Thank goodness the 2024 election is history. Now the real work begins.

According to Governor Polis, we won’t “allow the disagreement, division, or disorder in Washington, D.C. to deter us in Colorado. That’s simply not how we roll.”

As a multi-issue organization, that’s not how we roll either. Our mission and vision allows us to cast a big net and be a welcoming place for people from all walks of life to organize on a range of social, environmental, and economic justice issues.

Often our members get involved because they care deeply about one issue. Each member has their own unique story and reasons for joining our Alliance, what community organizers refer to as self-interest.

Self-interest is a prime motivator of human behavior and what we legitimately bring to public life. The English word “interest” is a combination of two Latin words, inter, meaning “among,” and esse, meaning “to be.” In other words, healthy self-interest lies in our relationship with others.

Our members who live near oil and gas facilities might describe their self-interest as having rules in place to protect human health and the environment.

Our West Slope Youth Voice members might describe their self-interest as having access to adequate mental health support.
Our family farm and ranch members might describe their self-interest as expanded markets for local food.

Our members with young children might describe their self-interest as being able to afford and obtain quality child care.

Self-interest means knowing when and how to assert your concerns effectively. However, it also means being willing at times to set aside your own individual self-interest and support others. If student mental health services are being threatened, we all need to stand together and support the next generation. If our immigrant neighbors are fearful of being deported, we need to stand with them and say, “Not in our town.” If polluters threaten the air we breathe or water we drink, we need to speak as one and demand that they “do it right.”

Plenty of uncertainty hangs over the next four years. We reject efforts to divide us, and we will not be deterred from working together in solidarity to improve the lives of everyday people in western Colorado, no matter their race, age, gender, or class.

I will leave you with this quote from Heather McGhee, who currently chairs the board of Color of Change, a nationwide online racial justice organization: “The plutocrats have always known that solidarity is the answer, [and] that the sum of us can accomplish far more than just some of us.”