Six Students Reach AllStar Levels of Achievement

Six extraordinary students from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College (DMLK) have achieved significant success during their high school careers. These exceptional students have been recognized for their academic achievement and civic engagement. They have earned scholarships and admission to schools such as: Howard University, North Carolina Central, South Carolina Central, North Carolina A&T and other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), as well as The University of ColoradoBoulder and Colorado State University-Pueblo. Several of these students spearheaded civic engagement projects, launched groundbreaking podcasts, were national-qualifiers in Debate, participated in prestigious internships, and one earned her Associate Degree before graduating high school and another received a full athletic scholarship offer. Several of these students helped to found our Black Student Alliance. After taking a trip to Washington DC to learn more about African American history and tour HBCUs, this experience ignited a passion to pursue the passing of the Know Justice, Know Peace Resolution in Denver Public Schools. This resolution brought attention to, and advocated for the teaching of and access to Black, Brown and Indigenous history in all subjects across all grade levels.

Angel Amankwaah, Dahni Austin, Arenn Banks, Atala Lee, Ceirra Noel and Kaliah Yizar have created big shoes to fill for years to come. These DMLK students have all maintained GPAs exceeding 4.1, earned in excess of 40 college credits and look to pursue prominent degrees in Law, Medicine, International Business, Business Administration, Computer Science, and Environmental Studies. They continue to give back to their community and school while participating in accelerated programming, mentorships and college classes. They have led and launched leadership groups and have spoken on behalf of their community and school on local, national and international platforms.

While their achievements and accomplishments overflow their academic resumes, they remain humble and passionate about being change makers in their chosen fields of study and continue to break glass ceilings. These students do not shy away from advocacy work and being a voice for others. We look forward to seeing what paths they will pave at the collegiate level and beyond. .

Editor’s note: For more information about these students, email Mindi Onwuegbu at mindi_onwuegbu@ dpsk12.net

•Completed Associates degree through Community College of Aurora 1st semester of 2022

•Daniels Fund, Greenhouse, Jackie Robinson, Jack Kent Cooke, NCCU Cheatham-White Scholarship Finalist and Howard University Founders Scholar

•YAASPA Intern (Young Aspiring American for Social and Political Activism)

•MC2 Children’s Hospital Intern,

•Minds Matter Mentoring Program Mentee

•AAYLS Student Ambassador (African American Young Ladies Summit)

•Accomplished debater, including having participated in National Debate tournament representing our school and DPS

•Steps to Success- Youth Co-Chair

•DMLK Volunteer Club

•Alpha Kappa Alpha Youth Program member

•University of Syracuse Summer Program participant

•NBC Universal Summer Internship

•Howard University Achievers Scholar and Greenhouse Scholarship Finalist

•Founding Member of Nationally and Internationally renowned “Know Justice, Know Peace” Podcast Founding Member of BSA that successfully petitioned for a requirement that Denver Public Schools include more Black and BIPOC history in all subject areas across all grade levels

•Minds Matter Mentoring Program Mentee

•University of Colorado PreCollegiate Development Program participant

•Harvard University Summer Program participant

•Varsity Volleyball

•City of Denver Youth Violence Prevention Youth Member

•Sought after student speaker for student advocacy, student voice and social justice related issues.

•NCCU Cheatham-White Scholarship Finalist and Howard University Achievers Scholar

•MC2 Children’s Hospital Intern

•Northeast Denver Leadership Week participant

•Accomplished debater, including having participated in National Debate tournament representing our school and DPS

•Varsity Track

Varsity Cheer

•DMLK Volunteer Club

•Alpha Kappa Alpha Youth Program member

Nationally and Internationally renowned “Know Justice, Know Peace” Podcast

•Founding Member of BSA that successfully petitioned for a requirement that Denver Public Schools include more Black and BIPOC history in all subject areas across all grade levels

•Sought after student speaker for student advocacy, student voice and social justice related issues.

Ceirra Noel

•Greenhouse Scholarship

Finalist and Howard University Achievers Scholars

•DMLK Volunteer Club Founding member

•YAASPA Intern (Young Aspiring American for Social and Political Activism)

Minds Matter Mentoring Program Mentee

AAYLS Student Ambassador (African American Young Ladies Summit)

•Steps to Success- Youth CoChair

•Alpha Kappa Alpha Youth Program member

•Prestigious Bank of America Summer Intern

•NBC Universal Summer Intern

•Varsity Cheer

Arenn Banks

•Howard University Achiever Scholar, Full-ride Athletic and Academic Scholarship to Colorado State UniversityPueblo

•Colorado State University Black Issues Forum Participant

•City of Denver Youth Violence Prevention Youth Member

•Mindcraft Summer Intern

•Varsity Football

•Varsity Track

Kaliah Yizar

•Howard University Achievers Scholar

•Founding Member of

The Kevin Powell Reader: Essential Writings and Conversations

A hopeful and insightful collection by one of the great voices of our time

“The Kevin Powell Reader is an electric and deeply inspiring selection from Powell’s lifework, spanning the Reagan-Bush years of AIDS and crack epidemics to our current era framed by the COVID19 pandemic; the tragic killing of George Floyd; the #MeToo movement; and much more.”

—Essence

The Kevin Powell Reader by Kevin Powell, Hardcover: 400 pages, Published: April 4, 2023;

ISBN: 9781636141015 e-ISBN: 9781636141039

Kevin Powell is one of the most prolific and acclaimed American writers, thinkers, activists, and public speakers of the past three decades. His writings are important contributions to our national conversations on race, gender, class, politics, pop culture, celebrity, hip-hop, and the past, present, and future of the United States.

The Kevin Powell Reader is an electric and deeply inspiring selection from Powell’s life- work, spanning the ReaganBush years of AIDS and crack epidemics to our current era framed by the COVID-19 pandemic; the tragic killing of George Floyd; the #MeToo movement; and much more. In a journey that has produced fifteen books, countless cover stories, hundreds of published pieces, and definitive writings on iconic figures like Stacey Abrams, Dave Chappelle, Kerry Washington, Sidney Poitier, Cicely Tyson, Kobe Bryant, Tupac Shakur, Aretha Franklin, and Kendrick Lamar, Powell is a voice for our times, and a voice that is timeless.

This collection also tracks Powell’s personal struggles and his unwavering honesty about himself and the world around him. The Kevin Powell Reader captures twenty-first-century America with hope, insight, and the urgent need to preserve freedom and justice for all people.

Kevin Powell is a poet, journalist, essayist/blogger, public speaker, civil and human rights activist, filmmaker, and the author of fifteen previous books, including a new poetry collection, Grocery Shopping with My Mother. His next book will be a biography of Tupac Shakur. A native of Jersey City, New Jersey, Powell lives and thrives in New York City, in the borough of Brooklyn. His latest work is The Kevin Powell Reader

Editor’s note: Available on Amazon, Bookshop and Barnes & Noble

The Wishing Pool and Other Stories by Tananarive Due

In her first new book in seven years, Tananarive Due further cements her status as a leading innovator in Black horror and Afrofuturism

“I make no secret of the fact that I am both a lover of short fiction as well as a huge Tananarive Due fan. Her writing never fails to remind me that some of the most deliciously twisted imaginations in literature are possessed by some of the sweetest humans on the planet.”

—LeVar Burton

The Wishing Pool and Other Stories by Tananarive Due, Hardcover: 256 pages, Published: 4/18/23, ISBN: 9781636141053, eISBN: 9781636141077 American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due’s second collection of stories includes offerings of horror, science fiction, and suspense— all genres she wields masterfully. From the mysterious, magical town of Gracetown to the aftermath of a pandemic to the reaches of the far future,

Due’s stories all share a sense of dread and fear balanced with heart and hope.

In some of these stories, the monster is racism itself; others address the monster within, each set against the supernatural or surreal. All are written with Due’s trademark attention to detail and deeply drawn characters.

In addition to previously published work, this collection contains brand-new stories, including “Rumpus Room,” a supernatural horror novelette set in Florida about a woman’s struggle against both outer and inner demons.

Tananarive Due is an awardwinning author who teaches Black Horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA. Her stories have been featured on LeVar Burton Reads and Realm, and she is an executive producer on Shudder’s documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror. Due and her husband/collaborator, Steven Barnes, wrote for Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone and for Shudder’s anthology film Horror Noire. They also cowrote the Black Horror graphic novel The Keeper, illustrated by Marco Finnegan. Due and Barnes cohost a podcast, Lifewriting: Write for Your Life! Her latest work is The Wishing Pool and Other Stories

Editor’s note: Available on Amazon, Bookshop and Barnes & Noble