Mobilizing Marchers in the Mile-High City

Abstract

In the spring of 2006, about 150,000 protestors took part in three major demonstrations in Denver, Colorado. This chapter focuses on the coalition of community-based organizations (CBOs) that drove the 2006 protests in Colorado and, specifically, in the city of Denver. The coalition mobilized Latinos and immigrants, and this chapter explores how CBOs mobilized thousands of protestors in light of opposition (by Latinos and non-Latinos, Republicans and Democrats, and anti-immigrant groups) and negative public perceptions that mounted during the course of the movement. Drawing on fifty-five interviews with CBO leaders, activists, and elected officials, the chapter shows that the 2006 marches were carefully coordinated and would not have been as massive without the combined efforts of a coalition of immigrant rights groups, social justice organizations, the Service Employees International Union, the Colorado Catholic Conference, and community activists. Using political opportunity theory, the chapter describes how organizers mobilized protestors; the tactics, strategies, and frames they employed; and their response to the anti-immigrant countermovement.

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