Hillary Leftwich
Audio By Carbonatix
One of the big questions in America and Colorado today, according to Denver writer and professor Hillary Leftwich, is this: “What can we do? Specifically, what can I do?”
That two-part question is at the heart of Writers on Resistance, a new group that will gather at East Window Gallery in Boulder on January 29 to hear from Leftwich, poet and CU professor Rajiv Mohabir, and Denver poet Crisosto Apache. “Action is different for everyone,” says Leftwich. “Not everyone can go out and protest, but I know a lot of people feel helpless. This is meant to be a place and time to come together.”
The project began on Leftwich’s Substack. “I started a series called Writers on Resistance,” she recalls. “Writers and creatives both, really. Interviewing them all with the same questions, seeing what their stance on resistance is right now. What that means to them. I’ve been doing that for about a year now.”
Which is why Todd Edward Herman, founder of East Window Gallery, reached out. “He asked me if I was interested in doing a reading event based on my Substack, and I thought it was a great idea,” she says. “Because communities can’t be killed. They can’t be silenced. They’re always going to exist; we see that in the history of the Civil Rights movement. People will yell or scream or do art, or write. They’ll speak up and speak out. That’s something that isn’t going to die.”
Leftwich envisions the Writers on Resistance gathering as different from readings she’s been instrumental in hosting in Denver, such as the At the Inkwell series. “I foresee this looking like a community event where people will be able to just come and talk about what’s going on,” she says. “Yes, there will be readings, and Christo and Raj will bring their work, but I really just want this to be not so much planned, but an organic open forum. People need the opportunity to come together and just vent, or organize, or discuss, or share or whatever.”
Part of that is intentional, with Leftwich and company meeting people where they are. “But it’s also just how these things go naturally,” Leftwich adds. “You can’t really control them, or shouldn’t try. You need to let the people who choose to be there do what they want to do. What they need in that moment. It’s really about the moment.”
And Leftwich says that moment, right now, is vital. “We see these things happening out of Minnesota,” she says, citing the recent murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents. “But these are things that are quite possibly going to start happening state to state. Right now, we’re being really proactive about proposing laws that would disallow ICE from wearing masks, for example. But we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
And so the proposed solution — one of them, anyway — is to gather at events like this. “It’s really hard for most people to keep up with all that’s happening,” Leftwich says. “Which makes it really hard to plan events to bring communities together in response. It’s one thing after another, by design. It’s almost like shell-shock, this surreal numbness, a brain fog. So I appreciate Todd Herman’s invite to do this.”
Leftwich is also organizing an event at Denver’s Counterpath that will mirror some of this initial gathering at East Window, but plans for that are still in the works. “I’d love to keep this going at East Window, though, if Todd’s interested in doing that,” Leftwich says. “Maybe just rotating a new organizer each time to bring their own experience and expertise? I might just be the first one to do it. That would be really interesting. Todd already does a great job of that with the gallery itself.”
Continues Leftwich: “The fact that we’re able to band together and do events like these are evidence of the power and longevity of community — individuals, organizations, bookstores, so many elements coming together. I’m so grateful for that here in Denver. It’s not just me; it’s everyone gathering to do something. Which I think is great considering that we’re all just like, ‘What the fuck?'”
Writers on Resistance will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, January 29, at the East Window Gallery, 4550 Broadway in Boulder; admission is free and there will be an open mic session after the three scheduled speakers. Find more information on the gallery website.
