Dissent in Denver

Dissent in Denver

If Barack Obama is promishing change from the bottom up, then what’s driving the protests in Denver?

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On the eve of the Democratic National Convention demonstrators gathered in Denver. Some were calling for an end to the war in Iraq; others demanding more open debates. Their promise was to "Recreate ’68," but a relatively small turnout and an intensive effort by the Democratic Party to keep protesters out of the media eye raised the question of the efficacy and meaning of protest at the 2008 DNC. The Nation hit the streets to speak with demonstrators, exploring their goals for the convention and their thoughts on protest and dissent around the 2008 election. The Nation‘s Brett Story spoke with Cindy Milstein, an activist and writer from Vermont and Nic Veroli, a professor of Political Philosophy in New York along with other protesters from groups like Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Alliance for Real Democracy, the Recreate ’68 Alliance and the immigrant coalition the We Are America DNC Alliance.

We cannot back down

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Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

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Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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