OntheWilderSide

KW*

Interesting article from way back on Monday of the convention in Denver. Good coverage of the Green Party Presidential ticket.

DNC: Inside the Protest Zone
By By Matt Brady
Grand Junction CO, Colorado
Monday, August 25, 2008

Denver — Reveling in a turnout that began as hundreds and swelled into at least a thousand protesters, Recreate ’68 members naysayed those who said that the event would go bust with small turnouts and a lack of speakers.

“People seemed to think of us like they think of cockroaches,” Mark Cohen, Recreate ’68 member, said to the crowd. “They weren’t happy for us to be here. But we’re still here.”…

Generally, the voices booming out from the Capitol spoke at length against corporations and that electing a Democrat as opposed to a Republican wasn’t going to better represent the American people or end foreign occupation.

“The Convention is being sponsored by AT&T,” said Cindy Sheehan, famed anti-war activist. “Who do you think they represent?”…

The speaking engagements reached their highest and most interesting fervor when African-American Green Party candidates Cynthia McKinney, for president, and Rosa Clemente, for vice president, took the stage.

The duo wagged a collective finger at the media and public for overlooking the historical significance of the first ever women-of-color ticket in American history, and not just white media.

“There are a lot of black and Latino journalists who are letting us down. How can they not cover American history,” Clemente said. “The media is telling everybody who’s important and who you should listen to.’

Clemente described her campaign as representative of the hip-hop generation, and not just of 50 Cent’s ilk, but the kind of hip-hop that acts as a tool for social and political expression.

“We are the hip-hop generation,” Clemente said. “We walk to the mic, speak loudly and speak clearly with a political agenda. And that agenda is freedom.”

McKinney, the first Green Party presidential candidate since Ralph Nader, said neither Republicans nor Democrats offered any substantial change.

“We can see clearly now who the real stick-up artists are and that’s why we’re in Denver. We know that a vote for Democrats is a vote for more war,” she said.

Clemente went on to decry the U.S. Government for refusing the votes of Puerto Ricans.

“Imagine if they could vote,” she said. “They’d be voting for me, because that’s how Puerto Ricans roll.” Clemente is part African-American, part Puerto Rican.

Clemente then introduced underground political hip-hop duo Dead Prez, who performed for about half an hour, after which the march to the Pepsi Center began.

In spite of hype that an overwhelming presence of police among protesters would incite riots and civil unrest, the speaking event and the proceeding march yielded no clouds of tear gas or yippie protesters falling prey to the baton.

Full story is here.

*Note from Kimberly Wilder: Ian and I usually share the “wilderside” username. When I am very excited about a post I am doing, or want to be sure Ian does not get blamed, I just put my initials on top, “KW”. I set up my own user id and avatar to try to make it easier for readers to see the point-of-view on stories. Will do my best to use it, but pretty sure I will still log in as “wilderside” when I forget…

Filed under: cynthia mckinney, Green Presidential Campaign 2008, Rosa Clemente Tagged: | Democratic Convention, Denver