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    But the real legacy of the 68 turmoil was the idea that young people and students had the obligation to challenge authority, to questions assumptions…and could succeed.
    –Blake Fleetwood, a participant in the Columbia University demonstrations, 1968

    There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?
    –Robert F. Kennedy, 1968

In response to misunderstandings, inaccuracies and deliberate distortions in the media about the meaning of the group's name, the members of the organizing committee of Recreate 68¬, an umbrella organization planning and providing support for demonstrations around the Democratic National Convention, ¬have decided to present the truth about the organization and its obviously controversial name, once and for all.

Let us be clear: the name is not "Recreate Chicago 68" or "Recreate the DNC 68." The idea that "Recreate 68" refers specifically to the events of late August 1968 in Chicago has been put out by those who wish to discredit an organization planning peaceful, nonviolent protests by associating it with what they would have us believe was a violent protest 40 years ago. Let us also be clear that those conducting this smear campaign are distorting history: what happened in Chicago in 1968 was not a violent protest, but rather a "police riot," the term used by the Walker Commission, a body appointed by the Nixon administration to investigate the events surrounding the Chicago convention.

In the words of the commission, those events were characterized by "unrestrained and indiscriminate police violence on many occasions, particularly at night. That violence was made all the more shocking by the fact that it was often inflicted upon persons who had broken no law, disobeyed no order, made no threat. These included peaceful demonstrators, onlookers, and large numbers of residents who were simply passing through, or happened to live in the areas where confrontations were occurring. Newsmen and photographers were singled out for assault, and their equipment deliberately damaged. Fundamental police training was ignored; and officers, when on the scene, were often unable to control their men. As one police officer put it: `What happened didn't have anything to do with police work..'"

Obviously, neither Recreate 68 nor anyone else wants to see that kind of police violence repeated in Denver this August. That is why members of R68 began meeting with representatives of the mayor's office and the Denver Police Department over a year ago to try to ensure that the rights of demonstrators to engage in peaceful, nonviolent free speech activities¬, marches and demonstrations, ¬would be respected; and why R68 has applied for permits to use city parks, and to engage in marches, and has worked with the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild to assert our First Amendment Rights.

What then does the name Recreate 68 mean? The 1960s were a time of profound, positives social and political change in this country. The civil rights movement ended legal segregation and broke down barriers to the full participation of African Americans in American life (still yet to be fully achieved). Other movements followed that achieved the same for women and for other oppressed communities of color. That in 2008 the two leading candidates for the Democratic nomination for President are an African American man and a woman¬something unimaginable at the start of the 60s¬is a direct result of the changes brought about in that decade.

Those changes were eventually codified in law. But they were brought about not by political "leaders," but by mass movements of people who demanded that America live up to its own democratic rhetoric, by grassroots movements that forced the system to respond to their demands, and opened up new political space for ordinary people to participate in the decisions that affected their lives.

That spirit of participatory democracy culminated in 1968. Since then, a right-wing backlash has attempted to roll back the gains of those years, to "recreate" an America in which a ruling elite of wealthy, privileged white males and large corporations made a mockery of the promise of democracy. For the past 40 years, we have seen increasing economic inequality, a fierce attack on affirmative action and other programs aimed at aiding oppressed communities, an assault on civil liberties and, most recently, an attempt to equate political dissent with criminality or "terrorism." Under the Bush administration, the right has come dangerously close to achieving their goal.

Some of the problems we face now are eerily reminiscent of 1968: most obviously, a costly, unpopular and illegal war. Others are unique to our time: a faltering economy, a shrinking middle class, a health care crisis, global warming. But one thing is as true now as it was then: neither of the two major parties is seriously addressing the needs and desires of the majority of the American people, because both are captive to the corporate interests that finance their campaigns. The Democrats have played their role in this global crisis. Yes, a Republican is in the Whitehouse, but the Congress is controlled by Democrats unwilling to use their power to make a true positive change on these issues. And nothing will change until, as they did in the 60s, the people take their destiny into their own hands, and force their "leaders" to change.

The organizers of Recreate 68 say, "The time is now." It is time to recreate the spirit of mass political participation of the 60s. To recreate the spirit that will once again force this country to live up to its own professed principles of democracy, equality and human rights. To recreate the idealism that brought millions of people into the streets to challenge authority, to question assumptions, and to succeed.

The time is now to end the illegal occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan; to use the money being wasted there to meet the needs of the American people; to provide health care for everyone; to restore civil liberties; to create a humane immigration policy; to replace the tragedy of "free trade" with fair trade; to combat global warming; and to transform a corrupt, corporate-dominated political system into real democracy.

Recreate 68! Back to the Future!

In Solidarity,
Members of Recreate 68 Alliance (an alliance of over 40 national and local progressive groups)

    Noam Chomsky on the importance of 1968

AND:
Who We Are

The Recreate 68 Alliance is a group of local activists who will be acting as a clearing house in order to disseminate information for resistance so the power of the people can be expressed as loudly as possible!

The R68 Alliance is made up of activists locally known as the All Nations Alliance. The All Nations Alliance sponsored the Denver City Council resolution that made Denver the first major city in the country to take a stand in opposition to the Patriot Act and was also instrumental in exposing the Denver Spy Files and the JTTF's and FBI's role in those files, in addition to organizing numerous anti-war, anti-racism, anti-imperialism rallies actions and protest, including the G-8 protest in Denver!

We believe that actions can best be coordinated by local grassroots efforts. We encourage national organizations' efforts during the convention, but we ask that you please respect the proud and rich history of organized resistance that exists in Colorado.