March 2009 Archive

Dear DUS Reader: Thanks for picking up another edition of the Denver Urban Spectrum, the people’s journal that has been successfully spreading the news about people of color in Colorado for the past 20 years! As the new editor of this great newspaper, I’m excited over the opportunity and the challenges of bringing you news and information you can use effectively to learn, teach, grow, nurture and live balanced lives that may sustain you in that quest for peace, justice and genuine democracy.

halilah Ali, married for over a decade to boxing luminary, Muhammad Ali, and since divorced, speaks out in this exclusive and rare telephone interview from Miami, FL with the Denver Urban Spectrum about her meeting and falling in love with the legendary boxer and humanitarian, her journey as a friend of Malcolm X and other Black revolutionaries, and the joys and pains of membership in the Nation of Islam.

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

I guess the Wall Street bankers and brokers got President Barack Obama’s dander up a little bit by using taxpayer dollars to pay bonuses and attempted corporate jet purchases. Well, ranting and raving about how shameless the actions are of stockbrokers, bankers, automakers and insurance companies will not benefit the American people or the American and world economies.

This is a story about garbage. There’s the actual garbage overzealous federal investigators examined in their efforts to prosecute a surly sports celebrity. There’s the shredding of the Bill of Rights, crudely ignored by the government in the name of obsession and ambition. Finally, there’s the thorough trashing of people’s reputations, not to mention the game of baseball. Welcome to The US v. Barry Bonds; please disregard the stench.

As you walk up High Street between 30th and 31st Streets, there’s a clearing in the middle of all the concrete and a quiet spot amid the hustle and bustle of the city. Here lays a small park dedicated to the memory of a woman who lived in Denver for a brief time just around the turn of the last century. Her name is Madam C.J.Walker and her’s is an incredible story of strength, determination and persistence. But wait. MadamWalker was not alone.

On February 12, 2009, the NAACP celebrated its 100th anniversary – which coincides with the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth – marking another milestone in the history of African American achievement in the United States.

When President Obama was inaugurated in January, popular sentiment – witnessed by the massive crowd attending the event – held that the United States was marking a moment of great historical significance.The sentiment was well-justified. Obama became the first African American president of a nation that for much of its history had countenanced the injustices of slavery and then segregation.

Tourism Toronto sponsored an international press meeting last month, with officials reaching out to share with the world the legacy of African Canadian citizens, and to exalt and celebrate African Canadian History in Toronto. African Canadian History Month was established in Toronto in 1976. The celebration of Black History Month in Canada is different than American Black History, yet there are profound connections and similarities.

Thirty years ago, when a person had a heart attack, they recovered in the hospital for six weeks, knowing that the only activity they would be able to do during that six weeks was walk from the bed to the bathroom. Times have changed and so has cardiac rehabilitation. Now, patients are encouraged to start walking the day they leave the hospital, which may be less than a week. Some even begin rehabilitation days after the attack, while still in the hospital.

With so many deserving African Americans who are making a difference in the lives of others the Denver Urban Spectrum had to make some tough decisions in selecting nine individuals as the 2009 African Americans Who Make A Difference. And... Reflections on other event's of note in February:

Many of the best and brightest achievers in the African American community gathered on the stage of the 17th Annual Trumpet Awards to receive a once-in-life time salute for their dedication, hard work, and remarkable achievements. The star-studded event, often referred to as the “Oscars” for Black America, took place at the Cobb Energy Center in Atlanta (GA) on Sunday, Jan. 25 and was hosted by Sherri Shepherd, co-host of “The View” and Anthony Anderson, star of “Law and Order.”

Mario Acevedo is a loveable smart ass. That’s probably what makes his novels so much fun. After struggling for years in the miasma of so-called serious literature, Acevedo decided to let his pretensions go and tackle the most ridiculous premise he could imagine. The result was his breakthrough genre novel and cult hit, The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, the story of a Chicano vampire turned private detective who gets swept into a deadly government cover up of sexual appetite gone awry.

If you flew into Denver during the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s or 90’s and had a taste for some Creole style cuisine, good music, and a friendly atmosphere, more than likely you would have made your way to Pierre’s Supper Club, at 2157 Downing St. in the Five Points community. Today, it is known as Randall’s at Pierre’s and its current managers are committed to bringing back the appeal that the world famous Pierre’s had enjoyed for many years.

As part of our continuing conversation on how the “new” green movement and environmental justice policies effect urban dwellers, poor people, and youth, we have to look inward and sometimes backwards to re-member the lessons and recipes from our grandparents in our contemporary effort to redefine and remix what “going green and living bling” looks like for this hip-hop generation, as well as whose voices are being heard in urban communities.

Colorado BlackWomen for Political Action (CBWPA) was founded in the early 1970’s by former state senator, Gloria Tanner, with the support of a small group of African-American women legislators and political activists. The group was created in response to what members saw as a huge gap in the presence of African-American women in politics. The organization recently underwent a major restructuring and has relaunched with new leadership and expanded goals.

In addition to the Green Movement being predominantly framed by largely white owned majority media through a male perspective, the women who work professionally as activists often are limited to discussions around education without being given much public space to engage in discourse around the multiple topics regarding our community’s environmental health.

The African Union (AU) summit, meeting last month in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, elected the leader of the Libyan Revolution, Muammar Al-Qaddafi, as the new chairperson of the AU. The position will give Al-Qaddafi the power to influence policies across Africa for the next year.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced the Obama Administration is awarding $19,449,598 in grants to 77 local homeless providers throughout Colorado. HUD grants offer homeless individuals and families a wide range of housing and support services.

Who among us—especially those of my generation—ever dared believe that an American of African heritage would ascend to the highest office in the land in our lifetime? Barack Obama first appeared on the cover of BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine in October 2004 when he was running for the Senate next to the headline The Next Big Thing in Politics.

Doing Biz In San Antonio

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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.

Reviews of Madea Goes to Jail, Revolutionary Road, Medicine for Melancholy, and Push.

Book reviews of Daughters of Men: Portraits of African-American Women and Their Fathers, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, Marriage 101: Building a Life Together, Accountable: Making America as Good as Its Promise,

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Nothing This Month – Check Back Soon

Nothing This Month – Check Back Soon

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...

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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...