Don Rojas, Executive Director of Free Speech TV. . . .

                                                   Where Television Is a Movement                       

                                                                                         By Annette Walker

     During his two year tenure as Executive Director of Free Speech TV (FSTV), Don Rojas has achieved some of his goals to increase viewership and to augment and diversify its progressive programming.

     Established in 1995 and first located in Boulder, FSTV is now headquartered in Denver at the Five Points Media Center.  It is the first national television network whose mission is to expand the reach of social justice issues and ultimately to serve as a catalyst for social change.  The founders wanted to provide an alternative to corporate-funded news and programming and counter the misinformation in mainstream media.

     Now a multi-platform digital media pioneer, FSTV is best-known for its daily news and analysis programs.  Among these are the Washington, D.C.-based Thom Hartmann Program and New York-based Democracy Now, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.  There is also a daily program produced by Al Jazeera’s English-language channel.  FSTV also has broadened its scope and also features weekly public affairs series, investigative documentaries, personal stories, and keynote talks by leading thinkers.  The network reaches 30 million U,S. homes, airing fulltime on DISH Network (channel 9415) and DIRECT TV (channel 348) and part-time on over 200 cable affiliates.  There is also live streaming on the Web at www.freespeech.org.

     FSTV is funded by viewer donations and foundation grants.  There are no commercials and the network does not accept money from corporations.

     According to Rojas over the past two years TV viewership has increased by 40%.  He is especially proud of program innovations.  "We are honored to welcome Senator Bernie Sanders (Dem. - Vermont) to our community," he said.  "Brunch with Bernie" is produced in conjunction with Thom Hartmann and is a live call-in program where you can interact with the longest-serving independent member of the U.S. Congress."

     FSTV held a special 6-hour broadcast during the 2010 midterm elections, featuring Denver's Gloria Neal as anchor for local guests along with Amy Goodman from New York and Thom Hartmann from Washington, D.C.

     During his tenure Rojas has increased live coverage of progressive events, such as the NAACP's annual convention in Los Angeles last summer; the Netroots National Conference in Minneapolis; the Take Back the American Dream conference in Washington, D.C. featuring Van Jones, labor union leaders and grassroots organizers and activists; the U.S. Social forum in Detroit that attracted over 20,000 people.

     One of Rojas' goals has been to increase FSTV's visibility in Denver's progressive, African-American and Latino communities.  "We videotaped and later broadcast the keynote speech delivered by Ben Chavis at the annual banquet of the Colorado Association of Black Journalists," he said.  "In addition we have partnered with Dr. Vincent Harding and the Veterans of Hope organization to present a special presentation by poet and activist Sonia Sanchez,"   The event was held at FSTV's studios with a live audience.

     FSTV videotaped the lecture delivered by Dr. Elsie Scott, President (CEO) of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in Washington, D.C.  Her visit to Denver was coordinated by Rev. Ronald Wooding of Scott's Methodist Church, and she participated in the Crime Prevention Conference co-sponsored by the NAACP Youth Council.

     Both the Sonia Sanchez and Elsie Scott presentations will be broadcast during February's Black History Month's programming.

     There will be new programming for 2012.  "We will launch a weekly "Occupy the Media" program in February because we view the 99% Movement as the most significant social and economic justice movement in the USA since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 70s," said Rojas.  "In fact, Dr. King's dream of an America with greater economic and racial equality is alive and well in the Occupy Movement."

     This year FSTV staff marched, videotaped and interviewed people in Denver's Martin Luther King annual Marade.

     Rojas said that the 2012 election campaign coverage will commence in February.  "FSTV is especially interested in the battleground states as well as the Republican and Democratic Conventions."

     Other programming initiatives for this year are a redesigned and enhanced Website and an Internet radio project.

     Rojas brings to Denver's media landscape an exceptional journalistic and communications background that encompasses an international perspective.  A native of the Caribbean, he has held positions in African-American, Caribbean and alternative media.  In the early 1990s he was Managing Editor of the New York Amsterdam News, the oldest surviving African-American weekly newspaper.  He also founded the first African-American Internet initiative, the Black World Today and the Black world Radio Network.

     He was Communications Director of the NAACP, Media Manager of Oxfam America and general manager of Pacifica's WBAI-FM radio station in New York City.  Prior to that he was the press secretary to the late Prime Minister Maurice Bishop of Grenada.  Rojas has worked as a journalist in Canada, Eastern Europe, Cuba, and Latin America.

                                                 Colorado Black Caucus

                      Elected Officials Organize - Strength in Numbers

                                      

                                                                              by Annette Walker

     In 2010 Angela Williams and others in the community were concerned about the dwindling number of African-American elected officials.  "Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll not only was the only African-American in the state legislature, but was term-limited," she said.

     The previous year there had been another loss in the legislature.  Peter Groff, who had become the President of the Senate, resigned to take a position with the Obama administration.

     "When Michael Hancock decided to run for Mayor, I was concerned that there would be no African-Americans on the City Council," Williams continued.

     Now Williams is elated.  "We have moved from the idea that there might be no one in the Legislature of City Council to the reality of having two in each body.  Furthermore, there are 14 African-American elected officials in the state of Colorado."

     "What a difference two years can make," she said amusedly.

      Believing that the African-American community should maintain the momentum, Williams convened other elected officials to establish the Colorado Black Caucus (COBC).  She is the chairwoman.  In addition to state legislators and Denver City Council members, the Caucus includes school board members, Regional Transportation District (RTD) board members, a county commissioner, a University of Colorado Regent and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.

     Although no a member of the COBC, former Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier continues involvement in the metropolitan area.  He placed second in Aurora's mayoral race and last year challenged Congressman Ed Perlmutter for his seat.  Frazier is a Republican and Williams points out that the COBC is nonpartisan.  African-American Republicans have been elected to office in Colorado.

     The objectives of COBC are: 

          o To stimulate an interest in public affairs among African-American leaders.

          o To increase political involvement and influence of African-American leaders.

          o To unite African-American elected officials in Colorado and communities of color.

          o To call for action to ensure government on national, state, county, and local levels reflect the interest of African-American perspectives.

     Among the immediate concerns of COBC are:  a) Efforts to suppress the minority vote.

     "Although the state Supreme Court rejected the motion to prevent the mailing of ballots to inactive voters failed, I am certain there will be more attempts made," Williams said.

     b) The Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis.  There is legislation and proposals to alleviate the burden upon those at risk of foreclosure.

     c)  The legislature must balance the state budget and the COBC will monitor how any budget cuts affect people of color and other underserved communities.

     The formation of the Colorado Black Caucus is actually a rebirth.  "The first Black Caucus was established in the 1970s and lasted until the late 1990s," said Gloria Tanner who served in both the state House and Senate.   George Brown, then a State Senator, along with City Councilman Elvin Caldwell, Representative Arie Taylor, school board member Rachel Noel, Representative Wellington Webb along with Tanner established the first Caucus which had the same objectives as the newly formed COBC.

     With an African-American population of only four percent and the Denver metropolitan area with about 10%, the state of Colorado has fared well with elected officials.  Over the past 60 years there have been two lieutenant-governors, a secretary of state, several City Council members, the leaders of both chambers of the State legislature, and two of the most recent mayors of Denver.

     Members of the newly-formed Colorado Black Caucus are: 

          o Michael Hancock, Mayor of Denver

          o Angela Williams, State Representative, D-Denver, District 7

          o Rhonda Fields, State Representative, D-Aurora, District 42

          o Albus Brooks, Denver City Council, District 8

          o Christopher Herndon, Denver City Council, District 11

          o Rene Bullock, Commerce City Council, at-large

          o Steven J. Jordan, Commerce City Council, at-large

          o Joe Neguse, CU Board of Regents, 2nd Congressional District

          o Vorry Moon, Centennial City Council, District 1

          o Allegra 'Happy' Haynes, Denver Public School Board, at-large

          o Nate Easley, Jr., Denver Public School Board, District 4

          o Barbara Deadwyler, RTD Board of Directors, District 8

          o Jeff Walker, RTD Board of Directors, District D

          o Darryl Green, El Paso County Commissioner, District 1

Judy Richardson: Documentary Film Producer and Veteran Civil Rights Activist

 Judy Richardson, Documentary Film Producer and Veteran Civil Rights Activist to Make Presentation at Blair-Caldwell Library

by Annette Walker

     Judy Richardson considers her 30 years as a documentary film producer an extension of her work in the Civil Rights Movement.

     She was an early member of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), founded in 1960 by Ella Baker, Julian Bond and John Lewis among others.  SNCC was one of the principal organizations of the Civil Rights Movement and helped organize the sit-ins, freedom rides, the 1963 March on Washington, the Mississippi Freedom Summer, and voter registration drives.

     "SNCC not only influenced me personally, but it influenced my life's work," Richardson said.  Almost everything with which she has been involved since 1960 related to social justice, the African-American struggle in particular.

      A native of Tarrytown, New York, located north of New York City, she received a full scholarship to the prestigious Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.  Inspired by the African-American struggle that had emerged in the South, Richardson spent some weekends during her freshman year in Maryland assisting with desegregation projects.  Within a short time she joined SNCC and worked in various locations including Alabama where Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) was part of the team.

     In 1965 Richardson joined Julian Bond's campaign for the Georgia House of Representatives.  He and seven others won seats in the Georgia Legislature, making them the first African-Americans since Reconstruction.

       In 1968 Richardson and other former SNCC workers established the Drum & Spear bookstore in Washington, D.C.  For a time it was the largest African-American bookstore in the United States.  Drum & Spear also organized a publishing house and Richardson served as an editor of children's books.  Later she directed a study of racism in children's books for Howard University's School of Education. 

     In the early 1980s she was in New York City as Communications Director at the United Church of Christ's Commission for Racial Justice and worked with Executive Director Rev. Ben Chavis.

     She had already teamed up with Henry Hampton, founding Director of Blackside Productions.  She became educational director and senior producer, and their early work eventually transitioned into Blackside's acclaimed 14-hour series "Eyes on the Prize", debuting on PBS in 1986.  It was nominated for an Academy Award

     A sequel "Eyes On The Prize II” also was broadcast on PBS.

     Continuing her passion for preserving the African-American experience, Richardson co-produced Blackside's 1994 documentary, "Malcolm X:  Make It Plain" which was broadcast on PBS' American Experience series.  She was also the producer of "Scarred Justice", which explores the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre of Black students on a South Carolina campus.  This film was screened at the NAACP’s 100^th Anniversary Conference.

     Her other documentaries have been broadcast on the History Channel as well as the PBS network.  This includes the videos for the National Park Services’ “Little Rock Nine Historic Site”.

     Most recently, Richardson is a co-editor of the book "Hands On The Freedom Plow:  The Personal Testimonies of Women in SNCC".  The book was released last year.

     Richardson is the recipient of an Image Award for Vision and Excellence from Women in Film and Video.

     There is a concept that underlies all of Richardson's work.  "I want to focus upon the history, culture and politics of the African-American community in a way that viewers understand it's never just about one person.  What we call the Civil Rights Movement comes from grassroots men and women.  They were not just the troops; they were the leaders," she said.

     "At the local level there was lots of Fannie Lou Hamers and Fred Shuttleworths.  And the Civil Rights Movement was not just Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr.," she continued.  "In any oppressed community there is always resistance.  And any film that I do will reflect that.  And it is important that young people understand that."   

Editor’s Note:  Judy Richardson will make a presentation featuring excerpts from her films and videos on Saturday, November 19, 1:00 pm at the Blair-Caldwell Library, 2401 Welton St.                           

      

Ryan Frazier, African-American Mayoral Candidate - Aurora, CO

                                                                                  By Annette Walker

     If elected mayor of Aurora in November, Ryan Frazier will be the youngest mayor ever elected by the city.  In 2003 at age 26, he became the youngest person ever elected to the Aurora City Council.  If elected in November, he will also became the city’s first African-American mayor.

     There are six mayoral candidates and, in a recent poll Frazier is leading.    He is an at-large city council member and represents the entire city.  He is a member of the Republican Party.

     Currently Frazier is the vice-chairman of Aurora’s Public and Intergovernmental Relations Committee and a member of the Management and Finance Committee.  He also serves on several city and Governor-appointed boards and advocacy groups, including the drought advisory group.

     “I am proud to be a native of Michael Jordan’s hometown:  Wilmington, North Carolina,” he said.  After high school, he served five years in the U.S. Navy and came to Denver with his wife, Kathy during that time.  He served as a senior operations controller for the National Security Agency.

     Since leaving the Navy, he has worked at Raytheon and two telecommunications companies.  Currently, he is president and CEO of the Western States Forum, a nonprofit public policy organization.  Last year he lost his bid for the Congressional District 7 seat held by incumbent Representative Ed Perlmutter.  Frazier, however, was endorsed by some key civic and private groups.

     With a keen interest in education, in 2006, he co-founded the Highpoint Academy, a preschool through 8^th grade Aurora public charter school where his three children are enrolled.

     A few years ago he traveled to Ghana in West Africa.  “That trip had a profound impact upon me,” he said.  “I was deeply affected by viewing the slave castles where our ancestors were kept before the TransAtlantic voyage.”

     Frazier received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College and a Master’s degree from Regis University.  He also completed the senior executive program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

     I talked to Frazier in early September and he outlined the following priorities that he will pursue if elected mayor:  Regional economic leadership which includes job creation; Education; and Public Safety.  He also discussed the Stock Show debate.

                                                       Regional Economic Leadership

     “I want to work towards defining Aurora’s identity.  The city is no longer a ‘bedroom community’ attached to Denver, and it is growing.  Aurora is now a big player in Colorado.  Regional economic leadership involves good jobs and good industry that will drive the economy in Colorado and especially the metropolitan area.

     I have my eyes on what I call the Opportunity Triangle.  It starts with DIA (Denver International Airport).  DIA is not in Aurora; it’s in Denver.  However, Aurora has more land around it and is right next to it.  I want to support the growth of business investment to support the airport.  It will be in Aurora and we can create jobs around that industry.

     “Moving southwest of DIA, you hit Fitzsimmons which is in Aurora.  It has undergone an amazing redevelopment from a former Army medical base into a life science city.  There we’ve developed Bioscience Park, and we have Children’s Hospital, University Hospital, and the Veterans Administration Hospital.

     “We have 15,000 people working in the Fitzsimmons complex today.  In the next decade we have plans to get that up to 30,000 people.  Plus the associated development around Fitzsimmons and the development of Colfax supports the creation of additional well-paying jobs for our citizens.

     “Next you just head east over to Buckley Air Force Base.  We have 12,000 people working at Buckley, a lot of military and Department of Defense individuals.  In addition, we have a big aerospace, high-tech industry footprint in Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman that support the mission at Buckley Air Force Base.

     “So this is the opportunity ‘triangle’, what I call these job centers which I believe the future will hold for Aurora in a way in which we can really create an identity for Aurora as a regional economic leader.

     “That is what I’d like to do and focus upon.  As mayor I’d like to attract jobs to our city by leveraging those three job centers.

     “And what does this mean?  More jobs.  Some of these businesses might be able to provide summer jobs for our youth.  Right now unemployment among youth is too high.

     “One area that I will look at if elected mayor is the issue of workplace diversity.  Recruitment is key, and I will sit down with city officials and we will come up with a workable plan.”

                                                                         Education

     “In order to have a vibrant community, we must have good schools.  And I believe that good schools nor only require good teachers, but also good parents are needed to make good students.

     “If I’m fortunate to be elected in November, I want to establish a stronger partnership between the mayor’s office and our school districts to ensure that they not only have the resources they need to educate our kids for jobs in the 21^st century, but that we are working for the reforms that need to happen in our school system.  The partnership between the Aurora’s Mayor’s office and the school districts is not as strong as it can be, and that is one of the things that I hope to work on as mayor.

     “Regarding the role of parents, it’s not enough to say that the teachers aren’t doing a good enough job or the schools aren’t doing a good enough job or the schools are not giving a good enough education.  My mom raised me with the idea that education starts at home.  We need

 parents to be involved with their children’s education.  Teachers need reinforcement from the students’ homes.  Otherwise, it makes it difficult to get the students where they need to be.

     “As mayor, what I would like to do is to carry that message out into communities.  It’s basically talking in coffee shops and wherever I’m visiting with people and whatever microphone I have as mayor about the need for parental involvement in children’s education.”

                                                                       Public Safety

     “This is a key issue for me.  Aurora is actually a safe city.  Every year for the past eight years for a city of its size i.e. 250,000 to 500,000, Aurora has been ranked in the top 15 safest cities in this country.  But we do have challenges as any city of 325,000 and growing will.  Northwest Aurora is a section where we have to address gun violence.  There are higher gun incidents taking place there.

     “I have introduced a couple of initiatives into the Aurora City Council.  One is the acquisition of a new piece of technology called a ‘Shot Spitter’ which distinguishes between a firecracker and a gunshot being fired.  It’s a listening device and is able to pinpoint within a few feet where the shot came from.  It automatically sends that information to law enforcement, thereby making it possible to save a life and perhaps apprehend the perpetrator.

     “There is a community component to this proposal.  It involves educating and empowering people and providing mentoring services for youth to help steer them away from involvement with gangs and guns.

                                                                        The Stock Show

     “There is a lot of ‘us and them’ coming from Denver around this issue.  Aurora and Denver need to get past this mindset and we have both been working towards this.  The level of regional cooperation has been good and I would like to see that continue.  If I’m elected, I look forward to working with Michael Hancock and other mayors to further regional cooperation.

     “The Stock Show represents an opportunity for us to work together to find a way to allow this annual activity to have better facilities.  Aurora happens to have the land, nearly 160 square miles.  In terms of land mass and population, Aurora is larger than Buffalo (New York), Pittsburgh and Newark, New Jersey.  However, one half of Aurora is undeveloped.  We have 65 to 75 square miles of undeveloped land.

     “So it’s natural for those who are looking to relocate to new areas to look at Aurora.  The Stock Show officials are looking at the land issue and the Gaylord Hotel that’s coming.  The Gaylord will be a $824 million project and the theme is ‘Authentic Western’.  So it makes sense for the Stock Show and the Gaylord Hotel to be co-located.

     “Denver and Aurora officials will have to sit down and come up with a win-win solution for both.”

______________________________________________________________________________

 FACT BOX:

     Over the past 25 years Aurora’s population has doubled.  In 1980 there were 158.000 residents.  Today there are 325,000.  Whereas Denver is physically surrounded by various municipalities and most of its land is already developed, Aurora has vast tracks of undeveloped land.

     Aurora and Denver have different forms of government.  Aurora operates under a council/manager structure, in which the City Manager runs the day-to-day operations with guidance from the City Council.  The mayor heads the Council, which consists of ten members.

     Aurora spans Adams, Douglas and Jefferson counties.  There are two school districts within Aurora:  the Cherry Creek Schools and the Aurora Public Schools.  Neither the Denver nor the Aurora Mayor has direct control over the school districts; rather, the local school boards are invested with authority over the institutions of learning.