When Rosalind “Bee” Harris published her first issue of Denver Urban Spectrum in 1987, she was focused on her mission of spreading news about people of color, not on the distant future or what DUS would be almost four decades later.
“It was a job. I was thinking about how to keep the business going from behind the scenes,” Harris recalls. “I was going with the flow, you know, and letting nature take its course.”
She didn’t stay behind the scenes for long. Though she has spent tens of thousands of hours in the office – laying out the publication, selling ads, supervising staff, paying bills and ensuring the news magazine was delivered each month – her dedication to her mission meant she was out and about at community events several times a week, all year long.
“I don’t think I have been to any community meeting, gala, opening, protest or barbecue that Bee hasn’t been at,” says Wanda James, a political mover and shaker and the first Black regent of the University of Colorado in 44 years.
“Almost everything that I hear about that’s happening in Colorado, I learned through Bee and the Urban Spectrum. She’s amazing; she’s got her fingers on the pulse of the community,” says James, who has known Harris for 20 years and advertised several businesses in DUS throughout the years.
Wellington Webb, Denver’s first Black mayor who served for 12 years in addition to four years as a Colorado State Representative, described himself and wife, Wilma Webb, as very close advocates and good friends of Harris after decades of mutual support through the publication. Wilma served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1980 to 1993, and was the initiator and sponsor of legislation that adopted Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday as a Colorado state holiday, long before it became a national holiday.
“You can’t find an event that Bee’s not at,” the former mayor jokes, adding that you can always find photos in DUS’s Around Town section proving her presence. “When I go somewhere and if she’s not there, then I’m wondering, ‘Why am I at this event? If it was important, she would be here.’”
Mrs. Webb adds, “I can’t go anywhere or to any event where I don’t see the presence of the Denver Urban Spectrum. “It’s a source of comfort to know that our news is being covered. Like at the Blair-Caldwell [African American Research] Library – every time a new exhibit is created I see Bee or her writers and photographers there.”
Harris has also created many DUS-sponsored events over the years; perhaps the most impactful being the annual African Americans Who Make a Difference which recognizes community servants who are making history. Major anniversaries of the publication were celebrated with major galas, which – in the spirit of the news magazine – highlighted the notable contributions of community leaders in areas as diverse as performing and visual arts, politics, health, business and sports.
Building a Woman-Owned Legacy
Harris met Norma J. Paige on the first anniversary of DUS, at a print shop where the publisher was ordering specially embossed invitations for an anniversary event. Paige, who describes herself as a wife, mother, grandmother and community servant, has played diverse roles at the publication through the years, including as an Around-the-Town columnist and event committee member. The publication has likewise promoted fundraisers organized by Paige.
“We did so many things together. We pulled all-nighters, while she put things together and I watched the inner workings of what it was to put a newspaper together before digital. Everything was pasted up, including the lines that you see separating columns. It was always so impeccably done,” she says, describing Harris as tenacious.
Like many DUS friends and supporters, Paige, who is the vice president of the 100 Men Who Cook Black Tie Fundraiser, passes out the print publication to friends, family and neighbors each month. “It fortifies you as a woman to see this woman-owned business powering through, and doing everything possible to make sure that it is a quality publication and showcasing who we are as women,” she adds.
The first few years of DUS cover stories and features were mostly focused on diverse women of color, including mega-celebrity Oprah Winfrey; Oglala Lakota; human services pioneer Della Bad Wound; Latina/Chicana muralist, social activist, painter and activist Carlota D. Espinoza; Hispanic folk medicine healer Diana Velasquez; Doctor Justina Ford; CU professor and Chinese immigrant Evelyn Hu-DeHart; and educator and activist Nita Gonzales. Others who graced the cover and pages of Denver Urban Spectrum’s early years were Miss Colorado LaTanya Hall; griot Opalanga Pugh; singer Indeya; matriarch of Five Points “Mama” Zona Moore; and Cleo Parker Robinson.
Originally called the Denver Journal for one month, the name was then changed to Denver Urban Spectrum; gracing the very first cover was government contractor, Sandra D. Bice. In 1989, the late singer James Van Buren was the first male to be featured on the cover.
Both DUS and Harris are recognized for their maternal nurturing of the community. Not only have many young writers, photographers and others been mentored through the years, but Harris established the Urban Spectrum Youth Foundation to provide hands-on journalism experiences to middle and high school students. She said working with youth and watching their growth were some of her proudest moments.
At 12 years old, Kia Milan already saw Harris and Denver Urban Spectrum as pillars in the community that she wanted to emulate. Having picked up copies in the lobbies of recreation centers and churches, she decided she wanted to write stories. She sent a floppy disc to Harris, asking if her stories could be published in the newspaper.
“Eventually we met and she invited me to be a part of the Urban Spectrum Youth Foundation; I served as the editor on that youth paper for three years while in high school, overseeing meetings, helping pick stories and working with the graphic designer,” explains Milan, who is now a creative content marketing manager for Netflix.
“The Youth Foundation really gave me an opportunity to see what my future could potentially look like. There were guest speakers who came in and talked to us about their careers. Those leadership opportunities, which I had at 15 and 16 years old, helped me as I entered the job world, and I had no problem getting up in front of meetings,” she says.
In her personal life as well, Harris has been a doting mother, grandmother and now great-grandmother. She even adopted African sons during a trip with Mayor Webb’s delegation to Africa in the late ‘90s.
Melovy Melvin began as a high school intern with DUS, learning most aspects of the business in 2015, and today works as the social media and digital marketing manager. “I was fortunate – very fortunate and blessed that Ms. Harris saw potential in me and offered me a permanent position. I was just embraced and introduced to so much through [Denver Urban Spectrum], from knowing the different types of great organizations that are here in Colorado and the different stories,” Melvin remembers.
While meeting national leaders like Maya Angelou, the Obamas, Tyler Perry, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey have been especially satisfying over the decades, Harris was just as inspired by local heroes like marathon runner Essie Garrett, educators Rachel B. Noel and Marie Greenwood, sculptor Ed Dwight, rodeo visionary Lu Vason and musical legend Charles Burrell.
“Before Essie passed away, she said she only wanted Denver Urban Spectrum to do her story. Moments like that show me how important it has been to be the voice for so many people,” Harris explains.
“I always think about the time when we were working late one night and a fax came in at about four in the morning. It was from community activist Ashara Ekundayo sending an announcement and hoping it would make the deadline into the newspaper, because it was important for us as the community voice,” she says.
Recording Essential History for the Benefit of All
Former Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, blues powerhouse vocalist Hazel Miller, media personalities Renelda Muse, Tamara Banks and James “Dr. Daddio” Walker, MLK Jr. African-American Heritage Rodeo, the Honorable Elbra Wedgeworth, Dr. Syl Morgan Smith, Bronco Superbowl Champion Rod Smith and a long list of inspiring community leaders and institutions have graced the covers of DUS. The articles and editorials on the inside pages have been just as significant, covering activists, church leaders, entertainers, health issues, education, social injustices and other topics of importance to communities of color.
Founder and CEO Richard Lewis of RTL Networks Inc., an award-winning technology leader with an international presence in government sectors, says, “Denver Urban Spectrum is an essential part of not just the Denver metro area, but Colorado in general. There’s a lot that happens in our community that just doesn’t get picked up by the mainstream. I can’t imagine Denver as a person of color without the Denver Urban Spectrum.”
“Bee is like a cheerleader for the community. She is so full of energy and connected in so many ways, and she is just always there to encourage people and share what they need to know,” comments Lewis, who also founded the RTL Foundation as a development center that incubates nonprofits serving the BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) community.
Being around for 37 years is no accident; he continues, “I don’t know if there’s any greater endorsement as to the importance of an organization than that.”
“Denver Urban Spectrum has enabled a lot of people who want to engage with the community to understand who they need to be talking to and where and why. Others are just looking for light-hearted stories and entertainment,” he says. “Like so many others, I’ve leveraged Denver Urban Spectrum to understand and connect with the community.
Lewis’ ongoing business accomplishments and philanthropic endeavors have been covered in several issues of DUS. Similarly, Geta and Janice Asfaw, successful owners of Macdonald’s restaurants in the Denver metro area, have been covered in DUS. Through the Asfaw Family Foundation International, the Asfaws provide local philanthropy annually through a senior citizen dinner, bicycle giveaway, scholarship and educational grant. In kind, these organizations have supported DUS with advertising.
Geta, who was recently appointed by the governor to the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, also commended DUS on its 37th anniversary. “In America, for any African American business to stay for 37 years is incredible because it’s not easy. All the fights, all the unequal treatment, all the pressure you have. For Bee to struggle and keep the publication alive for 37 years by itself is a great achievement,” he lauds.
Janice adds, “When we moved here, over 30 years ago, we were looking for the leadership of Denver throughout the metro area, and one of the leaders that we met was Bee. She’s so important with her outreach to people. She’s been a catalyst to bring people together.”
Mrs. Webb emphasized Bee’s championship of producing a valuable communications tool with professionalism and diverse coverage of an underserved community, making sure that all voices are heard.
Wellington agreed that DUS helps the community sustain itself by providing a critical communication device. Since KDKO Black Community Radio went off the air, Denver Urban Spectrum is even more important for “amplification of what goes on in the Black community.”
The Webbs echoed the sentiments of many when they praised DUS for sharing information fairly about both the positive and negative issues and important topics affecting the African
American community in Denver. The articles include expertise, accomplishments, celebrations, significant stories and daily struggles of people of color of all economic levels in science, government, arts, entrepreneurship, fraternal organizations, sororities and other areas; plus, the voices are multiethnic.
“Thomas Jefferson said in order to have a democracy, you have to have a well-informed electorate, and that means that we have to have publications that can make that news available to the electorate,” Wellington notes.
“Denver Urban Spectrum is a historical document. Bee has made so much history by virtue of the stories that she covers, such as the way the [publication] wrote about Wilma and her breadth of work, whereas major newspapers wanted to pigeonhole her accomplishments. Bee’s publication captures all of that historical information and documentation for future generations,” he says.
Mrs. Webb also points to DUS’s tradition of putting out a print edition as “something that you can really hold on to and cherish. You can show others, frame it and let people know. It’s very, very important that it’s printed. You see very few printed pieces that focus on the African American community in America; because Denver Urban Spectrum is printed, it’s very, very valuable.”
Meeting Challenges with Grace and Determination
Harris has served on many boards throughout the community, being a resource to those organizations as they have been resources for residents. She not only served on the board of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance for several years, but she also raised money for the organization by performing in the Dancing with the Denver Stars gala.
Dance and cultural institution founder, Cleo Parker Robinson, explains, “Our company is 54 years this year. Denver Urban Spectrum has been in our lives since its beginning and is the soul of the community. People will see me at Safeway or they’ll see me at the park and they’ll tell me what I’m doing, and I’m thinking, ‘How do they know?’ And then I realize that Bee has already covered it in the [publication].”
“I think people can cover news, but if they don’t do it in a way that touches people’s hearts, then it doesn’t stick. And somehow she does it with the photographs and the storytelling and the and the facts and all of those things combined because she is absolutely present,” Parker-Robinson says.
She describes the DUS’s coverage of the community and events – even deaths and difficult news – as smooth, having real dignity and depth, with great ease, intention and grace. “I call her a true griot, a real storyteller. Denver Urban Spectrum helps us just feel so empowered, I think more than any other publication that I know of,” she says.
She also appreciates the affordability and creativity of advertising and marketing options in DUS.
At the same time, Parker-Robinson and others agree on the “tremendous planning and work” that it takes. “It’s hard to keep publications alive. I mean, she works overtime. And always smiling. You know, you never know how hard she’s really working. She’s never telling you about the blues, although she may have them. Or she may know about them, but she never brings you down that rabbit hole of whatever it is that she’s covering, even in the community. I think that’s pretty extraordinary because she gets to see the beauty and the good, the bad, the ugly and the everything,” she says.
Harris admits there have been challenging times – three in particular. The first one happened only two years after the publication’s founding, when a fire destroyed the offices on New Year’s Eve in 1989.
“But you know, I saw from the community that DUS was important because they rallied. They held fundraisers throughout the city. We were only two years old, but it was then that I realized the importance of needing to tell the stories of color that were not covered in the mainstream publications,” she remembers.
That was the only time in the publication’s history that a print edition was delayed. In 1990, the January and February issues were combined.
The second big challenge has always been getting funding and sufficient advertising support to pay for printing and build a staff. After being solely supported by advertising dollars for so many years, “That’s one thing I’d say about COVID: it did bring grant opportunities, and I think it opened the doors for other journalism funding opportunities. The Colorado Media Project and other programs, everybody saw the need to keep local journalism alive. We have been really supported these last few years,” she says.
The third challenge was when her mother passed away suddenly and violently in 2008. “It was a big challenge, a shock, and one of the reasons that I’m looking forward to retirement to help carry on her legacy through the Ruth Boyd Elder Abuse Foundation,” Harris shares.
Colorado Press Association CEO, Tim Regan-Porter, said the staying power of DUS is remarkable, especially as a very small business. “To hold on that long in an environment that has changed so much. I mean, so many publications have gone out of business in the last 15 years – really since 2006 – which was kind of the peak of the newspaper industry. It’s a lot of work. It’s exhausting, no matter the economic environment. It’s a labor of love and so I commend anybody who’s still out there making it happen,” Regan-Porter comments.
He observed that “Other journalists in Denver and the suburbs pay attention to Denver Urban Spectrum, and it helps them tell their stories better, and become more aware. The work that Bee and her team does elevates the community and makes it harder to ignore, intentionally or unintentionally.”
He is impressed with how strong of a community Harris has gathered around her, and the work that the small DUS staff does. “It’s a great team and I think that’s a testament to Bee and the passion and energy that she brings to it and vision,” he adds.
Setting up Award-Winning Tradition for Future Generations
Harris served on the Colorado Press Association (CPA) board, followed by the late DUS editor emeritus Alfonzo Porter and DUS Associate Publisher, Brittany Winkfield. DUS staff and contributors win approximately a dozen awards annually in the CPA contest, which is judged by news professionals in other states.
Winkfield said the DUS staff works hard because Harris has set the example and the bar is high.
“She hardly ever takes the credit and just shares the credit where it’s due. She recognizes the effort, the team effort that it takes to never miss a deadline and continue to produce great journalism and stories that are meaningful,” she says.
DUS Managing Editor, Ruby Jones, credits Harris for uplifting people who either need help or want to explore journalism. “She’s always willing to give someone a chance. She’s always willing to bring people in and bring out the best in them,” Jones observes.
She also appreciates Harris’s openness to new ideas. “She really wants to continue to see Denver Urban Spectrum as a fixture in the community, and she’s been really willing to be open minded and let different generations of staff and different people carry it forward,” she explains.
In recognition of her contributions through DUS and personally, Harris’s office and home are filled with awards from a wide range of community organizations from the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce to the MLK Social Responsibility Award. A bookcase at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library houses many of the awards received from over the last 35 years. She was also inducted into the 2020 class of the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame (CWHF). Along with that honor, she was featured in a book about obstacles overcome by Hall of Fame inductees, as well as being highlighted as a distinctive Colorado woman in a National History Day curriculum being taught in schools.
CWHF Board Chair Barb Beckner first met Harris years ago when Beckner was working for Rich Lewis. “Bee is just such a bright light. Every time you see her, every time you have a conversation with her on the phone, she just shines. And it doesn’t matter if she’s under a deadline,” she says.
Parker-Robinson summed up the legacy of Denver Urban Spectrum’s publisher: “She’s just loved and there’s nothing greater than to work so hard all your life, and to really be loved. She’s really respected and she doesn’t take herself so seriously. She’s humble, and I think that she’s just a great, great role model.”
PART TWO:
Denver Urban Spectrum Prepares for Publisher’s Exit
Rosalind “Bee” Harris’s retirement signals new era of “spreading news about people of color spreading news about people of color”
In April 1993, six years after the first issue of Denver Urban Spectrum (DUS) was published as a tabloid newspaper, the World Wide Web launched into the public domain. Though some sources report that the first online news was published in the 1980s, printed newspapers and magazines would remain the main vehicle for news until the mid-2000s.
DUS Publisher Rosalind “Bee” Harris was keeping her finger on the pulse of the Black community, while keeping an eye on the development of the internet. She added a website featuring articles and photos from the print publication in the early 2000s. When social media and other online platforms started becoming ways to reach readers, Harris and her staff educated themselves and adopted the digital tools that fit the community’s needs.
She vividly remembers one DUS anniversary gala where TV and video journalist, Tamara Banks, and Greg Moore, a Denver Post editor for 14 years, talked about the changing media landscape. Harris realized that she and the Spectrum would need to continue to transform with the times.
Now, after 37 years at the helm, the iconic publisher is making another type of transformation: retirement and handing off her baby to her staff at the end of 2024.
“I think that we’re grounded now. Thanks to some outside support, we are prepared and still preparing to continue to be the voice of the communities of color in a much wider space, digitally and globally,” she says.
A Tradition of Staying Relevant
With the rise of free online news sources, traditional advertising revenues have declined in the newspaper industry. While DUS has added email advertising and other revenue sources to the mix, grants from the Rose Community Foundation, Colorado Media Project, the Knight Foundation and BloomLab, among others, have supported staff transitions and additional digital innovations.
“I’m glad that my retirement is happening now, when the younger generation is in a position to take over as well as do some of the things that I don’t want to do. I don’t want to learn any more technological platforms. I have other projects and interests that I’ve been waiting to explore,” she says.
She assures that Denver Urban Spectrum is being positioned to carry on for years to come, though she cautions there’s still a lot of work for her to transition away and for the new leaders.
Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb has stayed engaged in community leadership since leaving office in 2003, both supporting and getting coverage from DUS over the years. “I think it’s important to stay relevant, not only with issues, but also with the technology. Older people read more. The younger generation likes more digital information. By virtue of having both print and digital, Denver Urban Spectrum has the ability to get information to the whole community,” he says.
While Denver and Colorado don’t have as large of a Black population as some major metropolitan areas in the nation, Webb says the accomplishments of the community here are just as important and newsworthy. Having an evolving information source like DUS is just as pertinent as in those other cities.
Colorado Press Association CEO Tim Regan-Porter echoed those comments, describing how difficult it was for him and his family to see less diversity when he moved here from a majority Black community in the South. “I think as we’ve gotten to know Denver and the Black community here, we can see how it is such an important part of Denver. And I think it’s so important that Denver Urban Spectrum is here to not only serve that community, but also to be a visible presence for the rest of the community to show what the Black community in Denver is doing and what an important part of Denver it is,” he says.
People in the news industry have “a tremendous amount of respect and pay attention to what’s going on in in the pages and with the business of Denver Urban Spectrum,” observes Regan-Porter, adding that DUS has been involved in many exciting projects that bring state-of-the-art tools to its advertising, reader interaction and operations.
Unlike the leaders of some legacy publications, decades-old, family or entrepreneur-owned companies, Harris recognizes the need to adapt to technological change, and has surrounded herself with people who also recognize the need and are digitally savvy, he notes.
“Bee is just a prime example of why a publisher is needed, and of the good work they can do in the community and how important they are to the publication. They establish the sustainability of the publication with the business community and readers, and set that vision for its evolution as new technologies emerge and consumer habits shift,” he says.
The Next Generation is Ready
Melovy Melvin, social media and digital marketing manager, has been at the center of the DUS’s digital transformation. The youngest permanent staff member, she brings an enthusiasm and innate desire to learn to her role.
Melvin was hired as an all-around assistant right after high school graduation through a City of Denver internship program, and began her journalism studies with a scholarship to Metropolitan State University of Denver at the same time. Working closely with Harris, her tasks have ranged from office assistant tasks to writing stories and posting on social media.
“Journalism and writing stories has been something I’ve always had a passion for, and it even developed more in college when I started getting into broadcasting and producing,” Melvin says. “My internship with the Spectrum made it clear for me that this was what I was meant to do. Under the great leadership and mentorship of Bee Harris, it just couldn’t be any more perfect, and that’s why I continue to stay on. I’ve seen the publication going into this digital transformation. It’s been interesting and it’s been a learning experience. I’m just grateful to be along for the ride.”
Brittany Winkfield began writing stories, attending media industry events as a DUS representative and talking about other roles in the company in the autumn of 2022. She had contributed stories many years before but had been busy with other jobs since then. In early 2023, she was promoted to associate publisher to learn the ropes from Harris, as well as to help manage transitional projects.
“DUS is an institution. Even beyond the publication, you recognize its influence as a community resource. There’s this storytelling aspect, yes; but I feel like it’s a gathering of voices and people from all walks of life and experiences. It is this hub of information and while the traditional print publication is known and recognized, I think it’s important to continue that recognition to the next generation and not having it stop at Bee. She has built a great foundation. And so now, it’s just time to keep building and continuing on the journey of collecting the history of the Denver metro area and beyond, and keeping that narrative going into the future,” Winkfield explains.
She continues, “What’s more important than ever right now is that next generation. I just have a heart for young people. Knowing how they are growing up in a technological world with all this information at your fingertips, I want to be right there at the center of it, being able to show up for the young people, be a platform for them as well, to just continue that storytelling and information sharing.”
She looks forward to continuing to find opportunities to leverage funding, training, technology, and events to keep DUS sustainable.
Ruby Jones is another DUS contributor who went on to other ventures, and returned over the last couple years with strong skills to support the publication and its impending transition. As managing editor, she works with Harris and the writers to select stories and ensure they are ready for the page. She is also a talented interviewer, podcaster and video producer.
Like others, she remembers her family bringing home a copy of Denver Urban Spectrum every month, and how seeing herself and her community in its pages inspired her love of journalism and writing. After living near New Orleans for several years, she was excited to return to Denver and used the publication as a resource to learn about community changes in her absence.
“The opportunity to contribute to Denver Urban Spectrum is really special to me because I know that there are young people and members of the community who are able to see themselves represented in the stories. And I think that representation matters so much so it’s really meaningful and fulfilling to be able to contribute to that,” she says.
She also says that her role at DUS is more than a job for her and doesn’t feel like work. It’s an opportunity to give back, and to shed light on local businesses, people and things that otherwise go underrepresented, through stories and advertising, she adds.
Jones points to the importance and power of Black news and media after slavery during the Reconstruction Era and up until today, adding that communication trends and standards are changing drastically. “When you have all these technologies brought in and people say that people don’t read newspapers anymore, they only read blogs online and things like that, it’s really important to continue the practice that has sustained so many communities throughout the years when it comes to unbiased, fair, accurate reporting across all formats,” she explains.
“We’re really in a transitional time in this country where a lot of people – such as Bee Harris, who created these platforms for news which rose in prominence – are at the age of retirement, and looking into other things to do. I think it’s really important for that next generation to take the torch. Just like the torch has been passed in so many other areas of business and commerce, it has to be passed in the media, too,” she adds.
“Denver Urban Spectrum takes up a unique space along Denver’s Front Range communities, Colorado communities, and really the nation. There’s not too many Black media sources left,” she laments. “We don’t want Black media or media for communities of color to become a lost art.”
A Season of Change, A New Era
Harris jokes that when she let her hair go silver during the COVID pandemic, she realized she was ready to retire. Then, getting more serious, she says, “I just knew it was time, because I was looking at the publication trends and how things were changing; and I am at a point in my life where I want to do a lot of other things and I want to pass it on to a younger generation that can stay above the curve. I stayed above it for many, many years and now it’s time to jump over another hurdle. I’d like to see others jump over that hurdle and take DUS to the next level. And I want to spend time with my great-grandbaby and work on some of my other projects.”
She would like to perfect her Spanish (because it’s become a universal language and she has enjoyed learning it over the years), and start practicing her keyboards again (like she did as a child). She plans to travel, make jewelry, sell clothes from Ghana and write another book. She published a first-person narrative novel about her mother’s life titled “The Story of Ruth” last year, which is available online where all books are sold, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
“What I want to do is work on my mom’s foundation. She was killed in her home and it was elder abuse. My focus for the next several years will be organizing the Ruth Boyd Elder Abuse Foundation,” she said. The foundation will provide caregiving services, counseling and helpful tools for aging adults; it will raise awareness about elder abuse through outreach and education to save lives and improve the quality of life for the elderly population.
Will she stay involved in Denver Urban Spectrum? Yes, she hopes to offer her consulting assistance as needed for at least a couple of years… if we can catch her between national and international trips.
When people first hear of her retirement plans, many have a hard time envisioning DUS without Harris and Denver without her in the leadership role at DUS. But, after the initial shock wears off, a common response is that she is a strong leader who has built a great team, a foundation of trust in the community, and a legacy that will outlast her.
Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame Board Chair Barb Beckner says, “My guess is she’s been preparing for this transition for a period of time. She’s really just taking the model full circle where she’s got the resources and the people to take the reins. She’ll be available, but by letting her go, it really allows her to bloom a little bit more.”
Longtime friend and collaborator on DUS projects Norma J. Paige ironically has no problem imagining Denver Urban Spectrum without Harris, she says, “because for everything, there’s a season. Nothing remains the same and I’m excited to see the evolution. You know, we’re all now at that stage where we want to pass the baton. We want to see what our next generation will do with the foundations that we’ve laid. So yes, I can imagine it without her, and I can’t wait to see what that will look like.”
At the same time, Paige describes Harris as a one-of-a-kind, busy bee, who may be retiring and stepping aside from DUS, but she’ll keep moving into things that will continue to improve our society, community and world.
Another longtime friend and sister in spirit, as well as advertiser, newsmaker and dance world innovator, Cleo Parker Robinson, admits, “I’m in shock, actually; I really am. When I heard the interview was about her retirement, my brain would not accept that. It was like, well, I’ll talk about anything but that. And yet I think that no one knows how hard Bee works, and whatever it is she needs, that’s what she should do. She should take time to have time for herself. I’m quite envious on one level.”
Parker-Robinson is relieved to hear that Harris plans to stay in the community, and they are sure to see each other when the retiree brings her great-granddaughter down to the dance studio for classes.
While Webb took a philosophical view of Harris’s retirement, his wife, Wilma Webb, a former Colorado State Representative with a wealth of accomplishments in various leadership roles, was more practical.
She explains, “There will never be another Bee. But the good thing is, I’ve seen through her career here in Denver that she’s always had young people around her and surrounding her, and she’s teaching them and not letting them just stand around – they participate in each aspect of the publication. So there will be people who want to be like Bee and people who have had the opportunity of having a great role model, so they can continue her legacy.”
Wellington says, “We like to be acknowledged as the first of something, but we don’t want to be the last of anything. You do such a good job that people will say you made history, but records are meant to be broken and we want to see other people come after them.”
“That’s her baby that she’s nurtured. She’s raised it and it’s always difficult when you get to a point where you have to let kids go on their own, whether it’s going to college or whether it’s getting married or whatever. Then you have to take on a more grandparent role or advisory role, guiding from a distance, and understanding that you raised them so that you know that they’re going to make it. You trained them well, so they’re going to do the right thing, but you have to give them a chance to, as we all had a chance to be successful as well as fail,” he says.
Wanda James, University of Colorado Regent and Simply Pure Cannabis Dispensary CEO, expresses her love for Harris and sadness over her departure from DUS, but added that it will be fine.
“I don’t think you can carry on her legacy, honestly. You know, real talk,” James explains. “I don’t know that anybody can step into Bee’s shoes and do what Bee does. And I mean that in a good way. Not in a negative way, right? I mean, I’m not saying that no one else can make this work.
Yes, there can be other people. But then the Spectrum is going to be different and equally as spectacular. I hope that the new person realizes that, and they create a Denver Urban Spectrum 2.0, because nobody in Denver will be able to walk into Bee’s shoes and have that level of trust and understanding of history. So I think if I had to give advice to the next publisher, it would be to build on what’s been built, but if you’re going to try to recreate who Bee is and what she’s done, I don’t think that you can. No, I know that you can’t.”
Likewise, McDonald’s franchisee and philanthropic foundation leader, Geta Asfaw, observes, “It’s not going to be easy to replace her. Anytime we lose African American leaders within business, media, sports, or anything, it’s not easy.”
He emphasized that the future of DUS will depend on its new leadership. “I hope that we’ll have leaders who understand the African American community, so Denver Urban Spectrum can continue without any kind of distraction like it has for the last 37 years.”
Community Support as Important as Ever
Though Asfaw is confident that Harris is putting a strong team in place, he’s concerned about the loss of so many Black businesses and minority media outlets around the United States. “The business community will have to make sure to contribute news and advertising to Denver Urban Spectrum to keep it going. It cannot survive unless we help. Minority businesses really have to start supporting the [publication] so that they can have another 37 years,” he urges.
RTL Networks Inc. and BIPOC Nonprofit Development Center Founder Richard Lewis also finds it “very difficult to imagine Denver Urban Spectrum without Bee Harris, but she’s earned this time to herself, so we’re very happy for her and knowing the operator that she is, I’m sure she will figure out how to make sure that Denver Urban Spectrum has just as much impact and energy as it always has, even without her.”
Lewis adds, “Just because Bee is retiring does not make any of the amazing work of the Denver Urban Spectrum any less important, so it’s going to be probably even more critical than ever that we get out there and support it in Bee’s absence.”
The Webbs agreed with the increased importance of supporting DUS after Harris’s well-deserved retirement. They also expect she’ll be around to support the new publisher.
“The community is going to have to come together and support it financially. And not only just financially, but also promote it so that these corporations know it’s important,” Wellington says.
Wilma adds, “We have to have some faith and trust in what Bee has done, what Denver Urban Spectrum has already done, so that those who are standing on her shoulders can go forward.”
Calling Harris one of the pioneers in Denver’s media landscape, Wellington concludes, “It’s still the voice of our community. It’s still the place where we can go to find out what’s happening in our community and not just all of the quote-unquote negative things that regular media is going to focus on. It’s still the place where we can discover what is happening with us. It’s still the place where we can advertise our small businesses and know that they are reaching the people that we want to see be patrons to our small businesses.”
Former Urban Spectrum Youth Foundation participant and Netflix Creative Content Marketing Manager Kia Milan was brought on by Harris as an advisor on DUS’s plans over the years. She continues to offer input and perspective during the current transition.
Milan pointed to the beautiful legacy that started with her generation and their parents relying on the publication, and now continues with her son. “When we take drum lessons at Cleo’s, he says, ‘Mom, get your Denver Urban Spectrum,’ because we can always find a stack there. It’s so much a part of me and my story and the community’s story,” she explains.
Associate publisher, Winkfield, revealed that she just turned 38, one year younger than the Spectrum, “so it’s all I’ve ever known and has been there my entire life as a resource.” She wants the next generation to know they have a voice and a place where they can share celebrations as well as trials they may face, and learn from others’ stories.
She points to the reader revenue campaign launched in 2023, and its importance in demonstrating support for the publication. “More than 50 people contributed in just a month’s time, which speaks to how much they value DUS,” she shares, adding that beyond financially contributing, people can be the source of stories and share the publication and the website with others.
“It’s absolutely critical in these times of misinformation, when there’s also an agenda to erase history, that DUS continues to serve as a modern-day historian, not only telling the stories, but getting the facts and being a trustworthy new source,” she continues.
For her part, she says she will strive to make DUS increasingly accessible, both in print and online, and inclusive to all ages and all people. She’ll be innovative, strategic, and look for ways to be sustainable and engage with the community.
Managing editor, Jones, reiterated Denver Urban Spectrum’s commitment to keeping up with the changing times, such as adding YouTube videos and a podcast network, but also holding true to tradition and the print edition. “If you look at during the pandemic Denver Urban Spectrum was able to meet the community’s needs through digital news, which was huge. I mean, the whole world changed and people were shuttered inside, but DUS still found a way to speak to people, to bring people together and to show that the community hadn’t been forgotten. And I just hope that as the future progresses, the community will show Denver Urban Spectrum that it hasn’t been forgotten as well,” she said.
“I just want people to stay tuned in and continue to demand the same standard of reporting that they’ve gotten for so many years. This is the community’s publication. It’s the voice that shares your stories. So I think it’s important that you ask for the stories that you want to be told, ask for the platforms that you want as technological change happens,” Jones says. “It’s important that Denver Urban Spectrum continues to have the support of great writers and the support of great people who are willing to bring it forward into whatever form it takes in the future, and hopefully that stays true to the integrity of the publication. And so, I’d be happy to continue to help push it forward and bring it into a new era, do whatever I can to represent it and show love to the publication that made me want to be a writer.”
Publisher’s note: DUS Contributor and Special Projects Assistant Tanya Ishikawa started with the Urban Spectrum as a contributor in 2006, when she would take her baby son to storyboard meetings. After frequent contributions, she became managing editor for a few years, and served on boards like the Denver Foundation representing DUS. She then moved on to assisting with special projects like events, videos and youth education, while serving four years on Federal Heights City Council. After she moved to Ridgway in southwest Colorado, she continued to work on special projects with DUS and write the occasional story. Her son is now in his first year at university and Tanya is the executive director of the nonprofit Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership, but continues to stay involved in DUS and support the digital transformation and ownership transition. She has truly appreciated Bee’s trust, friendship, and opportunities for growth and inspiration.
