part of history

On Wednesday, I ventured to downtown Denver to experience the street scene that was present due to the Democratic National Convention taking place. And what an experience it was. My words here cannot do the scene justice but I'll try to describe some of what I saw.

The convention took place at an arena where the Nuggets and Avalanche play. It is located just down the street from what is called the 16th Street Mall (outdoor, not indoor, mall). That's where all the people congregated. And there were a lot of people.

Some protesting. Others publicizing their cause. Some shopping and eating. Others selling their wares. Some performing for money. Others performing to send out a message. Some worked there (it is a business district). But most were there to just be a part of it all.

There were reporters with big video cameras and mikes. There were a lot of people with the official passes hanging on lanyards from their necks. There were those who looked like they were someone special and should be known, but I didn't recognize them. A majority of the people walking around had cameras taking pictures of anything and everything.

And there was police everywhere! It was understandable why they were there in such force. And during this last week, there were very few incidents where any kind of force was taken. Their presence was all that was needed.

What was strange is that all the shutterbugs snapped pictures left and right of the police in whatever they were doing. They could have been on horses, or bikes, or motorcycles; or standing at attention overlooking a protest; or walking amongst the crowd; and even posing with those who had the nerve to ask to pose with them. I was one such shutterbug. It was like the police were the celebrities. They didn't pose (unless asked), but they couldn't do anything about all the people taking picture after picture of them. I'm sure it felt weird for them.

They're nothing special, but you can view all my photos on my Flickr photostream. There is a slideshow option.

I'm glad I went downtown to be part of the crowd. This kind of event doesn't happen in one's backyard everyday. And I am proud of the city of Denver for doing such a good job at hosting such a monumental and historical event.

No matter what party affiliation you're a part of, you can't deny that this convention and Barack Obama's nomination is historical. In the future, I can say I was a part of that history.