Denver’s Next Mayor MUST BE A FIGHTER!

When employers in Colorado could discriminate against Black people and people of color for their hairstyles without repercussions, Leslie introduced the Crown Act.

The film industry said Colorado was not competing against other states to attract television classics like Yellowstone. As a member of the Legislature's joint budget committee, Leslie worked to make Colorado more competitive and to ensure that creatives in this city could live, work, and thrive.

Leslie worked with community advocates like Nita and Rudy Gonzales to create the city’s STAR PROGRAM to ensure first responders can handle mental health crises on a 911 call.

Our city desperately needed bold leadership in 2020 during a global pandemic. Some watched the George Floyd video, and others took to the streets. Leslie got to work and rolled up her sleeves to pull together a bipartisan coalition to pass the most comprehensive police accountability legislation in the nation.

PUBLISHER

Rosalind J. Harris

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Brittany Winkfield

GENERAL MANAGER

Lawrence A. James

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Alfonzo Porter

MANAGING EDITOR

Angelia D. McGowan

COPY EDITOR

Tanya Ishikawa

COLUMNIST

Kim Farmer

Barry Overton

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Elijah Hill

Alfonzo Porter

Thomas Holt Russell

LaQuane Smith

Mariam Sylla

SPECIAL PROJECTS ASSISTANT

Tanya Ishikawa

ART DIRECTOR

Bee Harris

PHOTOGRAPER

Lens of Ansar

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Jody Gilbert - Kolor Graphix

SOCIAL MEDIA / DIGITAL MARKETING

Melovy Melvin

DISTRIBUTION

Lawrence A. James - Manager

The Denver Urban Spectrum is a monthly publication dedicated to spreading the news about people of color. Contents of the Denver Urban Spectrum are copyright 2023 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.

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Message From The Editor

It’s Women’s History Month

As we near Election Day for Denver’s mayoral race, our mailboxes and online communication channels will be overflowing with more key messages from 17 candidates - revealing how many people care about the city and its future. Kicking off our Women’s History Month issue, we share words from a press conference on Feb. 14 when a host of Colorado’s legendary women came together to endorse Leslie Herod for Denver’s next mayor.

Contributor Mariam Sylla highlights Dr. Kimberle Jackson-Butler and her charge to close the gap between high-achieving college freshmen from diverse backgrounds and law school in the first-ever college-to-law school pipeline of its kind in Colorado. Thomas Holt Russell shares some of the challenges that Black women face when trying to enter and advance in the technology field. African diaspora archaeologist Dr. Alicia Odewale will grace the Mile High City when she presents at the Newman Center and the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame will honor Ruth Cousins Denny as a 2022 Inductee.

Other stories highlighting this issue include contributor Daryn Fouther who marks a major milestone for Getabetcha “Gete” Mekonnen and his 40-year legacy in Denver’s Northeast corridor and we share a couple of pieces on the murder of Tyre Nichols. Contributor Russell looks through the lens of Black-on-Black crimes and editor-in-chief Alfonzo Porter collaborates with contributing writer LaQuane Smith to expose the backgrounds of the five police officers in an effort to determine if there were any warning signs that such a tragic event was in the cards.

Women’s History Month is a wonderful opportunity to highlight women doing great work. It’s also an opportunity for women to stop, take a breather and reflect on their accomplishments – and also those of others.

Long-time and dear friends of DUS Norma J. Paige and her sister Vivian Kerr reflected on the great accomplishments of Vivian’s husband Floyd, who recently passed away. In his obituary, it reads he was the epitome of a gentleman – and that he was. May he rest in peace, power and paradise – as we pray for the women in his life – during this Women’s History Month.

Angelia D. McGowan Managing Editor

Former Denver mayor calls for investigation into ComcastAltitude TV blackout

Open Letter to Colorado

Attorney General Phil Weiser

Dear Phil,

The continuing blackout of Denver professional sports teams by Comcast, now in its fourth sports season, is unfairly depriving local fans of their teams and poorly serving the local communities that grant Comcast a virtual cable television monopoly.

It’s time for our elected leaders to stand up and use their power to dig deep into this dispute, demand answers and perhaps propose some needed pro-consumer reforms. We need some good old-fashioned investigations.

This dispute is personal for me. I am a lifelong Denver sports fan and I’ve been following the Denver Nuggets from day one of the franchise’s history. I’m a Nuggets season ticket holder. But when I can’t get to Ball Arena, or when the team is on the road, I cannot watch my team.

As a Comcast subscriber, I am paying a fee to see regional sports, part of a total monthly Comcast bill that is as expensive as some people’s car payments.

Unfortunately, if you are a Denver Comcast customer, the company didn’t tell you exactly what region you will see sports from, because when it comes to the NBA or NHL, it’s not Denver.

It feels like I, and other Denver fans, have been hoodwinked. I pay for sports but can’t see all but one of our local pro sports teams. But the regional sports fee on my Comcast bill is exactly what it was before the blackout.

I urge you to thoroughly investigate whether Comcast is illegally taking advantage of its customers in Colorado.

In addition to being a very unhappy Comcast customer, I am also a resident and taxpayer in the City and County of Denver, which, like other municipal governments, enters into a franchise agreement with

Comcast. At least in part because of these agreements, Comcast has an estimated 93 percent market share in the Denver metro region, which by any measure is a virtual monopoly. (The franchise agreement between Comcast and the city of Denver expires at the end of 2023.)

In return for these benefits Comcast agrees to provide certain categories of programming that meet the needs and desires of these communities. One of those broad categories is “local sports.”

Comcast can and does claim that they are providing sports, but obscure Vegas poker tournaments don’t give me my local sports fix. I’m a Denver fan, and for me that’s the Denver Nuggets.

So, first, local governments should carefully review their franchise agreements and determine what authority they have under law and under the text of the agreements to review exactly how well Comcast is serving the community.

Continued on page 18