'Old radicals' get few takers as kids go for free tickets

Abigall Curtis

Published August 25, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Between them, Carl Davidson and Ted Auerbach total almost 90 years of activism. They have memories of watching Martin Luther King Jr. speak, seeing their friends get drafted for the war in Vietnam and working for decades for social justice.

But one thing they struggled with Sunday was generating much interest in the information they were giving out from the throng of young people who passed through the Tent State University encampment at City of Cuernavaca Park .

The two men sitting in front of their tent festooned with a "Progressives for Obama" banner looked, frankly, a little lonely.

That, in spite of the steady stream of pierced and tattooed teenagers and twenty-somethings who lined up for the Rage Against The Machine free ticket raffle sponsored by Tent State University, an activist group protesting the Iraq war during the Democratic National Convention and offering free classes on social issues to all comers.

Most just walked on by the men's tent.

"Here, there's mainly a lot of young people," Davidson, 65, said. "They're into anarchy and bands. That's all cool. But I want to get them registered, get them in line for the polls."

The retired teacher from Raccoon Township, Pa., gestured at the empty park behind him, looking at the handful of young people who had gathered around a speaker - and the thousands who waited patiently behind a cordon of yellow police tape for the chance to score a free ticket to the Rage concert Wednesday at the Denver Coliseum.

"This scene would be great if it were multiplied by 50," Davidson said.

He laughed as he described himself as an "old, reconstructed '60s radical who never gave up."

And the "old radical" understands that he had different pressures growing up 50 years ago than kids do today.

"When I went to college, tuition was $1,500 a year. Gas was 30 cents a gallon. And at Penn State, the first thing we got - in addition to our freshman beanie and matriculation card - was an Army rifle."

Auerbach, 60, is another retired teacher. He is philosophical on the subject of the youth progressive movements today.

"I've worked very strongly with this generation," he said. "I think there's a lot of energy, hope and understanding. The one thing they need is more organization. You cannot do it as individuals."

Auerbach is a Bronx native with a thick New York accent and his own history in the progressive movement. He first got hooked on political activism at 14 when he went to Washington, D.C., to hear King speak. And he remembers clearly the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Sunday's convention protest at Cuernavaca Park probably won't be going down in any history books, but the two veteran activists didn't seem discouraged.

"I like the diversity of it," Davidson said, looking around him at the low-key but colorful gathering in the park. "I like the kids with green hair. Anarchy is normal, and rebelliousness is part of youth."

BEST PROTEST SIGNS

1 "Stop Mad Sheep Disease"

2 "Jesus Says Peace. I'm with him."

3 "Iraq: Get out. Iran: Stay out. Bush/Cheney: Drive out."

4 "Drop pants, not bombs!"

5 "Impeach Cheney first."

PEACE AND REAL HARMONY

A group of Mennonites gathered Sunday to sing and pray for peace at Union Station. At times, they were nearly drowned out by the boom boxes from the nearby Funk the War demonstration. At other times, the Mennonites' beautifully blended voices floated gently on the protest-charged air. "Singing hymns is a great part of our tradition," said the Rev. Dr. Vern Rempel, pastor at First Mennonite Church of Denver.

PAT SCHROEDER REDUX

"Pat Schroeder wore a bunny suit, too?"

Patrick McDermott, of Golden, who attended the Funk the War protest dressed as a giant rabbit. Apparently, not EVERYONE remembers the former Denver congresswoman's donning of a bunny outfit at the Great Wall of China in 1979, though for years it was legendary tale.

A SHOW OF HORSE

20 The number of mounted police squeezed into one block along the 16th Street Mall on Sunday.

"That must be every police horse in the state of Colorado!"

Overheard from an amused onlooker

BEST COSTUME

* First place: A Denver man, who declined to give his name, wearing a giant ostrich outfit, carrying a sign saying "McCain's head is in the sand on the economy."

* Second place: CodePink protester dressed as a beauty queen, complete with tiara and pink feather boa, and wearing a sash proclaiming "I Miss America."

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