The time security saw me as a threat to a new civil rights hero

I was a security threat to Bree Newsome at the Wild Goose Festival.

On Saturday, July 11, with the festival almost over, word got around: Newsome would be speaking that night. My first thoughts were: How am I going to reach an editor when there’s no cell service in this damned valley? Who’s going to lend me a laptop? Can I get enough of a Wifi signal to file a story from the café in Hot Springs? This was news, and I’m a reporter.

But that’s not all I was. I’ve been performing music at Wild Goose since 2012. Last year, I read excerpts from my spiritual memoir and interviewed my friend Scott Bass. This year, my band had a set on the main stage, and a few hours after Bree Newsome’s appearance, we were scheduled to host an “AcoustaGoose” jam session in the same tent where she spoke.