Denver Urban Spectrum June 2019

Volume 33 Number 3 June 2019

Celebrating Black Music Month

Recognizing Juneteenth

Jon Platt CEO Sony/ATV Music Photo by Bernard Grant

Jon Platt: Montbello Community DJ Spins Into Success...4

The Three C’s of Michael: Confident, Capable, Classy.............12 Juneteenth: A Legacy Worth Singing For....................................14 Raquel Garcia: A Shining Star Ready to Soar.............................18

MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER It’s that time again! What time is it? Black Music Month, Juneteenth and Election Time!

Volume 33 Number 3

June 2019

PUBLISHER Rosalind J. Harris GENERAL MANAGER Lawrence A. James EXECUTIVE CONSULTANT Alfonzo Porter PUBLISHER ASSISTANT Melovy Melvin COPY EDITOR Ruby Jones COLUMNISTS Kim Farmer FILM CRITIC BlackFlix.Com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ruby Jones Zilingo Nwuke Alfonzo Porter Thomas Holt Russell Jamil Shabazz Laurence C. Washington ART DIRECTOR Bee Harris GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jody Gilbert - Kolor Graphix PHOTOGRAPHERS Lens of Ansar Bernard Grant DISTRIBUTION Ed Lynch Lawrence A. James - Manager

2019 Member 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 2019 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.

It may seem like every day is the time to celebrate the contributions of African Americans – musically and culturally. This month we do both as we celebrate Black Music Month and Juneteenth.

In addition to our profiles on local artists Michael C and 13-year-old Latina sensation Raquel Garcia, topping off the charts in the music world is Jon Platt, who recently became the new chairman and CEO of the top music-publishing company in the world. Ruby Jones shares his story that began in the heart of Montbello and how he still calls it home. Well known Denver attorney Mike Sawaya talks with Purnell Steen on the importance of keeping music and arts in the schools for children of color and what we should do.

It’s also time to look back - in order to move forward. Ruby Jones talks with Norman Harris about this years’ Juneteenth Music Festival, how this annual event came about and who will grace the streets of the Five Points community to celebrate this important piece of history. Tyrone Holt Russell displays his views on “The Price of Electing A Black President” and The Rise of Obama as our final segment of “Our 400 Year Sojourn: 1619-2019” five-part series comes to a close.

“Before the nation had the Obamas, Colorado had the Webbs” looks at the colorful and inspirational stories of the Honorable Wellington E. and Wilma J. Webb and how the former First Lady is pursuing her dream to keep the rich history of her husband alive and in the forefront of the Denver community.

Lastly and certainly not least – it is time to VOTE! If you have not gotten your ballots in, by the time this publication hits the stands your time is very limited.

And needless to say, African Americans fought and died for this right to vote and unfortunately, with politics today, locally and nationally, African Americans are still fighting. Not for the right to vote but for WHO to vote for. We can do better! Get your ballots in, do the right thing and make the right choice – for your ancestors and for your future!

Rosalind “Bee” Harris Publisher

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR community should be sacrificed to promote prison culture.

Aside from that, kudos on a wonderful job.

DUS Is Breath of Fresh Air Editor: I have lived in the Denver Metropolitan area for a total of 7 years. Through K.U.V.O I have heard of your publication from time to time. Upon hearing the Denver Urban Spectrum “Spreading the news about people of color” I was attracted by the slogan. I never ran into the publication until yesterday while visiting a laundromat in Park Hill on 31st street. I quickly picked up the paper and was hooked by its design, well written columns and relevance of content.

In a world over saturated with vacuous content, your publication is a breath of fresh air and a direct connection to people, events and topics of significance in our community. I was especially impressed with “Our 400 Year Sojourn: 16192019” by Laurence Washington and alarmed by “Spike in Youth Suicides in the Black Community Sparks Alarm” by Alfonzo Porter. On the other hand, I do not believe live music that is indigenous to our

Angelo J. Anderson Denver, CO

Elections (Does Voting Equal Democracy?)

Editor: Be careful, what you wish for!

After 25 years in “power,” the ANC has not been able or willing to bring South Africans out of poverty.

She said: “We just want them to take care of us; our elders and make sure our kids have jobs.”

Such a modest request! It seems only fair.

The whites who own South Africa’s wealth, and illegitimately, I might add, should be employed by the Blacks who are the legitimate claimants to the land.

That’s who should have the jobs! Blacks get the jobs - never the land!

South Africa was simply taken for the crown As that group has done globally…

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Because if people of color have it, it must be taken!

And in their mind, nothing and no one matters, but them.

25 tears of fake democracy pile with crime and corruption, this “government” has lived quite well by not rocking the boat.

Like “leaders” all over Africa, they have enriched themselves and robbed their people.

There is no greater failure than Black leadership.

In Africa, 25 years of ANC rule, the people have not advanced one inch!

White rule in black-face.

How long must black wealth be built for white domination of our planet?

How long must black people be punished and suffer for the whiteness of whites?

Black power in a black land was once a reality.

It is now a fantasy, a travesty and a cruel joke!

The oppressors laugh, may the oppressed laugh last.

Antonius Denver, CO

Jon Platt: A Hometown Hero with Hope and Inspiration for Denver’s Youth

By Ruby Jones Photos by Bernard Grant

W

hen he packed his car and moved to Los Angeles in 1993, “Big Jon” Platt had one goal in mind: to be successful in the music industry. With a dream in his heart and passion as the driving force leading him to his purpose, failure was not an option. Now, at the pinnacle of his career as the new chairman and CEO of the top musicpublishing company in the world, Platt is returning to Denver to share what he has learned about the entertainment industry and the importance of hard work.

On Sunday, June 2, Sony/ATV Music Publishing’s top executive will be featured as the special guest at the Colorado Beautillion-Cotillion Inc.’s premiere gala event, “The Enchanted Journey.”

As a distinguished group of high school juniors and seniors celebrate the completion of an extensive six-month academic and social leadership scholar-

ship program, Platt’s own fascinating journey to success is an inspiration and a testament to the endless possibilities that can be achieved when young people believe in themselves and remain diligent in pursuit of their passion.

Born in Philadelphia and raised for a short time in Oakland, Platt moved with his mother and siblings to Denver’s northeast suburb of Montbello when he was in the fifth grade.

Montbello was the place where Platt discovered his passion for music, and although he moved to Los Angeles in the mid-90s to launch his career in entertainment, he is proud of his Montbello upbringing and will always call the Mile High City home.

Platt was a student at Montbello High School when he was given the nickname “Big Jon” by Ron Bush and longtime friend Nate Nelson. The 6foot 7-inch giant had a colossal presence among his teenage counterparts, but he always maintained an air of mystery, choosing not to indulge in the

popular consumption of alcohol or drugs, while secretly manifesting the life he always envisioned for his future. “There isn’t a person I went to school with that would have thought, ‘Jon is going to be a big DJ in Denver. There’s nobody that would have said, ‘Jon is going to go be successful in the music industry,’” he says, revealing that he has always maintained the belief that if he can think it and dream it, it can happen.

“That’s been my mentality since I was a kid. I don’t share my thoughts and dreams with people; I just closed my eyes and envisioned myself in whatever the role was. I saw myself as a successful DJ. I saw myself making my way through the music industry. Once I got into the industry, I saw myself at the top of it. Seeing yourself there is one thing, working to get there is an entirely different thing.”

Throughout the course of his professional ascension, Platt has maintained great confidence in his dreams, never shying away from hard work, and driving himself behind the scenes to

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become one of music’s most influential executives in an extraordinary way that few people saw coming.

Long before he grew in popularity as a well-known disc jockey, Platt thought he would pursue a professional career in journalism. “As a kid, I used to buy a newspaper every day. I would read it and think ‘I’m going to be a journalist when I grow up,’” he recalls. As a high school student, Platt worked part-time at Dave Cooks Sporting Goods in Aurora. His aspirations turned to music when a coworker named Thomas Edwards invited him to his house and gave him a handful of free records. “He had a DJ set and he lived in Montbello. From that point on, I would go to his house any time I could and he would let me use his equipment and play around with it. It just expanded from there.” Platt fell in love with DJing, and knew that he wanted to make a career out of the newly discovered talent. “Since then, music has probably been the only real career goal that I’ve had, and I’ve been lucky to experience that,” he says.

Building a career in the music industry takes a bit of luck, but more importantly, to succeed in the highly competitive world of entertainment requires a lot of hard work.

Platt mastered his DJ skills by playing gigs at local parties and hosting events throughout Denver until he earned a strong reputation as one of the best. In addition to mastering a smooth mix of seamless blends from his growing music collection, Platt capitalized on his unique sound. “I took pride in breaking records,” he revealed in a 2018 Rap Radar interview. “I didn’t know it was called breaking records at the time. When I would do parties, you have your big songs that are on the radio, but I would always challenge myself to find something else on the album that wasn’t the big song. I always felt that

you can hear the big songs on the radio, but when you come to the parties I’m DJ’ing, I’ve got to break new music.”

Platt’s appreciation for music and talent for selecting the hottest sounds and songs helped him to solidify his place in Denver’s bourgeoning entertainment scene in the mid-90s.

After a chance encounter with Chuck D, the co-founder of the iconic group Public Enemy, Platt realized that his goal to be Denver’s biggest DJ wasn’t lofty enough to support his growing potential. After being invited to a Public Enemy concert by late Colorado native and Def Jam Recordings employee, David “Funkin” Klein, Platt offered to let the group use his personal turntable setup when the venue’s equipment wasn’t up to par, sparking a friendship with Chuck D. A few years later, in a conversation with the hip-hop legend, Platt was hit with a shocking truth. “Every time I come to Denver, you’re the man,” said Chuck D, “But unless you dream bigger, that’s all you’re ever going to be.”

That advice prompted Platt to expand his vision, and after networking in the industry and exploring career options that would further cultivate his love for music, Platt decided to become a manager. He began to travel between Denver and Los Angeles, where he signed on as a manager for Madukey Productions and Kiyamma Griffin, and eventually brokered a publishing deal with EMI Records in 1993. After signing the deal, Platt knew that he had to relocate to Los Angeles. He returned to Denver to DJ one last big party, and the next morning he packed whatever he could fit into his car and drove west toward the City of Angels.

After humble beginnings in Los Angeles, Platt eventually landed a job as an Artist and Repertoire (A&R) at EMI Records in 1995. Remembering the slow climb to success, he

says, “It wasn’t simple, it was hard; but it never felt hard because I was close to music and my passion. I was out here so poor – I was so broke as a grown man, but I never felt poor. I never felt like I didn’t have money; I was just doing what I wanted to do. I was out here with basically nothing, but I was the happiest I had ever been in my entire life.”

After helping to acquire publishing rights to the famed girl-

group TLC’s hit song, “Waterfalls,” Platt stepped up in rank, earning the title of creative-director in 1996 and signing Grammy award-winning rapper, songwriter, businessman, and close friend, Jay Z, before being named vice-president of EMI in 1997.

During his 17-year tenure at EMI, Platt was instrumental in helping to develop the careers of some of the biggest names in music. He signed Kanye West,

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Mary Mary, Warren Campbell, Drake, Usher, Ludacris, and Beyoncé, and helped to develop the careers of countless songwriters. He is adored within the industry, and from his early days as an A&R to becoming one of the top musicpublishing executives in the world, he has maintained relationships with those who respect him for his industry knowledge and his devotion to Continued on page 6

“Big Jon” Platt Photos by Bernard Grant

Jon Platt Continued from page 5 the musical talents he has worked with. “There’s this incredible bond and trust that you have for each other,” he says, “We create magic. They are incredibly loyal, and I’m incredibly loyal to them.”

In 2012, after EMI Records was partially acquired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Platt transitioned from his position with EMI to Warner/Chappell Music, where he assumed the role of president of the music-publishing group’s North American division. In 2016, Platt was promoted to CEO of Warner/Chappell Music, giving him the opportunity to put some of the leadership skills he picked up from his mentors, EMI chairmen and CEOs Roger Faxon and Marty Bandier; Universal Music Publishing Group CEO, Jody Gerson; and Clarence Avant, known as the “Godfather of Black Music,” to good use.

“My leadership style is built on trust,” Platt says. “I trust my team. I hire the right people, put them in the right positions, and let them do their job.”

Instead of micro-managing the team of professionals who work hard to make the music we all love, Platt gives people the freedom to make mistakes. “I expect the best out of people because we should be delivering the best for the songwriters that we work with, but I give people the opportunity to fail.

We have to do that as leaders, because nobody is perfect. I’ve made some mistakes along my career but I learned from the mistakes, and some of the mistakes led me to the successes. If you allow people to fail, you’re allowing them to grow.” Platt demands an inclusive work environment, and says that his ability to delegate has made him a better leader. Throughout the evolution of his career, he has become less hands-on with the process of making music,

and says that turning his attention to those tasked with creating award-winning projects has helped him move away from the music. “Instead of songwriters and artists, I started to A&R the executives, helping them grow. When an executive has success it’s like a hit record to me. That’s my way of managing and motivating myself.”

In April 2019, Platt’s career hit another turning point as he announced his transition from Warner/Chappell to

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Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

“One could say it’s the pin pinnacle,” he says. “Sony/ATV is the number-one music publish publishing company in the world, and the largest music publishing company in the world.” After the partial acquisition of EMI in 2012, Sony/ATV acquired the rest of EMI in 2018, allowing Platt the full-circle opportunity to be reacquainted with some of the songwriters and employees that he spent a good portion of his career with, as he takes a seat in the throne of the musicpublishing world.

Platt has been recognized as “Man of the Year,” by BRE magazine; he was the first music publisher to be featured in Source magazine’s Power 30 issue; he received the Visionary Award at the annual SESAC Pop Music Awards; and he was recognized as the Music Visionary of the Year by the UJA-Federation of New York.

In addition to being named one of the most respected musicpublishing executives of all time, Platt has made significant humanitarian contributions by serving as vice chairman of the board of directors for the charitable MusiCares Foundation, and sitting on the board of the Living Legends Foundation along with sitting on the boards of the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame and the Motown Museum. His philanthropic

involvement with City of Hope hospital was acknowledged in 2018 when he was presented the prestigious Spirit of Life Award, and for nearly 15 years, he has operated the Big Jon Platt Scholarship Program for high school students in Montbello.

Though many of his philanthropic efforts are conducted in the same private nature as most aspects of his life, Platt and his wife, Angie, are avid supporters of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, donating to combat the type 1 diabetes that complicates the life of his 15-year old son, Jonathan.

Raising Jonathan, and 5-year old twins, Clarence and Shawn, is a constant test of Platt’s ability to find balance between the demanding industry and his home life. “I’ve learned to make the commitment to be present in the moment,” he says.

At the height of his career, Platt is doing all that he can to reach back and make contributions in the community that first gave him a platform. When presented with an opportunity to participate in the Colorado Beautillion-Cotillion Inc.’s formal gala, he happily obliged.

“There was no way I could say no, because I was a Denver youth. I didn’t have that growing up. I didn’t have someone who looked like me, who came from where I came from, coming back and saying ‘you can do it.’ For me, it’s important to show people: I’m you! I didn’t grow up with a dad; I grew up in a single-parent home. I grew up poor in Montbello, catching RTD everywhere, but when I found my passion, I made a decision to work really, really hard,” he says. “Because of that work, opportunities presented themselves to me and it changed my life, it changed my family’s lives, and the sky was the limit. I’m super blessed and proud of what I have achieved in my life, but I also want to share with young people that it’s possible for them too.”

With words of encouragement for young people who are interested in pursuing careers in entertainment and other competitive industries, Platt advises, “Hard times build character and resilience. You’re going to experience rejection, and a lot of it. You have to be able to take the rejection and learn from it, use it to drive you. Anything you truly want in life is not easy, but you have to deal with it and push through it. That’s why everybody is not at the top, why everybody is not in the NFL or the NBA; it’s the people who push through that make it through. If it were easy, everybody would do it.”

Platt urges young people to be persistent, develop a thick skin, and never to stop at the first no – or the fifth. “You have to keep going and follow your passion. In the world of entertainment, there is no blueprint for success. Nothing is perfect and nothing is exactly how you design it. If you want it designed your way, then you should build it,” he says, listing Facebook and Spotify as examples of ideas built by young people. “Do you stumble, do you fall? Absolutely. Is that hard? 100-percent, especially in the beginning; but you pick yourself up and you keep going. You need some luck too, but you’ve got to earn your luck.”

With more than 20 years of industry experience, Platt credits the musicians, songwriters, executives, and friends he has worked with for their support as he has worked to actualize his dreams. “No one does it alone,” he says, “As much as you think you do, you don’t.” From a modest start as Montbello’s “DJ Big Jon,” to his hard-earned title as one of the biggest music moguls of all time, Platt continues to make his mark in the music industry, and he will forever be known as one of Denver’s hometown heroes. .

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The Rise of Obama The Price of Electing A Black President Part 5 of 5

By Thomas Holt Russell

In his book

Mississippi to Madrid, author James Yates speaks lovingly and respectfully about his teacher, Thomas Blakeney, a strict disciplinarian who had also taught Yate’s mother and grandmother in the same log cabin in Mississippi.

Blakeney or Professor Blakeney, as he was called, was an exslave who was taught to read by his slave master’s wife in secret sessions.

He developed a passion for books and would read under the moonlight when no sun or kerosene lamp was available.

Blakeney was well over 80 years old, but his students were afraid of him and thought of him to be a little “nutty.” They thought of him as being a bit crazy because this was 1912, and Blakeney was going around saying things such as this, as Yates recalled in his book; “In less than one hundred years,” he said one day, with so much conviction I wanted to look over my shoulder to see if the sheriff was listening, “we will have a Black President of the United States of America! A great day is coming when Blacks will be voting all over Mississippi! Blacks and poor whites are going to get together and vote their people into

government. That’s right! Mark my words. Get prepared. I don’t want to hear any more complaints out of you when I say study!”

Yates then perfectly captures the reaction and the thinking of that time as he continued, “We couldn’t help but laugh at him, how could we think of a Black man as president, when all we saw of blacks was in the fields or in the white folks’ kitchen, or as an occasional tradesman getting low pay like my father? Some of the boys kept on playing while the professor talked.”

Professor Blakeney was thought to be crazy because he believed that a Black man could be president of the United States in less than 100 years.

Forgive those students who could not take Professor Blakeney serious. In 1912, an estimated 61 Blacks were lynched across the United States. Blacks were kept from voting by dirty tactics such as grandfather clauses, poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation.

Segregation was in the south, and a Supreme Court Justice was an active member of the Ku Klux Klan.

The idea of an African American becoming president of the United States was still thought of as a very remote possibility almost 100 years after that 1912 statement was made. Between 1912 and 2008, the lives of Black people changed dramatically. Lynching stopped, Jim Crow laws were eliminated, voting rights were strengthened and backed by law, and the civil rights era was swiftly followed by a brief Black militant era.

I was wrong about the possibility of a Black man winning the presidency of the United States. I thought that it was possible, but perhaps a long way into the future. I was wrong about two other big events I

didn’t see coming; one being the falling of the Berlin wall. I told my cousin it would happen, but not in our lifetime; it fell two months later. I said a person like Donald Trump would never be elected. After all, America (collectively) has done some dumb things – but it would never choose a blustering simpleton to the presidency of the United States.

I was not alone in my thoughts about a Black man being elected president of the United States, and I had good company. Julian Bond, the former political activist who served four terms in the Georgia House of Representatives and helped establish the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s, had this to say after Barack Obama was elected. “…I had no indication that something like this could happen. I didn’t think white Americans would vote for a Black candidate in any considerable numbers, and, as a consequence, there was no way this could happen. So it was not until Obama won Iowa, and I could see that in the whitest of American states a Black candidate could come out triumphantly, that it became possible to me.”

Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton all ran for president before Obama but none of these efforts went past the inspirational stage and in

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the long view, none of them were taken as a serious threat to be president.

Julian Bond himself flirted with the idea of running for president.

When the National Black Political Assembly (NBPA), an allBlack political party organized

by U.S. Rep Charles Diggs, passed a resolution in January 1976 naming Bond as the assembly’s presidential candidate, it was a radical move. Their platform called for national health insurance and a livable minimum wage. Before the convention, Bond declined his nomination, citing that it was too late to start campaigning for the 1976 presidential season.

Instead, he threw his support behind the presidential bid of Democratic Senator Morris Udall of Arizona.

Before Obama announced his bid to become president, I was in the Hilary Clinton camp.

That decision was made years earlier when George Bush won his first term. The main reason I supported Hilary was that

she supported universal healthcare, and that was important to me because some of my family members could not afford comprehensive healthcare insurance. But when the Clintons started talking, I was turned off and switched to support Obama.

This is important to know. I supported Obama based on the information I received from both candidates – listening to where they stood on issues and then making an informed decision. I did not jump on that bandwagon because he was Black. Many Black people did vote for Obama because he was Black and paid little attention to where he stood on important issues. As Black people, we have been subjected to so much unfairness in the courts and reduced to marginalization in society, that for so many years, when the chance comes around for some historical first or a chance for a rare victory, we are all over it. O.J. Simpson was set free by a jury that contained nine Blacks in the face of insurmountable evidence of his guilt.

Black people celebrated O.J.’s acquittal of murder. Many of the celebrators felt vindicated by the decision and celebrated as if it was an achievement.

And it didn’t make things better for Black people in the long run. It was like the Black Brazilians who get a few days of euphoria during a carnival but return to their slums and sub-standard of living when the carnival is over.

I could be forgiven for not jumping on Obama’s bandwagon at first glance just because he was Black. I remember when Jesse Jackson ran, and a few people got worked up when he announced his intentions in 1984 and then again in 1988. He did not get far, and the gesture was mostly symbolic, even though he did better than expected. Al Sharpton ran for president in 2004 with the same results as Jesse. They both sparked excite-

ment initially due to the audacity of the attempt. There were others such as Alan Keys for the Republican Party in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004, and Tea Party Republican Herman Cain in 2012. Shirley Chisholm was the first African American female to run for president in 1972, and Carol Mosely Braun was the second African American woman to run for president when she put in a bid in 2004.

But none of those candidates had any substantial following, and none of those candidates were considered to be serious contenders. Then came Obama.

After Obama’s Inaugural Address on January 20, 2009, many Americans for the first time in their lives felt a massive shift in their perception of what they think about America. He told the nation, “All things are possible.” For many liberals, democrats, and people of color, Obama’s election was nothing short of a miracle. Even the most jaded pessimists of liberals had to admit they felt a little bit better about the country because of the election. When we look around the world, we always seem to find a country that does better than us. One country has better education, another country has universal healthcare, and yet another country’s political system is something to be admired. But no one from America is rushing to live in those countries. As a

matter of fact, the opposite is true. Those people in countries with better systems still would rather live in America. What other countries, besides an African nation, would elect a person of African descent to lead their country? America must be an excellent place to live and work, relative to the rest of the world.

However, since Blacks experience more discrimination than whites, the election of Obama made them feel more optimistic than whites in general. So, it is no surprise, a large portion of white Americans did not feel the positive enthusiasm that was felt by the Democrats and others. For some white people, the election of Obama signaled their worst fears; America was not the sole domain and rule of white men.

Their nightmare of a cultural shift towards people of color ruling the roost and white people changing into a minority in a country that they have ruled steadfast for more than 240 years, was a little too much for some to digest.

The election of the 44th President of the United States is considered historic by any measure. However, Blacks are under no delusion of what it meant to them. Just because a Black man was elected president, life on the streets would change little. Blacks think about sociopolitical issues more than any other group. Obama’s success is a sign of progress, given in context to legalized segregation and limited civil rights for most of the years America has existed. However, as far as everyday racism, both individually and institutionally, little has changed since 2008. In some ways, racism is worse now than it was 50 years ago. And for Blacks, racism is structural and rooted deep in daily life.

There is a price to pay for electing a Black man as President of the United States.

By the midterms, the GOP controlled the House, had the

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majority of governorships and substantial gains in the Senate.

Obama’s election had caused animosity, a return to partisanship and racial resentment. The Tea Party, a parasitic twin to the Republican Party came into existence and like a parasitic bug, took over the mind of the Republican Party. The Tea Party helped shape the racial resentment of Obama. If there were no Obama, there would not have been a Tea Party movement. This is evident. Just two years after Obama’s second term, the Tea Party was hardly a blip on the news radar. When Trump was elected, the Tea Party no longer had a purpose.

I am convinced that if there were no Obama, there would not have been a Trump.

Trump’s election is a continuation of the backlash that started with the Tea Party.

Political partisanship has turned America into a divided nation. Trump, the President of the United States, publically called Black NFL players that were protesting police brutality, “sons’ of bitches,” to cheering white crowds. He called Black reporter Abby Phillip “stupid,” for asking a legitimate question he did not want to answer. He called Omarosa Manigault Newman, a “dog,” and repeatedly insulted Maxine Waters by saying she had a “low I.Q.” As stated in an editorial from the St. Louis American, “Under Trump’s presidency, the country has regressed a century in its public discourse around race and women.”

We can look around at what is going on in this country and ask the question “Was it worth having a Black President only to give birth to an environment that elects a Donald Trump?” We can look back at people like Jackie Robinson, Continued on page 10

Rise of Obama Continued from page 9 Althea Gibson, and Sidney Poitier. All of them were the first in their profession. For the most part, all of them behaved in a way that would not upset white people.

Many times they had to make decisions to keep a cool head, while they burned with rage inside.

They were not only thinking about themselves; they were thinking about the ones that would come behind them. If they acted in a way that seemed overly aggressive or (God forbid!) defiant, the Black people behind them would have trouble getting through the door. Just as Robinson, Gibson, and Poitier cleared the way, Barry Bonds, the Williams Sisters, and Denzel Washington, the beating at the Selma Bridge and the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped clear the way for a Black president. Obama sincerely tried to bridge the gap between Black and white people, conservatives and liberals and Democrats and Republicans. It is ironic that in hindsight, we understand that his very existence is what caused the gap to widen.

However, it is well worth the price for electing a Black president. Obama’s presidency did Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – June 2019

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not create racism. His presidency shed light on the dark places of the American psyche.

Evil is basking in the light which makes it easier to fight.

Black people are built for hard times because of so many years of surviving harsh social and economic despair. Strength and resiliency are the fruits of hard times. As toxic and divisive as our present political climate is now, we survived through times much worse from our past. We are proud of Barack and

Michelle Obama. They are pioneers and will always hold a special place in the collective hearts of Black people all over the world.

Obama faced the same challenges as pioneers of the past.

His dignity, strength, and intelligence were on full display during his eight years in office.

He greased the runway for the future presidents who may not be white, or male. Black people will outlast this current racial discord in America. Obama’s legacy will continue as America strives (sometimes reluctantly) to become the best it can be.

Professor Blakeney would have been very proud of Barack Obama..

Editor’s note: Thomas Holt Russell is a teacher, writer, photographer and modern day Luddite. For more information, visit http://thomasholtrussell.zenfolio.com.

The subject of black music in America is a huge topic for which books and extensive articles can be found in abundance. The subject is interesting with many aspects of history in America. I thought it would be informative to see it through the eyes and learn it from the authoritative voice of my friend, the immensely talented Purnell Steen.

Purnell is part of a very talented musical family. His cousin Charles Burrell is prominently known for being the first African-American to be a member of a major American Symphony, The San Francisco Symphony. Other cousins are jazz singer Dianne Reeves, pianist (the late) George Duke, and saxophonist Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson. Purnell is a graduate of East Denver High School and was inducted into the East High School Hall of Fame. He graduated from CU in Boulder with a degree in music. He studied the piano under Florence Hinman at the University of Denver.

While in High School, he also studied violin for three years with Dr. Antonia Brico and lived in Europe for an extended period of time. Thirty years ago, he switched from performing classical music to jazz and founded his group Le Jazz Machine, carrying forward the “Five-Points Sound,” and performing regularly at Denver’s jazz club Dazzle. He was on the faculty of the Denver School for the Performing Arts and was a musical advisor at George Washington High School.

Ironically, my daughter Audrey (Sawaya) Tabaka was one of his students. In 1964, he had the good fortune to play for the first bi-racial Easter service in Birmingham where Dr. Billy Graham and Dr. Martin Luther King jointly presided.

Purnell has been a member of the music scene of Denver

Musically Speaking With Purnell Steen Op-ed by Mike Sawaya

for 60 years. He has tales to tell of the immense prejudice that AfricanAmerican musicians, which is appalling and distressing, continue to endure today. However, his most interesting assessment I wanted to share are his observations of what is happening with music education and how this is affecting poorer school districts and minority communities.

In past years, it was common for public schools to offer daily, or at least frequent, arts and music classes. When I attended Smith School, Smiley Jr. High School and East High School in Denver, I took the music path. I was foreclosed from the arts path as a student was required to opt between the two. I felt this limited my artistic capabilities, but it certainly opened up the world of music. My music teachers were good; they kept me on path and offered encouragement. I still play to this day with the saxophone I studied in school. Later, I began to play the flute and learned enough music to play it without a teacher.

As Purnell points out, teaching music gives young folks a chance to learn the complexity of music. Elementary music training requires exposure to the fundamental basics of music, which to our western way of music involves the

octave scale (of eight notes). In India and China, there are different scales in the Western World some have experimented scales of five notes. All the music we listen to in classical western music, and in our more popular music, uses the octave as the scale. Our harmonies are built on it.

If children are not taught the basics, the music that they come to know most is more basic and certainly less refined. Purnell thinks this is the reason that so much popular music is more like simple chants than the music we have all come to know.

Purnell says music education should start for children at the age of three. He started at the age of three and a half. Noting this is the same age that children start talking, and music partakes much of the same ele-

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – June 2019

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ments of language, although it does use other parts of the brain as well.

Purnell points out that music helps students excel more gen generally in school as it is a natural way of ordering both the mind and the habits. It provides good analytical skills, and as cognitive training, it is amazing.

Giving examples of examples of famous AfricanAmerican musicians like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Scott Joplin, Purnell declares they would never have been able to succeed had they not been educated in music. Great training is required to be at the highest level of musical skill.

But Purnell is concerned, as am I, that the African-American community and communities of color are in danger of losing any presence in the skilled musical arena. If we start music training again, we could regenerate it. It will take money and talent. It is truly a question of opportunity and equal treatment. Better funded school districts have continued with arts and music curriculums.

If we want to continue the great tradition of music as it has been known over the ages, it will require training and education. If we want the benefits that music training gives, we have to get serious about it again.

Let us be mindful, and let us inform our school boards, that children of color need more arts and more music! .

Michael C.: Entertainer Extraordinaire

By Jamil Shabazz

S

tyle, flair, suave and debonair. Four superlatives that accurately describe entertainer extraordinaire Michael Caston professionally known as Michael C.

Michael Caston was born on the south side of Chicago, blessed with music in his soul.

An Army assignment transplanted him from Chicago to Fort Carson and in Colorado his career has risen a mile high.

The ultimate front-man, critics and fans have been unable to sate themselves, given the plethora of energetic, passionate, and sensual rapture of Michael C.’s vocals. With arguably one of the most engaging

performance styles in the 5280, Michael C., has a stage hustle that consistently draws the audience in.

The Denver Urban Spectrum was fortunate enough to sit down and talk with the charismatic entertainer ahead of his performance at Denver’s Juneteenth Music Festival on Saturday June 15th in the historic Five Points neighborhood.

DUS: What was your initial introduction to music?

Michael C: My mother, aunt and uncle’s had a little gospel group that inspired me growing up. I used to love listening to them get together and sing.

DUS: Is that how you learned to sing?

Michael C:Yes, and no.

Singing wasn’t my first love, the drums were. I remember making my first drum set from some of my mother’s pots and pans. Then at around age 12, my mom finally broke down and bought me a little cheap drum set. During my teen years I started drumming for New Friendship Baptist Church, where I got to play with legends like The Clark Sisters, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, and Rev. James Cleveland. It was a blessed experience.

DUS: How did you move from a drummer to a lead vocalist?

Michael C:Funny thing happened; I joined the Army at 18 and I ended up at Fort Carson. I was performing with groups around Colorado and before you know it somebody said, “Hey, man, your voice is pretty nice. You need to be out front.”

And after stepping out front, I discovered that I liked being out front much better than lugging drums all around town. I still get down on the drums from time to time though.

DUS: How did playing the drums first influence your vocal style?

Michael C: Everything I do, you know is based off percussion and rhythm. And that’s what makes me move and

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that in both Denver and Chicago, there is a unique appreciation for music, art and culture. Both cities have such a loving vibe; in a simple sense, I’m just a Chicago boy here in Denver!

DUS: But your music is global?

Michael C:[Laughing] Yes, yes, it is.

DUS: Last question….what is on the horizon for Michael C? Michael C: Whew, that’s a

hard, easy question to answer, because I have a lot on the horizon. Presently I’m working on an album that I want to release next year. We have six tracks completed, so we’re a little more than halfway there. I perform quite often with the group Soul X – we do shows all over the place. I also provide entertainment for a lot of corporate gigs and high end weddings.

Later this month I’ll also be on the stage at the Juneteenth

groove on stage like I do and that’s why I’m known as one of the more charismatic performers here in Denver. I get on that stage and the music just moves me around.

DUS: What artists have inspired the Michael C. “groove”?

Michael C:Man, there are so many! I’m influenced by James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, and Luther [Vandross] as far as vocals. Oh and I can’t forget Prince! I’m a big Prince fan.

DUS: Seems like there is a lot of gospel, soul and R&B infused in your style?

Michael C: Yes there is, but I’ve also been in the business for about two decades and to have staying power, you have to evolve and be diverse. So I keep several genres of music in my arsenal. From classical music, blues, jazz and even some country, I feel like as an artist and entertainer you have to be real versatile in your craft.

DUS: Speaking of craft, how has your hometown [Chicago] impacted your craft?

Michael C:Chicago is home, I try to go back every summer or every other summer.

Chicago allows me to reboot; it helps refocus my energy and revitalizes my musical inspiration. I get a lot of my stage swagger from the Chicago music scene. From style of dress to stage presence, they have their own unique swag. Those cats feel like they haven’t done their job if you don’t leave the show feeling like you were entertained all night. I will say Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – June 2019

13

Festival and I am really excited about that. The festival is always a really good time, great people and great energy. I can honestly say I’m blessed. I get to entertain for a living, which with the way I love to perform, doesn’t feel like work at all. I love my life..

Music Brings Light To A Darker Time Of African American History

O

n September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a preliminary executive order that would free slaves from rebellious confederate states and enable them to enlist in the Union Army.

The order was officially issued on January 1, 1863, three years into the bloodiest war this nation has ever seen. The new state of Texas, established in 1845, was not a battleground state and was thus excluded from the proclamation, prompting droves of slaveowners to take refuge in the isolated western territory to protect their right to slave ownership.

On June 19, 1865, two months after General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in the Civil War’s final Battle of Appomattox Court House, led

by General Gordon Granger, two-thousand Union Army soldiers occupied the city of Galveston, Texas after an expansive trek across the southern states. Granger publicly recited the contents of “General Order No. 3,” announcing the immediate emancipation of Texas’ slave population, which had surged to more than 250,000 within two years.

Newly freed slaves took to the streets, celebrating the status that would be solidified by Texas Supreme Court decisions between 1868 and 1874. The celebration, dubbed “Juneteenth,” was a momentous occasion, filled with excitement, relief, and uncertainty about the days ahead.

Between 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, and 1868, more than 500 former slaves were brutally murdered in the state of Texas by hostile whites who opposed the idea of equality and would

National Recording Artists Ashanti and Ro James

Headline Juneteenth Music Festival

By Ruby Jones

rather see Blacks dead than free.

In response to increasing violence in the unstable south, the federal government established the Freedmen’s Bureau, an agency that assisted former slaves in the transition to freedom during the Reconstruction Era. In an effort to boost morale and continue the celebration of freedom, the agency helped organize the first official Juneteenth celebration in 1867.

Juneteenth is celebrated each year in mid-June in cities across the United States and around the world to commemorate the abolition of slavery and give credence to the interminable spirit of African slaves and their descendants, who have faced crushing oppression in this country for more than 400 years. Today, Juneteenth is recognized as a state holiday in every state, with the exception of Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and North Dakota. In Colorado, recognition of Juneteenth was initiated by Otha P. Rice, a Texas native who launched the first celebration in 1953 at “Rice’s Tap Room and Oven” in Denver’s historically Black Five Points neighborhood.

In 2011, the organization of the Juneteenth event was assumed by longtime Five Points resident, Norman Harris III, whose family has been thoroughly entrenched in the Five

Points community for generations. Harris, who has seen the transition of the neighborhood over the last 25 years, is working to bring a new energy to the event. His efforts are paying off, with this year’s two-day music festival on Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16 expected to be the biggest yet, and he is urging Colorado’s Black community to get involved in the celebration and the fight for our legacy of strength, determination, and perseverance.

Five Points, known as the “Harlem of the West,” gained notoriety as Denver’s predominantly Black community when discriminatory lending practices kept Black families from living in other neighborhoods around the city. The community was a thriving business district that housed dozens of bars and clubs where Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, and other jazz legends performed, making it the perfect location for the first Juneteenth celebration, and for the 64 annual celebrations that have followed.

Throughout the years, several community leaders have been tasked with the organization of Denver’s Juneteenth, which was once regarded as the largest in the country, but with changing demographics amid turbulent social landscapes, the event was on life support when

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Harris began the process of revival. As he works to reestablish Denver’s Juneteenth celebration as the premiere Black festival celebration in the country, Harris is fighting to preserve the legacy of Juneteenth while keeping the spirit of Five Points alive.

In the 154 years since the end of slavery, the Black community has undergone a series of shameful impediments, including mass incarceration, suppressive poverty, and inequities in the housing, educational, and economic sectors. Over time, these obstacles have contributed to the broad disbursement and destabilization of Black communities in cities across the United States. Within the last 40 years, the gentrification of historically Black communities has produced yet another barrier to the community’s advancement, a phenomenon that has struck our own beloved city especially hard.

Gentrification occurs when people leave deteriorated neighborhoods in search of better housing and educational opportunities, resulting in plummeting property values.

Developers quickly acquire the remaining properties at rockbottom prices, restore them to appeal to a more affluent population, and the original inhabitants are subsequently driven out due to increased prices.

Combined with the illegal practice of redlining, the systematic refusal of funding for homes in impoverished communities, gentrification makes it virtually impossible for original residents to remain in the neighborhoods they have historically inhabited.

The historic cultural district of Five Points now hosts a population of more than 77 percent white residents, and Harris is among a group of community leaders who are fighting to preserve the cultural value of the community. “It feels like we’ve got this defeated spirit, like we come from nothing. Our grandparents and great-grandparents worked hard and saved to pass some of these properties down to our generation, and somewhere along the line we’ve forgotten those values,” Harris says, “Everything that I’m doing in Five Points comes from a place of being an underdog. I’ve got a chip on my shoulder; everyday I’ve got something to prove and a leg-

acy to fight for. That’s how I started organizing Juneteenth.

We took the opportunity and invested our time and money into it.”

Harris’ vision for the Juneteenth Music Festival mimics the empowering and all-encompassing mega Essence Festival in New Orleans; with seminars and city events that support the traditional festival setup and contribute to the advancement of the community. This year, health and beauty symposiums, day parties, and gaming tournaments will add entertainment and education to the music festival, which will be headlined

by Grammy Award-winning R&B recording artist and song writer Ashanti and singer songwriter Ro James.

The festival will kick off with the annual Juneteenth parade, which begins at Manual High School. The lineup of performers will include local and national talents including Kayla

Ray with DJ Squizzy Taylor, Trev Rich, AP, L. Keys, BH 2 Dots, and Doobie Newton, Dotsero, Soul School, Hot Lunch, DJ KTone and Friends with Dream is Grind, Jay Triiiple, Chyreco, Mandy Groves, Napalm, and many more.

“We need community and corporate support,” says Harris, who is working overtime to make sure this year’s Juneteenth Music Festival goes down without a hitch. “We need advocacy; we need people to share information. We’re still grassroots, so we need people to volunteer. And, we need people to donate.” Food will be plentiful and attendees should be prepared to peruse the merchandise offered by local vendors. The best part – admission is totally free!

Five Points is in the midst of a major transformation, and Harris is optimistic that Juneteenth will be a catalyst for the community to get excited about the development of Five

STA RT YOU R

Point landmarks, the Rossonian Hotel and the Five Points Plaza, which represent the storied past and the bright future of the historic neighborhood. “We have a legacy to protect,” he says, with hopes that the community will rise to the occasion and come out in droves and take pride in supporting a celebration of history. “In order for us to take back what we’re really owed on Five Points, we need to have a higher level of unity. I want Juneteenth, along with the other community festivals we’re producing, to literally be one of the anchors for culture and life that’s happening in the neighborhood.”

Juneteenth is an event that recognizes how far we’ve come while reminding us that there are no limits to how far we can go, together. .

Editor’s note: For more information, call 720-505-3274, email contact@juneteenthmusicfestival.com or visit www.juneteenthmusicfestival.com.

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The Honorable Wellington E. Webb Before the nation had the Obamas, Colorado had the Webbs.

Editor’s note: Former Denver First Lady Wilma J. Webb’s latest project is commissioning a sculpture of her husband, Wellington E. Webb, Denver’s first African American mayor who served 12 years from 1991 to 2003. The sculpture, also supported by Mayor Michael Hancock, will be placed in the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building to educate visitors about the city’s 42nd mayor. Last month, we looked back on his work as part of President Jimmy Carter’s campaign and administration from 1976-1980 and his time in Gov. Richard Lamm’s administration from 1980-1987. This month we reflect on his time as Denver’s Auditor and Wilma’s service in the Colorado State Legislature.

W

e got married on Sept.

18, 1971 and are celebrating our 48th year of marriage. We were able to function as a political power couple and raise our four children because we believed in making our city, our state, and our nation a better place for everyone.

From 1980 to 2003, Wilma and I each made our marks on city, state and national politics.

It’s impossible to summarize our accomplishments into one article, but here are some highlights of our work through the first mayoral race in 1991.

Wilma supported my political aspirations and in 1980 she was elected to House District 8, and I worked as the executive director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies until 1987.

Wilma was the first African American woman to serve on the powerful state Joint Budget Committee. Among her many accomplishments, she was the

recipient of the National Education Association’s Carter G. Woodson Award, passed legislation for a statewide drug treatment program, and is the mother of the Colorado Dr. Martin Luther King holiday. In 1991, she was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in recognition of her public service.

In 1983, we heard legislator Federico Pena was going to challenge longtime Denver Mayor Bill McNichols. I felt this was my chance to get into local politics.

Unlike my previous campaigns, where I sat down with family and friends and discussed whether I should run, I let my eagerness get in the way. I entered the race late before putting all of the organizational pieces into place. We couldn’t raise money and Wilma agreed for us to take out a second mortgage on our home. This was a hard lesson I never repeated.

I ended up in a respectable fourth place, and Pena became the city’s first Latino mayor. A woman stopped me after Pena’s inauguration and said, “Don’t feel bad. You didn’t win this time, but you’ll win next time.”

Gov. Lamm reinstated me after the race and nominated me as the top state government official in 1984. I continued in my state job until 1987 when a few people urged me to run for the Denver City Council. I didn’t

want to be one of 13 members on the council and instead set my sights on the Denver Auditor job.

Denver is unique in that the auditor position is an elected job, and the main mission is to oversee accountability in all city departments.

Unlike the 1983 mayoral race, I got my

ducks in a row and announced early on Nov. 18, 1986. That gave us a good six months to campaign.

Bill Schroeder, a Republican and former Denver Public Schools Board of Education member, was my toughest opponent and got 48 percent of the vote in the May election and I garnered 49 percent, which meant we were headed to a runoff. I won the auditor’s job with 63 percent of the vote and Schroeder was a gentleman and came to our campaign head-

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quarters to congratulate me.

As the city’s auditor I was the main “watchdog” and that meant I often clashed with Mayor Pena. I was getting ready in 1990 to run for a second

term when news broke that Pena would not seek reelection.

Wilma and I gathered about 30 family members and I told them how difficult a mayoral race would be. I also knew my strongest opponent would be Denver District Attorney Norm Early, an African American man who was part of my original political circle.

The first poll on the race showed only 7 percent of Denver

voters would support me, and Early had 67 percent. We faced a huge battle, including fundraising.

There were seven people in the race but my main opponents were Early and Republican Don Bain.

Just about everyone urged me to quit the race, including Black ministers who worried that two Black men Early and I would split the votes and

neither of us would make the run off. But Wilma supported me, my campaign staff kept plugging away and I scored points at forums by showing voters I knew city issues. Wilma and I were at opposite ends on one issue. I unexpectedly came out in support of doing away with court mandated school busing, while Wilma in the JBC was asking for more money to fund the program. My argument was that busing actually hurt neighborhood schools.

While we were making some gains with voters, our campaign money was running out and we needed something to ignite publicity. My campaign manager Mike Dino suggested that I walk the city, something our son, Keith, also endorsed. Campaign worker Ken Smith urged us to expand the idea to me and Wilma staying in someone’s home each night in a different part of the city. Wilma had to pull off this feat while still doing her job in the legislature.

This was unique because for 21 days, I would not get in a vehicle or sleep in my own bed until the election was over. We held a press conference to kick off the walk in southwest Denver, the most Republican part of the city. I was walking as the underdog to the theme song of Rocky, the movie.

“Wellington showed up in his tennis shoes and a lightblue jacket,” recalled Dino.

“That became a key element and his idea. He was not the politician in a suit and tie just glad-handing. He was in his street clothes, fighting the elements, and showing people his great smile.”

We got a huge boost when the Rocky Mountain News endorsed me. When the votes in the May election were announced and we knew that we reached the runoff, I cried. The tears were my sense of relief and joy for getting the opportunity to compete with Early one-onone.

The runoff was on June 18, the same date that the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. “Webb Wins in a Walk,” read the large front-page headline of the Denver Post the next day. I got 66,511 votes compared to Early’s 48,702. My goal as mayor was to serve and improve the entire city, and with Wilma as the first woman to simultaneously be serving in the legislature and also be the first active First Lady, we accomplished that over the next 12 years..

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Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – June 2019

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R

aquel Garcia, a 13 year

old girl with the voice of a grown woman, has a very bright future ahead of her in the music industry. Could she be

Twinkle Twinkle, She’s A Little Star

By Zilingo Nwuke

the next Jennifer Lopez? How about Shakira or Whitney Houston?

After performing during Mayor Hancock’s last State of the City address, where she sang John Lennon’s Imagine, she made some very important people take notice of her talents. It isn’t everyday people get to listen to a talent like hers.

The fact that she is so young means that she has a lot of time to practice and develop into an extraordinary vocalist. This is a very special teenager.

I had the opportunity to interview Miss Garcia, and discuss her singing, hopes for the future and other things which made for an interesting conversation.

Denver Urban Spectrum: What’s your name, your birthday, and where were you born?

Raquel Garcia: My name is Raquel Garcia. I was born January 8, 2006 in Denver.

DUS: Where do you currently go to school?

RG: I started this year attending the Denver School of the Arts.

DUS: What are your plans and hopes for the future and what do you hope to achieve?

RG: Hopefully, if God blesses me, I hope to be on one of the most important stages performing. I have a lot of plans and actually, I like writing a lot and hope to release my music.

DUS: When did you first start singing? What’s the story behind it?

How did you develop the interest?

RG: Since I was three years old, singing music has always been a passion. It makes me feel really happy. It breeds a weird feeling inside of me and I just really like it. I have never sung professionally on a stage but I started about two years ago. I can’t say that I looked for this opportunity but it came up at a family reunion. One of my friend’s nieces was dying of cancer and they didn’t have money but before she died, she had a wish to go to Disneyland.

So, they made an event to make that wish come true. They asked me to sing on stage and that was the first time I did it.

After that, singing and performing requests have not stopped.

DUS: Would you say singing

runs in the family?

RG: No it’s just something I was born with.

DUS: What singers do you look up to and why?

RG: I look up to a lot of singers but I really like it when they have a really strong story about them like Whitney Houston, who is my favorite. I love her voice and she really worked hard at it.

DUS: We heard you blow away the audience with your performance at the Artists for Hancock event at the Soiled Dove. What was it like singing in front of all of those influential people?

RG: I was really excited because I was surprised to know that I was not going to be singing a track. When I got there, they were like, “no, you’re going to sing live music.” I got really excited. It was something I was really looking forward to because I always try and do my best. I loved it. I had fun.

DUS: What are some of the other events you have performed at?

RG: I actually sing a lot for the mayor and I sang for the last governor. I sing at a lot of

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charity events too! I like to help with my talent. I also sing at a lot of festivals like the Taste of Puerto Rico and the London Festival. Soon, I’m going to be at the Pride Festival in June. We have a lot of performances outside of the state like New Mexico, Kansas, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

DUS: What are some of your favorite songs to perform? Have you written any songs for yourself?

RG: I have tons of songs. I write a lot. I like to write music and lyrics. I just haven’t found the right time to let them out because I feel like I can’t just let them out like that. I want the right time to come. I like songs that that have really good lyrics and a good message.

DUS: What do you love about singing?

RG: If you really think about what you’re doing while singing, you can see that singing helps other people to heal whatever they are going through.

You could be singing something, and if you put your heart into it, you can take people to another dimension. You can just make them forget about all their problems. I feel like that is something that I really like. It is really satisfying do something that you like, knowing that you’re helping people.

DUS: What is it like traveling and singing? Is it hard to deal with your social life and school life?

RG: It’s kind of tough, but

Reset and Reclaim Your Health Goals This Month

it’s something that I like. I’m willing to work hard for it. If I didn’t like doing this, I wouldn’t be doing this. I really like it and it’s really exciting.

DUS: If things go exactly like you want them to, where do you see yourself 15 years from now?

RG: Hopefully, winning a

By Kim Farmer Grammy.

DUS: Anything else you want to add?

RG: I just want to say to all the people that have dreams, never stop dreaming. Always work hard for what you want. If you ever get one opportunity, never lose it because you only get opportunities once and then they never come back. Keep on dreaming. Work hard.

Editor’s note: For more information on Raquel Garcia, follow her on Facebook (@1313raquel) and Instagram (@raquelgarcia). Tune in an you raise your hand to her entertainment show on if you promised yourself that Chanel 53, every Saturday at 11 you would eat healthier and a.m. exercise at the beginning of the year and fell off the wagon?

Well you are not alone. This is true for many people, and by the time June comes around, we have forgotten what we said.

We all have something about our bodies that we want to improve and while we might slip up every now and then, the good news is that we can start again…and again. It’s never too late to start over and reclaim your goals; you just need to make the decision to do it… every single day.

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day to stay on track with our goals. Read the tips below to stay motivated this month: Set small, attainable goals that will support a larger goal.

For example – I will consume one more serving of a fruit or vegetable every day this week.

In a few weeks you will have reached the goal of eating the recommended amount of 5servings in one day. Keep in mind that you are not perfect and there will be days where you have a setback, but reset and reclaim the goal. Another example: Drink one more glass of water each day to reach a goal of eight per day.

Keep an exercise and food journal. Doing this is extremely useful and helpful to track how much you are eating since it is easy to forget small bites that we take here and there throughout the day. Those small bites tend to add up to big calories so it’s a good idea to keep track.

You can try a hand-written journal or go digital and track

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your food and fitness from your computer or your smartphone.

You can call it “My Diet and Fitness Diary for June” and it will support you to stay motivated this month.

Try to eat something every two to three hours to keep your metabolism up and also to make sure you don’t get too hungry and make bad food choices you will regret later.

Don’t allow set-backs to keep you from working hard toward achieving your goal. Remember that there is always another day coming tomorrow so you can start again. Stay motivated and keep your goals in writing to refer to if you get off track. Get help from an accountability partner or a personal trainer to help you with your goals..

Editor’s note: Kim Farmer of Mile High Fitness & Wellness offers inhome personal training and corporate wellness solutions. For more information, visit www.milehighfitness.com or email inquiries@milehighfitness.com

“For Colored Girls Who

Have Considered Politics” provides insiders and average voters a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the history and lessons of 30 years of Democratic politics from the perspectives of its four power-player authors: Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry and Minyon Moore.

The authors, who call themselves “the Colored Girls,” were in Denver last month. They appeared at Central Baptist Church on May 1 for a community conversation and book signing. The following day they appeared at Metropolitan State University of Denver for a conversation moderated by President Janine Davidson, Ph.D. The book covers the authors’ rise to prominence in the Democratic Party and their decades of experience working on presidential campaigns for Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Al Gore and Jesse Jackson, among others.

Three of the event’s sponsors, Wellington Webb, former Denver mayor; Wilma Webb, former Colorado State Representative; and Halisi Vinson, president of Colorado Black Women for Political Action, (CBWPA) talked beforehand about the authors coming to the Mile High City.

(Urban League Foundation was also a co-sponsor.)

How did this upcoming event come to be, and why is this conversation so important right now?

Wilma Webb: Our relationship (with the authors) goes back to the 1970s and 80s. Each of these women has long been involved in national politics, particularly as political relationships expanded to the West. We became close during Jesse Jackson’s campaign and have stayed connected.

Since the election of Barack

Four Colored Girls Grace the Mile Hi City

By Cory Phare Editor’s note: This story was first published by MSU Denver RED. Read more at red.msudenver.edu.

Photos courtesy MSU Denver and Lens of Ansar Back row: The honorable Wilma J. Webb, Wellington E. Webb, Dr. Ryan Ross, Halisi Vinson and Terry Nelson

Front row: “For Colored Girls” Authors Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, Donna Brazile, and Minyon Moore

MSU Denver President Janine Davidson, Ph.D. moderates a May 2 conversation with the authors of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics.” Below left: Leah D. Daughtry speaks with an attendee following the event hosted by MSU Denver. Below right: Donna Brazile answers questions during the event.

Photos courtesy MSU Denver

Obama as president, we’ve seen an electorate that really believes in the possibility of a woman being elected. In that sense, the timing of this event is good for people concerned about the direction of our nation, our economic status and our position in the world. And that concern is not just happening in Washington D.C. It’s here in Colorado.

Wellington Webb: We’ve known these four women for a long time. So when they began the book tour and contacted us, it was obviously a great idea for us to help make it happen.

Halisi Vinson: The Webbs approached us (about organizing an event with the authors),

and it made sense for CWBPA to get involved. If you’re bringing four politicos to town, you’re going to want to connect with the only homegrown political organization dedicated to amplifying these voices.

When it comes to Black women, our community has the highest voter turnout. Just look at the 2016 election data. And yet, when you look back, for most folks who aren’t in the top 1 percent, not one iota has changed when it comes to gaps and disparities for advancing opportunity. For African American communities, those disparities hit even harder.

When the economy catches the flu, we catch pneumonia.

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What about this book resonated with you and what can attendees of the event expect to take away?

Halisi Vinson: We’re literally standing on the shoulders of these four women – I refer to them as the “Hidden Figures” of the national Democratic Party. I look forward to learning the challenges they faced, and what we can learn from them now in 2019.

Wilma Webb: These women were all willing to be involved and didn’t have to be urged or coached.

We’ve persevered when it wasn’t easy to persevere because we were giving voice to oppose situations that were wrong. Those wrongs never would have been addressed at all had we not raised our voices.

I think of the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela, and our effort to withdraw support of South Africa during the apartheid state. We experienced so much resistance and opposition. Goodness eventually came out of our efforts, but what if we had not said anything?

What if we had been quiet and we were defeated? It’s important to raise up those issues that are about righteousness, about the right thing to do.

Wellington Webb: Many activists can plug themselves into these roles when they engage in public service and make the commitment to give back. Here are four people who did that, who came together and moved to different cities to do the work and become successful even when it was a hard thing to do.

Look at when we entered (the bill to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a recognized holiday) at the Colorado Statehouse – that was introduced three times unsuccessfully before Wilma introduced it and it passed. Now it’s a matter of course – but it wasn’t at the time. Sometimes it takes the world a while to catch up.

What still needs to happen for young people from underrepresented backgrounds to get involved with politics?

Wilma Webb: Once upon a time, we never thought we’d see an African American president. But we did. Now, there is a larger pool of role models from which to draw inspiration.

Getting involved – on boards, commissions, neighborhood organizations and the like – is so important. Being in the company of people who are concerned about and promoting public policy helps start that process.

Wellington Webb: It’s also important to realize that not everyone has to run for office.

There are many opportunities, from learning about organizing to identifying solutions and the skills necessary to help promote ideas. That needs to happen early and across channels – social media isn’t enough. It needs to be a coordinated effort.

Halisi Vinson: First, standard liberal arts education should include civics. As a matter of fact, it should be mandatory.

Second, I think we’re going to have to be purposeful about inviting our electeds of color to the classrooms so that they can see folks that look like them in positions of power. Last, there is definitely an opportunity for civic/political clubs to create partnerships with organizations like Colorado Black Women for Political Action.

What is the role of a place like MSU Denver in addressing some of the issues we’re facing?

Halisi Vinson: We are fortunate to have institutions like MSU Denver, where traditional and nontraditional students can get a first-rate education at a more affordable price.

I have had the opportunity to hear amazing authors at MSU Denver. With this event, I hope that the students are inspired by “the Colored Girls” and that they come to understand that democracy is not a spectator sport – we don’t only

elect our officials, but need to hold them accountable.

Wilma Webb: A place like MSU Denver can be a voice.

More than that, it can be a model for making education accessible to those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to go to college.

That voice can give people hope and make them feel like they have a future – not just limitations because of their economic status. I also think the

institution can play the role of hosting visionaries, and by their understanding of current conditions, they can help our increasing population grow with grace for all of us Wellington Webb: One role of the university is to create new knowledge, but also to preserve the past. For example, there’s a big debate going on about Proposition 300 and the homeless population – but not one candidate for mayor or city

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council has gone back into the archives and said, “Here’s what we’ve done previously to provide housing and health services.” To use a basketball analogy, a lot of the argument around it is below the net when we should be playing above the rim..

Editor’s note: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics is available on Amazon, eBooks.com, eBay, Walmart and Barnes and Noble.

The Force of Nature of Pam Grier

first feminist in my life. He was my mom’s dad, and his mom had a sugar beet farm. She was a single mom who had a hotel for African-Americans, Native Americans and other people of color. My grandfather was accustomed to seeing independent women learn how to do things; and taught all his granddaughters how to be self-sufficient.

Allison Kugel: What are some of the most notable things your grandfather taught you?

By Allison Kugel

If you were to ask any

director who has worked with the legendary Pam Grier, they would likely tell you that having Grier on their set is a game changer. She knows what she wants and what she brings to the table. Just stand back and watch the force that is Pam. She made it clear throughout our conversation that clinging to her perfectly proportioned Black Barbie superhero past doesn’t interest her. It’s a lovely time capsule that will be well documented in a biopic about her life that is currently in preproduction and based on her autobiography Foxy (Grand Central Publishing).

These days, Grier is focused on roles that represent mature, well-rounded women living their authentic lives and not hiding behind a veneer of glam.

Even stripped down to the studs, she still exudes sensuality that leads men of all ages to her like the Pied Piper. In her first network sitcom role in Bless This Mess, Grier plays Constance, the local fix-it-all and know-it-all in small town Nebraska. She is the brilliant and funny foil to Dax Shepard and Lake Bell’s transplanted Manhattanite characters, Mike and Rio. We witness Shepard and Bell’s characters stumble and bumble through middleAmerican culture and country life through the eyes of Grier’s amusement as Ed Begley Jr.’s character, Rudy, tirelessly pursues her.

Grier is also appearing on the big screen alongside Diane Keaton and Rhea Perlman in Poms, a comedy about a group of women in a retirement com-

PHOTO: Bless This Mess - ABC/John Fleenor © 2018-2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

munity who reclaim their vigor and spice through starting a cheerleading squad.

Allison Kugel: Let’s talk about your new show, Bless This Mess. Is this your first time doing a network sitcom?

Pam Grier: Yes, and Bless This Mess allows me to work with creatives like [show creator] Elizabeth Meriwether and [actress and cocreator] Lake Bell. I took my Spanx off and I did some chores before I came in to see them [for the role]. I was a little dusty and I smelled of barn and John Deere fuel. I said to them, “Out here as country women, we take our Spanx off. I smelled the part, so that helped (laughs).”

Allison Kugel: People don’t know that about you. You’re a country western girl. That’s how you live when you’re not working.

Pam Grier: My upbringing was military, rural and urban. It was the best of all worlds. I’ve learned from each aspect of my culture and I see the world through women who were offered the opportunity to be equals. My grandfather, who was from Wyoming, was the

Pam Grier: He taught all of us to hunt, fish, shoot, drive the tractor, bring in the boat, change tires and spark plugs… you name it. That way you could always survive, without waiting for someone to take care of you.

Allison Kugel: How do you feel Bless This Mess handles inclusion, as far as steering clear of urban stereotypes of Middle America?

Pam Grier: I mentioned to Lake [Bell] when they didn’t have a script and had no idea what they might do or write, ‘There is one thing I must implore you, and that is not to make fun of the heartland.’

People go to the heartland to find their hearts. I believe that the farmer is the hero or heroine of the day. They should be in every magazine all the time.

Allison Kugel: Your career has done a 180. You’re playing this quirky country role in Bless This Mess, and this month you are

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also in the film Poms with Diane Keaton and Rhea Perlman where you are poking fun at getting older. As someone who was an icon of sex appeal and glamour, how did that play a role, not just in your earlier career, but in your life? And how are you now processing going through the different stages of life?

Pam Grier: I’ve always controlled my image for political, religious and spiritual purposes, and I’ve embraced aging.

When I met Robert De Niro with his first wife, Diahnne Abbott, he was gaining weight in order to play Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. We were in his kitchen talking and I said to him, “I would like to gain weight for my roles because as a woman, society responds differently to your weight, your appearance, and your sex appeal. I guess in certain cultures, if you are not a standard size 4 or 6, you’re not considered attractive. There are psychological aspects towards that.

The younger, slimmer and more youthful looking you are, the better for child bearing and maybe you’re thought to be more sexual or whatever. I love the fact that people do respond differently when I am a size 12 than when I am a size four; completely different dynamic and really interesting to me.

Allison Kugel: And I understand you have a sense of responsibility for the earth, our ecosystem, our land and other people.

Pam Grier: I have fire extinguishers because people flick their cigarettes out, and in a time of global warming, fires are starting on the side of the road and burning up entire communities. People have sprinklers on the inside of their homes. They should have them on the outside of their homes.

Turn them on, wet down the property and leave. At least it will be so wet that the embers won’t land on your house or around your house and burn it

down. At the very least, it’s a retardant. It will slow it down, if it won’t completely stop it.

Allison Kugel: How do you want your body of work to be studied; because it will be studied in years to come?

Pam Grier: It’s already studied and they always tell me, I’m a master class or thesis. And, I’m going “Whoa...Oh boy!” I’ll tell you this, when I started doing stunts – that I’m still feeling pain from even now – I didn’t have a sports bra and it was a lot harder to be very physical and authentic. I don’t want to be remembered as being perfect, I want to be remembered as being real.

Allison Kugel: You are thought to be the first African-American female to headline action films.

Where are your successors?

Where is the next Pam Grier?

Pam Grier: They’re probably out there limping, as I did. They got hurt and said, “Don’t wanna do that again!” I was a gymnast and I skied. I ran track, and did anything I loved to keep from doing the dishes.

You have to have a little bit of that in your nature to be that physical. Not everyone is, or can be. Right now I see some white actresses like Charlize Theron and Rachel Weisz, who I never thought would do martial arts and stunts and action movies who really enjoy them.

But they did say they got a couple of “ow-ies,” and they don’t know if they will do it again.

Allison Kugel: Is there any type of role you wouldn’t take on, because it’s not in your wheelhouse?

Pam Grier: I was sexually attacked and raped at the age of six, and then again at 18 in college, and then there was a third attack that I fought off. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I didn’t understand it. But, I know that I cannot portray that in a movie, because I don’t want to revisit those moments and emotions. Many of the actresses, who will be up for the casting to play me in the film of

my life, may have had those same experiences and won’t be able to re-live them. Not everyone can do that; not everyone wants to re-visit that. If they can, it will be fantastic, but I know that I have had to turn down roles that have those kinds of attacks, because I couldn’t do it, I had to pass.

Not every actor can play every role, and there is a reason; it may be private.

Allison Kugel: But you are enjoying having audiences get to know the part of you that shines as Constance on Bless This Mess.

Pam Grier: I’m sharing my rural side, my military side, my pragmatic side and my sexy side in this wonderful role that has been bestowed upon me by Lake Bell, Elizabeth Meriwether, ABC, Fox and Disney. They support me greatly, they listen to me, and they laugh at some of the funny things I do. Even the way I came into my initial meeting with them, all stinky from doing chores. Who does that?

Allison Kugel: This interview reminds me of how film directors will say that sometimes they’ll have an actor on set, and they know the best thing they can do is get out of their way and just let them do their thing.

With this interview, I couldn’t direct you. You directed the interview, but I learned a whole lot from you, and I thank you!

Pam Grier: Well, I love to share and I love to teach. It’s who I am..

Editor’s note: Watch “Bless This Mess,” on ABC, Tuesdays at 9:30/8:30c. Grier also stars in Poms with Diane Keaton and Rhea Perlman (in theatres). Follow her on Twitter @PamGrier Editor’s note: Allison Kugel is a syndicated entertainment columnist, and author of Journaling Fame: A memoir of a life unhinged and on the record (Amazon) and owner of Full Scale Media. Follow her on Instagram @theallisonkugel and at AllisonKugel.com.

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Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – June 2019

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Editor’s note: Samantha Ofole-Prince is an award-winning writer and contributor to many national publications and is Blackflix.com’s Senior Critic-at-Large. Laurence Washington is the creator of BlackFlix.com.

Like Blackflix.com on Facebook, follow Blackflix.com on Twitter

Tribeca Film Festival Pays Tribute to the Late John Singleton

By Samantha Ofole-Prince Photos courtesy of Columbia Pictures

Director John Singleton’s debut movie which chronicles the trials and tribulations of three young African-American males growing up in South Central Los Angeles screened at the 18th Annual Tribeca Film Festival. The classic film was written and directed by John Singleton who passed away on April 29, after suffering a stroke on April 17.

“John Singleton accomplished what all creators strive to. He entertained, but also inspired a generation of audiences. As the first AfricanAmerican director, as well as, the youngest director to be nominated for an Academy Award at the age of 24, he allowed so many to envision

themselves as change makers.

We want to celebrate him as we consider the legacy that he has left behind and so the Festival added a free screening of Boyz n the Hood last month (on May 3) for the community to come together, see his pivotal film, and honor John,” shared the film festival’s founder Jane Rosenthal.

The stylish and powerful film about life in South Central LA earned Singleton an Academy Award nomination for Best Director, becoming the first African American and

youngest person ever to be nominated in that category.

Boyz n the Hood is a story of three friends growing up in the neighborhood, and of street life where friendship, pain, danger and love combine to form reality and starred Ice Cube as an unambitious drug dealer, Morris Chestnut, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Larry Fishburne.

O’Shea Jackson’s Humorous Side Shines in Long Shot

By Samantha Ofole-Prince Photos by Hector Alvarez

In this political rom-com filled with heart and humor, Seth Rogen plays Fred Flarsky, a gifted, feisty and free-spirited journalist who reconnects with

his glamorous babysitter Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) as she prepares to make a run for the U.S. Presidency. They are a mismatched pair and although their deeply funny odd-coupling ensures plenty of laughter, it’s O’Shea Jackson Jr. who as Flarsky’s best buddy, Lance, delivers the films comical moments.

“Lance is a tech entrepreneur, a self-made man, who is super enthusiastic about everything, and he’s aggressively enthusiastic about supporting Fred. He is always in Fred’s corner. Whatever he needs, I got him,” shares Jackson who brings a deadpan style of humor to the table.

As the best buddy, he pushes Fred to pursue his childhood crush telling him that he deserves love, something he’s never fully believed after Charlotte hires him as a speech writer to help energize her campaign. “He believes that if Fred proves to himself he’s worthy of Charlotte Field’s love, he’ll realize the kind of potential that has always been in him from the beginning,” he explains.

Jackson, who broke out on the scene in Straight Outta Compton, delivering a breakthrough performance as his father, Ice Cube, hasn’t had a chance to show his comedic skills on the big screen and proves to be a delight in Long Shot. He brilliantly bounces off Rogen’s comic instincts and says the entire ensemble is what made the film such an unusual experience.

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“You had everybody adding their own special spices to the soup, which is what makes it a dish,” he sums up. “We all had so much fun with each other and I think that comes through in the feel of the movie. Seth was always so related in every film he does, and I was taught early that relatability is likability, and you have to keep that connection to the audience.”

With some crude and lewd humor, there’s the familiar Seth stamp on this romantic mismatch movie, which, like some of his other films, are filled with gags about masturbation, racial references and chauvinism.

Directed by Jonathan Levine, from a screenplay by Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah, the 115 minutes film is rated R for strong sexual content, language and drug use and is out in theaters.

From Social Media to the Silver Screen: Actor Dale Elliott Talks Sprinter Movie

By Samantha Ofole-Prince Photos Courtesy of FilmRise

Dale Elliott had no intention of becoming an actor, but after his engaging performance in Storm Saulter’s award-winning drama Sprinter, it’s a career the 23-year-old plans to embark on. “Now that I am in it, I love it and I want a future in it. I finish school in December and I plan to go into acting as I would like to do more films,” he shares.

In Sprinter, Elliott’s feature film debut, he plays Akeem Sharp, an athlete with aspirations to become Jamaica’s next big track-and-field sensation and although the Instagram personality was comfortable in front of the camera with his witty observational skits and comedic commentary on the social media platform, he hadn’t done any fullfledged acting before being cast in the film.

“I had no knowledge of set

life before Sprinter and the first week of shooting was very difficult for me,” he admits. “Then Storm taught me that less is more. So the less I tried to pull for emotion, the better it showed on camera. I really just relaxed, thought about who the character is and what he wants to accomplish. Because I share many similarities with the character, I started to draw from whichever emotion I needed at the time,” adds the actor whose popular videos on Instagram kick-started his acting career for

REEL CTION - WWW.BLACKFLIX.COM Elliott, the casting callAcame movie where the boy is a runner and his mother lives abroad. The next day I found out that I got the role.”

Sometimes a rookie carries an entire film and that’s certainly the case in this film for the fresh-faced actor who oozes with vibrant energy in the inspirational drama which also stars Lorraine Toussaint who plays his mother. Kadeem Wilson plays his older brother after Saulter had seen one of his and his father is played by the playful and hugely entertaining legendary Dennis Titus. Shantol Jackson, Bryshere Y. Gray, and videos on Instagram where he David Alan Grier who plays his had amassed several hundred coach, round off the main cast followers; and discovered that in the drama which is executive he also had a track-and-field produced by Jada Pinkett Smith background. and Will Smith.

“I don’t know how he got “The cast helped me a lot,” my phone number,” he jokes, continues Elliott who says he “but when he called he asked had very little formal acting me to tell him about myself. I training prior to filming. “What told him my father lives in you see on the camera is just America and my mother lives me doing my best. Kadeem in the U.K. and I did track-andhelped me a lot, David was field in high school. He then really nice to work with and told me that he is doing a also I worked with Bryshere

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while filming in Los Angeles who is very talented.” A film which has already snagged several film festival awards including the Best Narrative Feature at the Pan African Film Festival where it screened earlier this year, Sprinter features songs by Ne-Yo and Jamaican dancehall artist Shenseea.

Over the past decade each new social-media platform has given rise to a subculture of celebrities, worshipped by teenagers and children but largely unknown to anyone else and although his performance as the strong-willed Akeem Sharp may have garnered Elliott critical acclaim, but for the young star life remains the same.

“More people know me and I have more followers but I still have fun doing my Instagram videos and still make fun of everything that goes wrong in my life, but as it relates to me being a regular person, nothing has changed.”

nity, and after Sebian’s passing, it took heartbroken Holiday time to get some adhesion in his life. He took several road trips, and his house was in disarray, but it was then that Holiday came up with an idea.

“In October, I remembered this deal I made with my son, that I wasn’t going to just cry all day – that I was going to work out. I wasn’t just going to exist with no purpose.”

A Son’s Dream Becomes A Reality Aurora father follows his son’s dream of building a recreation center for disable and ablebodied youths, teens, adults and seniors

By Laurence Washington

F

ormer fitness instructor, Keithan Holiday, 49, is keeping a promise he made to his son and best friend Sebian, 16, who suffered from a degenerative muscle disease. Sebian wanted to open a recreation and fitness center for people with disabilities.

Preserving Sebian’s Legacy Sebian bravely fought the muscle disease but succumbed to the illness on June 19, 2018.

“The only thing that I can truly say,” Holiday says, “is I told him that we would do it [open up a recreation center].

And so I guess it became our goal, to set that up. I was blessed and fortunate that my son was able to live long enough to see us actually open our doors to the public.”

Enter Sēb’s Recreation

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Center (SRC), 1710 S. Buckley Road in Aurora, a non-profit recreation center where all people are welcome. The center celebrated its oneyear anniversary this past January.

Getting Started In 2013 Sebian visioned a place where people could play video games, watch movies, enjoy arts and crafts and other activities; Holiday was taking careful notes.

“And that’s when we started the next day,” Holiday says.

Holiday explains they didn’t know how many hurdles and loops they were going to have to jump over and through to launch the recreation center, such as getting donations, filing for non-profit status and securing a space; however, he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

“I can say that God had His hand all over this,” Holiday says, “and he still does.”

Holiday explains the Center is not just for the disabled.

Everyone is welcome.

Sēb’s Recreation Center, named after Sebian of course, offer access to world-class fitness equipment, yoga, art and crafts, dance, Tai Chi, Bingo and massage therapy.

“We have about seven volunteers who come in and donate their time,” Holiday says.

The center took a little time to gain traction in the commu-

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Holiday shed 26 pounds working out, and then he went to work finding a way to attract more people to the Center. “We have a popcorn machine and a hot dog room,” he says. “So I started selling hot dogs and popcorn. I put them on the table outside with some juice and bottled water. Then I put a sign in the window: ‘A donation for links!’”

It was an inspired deal, as Holiday says a donation could be just a penny, or whatever people could afford. He then quickly printed hundreds of flyers. Many people thought SRC was for people in wheelchairs. However, they soon found out that the recreation center was for everyone – young, old, able and disabled people.

“We cater to people with special needs,” Holiday says.

“It was sort of a marketing and branding tool, I guess.”

SRC receives food donations every Sunday from vendors – bread, fruits and vegetables in abundance.

“So what I do for our members for their membership fee (whether monthly, a punch card or drop in), we give first dibs at the food that we distribute. And then the food that we

have in abundance, we’ll set it outside to give to the community. We have plenty of people coming in, and if we don’t set food out, they’ll say, ‘Hey, where’s the food?’” he says smiling.

People in the community have told Holiday that SRC is a blessing – especially for those who might be in-between paydays.

“Vegetables such as potatoes, bread and carrots are going to help their families, and that’s really what it’s about,” Holiday says. “We are trying to help some people that are not as fortunate as others – anything that we can do to help somebody.”

“Pizza at the Center” featuring different pizzas and hot wings from Aurora restaurants, music, games and prizes. Donations are $8 for adults and $5 for children under 12.

“In July, we will have BBQ beef and our Carnival tournament.”

Sēb’s Recreation Center is growing however they do need donations, memberships and volunteers to keep the doors open.

First Friday Among its many programs, SRC offers events such as summer carnivals, 4th of July celebrations, walk-a-thons and garage sales that help families, friends and the community an opportunity to connect and network.

Last November, Holiday launched the Weekend Warrior campaign. “We’re trying to get 500 people to donate $10 a month, for one year,” he says.

“I believe that we can become self-sufficient in that one year.

Since we started, membership has gone up 100 percent.” The donations go to help pay utilities and rent so the center can remain open.

And then there’s First Friday, a signature event, held the first Friday evening of every month. In June, the theme is Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – June 2019

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Sebian’s Dream is Growing “We’re getting known, and my son’s dream of helping people and bringing families together in one location is becoming real. And I’m happy about whom we’re meeting and, who we are helping. I’m happy about all of those things.”.

Editor’s note: For more information (memberships, donations, to participate or volunteer), call 303-353-922 or visit www.sebsrec.org.

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Denver City Councilman, Albus Brooks (Council District 9), along with a unanimous vote by the entire council, honored the man Brooks called Rev. Leon Kelly “an incredible Denver legend who’s been fighting for our community for many, many years,” by proclaiming April 29, 2019, “Rev.” Leon Kelly Jr. Day. Denver does not have a massive gang problem like other cities of comparable size in large part because of the prevention and intervention work “Rev” Leon Kelly has offered the city through his not-for-profit Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives for the past 35 years.

Councilman Brooks said, “It is an incredible day and opportunity to recognize one of Denver’s greats. He has put himself in the most dangerous situations because he cares so much about the redemption and restoration in the lives of young people, particularly young people of color on the East Side of Denver.”

Rev. Leon Kelly, Jr. Day was formally proclaimed for his dedicated work and tireless efforts on behalf of the young people, their families, and the community.

Council member at large, Robin Kniech, commented on Kelly’s ability to build bridges in our community and Councilmembers Deborah Ortega and Paul Lopez both spoke of the important work Rev did during the “summer of violence” in 1993.

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For more information about Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives, or to help with its mission, visit www.OpenDoorYouth.org.

Alzheimer’s Volunteer Receives Hero Award Denver resident, Jeanette Early was recognized as an Alzheimer’s Hero for her aboveand-beyond efforts as a volunteer by the Alzheimer’s Association in Colorado.

Early was recognized for her service as a Diversity and Inclusion volunteer, community educator and a planning committee member. She is also a caregiver for both of her sisters living with Alzheimer’s. As the former president of Gold Star Wives, Earley exemplifies what a faithful service volunteer is all about.

More than 1,000 volunteers are engaged around Colorado on an annual basis, enabling the Colorado Chapter’s staff of 50 to provide education, programs and services at no charge to the 73,000 Coloradans living with Alzheimer’s, as well as the quarter of a million family and friends who give their time as unpaid caregivers.

AROUND TOWN •

WWW.DENVERURBANSPECTRUM.COM

• PHOTO GALLERY • AROUND TOWN •

WWW.DENVERURBANSPECTRUM.COM

“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics” Comes to Denver

Five Points Jazz Festival Photos by Lens of Ansar

Denver Deltas -

Happy 91st Birthday Doyle James “Daddy”

The Power of Red

Celebrating 80 years of

Service, Scholarships and Sisterhood

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – June 2019

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You are always 1st with us!

Call for a Quote 24-Hour Service

Jazz by Yaz Straight-ahead jazz on alto and tenor sax for events and recordings.

• Personal • Business • Airport/Mountain Runs • Pickup and Delivery • DUI Safety Net

www.riverstonejazz.com yasuo@riverstonejazz.com

For all yout transpor tation needs Charles F. Devereaux 720-429-8162 cfdevereaux@comcast.net

Lost Your Joy?

Find it again at the

United Church of Montbello!

Come as you are and get connected to your best self through great fellowship and the love of Jesus Christ!

Sunday Worship: 8:00am (Traditional) and 10:30am (Gospel) 4VOEBZ 4DIPPM BN r 8FEOFTEBZ #JCMF 4UVEZ QN

Rev. Dr. James E. Fouther, Jr., Pastor 4879 Crown Blvd., Denver, CO 80239 303-373-0070 http://ucm.ctsmemberconnect.net

720-272-5844

Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – June 2019

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