Ladies Night Collection

Danny Stange de Acatl

Posted August 22, 2024

The Museo de las Americas set a wonderful backdrop for a family/community (Kalpulli) gathering that came together on August 15, to congratulate the successful efforts of Dusti Gurule, President and CEO of the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) and the COLOR Action Fund and to celebrate her induction into the 2024 Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame that was unveiled at the Molly Brown House on July 18^th, 2024.

In addition to Gurule, the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame also named their complete Class of 2024, who will be honored next year at the Induction Gala Celebration on March 21, 2025: Judith Newsom Albino, Christine Benero, Barbara Bridges, Francis Natividad Coleman, Gail Benjamin Colvin, Linda Fowler, Barbara Grogan, Margaret “Meg” Hansson, Gloria J. Higgins, Elizabeth Hoffman, Elsa I. Holguin, Dr. Lula O. Lubchenco Josephson, Mary E. Krugman, RN, PhD, FAAN, Carolyn D. Love, PhD, and Jacqueline St. Joan.

Dusti’s family has been in Colorado for at least six generations, beginning in the San Luis Valley. She has been a fighter for Chicano voices to many of us.

Chicana leaders like her are here to equip and to bring the wisdom of our family values into the political turmoil that we are all so frustrated with.

Dignitaries in attendance on August 15, included Denver City Councilwoman Jamie Torres and former State Rep. Joe Salazar, Nita Gonzales, and State Rep. Lorena García, but the occasion was truly a family reunion. DJ Chonz kept the music nostalgic and the dancing was Latina flavor. A well-deserved respite for the great work they’ve done and a gathering of like-minded souls that stand together to defend families.

Watch the August 15 event celebrating Dusti here at El Semanario Livestream.

COLOR recently recruited their next youth leadership members with their LIPS program that prepares young Chicanas who will serve in our next movements. Essential advocacy and presence with our state and national issues are what they do. Our struggle is no longer for basic human respect, albeit those new migrating generations will need the support we alone know how to provide. The Latinx generation is vibrant and powerful, ready to step up and bring back the foundational values of what América was professed to believe.

Our culture and our experiences have been the root of what this country is founded upon. Beyond the well-known influence that Native nations like the Iroquois confederacy imparted to the early colonists. Our older history from México moving north to establish Santa Fe in the 1550’s! These are the triumphs that need to be taught in public school. The resilience that Dusti reflects, is born from these lesser-known stories and experiences. Chicana leaders like her are here to equip and to bring the wisdom of our family values into the political turmoil that we are all so frustrated with.

Advocating for reproductive rights and women’s natural capacity to decide what is the best medical decision for their own bodies is the heart of COLOR’s work. With great success over the years, informing on ballot measures to the voters that will keep Colorado legislators as the nation’s exemplary governance. Alongside Cobalt, they helped to lobby HB-22-1279 to keep reproduction right protected in Colorado and they currently bring awareness to Initiative 89 that will remove the ban on state funding for important medical services to anybody that requires an abortion procedure.

COLOR Latina understands that our community has a variety of views on issues. There are religious and political differences that have long been a conflict to our families and friends; there’s old diversity among our generational ambivalence. What is not old is the alignment of political values that is now being heard at religious events and activities. This country has a fundamental principal that church and state remain separate. It is not only because it can divide the populous along the fundamental belief systems that frame their reality, it is an infringement upon the civil liberties of individuals. We the People are to decide what is right for oneself without subjecting others to punishment when they don’t agree with us. Otherwise, how is their diversity?

Leaders like Dusti Gurule are examples of this when we look at the success of her career. She has always worked in collaboration and includes people from many walks of life and different viewpoints to help her achieve goals. It makes me confident about tomorrow with women like her in leadership. Congratulation Dusti Gurule! Gracias por tu labor.

Danny Stange de Acatl is a Denver Native and Cultural activist that serves his community on various levels.