“I refuse to believe that just because I was born with a certain amount of melanin in my skin, I immediately am handed a White-Card that lets me not get shot by the police, because statistics from Statista, say that in 2018, 158 African Americans were shot and killed, and 318 White Americans were shot. That is 2 whites for everyone 1 Black.”

These were the words that sparked the idea in senior Nathan Barnes to create The Cherry Creek Socialist, a four-page newspaper with articles and opinions supporting socialist ideals.

After Barnes saw those words published in this newspaper in an opinion article two years ago, he realized there was a population at Creek that felt passionate and strongly supported these beliefs.

He also realized he could create an outlet to convey his own political beliefs and share them with other students.

So in early September, Barnes joined senior Ramsey Headrick in making a newspaper that expressed the other side on the political spectrum.

Alone, Barnes conveys a voice in the paper he deems as forceful and abrasive, but joined with Headrick, he believes they are a match like “a jazz band where people with different ideas play in tune to try to create a change.”

They believe their two voices combined in the paper compliment each other well both in expressing their ideas but also in trying to create a moderate voice that isn’t too overbearing for students with opposing beliefs.

For Barnes, Headrick is key to helping him and the paper convey a more moderate and easygoing voice that will draw people into how they actually interpret socialism. For them, socialism is more than just an ideology. It’s an opportunity to get people and students thinking about what their true beliefs and ideas are.

They believe the paper could open students’ minds up to the idea of having more political conversations and discussions that they might not normally agree with rather than just affirming the same confirmation bias in conversations they hear at home.

“We wanted to dispel misconceptions and introduce socialism to people who haven’t heard of it or considered it before,” Headrick said.

At a school with almost 4,000 students representing different political views, cultures, and ideologies, Barnes and Headrick realized the paper could consist of fun, light, and digestible stories and articles that could help get students thinking about what socialism really is.

The four page paper consists of the mission statement, a general definition of what socialism is and what it means to Barnes and Headrick, and small articles about how socialism is a growing movement in not only America, but in younger generations as well.

This is why they both feel it’s their duty to inform and hopefully influence Creek students now more than ever.

“Younger generations are trying to burst that bubble of elitism that both parties suffer from,” Barnes said.

Both seniors are also considering starting a website that will contain longer and more substantial information in case students want more exposure and access to what the paper is already providing.

So far, they have received feedback from people who agree and praise their work and also from people who disagree, reaching out to have conversations and discussions.

Luckily, this is exactly what Barnes and Headrick were hoping would happen.

“I’m open, and I love people contacting us,” Barnes said. “We can debate and hopefully change some minds.”

To Barnes and Headrick, socialism is a an ideology that motivates them and gets them excited to talk about.

With the paper, it’s a more convenient and available option to share that excitement with other people and help spark conversations and discussions about left-wing politics.

“A lot of high school students don’t have full knowledge of what socialism really is, so I think we’ve had some success at spreading our message to people,” Headrick said.

This story won honorable mention Lifestyle News-Feature from CSMA.