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Guest Posts

Author Wendy Howell says, "the horror and loss will deepen, will be ever-present, will settle in our bones. But so, too, will our love and care for complete strangers, and our understanding of and connection to what community really means."

Guest Post: On coronavirus from a 9/11 veteran — the best and worst to...

I was living in NYC on 9/11, and I still remember, viscerally, the terror of that day. I also remember the depth of the...
The GEO Group-run Aurora Processing Center in Aurora. (Photo by Susan Greene)

Guest Post: GEO and ICE could be building Colorado’s most dangerous COVID-19 reservoir

As of Monday afternoon, March 16, Colorado had 160 cases of COVID-19 and experienced its first related death three days earlier. The state’s testing...

Guest Post: What Trump’s travel ban means for Colorado

When you think about Colorado, you may not think about Burma or Somalia, but the reality is that refugees and immigrants from these and...
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - MAY 23: People gather together to ask the McDonald’s corporation to raise workers wages to a $15 minimum wage as well as demanding the right to a union on May 23, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The nation wide protest at McDonald’s was held on the day of the company’s shareholder meeting. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Guest Post: Keep fighting for a living wage Yes, Colorado's minimum wage is now...

What are you going to do with your windfall? Colorado now has a minimum wage of $12 per hour. Did you hear that collective...
Illustration credit: Mark Castillo with graphic elements from www.vecteezy.com

Guest Post: Colorado judicial branch posts draft of proposed rule on suppression of court...

In a closed-door meeting Friday, a Colorado judicial branch committee is expected to consider a long-awaited new rule on the suppression and sealing of...
The Spring Café on opening day in 2015. The café, which offered employment to immigrants and refugees and helped them integrate into American society, closed earlier this month as a direct result of the Trump administration's cut in refugee admissions. (Photo courtesy of Paula Schriefer)

Guest Post: Denver’s Spring Café closure is call to support Colorado immigrants and refugees

Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning opened The Spring Café in December of 2015 with a tremendous sense of promise and purpose. Sure, we wanted...
Parents at a New York City school made and sold pies to raise money for their school. PHOTO CREDIT: Carrie Melago/Chalkbeat

First person: Parent fundraising made my school a great place to teach. I was...

First Person is an occasional Chalkbeat series featuring personal essays by educators, students, parents, and others trying to improve public education. “We’re really lucky here....

Guest Post: Denver’s minimum wage vote is roadmap for other cities – and for...

Denver’s recent historic vote to raise its minimum wage to more than $15 an hour marks a long-overdue victory for local communities over big...

Guest Post: The people’s fight for open government It is up to Gov. Jared...

A major battle plays out daily in Colorado as some of our elected and appointed officials — all of whom took a solemn oath...
Denver Police Sgt. Brian Conover speaks with Dorian Phillips on Nov. 14, 2018, during a police sweep of a homeless encampment in Five Points. (Photo by Alex Burness for The Colorado Independent)

Guest Post: We can do better by repealing Denver’s camping ban

After hearings this week, a Denver County Court judge will decide whether the city's camping ban is unconstitutional. But what the evidence presented has...