Denver Urban Spectrum - August 2021 - The Deep Roots of Black Philanthropy

Volume 35 Number 5 August 2021

The Deep Roots of Black Philanthropy...4 Photo by Bernard Grant

Major League Baseball's All-Star Denver Weekend......................8 Job Insecurity & Vaccinations during the Pandemic.................10 State of the City: Denver Mayor's Update...................................16

MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER

Volume 35

Number 5

August 2021

PUBLISHER Rosalind J. Harris GENERAL MANAGER Lawrence A. James EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alfonzo Porter COPY EDITOR Tanya Ishikawa COLUMNISTS Barry Overton CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Theresa Ho Malcolm Quattlebaum COLAB Tanya Ishikawa - Story Coordinator ART DIRECTOR Bee Harris ADVERTISING & DIGITAL MARKETING Theresa Ho GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jody Gilbert - Kolor Graphix PHOTOGRAPHERS Lens of Ansar Bernard Grant SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Theresa Ho DISTRIBUTION Ed Lynch Lawrence A. James - Manager

The Denver Urban Spectrum is a monthly publication dedicated to spreading the news about people of color. Contents of the Denver Urban Spectrum are copyright 2021 by Bizzy Bee Enterprise. No portion may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher.

The Denver Urban Spectrum circulates 25,000 copies throughout Colorado. The Denver Urban Spectrum welcomes all letters, but reserves the right to edit for space, libelous material, grammar, and length. All letters must include name, address, and phone number. We will withhold author’s name on request. Unsolicited articles are accepted without guarantee of publication or payment.

Write to the Denver Urban Spectrum at P.O. Box 31001, Aurora, CO 80041.

For advertising, subscriptions, or other information, call 303-292-6446 or fax 303292-6543 or visit the Web site at www.denverurbanspectrum.com.

Join Denver Urban Spectrum to Learn about the COVID-19 Vaccines To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? For some of us, the choice was simple and we got vaccinated as soon as we could. For others, the decision is more complicated with lots of concerns and uncertainties. And then, a segment of the community doesn’t even seem to give it a second thought – it just doesn’t seem necessary.

Whichever group you are in, but especially if you are still unvaccinated, Denver Urban Spectrum (DUS) invites you to a townhall-style event, COVID-19 and the Vaccines: A Community Conversation, on Saturday, August 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Join us at the Struggle of Love Foundation, 12000 E. 47th Ave., Denver, so you can better understand the pros and cons of vaccination and learn from the insights of medical experts and your neighbors.

“You don’t know what you don’t know. You have to learn what you don’t know and an event like this makes it easier,” said Struggle of Love Co-Founder and Executive Director LaKeshia Hodge.

“There’s lots I don’t know about the vaccines. I really appreciate Denver Urban Spectrum giving us the opportunity to learn, and I hope people will come and learn.”

Funded by a grant from the Rose Community Foundation, DUS is bringing together a panel of three Black doctors to answer your questions and offer science-based facts and information about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, especially for communities of color. Dr. Lane Rolling is an infectious disease specialist who has worked internationally to research and develop prevention methods and treatments for viruses. Dr. Terri Richardson is an internal medicine specialist in Denver and the vice chair of the Colorado Black Health Collaborative. Dr. Johnny E. Johnson is a longtime obstetrics and gynecology physician in the Denver metropolitan area and president of the Mile High Medical Society.

Event participants will also have the opportunity to hear about the experiences and recommendations of vaccinated and unvaccinated community members, and discuss concerns, misinformation, uncertainties, and other issues about vaccinations. Plus, a complimentary lunch will be provided to all participants.

Approximately 59% of Coloradoans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose, according to USAFACTS, a website that gathers and displays government data. The percentage of people of color who are vaccinated lags behind the percentage of white people. The percentage of vaccinated people under 40 is also much lower than those above 40.

“We chose to hold the event at Struggle of Love because it serves the younger people who are less vaccinated and need to learn more to make an informed decision about whether to get the vaccines,” said DUS Publisher Rosalind “Bee” Harris. “We hope community members in their 20s, 30s and 40s will be among those who join us for this important conversation.”

DUS and Struggle of Love are also arranging for a drive-through vaccination clinic for those who are interested, in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Public Health. Pfizer vaccines will be available for ages 12 and up.

Event participation is free but RSVPs are required to plan for seating and lunch. Space is limited. Please call 303-292-6446 or email Theresa@urbanspectrum.net. Inquiries about registering for the vaccination clinic can also be made through DUS.

~Denver Urban Spectrum On the Cover: First row: Janice Satchell – Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Herman White – Denver African American Philanthropists (DAAP), Lauren Casteel – Women’s Foundation of Colorado, Dwayne Moore – Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Sharon Hicks – Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Tanaka Shipp – Sisterhood of Philanthropists Impacting Needs (SPIN), Nneka McPhee – SPIN, Yvonne Moore – Moore Philanthropy; Second Row: Vanecia Kerr – Mile High United Way, Sandra Roberts-Taylor – Women of Color Making A Difference (WOC-MAD), Ashley Pickens – Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Damita Holland – Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Karen McNeil-Miller – The Colorado Health Foundation, Raymel Blackwell – Community First Foundation/DAAP, Al Gardener – Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Michael Short – Omega Psi Phi Fraternity/National Pan-Hellenic Council; Third Row: Yolanda Barnes-Green – Denver Chapter of The Links, Scott Allen - Phi Beta Sigma, Greg Moore – Delta Eta Boule, Brandon Bruce – DAAP, Demond Harper – Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity (Photo by Bernard Grant) Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – August 2021

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Philanthropy Deeply Rooted in Black Culture Recognizing Legacies of Giving during the 10th Anniversary of Black Philanthropy Month

By LaDawn Sullivan Urban Dictionary: Definition of philanthropy -

The love for mankind

For many, the word “philanthropy” conjures up images of couch-wide, cardboard checks presented to someone on stage or at a banquet in front of a sea of half-eaten plates of under-seasoned food. Some people believe it’s the ceremonial transfer of cash from the wealthy “haves” to the poor “have nots.” However, historically, the Black community has demonstrated that philanthropy is so much more than money.

As the director of the Black Resilience in Colorado (BRIC) Fund, philanthropy is my career, and it is also my calling.

BRIC is focused on ensuring that Black-led and serving organizations are strong, sustainable and positively impact the communities they serve.

Our definition of a philanthropist is simply a person who desires to make their community a better place by giving one or more of their “5 Ts:” time, talent, treasure, testimony, and social ties. And, if you’re part of the Black diaspora, you’re a philanthropist, too. It’s in our DNA. Whether it’s adding to the collection plate on Sundays, handing out tin foil-covered plates of food to-go, or giving an elder a ride somewhere, nurturing our neighbors is deeply rooted in Black culture.

Plus, there’s data to prove it.

A joint 2012 study by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors called the “Culture of Giving” found that Black households give on average 25% more of their income per year than white households and nearly two-thirds of Black households donate to community-based organizations and causes up to a collective sum of $11 billion.

That’s right, I said billion.

Our history shows us that ‘We love us for real’ in a manner that is sometimes subtle, sometimes bombastic, often unseen, much appreciated and always worthy of celebration.

August is designated as that time of year to celebrate Black philanthropy in Colorado – although arguably, philanthropy is embraced and celebrated every day in the Black community. This month, however, we’ll celebrate and also elevate our abundance by shining the light on the special role and impact Black philanthropy has across the country and beyond.

For instance, 2020 marked the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre—a brutal two-day attack on a prosperous all-Black neighborhood by a violent white mob. Although the governor at the time, a white lawyer and judge named James Brooks Ayres Anderson, publicly condemned the actions of the perpetrators, no one was held accountable for destroying more than 35 city blocks, displacing more than 6,000 people or causing an unknown number of deaths. No one was tasked with the cleanup either, hence the battered residents of Greenwood mobilized their own 5 Ts in the immediate aftermath of May 31 to June 1, 1921, to rebuild what was left of Black Wall Street.

Our Fight Continues Although progress has been made, the Black community as a whole has yet to fully recover from the original sins of America’s forefathers. In 2021, Black Americans are still fighting for freedom from overt and covert racism amid a cultural schism that has one side looking at the era of our enslavement with nostalgia and the other just wanting to breathe. So, it comes as no surprise that lifting each other up from the rubble of race-based injustice is an unavoidable part of the Black experience. But we know that already. Social media has given the world a front-row seat to what feels like the neverending taking of Black American lives like George Floyd.

Eight minutes and 46 seconds on May 25, 2020, widened the open wound of police brutality inflicted by white-centered law enforcement on Black

The History of Black American Altruism Created in 2011 by Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland and the PanAfrican Women’s Philanthropy Network (PAWPNet), Black Philanthropy Month was designed as a global celebration to commemorate the United Nations Year and Decade of People of African Descent.

Although the observation was created only 10 years ago, Black people have been helping each other survive and thrive well before our ancestors came to the Americas in chains or by choice.

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Lauren Casteel, President and CEO, Women’s Foundation of Colorado and Karen McNeil-Miller, President and CEO, The Colorado Health Foundation

bodies for the world to see, Black Americans to feel and non-Black Americans to react to, which they did like never before. Not only did Derek Chauvin’s knee trigger a tsunami of collective anger and action against bad cops, it also elicited a flow of cash from allies to Black-owned businesses and Black-led and serving nonprofit organizations.

The Economist reports more than $10.6 billion was donated to Black Lives Matter-related causes in 2020.

However, those of us who don’t have the privilege of viewing our pain from the safe distance of an electronic device know these donated dollars are just Band-Aids. They cover, but can’t and don’t cure the root causes of the trauma we share, nor remedy every inequity in our communities.

For one, they often come with strings attached. Whether that’s a placard for a major donation, or “Likes” for posting a black square on Instagram, some non-Black philanthropists who give to Black causes expect accolades or some other form of public acknowledgement for “doing the right thing.” What’s

SPIN Group (2020) - Photo by Richard Lo

DAAP members donate basic essentials to a program providing safe overnight space to single women experiencing homelessness.

more, some feel entitled to hold beneficiaries accountable for how their gifts were applied.

“Where is the money going?” is a question that’s been asked by CNN, the Los Angeles Times, Buzzfeed News, and other national outlets consumed by mostly white audiences. Is it offensive? Yes. Is it surprising?

No. For every white ally who is able to check their privilege at the door, there are more who perform philanthropy for all the wrong reasons. And this is why Black philanthropy matters.

Because when we give to each other, the legitimacy of our crises or our competency to address them is rarely, if ever, questioned.

Secondly, contributions to Black-led and serving organizations are often designated to address the symptoms of an issue in our community rather than interrogating its cause.

Oftentimes, these organizations are formed by Black people who’ve experienced a need, found a way to meet it, and mobilized their 5 Ts, and others, to make sure others in the Black community with similar needs are supported. Given increased and flexible resources, these organizations can begin to dismantle the root causes of racism and systemic oppression. Like Desmond Tutu says, “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” Many Black community organizations are doing both – addressing systemic issues (going upstream) and providing direct services (pulling folks out of the water).

organizations like Cleo Parker Robinson Dance as well as lesser-known but deeply impactful groups that you might be surprised to learn have been around for decades.

We’re home to The Park Hill Pirates Youth Sports

Black Philanthropy in Colorado Black philanthropists in Colorado have been giving more than what is in their wallets to move us forward for decades. Our “village” includes well-known and cherished

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Organization, local chapters of The Links Incorporated, Delta Eta Boulé, The Owls Club and Sam Cary Bar Association, and many legacy organizations that’ve inspired new generations of givers.

Continued on page 6

Continued from page 5 Denver African American Philanthropists (DAAP) is the first African American Men’s giving circle west of the Mississippi River. Established on May 15, 2012, it strengthens local, Blackled nonprofit organizations through targeted investments of their 5 Ts. Following in their footsteps, DAAP is joined by SPIN, Sisterhood of Philanthropists Impacting Needs, and most recently Women of Color Making A Difference (WOC MAD). They represent a growing national network of participatory philanthropic groups who leverage their collective resources and create the change they wish to see in their communities.

While giving circles may seem like a new concept to the philanthropic sector, their practices mirror those of The Divine Nine, a group of historically Black Greek letter organizations that make up the National Panhellenic Council. Steeped in traditions of sisterhood, broth-

community, but it also serves as a springboard for members to pursue their individual philanthropic passions.

Since its inception, Black Philanthropy Month has mainly focused on the history and impact of Black donors. What typically isn’t highlighted is the growing number of Black professionals here in Colorado who are addressing systemic oppression from positions of leadership within traditionally whiteled philanthropic institutions.

It’s important that we broaden the spotlight to include the Black men and women who are leveraging their 5 Ts in rooms where people around the table don’t look like us but make decisions that affect us.

Karen McNeil-Miller, president and CEO of the Colorado Health Foundation, and Lauren Y. Casteel, president and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado, are two Black women who collectively oversee the distribution of millions of dollars in grants each year across the state. McNeil-Miller also gives of her talent as board chair for the Association of Black Foundation Executives, and board member of Campbell University, College Track, Denver Academy and Healthier Generation. Casteel is the first and longest serving Black philanthropic sector professional in Colorado as well as the first person in Colorado to lead three foundations. She possesses more than 20 years of philanthropic leadership as well as a dedication to inclusiveness across gender, racial, economic, ethnic, military, abilities, and sexual orientation perspectives in Denver and throughout Colorado.

Know their names, know their impact and know that you too can have a voice in the rooms of institutions whose mission it is to support the under-resourced communities

erhood, unity and community service, giving back is a shared pillar among them all.

Together, they’re working collectively to increase access to better education, health and economic outcomes for Black community members while standing in solidarity with other marginalized groups.

“For many of us, giving back has been an integral part in how we were raised,” said Herman White, co-founder of the Denver African American Philanthropists. “Forming DAAP was a collective calling.

We came together, placing our egos aside to formalize and strengthen our community. We strategically and intentionally target investments through our 5 Ts; thus, helping to address some of the communities greatest needs.”

Full Circle: Black Philanthropy from the Inside Out Collective giving not only leverages group giving to strategically invest in the Black

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in which many of us live, work, play, and pray.

“Philanthropy is not a transaction. In order for change to happen, there need to be engagement and dialogue which helps bring a strategic focus on how we can make a collective impact,” said Karen McNeil Miller. “The Black community has a long history of philanthropy that comes from resilience and optimism – because you really can’t have one without the other.”

Forward Though the numbers of Black people working in philanthropy have increased, COVID-19 escalated racial injustice and exposed that traditional white-centered philanthropy has a long way to go in order for Black communities to move beyond survival mode. Going forward there must be a doubling down in recognizing and creating intentional space for more equitable investments of time, talent, treasure, testimony, and social ties, into backing Black leadership and Black-community-led solutions. Additionally, we need more voices of Black and indigenous people of color in white institutions who can speak truth to power without reprisal.

They’re out there, they’re here in Colorado, and they are making a difference for, and in, our community.

Thank you for all that you’re doing, and happy Black Philanthropy Month!.

Editor’s note: Black Resilience in Colorado (BRIC) Fund of The Denver Foundation is the first Black-focused community fund established in Colorado, explicitly providing financial resources and support to Black-led and serving organizations. Established on Juneteenth (June 19) 2020, BRIC is more than a fund, and addresses systemic racism and inequities that negatively impact Black communities throughout the seven-county metropolitan Denver area and beyond. For more information, visit bricfund.org.

Rooted in leadership, advocacy, philanthropy and partnerships, BRIC connects and invests in Black communities to ensure that solutions are led By Blacks, For Blacks and With Blacks.

Thanks to generous donors, more than 60 Black-led and serving nonprofits in Colorado received grants in BRIC's inaugural year totaling over $1 million!

www.bricfund.org

5th Element Center for Dance Adam's Purpose African American Trade Association Another Life Foundation Apprentice of Peace Youth Organization Athletics & Beyond Black American West Museum & Heritage Center Boss Generation Caring & Sharing Community Resources & Transformation Center Center for African American Health Cleo Parker Robinson Dance dba New Dance Theatre, Inc. Collaborative Healing Initiative Within Communities (CHIC) Colorado Black Arts Movement Colorado Urban Leadership Foundation Compound of Compassion Congolese Community of Colorado Crowley Foundation Inc. Curls On the Block Delta Eta Boule Foundation Denver Board of Realtist Denver Independent School Denver Journal of Education and Community Denver Kappa Alpha Psi Scholarship Foundation Denver Metro Community Impact dba Park Hill Collective Impact, Inc. Denver Youth Program - Gang Rescue and Support Program EduCtr Ethiopian Community Television Fighting to Farm Foundation for Black Entrepreneurship Front Line Farming Greater Denver Cares Circle of the National Cares Mentoring Movement Inc. Hard at Work Kids HOPE Center Issues of Life Church Ministries Aurora Lincoln Hills Cares Make a Chess Move-MACM Mending Roots Forest Project NAACP Denver National Black Child Development Institute Denver Affiliate New Hope Baptist Church Park Hill Pirates Youth Sports Organization Project VOYCE Restoration Christian Fellowship RISE 5280 Rocky Mountain Public Media SCD Enrichment Program Second Chance Center, Inc. Sims-Fayola Foundation Slam Nuba Soul 2 Soul STAR Girlz Empowerment, Inc. Street Fraternity The Center for Trauma & Resilience The JEKL Institute The Mile High Flight Program Thelma's Dream Vibe Tribe Adventures Young African Americans for Social & Political Activism

MLB All-Star Weekend Recap

Photos by Lens of Ansar

help build a future in which everyone participates in shaping the United States. We proudly used our platform to encourage baseball fans and communities throughout our country to perform their civic duty and actively participate in the voting process. Fair access to voting continues to have our game’s unwavering support.”

Colorado native and baseball fan Alannah Price had this to say about the All-Star weekend, “It means a lot to me because last time it was here, I wasn’t even born, so finally getting to see my team and get to have people come from all over the world it means a lot because we get to show off our city, show off the art, the people, the cul-

One man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity. The next week on April 6 MLB announced that the 2021 AllStar Game would be held at Coors Field in Denver. Many teams wanted All-Star weekend to be hosted in their city because it’s such a great attraction. Ultimately the major leagues decided on Colorado because they were already in negotiation and preparation to host an All-Star Game in 2024.

This gave MLB faith that the city of Denver could pull it off on such short notice.

It was a collective effort involving Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort, and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, among many others.

All parties immediately got to work making the necessary preparations to hold such a mega event. Within three months the city was ready to host the event. On the weekend of July 10, downtown Denver was transformed into baseball central. With All-Star banners flowing in the sky and baseball jerseys everywhere, you could feel the energy and excitement in the air.

ture… It’s great.”

The All-Star weekend was four days of events and festivities. All of the MLB competitive events such as the home run derby and the All-Star game were held at Coors Field on Monday and Tuesday.

However, from July 10 to 13, a free fan event called “Play Ball Park” was held at the Convention Center and featured plenty of interactive games, exhibits, special panels, food, autograph signings, and many more baseball-related attractions.

“It’s a vibe, there are a lot of things to do, a lot of things to look at, and a great atmosphere,” said Colorado resident and baseball fan Alison Carr.

Many children seemed to enjoy the carnival-style batting and pitching mini games; whereas the bigger batting and pitching games seemed to be the most popular amongst the adults at the event.

Nonetheless, the attraction which had tons of traffic from all demographics was the Negro League exhibit. This exhibit paid homage to all of the Black and Brown players,

By Malcolm Quattlebaum

“H

ey, batter, batter, batter!

Swing!” Denver, Colo. hosted this year’s 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Weekend on July 10 through July 18, and oh, boy, did the city hit it out of the park. A weekend full of fun and engaging baseball entertainment left Colorado residents and out-of-towners alike, satisfied. Every All-Star weekend throughout MLB history is special in its own right. What made this year’s All-Star game so unique were the events that transpired months before a single player even stepped foot on the baseball diamond. Let’s take a moment to recap how the MLB All-Star Game got to the Mile High City.

On Friday, April 2, MLB announced that the 2021 AllStar Game would be moved out

of Atlanta in response to a controversial, new Georgia law that had activist groups concerned about its potential to restrict voting access for people of color. This was a progressive move for America’s pastime, which has been a trend for the past several years.

According to ESPN, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement, “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box. In 2020, MLB became the first professional sports league to join the non-partisan Civic Alliance to

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who never got the opportunity to play in the major leagues throughout baseball’s history.

The outer walls of the exhibit were covered with past Negro League legends with displays that told their often-untold stories and accomplishments.

Also displayed were the real wool, game-worn jerseys of Negro League legends such as Willie James Wells, Wilbur (Bullet Joe) Rogan, and Jackie Robinson, just to name a few.

“I like the Negro League history area because I’m a huge fan of Jackie Robinson. He has my heart and I love that we have a live artist here doing an amazing painting of Hank Aaron,” said Price.

Another event that stood out was the Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion panel. The panelists were former All-Stars and legendary MLB influencers including Ken Griffey Jr., Bob Kendrick, Latroy Hawkins, and Fergie Jenkins. They discussed the evolution of the Negro League, current black baseball players, and the newly formed Players Alliance.

Although the “Play Ball Park” was enjoyable for its attendees, the biggest events were the professional games.

Millions of people tuned in this year to watch the Home Run Derby. The eight players competing in the Derby were Trey Mancini, Matt Olson, Trevor Story, Joey Gallo, Pete Alonso, Salvador Perez, Juan Soto, and Shohei Ohtani. After two rounds of home run action, the final round saw Alonso facing off against and defeating Mancini in a close match-up of 23 to 22 home runs hit. As for the MLB All-Star Game, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. helped the American League All-Star Team garner a 5-2 victory over the National League All-Star Team. Guerrero Jr. earned himself the All-Star MVP award.

All things considered, Colorado came through under pressure and hit a home run hosting this year’s All-Star Game. I join many who are looking forward to hosting another one, hopefully sooner than later..

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Job Insecurity during the Pandemic Difficult work situations continue, even after vaccinations

By Theresa Ho

Political leaders, news outlets and corporations like Amazon and Walmart have taken to calling service workers heroes for continuing to work during the pandemic. But many retail and service workers are worried about lack of job security, financial support, and protection from unsafe work conditions caused by abusive customers and poor management.

For more than two years, Daniel Pineda was a server at a movie theater where customers could have dinners, desserts and cocktails brought to their table while they watched movies. Then the public became more aware of the threat COVID-19 posed, and theaters began to close their doors.

“This was early March. It was before masks became a big thing,” Pineda said. “They were starting to tell people not to shake hands. Wiping down was kind of a big thing, so we started wiping down menus all the time.

But then we just shut down.”

After losing his job, he was on unemployment benefits for a while. Then he worked as an Instacart shopper. After that, he was an Uber Eats driver. He also worked for the Jefferson County elections office as an IT guy making sure that election judges had internet access.

He always knew he was going to get vaccinated, but he struggled finding a place to get the vaccine.

“I called probably 15 different places, and then no spots, no spots, no spots. Then I found this place in Colorado Springs where I could get in the next week,” Pineda said.

He received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The side effects he felt afterwards were

unpleasant, but what concerned him was getting the vaccine two days before the CDC and the FDA recommended pausing the use of the vaccine due to six reported cases of blood clotting.

For a while, he worried that it was an ineffective vaccine.

When it came to COVID-19, he said that he had more concerns for the people around him than for his personal health.

“I was worried about catching something and passing it onto somebody older or who had health issues,” he said.

Two weeks after being vaccinated, he started working as a server for an Irish bar and restaurant. According to Pineda, people would complain about regulations all the time. They would ask him when they would be able to take their masks off and when he and his fellow coworkers would take their masks off.

But now the CDC has changed the mask guidelines so that individuals who have been fully vaccinated for two weeks or more do not have to wear masks in indoor spaces. At first, he thought working mask-less felt strange.

“The first couple of days it felt scandalous going without a mask. But as far as personal health concerns, I hadn’t really thought much,” he said.

Customer Abuse and Sexual Harassment during COVID-19 Alicia, an employee of a large market chain who requested her last name be withheld, felt that the company acted quickly when COVID-19 became a concern.

“It felt like I had literally heard about COVID, and then that same week they were like, ‘Pull all the samples, pull everything back.’ And then two days later, everyone was required to wear masks,” she said.

But she also felt that the company failed to maintain many of its promises about protecting and taking care of employees during the pandemic. According to Alicia, her employer provided paid time off for workers to quarantine the first time they suspected they had COVID-19 or were exposed to someone that had the virus. She was concerned that she and her coworkers would not have financial support if they were to get COVID19 or were exposed to someone that had COVID-19 and had to quarantine again.

At the start of the pandemic, she said several coworkers didn’t have enough paid time off accrued. Employees could inform leadership of their dire financial situation while sick.

Management would then ask team members to donate their paid time off (PTO) to coworkers. But she felt that such practices were unfair considering the PTO fund removed responsibility from the employer having to provide adequate paid sick leave for their employees. She knew of several coworkers who were hospitalized with COVID-19 and had to resort to asking for the PTO fund.

The company pays employees $80 to get COVID-19 vaccines. While she thought that the paid incentive did encourage some employees to get vaccinated, she felt that the prospect of not wearing masks was an even bigger incentive than payment for many coworkers.

She was concerned about the company’s vaccine verification methods. “(They) didn’t require verification if you were vaccinated or not to obtain that money or to not wear masks – you just had to tell them dates. They didn’t have to see your vaccine card or see proof of scheduling or anything else. I believe there are people in our company who have abused this process,” Alicia said.

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She and everyone on her team so far has received their COVID-19 vaccines. Still, it was a struggle for employees to maintain social distancing when the number of customers in the store seemed to double overnight due to the pandemic. She also didn’t feel that her store’s management kept their employees safe from abusive customers.

“I felt like overnight a lot of these interactions were hostile,” she said. “These customers just became immediately alienating to staff. It was that they didn’t want to wear a mask, they wanted you to wear a mask, they wanted you to do more, they wanted you to forget about COVID completely. It was like one minute I’d be dealing with a customer arguing with them about wearing masks to the next person just screaming at me because someone else isn’t wearing a mask and that I’m not doing enough.”

She also said that the sexual harassment she and other coworkers experienced from customers increased after mask regulations. One such customer continued telling her that if they didn’t have to wear a mask in the store, they might as well start kissing everyone.

“A lot of it stopped with COVID, and now it feels like it’s ramped up to compliments, being intrusive, and asking things that are inappropriate …

One of our other co-workers got her butt touched by a customer because he thought that she was pretty,” Alicia said. “Our assistant manager handled the situation and threw the customer out, but I can tell you that some of the other management there would probably not have done anything serious enough because they don’t understand it, and it’s happened before.”

Unsafe Work Environment Caused by Poor Retail Management According to Caitlin Ohler, a previous employee at the large

market chain, the company would only provide paid time off if the employee provided proof that he or she contracted the virus from working at the market. She also said that the company stopped paying their employees the extra two dollars for hazard pay back in July 2020, during the height of COVID last summer.

Ohler now works for another retail company, which she believes has better support for their employees during COVID19 than her previous employer.

According to Ohler, her workplace pays employees that have been infected with the virus regardless of where they got it.

The company continued to pay their employees hazard pay until the vaccines were released. And when an employee reports that they have COVID-19, the store has the department where the employee worked disinfected.

The store also provides the COVID-19 vaccines for their employees free of cost.

“You just had to go to the pharmacy and make an appointment to be vaccinated,” she said.

Many employees in her store received the Pfizer vaccine, but she received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because they ran out of the Pfizer.

While Ohler feels that her employer tries to protect their employees as a company, she is concerned about how management within individual stores takes care of their customers and employees. She said that at her location, everyone wears their masks in the front where the cashiers are. When she first started working at the store, she was at the front and always wore her mask. But while customers were only allowed in if they had a mask, she noticed that there were customers who would take off their mask once inside.

“I did a couple of days of working at the door. We were supposed to ask people to keep

visor contracted COVID-19 and was showing visible signs of coughing and sneezing on people. Still, she kept showing up to work while other employees had families with autoimmune diseases. She said the supervisor finally tested positive for COVID-19 and was sent home, but was promoted once she returned to work.

While Ohler was working in the bakery department before she had gotten her COVID-19 vaccine, her bakery manager told her that because she was young, she “would probably survive” if she ever got infected with COVID-19.

their masks on, but then as they got further into the store, they would take off their masks and no one would say anything until they got back to the front end,” she said.

Then she was sent to the fresh food departments – the back of the store where the meat and deli departments are – and saw that not all of her coworkers wore a mask either.

“In the fresh department, no one sees and no one cares, and it’s the manager’s job to say something, but they didn’t,” she said.

She also said that at her location’s deli department, a super-

“The manager in the bakery kept pulling his mask down along with a lot of other employees. Then he got COVID, another person back there got COVID, and then I got COVID,” she said.

When the manager returned to work, he told Ohler and the rest of the department that everything would be fine because now they all had immunity from COVID-19.

Ohler had intense flu-like symptoms for several days. She lost her sense of taste and smell for months.

“He just acted like nothing could touch him,” Ohler said..

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Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – August 2021

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The Biden Administration fell short of its Fourth of July target to have at least one shot to 70% of adults.

U.S. Black and Latino communities often have low vaccination rates – but blaming vaccine hesitancy misses the mark Authors: Elisa J. Sobo Professor and Chair of Anthropology, San Diego State University; Diana Schow Visiting Assistant Professor of Community and Public Health; Executive Director, Southeast Idaho Area Health Education Center, Institute of Rural Health, Idaho State University, Idaho State University; Stephanie McClure Assistant Professor of Biocultural Medical Anthropology, University of Alabama Editor’s note: This article is republished from the Conversation (https://theconversation.com) under a Creative Commons license; https://theconversation.com/usblack-and-latino-communitiesoften-have-low-vaccination-ratesbut-blaming-vaccine-hesitancymisses-the-mark-163169

B

y early July 2021, nearly two-thirds of all U.S. residents 12 years and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine; 55% were fully vaccinated. But uptake varies drastically by region – and it is lower on average among non-white people.

Many blame the relatively lower vaccination rates in communities of color on “vaccine hesitancy.” But this label overlooks persistent barriers to access and lumps together the varied reasons people have for refraining from vaccination. It also places all the responsibility for getting vaccinated on individuals. Ultimately, homogenizing peoples’ reasons for not getting vaccinated diverts attention away from social factors that research shows play a critical role in health status and outcomes.

As medical anthropologists, we take a more nuanced view.

Working together as lead site investigators for CommuniVax, a national initiative to improve vaccine equity, we and our teams in Alabama, California

and Idaho, along with CommuniVax teams elsewhere in the nation, have documented a variety of stances toward vaccination that simply can’t be cast as “hesitant.”

Limited access hampers vaccination rates People of color have long suffered an array of health inequities. Accordingly, due to a combination of factors, these communities have experienced higher hospitalization due to COVID-19, higher disease severity upon admission, higher chances for being placed on breathing support and progression to the intensive care unit, and higher rates of death.

CommuniVax data, including some 200 in-depth interviews within such communities, confirm that overall, those who have directly experienced this kind of COVID-19-related trauma, are not hesitant. They dearly want vaccinations. For example, in San Diego’s heavily Latino and very hard-hit “South Region,” COVID-19 vaccine uptake is remarkably high – about 84% as of July 6, 2021.

However, vaccine uptake is far from universal in these communities. This is in part due to access issues that go beyond the well documented challenges of transportation, internet access and skills gaps, and a lack of information on how to get vaccinated. For example, some CommuniVax participants had heard of non-resident white people usurping doses that were meant for communities of color. African American participants, in particular, reported feeling that the Johnson & Johnson vaccines promoted in their communities were the least safe and effective.

Our participant testimony shows that many unvaccinated people are not “vaccine hesitant” but rather “vaccine impeded.” And exclusion can happen not just in a physical sense; providers’ attitudes towards vaccines matter too.

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For instance, Donna, a health care worker in Idaho, said, “I chose not to get it because if I were to get sick, I think I would recover mostly or more rapidly.” This kind of attitude by health care providers can have downstream effects. For example, Donna may not encourage vaccination when on duty or to people she knows; some, just observing her choices, may follow suit. Here, what appears as a community’s hesitancy to vaccinate is instead a reflection of vaccine hesitancy within its health care system.

More directly impeded are community members who, like Angela in Idaho, skipped vaccination because she couldn’t risk having a negative reaction that might require intervention.

Although a trip to the doctor is a highly unlikely outcome after a vaccine, it remains a concern for some. “My insurance doesn’t cover as much as it possibly, you know, should,” she noted. And we have encountered many reports of undocumented individuals who fear deportation although, according to current laws, immigration status should not be questioned in relation to the vaccine.

Christina, in San Diego, illustrates another type of practical barrier. She cannot get vaccinated, she said, because she has no one to care for her babies should she fall ill with side effects. Her husband, similarly, can’t take time off from his job – “It doesn’t work that way.”

Likewise, Carlos – who made sure that his centenarian father got vaccinated – says he can’t take the vaccine himself due to his dad’s deep dementia: “If I took my vaccine and I got sick, he’d be screwed.”

Indifference, resilience and ambivalence Another segment of unvaccinated people obscured by the “hesitant” label are the “vaccine indifferent.” For various reasons, they remain relatively untouched by the pandemic: COVID-19 just isn’t on their

radar. This might include people who are self-employed or working under the table, people living in rural and remote places, and those whose children are not in the public school system.

Such people thus are not consistently connected to COVID-19-related information.

This is particularly true if they forego social or news media and socialize with others who do the same, and if there are significant language barriers.

We also learned that, among some of our participants, the initial messaging about prioritizing high-risk groups backfired, leaving some under 65 and in relatively good health with the impression it wasn’t necessary for them to get the vaccine. Without incentives – travel plans, being accepted to a college or having an employer that mandates vaccination – inertia carries the day.

The indifferent are not against vaccination. Rather, “if

it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and “you do you” tend to typify their views. As Jose from Idaho reported, “I’m not worried because I’ve always taken care of myself.”

We also saw a modified form of indifference in those who believed that the protective steps they already were taking would be enough to keep them COVID-19-free. A janitor said, “I am an essential worker… So from the beginning we took … all the precautions … face masks, taking [social] distance [and using] natural medicines and vitamins for the immune system.” He had, indeed, so far avoided contracting COVID-19.

The view of vaccines as not immediately necessary is magnified among some Latino people by the cultural value placed on the need to endure – “aguantar” in Spanish — to bear up, push through and avoid complaining about daily

struggles. This perspective can be seen in many immigrant or impoverished populations, where getting sick or injured can be a precursor to household ruin through job loss and exorbitant, unpayable medical bills.

Yet another dynamic we learned of is what we term “vaccine ambivalence.” Some participants who view COVID19 as a significant health threat believe the vaccine poses an equivalent risk. We saw this particularly among African Americans in Alabama – not necessarily surprising given that the health care system has not always had these communities’ best interests at heart.

The perceived conundrum leaves people stuck on the fence. Given the legacy of unequal treatment in communities of color, when balancing the “known” of COVID-19 against the unknown of vaccination, their inaction may seem reasonable – especially when

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Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – August 2021

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coupled with mask-wearing and social distancing.

Attending to blind spots At this point in the pandemic, those with the means and will to get vaccinated have done so. Providing viable counternarratives to misinformation can help bring more people on board. But continuing to focus solely on individual mistrustfulness toward vaccines or socalled hesitancy obscures the other complex reasons people have for being wary of the system and bypassing vaccination.

Moreover, an overly narrow focus on the vaccine leaves a lot outside the frame. A wider view reveals that the problems leading to inequitable vaccination coverage are the same structural problems that have, historically, prevented people of color from having a fair shot at good health and economic outcomes to begin with – problems that even a 100% vaccination rate cannot resolve..

The bank known for “banking for good” has a program that is good for us.

FirstBank’s new PATH Grant Program gives African American buyers up to $20,000 for down payment and closing cost

By Barry Overton

While we are in an everincreasing real estate market, where it is challenging to purchase a home, one Colorado Bank is making a difference in the African American Community. On June 1st, in recognition of Juneteenth, FirstBank released a unique down payment assistance grant program coined PATH (Providing Access To Homeownership) . The PATH program aims to help more African Americans become homeowners.

FirstBank has a long history of building up the black and brown communities. I had the pleasure of working with many

of their African American staff that hold the title of Vice President or President. Many of their current employees of color have been with FirstBank, since the mid to late 90’s.

Danielle Vaughan, the President of Compliance for FirstBank, sat down with me to discuss PATH, an amazing new program that the bank has started. Danielle started with FirstBank as an intern in 1999. “I was able to receive an internship through an organization called INROADS.” INROADS’s focus is to create pathways to careers for ethnically diverse high school and college students across the country.

“FirstBank began engaging with INROADS over 20 years ago, with two of our Presidents starting as INROADS interns and progressing with FirstBank throughout our management careers.” As Vaughan put it “FirstBank was involved in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, long before it was a thing.”

FirstBank has an established background of ensuring fair and just treatment for all Colorado communities. It has developed a Multicultural Banking Initiative, which focuses on expanding their relationships in Hispanic, Asian, And African American communities. The bank currently has

several bank branches throughout Colorado that serve as banking centers focused on communities of color and it launched Colorado’s first Multicultural Banking Center in 2020.

FirstBank’s latest PATH initiative is likely to be their most profound effort in making an impact, particularly in the African American community. During our interview Vaughan shared with me FirstBank’s passion behind this project. “This program is meant to provide African American families, with opportunity to become homeowners without carrying the financial burden of paying the entire down payment and all closing costs.” According to Vaughan, FirstBank’s Chief Operation Officer, Emily Robinson, took notice of the growing wealth disparity in our Colorado Communities.

Robinson wanted to make some changes and thought FirstBank was in a position to be at the forefront of leading in the change. Because of her position as President of Compliance, Vaughan was charged with structuring the program.

The results of the energy and efforts by Vaughan and the FirstBank Team, established a loan grant that provides firsttime home buyers with up to $20,000 or a maximum of 20% of the purchase price, that can be used for down payment and closing costs. With this being a Grant Program it is not required that the borrower pay the funds back. This opens the door for many buyers who want to become homeowners but were challenged with the lack of reserve funds.

So, who qualifies for the PATH Grant? Here is the list of

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – August 2021

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qualification criteria: •Available to income eligible Black and African American borrowers.

•Who are first-time home buyers and have completed a First-Time Home buyer Course.

•When paired with a FirstBank Mortgage.

•For the purchase of a primary residence in Colorado. $500,000 in funds have been contributed by both FirstBank and CHFA. That’s a $1 million fund available for eligible Colorado home buyers to use.

To apply for the grant program the first step would be to apply for a FirstBank mortgage loan.

A FirstBank Loan Officer will explain the grant process, and get the process in motion. For terms and more information on this groundbreaking lending product go to efirstbank.com/path..

Editor’s note: Barry Overton is a licensed Real Estate with New Era Group at Your Castle Real Estate.

He has been an agent since 2001, and started investing in real estate in 1996. For more information email: barrysellsdenver@msn.com or call 303-668-5433.

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PROUD MEMBER OF

My fellow Denver residents and neighbors: I’m going to ask you today to take a moment, to lift your head, and look around. From this vantage point overlooking Civic Center park, the signs of recovery are all around us. People have returned to downtown Denver. Jobs are available. Construction is picking up. We successfully hosted Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game and nearly a week of events leading up to it. And I’m sure you’ve noticed, there’s a lot of traffic again.

The state of our city is resilient. We’re turning the challenges of the past year, and there were many, into opportunities – opportunities to transform our city into a model of equity and inclusion that is sustainable for years and even decades to come.

The Denver Central Library, where I am standing this morning, exemplifies that.Thanks to Denver voters, the library is undergoing renovations and modernizations that will improve access and resources for the 1 million people who visit this iconic building every year. It’s an example of how public institutions can adapt and transform to meet the changing needs of the communities they serve.

Without question, the past 16 months have been a time of loss, hardship and change.The stress of folks losing their jobs; of losing loved ones or friends; of losing a sense of belonging and connectedness after months and months of staying at home – has taxed all of us.

Unfortunately, that stress may be with us for a while longer. As much as we might like to think COVID is over, it’s not.That’s why we’re allocating another half-million dollars to continue bringing vaccines into neighborhoods and communities with low vaccination rates.

Yes, the uncertainty and the challenges are all very real.They also represent opportunities.

I often think about the vision of past mayors – Federico Pena, Wellington Webb, John Hickenlooper and Bill Vidal. When faced with extraordinary challenges, they mustered the courage to lift their heads and think beyond current circumstances.Today, we are the beneficiaries of their efforts: DIA, the Convention Center, reclamation of the South Platte River, sports venues, and amazing systems of libraries, parks and recreation centers.

Today, we must heed the same clarion call to lift our heads and invest now to create opportunities for tomorrow.

I want to turn now to some of our priorities for the next year, starting with homelessness.

We should all be proud of the care we provided to our unhoused neighbors during the pandemic, and over the past 10 years, we have helped transition more than 11,000 people out of homelessness and into housing. But clearly

and without question, there is so much more to do. Even before the pandemic, homeless encampments were appearing in cities across the country in numbers not seen in almost a century.

You have my word – we are going to continue to deploy every tool available, with a goal of lifting thousands of people out of homelessness over the next two years, including those who are living on our streets in the most unsafe and unhealthy of conditions.

Let me tell you about a couple named Smokey and Mary.They who lived on the streets for 12 years without accessing shelter.They were staying in an encampment in the Uptown neighborhood when a Safe Outdoor Space opened across the street last December.They moved into the Safe Outdoor Space, connected with outreach workers, and last month, they moved into housing.

We know what works, and we’re going to do even more and even better. Hundreds more hotel and motel rooms. More tiny home villages, more safe outdoors spaces, and even safe parking spaces. Housing vouchers, wrap-around services and programs that will keep people from falling into homelessness in the first place – rental and utility assistance, eviction-protection programs, and of course, creating new and preserving existing affordable homes.

For every unit of affordable housing that’s built, two jobs are created.That’s why I am proposing to infuse funding from the American Rescue Plan into our Affordable Housing Fund.

And to get affordable housing built sooner, we will be creating a specialized team to prioritize these projects for permit review and approval.

As I said, we know what works. Our innovative Social Impact Bond program, which has kept hundreds of people housed, was recently hailed nationally as a “remarkable success.”

Housing with supports works. And we are going to do more of it. We recently opened new state-of-the-art shelters to serve hundreds of men and women in 24-hour facilities. Our new Solution Center is providing a muchneeded option for folks experiencing a behavioral health crisis. And to our partners at the state and regional levels – thank you to metro mayors and to Gov. Polis for stepping up and leaning in.

You know, back in March, we initiated work with our regional partners to eliminate the tragedy of veteran homelessness.The successes we see here will guide us to better serve other vulnerable groups, such as children, women and the chronically homeless. While we’re doing our part, today I am calling on the federal government to join us. Cities cannot do this alone.

It’s long past time for a stronger nationwide push to address homelessness.There is a moral, economic and social imperative to correct these most extreme cases of poverty in our country.

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We must also address another crisis in cities nationwide: a post-pandemic spike in violent crime. In Denver, that spike is being compounded by the release of violent criminals too quickly from custody, putting them right back in the community to reoffend.This must be corrected.There must be a balance between reform that keeps low-level non-violent folks from going to jail in the first place, and our residents’ safety. One cannot come at the expense of the other.

And we must look out for one another. It’s been a tough year. For some, it has pushed their mental and behavioral wellness to the breaking point. I have felt it throughout this pandemic many times myself. I urge everyone – educate yourselves, learn to recognize the signs of a person in crisis, and be there to help.

Once someone has lashed out or reached their breaking point, it may be too late. For their safety and the safety of others, be there for them, ask for help – because no matter their circumstance, it can get better.

Our children also absorb the stress, and the consequences for them can be life-altering. We have prioritized our new Youth Violence Prevention initiative, which is well underway.

We are engaging our youth to guide those strategies. And the Denver Police Department has embarked on a new collaborative crimeprevention initiative, bringing more patrols to hotspot areas and delivering more resources to help these communities address the underlying factors that can give root to crime.

We’re also seizing the opportunity to hire new officers who can meet the challenges of policing in America today, and training them to better meet the needs of the communities they serve.The social and cultural fabric of our nation has been built by people who stood up and engaged when they saw unjust laws and actions by the system.They marched and protested, but they didn’t stop there. Refusing to sit on the sidelines and expect others to bring the change they hoped for – they got involved.

They became a part of the solution.They ran for office. Many were elected mayors of their hometowns, to congress.They applied for and joined law enforcement departments around the country.

So, here’s my invitation I want to issue to the young people who have called for better accountability in law enforcement: be the change you want to see by running for office or applying to be a Denver police officer, sheriff’s deputy, firefighter or paramedic. We’re hiring, and we would be honored to have you.

Denver has become a national leader in alternative police response, and we’re committed to staying on this path. In the first year of the pilot, the STAR Program has responded to more than 1,300 calls for people in a crisis.

Not once – not one time – did those responding need to call in a uniformed officer for backup.We

know that alternative response works. It works at getting people the help they truly need, and it works at keeping our officers focused on preventing crime. It’s a fundamental issue of equity in the pursuit of justice.

We are investing in this approach, adding $1 million to continue the expansion of the STAR Program so people in crisis are met with behavioral health professionals instead of uniformed officers. A new civilian Street Enforcement Team will address lower-level infractions, and we are working on a new Assessment Intake Diversion Center.This AID Center will create an additional alternative response to the criminal justice system. On calls where a uniformed officer may be required, we can better guide individuals with mental health or substance misuse challenges away from being booked into jail, and instead connect them to more appropriate services.

Now, our economy must work for everyone, and this pandemic has made it very clear that it still does not.When we lift our heads up, we see where we need to go.There is a fundamental lack of equity for far too many.The question we must ask ourselves is not when we will economically recover from this pandemic.The recovery is underway.The question is: how we prioritize those hit hardest by the pandemic: women, youth, low-income earners, and people of color.

Earlier this year, when faced with the possibility of delaying a scheduled increase in the minimum wage, Councilwoman Kniech and I decided to move ahead as planned. We simply could not deny workers, especially frontline workers who were already struggling, a muchneeded pay raise.

Denver International Airport, Colorado’s number one economic engine, is also at the heart of our equitable recovery strategy.The Great Hall renovation, 39 new gates and a new runway are infrastructure investments that will create new opportunities for workers, businesses and tourists well into the future.

Infrastructure is multi-generational. It creates the structures and facilities that create jobs and enable prosperity.

I am also proposing to deploy funding from the American Rescue Plan and other sources to help our neighborhoods, businesses and workers emerge stronger and more resilient.

This funding will help businesses, non-profits and neighborhood organizations. It will help entrepreneurs in communities of color and it will help families with childcare, food and bridging the digital divide. We will focus our workforce development efforts on those who were hurt the most by the pandemic. We will leverage local, state, and federal funds and our goal here is to serve more than 20,000 Denver residents with job-seeker support, skills training, micro credentialing, pre-apprenticeships, digital literacy and job placement.

In 2014, Denver became the first American

city to begin legalized retail sales of marijuana.

History exposes an amazing imbalance when it comes to this industry. Many investors in the industry are White and male. But many people of color are still weighed down by past convictions for possession of marijuana and, as a result, barred from entering the industry. Many minority and women-owned businesses have lacked access to capital. It’s time to level the playing field and leverage the profits of retail marijuana to correct these challenges.

Today, I am directing our economic development and finance teams to realign a portion of the city’s marijuana sales tax revenue to establish a new revolving loan fund to support those businesses. We will also engage financial institutions to compound this funding, with the goal of eventually creating a $50 million fund to help these enterprises start, grow and thrive.

Thank you to Council President Gilmore for agreeing to sponsor this fund.

I’m asking you to lift your head up – and look beyond the borders of the city. Many people don’t realize it, but Denver actually owns 14,000 acres of mountain parks.These are your parks, and we share them with the world. I have a deep passion for our mountain parks and a commitment to sharing the opportunity and the promise they hold, especially with our young people.

For many of us, our first trip to a Denver mountain park may be for a concert at the iconic Red Rocks amphitheater. What you may not know is Red Rocks was built by the hands and labor of young, unemployed, unskilled workers – members of the Civilian Conservation Corps – thought to be the most successful of President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs to combat unemployment during the Great Depression.They learned a trade that would sustain them for the rest of their lives, like masonry, carpentry, surveying and landscaping that would sustain them for the rest of their lives.

There were 2,000 of these work camps across the country.The one near Red Rocks is still home to the barracks where the workers lived. It’s a national historic landmark – one of only two remaining camps in the nation. I’m pleased to say that we’re going to restore that camp for use by Denver residents before the end of my term. At this precise moment, up at the Mount Morrison Camp, a new Workforce Historic Preservation Training Program is getting started that will provide the same, timeless, hands-on training it offered on that very site nearly a century ago.Thanks to the hard work of our Parks and Economic Development departments, young adults interested in entering the construction and preservation workforce are starting a six-week course.They’re receiving training from our partners at HistoriCorps – to give them not only the expert insight and hands-on experience they

will need for a future career, but also the guidance to secure those sought-after jobs upon graduation.The campus will be preserved for history… and it will be a source of inspiration, stewardship, recreation, education and sustainability for generations to come.

When we lift our heads, we can also see the opportunity – the need – to address climate change and create a new generation of cleanenergy jobs. Another summer of wildfires makes this seem so obvious. It takes skilled labor to reduce emissions in our buildings, to build more solar, to install more electricvehicle charging stations. More than just creating good-paying jobs, we’re going to make renewable electricity more accessible to our residents and businesses, especially for lowincome residents.

Our Net Zero Implementation Plan calls for all new buildings and homes to achieve net zero emissions by 2030. Our Renewable Heating and Cooling Plan is centered on equity, ensuring that the 30 percent of homes in Denver that currently lack air conditioning, will have it with technology that doesn’t make climate change worse.We’re providing fully subsidized solar power subscriptions to 300 low-income households thanks to the voter-approved Climate Protection Fund.We are doing our part to address climate change while reimagining how our economy works for everyone.

As our recovery roars forward, we lift our heads up to recognize that these investments will fuel it and sustain it.

The immediate challenges of the moment will try to force us to keep our heads down. But it’s time, Denver, to lift our heads and see a better tomorrow, to build a better tomorrow.

This is a phoenix moment, where we get to rise from the ashes of hardship transformed, redefining what it means to be a 21st century city.

That’s the opportunity before us. And we are ready.The resiliency that defines us, the Denver spirit that welcomes challenges and creates opportunities, is back and stronger than ever before – that is our path forward.

Our conviction is unyielding, and it’s built upon equity. It’s a future we can aspire to, and that every one of us can believe in.

This is no time to think small. It’s time to go big.

And I look forward to seeing everyone out there starting on Saturday for the return of Denver Days!

It’s time to lift our heads up, and move forward.Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the City and County of Denver.

Mayor Michael B. Hancock State of the City Address July 26, 2021 Editor’s note:This version was received prior to the State of the City Address and may not be the exact wording presented at the event.

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“Dancing with the Denver Stars”

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Get ready to attend the best gala in Denver from the comfort of your home on Saturday, August 14 at 7 p.m. Share the excitement as “gala stars” from Denver’s sports, civic and corporate communities perform in a virtual live webcast for the 11th annual “Dancing with the Denver Stars.” This annual fundraiser, which benefits the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Academy, Arts-In-Education, and community outreach programs, pairs Denver celebrities and executive leaders with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble professional dancers.

Gala Stars become accomplished dancers to raise scholarships and stipends for CPRD Academy/AIE students from across the eight-county Denver region.

“Social distancing didn’t limit our options this year because this virtual live event creates nearly unlimited attendance possibilities. We’re excited that online ticket holders will be able to watch former Denver Bronco Ryan Harris and Super Bowl 50 champion in his first dance performance!” said Founder and Artistic Director Cleo Parker Robinson.

Virtual event tickets are $50 per household. Virtual host Matisse Mcknight will guide audiences through a unique evening experience. This year’s gala co–chairs are Amy Parsons

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – August 2021

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(Mozzafiato CEO) and Karen MacNeil-Miller (Colorado Health Foundation CEO) who are also alumna gala dancers.

Comedian Shed G will be the event host. Viewers can watch performances by the CPRD Youth and Junior Youth Ensembles, and enjoy the brilliance of the professional dancers of the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble and Cleo II..

Editor’s note: For information or tickets, email Matisse@cleoparkerdance.org or visit cleoparkerdance.org/tickets

2021Gala Star Dancers: Justin Adams, CBS4 Abasi Baruti, Solutions FBIA Gillian Bidgood, Polsinelli Elias Diggins, Denver Sheriff Ryan Harris, former Denver Bronco/SB 50 Champion Carlos Martinez, Latino Community Foundation Christian McGill, Empower Retirement Maja Rosenquist, Mortenson Construction Danielle Shoots, Colorado Trust Kris Staaf, Safeway Brooke Trammel, Xcel Fabian Tunson, US Bank

HATS OFF TO...

Wedding Bliss Congrats!

Family and friends joined in a virtual wedding of Rev. Dr. Michael A. Williams and Jendayi Harris who were united in matrimony on July 17.

Denver Urban Spectrum sends best wishes and congratulations as they begin their spiritual journey together.

Fitzsimons Credit Union Awards $5,000 in Scholarships to Local Students Fitzsimons Credit Union believes that education has the power to transform commu-

nities announced the 2021 recipients of the Sandra B. Neves Scholarship. Established by the board of directors and supported by the credit union, the scholarship is named in honor of former CEO, Sandra Neves, and was founded after her retirement in 2017.

This year’s scholarship recipients were chosen based upon academic achievement, career aspirations, community service, extracurricular participation, and financial need. Each recipient received $1,250, totaling $5,000 in awarded scholarships.

The awardees are: Jazmyn Johnson is pursuing a degree in event and meeting management, with a minor in entrepreneurship at Denver’s Metropolitan State University.

2020 was a very challenging year for her; however, she continues to strives to be a great mom and student.

Matthew Johnson will be a freshman at Grand Canyon University and is pursuing a career in accounting. He has received multiple honors including the Academic Award in the Field of Business and Highest Academic Honors.

Ben Torres is entering his senior year at the University of Colorado and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in economics. His goal is to get a PhD in economics and to find a career in investment banking to help people achieve their financial goals.

Ramadje Benoudjita is currently studying at Regis University where he is pursuing a bachelor’s in accounting.

Ramadje overcame great challenges to study and live in the United States. He has participated in programs such as Brother 2 Brother, the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, and has volunteered at numerous community events.

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COVER TO COVER - THE BOOKWORM SEZ

“My Remarkable Journey: A Memoir” by Katherine Johnson with Joylette Hylick and Katherine Moore C.2021, Amistad; $25.99 / $31.99 Canada; 235 pages

O ne, two, buckle my shoe.

We Three Kings, cheaper by the dozen, it’s a Catch 22 and double jeopardy, then we’re back to Square One. In every corner of our lives, we use numbers, we count, we cypher.

And in the new book “My Remarkable Journey” by Katherine Johnson (with Joylette Hylick and Katherine Moore), we know a career takes true calculations.

When Katherine Coleman was born in 1918, Model T cars were selling for $350, fresh off the assembly line. Women couldn’t vote, TV hadn’t been invented, and Black Americans lived under strict Jim Crow laws. Knowing that schooling was the best way to survive the latter, Coleman’s parents, who owned a farm near the town of White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia, insisted that their children all get educations.

Precocious Coleman was the youngest, but by the time she graduated high school at age fifteen, she was old enough to see that success would require more classwork and that teach-

ing at a Black school was the likeliest goal. College spoke to Coleman’s innate curiosity and she loved it; she planned to major in French until “the math professors had their say.”

One of them challenged her to become a “research mathematician.”

Unsure what, exactly, that was, Coleman stepped off the career track to marry and raise three daughters before heading back to work as a teacher, then landing a position at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (the “predecessor to NASA”) at Langley Field (now Langley Air Force Base) in Virginia. Her job, at first, was as a “computer” – literally, one who computes so that the program’s engineers didn’t have to do it. Coleman (then Goble, later Johnson) quickly worked her way into the research division involved in the Space Race, and when the Soviets launched Sputnik, she felt “that competitive American spirit” deep inside herself.

“We’ve got to do something,” she remembered thinking. “Little did I know then that ‘we’ soon would include me.”

So you saw the movie, Hidden Figures, and you loved it. So did author Katherine Johnson, on whom the movie is modeled, and here, she explains what parts were right and what Hollywood got wrong.

Moreover, she takes you back to the beginning in “My

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – August 2021

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Remarkable Journey.”

Lively and with great detail, Johnson tells her story in a way that frames her accomplishments in humble neon, never letting readers forget who she was or what she did, but not bragging on it without giving ample credit to others. The warmth and grace of that is impressive; so is the fact that she admits to having endured racism, patriarchy, and Jim Crow laws but she waves them away like a fly on a June afternoon, as if they weren’t even a part of her equation.

“My Remarkable Journey” puts the movie about Johnson into keener perspective, bringing the full story, as Dr. Yvonne Cagle says in her introduction, to a new generation of young women. Find it, share it with your daughter. Or catch it on an audiobook. That counts, too.

“Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance”

by Mia Bay C.2021, Belknap, Harvard University Press; $35; 391 pages

“Travelling While Black: Essays Inspired by a Life on the Move” by Nanjala Nyabola C.2020, Hurst; $19.95; 238 pages

Y

ou’ve always wanted to do it. You just wanted to go.

You’d hop in a car or van, no GPS or map, no real itinerary, no destination in mind. You’d point your headlights in some direction and drive until you got where you felt like you needed to be. No timetable, no worries... And no chance for your ancestors to do that very thing. So this summer, honor their wanderlust by seizing yours, and read these two similarly-titled new books...

First, the history: it had to start somewhere – but where?

You can imagine how Black mobility was affected by slavery but how and why did it

continue? Surely, it wasn’t arbitrary, not just “no, you can’t travel here,” so how did restrictions on Black mobility happen, how did African Americans fight the system, and why does it matter now? In “Traveling Black,” (Belknap, Harvard University Press, $35.00), author Mia Bay answers these questions, starting back when travel was largely of the horse-andwagon type.

Starting with Plessy v.

Ferguson, Bay explains how segregation in travel began, and how it spread along roads and rails and then spread to accommodations, and the uncertainty of what might await a traveler along the journey. Bay separates each mode of travel to examine how Jim Crow laws affected a Black traveler in different manners, and she looks at the ways in which travel was sometimes used as activism.

Now, though, you’re free to travel – not just in the U.S., but around the world, if you want.

In “Travelling While Black” (Hurst, $19.95), author Nanjala Nyabola shares some stories of her travels, and how her skin color matters when she’s on the move.

Indeed, what’s it like to travel as a Black woman, when guidebooks are not written with a Black woman in mind? How can you draw a line from African Americans on the road

COVER TO COVER - THE BOOKWORM SEZ in the Old Days, to travel now?

And now that you can travel, what does it tell you about yourself?

These are just a few things Nyabola ponders as she takes readers from Haiti to the Far East, Mexico, Africa, Europe, and the American South. She muses about suffering, the need for literature in Black culture, identity, asylum, and the meaning of home.

This is the kind of book you’ll want to read when you want to go somewhere but you’re stuck at home for whatever reason. Nyabola goes to the popular places but she also

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – August 2021

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travels to spots that are generally sought by adventurers.

This gives readers a sense of travelogue with a hint of the unusual; her musings on the places she goes make this a book you won’t want to put down. Her observations will make you glad she took you along with her.

If these don’t quite fit what you’re looking for, there are lots of other books you’ll find at your local library or bookstore.

As always, be sure to ask your librarian or bookseller for help; they’re pros at finding what you’re looking for. Do it today.

Just go..

AROUND TOWN IN THE MILE HIGH CITY - JUNE AND JULY 2021

Photos by Lens of Ansar and Ed Jenkins

MLB All-Star Weekend City Park Jazz Winter Park Jazz Juneteenth Music Festival

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – August 2021

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AROUND TOWN IN THE MILE HIGH CITY - JUNE AND JULY 2021

Juneteenth Music Festival Colorado Black Arts Festival

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – August 2021

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The Bay Area’s First Multi-City Art Event in 2021 Night Watch by Shimon Attie In celebration of the United Nations’ (UN) World Refugee Day 2021, BOXBLUR and Immersive Arts Alliance announced the west coast debut of Shimon Attie’s Night Watch, a floating media arts installation that will travel the San Francisco Bay, will take place Sept. 17 to 19, along the shorelines of San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, California. The floating art installation combines contemporary LED-technology with a historic mode of water transport – a barge – to create a sophisticated and layered artistic and sculptural work of art.

Night Watch features 12 close-up video portraits of refugees who were granted political asylum in the United States.

Displayed on a 20 ft-wide, highresolution LED-screen, the portraits will travel aboard a slowmoving barge to allow for onshore public viewing. The silently displayed images largely feature members of international LGBTQI communities, as well as unaccompanied minors, who fled tremendous violence and discrimination in their homelands of Columbia, Honduras, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Peru, and Russia.

“Our capacity to ignore the suffering of the 80 million forcibly displaced people in the world depends on their invisibility. Shimon Attie’s Night Watch demands that we see their faces, and by seeing, acknowledge both their pain and our responsibility. It is a work that does more than humanize the crisis, it transforms the viewer,” says Ayelet Waldman, novelist and screenwriter.

The creation of the Night Watch portraits was made possible through the artist’s relationship with the New Yorkbased Moreart.org, who made introductions to refugees and

September 17 – 19, 2021

Shimon Attie, Night Watch (Norris with Liberty), 2018.

Originally produced by Moreart.org in New York City.

“For the millions who have been forced to flee their homelands to escape violence and discrimination. For the fortunate few who have been granted political asylum in the United States.”

– Shimon Attie

asylees with whom Attie’s project aligned. During the process of shooting the portraits, Attie was privileged to hear personal stories, conversations of home and the uncertainty of futures, fear of political reprisals, sensitivities to trauma, homesickness, and individual hopes and dreams. “Night Watch,” Attie states, “is for the millions who have been forced to flee their homelands to escape violence and discrimination. For the fortunate few who have been granted political asylum in the United States.”

“Many of our families originally arrived in this country seeking refuge from a homeland. Today, in a world dealing with an unprecedented flux of uprooted lives, the Bay Area presentation of Night Watch provokes thoughtful discussion through an exceptionally engaging work of art that compels conversation, and hopefully action, for more compassionate humanitarian treatment at our borders,” says Clark Suprynowicz, Immersive Arts Alliance.

The 2018 New York City debut of Night Watch during

the UN General Assembly Week was received with widespread acclaim, prompting BOXBLUR founder, Catharine Clark to consider the possibility of a California presentation.

“Shimon’s artwork engages one of the most urgent issues of our time – that of welcoming or closing our doors to asylum seekers,” says Clark. “During its 2021 west coast debut,” Suprynowicz continues, “Night Watch will activate and animate the San Francisco Bay as both a literal and metaphoric site and landscape for escape, rescue, safe-passage, and the offering of safe-harbor for those most vulnerable.”

“No other state has taken in more refugees than California,” says Eleni Kounalakis, Lieutenant Governor of California. “As a former Ambassador and the daughter of an immigrant who started out in California as a farmworker, I deeply understand the value of immigrant and asylee communities. The compelling nature of Shimon Attoe’s Night Watch accentuates a social issue of great importance – that of seeing ourselves in the

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – August 2021

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other. Through a dignified artistic portrayal of refugees and asylees to the United States, Night Watch is a civic art experience that invites us to celebrate our strength in diversity.”

Beginning on the eve of Sept.

17 and on Sept. 18 and Sept.

19, Night Watch will travel on a barge captained by Matt Butler and slowly navigate the cities shorelines from 6:15 to 8:15 p.m., corresponding with scheduled live nightly performances on the coastal shorefronts. Night Watch shoreline performances with artists, musicians, and dancers will take place across the Bay Area in San Francisco at Fort Mason, Aquatic Park, Rincon Park, and Warm Water Cove, as well as along the East Bay shorelines at Berkeley Marina and Oakland’s Jack London Square.

Partnerships with non-profit organizations representing the needs of refugees will provide educational materials and resources to the public online and at the live performance sites; Catholic Charities, Center for Refugee & Gender Studies, International Rescue Committee, Oasis Legal Services, Partnership for Trauma Recovery, and Roots Community Health Center.

Night Watch Schedule •Friday, Sept. 17: Fort Mason, Aquatic Park, Rincon Park (San Francisco) •Saturday, Sept 18: Fort Mason, Aquatic Park, Warm Water Cove (San Francisco) •Sunday, Sept. 19: Oakland’s Jack London Square, Berkeley Marina (Oakland and Berkeley) Alternate Dates (in the event of bad weather): Sept. 20 to 22..

Editor’s note: For a full schedule of programed events and updates visit, https://www.immersiveartsalliance.org/nwpage .

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IN MEMORY - REST IN PEACE

Julia Ann Gayles August 31, 1945 ~ June 26, 2021

On August 31, 1945, God sent me to Denver Colorado, into the loving arms of Lula and Cleveland Mallard. Upon my arrival, I discovered I had a big sister, Betty Lou. Betty was curious about me and how I worked. I remember her examining my fingers to see just how far they would move back! We had so many fun adventures in our childhood; we were steadfast as children, disagreeable as pre-teens, supportive as adults and have become closer than ever in the winter of our lives. Daddy always encouraged us to take care of each other. As it turned out we purchased a condo in Windsor Gardens in 2011, to live out our remaining years together. It has been a blessing.

I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal savior and was baptized in 1961. New Hope Baptist has been my church home and family since I was born. I was active as a child and youth. And as an adult, I served as President of the Majestic Praise Choir for over 15 years. In 1998, I was appointed to the Board of Trustees and became 1st Vice Chair of the Trustee Board in 2010, and chair of the board in 2015. The love and nurturing I received at New Hope has sustained me in everything that I have done. Lifelong friends raised at New Hope are as close as family. There is a danger in naming names but there are some people that not only have I known for a lifetime, but we have shared life’s journey, and gone through the fire together. A few of those dear friends are Wilma Webb, Jennifer Ford Keel, Gretta Burroughs, Mary Gorham, Shirley Chapman, Roz and Wil Alston, Daryl J. Walker and LaTonya and Frenchie Lacy. God is at the core of everything that I am and believe. The Love of Christ cannot be described but life is not worth living without it.

I was educated in the Denver Public School System, attending Columbine and Wyman Elementary, Cole Jr. High and am a proud graduate of the Manual High School Class of 1963. Many of the friends that I made at Wyman have been an important part of my life journey. My first-grade friend Marcia Montgomery Clinkscales and I have had a spiritual connection throughout our lives. When we were in 2nd grade, we walked home from school together and then talked on the phone in the evening. We read the Bible and I remember us trying to figure out some passages of scripture from Deuteronomy. We have walked life’s journey in fun and difficult places our entire life and I thank God for her spirit. I attended Northeast Jr. College in Sterling, CO. Several friends from Manual also matriculated to Sterling. The two years there served as a cultural shock but was a growth experience in learning more about people from different backgrounds, social and spiritual values. Sterling is where I got to know my best friend Alice Ross Turner. We have shared a wonderful friendship since 1963. In 2019, I recon-

nected with my old roommate Janet Gideon Bowlds as well as another college friend, Anita LaRue Sherburne. As I get older, the value of friendship is more important than ever.

We have no time to put things off or do tomorrow what you can do today. Tomorrow is not promised.

In early 1966, I ran into an old classmate of my sisters, Robert Gayles. We started dating and were married on November 10, 1966. To this union came a beautiful daughter, Christel Queen Elizabeth Gayles. Although the marriage did not last, Robert and I remained friends until his death in 2018. The greatest blessing has been our daughter Christel.

She had a personality that was larger than life and I am very proud of the person she grew up to be. She was well loved in our community, and I thank everyone for your warm regard, love, and concern for both of us. Unfortunately, Christel died on February 19, 2020. Family is defined as a group of people living in a household together; descendants of a common ancestor; designed to be suitable for children and adults. I was blessed to have a great family on both my mother and father’s side and then marrying into the Gayles family became another wonderful gift, which connected me to a close, loving, fun and loyal family.

My world of work began in retail, in 1968, at the Denver Dry Goods. I worked as a Sales Associate. After repeated efforts to get into their management training program, I decided to pursue employment opportunities elsewhere. I continued to work in retail part-time on and off at The Denver Dry Goods, May D&F, Foley’s, and Macy’s for over 35 years.

I began working at United Bank of Denver (now Wells Fargo) in 1972 - 1982. After being laid off, I started working at Central Bank of Denver, (now U S Bank) in 1982 - 2002. During my 30 years of banking, I had the opportunity to be one of 25 charter members that formed a non-profit organization of minority bankers in 1978. The Mile High Bankers Consortium became affiliated with the National Association of Urban Bankers. The experience helped us to enhance our professional expertise as first-generation minority bankers in majority banks. The organization allowed me to improve my management skills, network with peers across the country and stretch beyond what I thought I could do.

After being laid off from US Bank in 2002, I was asked by my friend, Wellington Webb to transition him out of office. He was leaving the Mayor’s Office after three successful terms. I inventoried all of his awards, plaques, pictures, and gifts and helped make his move as smooth and orderly as possible. I then started working for the then newly elected City Councilman Michael B. Hancock representing District 11. I was his first hired employee as an elected official, and I have been with him through two terms in council and three terms as Mayor of Denver. My best job ever! I was blessed to retire from the Mayor’s Office on September 1, 2020, after 17 years of service with the City and County of Denver.

With every year of life, I value the experiences shared with my family and friends. My mother used to say as she grew older and lost most of her friends, “No one knows what I know.” This statement is more profound to me with each

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – August 2021

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IN MEMORY - REST IN PEACE

passing day. I feel so blessed to have friends that know what I know. People who know what Grasshopper Hill meant to our neighborhood. Friends that knew the fear of getting scrubbed as a new student of Cole Jr. High, who knew the pure pride of being a Manual Thunderbolt, can still feel the intimidation when Mrs. Henry’s name is mentioned.

The life that God has given to me has been a wonderful journey. He blessed me with many gifts and talents. From an early age, I had the gift of wise counsel. Many of my classmates would tell me their secrets because they trusted me to keep them. My parents taught me to love and be considerate of others. We ARE our brother’s keeper. If I identified a need that I could do something, I would take care of it as quietly as possible. Love is action. I considered myself to be a good cook—how about the fried (crack) chicken, cabbage, and baked salmon? I learned to crochet when I was 13 years old. My passion was making baby clothes. I also loved to create beautiful, gift-wrapped packages. I was a good organizer, writer and speaker and always loved to take pictures to record important life events. This passion led to learning how to produce videos for various occasions. To God be the glory for all that he has allowed me to do. It has been a gift to be His child.

I departed this world after a battle with Ovarian Cancer on Saturday, June 26, 2021, to reside for an eternity with my Heavenly Father in a mansion prepared just for me.

Preceding me in death are my parents Lula and Cleveland Mallard, my former spouse, Robert Gayles, my beloved daughter Christel Gayles. Loved ones that I have left behind to cherish my memory include, my beloved sister, Betty Slaughter; my bonus son, Christopher Hall, and a host of family, friends, godchildren, and other loved ones, too many to name. Y

Some of the most cherished times were Christmas Eve memories when the whole family would gather at Aunt Dolly’s and Uncle Roy’s house for gift exchanges as well as annual celebrations. “Oh yea, this was the party house.” The basement and backyard will always be filled with so many precious memories.

Wayne then met his best friend and companion Olivia. She gave birth in 1987 to his beautiful daughter Te’Angela L. Carroll, whom he loved dearly. Memories from his daughter will always be his contagious laugh and slew footed walk that she could not help but to inherit.

Wayne’s profession was landscaping. His passion was to maintain a perfect yard. He was employed with Mel’s & Son‘s Landscaping Company from 1985-1999 and was very proud of his work.

During his free time, Wayne enjoyed bowling, which he has was introduced to by his mother “The Bowling Queen”.

He also enjoyed fishing and rooting for his home team the Denver, Broncos. His huge smile and unique laugh will forever be missed.

Wayne gained his wings and ascended the stairway to heaven June 12, 2021. He is preceded in death by his mother Dolly M. Carroll, aunts, uncles, and cousins. He leaves to cherish his memory, his daughter Te’Angela L. Carroll, his father Roy S. Carroll, and loving brother’s Roderick D. Carroll.

Michael L. Carroll, and Dale E. Carroll. Wayne also leaves behind a host of uncles, nieces, cousins, and friends. Y

Caldwell-Kirk s Remodeled and Open

Wayne Allan Carroll

Archdiocese of Denver Mortuary at Caldwell-Kirk

February 28, 1961 ~ June 12, 2021

Wayne Allan Carroll was born on February 28,1961, in Denver, Colorado to Dolly W. Wilson and Roy S. Carroll. He was a loving father, son, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, and close friend.

He was the youngest of four children.

Wayne grew up in Parkhill and was educated through Denver Public Schools. He attended Hallett Elementary and would continue on to Place Middle School with lifelong friends and family members. Wayne then proceeded to attend George Washington High School where he graduated.

As a child, Wayne enjoyed spending quality time with his older brothers and beloved family members. He was extremely family oriented and loved to gather with loved ones to create countless memories. He was ecstatic about celebrating birthdays, holidays, or just having a good time.

FOR MORE DETAILS, PLEASE CONTACT: ALAN PETTIS Location Manager & Family Service Advisor (303) 861-4644 alan.pettis@archden.org

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Greetings Future Partners: This communication is to make you aware of a new funding opportunity sponsored by the inaugural partnership of The New Pearl Church and Battle and Company. This partnership is offering small grants to community-minded organizations interested in the improving the healthcare outcomes of People of Color (POC). The focus will be on those individuals who are either eligible now or will become Medicare eligible within six (6) months of the grant application. This grant’s purpose is to help improve health outcomes of qualified recipients by:

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WANT LESS SPEEDING AND MORE SAFETY? SHARED STREETS MAKE DENVER SAFER FOR ALL OF US. Denver is growing, which means there are more people and cars on our streets than ever before. Luckily, our new shared streets will help us keep up with these rapid changes by making room for those who are getting places in different ways. All while making the Mile High City safer, smarter and more connected. And now we’re calling on our neighbors to come along for the ride. Join us as we continue to bring even more safety to our streets.

Sign up to support safer streets

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