was possible to wrest control from the elite power-holders. They were not willing to accept the loss of their human and civil rights.
Recreate 68 is not a throwback group trying to relieve some vision of glory days long gone. We are predominantly a youthful group that has realized that 40 years later, we have only produced apathy in our communities towards making effective and lasting change. We intend to recreate that need for change and mass participation in the events that shape and control our lives. We intend to recreate that revolutionary feeling and pick-up where our predecessors left off. It is time to reclaim the ideals that we have forgotten and leap forward by stepping back and using that voice inside of us that has been telling us something is seriously wrong, a voice that is shouting for change, a voice that has realized we live in a police state and we have stopped moving forward 40 years ago. When we recreate positives and discard negatives from our collective memories of the past and realize the true power that the people possess, we will have the ability to make 2008 a very special year. This is the true meaning of Recreate 68. Don’t let this historic moment pass you by. Join us on this journey and have your energies and voices heard in the streets of Denver, as we demand change during the DNC in 2008"
white water ahead for obama boat ride ????
Posted by op | June 10, 2008 6:45 AM
Posted on June 10, 2008 06:45