Anthony Cotton

Writer Donna Bryson says the history of slavery, its impact, its legacy, isn’t just the story of the Blacks who were oppressed, but also the white oppressors. A reporter for Reuters, Bryson was part of a comprehensive project that looked at “Slavery’s Descendants,” — the investigation not only looked at slavery from multi-racial viewpoints, but also explored its enduring footprint, via the connection with many of today’s political elites. Bryson spoke with Colorado Matters about her family’s personal story.

Nikki Swarn, the general manager and interim program director at KUVO Jazz and hip-hop station The Drop, discusses her life-long love of the Denver Nuggets and her excitement that the team is playing in its first-ever NBA Finals.

The Nuggets aren’t the only Denver team chasing history — last week, the University of Denver women’s lacrosse team became the first women’s collegiate team west of the Mississippi River to advance beyond the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. This weekend, the Pioneers have a chance to win their first championship.

There was a time when Hana Kebede struggled with public speaking — “I would stutter, I would be nervous, I would quieten my voice,” she said. That’s not the case now for the 16-year-old junior at Overland High School in Aurora; a speech and debate class at the school helped Kebede come out of her shell. She then won the Colorado Poetry Out Loud competition and she’s now headed to the national semi-finals.

When the Colorado Rockies take the field today in their home opener, they’ll be led by pitcher Kyle Freeland, a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver. But what if the Spartans had produced another pitcher, one who set major league records every time he took the mound? That’s the premise of “The Fireballer.” Written by local author Mark Stevens, the novel centers around Frank Ryder, who moved from TJ and Metropolitan State University of Denver to the major leagues, where his ability to reach speeds of 110 miles an hour with his pitches creates an uproar in the sport. Stevens says the fictional story is part of an existential argument that’s taking place in the actual major leagues.

A Washington Post investigation finds a lay Catholic group in Colorado has monitored priests who use dating and hookup apps, predominantly ones geared toward same-sex relationships. This group then turned the findings over to bishops nationwide. Priests take a vow of celibacy, and the church’s official position is that gay sex is a sin. The report raises broader privacy questions.

Sarah Davison-Tracy, the founder of Seeds of Exchange, a global human rights group, visited Ukraine in May of 2022, and then again in August, along with her friend John DeYoung, delivering portable water filters to citizens. On that second visit, Davison-Tracy’s husband, Brandon, a pediatrician in Denver, was also there. Brandon says the trip had a profound impact on his life, and the couple plan on returning to the country every year to visit newfound friends and help rebuild the war-ravaged land.

This time next week, we’ll know who the Super Bowl champion will be — we’ve known for a while now that it won’t be the Denver Broncos, who entered the 2022 season with Mile-High expectations, but ended it with a fired coach and their seventh straight year of missing the playoffs. Now hopes are once again renewed with the hiring of Sean Payton as coach. Former Bronco Ryan Harris discusses the process that led to Payton’s arrival, and whether or not he can “fix” foundering quarterback Russell Wilson and return the team to the postseason.

A professional athlete protests injustice by sitting out the National Anthem.  There’s a firestorm, and before long, his career is over. While there is a connection, this is not a story about former National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Decades earlier, it was Denver Nuggets guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf who was suspended by the NBA and shortly thereafter traded away from the team for his decision. In his autobiography, “In the Blink of an Eye,” Abdul-Rauf discusses his life before and after the anthem controversy.