By Sophia Mayott-Guerrero, Senior Organizing Strategist
As the 2024 legislative session draws near, we are gearing up for our biggest community event of the year: PEAK Week. Community accountability and participation in legislation is a critical part of the democratic process. Even though citizens hire elected officials by voting and our tax dollars pay their salaries, we often forget to manage them. The ACLU of Colorado’s Public Education, Activism and Know your rights (PEAK) Week will empower community members with the key advocacy skills needed to make sure their voices are heard. This event will focus on priority issues including housing, data privacy and justice reform. PEAK Week participants will immediately have the chance to put their new skills into action through arranged meetings at the Colorado State Capitol. Together, we will lobby legislators on critical civil rights issues to ensure this legislative session provides solutions and laws that support and uplift all Coloradans.
To hold lawmakers accountable, activists from all corners of our beautiful state are needed. During PEAK Week, we look forward to having people of all ages and races from across Colorado join us at the Capitol. In 2023, our attendees spoke with over a dozen different legislators on key issues such as rent control, justice system reform and just cause eviction policy.
Legislators are often presented with facts and data about a given issue, but it is less common for them to hear first-hand about the impact of their decisions. By hearing the stories of people bearing the consequences of policies and politics, legislators can see beyond the numbers and become committed to passing legislation that benefits the people of Colorado. Through community organizing like this, we can push our legislators to invest in the housing and justice solutions we all need.
