ReCreate "68" Updates...The Build Up Is Coming!

But revolution is always unimaginable until it happens. Libération

Recreate 68 Alliance

P.O. Box 6444, Denver, CO 80206, www.recreate68.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 19, 2008

CONTACT:

Glenn Spagnuolo, 720-771-4669

Mark Cohen, 303-733-7037

RECREATE 68 DISPELS MYTHS ABOUT DNC PLANS

City refuses to meet with Department of Justice to rectify potential conflicts

DENVER, May 19, 2008-Representatives of the Recreate 68 Alliance, which is coordinating demonstrations around the Democratic National Convention, announced today that it had to obtain permits from the State of Colorado for the west steps of the State Capitol Building and Lincoln Park for Sunday, August 24, the day before the DNC, as a venue to stage a massive antiwar protest. This action became necessary because the city of Denver allowed a party organizer for the DNC Host Committee-a private, well-funded organization-to apply for and obtain a permit for Civic Center Park for that date, shutting the public out of the largest public park in downtown Denver. In addition, the City had refused to engage in dialogue with R68 to resolve the issue as promised.

As Glenn Spagnuolo of R68 explained, despite reports to the contrary, R68 has never threatened conflict with the Host Committee. "We only pointed out, based on past experience," Spagnuolo said, "that the city, by denying us a place to put the thousands of people expected for this event, was creating the potential for conflict. The City promised to work with groups who did not obtain permits to assure their voices are heard during the convention, this did not occur." R68 asked the city to discuss this situation with them, after being rebuffed, R68 worked with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to try to arrange a meeting. The city refused the requests not only of R68 but of the DOJ as well.

"Our goal from the beginning," said R68 spokesperson Mark Cohen, "has been to create a safe space for people to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights. Civic Center Park would have been the most appropriate space-public parks are for the public. Since the city has denied its use to the public, R68 has obtained permits from the State of Colorado in order to avoid unnecessary conflict."

Therefore, to avert conflict and assure that people will be able to safely and peacefully gather to express their concerns about the war, R68 obtained the state permits. R68 members Larry Hales and Carlo Garcia, both of whom have family members serving in Iraq, said that people have not only a right but a responsibility to bring their concerns about the ongoing war to the attention of convention delegates and elected officials. "We have been negotiating with the city in good faith for a year and a half," Hales said. "We wish we could say the same for them. But we are doing everything in our power to assure people that they can exercise their Constitutional rights."

Denver could face a “dangerous situation” on the first day of the Democratic National Convention, war protesters said Thursday, after losing a coveted permit for Civic Center to the convention host committee.

“When things blow up because the police have to enforce a permit that the Democrats got, don’t blame us for that,” said Glenn Spagnuolo, an organizer for the Re-create 68 Alliance.

“Blame the Democrats for trying to silence dissent in the city of Denver.”

The lottery for permits to protest, pray or hold other events in city parks during the DNC Aug. 24 through 28 resumed Thursday after the city bungled the drawing Tuesday by accidentally leaving out some of the applicants’ names.

The do-over went smoothly.

But when Jenny Anderson, event planner for the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee, won the permit for Civic Center for a kick-off Aug. 24, Spagnuolo accused the committee of creating a “very serious, dangerous situation . . . for everybody.”

Re-create 68 - which has promised demonstrations that will rival those at the bloody 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago - will be at Civic Center on Aug. 24, with or without a permit, he said.

War protesters promised a massive conflict at Civic Center on the eve of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, after losing in a lottery process Thursday that awarded a permit for the park to the party planner for Denver’s host committee.

“We’re having our protest at Civic Center,” said a livid Glenn Spagnuolo, a lead organizer for the group Re-create 68. “We’re not going to give up Civic Center park to the Democrats. . . . They are creating a very dangerous situation.”

Re-create 68 and its affiliates packed the random lottery with applications to better its chances, but the single entry by Jenny Anderson for the host committee won for Sunday, Aug. 24. The convention will be held Aug. 25-28 at the Pepsi Center.

Spagnuolo has been meeting monthly with city officials for a year, hoping to win the right to use Civic Center throughout the convention. He says 50,000 war protesters are coming for a march from Civic Center to the Pepsi Center on Aug. 24.

He said Thursday that he would not respect the host committee’s permit and would occupy the park, even if it forced police to intervene.

Referring to the $50 million in federal security money slated for the convention, Spagnuolo said Denver police would need “$25 million to protect the Pepsi Center and $25 million to protect Civic Center.”

Denver Post Downplays Recreate 68 While Criticizing Rush Limbaugh

By P.J. Gladnick | April 26, 2008 - 10:13 ET

The Denver Post has managed the amazing feat of criticizing Rush Limbaugh for supposedly calling for riots at this summer's Democrat convention in Denver while completely downplaying the role of the very organization calling for recreating 68 and all the problems of Chicago '68 that implies in their article provocatively titled Limbaugh dreams of DNC riot:

Rush Limbaugh says he is not calling for a riot in Denver during the Democratic National Convention — he only "dreams" of it, to the tune of "White Christmas."

The conservative talker discussed the possibility of Mile High unrest in August on his national radio show for a second day in a row Thursday.

"Now, I am not inspiring or inciting riots. I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming of riots in Denver," he said mimicking the holiday tune.

What the Denver Post failed to mention is that Rush sang that in an entirely satirical manner in response to a caller named Lisa on Thursday who accused Rush of being racist for having sung the tune, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas." Since the caller also accused Rush of inciting riots in Denver because he has pointed out that Al Sharpton threatened demonstrations at that convention if Barack Obama fails to be nominated, Rush turned both accusations into a parody with "I'm Dreaming of Riots" in order to poke fun at both her accusations. Your humble correspondent heard this live on the air Thursday at a little before 1:00 PM and is surprised that the Denver Post has not bothered to do even the most basic research into the background of this.

Most amazing is that the Denver Post quoted an organizer of the organization Recreate 68 (symbol above) that does plan demonstrations in Denver but only as a way to slam Limbaugh:

Glenn Spagnuolo, an organizer with the protest group Re-create 68, called Limbaugh "a fool." We don't need another 5,000 illiterate Limbaugh listeners coming to Colorado," he said, mocking a comment this week by state Rep. Douglas Bruce, R-Colorado Springs, who called migrant workers "illiterate peasants" as he debated a bill to accommodate up to 5,000 guest workers in the state.

The only other mention of Recreate 68 was a quote by local talk show host, John Andrews, critical of that organization:

"Look, nobody seriously wants violence and civil disobedience at the Denver convention," he said. "Rush is just saying, 'Make our day'; if, in fact, the Re-create 68 hooligans or the Al Sharpton street toughs or anybody else wants to disrupt the convention, they're going to hurt Democrats' chances in the fall."

In stark contrast to the media outrage about Limbaugh's out of context remarks, there is a virtual wall of silence in the mainstream media about the organization actually planning demonstrations in Denver, Recreate 68. A visit to the Recreate 68 web page, Street Tactics, includes a link to their Action Planning Manual page which after you click on it you can see is also called "The Ruckus Action Planning Manual."

Of course, if you based your information solely on the misleading Denver Post article, you would have thought that Rush Limbaugh himself was the author of "The Ruckus Planning Action Manual."

It has been some time since our last e-news flash and much has been accomplished since, so sorry for the length. Below is just a small part of the hard work that R-68 members have done. We need your help in this historic endeavor so find away to get to a working meeting or contact R-68 and find away to help. Everyone has an equal voice, so get involved.

1. New meeting locations

2. Free City

3. R-68/ACLU lawsuit

4. Dead Prez Benefit Shows

5. Department of Justice Press Conference

6. R-68 Activist Networking site / New Face Book site

7. Fundraising

8. National Calls to Action

1. New Meeting Locations

For all of the committed community members who have difficulty making the trip to Denver every Thursday night for our working meetings, we now have working meetings in Boulder and Ft. Collins to make travel easier.

Monday Nights at 7 pm:

The Cup Cafe

1521 Pearl Street, Boulder

For more info call Carlo at 305-213-8012

Wednesday Nights at 8:30 pm:

Alley Cat Cafe (Downstairs)

120 1/2 W. Laurel Street (In the alley behind Pizza Casbah), Ft. Collins

Central R-68 Meeting:

Thursday Nights at 6:30 pm:

Basement of the Gypsy House Cafe

1290 Marion Street, Denver

2. Free City

On April 9, 2008 members of the R-68 Alliance held a press conference renaming Civic Center Park to "Free City Park" in order to discuss some of our values. Click on the link below for some of the media coverage of the event.

http://recreate68.org/album1_dnc_040.htm

3. R-68 / ACLU Lawsuit

On May 2, 2008 Recreate 68 and the ACLU filed a lawsuit to force the City of Denver and the U.S. Secret Service to announce their security plans and begin the processing of permit applications for protest activities. Click on the link below for additional information and media coverage.

http://recreate68.org/album1_dnc_041.htm

4. Dead Prez Benefit Shows

On May 6 & 7, 2008 Dead Prez, one of the best and most influential political hip-hop acts performed two benefit concerts for R-68. We would like to thank Carlo Garcia and Ben Kaufman from 421 Productions for all of their hard work pull this together. If this is the level of entertainment we arrange prior to the convention, you can only imagine what is in store for you all during the convention at the Festival of Democracy!

5. Department of Justice Press Conference

On May 19, 2008 R-68 had a press conference discussing the City of Denver's attempts to prevent the City's largest anti-war protest from occurring and their refusal of an invitations from the Department of Justice to facilitate talks between R-68, the Secret Service and themselves. Click on the below link for more information and coverage of the event.

http://recreate68.org/album1_dnc_041.htm

6. R-68 Activists Networking Site and new Face Book Site

R-68 has created two new ways for activists to communicate and network with each other. the my populi site is a new opportunity run by R-68 members. Get involved, get active!

My Populi: http://www.mypopuli.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/group.php?qid=10954348521

7. Fundraising

It is important for all of us to make what contributions we can afford to this effort. We will be feeding, housing and providing medical care for a whole community, not to mention the protest and the Festival of Democracy. Anything you can spare would help. Just skip a coffee for a day and send the spare cash to R-68. Listed below is the P.O. Box to send donations and a donation letter you can use to show friends in order to convince them to donate. This task is all of our responsibility.

P.O. Box:

Recreate 68

PO Box 6444, Denver, CO 80206

Fundraising letter:

Prospective Donor:

Why Recreate 68? Recreate 68's mission is to restore real democracy in this country, by "recreating" the spirit of mass political participation, and the ability of mass movements to bring about progressive social change, that existed in the 60s. A spirit of democracy that brought about profound changes in this country, changes that made it possible now for the leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination to be a white woman and a black man-something unimaginable in, say, 1958.

That spirit has been lost in recent decades, as the right has tried to roll back the gains of the 60s. But the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the disastrous economic policies of the Bush administration, have raised awareness and opened new space for the recreation of a mass movement for positive change.

Recognizing this opportunity, Recreate 68 came together at the beginning of 2007 in anticipation of Denver being awarded the Democratic National Convention. The members of the group, all longtime activists in the Denver community, will use this national event as a catalyst to bring new people into existing social change organizations, and to involve more people in mass political activism.

Recreate 68 will sponsor and support mass demonstrations during the convention, demonstrations calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq, for immigrant rights, for prisoner's rights, for combating global warming, for an affordable health care system and for real educational reform. We will also provide housing and other support services for people coming from out of town for these demonstrations.

But we will devote equal energy to creating a five-day Festival of Democracy, during which workshops, trainings, demonstrations, teach-ins and networking activities will help people create community-based alternatives to a failed two-party system, that will last well beyond the event.

During the festival, R68 will provide a free food program for the homeless, free entertainment, including national and local music groups and speakers, a free 24/7 health clinic for economically disadvantaged community members, legal support and a "Know Your Rights" legal clinic for oppressed communities and widespread coverage of the festival through alternative media. The other events at the Festival will be created and led by community-based organizations. The experience of participating in democracy together for this major event will carry over past the convention to allow these organizations to work together, and support each other, in the coming years. R68 will continue to work with these organizations to carry this work forward. We will also have evaluation forms, on line and hard copy, for people to give feedback on the Festival and projects that come out of it. Groups who create community-run institutions will be invited back to Denver in a year's time to share their experiences.

Among the projects that will come out of this event, in Denver and other cities, are community health clinics, alternative schooling options, after-school activities, free breakfast programs for youth, alternative media opportunities, community centers focused on social justice issues, among others.

To accomplish these goals, R68 has:

· Helped train and create a team of street medics, and Doc's Place, a free 24/7 health clinic

· Worked with the National Lawyers Guild to create the People's Law Project, to provide legal observers and legal support during and after the DNC, and to challenge restrictions on First Amendment rights, in addition to creating a "Know Your Rights" legal clinic to help educate the public.

· Worked with Free Speech TV and other independent media to revitalize independent media in Denver and Colorado

· Held community meetings, coordinated with community-based groups throughout the metro area and nationally as well, and formed R68 groups in other Front Range communities and other cities around the country to mobilize for the convention and the Festival.

· Won endorsement and support from United for Peace and Justice, Code Pink, School of the Americas Watch, Troops Out Now and other national organizations.

In keeping with its goals, R68 operates on the basis of participatory democracy. Committees work on specific projects, but report back to the larger group on a regular basis. A core organizing group carries out day to day work, guided by the decisions of the larger group. R68 is incorporated as Colorado non-profit, but has no paid staff; all work is carried out by volunteers.

The energy, enthusiasm and time to create a successful event all exist. The remaining ingredient is, of course, money. We hope you will support Recreate 68 in moving forward a vision of real democracy in America.

Solidarity with a vision,

The R68 Organizing Committee

8. National Calls to Action

Below is listed some, but ot all of the events taking place at the Convention. This is a solidarity movement so please plan on attending all of the events for maximum numbers.

Denver's Largest Anti-war Protest, Sunday August 24: http://recreate68.org/album1_dnc_003.htm

Prisoner Rights March and Rally, Monday August 25: http://recreate68.org/album1_dnc_007.htm

Poor People's "Shake Your Money Maker" event,

Monday August 25: http://recreate68.org/album1_dnc_006.htm

Immigration Rally and March Tuesday August 26: Link to come soon.

"Doc's Place" Free Health Clinic: http://recreate68.org/album1_dnc_033.htm

Free Public Feeds: http://recreate68.org/album1_dnc_035.htm

The Festival of Democracy: http://recreate68.org/album1_dnc_004.htm

Housing for out-of-town activists (If you are able to help with space please let us know): housing@recreate68.org

There is now reason not to be involved. If you do not have the time, drop a dime and help with the fundraising!

2. Plan Protests at the Democratic National Convention August 25-29 Denver

What if people came forward and put out a political pole in opposition to the Democratic convention in August? What if THIS was the new terms of things? The Democratic nominee in 2008 will not speak for us. We have to challenge their accommodation to the Bush program.

World Can’t Wait is endorsing the ReCreate 68 coalition, and forming our own working group for Denver.

Tens of thousands, following the lead of World Can't Wait over the last three years, have taken bold and courageous action to represent the sentiments of millions. At this critical juncture, more than words, and more than actions are needed.

We, as people of conscience, must invest all we can in resisting what our government is doing now.

World Can't Wait is resolute in our determination to halt the whole Bush program. Our immediate goal to raise $24,000 in 24 hours is essential to continue the resistance movement, and direct energies to really bring about the change people want.

If you are watching...

An Israeli newspaper report that Bush & Cheney are ready to attack Iran after Bush calls Iran "the biggest threat to peace"...Clinton saying she would "totally obliterate" Iran...Pelosi and Hoyer agreeing that they would leave "all options on the table" (except impeachment).

and asking who will be in the streets, the newspapers, the classrooms and in public life working to stop such a disaster...

US veterans of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" committing suicide in record numbers...40,000 reservists get call-ups this week...the military claiming recruitment numbers are up for the first time in years...Christian fundamentalists grooming "warriors for Christ" by organizing the officer corps.

and asking who will stop the squandering of the lives of 17-year olds they're pulling into the endless "war on terror" and lead people in this country to act to stop this illegitimate occupation...

Bush regime "principals" and Bush himself admittinig they discussed torture on specific detainees in the White House. Ashcroft and dissenting FBI agents worrying that there could be war crimes prosecutions. The US holding 2500 juveniles in detention facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan and Quantanamo, becoming a pariah in the world for making torture legal.

and asking who will act with the moral certainty that this is wrong, and organize millions to demand these war crimes by stopped and punished...

I have an answer. World Can't Wait has a program with immediate plans to focus energies on the key "faultlines" in the cracking facade. Continue.

Your generous donations today will allow us to pursue a donor for matching funds, literally doubling the impact!

Together, we can BE the CHANGE others are only hoping for! Together, we will reach our goal of $24,000 in 24 hours not only to continue the resistance movement, but UNLEASH it as never before at this opportune time!

Sincerely, Debra Sweet, Director, the World Can't Wait

P.S. Make sure to forward this to your friends, family, and co-workers. You can use this easy form.

World Can't Wait - info@worldcantwait.org - 866.973.4463