DUS x KGNU Metro - January 2024

[00:00:00] This is KGNU FM 88.5 Boulder, KGNU 1390 Denver. Stay tuned for Metro. Celebrate

[00:00:07] Mardi Gras with KGNU and CFCZ Saturday, February 3rd at the Avalon Ballroom in Boulder.

[00:00:14] It's an evening of revelry, music and dancing with Joe Hall and the Louisiana cane cutters.

[00:00:20] Doors at 6.30 pm, dance lesson at 7, music at 8. Costume contest with prizes, the more

[00:00:27] outrageous the better. Cajun food and cash bar available. Complementary King Cake and Beats

[00:00:32] too. Tickets on sale now at KGNU.org. Support comes from Tangerine restaurants with locations

[00:00:39] in North Boulder, Old Town Lafayette and Downtown Longmont, providing traditional morning

[00:00:43] fair and lunch with Mediterranean and Tex-Mex twists as well as espresso coffee drinks. More

[00:00:48] information and menus can be found at tangerineeats.com

[00:00:57] Hello KGNU listeners and welcome to expanding The Narrative on Metro, a show by Denver Urban

[00:01:10] Spectrum that amplifies the voices and stories of the community. I'm your host, Brittany

[00:01:15] Winxfield. We are thrilled to announce that we reached our goal in the color of change

[00:01:20] fundraising campaign last month and we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude

[00:01:25] for the unwavering support. We know that our supporters are the backbone of our organization

[00:01:30] and everyone is welcome to join us in our efforts to make Colorado a better place for all.

[00:01:35] Here to tell us about the January issue is Managing Editor Ruby Jones.

[00:01:43] Hello hello I'm Ruby Jones. I'd like to take a moment to wish all of our readers and supporters

[00:01:49] a very happy new year. I hope 2024 is filled with incredible moments and positivity for each

[00:01:56] and every one of you and I'm looking forward to sharing even more of the entertaining and informative

[00:02:02] news you can use throughout the year. Our cover this month features an inspiring leader whose dedication

[00:02:09] to mentorship positively impacts Colorado communities. Writer Wayne Trujillo spoke with Dr.

[00:02:16] Dettrick Sims founder of the Sims Failed the Foundation about the importance of mentorship

[00:02:22] pre-young meals of color. Dr. Sims gave an overview of the organization's success over 10 years

[00:02:28] of operation and discussed his plans to join forces with the My Brothers Keeper initiative.

[00:02:35] You can read all about the Sims Failed the Foundation in the January publication and you'll hear

[00:02:41] from Dr. Sims later in the show. The January issue of Denver Urban Spectrum commemorates the

[00:02:48] iconic civil rights leader Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr as the nation prepares to celebrate

[00:02:55] his birthday on Martin Luther King Day. My article America then and now explores equality

[00:03:02] in the civil rights era versus today while the printed version is packed with information about

[00:03:07] Dr. King the full version of the article on Denver Urban Spectrum.com dives deeper into historical

[00:03:14] events surrounding his life and death with an analysis of systemic inequity and ongoing efforts

[00:03:21] to increase equality and improve conditions for marginalized communities. Along with mentorship

[00:03:28] and leadership the January issue highlights the contributions of black men and women

[00:03:33] to the growth of the United States during its early expansion. Black cowboys and cowgirls were

[00:03:40] instrumental to the cattle farming industry and from the time of Louisiana Purchase and the abolition

[00:03:45] of slavery the migration of black people to the West brought in the black experience.

[00:03:51] One local artist, R. Allen Brooks, pays tribute to the black cowboys and the early experience

[00:03:57] of Western migration through artistic expression. Writer Kristen Aldrich shares Brooks' inspiration

[00:04:05] in an article about his contributions to the cowboy exhibit at the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art.

[00:04:13] Last month I spoke with Valeria Howard Cunningham who produces the Bill Picket Invitational

[00:04:18] Rodeo. In January my Rodeo of Champions article celebrates the rodeo's 40 year anniversary and takes

[00:04:27] a closer look at the impact and innovations made by blacks in the American West. Education

[00:04:33] grounded out our focus in January with two stories from writer Lequand Smith about Aurora Public

[00:04:39] Schools New Board member Tiffany Tasker and Denver Public Schools Achieving Excellence Academy.

[00:04:46] Make sure to visit DenverEurbanSpecstrom.com to read this and every issue of our beloved publication.

[00:04:54] Stay tuned to hear from Dr. Dedric Sims, Denver's own black cowboy Maurice Wade

[00:04:59] and the Mile High City's former first lady Wilma Webb with a meaningful discussion about Reverend

[00:05:05] Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hey I'm Maurice Mobyta Wade. I'm a professional calf roper now

[00:05:15] retired from the Federal Government USDA a few years back and at 75 on skewer open. In 1984

[00:05:24] the rodeo producer of the Bill Picket rodeo and gentleman by the name of Lou Vassan,

[00:05:31] he came up with this idea that he wanted to do a travel black rodeo and the first

[00:05:39] rodeo that ever come to black rodeo that came to Colorado was in 1984.

[00:05:44] And I was working with a gentleman by the name of Henry Lewis who was an old black cowboy here in

[00:05:52] Colorado. I used to go and help him practice and work his cattle.

[00:06:00] And so one thing led to another and I started mind ropes and horses and then I

[00:06:09] just became what I thought was the first black cowboy or one of the original cowboys

[00:06:19] through that ordeal. I grew up in the city and I never had no idea that I could pursue a career like

[00:06:28] that. The only thing I had going up that even resembled that lifestyle as I mentioned earlier

[00:06:37] we watched cowboys and Indians on TV never saw any black cowboys so we would go out and embellate

[00:06:46] and when I say we are talking about the young black kids in the neighborhood we go ride stick horses

[00:06:54] and pretend we were the white cowboys on TV. And that was our primary way of emulating

[00:07:05] what we saw on TV. So as a result of that I was able to when I grown a little bit,

[00:07:14] grown a lot I just kept pursuing. Originally I'm from Mississippi I was born in Mississippi but

[00:07:22] I grew up in Michigan and my granddad in Mississippi had a farm. In addition to the stick horses

[00:07:30] we had in the inner city I would go and visit my granddad every year and hang out on this farm

[00:07:39] and he has two mues that we used to ride, old Jake and Bernie. So every time we go out and hang

[00:07:46] out with granddad he would use them using plow to field and then he would let us ride him as he

[00:07:52] finished working them and we used to ride out at his pastor and mess with his bulls and cows

[00:07:59] and that was the outlet or inlet for me to get involved and it just stuck with me all these years.

[00:08:09] We got the Martin Luther King African American Heritage rodeo coming up on January the 15th.

[00:08:15] Colorado is one of two states that feature a rodeo in behalf of Martin Luther King. Texas is the

[00:08:24] other in Descent Dallas but it was created in Denver by Louis Vuitton and the reason we

[00:08:31] feature the Martin Luther King rodeo is because Denver is the first state to make Martin Luther King

[00:08:40] holiday a national holiday or a state holiday rather and it was fitting for a loot to bring a

[00:08:48] because we got the national western stock show going on around that time so it was fitting for him

[00:08:54] to partner with the national western stock show and I've paid homage to Martin Luther King through

[00:09:00] a rodeo in his behalf. Denver consistently hosts one of the largest celebrations in the country attracting

[00:09:07] visitors from all over. I'm here with the Honorable Mrs. Wilma Webb whose legacy transcends titles

[00:09:14] and political positions. Her journey spans the political arena and the role of first lady,

[00:09:19] leaving an incredible mark on the state and our beloved city. As a trailblazer who served for eight

[00:09:25] years in the Colorado House of Representatives Mrs. Webb stands as a symbol of commitment to social

[00:09:31] justice. Her dream to establish the Martin Luther King holiday as a law in Colorado happened

[00:09:37] 40 years ago and she continues to inspire future generations in building a more equitable state.

[00:09:43] Thank you for joining me. Well thank you so kindly for reflecting and remembering and

[00:09:51] appropriately keeping the memory, the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alive. I just felt like

[00:10:00] I was very fortunate to be a tool that could be used in making sure that he was honored

[00:10:07] appropriately and remembered for the good that he did everybody in this world.

[00:10:13] Yes, the history of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and just the history in Colorado is one of perseverance

[00:10:24] and just with your pioneering spirit. How do you feel when you hear that if my research is correct?

[00:10:32] It was back in 1973 that you introduced the first bill. Actually,

[00:10:39] at the time state representatives Wellington, E. Webb, introduced the first bill.

[00:10:47] There were several tributes giving honor to Dr. King but he was the only one of that time who

[00:10:54] introduced House Bill 1100 in 1975. In 1975, okay. And then I introduced four bills and four

[00:11:10] bills adopted and I began in 1981 and then 82, 83 and then the bill that I introduced House Bill

[00:11:19] 1201 was adopted in 1984.

[00:11:26] Yes and what was your inspiration in continuing the fight for this bill?

[00:11:35] As I looked back when I was a state representative and I wish to achieve a sponsor for

[00:11:44] the legislation to make Dr. King's birthday a lawful official holiday in the state of Colorado,

[00:11:55] I had a most wonderful model in which the holiday would show that he was so deserving

[00:12:07] of our respect as Americans and certainly as African Americans and certainly not only in America

[00:12:15] but across the world. So I had in Dr. King all of the components that would say certainly this

[00:12:25] man was honorable and certainly this man was very deserving of a holiday. And so with that kind of

[00:12:36] of person to be honored it made me because of the legacy that he left, the pain that he endured

[00:12:49] and as you use the words which was the same word that I used at that time, the perseverance

[00:12:55] to go forward anyway. It allowed me to have all of the necessary feeling of commitment as well as

[00:13:09] the history of his life that gave me the ammunition that I needed to convince the Colorado House

[00:13:19] of Representatives and the Colorado State Senate to vote for, to support and to be very joyful

[00:13:31] that we had Dr. King in our lives. Yes, joyful indeed. So can you fast check me again with the

[00:13:42] inaugural Martin Dicking Day celebration? I have January 20th 1986.

[00:13:50] That yes, the law itself under House Bill 1201 which I was the sponsor, I was the

[00:14:01] carrier of the bill and I was the one who garnered the necessary support and bill

[00:14:11] supports and put it in place to be finally adopted as a law in Colorado. That was in 1984

[00:14:23] and we modeled our legislation after the National Legislation which had been carried by

[00:14:32] Congress and John Connors for many years and then actually the Congress person who was the

[00:14:40] main sponsor in 1984 was a woman by the name of Katie Hall and she had only carried it

[00:14:50] the one time in 1984 and the next time it was time for her reelection she did not get re-elected

[00:14:59] but we modeled our bill after the bill that was being carried in Washington DC which said

[00:15:07] the third Monday of every year would celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King in January

[00:15:17] and in 1986 that's the King's birthday cell on the Prince Eating Wednesday.

[00:15:28] 1986 was the first year that we officially celebrated.

[00:15:35] We adopted the law in 1984 and we gave the State of Colorado and all of the rest of the nation

[00:15:44] two years to prepare to celebrate this birthday this holiday for Dr. King appropriately.

[00:15:52] I have a note here just that very first year the event drew more than 15,000 people

[00:16:00] yes and when we were designing the inaugural holiday for which I created it

[00:16:12] we did not know how the support would be and particularly with the parade

[00:16:22] we were hoping for a large crowd but we did not notice we would have a large crowd

[00:16:28] and it's amazing that we came down 16th avenue because they would not let us have

[00:16:37] co-facts and when we got to Lincoln and Broadway downtown right in front of the State Capitol

[00:16:46] Capitol we turned around and we looked back and every block and every street was crowded to capacity

[00:16:56] as far as anybody could see and so we had over 15,000 people there at the very first

[00:17:05] Martin Marais and we were pleased and we marched right down I think it was Lincoln all

[00:17:15] Broadway it was both street actually right in front of the State Capitol in Pacific Center

[00:17:21] and it was such a glorious occasion that some people particularly African Americans they dressed

[00:17:30] up in their taxis to celebrate Dr. King and we had representation of all of the civil rights

[00:17:41] organizations celebrating the past civil rights law and the civil rights movements that had come

[00:17:51] about to gain our civil rights and that was one part of the parade the word maraing march

[00:17:59] for what still needs to be made just and the parade parade part is where we celebrate

[00:18:09] what had been accomplished with civil rights and with injustice in the world and so it was

[00:18:17] it was a great great success and we were also very very pleased and we thought that we reflected

[00:18:26] the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Absolutely yes and it's a true that Mrs.

[00:18:36] Toretta's vaccine was there to voice pair appreciation for Carlos early recognition ever has

[00:18:44] been legacy? Mrs. King and I were very good friends friends I met her when I was a young girl at my

[00:18:53] church at that time new hope back to search she was our woman's day speaker and I was a musician

[00:19:02] and I was at the organ and she and I from that time forward became very close friends she came

[00:19:09] to Denver on numerous occasions maybe a half a dozen or so to speak in behalf of Dr. Martin

[00:19:18] Luther King Jr. and to still be involved herself with peace in the world she was also a civil

[00:19:27] rights advocate and she really doesn't get the credit for the life that she led in terms of

[00:19:33] the importance of the kinds of things that she was involved with during the year of 1985

[00:19:42] and this was after our bill was passed in 1984 Mrs. King came to Denver and she

[00:19:51] was acknowledged before the Colorado House was represented and she was acknowledged and spoke

[00:19:57] in the Colorado Senate she and I she had asked me if I would convene a meeting with Governor

[00:20:06] Richard Lam to establish a commission that was carried forward the inaugural holiday for Dr.

[00:20:15] Martin Luther King Jr. She and I met with Governor Lam and we decided to establish the Martin Luther

[00:20:25] King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission and it was such a success that there were so many people from

[00:20:35] all walks of life who wanted to be a part of that commission we ended up having I believe around 67

[00:20:42] members who were the largest commission ever established in the state of Colorado who were

[00:20:51] commissioned to bring forth the holiday event and the legislative Dr. King and how we would do it

[00:21:01] and to get the message out to all of the various segments of the state of Colorado we included

[00:21:07] the business community the civil rights community the education community the arts community

[00:21:14] the military community we included everybody because that's what Dr. King was about

[00:21:20] with having equity and equality for everybody the first celebration the inaugural Dr. King's first

[00:21:29] day fell on the Wednesday January the 15th he was born January 15th 1929 and we

[00:21:39] remained each one of the days leading up to the Monday which was Martin's day January the 20th

[00:21:47] but each day we had a scene that incorporated all of the segments of Colorado on Wednesday January

[00:21:55] the 15th it was peace and justice date and there were activities and events to celebrate peace and

[00:22:02] food to encourage peace throughout the world in the schools and we even have an evening with

[00:22:10] the jazz player who wrote the dates of justice for Dr. King this performed by Dave Blueback

[00:22:18] and it was sponsored by our ministerial alliance and also the Interfaith clergy conference

[00:22:26] and that was Wednesday on Dr. King's actual day of birth and then on Thursday we had national

[00:22:34] observance day and we had a federal tribute and we also had historical exhibit and art

[00:22:43] displayed down at the Colorado Hussain Museum and then on Friday we had the business labor

[00:22:50] and government day we talked about what needs to happen with civil rights until we were then

[00:22:57] and then we also had and we created the very first brochure responsibility awards luncheon

[00:23:04] which included both the business community and the labor community and we also had

[00:23:12] a statewide education contest for all of the students to write essays about Dr. Martin

[00:23:19] Luther King Jr and we awarded them with scholarships to colleges with the best

[00:23:28] essays that were written and those students were honored we also had a tribute from the Denver

[00:23:36] of Symphony Orkney so with that time it was called the Denver Symphony Orchestra now it's called

[00:23:41] the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and then we also had on Saturday January the 18th day that was

[00:23:50] for sports days and it was just amazing that we had a five-k race for the dream that was

[00:23:58] raced all the way from I think it was city park five miles down to downtown Denver and then

[00:24:05] back to the park and it's ironic that the person who won that five-k race were the Native Americans

[00:24:13] they were Native Americans and that was just the way I was just so pleased because if God made

[00:24:23] each one of these celebrations very special and we had good weather. We're here in Colorado

[00:24:31] and we would know how to really rearrange anything appropriately if we had a bad day of snow or if the

[00:24:40] weather were bad. In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr our January cover story features Dr.

[00:24:47] Dejick Sims who recognized the complex challenges facing young men of color and started the Sims

[00:24:54] Foundation to address the root causes of educational inequities and institutional barriers. The Sims

[00:25:01] Faeola Foundation serves as the backbone for my brother's keeper, Denver. Here's Dr. Sims to tell us more.

[00:25:09] Hi I'm Dejick Sims the CEO of the Sims Faeola Foundation. Some of the things that we're really

[00:25:14] excited about from this past year is the fact that one we are in our own home. For the last you know

[00:25:19] eight and a half years we've been co-locating with Rich right RTL Networks and we have our own home now

[00:25:26] so that's really really good it allows us to do our programming in-house and just to have an

[00:25:32] address to be able to you know do our programming to live in our office space and also to offer our

[00:25:36] office space up to other nonprofits who may need it. So we're super excited about having our own

[00:25:41] home. The second thing that was really excited happy this year was that Mayor Hancock handed off

[00:25:47] and transitioned the my brother's keeper, Denver chapter over to the Sims Faeola Foundation. So that's

[00:25:52] huge as a part of our strategic plan for the last five years we had a plan to move more into

[00:25:58] system change organization but now receiving NBK and the work that comes with that it just

[00:26:03] expedited that expedited that process and so we excited to make some announcements here pretty soon

[00:26:09] right another thing that we're really excited about was the proclamation from the City Council

[00:26:14] to have City Council acknowledge the work that you're doing and to say that we as a government

[00:26:18] entity is going to be behind you and support that work it in a way we can it's huge for the work

[00:26:22] that we're trying to do moving into system change when we are dealing with politicians and policies

[00:26:27] and all those things that we are going to have to face. And I would say probably one of the last

[00:26:31] things is which is huge I don't know why I didn't say it first but being personally invited to

[00:26:37] meet President Obama and attend the democracy form in Chicago where one of 27 NBK chapters around

[00:26:45] the country to be certified under the new certification standards for the Obama Foundation

[00:26:50] and we got the invite to be there so to spend three days with you know the president my president

[00:26:55] Obama was super cool to meet Michelle Obama and Valerie Jarrett and all those and just being

[00:27:00] in the room with a whole bunch of people who are serious about this work and understanding what

[00:27:04] they're doing to move the needle along in their cities I think that just was a test event

[00:27:09] to the work that we're doing and it was a great way to end the year. 2024 I think is going to be

[00:27:13] a bad new year for us the first thing we're going to do is that we're going to we're going to launch

[00:27:19] NBK 2.0 so this is like the new version of my brothers keeper Denver where we're focusing on supporting

[00:27:25] and developing other nonprofits continues to celebrate you know community leaders in NBK 25 program

[00:27:34] to be a backbone organization to them also if they need support around that so launching 2.0

[00:27:39] is going to be huge and then by the end of the year we are going to have worked with a whole

[00:27:44] bunch of people to create a local action plan and that local action plan is going to inform how we

[00:27:49] support young men and boys of color from cradle to college to career and this is going to be a heavy

[00:27:55] lift because we're convening other organizations or the kind of organizations who work you know in

[00:27:59] those milestones but we're super excited about that also something that's really cool is that

[00:28:04] it's our 10 year anniversary as a foundation so 10 years ago we started started this work and I

[00:28:10] remember it so vividly right it was just me and now we have a huge team in multiple cities and

[00:28:16] doing doing works so that 10 year celebration is going to be something that I look forward to

[00:28:21] having planned it out yet but looking forward to it and then I think one of the biggest thing is

[00:28:25] that we are moving from a singular focus nonprofit organization to a collective impact system

[00:28:32] change organization so we'll continue our what I call our reactive work which is what we've done

[00:28:37] for the last 9 and a half years our programming in schools our programs all those things and that's

[00:28:41] going to be led by our new COO RV and Harper I'm super excited about that while I moved over into

[00:28:48] the system change work as a CEO and start to focus on building coalitions and having collective

[00:28:55] action meetings and plans around how do we impact policy systems and so I call it the proactive

[00:29:00] work so we'll be both upstream and downstream and we're also in a place to where we are going to

[00:29:05] be able to provide technical assistance grants to organizations to quality control for some of

[00:29:10] the work that's happening in the community for smaller nonprofits you don't have the capacity

[00:29:14] to apply for and they receive bigger bigger grants from bigger foundations.

[00:29:21] Hi I'm Becky Taylor and I support the Denver Urban Spectrum because it is the voice of the community.

[00:29:27] I look forward to reading it each and every month continue to do the great work that you are doing.

[00:29:33] Be sure to check out upcoming events on DenverEarbonSpectrum.com and add yours for free.

[00:29:39] Stream this episode on KGNU.com and DenverEarbonSpectrum.com forward slash podcast.

[00:29:46] I'm Brittany Wingfield thanks for listening until next time.