Right now, there is an entire
generation of adults who lived part
of their lives without full
access to equitable rights.
Last week, 90 supporter Darius
Johnson introduced you to three
Denver natives and professionals.
They discussed coach switching
and adversity due to the color of their skin.
Today, they say they are among
the first generation of black
people with all of their rights.
Your race, unfortunately,
can play a role in what people
will allow you to achieve or people
think you're capable of achieving,
and yet you're still expected
to overcome those. Challenges.
You're still expected to rise.
I'm the direct descendant of enslaved people.
I can trace my lineage
back to the plantation.
I actually have the court records
of my 4th grade grandfather buying
his freedom and then the courts
actually having to set him free.
My grandfather is a first.
My great grandfather is a first.
My aunt is a first.
And so I grew up entrenched in the
very definition of black excellence
and was taught to be nothing but
black excellence, the four of us.
In this room right now,
I would be willing to bet that
we are the first generation.
Of black people in our families
to have all of our rights.
Yeah. Come on, Simon.
Do you know what I mean? Wow.
So think about that because we
were never able to purchase homes,
maybe potentially in neighborhoods.
It's a wave now where we're
saying I have all my rights.
I know who I am,
I know where I came from,
I know where I'm going.
And I am going to be an actively
practicing legacy building in
ways we've never built it before.
And we want to do that in Denver.
I think where we are is,
is exactly where someone said is
in in a place of rebuilding a.
A sense of duty, you know,
to invest money that we could be purchasing,
you know, things for ourselves.
But investing that back into community,
buying real estate and investing
in these different spaces,
both financially and through time.
We hold each other down like
we have our backs. Our we.
It's not a leverage dynamic.
It is yours. If you don't have
a place for Thanksgiving,
my home is welcome to you.
We do get a little protective
because it's like, no,
we're we're generous,
we have a beautiful history and we
want to give you full accessibility.
We really want to. Yeah.
But you also have to understand.
The laws, yeah,
of of this very kind of sacred space,
a place of gathering and a place
of fellowship is essential
because this is not a community.
This is not a street for us. It's home.
I love this community.
I love this black community.
We care about each other and
we take care of each other.
I think that there continues to be
areas for that to grow and develop.
And I'm really excited for what
it looks like in the future.
Now, at the end of the day,
regardless of the trials and the triumphs,
these three love Denver,
just like many other black
people who call this place home.
What's interesting is how the housing
crisis about 15 years ago really
left a scar on the black community.
Really the black community,
all across the country there was a loss
of property and skyrocketing prices.
Essentially,
people were pushed out of the only
place that they've ever known or
called home that forced many to live in,
leave or live in rural areas or areas.
They weren't.
These two or comfortable in maybe
areas where it was all white that
is intensified with inflation
and most recently a pandemic.
So that's why these three and other
blacks feel so empowered to buy a
neighborhoods that they were raised in,
kicked out of or just repurchased
their parents homes.
Yeah gentrification is a real
thing but it really sounds like
after hearing from not only our
journalists here but the three there,
they are hopeful for what is happening
currently and for the future.
I think that's the one thing you talk about.
Professionalism. You hear them
talk about this black excellence,
but they still talk about how
much they are welcomed in a
place that is so white it's home.
It's welcoming for them.
And while yes, they are audacious
with their black mentality,
their black spirit, hey,
the color of their skin,
they still know that sometimes they are
still going to face those oppressions
due to the color of their skin.
But hey you, they're still met
with support on certain days.
We appreciate your reporting,
so thank you for that.