This month, tune in to honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and hear exciting updates about inspirational individuals and organizations featured in the December issue of Denver Urban Spectrum.
This episode features conversations about the Denver's historic Five Points District and changes happening along the Welton Street Corridor. Plus you'll hear about Dr. King's vision for a more equitable world, with a clip from the orator's last speech and the ways in which Colorado communities continue to honor his legacy through activities and family-friendly events. You'll also hear about the registration of culturally-significant buildings; a conversation with former Women's Foundation of Colorado President & CEO, Lauren Y. Casteel; and a brand that's making waves with its positive messages.
The January issue of Denver Urban Spectrum
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[00:00:00] Library and Auditorium, 3 Community Park Road in Broomfield. KGNU FM 88.5 Boulder, KGNU 1390 Denver. Stay tuned for Metro.
[00:00:25] Denver Urban Spectrum, sharing stories about people of color since 1987. Hello and welcome to Expanding The Narrative on Metro, a show by Denver Urban Spectrum that amplifies the voices and stories of the community.
[00:00:54] I'm your host, Ruby Jones. At Denver Urban Spectrum, our mission is to inspire, educate and empower audiences while bringing awareness to important issues. We recognize, advance and preserve stories about people of color with reliable community reporting and editorial content featuring refreshing views and news you can use. Stay tuned to hear all about this month's issue of Denver Urban Spectrum.
[00:01:49] Happy New Year! Denver Urban Spectrum welcomes you to 2025 and we hope that your year is off to a great start already. We started the year with a publication that honors the legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be celebrated on January 20th with events happening throughout Colorado communities.
[00:02:13] This month, we've highlighted the historic Five Points District, service agencies and individuals working to create community advancement, the preservation of culturally significant buildings around town, local businesses, events and much more. Our cover story this month is titled, Keeping King's Dream Alive in Five Points.
[00:02:36] Written by Denver Urban Spectrum contributor Elena Brown, the article features the complex history of Denver's historically black Five Points community, with a look at how the Five Points Business Improvement District is working to combat the effects of gentrification while supporting businesses and preserving the area's rich cultural history.
[00:02:57] Over the last few decades, Five Points has undergone significant change, but the way it looks now is nothing like the bustling jazz district it once was.
[00:03:23] Five Points was established as a residential suburb in the 1860s and became home to many black Americans who migrated to the West after the Civil War. Five Points was established as a residential suburb of the city, and the city was a residential suburb of the city. By the early 1900s, the neighborhood was home to black owned businesses such as restaurants, barbershops and stores. It became known as the Harlem of the West, hosting jazz greats like Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington.
[00:03:48] The Welton Street Corridor thrived as a hub for black excellence and black enterprise. After housing laws and desegregation made it possible for black residents to move to other parts of the city, Five Points began a long cycle of decline. Despite the efforts of real estate developer and civil technology founder, Carl Bourgeois,
[00:04:16] and others who tried to save the blighted homes and businesses from being demolished, the area's property values plummeted. Eventually, investors, developers, and people looking for bargain home prices began buying up property left and right, resulting in a more diverse population, but with changes that threaten to erase the district's cultural history. To learn all about how the Five Points Business Improvement District, or BID,
[00:04:44] is working to keep the vibrant cultural legacy of the area alive and in alignment with Dr. King's vision for a more equitable society, visit DenverUrbanspectrum.com to read the fabulous and informative cover story. Speaking of Five Points, one of the neighborhood's most beloved, longest-running food establishments has returned to the Welton Street Corridor
[00:05:09] and is ready to welcome you back for a feast of Southern and Caribbean-inspired food. Welton Street Cafe has been a staple in Five Points, serving up fried fish, honey hot wings, and a full menu of tasty sides since 1999. During the pandemic, a series of events left the restaurant without a brick-and-mortar location, but with community support and the resilience of the Dickerson family,
[00:05:36] they are back in action with a new updated location and elevated vibes. Denver Urban Spectrum contributor Kristen Aldridge spoke with Fatima Dickerson, who runs the family-owned restaurant, and you can read all about it in this month's publication. Five Points is home to numerous historic buildings, and this month we've provided a community highlight about one of its oldest landmarks.
[00:06:04] Denver's longest, continually-operated fire station number three was added to the National Register of Historic Places, emphasizing its legacy and community value. The building that houses the Owl Club, a prominent all-Black social club in Denver, was also added to the National Register. Both additions were part of History Colorado's Colorado Heritage for All initiative, and you can learn more about them as you flip through the pages of this month's publication.
[00:06:32] When most people hear Five Points, they tend to think of the Welton Street Corridor from Park Avenue to Downing Street,
[00:06:58] the Blair Caldwell African American Research Library, Brother Jeff's Cultural Center, and even the Glenarm Recreation Center. But Five Points is an expansive neighborhood that stretches all the way to the Platte River. This month, Denver Urban Spectrum contributor Stacey Noreen introduces audiences to a fashion brand that has taken flight after establishing roots within the part of the district now known as the River North Art District, or Rhino.
[00:07:27] Be a good person is more than a brand. It's a powerful message that conveys inspiration and positive change. Stacey sat down with Be A Good Person CEO, Drick Bernstein, to discuss the brand's mission and success. Here's a clip from the CEO who discusses the past, present, and future of Be A Good Person.
[00:07:52] So the story behind Be A Good Person, it was originated in Aurora in one of the founders' basements. Basically, through a lot of conversation and just kind of being around one another, the three partners kind of decided that they thought that there was a need for positivity to be pushed. So whether that be through people kind of promoting one another, kind of helping one another, or just like a simple message. And they kind of landed on the fact that like a simple message that can be pushed out across social media platforms.
[00:08:18] That was right around the time back in 2015 when this company was created, was around a time when like all the social media platforms kind of taken off. So I think one of the things that we kind of took to was we initially, we just posted a bunch of photos of stickers that just have our signature stacked logo on them. Which says Be A Good Person, just kind of like that almost triangle formation. So many people took to the stickers and wanted to represent the stickers in a larger fashion.
[00:08:43] So then we transformed into doing a lot of different apparel, starting with t-shirts and then into hoodies. And then we tried a bunch of different product things. And over the last eight years, nine years, we've been continuing to build out not only our fashion side, but just turning our brand into more of a lifestyle brand than anything. Like a lifestyle fashion brand and just building off the community that we have. A lot of the 2025 goals and aspirations for us are just to continue to mend together a bunch of people and communities and just continue to make the world a better place one day at a time.
[00:09:13] Our long term goals are to definitely be an international company that is not only represented in English. So hopefully being able to formulate similar logos to our Be A Good Person logo and impact the whole world at some point. So in regard to expansion, we have really big expansion plans. Obviously, some of those are later down the lines, but 2025, we're going to try and saturate a couple of new demographics, a couple of new locations,
[00:09:36] and just trying to kind of allow for the brand to kind of take us to the places that it needs to go and just impact the people that it needs to impact as much as we can. Did you know?
[00:09:56] After Martin Luther King Jr.'s death in 1968, Representative John Conyers from Michigan and Senator Edward Brooke from Massachusetts introduced a bill in Congress to make the leader's birthday a national holiday. The legislation was eventually passed by Congress and was first federally observed on January 20th, 1986.
[00:10:19] However, in Colorado, the observance of King's birthday was proposed by Denver's first black mayor, Wellington Webb, years earlier. In 1970, Webb introduced three bills proposing to honor the leader with a holiday, but they each failed. In the 1980s, Wellington's wife, Wilma Webb, became a state representative, and she continued the effort for several years before a bill designating MLK Day as a statewide holiday finally passed.
[00:10:47] The decade-long fight ended in 1984 when Governor Richard Lamb signed the bill into state law. Wilma worked on the Martin Luther King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission to plan the first celebration of the holiday, and in 1986, an estimated 15,000 people gathered in Denver to participate in the first Martin Maraid.
[00:11:12] If you'd like to learn more about Wilma Webb, you can read this month's article about her recent Athena Award from the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce, or read Denver Urban Spectrum's cover story from March 2024. For all this time, we've continued the celebration of the fallen civil rights leader with the iconic Martin Maraid, a march and parade that was first planned by Webb and Coretta Scott King.
[00:11:40] Other events include business luncheons, volunteer days, documentary screenings, humanitarian awards, and more. Be true to what you said on paper, even Russia or any totalitarian country.
[00:12:09] I could understand some of these illegal injunctions. I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges because they haven't committed themselves to that over there.
[00:12:27] But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly, somewhere I read of the freedom of speech, somewhere I read of the freedom of press, somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for rights.
[00:12:48] So just as I say we aren't going to let any dogs or water hoses turn us around, we aren't going to let any injunction turn us around.
[00:13:23] The mountain top. I just want to do God's will.
[00:14:43] One event that has become a long-standing tradition is the Martin Luther King Jr. African American Heritage Rodeo of Champions. Held each year on MLK Day, the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo features black cowboys and cowgirls who pay tribute to the iconic leader while honoring Bill Pickett, a champion rodeo performer.
[00:15:05] Denver Urban Spectrum contributor and intern Kaylee Reed provides a closer look at the rodeo of champions in an article outlining the event and its supporters and highlighting the Black American West Museum as a local source for historical education and information. Check out her article to learn more about the event.
[00:15:26] January is all about new beginnings and one community leader is preparing to embark on a brand new journey as she leaves one chapter and begins another. Lauren Castile served as the president and CEO of the Women's Foundation of Colorado for nearly 10 years, directing its grant programs and working to improve conditions for women and girls across the state.
[00:15:52] After nearly 30 years of community service and philanthropy, she announced her retirement last year and graciously sat down with me to discuss her early beginnings, her journey in philanthropy and her much deserved radical rest. Here's a clip from my interview with the benevolent leader. How has the Women's Foundation of Colorado allowed you to ignite that same fearlessness in the women you've worked with?
[00:16:22] I think I've referenced that somewhat already, Ruby, having ultimately navigated my fear. And it wasn't just the people who helped me in a professional way who believed in me, but I'm a strong believer in therapy. I'm a strong believer in building community support networks.
[00:16:41] There are a lot of ways that we, and in particular we as women of color can come together in a healing kind of context that it can be both traditional for us in a cultural sort of sense and non-traditional in other ways, formal in terms of some of those resources and support. So I think that being able to say, what am I going to lose?
[00:17:10] Having gone through that dark period, what can I lose by standing in support of others? Others who have worked harder and at greater risk than I ever have. People who are seen and unseen.
[00:17:30] And I think there was a moment of time in 1993 during the quote unquote summer of violence in Denver, when I showed up at Moyo and Guvu with Abiyomi Meeks, who was meeting with grip and blood leaders. There were probably 20 young men who were starting out with like this very physical sort of context, right? To release energy.
[00:17:59] And I showed up in my suit and simply sat on the side. And you could feel them get anxious at first, right? Most of them had shirts off. They had some pretty aggressive tattoos to be quite honest. And I just sat on the side. So they sent one of them over to ask me like, who are you and why are you here?
[00:18:22] And I said, I said, I have decided that I can either be a part of the solution or part of the problem. But first and foremost, I have to work through my fear. And my home in Park Hill, North Park Hill had been in the middle, close to many of several of the shootings. And I didn't want to move.
[00:18:48] So it was essential to me to name the anxiety, mother of young children, three young children. For me to name that anxiety and stand in that space and see these young men as also having been broken and damaged and human and in need of healing.
[00:19:12] I think my fearlessness did also ease their fears and those of other people who were around me. You know, I love something that you said about the healing. And I love that right now what we're seeing from a societal lens is a lot of focus and attention, especially in communities of color on healing. And really putting a voice to some of those traumas that generations before us didn't know how to do or didn't have the opportunity to do.
[00:19:41] Yeah, those kids, when we talk about healing and when we talk about trauma, we carry multi-generational trauma. And even in the context of our families where there may have been stories told and shared or we're reading in history, you know, oral tradition and history for us is so huge. But we carry within our bodies a level of trauma that's very difficult to articulate.
[00:20:09] In my speech, I said I grow weary of crying ancient and ancestral tears. Sometimes things well up within me that I don't even know the source of. It's not like, oh, this happened, therefore I'm feeling this. It's some sense of knowing or feeling that's kind of intangible and so deep that it's really, and it can be good, right?
[00:20:39] It can be some joy that bubbles up. It doesn't have to be pain. It can be many things. But yeah, it pulling it all together in a healing context and certainly during uncertain times is important circle practice. You know? Yeah. When you were talking about the Bloods and the Crips during the Summer of Violence and how you went and sat in with their conversation, it made me think of something I saw just yesterday.
[00:21:08] And it was a quote that was something like, most of the trouble in the world is because of people wanting to feel valuable. Even your presence with them not knowing why you were there, probably worried, you know, is she some sort of like court person or is she the feds or something? Like you were there and listening to whatever they had to say, it makes people feel valuable and it really creates a path forward. You have such a unique and comprehensive view of grants.
[00:21:38] What kinds of grants are needed? What kinds of grants will help? What kind of funding? What kind of interest? How you can make an impact, right? So when it comes to the current conditions facing particularly communities of color, both here in Colorado and throughout the United States, what areas do you believe that we should be focused on to achieve more equitable conditions? Where should we really start doing that work?
[00:22:03] Our involvement with women, as I mentioned, I've done boys and men of color work and boys and men of color certainly are showing evidence of their own struggles. But one of the things that we've learned is that for many, the health and well-being of their mom, the mental health, the financial health, the spiritual health, whatever, the full composition of what makes up one's health is critical.
[00:23:07] So helping women to have good jobs and the resources of transportation, stable housing, food insecurity, that there is food insecurity in the United States of America is unconscionable to me. Education. Education. I was very fortunate. I grew up with all in public schools except for one year. Education. And I had a great education.
[00:23:36] And a great education. Education. Education. Education.
[00:24:09] werk in half and think to women, within American women and so parents, in trans race towards the country, thekarants and women who are wanting to a luxury when I'm going to us to be wanting DIRECTORemente D procedure on up theption right for you, cover the training taking place on the academy and can stop the art on a day, mother opt for the path for, parents you know, or she's not taking questions on the science, but G Standard Energ Is choreost They would from where we come and where ultimately where we dig deep, you know, but I think it's back to that healing, to be honest. To hear the Full Spectrum Talk with Ruby episode featuring Lauren Castile,
[00:24:37] head over to Denver Urban Spectrum's YouTube channel and be sure to subscribe for community news and updates. Up next, listen to a live performance of Here I Go Again by Sydney Justin and the Miracles. The Miracles were the first group to be signed to Motown Records and they're bringing that familiar Motown sound to the Lone Tree Arts Center on January 24th and 25th. I hope you enjoy their beautiful song and I'll catch you back here next month as Denver Urban Spectrum
[00:25:06] celebrates Black History Month. Thanks for listening and thanks for your support. Looking to help out
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[00:30:35] KGNU's Mardi Gras takes place on Saturday, February 22nd at 630 at the Avalon Ballroom in Boulder. More information can be found at kgnu.org. Welcome to the Regional Roundup, a production of Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a coalition of public and community radio stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico, including this one.
[00:31:02] I'm Maeve Conron, the Coalition's Managing Editor, and on today's show, author and biologist Diane Boyd talks humans and wolves, fear and the future of wolf recovery. Some wolves can live anywhere, it's just we don't tolerate them anywhere. Then, how immigrant rights groups are bracing for the upcoming Trump presidency. People are starting to get afraid of what's coming. And finally, why we all need to be better climate citizens.
[00:31:33] No one wants to do the hard thing, lobby in Washington, be part of a social movement that drives real change. That's difficult. From Rocky Mountain Community Radio, it's the Regional Roundup. More than four decades, Diane Boyd has studied wolves.