August 2009 Archive

Several years ago, I was told that art is whatever you want it to be.

Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales is remembered for his leadership in the Chicano Movement, honored for his epic poem Yo Soy Joaquin (I am Joaquin), attributed as the creator of today’s Hispanic cultural identity, and the strong voice against inequality. An exhibit honoring and remembering Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales (1928-2005) will be on display at Denver Central Library through September 20, in the Western History Gallery located on Level 5.

You can say what you want about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and plenty has been said and little of it’s flattering. But you can’t say he’s not a man of his word.

The chance to live a dream, have independence and control over one’s own images, to bring cultures together, and be the...

Nick Colionne is an old school Jazz Cat. He prefers the Windy City Blues to the fair weather pop tunes of more popular music. But to him that’s been a way of life. “I’ve been playing since I was nine years old; professional since I was 15,” he divulges.

Grab your blanket, your babies and your “boo” and head on down to Denver’s City Park for Art’s Purpose, the 23rd annual Denver Black Arts Festival. Each July, the Denver community has an amazing opportunity to immerse itself in African and African-American culture over a three-day weekend.

In the midst of trying to grapple with the question of modern slavery in Sudan, Tamara Banks has unwittingly found herself drawn into the eye of a horrendous storm. The former Denver KWGN Channel 2 news anchor has been traveling to southern Sudan for two years, quietly documenting terrible human rights abuses and crimes against humanity that the rest of the world has somehow failed to notice.

Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob’s documentary Carmen & Geoffrey tells a story that is ”more than an outstanding, five-decade creative collaboration,” says Dance Magazine, “it’s also one of the dance world’s great love stories.”

As an educational activist, I’m forced to confront the harsh realities of urban schools on a daily basis. Despite my relentless optimism, I occasionally succumb to a deep sense of panic and outright hopelessness in light of the absurd circumstances that our children face. Fortunately, whenever I get too depressed about the future, I think about schools like George Westinghouse High School in Brooklyn, New York.

My entire life I have been hearing how the white man and the government is the reason so many of us were poor, uneducated, and unemployed. Now, don’t get me wrong I do understand that the holocaust of slavery, the unjust justice system of Jim Crow and the civil rights disparities has crippled Black Americans in many ways. But, can we still say that today?

She’s one of Denver’s rising stars – a woman who epitomizes the life, work and dreams of a singer and entertainer. She’s Coco Brown (nicknamed Coco because she so loved chocolate as a child her mother called her “little chocolate drop”). And she is a tantalizing, tasty treat in clubs and theaters in and around Denver.

Even by the nut case standard of the assorted pack of neo-Nazi unreconstructed Klan members, Aryan Nation haters, and the legion of loose screw religious cranks and loonies, the Reverend Wiley S. Drake’s public prayer for the death of President Obama stretched far past the outer limit of credulity.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that all of today’s youth are apathetic. It simply is not true. On June 5, approximately 70 high school youth came to the Colorado Convention Center as part of the 5th Annual Economic Summit to develop strategies to help reduce the rising high school drop rates in Colorado.

Break out the flip flops and the shorts; summertime is finally here. But, before your family packs up the car and heads to the beach, be certain that your home is protected. A little advanced preparation can help secure your home while you are away.

With all due respect, none of the following people has ever made me do one thing differently in my life, except occasionally change the channel: Bill O’Reilly, Keith Olbermann, Rush Limbaugh, Rachel Maddow and dozens of others whose job is to express their opinions via television or radio.

I’m going to open my premise with a very simple observation. A young child is walking alone on the parking lot of a grocery store. You observe that there is a father walking a few steps ahead of the child. Now you see a mother with a bag of groceries in her arms, one child holding her hand and another one holding onto her skirt. That simple observation may very well explain what Judge Sotomayor alluded to when she referenced the fact that as a female she views life differently than a man.

We have all heard about how vaccines protect us and our children from diseases and their complications. We are lucky that most of us have never encountered terrible diseases such as measles, polio, tetanus or diphtheria. We are fortunate here in the United States to have an effective vaccination program.

Real Men Cook Kicks Off 19th Annual Father's Day Celebration Chicago -- Real Men Cook, America's premiere urban Father's Day family tradition that pays tribute to the family, will be held in 11 cities on Father’s Day, June 15

Well, it’s finally here and none too soon to enjoy the many summer events happening in the Mile High City.

Eddie Murphy Upstaged In Kiddie Comedy

DJ Does Hip-Hop Remix Of Birth Of A Nation

Denzel And Travolta Co-Star In Remake Of Classic Hostage Drama

Damning Documentary Exposes Dangers Of Mechanized Food Industry

Nothing This Month – Check Back Again

Nothing This Month – Check Back Soon

Nothing This Month – Check Back Soon

Banker Plagued By Customer’s Curse In Recession Era Horror Flick

Welcome to the new America. I’m not talking about a blue America or a red America. I’m talking about a 21st century America – a nation of many colors, cultures and faiths. Barack Obama’s election as the first African-American president symbolizes what we have known for some time, but often fail to acknowledge: The United States has become one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse societies on Earth...

The holiday season is here again. But amidst the hustle and bustle of gift-giving and family get-togethers, seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D should carve out time to consider whether they want to stay with their current prescription drug plan...

Nov. 5, 2008 Dear Brother Obama, You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us.You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear...

Nothing This Month – Check Back Again

More than 250,000 people gathered at Chicago's Grant Park along the Lake Michigan shoreline to celebrate the victory of Barack Obama. Following are remarks by President-Elect Barack Obama, Nov. 4, 2008, Chicago, IL...