It was nerves and excitement on the drive down to meet at McWilliams Park. I was excited to witness and be a part of a very charged social phenomenon - protest in America has a deep and rich history... if you look for it. And I was fearful of the government response - considering the past government oppression of political protest throughout the country, and the signing of HR 347 which criminalizes protest within a certain range of politicians, and makes it a felony change. The government had reserved a "free speech zone" for protesters near Magness Arena where the debates would take place, but for most activists these "free speech zones" are absurd on its face because the U.S. Constitution states that the entire U.S. is a free speech zone.
The weather was perfect upon showing up. People were already beginning to line the sidewalks next to McWilliams Park with political signs, while others were still making their signs and piecing together a gigantic banner that stated, "The Whole World is Our Free Speech Zone." There were even a few who were in creative costumes.
On the sidewalk a band was just starting to fire up some good old rock and roll with a heavy political message. They rocked, for sure! The energy just kept on building. Green Party Presidential candidate, Jill Stein, had advertised that she and her running mate, Cheri Honkala, would be showing up to the rally and joining the march, so many were anxiously anticipating her arrival.
The park went a buzz as Stein and Honkala made their entrance into the park. Interviews with local news channels went into high gear while protesters stood in the background waiting to meet them. The energy just kept building. Within a Colorado minute the intensity was matched with howling winds, bringing with it cool fall air to replace the warm summer-like day. The fall leaves were blowing across the park and up into the sky. The march was finally on! As the march began to make its way through the park and towards the street I found myself walking next to two drummer guys drumming on their red 5 gallon plastic buckets. The fading sun was giving off it's last bit of warmth and was in our eyes as we made our way to the streets. The winds had stopped blowing and produced a serene calm. It was such a surreal type of moment because only minutes ago the winds were howling, the people were anxious, and now there was a quiet-like feel as we climbed to the streets. I managed to capture a little 9 second video that, I think, captures a very cool climb toward the streets. (please understand my camera is a simple point and shoot, so my apologies in advance for shaky, not so good footage.)
In the streets... people starting to warm up the chants... making our way toward the debates.
After about a mile I was still so surprised that we had not encountered one single police officer, at least not in uniform. The chants were getting louder, the protesters were having fun, and most spectators were showing us their support. As we walked further along I started a conversation with a young man who was writing some stuff down on his notepad. I asked him if he was a journalist, and he replied with a smile that he was a senior majoring in journalism at Metro State, and was working for the college newspaper. We started discussing some school stuff, hopeful careers and some of the issues with our political system. All this while the chanting crowd grew louder with some appropriate chants. Still no sign of any police...I'm running up to the front of the march to get the footage. The marchers gather closer together and take up all four lanes of traffic. The feeling of the tension in the air was heavy and almost dripped out of the air like moisture on a foggy morning. The marchers grew silent as they courageously went head to head with a group of riot cops who were stopped in front of them in the middle of the street. Only the sound of the person on the microphone and a few drummers seemed to echo into the open air. Was this the end of the march?
The riot police decided to turn around and let the march roll on. This was such a powerful moment because this was basically the zone where the DU campus began, and where the cordoned off areas with high fenced areas started. This was the point at which the march was making a clear statement and basically saying we are coming into your restricted zone, and we are not going into the "free speech zone." Also, leading in the front of the march is the Green Party VP candidate. Most of us knew that this would not be the last we would see of the police. As the march started making its way into the main DU area the police began to appear in much bigger numbers. They were expecting the march to come straight at them towards University and Evans, but the organizers decided to take a right down through a more residential area,. As the march headed right down into the residential area police on bikes quickly made their way to the sides of the protest. A few of the marchers were urging people to get closer together to avoid being snatched out by the police. Eventually the march ended up on University Blvd. I stayed on the sidewalk to get more footage. After this intersection the march really started to pick up energy because others began to follow the march. It was clear by now that it wasn't just Occupy who decided to avoid the "free speech zones" and the police were letting it all continue. There was anti-abortion folks, Romney supporters, Obama supporters, anti-homosexual protesters, right-wing libertarian protesters, and a few more. But, the protesters that brought the most attention was Occupy because they brought the bigger and louder crowd, and portable sound system that was jamming tunes and allowing people to talk over everybody. They were festive with creative banners and puppet figures. One passerby said, "This is so cool. It's like a political mardi gras."
The march was deep into the heart of DU area by now, and only an earshot from the Presidential candidates (although they were probably inside somewhere). But I really wish they could have heard this next chant. And I also really wish that this chant could sink into the realities of many of the American voters because it's a simple message that resonates a deeper truth in regards to our current political system.
The next part of the march took a turn into a residential area. The light was fading pretty quickly. But the amazing thing was that pretty much every single resident that was home was out on their front porch watching the march rolling through their neighborhood. I managed to start asking people coming out towards the sidewalks what they thought and was surprised to get mostly very positive responses. One person said that she thought this was "way cooler than the staged presidential debates." Another said, "This is so crazy... in such a cool way!" Another was, "I support Obama, but I think the exclusion of 3rd Parties is wrong." The one negative response was from a few frat-boy Romney supporters who could only answer, "What are they even saying?" I was trying to be objective, so I simply stated to read the signs for some clues. There was a heavy police presence by now following the protestor's every move. Bike police on both sides of the streets closely followed, while 3 riot trucks followed directly at the back of the march.
The march was coming towards what looked like the riot police trying to possibly attempt to stop and disperse the marchers.
The marchers simply walked around the riot police by walking up into the sidewalks and the unblocked part of the street.
The march was back on the University Blvd and working its way back to the main campus area. I thought we were headed back to the park where we had started, and I think many other protestors did a well. And it certainly threw the police for a loop as the march suddenly did a complete u-turn and went right back to the main intersection. It was here where they stopped for nearly a half hour - dancing, chanting, and then using the time to tell everybody watching why they were protesting.
After about a half hour the march began to head back towards the park where it had all started. By this time the march had been going for over 3 hours, so there were many tired folks. The night was all and all a success. No arrests. No violence by the police or protesters. And thousands of people were touched in whatever personal ways, and witnessed a powerful and courageous group of people standing up for their right to peaceably assemble to voice their grievances.
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