At a time when the new Presidential administration is rolling at high speed to scrub ethnic and gender references from government websites and departments, Colorado is holding down the fort. It continues to honor the contributions of Black Coloradans for Black History Month.
And there is no better example than what state and city museums up and down the Front Range are doing to mark February’s annual celebration. From Boulder to Denver to Pueblo, Black History is on tap.
Since being inaugurated on January 20th, President Trump has made it clear that he’s no fan of diversity, equity and inclusion. Calling DEI “illegal and immoral discrimination,” Trump has issued a directive ordering “the termination of all discriminatory programs, including DEI.”
Almost everything with even a hint of diversity, equity and inclusion is in the crosshairs of the new administration. Ironically, he did not include this year’s commemoration of Black History Month. Instead, he issued a proclamation offering praise and “tremendous gratitude to Black Americans for all they have done.
At the same time, however, he ordered the Department of Defense to cancel Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Pride Month and Women’s History Month.
While it was originally called Negro History Week and celebrated the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of President Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglas, Black History month gradually grew into what it is today. In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially recognized the month along with its current name.
At History Colorado, Black History Month is being marked with a third floor exhibit that illuminates various Black Denverites and their contributions to the city and state. The exhibit will run through the year.
A major wing of the exhibit highlights Denver’s Owl Club, an African American social organization founded in 1941 by a small group of railroad pullmen, waiters and businessmen and dedicated to celebrating the contributions of African
Americans, honoring civil rights advocacy and confronting racial stereotypes of African Americans.
The exhibit also features small vignettes of African Americans who have had an impact on Denver from the earliest part of the 20th century to today. The wall of fame features Omar Blair, the first African American to serve on the Denver School Board, Elvin Caldwell, an undertaker by trade but major mover and shaker on the latter 20th century Denver City Counciland Ernestine McClain Smith. Smith was the daughter of Denver’s first Black dentist, Dr. Thomas Ernest McClain. McClain Smith, a dancer and dance teacher, was also an ardent advocate for civil and human rights.
There is also a space for Condoleezza Rice who attended the University of Denver where she earned a Ph. D. Rice also served as Secretary of State for President George W. Bush
Rice, now on the faculty at Stanford University, remains connected to Denver as a minority owner of the Denver Broncos.
Black History Month is blended into every month at Denver’s Black American West Museum. The museum, located at 3091 California Street, tells the often hidden or even obscure stories of amazing African Americans who have played a role in Denver’s past and present.
It tells visitors the stories of America’s first Black female millionaire, Madam C. J. Walker who made her fortune making and selling hair and beauty products specifically for Black women,
Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to win an Oscar for her role in “Gone with the Wind,” and Joseph D.D. Rivers, who founded the state’s and Denver’s first African American newspaper.
The Colorado Statesman, later the Denver Star, took the daring move to condemn the racist D.W. Griffith movie, ‘Birth of a Nation,’ for its caricatured depiction of African Americans who, in the movie, were portrayed by White actors in blackface. The paper called on its readership and everyone to boycott the movie.
The Museum of Boulder in conjunction with the Carnegie Library for Local History is offering visitors what it calls “a comprehensive, but not complete, look at the African American experience in Colorado.” The exhibit runs through September.
“The Black history exhibit has been in development for two years,” said museum Communications Coordinator Savannah Snowdy. “The main objective is to amplify the Black perspective in the Boulder community and state of Colorado and preserve and share Colorado’s Black history.”
The museum, said Snowdy, will also be screening the documentary “This is Not Who We Are,” on February 20th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Katrina Miller who created the film will be at the screening to meet and answer questions about the production. She will also return on February 27th for a live recording, a “humanizing recording,” the theme of which will be ‘The Evolution of Black Culture in Boulder County.
Pueblo will also be honoring the contributions of African Americans who have left a legacy in the state. The El Pueblo Museum will screen “Buffalo Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts,” on February 21st. Admission is free. The museum is located at 301 North Union.
