Profiles and narratives highlighting the people behind the politics, systems and issues in Colorado and around the world
Podcast: (un)affordable
Welcome to (un)affordable — a podcast about affordability solutions in Boulder County brought to you by Boulder Weekly and KGNU. In each episode, we’ll present an interview with someone involved in affordability solutions from design to homeowner’s association costs to transportation access and more. This is just one person’s opinion on one aspect covered in…
Paying the price
When I first meet Juan de Dios García, he’s laughing. His dark eyes twinkle as his dimples indent and his smile broadens. But there is something else behind his eyes that belie his smile. Our conversation quickly takes a serious turn. As we sit down across from one another with a translator, he leans in,…
Someone like me
The immigration journey of mother and advocate Jeanette Vizguerra Some may call Jeanette Vizguerra an advocate, a leader, a hero. Still others label her illegal. But she identifies herself as a mother — “A mother that loves her children so much and that is going to do anything that is needed to be with them…
Lessons from Venezuela’s free fall
As a young man living in Venezuela, Jose Garcia remembers being woken up in the middle of the night by his mother to watch tanks storm the Miraflores Palace in the capital of Caracas. It was 1992, and the Venezuelan military, led by Hugo Chavez, was attempting a coup d’edat against the democratically elected President…
In lieu of a just system
New resource seeks to help ease adjustment after deportation If you’re returning to Honduras, consider covering up any tattoos and be able to explain them if asked — the tattoos might be the thing that puts you the most at risk. Once back in Mexico and Guatemala, try to blend in, not appearing too vulnerable…
Building power
How healing justice reimagines the world If you live in Boulder County, you’ve probably heard the story of Zayd Atkinson and John Smyly. On March 1, 2019, Atkinson, a Naropa University student, was picking up trash outside his apartment complex, when Smyly, then a Boulder PD officer, stopped and began asking questions. The next several…
Too much to risk
Activists dig in against oil and gas development they claim threatens the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve and nearby water supplies The first time Anna Lee Vargas visited the Sand Dunes, she cried. She was in kindergarten, on an end-of-the-year field trip, and had somehow lost a shoe. “It was eaten by the…
Statewide Parents Encouraging Parents Conference Changes Lives
Published at coloradoparent.com When Alison Seyler’s youngest son was diagnosed with autism at four years old, it was overwhelming. At first Seyler and her husband often felt alone as they tried to navigate everyday life. Then a neighbor left a flyer for the statewide Parents Encouraging Parents (PEP) conference on their porch, and it changed…
Opening up
Learning to talk about suicide “The thing that I was really amazed by is that nobody ever asked me, ‘Why did you kill yourself?’” Dave tells me as we talk about his attempted suicide that left him dead for somewhere between 10 and 13 minutes in 1994. “Nobody really asked me.” So I ask him.…
Worlds apart
Finding opportunity, and friendship, in Colorado As Rezwan Masud walked toward the waiting train, he heard someone come up behind him. Before he could turn, hands covered his eyes. He was startled, unsure of who it could be. After all, hardly anyone knew he was back in the U.S. Rezwan had taken the train in…
Angela K. Evans 