Be safe. Stay Strong.
June 18, 2020 • THE VILLAGER | PAGE 11
Tay Anderson leading a recent peaceful protest in Downtown Denver. Photo courtesy of Dave Russell @Buffalo Heart Images
BY JESSICA ROE GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER
In the course of one week, Denver’s youngest African American elected official has called on Denver Public Schools to remove cops from schools. He’s been an active voice in the push for police reform Tay Anderson, Denver Public in Colorado, which led to a bipartisan Colorado State Sen- Schools, At-large Board of Education Director ate passage of bill #20-217 to “Enhance Law Enforcement must have an all-gender bathIntegrity” requiring all officers room. in the state to wear full-time Obviously, some of these body cameras. measures are well outside Additionally, he was, by the scope of his role with far, the loudest voice calling the school district. His “star on the Stapleton community power”, however, has been of Denver to change its name noticed nationally. The Washdue to the former mayor’s ties ington Post and other national to the Ku Klux Klan. publications have called him Single-handedly, he then a top young leader to watch. resurrected the Juneteenth pa- He’s become a regular comrade scheduled for this coming mentator on CNN’s primetime Saturday, even after it had previously been turned into a virtual event. One man. Did all of this. In one week. And he’s only 21 years old. Tay Anderson is a product of Denver Public Schools. He’s seen tough times, and he’s seen success, elected last fall to the Tay Anderson now appears regularly on “At-large” post on the national cable TV news. Denver Public School Board. lineup. “I understand what it means Anderson surrounds himto have to choose between self with a team of advisors lunch or a bus ticket. I want to who provide him with intelliensure that all students have a gence and experience in areas thriving neighborhood school, where he may still be “green”. all educators are paid a living The result is a young man who wage, and to give the School says what he means, and who Board back to the people of never puts out a challenge for Denver.” change in the community that In the days since the murhe himself does not believe he der of George Floyd’s death, can accomplish. Anderson has guided both From the day he began generations older than him, campaigning, however, Anand those much younger than derson has faced one thing him, in leading peaceful prothat’s only grown over time: tests across Denver. Criticism. Since his term began, he’s Unfortunately, the criticism also passed a DPS measure to has now grown into threats. ensure every school in Denver One such offender is a repeat
convicted felon who proudly brags of his own criminal convictions as though they are bullet points on a resume. For months now, Anderson has asked the Denver Police Department for assistance with this perpetrator; and at minimum, a restraining order against the man who regularly harasses Anderson with cyber threats. “DPD received a related report of harassment on May 27th and the findings of the investigation were presented to the District Attorney’s Office. The DA’s Office declined charges due to ‘No Reasonable Likelihood of Conviction’. DPD will defer to the DA’s Office for any additional information regarding that determination,” said DPD spokesperson Doug Schepman. After this past week, however, Anderson’s email inbox, phone and Facebook page are full of threats from people none-too-pleased about the board’s decision to phase out police officers from DPS and to remove the Stapleton name from the north Denver neighborhood. On any given day, Anderson reads the threats, and moves on. He can be found moderating community events, or meeting with VIPs
in the community, or in government, such as a recent one with Governor Jared Police and other local elected officials on June 9 to discuss the need to end the “over-policing” in minority communities. Anderson’s notoriety has grown so quickly, people tend to quickly forget how young he truly is. “I LOVE when folks say ‘Where was Tay 10 years ago when we were doing this work?’” he posted on his Facebook page the other day. “Excuse me ... I was in middle school!” So what is Anderson’s next move? He plans to convince fellow members of the school board that Black, Latino and Indigenous studies should be required course studies in order for DPS students to graduate. Then, there’s the issue of mascots. “It’s time for Denver Public Schools to evaluate who we honor with schools and mascots,“ he wrote on his Facebook page earlier this week. “It’s past time for our DPS community to come together to have a dialogue on these issues.” Given his track record thus far, and the fact he still has more than 1,200 days left in his first term, his track record would indicate he may just get this - and much more - accomplished.
Governor Polis recently met with Tay Anderson and other local elected officials to end the “over-policing” in minority communities.
Movement to remove cops from schools BY JESSICA ROE GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER
One week ago tonight, the Denver Public Schools (DPS) Board of Education (BOE) voted unanimously to remove the Denver Police Department and 17 School Resource Officers (SROs) from its district schools by ending its annual $720,000 contract with Denver police. The process will work in a phased-out manner with all officers vacating their posts by June of 2021. Tay Anderson helped lead this process. “Last night we voted to end the contract with Denver Police, but this was never about an individual officer. It was about dismantling a system that has held children of color down for far too long,” Anderson wrote in a Facebook post. “I know that this change comes with critics and doubts on our ability to lead this district forward, but together we will craft a brighter future to ensure all students are safe in our schools and are no longer thrusted into the school to prison pipeline.” Anyone who reads this headline may believe this was a knee-jerk response sparked by the death of George Floyd, the unarmed black man killed by a white police officer on a street in Minneapolis. In reality, several iterations of the Denver Public School’s Board of Education have tried for more than a decade to end the police contract. DPS statistics demonstrate that since sworn officers have been on campus, the rate that students of color have been referred to law enforcement has been higher than those of white students. “We believe that DPS needs to re-examine its Continued on page 15
