Black Historical past Month: Neighborhood Spotlights 

This February, we need to honor the unimaginable contributions, achievements and resilience of Black people in our neighborhood. 

We determined to take this house to share inspiring tales from people throughout our Entrance Vary communities. Be part of us as we rejoice Black excellence, make clear native tales and work in direction of a extra inclusive future. 

Minister Glenda Sturdy Robinson 

Founder and chair of Dr. MLK, Jr. 2024 Planning Committee 

Meet Minister Glenda Sturdy Robinson, a outstanding Boulder minister, and historian for Second Baptist Church and the NAACP Boulder County Department.  

Glenda joined the Civil Rights Motion in 1966 whereas she was a university pupil in Memphis. Due to that have, she stated, “My very own life modified immeasurably.”  

 On the top of the motion, she marched in the course of the Memphis Sanitation Staff’ Strike led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Simply days after the march, Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968.  

A longtime Longmont resident, Glenda works with the Maria Rogers Oral Historical past Library, the Museum of Boulder, and the Longmont Multicultural Motion Committee to call a number of. She is founder and chair of the Dr. MLK, Jr. Planning Committee of Boulder County.  

Glenda is extremely concerned in her neighborhood and was honored 3 times in 2023 with native, state and nationwide awards. 

“I hope individuals are impressed by my journey to become involved of their neighborhood,” Glenda stated. “Be the very best you which you can be. Although each particular person is completely different, we should use our variations to make a distinction.” She quotes Dr. King, who stated, “The time is all the time proper to do what is true.” 

Whereas rising up within the Jim Crow South in Tennessee, Glenda was raised in a loving, Christian dwelling of hard-working dad and mom and neighborhood leaders. 

Thanks, Glenda, for all you do to deliver the neighborhood collectively and hold historical past alive. 

DeAngelo Bowden 

Fort Collins lead environmental sustainability specialist 

DeAngelo grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina. His robust and proud dad and mom taught him the reality mattered above all else: going to school was the one possibility, and the one good barbecue was vinegar-based barbecue. His mom is an accountant for Duke Power, and his father works for the Division of Social Companies. These careers actually helped information his robust ardour for sustainability and fairness.   

DeAngelo graduated from Appalachian State College with a level in Sustainable Growth. After graduating, he joined AmeriCorps, main him to FEMA and being chosen because the EDI Fellow for the Metropolis of Fort Collins. DeAngelo is now the Senior Environmental Specialist for the Metropolis of Fort Collins.   

He engages with residents in discussions on meaty matters such because the insurance policies behind oil and fuel operations, the well being impacts of air high quality, and the significance of centering fairness and inclusion by way of environmental justice initiatives. DeAngelo strives to construct belief and understanding between authorities and the individuals it serves. “I need to set an instance for different black people who need to be concerned in native authorities. I hope to construct relationships with neighborhood members and community-based organizations that serve our most marginalized,” DeAngelo stated. “We think about an equitable neighborhood to be one the place an individual’s id or zip code doesn’t negatively impression their potential to thrive. As a result of native authorities is uniquely poised to assist dismantle the institutional and systemic impacts of racism and oppression, the Metropolis of Fort Collins seeks to proactively tackle boundaries that perpetuate inequity.”   

DeAngelo believes inclusivity is vital to sustaining a wholesome surroundings, and fairness is the piece that makes all of it come collectively easily. Having vibrant and various cultures in a neighborhood makes us extra resilient, making certain that we bounce again faster and stronger than ever earlier than. It permits for extra innovation and collaboration inside a neighborhood. “To realize that “Excellence” that all of us attempt for,” DeAngelo stated, “we should first guarantee that everybody can succeed and that everybody is supplied the assets to take action.”  

Thanks, DeAngelo, for all you do to enhance the collective surroundings of Fort Collins. We’re so grateful you shared your story with our neighborhood. 

Zion Council 

Senior member options information, Elevations Credit score Union 

Zion was born and raised within the South, dwelling in Florida most of his life. He moved across the state quite a bit, dwelling in metropolitan facilities akin to Miami and Orlando and rural Florida in locations akin to Lawtey. Zion’s mom, a retired legal professional and freelance author, instilled in him the significance of following his desires and having the training to execute them. When she confronted discrimination and different obstacles barring Zion from receiving the very best training doable, she was a fierce advocate, permitting him to develop and flourish personally and in his training. Along with his mom, Zion’s father was his position mannequin in how he approached life in a calculated, results-oriented method.  

“My father was a major proponent of me reaching my desires and targets by using the training I obtain and gaining real-life relevant abilities that permit me to take steps towards my targets,” stated Zion. 

Realizing that monetary literacy is essential in creating wealth, Zion pursued a profession in finance at Elevations Credit score Union. He can higher perceive private finance due to the conversations and data he’s uncovered to at work.  

“The newest milestone I achieved was touring to Japan final November,” he stated. “It has been a lifelong dream, and I didn’t assume I might see Japan so quickly. I’m grateful past phrases for the concrete proof to a really intimate diploma that once I take motion and put my thoughts to perform one thing, it might probably and will probably be executed.”  

“I strongly imagine that we will overcome any impediment in life with perseverance and a supportive surroundings,” he stated. Zion’s story is a testomony to this. He confronted many challenges and hardships, however he by no means gave up. He desires us to be extra empathetic in direction of individuals of various cultures and races and understand that they might face battles or discrimination that we have now by no means thought of. 

Thanks for sharing your experiences and story within the making with our neighborhood, Zion. 

Michele D. Simpson, JD

College of Colorado college member 

• College affiliate & analysis affiliate, Renee Crown Wellness Institute 
• Affiliate instructing professor, Inventive Minds & Honors Residential Educational Packages 
• College affiliate, Middle for African & African American Research 

At a younger age, Michele Simpson realized the significance of talking out and discovering power in her household.   

In the course of the Montgomery bus boycott, Michele’s grandmother drove a bus for individuals who have been dedicated to not sitting on the again. She was additionally denied the precise to register vote many instances however fought continued till she efficiently registered.  

Michele is now the host of the radio present Black Discuss, created by the Boulder County NAACP and Boulder Public Radio’s KGNU. Her programming makes house for and elevates Black voices and tales of Colorado.   

“As a individuals, storytelling has supplied Black of us the chance to create our narratives, inform our truths, heal and specific pleasure,” she says. “Storytelling is a revolutionary act, particularly for communities which might be spoken about and to not.”  

Michele’s dad and mom left Alabama as a part of the Nice Migration. She was raised in Brooklyn and Lengthy Island, the place inequities nonetheless existed “coded and wearing fancier laws, insurance policies and practices than within the South however dangerous and unjust nonetheless.”  

When confronted with obstacles, her ritual consists of trying in a mirror to remind herself of the power of her lineage. “All through my life, I’ve carried my grandmother with me,” Michele says. “I used to be taught to not quit, to talk up and to persist.”    

Now an Affiliate Educating Professor on the College of Colorado Boulder, she was impressed by her academics and her father, who used to learn the dictionary along with her. Michele acquired the Boulder College Meeting’s 2023 Excellence in Educating Award.  

She emphasizes the significance of claiming sure to alternatives with youthful generations. “Early on, I knew that as just a little Black lady, I would want to carry on to my desires and imagine in them even when nobody else did,” Michele stated.  

Michele says household and neighborhood assist has formed her life. “Something I’ve executed, anybody I’m, I attribute to coming from a household and a individuals who have all the time cherished me even once I wasn’t significantly loveable,” Michele stated. She remembers her mom saying, “We all know easy methods to do onerous issues.”  

Thanks for sharing your experiences and work in training and advocacy, Michele.