Plans set for 'free university' in park, overnight camping

By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 20, 2008 at 9:39 p.m.
Updated August 21, 2008 at 2:53 a.m.

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More Protests and Demonstrations

The anti-war activists of Tent State University plan to make "freedom toast" every morning in the protest area of the Pepsi Center, where they expect to spend their nights during the Democratic National Convention.

"We will be serving the media" as well as activists, said Jourdan Hill, a member of Students for Peace and Justice.

"Everyone has to eat," he said.

It wasn't clear how protesters plan to make the toast or whether they will be allowed to bring generators or toasters into the protest area.

Hill spoke for the Alliance for a Real Democracy, a coalition of 24 activist groups, during a news conference Wednesday near the protest area, which they dubbed the "freedom cage."

Hill also announced the formation of Resurrection City Free University, a series of classes that will be held mostly at Cuernavaca Park in the central Platte Valley during the DNC next week.

Classes on Wednesday will be in the parking lot of the Denver Coliseum before a concert by Rage Against the Machine.

The free university is named after an encampment in Washington, D.C., of the Poor People's Campaign in the summer of 1968.

It was the last major campaign led by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

"2008 is the 40th anniversary of Resurrection City, and thus we have chosen it as a name for the free university as a way to continue to work toward the dream and to reopen our eyes to the prizes that have yet to come to fruition," said Hill.

Speakers and lecturers will include Vincent Harding, a friend of Martin Luther King; Vincent Bugliosi, attorney and author; and Mark Rudd, president and founder of the Weather Underground.

Tent State organizers are in charge of taking applications for free tickets to the Rage Against the Machine concert. Hill said organizers expect 10,000 to 15,000 people to apply for tickets each day at Cuernavaca Park.

Hill noted that since the city does not allow overnight camping at Cuernavaca Park, protesters plan to travel each night to the protest area at the Pepsi Center and sleep there. He said demonstrators will likely take the bike path along the South Platte River between the park and the Pepsi Center.

Hill said protesters may stretch large pieces of tarp at the four corners of the protest zone, which is surrounded by fences. Each tarp would provide shelter for 15 to 20 people, he said.

For a complete schedule of Tent State activities and the class schedule for Resurrection City Free University, go to:

SFPJ.org, TentState.org or RealDemocracy2008.org.

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