Colorado
One more river to cross • Colorado Newsline
A version of this commentary originally appeared in the Alabama Reflector.
My family and I stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings in Georgia a few weekends ago after watching one of our kids take part in a marching band competition. Surrounding us in restaurant were wall-mounted televisions. Most showed sports, repeatedly punctuated by political ads.
At least half of them attacked transgender people. And I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything more rancid on a TV broadcast.
One image after another of smiling human beings, framed as a monstrous threat.
A person’s existence is never a debatable point. But these ads weren’t even gesturing toward persuasion. They were harangues, treating transgender people as nothing but targets and receptacles for hatred. Certainly not people worthy of the most basic respect.
The spots reminded me of an equally rancid ad from Alabama’s past. Faced with an extinction-level political event in Alabama’s 1970 gubernatorial campaign, George Wallace circulated a flyer showing a white girl sitting with seven Black children. The text read “Wake Up Alabama! Is This The Image You Want? Blacks Vow To Take Over Alabama.”
Brute. Crude. Demeaning.
It’s the old shriek of privilege, directed at white men like me. You matter. They don’t. If they matter, you won’t.
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It incites us to mad attempts at shoving the great shining rainbow of our nation back through the prism. Thinking we can make everything we see white.
That hateful struggle has warped our country. It’s ruined lives and communities. And all too often it means living in a cynical simulacrum of freedom. Democracy at its heart is an act of inclusion, of gathering voices to come to a consensus. In America, we have a disturbing tendency to elevate people obsessed with excluding men and women from the discussion because of one identifier or another. All too often, they use violence to shrink the circle. Alabama has logged more decades as an apartheid state than as anything like a responsive government.
And yet, we know that people pushed back. We know of countless Americans who faced tyranny and violence with a cool and clear demand to be treated as Americans.
I’m thinking here of Jackson Giles, a Black man from Montgomery who lived through an age of segregation and lynchings. Someone who had seen his rights yanked away by a small clique of elites. Hopelessness would be a natural reaction.
But Giles fought. He challenged Alabama’s 1901 Constitution, enacted through fraud to steal the vote from Black Alabamians and, later, poor whites.
Backed by the Tuskegee Institute’s Booker T. Washington, he took the state to the U.S. Supreme Court, where, in 1903, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. ruled against him in a manner that was both illogical and cowardly.
You could understand if Giles gave up there. He didn’t.
Black leaders from around the state gathered in Montgomery after the court’s ruling to continue the fight. Giles, a deacon in a local church, began the meeting with a hymn.
“One more river,” he said. “There’s one more river to cross.”
Giles did not win that battle. The 1901 Alabama Constitution is still our governing document. Its authoritarian provisions controlled the state until 1966, when the first elections under the Voting Rights Act took place. Giles lived a long life, but not long enough to see that day. It’s unlikely anyone who heard him sing in 1903 did, either.
But other Alabamians picked up the melody. Amelia Boynton Robinson. Arthur Madison. Jo Ann Robinson. E.D. Nixon. Rosa Parks. They marched through Alabama’s hopeless landscape in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, at considerable personal risk, trying to make freedom and rule of law something more than luxuries enjoyed by white elites.
They’re not unique. Look at any marginalized group in American history. You’ll see people who will not be silent, who will not be intimidated and who demand to be treated not as the powerful choose, but as the Constitution demands.
Their lives depend on us living our ideals. Not muttering them under our breath, but working to make our country the democracy it should be. Because when we decide that some people aren’t worthy of that, democracy dies.
It lives when people targeted for exclusion say no. When other people join them. And when the boundaries of belonging expand.
Progress is not ordained. Giles saw it go backwards. It could do so again. But it will not be complete until the day we accept that all of us are Americans, each with a right to representation and respect. Until we acknowledge our freedom is tied to the freedom of everyone else.
That destination is far over the horizon, with many obstacles ahead and nothing we can count on except the path that led us here and each other’s faith in the journey. Take a deep breath and step forward. There’s one more river to cross.
Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: [email protected]. Follow Alabama Reflector on Facebook and X.
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An investigation is underway after authorities found a body near a picnic area in western Colorado last weekend that appears to have been eaten by a bear.
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office says the human remains were located on Sunday near the Wild Rose Picnic Area off Lands End Road on the Grand Mesa. Investigators say the remains were scavenged and scattered, and they believe the person was consumed by a bear and other wildlife.
The Mesa County Coroner’s Office is working to identify the person and officially determine their cause of death.
The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who was in the area of the Wild Rose Campground between June 22 and July 5, 2026, and noticed anything suspicious to contact Investigator Jenna Reed at (970) 244-3274.
They added that Colorado Parks and Wildlife believes there is no threat to the community at this time.
The area is home to black bears, and the MCSO shared several guidelines for the community to prevent human-bear conflicts:
- Stay alert and together: Go with others when possible, keep children in sight and close by, and avoid using headphones so you can hear your surroundings.
- Food safety: Double-bag food, pack out all food and trash, and don’t burn scraps and trash in fire rings/grills or leave them behind.
- Pet safety: Keep dogs on a leash at all times or leave them at home; don’t force a bear to defend itself.
- Camping safety: Set up camps away from dense cover or natural food sources and do not cook or store food near/in a tent. Secure food in bear-resistant containers or suspend at least 10 feet above the ground and 10 feet away from any part of the tree.
- Know how to respond: Don’t approach bears; quietly move away. Never run, as it may trigger a chase response. If a bear approaches, stand your ground, wave your arms, and yell until it leaves. Stay with your group, use bear spray, and fight back aggressively if necessary.
- Bear spray: Carry bear spray and know how to use it correctly. It’s not repellent; don’t spray your tent, campsite, or belongings.
Damage assessments are still ongoing for homes and businesses affected by the Aspen Acres Fire in southern Colorado, but over 200 homes have been confirmed destroyed so far. The United Way of Southern Colorado is working to raise relief funds for those affected and says it’s making progress towards its fundraising goal.
In an update on Wednesday afternoon, Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero said they’ve assessed approximately 67% of the properties affected in the county. Authorities have confirmed the loss of 192 homes and four commercial structures so far and are working to contact property owners as quickly as possible.
Lucero urged everyone affected by the fire to use the survivor portal for more information on assistance.
Custer County Sheriff Rich Smith says they’ve lost approximately 83 homes so far, almost 2% of the county’s homes. The worst hit area is along the Highway 165 corridor, Smith added. He said that authorities don’t expect any new evacuation areas, but are not yet ready to release the existing evacuation orders.
Smith said a hotline is available during business hours for affected Custer County Residents to ask questions. He urged residents to contact them at (719) 467-0271 and advised they may need to leave a voicemail if the line is busy due to the high number of calls.
A flash flood watch is in effect for areas near the burn scar, which could affect nearby homes.
The President of the United Way of Southern Colorado, Shanna Farmer, said the organization is working to raise wildfire relief funds for those affected. Over the last few days, they have reached just over $417,000 of their $10 million goal.
“It has been incredible, the number of individuals and companies who have come out to support, to provide matches, and to provide innovative ways to raise those funds,” said Farmer. “And so, I encourage anyone who is willing to work with us on a corporate, business, or individual level to please reach out because it is going to take all of us to help rebuild.”
Farmer said that the community not only needs help with their immediate needs but also long-term support. She urged anyone interested in donating to visit their website.
The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office says anyone who has evacuated needs to contact the Disaster Assistance Center located at 29 Lehigh Ave. in Pueblo. The center is open between 9 a.m and 6 p.m. and provides multiple resources for those forced to evacuate.
Residents must also visit the center to obtain a re-entry pass, which will allow them to return home once evacuation orders have been lifted. A photo ID and proof of residency are required. Visitors can sign up online to reserve a place in line for faster service.
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