CBCC Presents Community Legends Awards
The Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce (CBCC) presented awards to 18 community leaders last month at New Hope Baptist Church Family Life Center. Legends of the past and future were honored, including such notables as Dr. Rachel Noel and the Honorable William “Bill” Roberts to the Honorable Peter Groff, Colorado Senate president; the Honorable Stephanie O’Malley, Denver clerk and recorder and the Honorable Michael Hancock, Denver City Council president. Other honorees include: Honorable Omar Blair, Honorable Elvin Caldwell, Sr., Honorable Hiawatha Davis, Honorable King Trimble, Charles Cousins, Lt. Col. John and Honorable Edna Mosley, Honorable Gloria Holliday, Lawrence and Lessie Pierre, Dr. and Mrs. Bernard Gipson, Moses Brewer, Landri Taylor, Sheila King and Vern Howard.
During the event, CBCC also announced four additions to their board of directors: Pat Cortez, senior vice president for Wells Fargo Bank; Kathy Nesbitt, human resources director for Kaiser Permanente; Danielle Clemmons, vice president for First Bank Data Corporation and Kenneth Gilkey, contract management specialist for Accenture. For more information, visit coloradoblackchamber.org.
APS High School Student Earns Two College Degrees
Three Aurora Public Schools students graduated from high school and the Community College of Aurora last month. Among them Kyle Peterson, received his associates degree in applied science from CCA, earned his high school diploma from Hinkley High School and received his computer technology degree from Pickens Technical College. Peterson accomplishes this feat while struggling with a learning disability. He was in an Individualized Education Program in 5th grade for his learning disabilities. He received a Colorado award of excellence for the 2008 Colorado Leadership and Skills for taking second place in the Skills USA at state level for computer maintenance and repair for Pickens College. Peterson has been an intern for the Aurora Municipal Court since June 2007 and continues to work in the information technology department on a part-time basis. After graduating he would like to work full time for the city of Aurora and continue to advance his education in computer technology.
Colorado Humanities Honors Civil Rights Leaders
Colorado Humanities recognized 14 Civil Rights Leaders who have fought for democracy and equality in Colorado, at the 7th Annual American Spirit Series event, Martin and Malcolm: One Vision – Two Voices at New Hope Baptist Church. The awards were given to individuals involved in furthering democracy in Colorado.
Honorable Mary Celeste is the first woman and lesbian to sit on the Denver County Court bench and she spearheaded the legal challenge of Colorado's Amendment 2. The Rev. Lucia Guzman was the first Mexican-American to serve as the executive director of the Colorado Council of Churches and serves as Denver’s director of human rights and community relations. Brother Jeff S. Fard has worked to build community in Denver’s Five Points District and has coordinated national events such as the Million Man March. Vincent Harding was an associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and is professor of religion and social transformation at Iliff School of Theology, where he serves as co-chairperson of the Veterans of Hope Project, a center for the study of religion and democratic renewal. William Hosokawa was interned in World War II and subsequently chronicled the history of Japanese-American internees in books, such as Nisei: The Quiet Americans, and numerous articles during his 38-year editorial career at the Denver Post. Edna Mosley served as Civil Rights Specialist on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, was the first Black to be elected to the Aurora City Council, and was a co-founder and director of the Colorado Women’s Bank. John Mosley, a Tuskegee Airman was the first Black to play in the Big Seven Conference as a football player at Colorado State University. LaRae Orullian, as the first president and CEO of the Women’s Bank in Denver, a leader among the nation’s minority banks, is an advocate for the advancement of women in business and leadership. The Rev. James Peters worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the South before he served as the pastor of New Hope Baptist Church for 28 years and was a member of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and the Denver Housing Authority. Peggy Shivers, a lyric soprano who shared her operatic talent with musical audiences around the world, established the Shivers African American Historical and Cultural Collection at the Pikes Peak Library District with her husband Clarence in 1993. Clarence Shivers, painter and sculptor, was commissioned by the Hooks Jones Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen Association to sculpt a memorial to Tuskegee Airmen, which stands today in the sculpture garden of the United States Air Force Academy. Dr. George Tinker is an enrolled member and traditional spiritual leader of the Osage Nation, professor of American Indian cultures and religious traditions at Iliff School of Theology, and the author of Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation. Honorable Wilma Webb was elected to the Colorado Legislature in 1980, becoming the first minority woman on the Colorado Joint Budget Committee, where she successfully fought to adopt the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Minoru Yasui appealed his arrest and incarceration during World War II for the rest of his life and, as director of the Denver Commission on Community Relations in 1976, was credited with averting the race riots that inflamed other American cities.
University Honors Cleo Parker Robinson, Rebecca Love Kourlis
Regis University honored Cleo Parker Robinson with an honorary degree and former Colorado Supreme Court Justice, Rebecca Love Kourlis with its Civis Princeps (First Citizen) Award at their commencement ceremonies last month. Robinson is the founder, artistic director and choreographer of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. CPRD, now in its 38th anniversary season, celebrates the internationally renowned ensemble, which includes an outreach program for at-promise youth called the AYE Program. The program provides arts as an alternative to gang activity, peer pressure and substance abuse. Justice Kourlis, who served for 11 years on the Colorado Supreme Court, is executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver, a national non-partisan legal reform organization. She is an advocate for improvement of the civil justice system. Her father is former Colorado Gov. John Love and her mother, Ann Love, was a 1972 recipient of the Civis Princeps award.
Boys & Girls Clubs Members Selected For Prestigious Daniels Scholarship
Two high school students have been awarded with the Daniels Scholarship, for their college educations. Shonnetta Henry, of the George M. Wilfley Branch in north Denver, and Deanna Tompkins, of the Denver Broncos Club in Montbello, were nominated for the scholarship by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver. Henry, a senior at East High School, plans on pursuing a major in child psychology at the University of New Mexico. She is the 2008 Metro Denver and Colorado Youth of the Year, and will be competing for the regional Youth of the Year title in Houston in June. Tompkins is a student at Montbello High School, and will soon decide which university to attend. She is a junior staff member at her Club, and a member of the Keystone Club leadership group. In establishing the Daniels Scholarship program, cable pioneer Bill Daniels was seeking promising students with financial need whose academic performance may not necessarily reflect their potential, but who demonstrate strength of character, a well-rounded personality and a record of accomplishment in giving back to the community. For more information, visit www.danielsfund.org.
Angela Williams Receives Trailblazer Award
In April, during the second Annual Black Women's Networking luncheon, CBCC board secretary Angela Williams received the Trailblazer Award. The Tri Campus Black Student Services presented "Overcoming Life's Obstacles & Winning Life's Challenges" on April 14 at the St. Cajetan's Center on the Auraria Campus.
