Transform Columbus Day: An Archived 2003 Statement

This page preserves, as an archived historical document, a public statement dated October 11, 2003, issued in Denver by the Transform Columbus Day Alliance. It is presented for historical reference only. Nothing here describes current events, organizations, schedules, or availability.

Context of the Archived Statement

The statement was released in Denver on Saturday, October 11, 2003, at 4pm, under the heading of a humanitarian invitation to parade marshals. It was issued by the Transform Columbus Day Alliance, which described itself as a coalition of social justice organizations that had protested the Denver Columbus Day parade since 1989. The document was carried on the former Colorado Peace website, identified in the source as Colorado Communities for Justice and Peace.

Core Position Recorded in the Document

According to the archived text, the alliance called for the abolition of Columbus Day at local, state, and national levels. The statement characterized celebration of Columbus as honoring colonialism, conquest, and genocide. It framed its aims in terms of equality, historical accuracy, justice in judicial and political processes, and respect among diverse peoples and cultures.

Program Outlined for the Coming Year

The document described several planned efforts for the year following its release:

• An international call inviting large numbers of people to come to Denver in 2004, either to mark the elimination of the holiday or to march against its continued celebration.
• A stated commitment by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum to travel to Denver and march, and to seek support from other laureates named in the text.
• A legislative campaign described as already underway to repeal Columbus Day in Colorado, which the statement called the birthplace of the holiday and the first state to designate it, in 1907.
• Planned events in the second week of October 2004, including concerts, a cultural festival, and marches.
• Student calls for strikes and a weeklong teach-in on Colorado high school and college campuses.

Framing of the Teach-Ins

The statement said the teach-ins would address the genocide attributed to Columbus and his contemporaries, along with what it described as enduring effects on indigenous peoples and the environment, and recent developments it named as globalization, patriarchy, and global militarization.

Archival Note

This text is a restrained summary of a 2003 document. Claims, plans, and commitments appear here only as they were stated at the time. Their inclusion does not indicate that any event occurred, that any organization continues, or that any person endorses this archived page.