COMMENTARY BLACK IN BOULDER Making visible the invincible

Boulder is a sacred place. The majestic Flatirons blanket the city with the memories of the people native to this land.

To live in Boulder is to receive this magnificent bounty. We Californians Boulderites are truly blessed.

Sadly, the experience of living in Boulder is not unitive. To some, living in Boulder is accessible, welcoming, culturally sensitive and affirming. To the othered, Boulder can be inaccessible, unwelcoming, and culturally insensitive. One of the plethora of “othered” groups are Black people, who make up 1.2% of Boulder’s current population.

Contemporary Black Boulderites are a continuation of Boulder’s

African American history, a narrative which began in the 1870s with the OG Black pioneers to the area such as Joseph and Mary Anderson, George Reynolds, Henry and Annie Butler, the Leopold family and more. The first Black people in this area were optimists and dreamers who migrated to the area mainly to mine for gold and other valuable ores.

Black people and our optimism were met with the status quo and a century and a half of duplicitous behaviors, such as socio-racial-eco-

BY ANTHONY GALLUCCI

nomic segregation, bigotry, hate crimes/arson, tokenism, pertinacious inclusivity initiatives, over incarceration, redlining, police brutality and lack of significant socio-political representation. Alas, we rise! Although Black people have been in Boulder for over 150 years, we currently exist mainly as transient residents. The present transient experience, and the low number of Black Boulderite permanent residents, is indicative and responsive to the history of Boulder. The low percentage of Black Boulderites, throughout time, is not