Since its inception in the 1970s, punk rock has always been an explicitly political genre of music. Seminal British punks The Clash wrote songs inspired by radical left-wing ideology — opposition to police repression, support for militant groups like the Sandinistas and the Red Brigades, and a rejection of capitalism, consumerism and Margaret Thatcher. In American in the 1980s, hardcore punk emerged in response to the new conservatism of Ronald Reagan. Bands like Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, the Circle Jerks, and others mixed the political messages of traditional punk with a faster, harder, more aggressive musicality. Presaging the political polarization and violence of our modern era, punk shows in the 1980s became battlegrounds between punks and racist skinheads, establishing punk’s reputation as a safe space for minorities, women, and LGBTQ people.
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Proponents Aren’t Giving Up on Bill They Say Is Essential To Make Housing Affordable in Colorado
Colorado’s housing crisis may yet get some legislative relief. Just days ago, Gov. Jared Polis’ (D-CO) top legislative priority, a land use bill that would clear a regulatory path for more affordable housing by granting statewide permission for higher density housing near public transit and allow homeowners to build accessory dwelling units, seemed destined for a common fate of bold policy ideas: reduced to a study. The teeth of SB23-213, requiring the upzoning of residential neighborhoods statewide, had been pulled via Senate committee amendments by legislators facing the sound and fury of suburban city officials invoking the sanctity of “local control” as they insisted they must be allowed to limit the rights of property owners.
Proud Boys’ Ties to Colorado: Boebert, Other Republicans, a Trump Rally in CO Springs, and More
In Colorado, the Proud Boys, a white nationalist group, have been visible and active since Trump ran for president. Four national leaders of the Proud Boys were convicted of seditious conspiracy yesterday, but a former Colorado Proud Boy calls the verdict “political theater.”
Bill Paving the Way for the Use of Magic Mushrooms and Other Psychedelic Medicines Heads to Polis’ Desk
Colorado lawmakers gave their final approval on May 2 for a bill that seeks to improve access to therapies using natural psychedelic medicines.
On 25th Anniversary, Latina Advocacy Group Lauded for Raising and Empowering the ‘Voices of Those Who Are Most Marginalized’
Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) celebrated its 25th anniversary and the recent passage of the Colorado Democrats’ “Safe Access to Protected Health Care” package of legislation during a Thursday event in Denver’s Santa Fe Art District.
Even Colorado Springs Could Reject a Republican for Mayor! We’ll Find Out May 16.
One candidate assures voters he’ll make Colorado Springs “the same kind of place, but better.” The other promises a “city on a hill.”
Climate Groups Raise Concerns Over Hydrogen, Carbon Capture, and Nuclear Technologies in Colorado
In 2021, Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) outlined a roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado 50% by 2030 and achieve 100% renewable energy in the state by 2040. As these deadlines approach, nuclear energy, carbon capture technology, and hydrogen are being proposed by some as ways to offset carbon emissions from fossil fuel production, theoretically making the deadlines easier for the state to hit.
Colorado GOP Chair Appears on Conspiracist ScamPAC Podcast, Promotes Election Denialism
When Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams hit the airwaves last month for his victory tour of right-wing talk radio, he insisted that he would unify the clearly divided Republican Party. He offered leadership roles to the other chair candidates he defeated, including Tina Peters and Erik Aadland.
CO Springs Library Workers Unionize
Workers from the Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) gathered at the Chinook Center, a community hub in southeast Colorado Springs, on Sunday to celebrate the official launch of Colorado’s newest public sector union.
Colorado Republican Accuses Democrats of Creating ‘Abortion Tourism’ As Residents of States That Ban Abortion Come to Colorado for Care
A Colorado lawmaker accused Democrats this week of “intentionally running” legislation to “create abortion tourism,” going so far as to say visitors to Colorado can “go skiing for a week and then on the way home they can get their abortion.”