The Battle Of Denver

Wednesday was the day that the party and its discontents decided to party.

At highly exclusive big-donor events, the Black Eyed Peas and Fergie rocked a prObama concert for the entertainment industry foundation, The Creative Coalition, while Kanye West headlined the One Campaign/RIAA event.

Rosario Dawson hosted a party for her organization, Voto Latino, as Bun B, Fat Joe, Big Boi, Jessica Alba, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Eve Longoria, and J-Lo were spotted around town.

At the Manifest Hope Gallery, DJ Z-Trip entertained the party people. And in Boulder, Chuck D--fresh from his wedding party--led Public Enemy at a free show for an audience decidedly more critical of the Democrats.

But the biggest and most unlikely gathering of the day started the earliest--at 11 in the morning--at the Denver Coliseum, an aged arena best known for horse shows and "Disney On Ice", five miles away from the glittering new Pepsi Center and Invesco Field where Barack Obama will give his acceptance speech tonight.

There, 10,000 fans gathered to see powerful sets from Denver's biggest hip-hop crew the Flobots, a newly black-rockified The Coup, and the reunited Rage Against The Machine. This was the Tent State Music Festival. Tickets were free. The guests of honor were the Iraq Veterans Against The War.

Between sets, 22-year old vet Wendy Barranco drew a cheer when she urged the audience to march with them towards downtown where Iraq Veterans Against The War hoped to deliver a letter to Senator Barack Obama calling for immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, full health benefits for all returning veterans, and reparations for the Iraqi people.

Just two years before, Barranco had been an Army combat medic based for 9 months in Tikrit, tending to wounded soldiers, Iraqi people, even insurgents. She had grown up in Echo Park and enlisted right of Belmont High School, which has one of the highest dropout rates in Los Angeles.

"I wanted to see the world. I got a paid vacation to the sandbox," she said. "All I knew was my family didn't have money and so therefore I couldn't go to college."

She had come into the Army in the full hoo-rah of the first months of the invasion, and was deployed with the 47th Combat Support Hospital in 2005. "I fell for the mission hook line and sinker. I was like, let's go kick some hajji ass," she said. "You had to be that way. The moment you realize you don't have a purpose you fucking lose it."

In 2006, she got her papers and was able to be discharged. Half of her peers, she thinks, weren't so lucky, and had to return for a second deployment. She enrolled in Pasadena City College, eager to get on with her life.

One day she wondered into a campus forum on the war where two members of Iraq Veterans Against The War were speaking. "I was so pissed off. I kept thinking why are they biting the hand that fed them for so long. What the fuck is wrong with them?" she said. "But I still felt used (by the military)."

When she grabbed the mic to address the panel, she thought she'd give them a piece of her mind.

Instead, it all came back. The tactics the recruiters had used to lure her in. The soldiers she'd tended to who had been blown up by IEDs. The Iraqi families and children burned over large parts of their bodies.

"As I was fucking speaking, a light bulb went off," said Barranco. "Everything I was saying, they had said." That began the process that led her to the Denver Coliseum yesterday afternoon.

At 3:15 pm, after closing with a rousing version of "Killing In The Name", Zack De La Rocha and the rest of Rage Against The Machine rushed out into the street to join the march. Boots Riley from the Coup and Jonny 5 of the Flobots held a banner reading "Support G.I. Resistance". Three thousand followed. At the front, 50 servicemen and servicewomen from the Marines and the Army in uniform or combat fatigues, including Barranco, marched toward downtown in formation.

When they arrived at the Pepsi Center at almost 5 p.m., the crowd had swelled to between 4,000 and 6,000, according to Denver Police Lieutenant Vince Porter. The march briefly shut down parts of the downtown.

They came up Speer Boulevard towards the Center, where hundreds of delegates and others credentialed for the Convention were arriving. Hundreds of riot cops met them in the streets, on horses, and on trucks, both inside the Center perimeter and out.

The demonstration was diverted around the Center into a 'free speech zone', what protesters have called 'freedom cages'. Penned in from all sides, the veterans decided to march back out to the convention entrance on Speer and Market. There, convention attendees, Denver residents, and onlookers confronted the strange sight of unarmed Army and Marine soldiers in full uniform facing down riot police holding tear-gas rifles.

But although tensions built, this was a different kind of protest.

Marshals kept protesters to the march route for the entire five miles. There were no breakaway clashes with police, and not a single person was arrested. Marine Lance Corporal Jeff Key carefully explained on the cell phone to Denver police that they wanted a meeting with an Obama representative to deliver their letter. They were prepared to stay as long as it took, and some veterans were ready to get arrested.

As the crowd grew, Army Specialist Jason Eric Hurd got on the bullhorn and addressed it. "I was that man with the baton in the uniform. I know what it feels like. I have to live with those nightmares," he said. "I want to remind everyone that these police are good people, and that they are under orders."

The troops then saluted the riot police. And there they stood, the veterans and the thousands behind them, mostly silent.

At about 7:30, word came back through the line. Former Texas Lt Governor Ben Barnes would accept their letter. Denver police escorted Key and former Marine Liam Madden into the convention center for a meeting with Phil Carter, the Obama campaign's staffer for veteran's affairs.

In the streets, the veterans broke formation to let out a roar. Barranco, other servicemen, and many of the young activists shared some tears. For her, after 5 years of seeing the worst of humanity, it was a small victory, a ray of light. From the back of the line, protesters spontaneously began chanting "Yes we can!" and "Si Se Puede."

Then the veterans snapped back to attention. Mission accomplished, they about-faced and marched back into the dusk.

Originally posted at Vibe.com.

For more Huffington Post coverage of the Democratic National Convention, visit our Politics @ the DNC page, our Democratic Convention Big News Page, and our HuffPost bloggers' Twitter feed, live from Denver.

Follow Jeff Chang on Twitter: www.twitter.com/zentronix

Comments

[nippersdad]

This is the type of column that gives me hope.

[kathy001]

GREAT piece of writing. It brought tears to my eyes. I wish I could have been there, I wish I could have marched with them. Thank you for sharing this. I had to search hard for any mention of this on any of the other news outlets.

[ifihadahammer]

How very moving. For this, I would "support the troops".

[sassycat]

Class Act!
For the most part leaders of eather party have lost their way. There is hope for this country after all.
By the way who can we call in the mainstream media to put pressure on them to cover stories like this?

[Willow712]

McCain doesn't know it, but the end is near. In China, the beginning of the end was when the tank stopped, and wouldn't go around a protester. This is our beginning of the end for the radical conservatives that want war over and over again (each time making more money off of it). The Police respected the soldiers and the soldiers respected the Police and both were respectfully waiting. I love it.

[SkimaskBob]

this is a great post., and an event that you would NEVER hear about if your only news source were the networks or their cab;e cronies. Thank you Mr. Chang.

[NorVaGal]

Mr. Chang: Thank you for this article. I sit here with tears streaming down my face, but so much PRIDE in my heart. May God bless each and every one of our brave service members and public servants. They have such tough jobs to do, yet most do them with dignity and compassion.

[ellezeebub]

This story brought tears to my eyes.

[swift goat pet for truth]

A Protest March in Denver by Iraqi VETS!!!

I watching Fox news right now for their report!

Any minute now....

[Strywever]

Where the heck is the video? Where are the photos? Where is the bleepin' MSM????? This deserves international coverage.

[TheHandyman]

This reminds me of another part of US history that has been repeated several times and is never discussed. Most of the Colonials were against the Revolution. Yey many men were forced to fight on the side of the Revolutionaries after some of their homes were burnt down and some people were actually killed. All the troops were promised land after the war and when the war was over they asked for their land. None was forthcoming so they marched on Washington demanding that which they were promised. They were met with federal troops. Congress asked for representatives to come and meet with them. When they came they were arrested and hanged as traitors. This scenario was repeated after the Civil War. Congress has gotten better at ignoring the plight of those they use as cannon fodder. Do not be shocked or surprised if their requests are ignored. I am a Viet Nam Vet and our needs were also ignored.

Americans still don't understand that the situation we now find ourselves in is the result of both parties selling out to the wealthy elite and both parties are not about to end the occupation of any of the countries where our 737 military bases reside. All the money used to support these bases could easily pay for everything America needs but it won't happen. America, soon to go the way of Rome!

[mommadona]

NOT ONE BIT OF COVERAGE BY THE CORPORATE MEDIA.

And they wonder why their credibility is in question.

[NorVaGal]

Of course there's not one bit of coverage by corporate media. The msm is much too busy covering themselves.

[OrganizersWin]

Great story, another ignored by most.

Unlucky were those who have been beaten up and arrested over the week. The cops knew better than mess with the servicemen. A kind old lady in Pink, usually not so lucky, nor an ABC producer for that matter. (see YouTube videos....)

The Dem convention is a big slap in the face to anyone who considers themselves a liberal or a progressive. The slaps get bigger and bigger as we pretend that corporate candidates who "say the right words" are any different than those who don't.

Obama said he would think about scaling down the Iraq occupation "responsibly" (while continuing to use private mercenaries and the rest of it).... but don't worry....

plans for increasing the military budget and redeploying everyone for a wonderful new SURGE in Afghanistan is on the agenda for Obama. You know, when you can't get one party to 'sell' more nonsense, you bring in another party to do the 'selling'.

Hopefully the Obama folks get to read the letter at some point. With all the things they are busy doing like "destroying the 4th amendment" and "lying about the democratic party" I am not sure they will ever get to it soon.

[JC1c1]

My husband is a police officer, and most of the guys he works with are veterans. There are 2 that are in the guard, they just got back from Iraq not to long ago.

They know what is like in Iraq, they are the vets as well. Some do and some dont agree with the war, but they respect one another, oh and I dont think I have ever heard any of them hitting an old lady in pink. It is nice to know that though that you judge all by a fews actions.

[nippersdad]

I respect your bias, however it would be well for you to understand that amongst a civilian population the actions of a few can irreparably color the mission of the many. It is a given that there will always be bad apples and the primary value of great articles like this is to balance out the more salacious stories that we are all too tired of hearing.

Whether it be a man tased to death in L.A., a Bridegroom filled with bullets in N.Y., a D.C. area mayors dog needlessly killed in an abortive drug bust or a reporter brutally hustled away from reporting on our oligarchs at play in Denver, you need to understand that this is not an isolated instance in the U.S. today, much less in more war torn areas of the globe. You have to acknowledge both the good with the bad for your opinion to have any validity. Opinion conveniently bereft of fact is called propaganda. BTW, I believe the old lady in pink referenced was a McCain protester denied entrance to one of his "town hall" meetings.

[egal]

The contractors should never have been brought in, but because Bush sold our military to them, there's no way to simply kick them out. The soldiers can't just take over those jobs again, since he fired all the soldiers who used to do the Contractors' jobs for less than a tithe of the pay and with infinitely more honor, skill, dedication, and patriotism. Buth of course, Bush's version of patriotism is obeying his every whim as if he were a dictator, not a president.