Five Points.

(by bitchphd, cross-posted from Bitch Ph.D.)

Dateline: downtown Denver.

NOTHING IS HAPPENING. There are a lot of cops standing around looking bored. There are a few people with press credentials and Really Big Cameras wandering around looking for something to take pictures of. There are occasional people with some kind of badge around their necks walking purposefully from some event to, one prersumes, there hotels. There are a few tourists taking pictures with camera phones. Or maybe, like me, the tourists with camera phones are bloggers! Taking pictures of . . . nothing!

Dateline: Five Points.

Denver’s historically black neighborhood! Vendors are lining the streets selling lots of Obama tshirts. A meeting is happening in Blackberry, a coffee and ice cream shop. Your faithful blogger talks at some length to a community redevelopment organizer about gentrification, the city council (upshot: the local city councilwoman is a white woman, oddly, but she knows her shit about zoning),* and the importance of maintaining the history of the neighborhood. We wander around, accompanied by the community redevelopment organizer (who does not want his/her name published), having landmarks pointed out–the hotel where black artists used to stay during segregation, the tamale shop that’s been there since local contact was a little girl–and saying hi to people. The Five Points media center is pointed out to me, as is the library, which has free wifi. We meet a woman who is selling handmade Denver Donkeys, and Your Faithful Blogger makes a mental note to come back in a few days with some cash and buy a donkey (seriously, very cute: recommended as souvenirs, especially for DNCC attendees with children). Everyone, but everyone, is wearing an Obama tshirt, and most of the businesses have Obama posters in the windows.

Shortly before 9:30, a police car and a big SWAT van pull up in front of local contact’s parked car. Local contact freaks: “omg, they’re giving me a ticket!” Your Blogger and local contact trot across the street to find that no ticket has been issued, but suitably intimidated, we get in the car and drive back to home base.

Not five minutes after we’re home, local contact’s phone rings. Community redevelopment organizer reports that as soon as we left, the SWAT team returned and began slooooowly cruising the neighborhood, closely followed by a press team with cameras. Whether or not press team is there to film SWAT team and file reports about how Neighborhood Unrest Forced the Cops to Crack Down, or reports about how The Cops Were Out Looking for Trouble, is unclear. The SWAT team unloads from the truck, stands in a big silent line for a couple of minutes, then climbs back on the truck and slowly cruises off. Local contact tells community redevelopment organizer to go home. Community redevelopment organizer insists that he/she is Taking a Stand, and that the vendor licenses are until 11 pm, and dammit, he/she is not going anywhere until 11 pm.

*Later, local contact lets on that she is not a big fan of city councilwoman, who, according to local contact, wants to do shit like bring in Starbucks and Costco to Five Points. Which Your Blogger agrees would be a terrible idea, as Five Points appears to be an absolutely lovely downtown neighborhood with lots of established local businesses.