For the past several months, local organizers in Denver, Colorado and Minneapolis-St. Paul have been preparing for the Democratic and Republican National Conventions that will take place in their cities in the late summer of 2008. Protests at planned at both conventions, with the Democratic National Convention taking place in Denver from August 25 to 28 and the Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities from September 1 to 4. If past conventions are any indication, by the time the conventions take place a diverse array of groups will host protests, but at this point, the most developed plans are coming from the radical Recreate 68 and RNC Welcoming Committee.
Of the two conventions, plans are more developed at this stage for the Republican National Convention. The RNC Welcoming Committee has been hosting regular meetings (http://www.rncwelcomingcommittee.org/workinggroups) for people in the Twin Cities area, and is also in the process of planning a "pReNC" meeting for August 31 to September 3 of 2007 that will have activists from around the country coming to the Twin Cities to discuss plans for the protest. The group has also compiled links to resources for planning protests, has made a statement of solidarity with immigrants targeted by ICE raids, and has developed a "points of unity" statement and a "call to action."
In Denver, protest plans are being developed by a group called Recreate 68, with the "68" being a reference to the 1968 protests against the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The organization states that it:
...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 institutes!
In response, Recreate 68 is for planning for a variety of protests including a "Festival of Democracy" that will work towards developing alternative frameworks for community problems "without relying on the two party capitalist system" and the "Days of Resistance" that will include four days of protests focusing on the impacts of racism, capitalism, and imperialism in local communities. The organization is calling for people to come from out of town, but is urging "respect for the proud and rich history of organized resistance that exists in Denver."
In addition to the plans already under way in Denver and the Twin Cities, activists around the country have begun to think about the best way to show their opposition to the all too often similar policies of the Democrat and Republican parties. A group called "Unconventional Action" has called for the development of a nationwide network to develop plans to "build a horizontal, inclusive framework for protests that will disrupt" the conventions. The group is calling for activists to begin organizing now, with a particular focus on networking within their region. As an example of this, a group in the Carolinas recently held a "consulta" to discuss specific plans for the convention. The tactics and strategies discussed make it clear that lessons from the 2004 Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention, as well as recent mass mobilizations have been incorporated. Among the more intriguing proposals is to call for the shutdown of both conventions well in advance so that protestors come with that goal in mind and to begin the direct action and civil disobedience on the first day of the protests, rather than waiting until later in the week as has been the case at previous protests.
