Organizing & Resistance

First, of all, some context: Custer County, CO, where I live, is demographically speaking a ‘frontier’ county: our total population is only about 4500 people, the overwhelming majority (around 90%) white, and the median age is 58, and the sociopolitical culture relentlessly conservative, with a few pockets of liberality centered around cultural institutions like the community radio station and the performing arts center (where I work).

So when I say that I expected to be one of about seven people at the planned Black Lives Matter rally, I was only partly kidding. In the event, over 100 people showed up, and it would likely have been more, but for some confusion – the weather was supposed to be stormy, so the original organizer first called it off, and then cancelled the cancellation once it became apparent that people were ready to go, rain or shine. So here we go:

 

THE MOUNTIES

This is how I thought of them, tho’ I have no idea whether they were actually part of the mounted posse or not (yes, a “mounted posse” is a thing out here). All I know is that these two ladies on horseback were across the street from the park where we started (with a kneeling demonstration timed for 8 minutes, 46 seconds, in honor of George Floyd), and then they processed up the street in front of us before turning off onto a side street. So, I don’t really know why they were there, but they sure looked cool!

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The Sheriff had advised us to make sure to stay on the sidewalks. We split up and marched on both sides of the street. Observe the social distancing protocol (laxer on the way back, I must admit, but everyone was masked and remained masked throughout the event).

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There were some great signs. This one struck me as the ultimate statement for our times right now.

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The march began and ended at The Bluffs, a park at the end of the street at the edge of town with a stunning view of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. One of the coolest things about it for me was meeting people like this young family, who moved to the area a couple years ago.

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Signs, signs, everywhere signs…

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…including the “counter protest” outside the Sentinel office. The Sentinel is a right-wing newsletter (I won’t dignify it with the term “newspaper”) that serves as the fulcrum for white supremacist reaction. They have done a lot of damage socially and politically here, and they got their start from the extreme butt-hurt that the white gun nut crowd here experienced when the former editor of the real paper in town, the Wet Mountain Tribune (full disclosure, as Adam would say: I write for this paper), wrote an editorial poking fun at the open-carry zealots in the 4th of July parade. Boom – all of a sudden we’ve got a full-blown opposition organization, funded by some rabid right-winger from out of town (talk about your “outside agitators”!). Speaking of which, that’s what these folks were expecting – the Sheriff had to talk them down. But as you can see, they’re still out there. They were chanting “USA! USA! USA!” and “ALL LIVES MATTER!”  as we passed. And of course, none of them masked. K-K-K-Keepin’ It K-K-K-Klassy all the way…

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We all bunched up and waded right through the suckers on the way back. What you can’t hear is one of the white supremacist goobers who got in our faces leering “I can’t breathe.” We had been warned not to react to any provocation, but man, that one was particularly hard to ignore.

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET

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But we all got through it and went on with our pleasant and useful day. I am hopeful that this march – which was organized by a very young man, and featured a multicultural, multi-generational crowd, which overwhelmingly abided by COVID-19 protocols – will represent the future of our county. One of the women who worked for my paper, who has gone over to the Dark Side with the bigots, lamented the other day that “I’ve lived in this valley for 20 years, and I don’t recognize it anymore.” To which I say, “Right on.”

END OF THE MARCH

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