Tonight on studio 12, entrepreneur Danny Moore share his journey from the segregated South to the Navy to being a successful business owner, and why he's committe to lifting others along the way.

Plus, as part of our Humanize Colorado series, U.S. Representative Brittan Patterson updates us on how it's been since she had her baby and the continuing fight for new parents in Congress to vote by proxy.

Then our Colorado Inside Out panel takes us beyond the headlines with insight on issues impacting our state.

And make sure to stay with us as we close things out with a live performance from Wet Nights Rock the Stage at Lost Lake Lounge in Denver.

All that right now on studio 12 from the Five Points Media Center in the heart of Denver, Colorado.

This is studio 12.

This week on the business of Colorado.

We've teamed up with the Colorado Business Roundtable to spotlight inspiring leaders and entrepreneurs across our state.

One of those stories is that of Danny Moore, CEO of De Novo Solutions.

From growing up in the segregated South to serving in the Navy to building a successful business and mentoring the nex generation of leaders, Danny's journey is all about purpose perseverance, and giving back.

Take a look.

I don't know how I got here.

You know, I like to sa that I'm an unremarkable person that's had a remarkable life growing up in the South.

At that time, it was the segregated South.

And so I grew up during a time where they were integrating schools.

So you imagine, you know, here's this young black boy growing up in the South, now being implanted into these segregated schools I should say how it shaped me.

It taught me that I have to look past who, a person, what a person looks like, and I have to look at what a person is and what that did for me is it made the worl a more friendlier place to me.

I grew up in the projects, and as most kids, I didn't realize I was into projects until I got older.

My mother was, very powerful person and instilled in us a great sense of pride of who we were.

I remember she would make us get up on Saturday morning and go and pick up trash in our neighborhood and I would complain about it, because I always thought it was someone else's job.

The city's job to do that.

But she would say, no we live here, and it's our job to take care of our own community.

And that kind of community has stuck with me.

My mother had eight children.

That's a lot of people to keep up with.

And we had one rule, an that is don't work against her.

Always work for her.

And so that's what that's what shaped my life.

And that's the kind of thing passed down to even my own kids.

My dad was the hardest working man I know, and that includes myself.

My dad had an eighth grad education, so he was a laborer.

But he could do anything.

He could build anything.

He had a mind for business.

But he always worked hard.

And you can imagine back in those times where you're working to feed and clothe and house eight children.

That's where we got that from.

When I joined the military I had no had no career vision.

I was going to go i for four years and call it good.

I found myself entrenched in the relationships that you build.

You know, you have your family, and then you have your extended family, which is the military men and women you served with.

There was a maverick calle Terry Shepherd, and Terry was a, enlisted person who had joine the Navy and became a captain.

I was complaining to hi one day about, you know, credit and not getting any credit.

And I can remember him sitting to me.

He looked at me and he said listen, do you need the credit?

And I said, no.

He said, well, maybe the other people need the credit.

Is it okay for them to have the credit?

And I said, yeah.

And that moment taught me something.

That moment taught me it was about the deeds that you do.

Not the credit that you get.

And so that was life changing for me as a, as an adult.

And how it's for me is that, you know, loyalty is is a crucial component.

You know, when you're serving in the military, oftentimes people think we're serving a country, bu we're really serving each other.

You know our mission is to go out there, do our mission and bring everybody back home.

It it sticks with me today.

Even in my business, I am really loyal to the people who call themselves Donovans.

As a part of my company.

And then after that, I retired and went to work for British Aerospace.

Doing really?

Program managed management and director kind of work.

And the I got the entrepreneurial bug.

I wanted to create a company but I didn't know exactly what I wanted to be.

And so like most Americans who start, entrepreneurship, a new company, I had a perfectly good job, and I quit that job, in 2009, not knowing we were in a recession.

So and so right after doing that, I was in it, and, and my wife who supported me along the way.

We just stayed in the grind, and we never gave up.

So we went about a year and a half with, no work.

But we stayed at it.

And I think that's the one thing I want people to realize is that when you when you start a company, when you are entrepreneur, you have to have two things.

You have to have grit and you have to have gratitude, grit to get throug those hard times and gratitude so that those small victories are worthwhile for you.

I often tell people, you know, we build software and we build AI models and we build systems.

That's great.

That's that's that's the work.

But what we really do is we build families.

It gives me a great sense of pride to see people come to the company.

And they're they're young people and they don't have a new ca and they don't have a new home.

And then to see them gain prosperity through that job.

And and now I see I hav their kids pictures on my desk.

I have that new home purchase on my desk.

I take the most prid and knowing that we're growing families and our company defense is what we do.

But growing family is our mission.

The most crucial thing that we give is about time.

We work with, you know, my members.

We all work with the Junior Achievement Organization to kind of help mentor kids.

We g and we plant flowers at the VA. We build bikes for, you know, underserved communities.

Those are the kind of things when you reach out to those communities, you're doing mor than just providing a service.

What you're doin is you're connecting with people and showing them, hey this is the possibility for me.

Many of the kids that we meet, they have no idea what aerospace and defense is or engineering is.

And so perhaps we're seeding with them a potential to be an engineer in the future, just by having conversations with our employees and with and with myself.

I think there's a lot of things going on in the state of Colorado right now.

You know, obviously most businesse are still recovering from Covid.

If you can imagine, you know, a train going 100 miles an hour and and someone slamming the brakes on it.

That's what happened to the business community.

And so when that happened you know, we had one priority.

And that was how can we take care of the people that we had in our company?

It wasn't about growing.

It was about taking care of people.

And that process really lasted from like 2020.

All the way through 2023.

And so last year was that first year where businesses are starting to look at now how do we reinvest in Colorado?

How do we tap into that workforce?

When you think about it, that a third of the people in this state are not a part of a growing economy here in the state.

How do we use these certificate programs to bring in more people who don't have a four year degree or even a two year degree?

And until we figure out a way to tap into the resources of our entire community, we're not going to be successful.

Not only as a state, but as a nation.

We are the number one aerospace state per capita, in the nation.

And you think about places like California and Texas.

That says a lot for Colorado, right?

But we also are much more than that, right?

We are we're a defense hub that people don't think about in Colorado Springs and Aurora, Colorado.

We have some of the greatest learning institutions there are here.

And see you and School of Mines and others.

What we need to do is to make sur we can keep this talent at home.

What we're seeing in the industry is we're seeing more people graduate from from higher ed and are leaving our state.

We have to keep our talent here because we want to continue to be the number one state in the nation for aerospace.

Want to continue to to build on the defense industry here, because Colorado is the best place to be.

The challenge that you're going to have in day one of business are going to be the challenge you're going to have in year 20 of business.

And the realizatio that people have to have is that this is just hard work.

But it's also fun because you do what you love doing.

I love what I do.

I love running this business.

I love walking to office every day.

I love engaging.

I love the fact that we're supporting the defense and aerospace industry.

I love it.

And so for me, it's not work.

And if I'm looking back, you know, 20 years from now, I'd like to see a legacy that says, you know, Danny Moore as a person who helped grow my family.

I'd like for you to look at my company and look at that as a springboard to success.

I like to see dozens of entrepreneurs flow out of de novo solutions and start their own businesses.

That's what I would like to see from a legacy standpoint.

I think it's remarkable what PBS 12 is doing.

You know, having that independent ethical BDA, to share and tell the stories of our community.

Everything from political climate to business TOS to cultural, is really important.

And what they're doing here, it's exceptional.

So I'm grateful for the opportunity to share our story of business, on PBS, to what Danny Moore story is a powerful reminder of the potential of leadership to lift up others, his professional peers applaud him for building not just a business, but also a legacy.

To find out more about Danny's company, De Novo Solutions.

You can go to their website, the de novo.com.

And for more information about the Colorado Business Roundtable, go to c o brt.com.

She is a Colorado congresswoman and mom who was breaking barriers tonigh as part of our Humanize Colorado series, women in the workforce.

Colorado Representative Brittany Pettersen shares what it's really like to serve in Congress while pregnant.

Why prox voting matters for new parents, and the double standard women still face in leadership.

It's a candid look at her story and her fight to make Congress more family friendly.

My name is Brittany Patterson.

I represent Colorado' seventh Congressional district.

So it's the suburbs and Jefferson County, Broomfield.

And then it goes all the way throughout rural Colorado.

So six counties through the southwest.

I'm the first woman to represent Colorado's seventh congressional district, which is kind of wild when you think about, you know, how far behind we are as women in so many of these spaces.

But also, you know, we've made a lot of progress.

I'm one of three women in Congress who have a toddler toddler age kid.

Now I'm pregnant and I'm the thank the 13th voting member who has had a baby while serving.

You know, these life experiences that are very important because you're going through it just like other families are.

You know how difficult it is to find accessible and affordable childcare.

I you know, the waitlists, the lack of options.

It's more expensive in college.

You know, there's not a lot of help out there for families.

And so those experiences that are happening now for people that are, you know, need to be a priority at the federal level.

Having somebod that's going through that right now is really important because, you know, s many of the people in Congress have a, incredibly outdated perspective.

You know, there's a lot of systemic barriers that we face as women.

To actually bein in these leadership positions.

These spaces were not made for us.

And, you know, when I was in the legislature and I and pregnan and I had a baby during session, I was the first person to be on leave.

And that's where we found that there was actually a law in place that prohibited extende periods of time of being gone, unless it was a chronic illness, because they had never even contemplated, a woman having to give birth and being awa for an extended period of time.

And so, you know, leadership had, had to categorize my absence as a chronic illness so that I could still be paid while on leave taking care of my newborn baby.

I'm also very much judged as a woman with young kid for actually being in Congress.

And so the way that people, you know, always ask, well, how do you do it with, with a family?

Or assumed that because I had a kid, I was not going to run for Congress anymore?

You know, just the differences with how people see me and my role versus any of my male colleagues.

They don't get asked those questions.

They're not questioning why, why they're doing their job because they have kids at home.

And so there's just such a double standard.

We actually had to brin legislation to change the law.

So it was reflective of our pay leave policies in Colorado.

And that you had, you know, up to three months that you could be gone while you were still paid.

As a legislator, I could choose to be gone and still be paid.

But your voice is not your constituent aren't represente for the time that you're gone.

And so I've been trying to work alongside my leadership on proxy voting and having those same standards in place for.

It's not about pay.

It's about making sur that with unique circumstances and, you know, having thos parameters for parental leave, that if you're a new parent that you have that time away and you can still have your vote counted.

I'm in a very difficult situation right now because we don't have any proxy voting in place.

There's a point at which I'm not going to be able to fly.

And so having that flexibility before you give birth, and having your vote counted is, is part of what we need to be working towards in Congress.

We've been going back and forth on if we were going to have a baby in Washington, D.C., and I'm gonna have to take my toddler out of school to be in an apartment in Washington because of votes that they might need me for.

I'm still trying to navigate it, but there are no accommodation for me being able to take care of my newborn and heal and recover myself.

You know giving birth is comparable to, you know, a very invasive surgery.

I mean, you go through a lot.

You have to have time off, and you should still be able to have your constituents and your voice represented.

When I think about, Pat Schroeder, you know, the first woman to be elected to Congress from Colorado when she was unarmed services, they didn't even have a chair for her.

She had to share a chair with her male colleague.

They didn't have a bathroom for women until, Speaker Boehner was there.

I mean, that was not that long ago.

Ideally is that we change these systems, we're seeing these barriers and that we can kind of forge the way so that it's easier for the people who are coming behind us.

My grandma, such a strong woman who I always asked me where I was going to go to school, you know, just really tried to instill the importance of an education.

My mom struggled with an opioid addiction.

It started out with a prescription drugs that led to heroin.

So you can imagine, you know, what my childhood look like looked like.

And I think it's the strong women in my life that stepped in and kind of filled in those voids.

My biggest triump is not going down the path of, you know, what I saw growing u and overcoming my circumstances.

And I'm grateful for that every day.

But in my career I'm constantly underestimated.

Even still, I'm 42 now, so it's better than it was when I was first elected.

You know, everybody, assumed I was Representative Peterson's aide.

When I'd go to meetings with lobbyists, they would talk to my aide, who was male instead of me, who was the representative?

I mean, even as an elected official that they're choosing to talk to my, the male who was working for me and not me as the, elected official.

So I think it's, you know, how effective I was at in my role working across the aisle, building those relationships, actually getting some really big things done.

Taking my experience with my mom and really, changing systems so that people like her aren't left behind and are given a chance to to actually live in recovery and thrive.

So those were some of my biggest accomplishments in the legislature.

In Congress, I think it's, like I said, now being 42, it' and being a member of Congress, I feel like I don't deal with the, being underestimated as much.

But, you know, it's it's still always there.

You know, even in campaigns against me, the ads that are take, you know, a stereotype of being a dumb blond.

Whether that's I mean, all throughout m career, from the very beginning, so overcoming those stereotypes and, and and showing up as the, professional that I am nobody is going to ever tell you that it's your turn.

You know, I faced so much backlash for even thinking tha I should run from the, you know, from, the very beginning to running for Congress.

I ended up winning by almost ten points in one of the most competitive races in the state.

In a race where, you know, I was a guaranteed loss because of being underestimated.

And when I stepped up to run for Congress, definitely upset a lot of people, who thought that it was not my turn.

It is about stepping into these roles doing it for the right reasons, doing the work necessary to make it acros the finish line, and remembering that you have to push that aside because, nobody's going to ever clear a path for you.

You know, a lot of women don't support other women, and that's a huge issue.

And one of the greatest things about being in this Congress, our leadership.

You know, Katherine Clarke, who is our whip, she is so supportive, not just me as mom and, but trying to create pass and opportunities for women.

What we can do to to see that in each other, to lift each other up, to ask each other to step up, to be there knowing that you know, you're going to face significant obstacles because you can guarantee that there are five men already lined up thinking that they should be in that role.

And to have the courage to step up, but also the support system to get you there.

Since our interview with Representative Patterson, a lot has happened.

She's given birth to an adorable baby boy, and the video of her on the House floor holding him while pleading for proxy voting went viral.

Stay tuned for a little later in our show when we'll have an update with her.

And there may also be a special appearance from a very cute guest.

As Colorado's legislative session races to a close.

Our Colorado Inside Out panel breaks down the biggest battle and surprises from the Capitol, from the governor's vet of a social media bill to heated battles over parental rights, artificial intelligence, and a possible special session, there's plenty to unpack.

Here's this week's segment of Colorado Inside Out with Kyle Dyer.

Hello and welcome back t the set of Colorado Inside Out.

The legislative sprint comes to an end tomorrow.

At least that's when the session is set to come to an end.

But haven't we learned tha anything can happen these days?

Our insiders offer some insight into some of the issues that have been debated in these final hours.

Here's a listen.

Now let's go to the legislative session, which is scheduled to end this coming Wednesday.

Governor Polis has approved a budget, but debates continu over these remaining days over transgender rights, parenta rights, First Amendment rights.

The governor, vetoed a bil that called for a social media regulation at the saying that they would, you know, infringe on our rights as users.

The state Senate vote vet and voted to override that veto.

But then the House didn't have enough to do the same.

There are lots of twists and turns in these remaining days that I am learning from you every year, Marianne.

And I'll start with you.

I'll start with the veto of Senate Bill 86, the social media bill.

That bill, the governor vetoed it on, a week ago Thursday, and the Senate sponsor brought it up the next morning.

It was the first thing that they wound up doing.

The next morning.

They wanted to move lightning fast.

They had the votes.

They had 29 votes, Allen needed 24.

And they actually and there was a little bit of vot swapping that went on between, the final vote in the Senate and what happened, a week ago on Friday.

So then they then they and they sent it over to the house, and the house could have done it that day, but they held it over until Monday, which gave the governo the weekend to do whatever arm twisting or persuasive tactics he might have in his his, back pocket.

And it and Monday morning we were hearing the votes aren't there They never even got to the vote.

They just decide to kill the bill and lay it over until after the session was over with.

And that was the end of that.

But and this overriding of vetoes hasn't happened a long time.

Oh my gosh.

We have had three veto overrides in the last 37 years, and two of them wer tied to the budget, which is a kind of a different critter when you talk about it.

The last time a bill was actually, had a veto override was during Ro Romer's administration in 1988.

I think the last big fight of this legislative session is going to be over a bill on artificial intelligence.

This was a bill that this was law that was passed last year, and the governor signed it, but with a lot of irritation.

So that Bill got the the fix bill got introduced, this past Monday.

And immediately you heard some grumbling from the tech and investment sectors over, what they claimed was not enough that had been done to address the concerns.

And I think this is going to be a huge, huge fight over the last couple days of the session.

And I'm hearing ther going to be a lot of amendments.

So and I think this is going to be a huge fight in the session's last days.

All right, Christie, I'm curious, from your take on what transpired in the stat House on Wednesday night.

Sure.

I mean, a huge day.

I think it was a record setting number of testimonies, right.

These people who signed up to testify in the Senate, I believe over 70 people showed up at the Capitol, wanted to testify, the committee chair limited to eight hours of testimony thereafter, about 1:30 a.m..

But what was really significant in 1312, this bill they were hearing is that, you know, talk about parental rights, so-called transgender rights.

But what it did is it would have threatened the custody of parents who don't agree with the state's viewpoint on the transgender ideology.

Basically, parents who don't want to let their child transition to a different gender.

It would have allowed courts to use that against parents in custody hearings and call it coercive control, had all these definitions written into it.

So a lot of people across the state, across party lines, were activated to oppose this bill.

And so in the end, there were a lot of amendments offered.

A lot of minutes passed, but that entire section about parents, parental custody rights was cut from the bill, pages taken out of the bill.

I think it's a huge victory for parents rights.

Obviously, I still don't like the bill.

I think there's a lot of bad pieces in it, especially relating to schools and dress codes and businesses across the state.

But huge victory for parents who showed up to the Capitol.

Sometimes it really does work to show up and let your voice be heard.

Okay.

All right.

Patty, so many interesting things coming at the last minute.

I have to give a shout out to Senator Bright, because obviously, your mother's friend didn't listen to him talk about how little toddlers are going to daycare centers with backpacks full of marijuana.

I'm pretty sure that is not the case in Colorado.

So that was a light moment during a marijuana hearing, which would let you buy two ounces instead of one, which I think will not impact preschools all that much.

The eye is so interesting because it shows how fast that technolog is moving, that what looked like a fix last year or at reasonable to some legislation.

We're so far behind the times, things are moving so fast and we think the legislature moves fast.

The last three few days, even if they come up with something that is good, with the technician, with the technocrats, with policy, the odds of us making yet another mistake for somethin that will need to be fixed again next year, depending o what's been developed with AI, that's going to happen too.

So a week from today, it'll all be over until we have to go back and fix all the messes.

Will there be a special session?

Marianne, if they do a special session, if Congress does adopt a budge that makes these very huge cuts in Medicaid, the states gonna have to figure out where to get $1 billio that they don't have right now.

They struggled enough to find enough money to cover $1 billion shortfall in the budget the governor signed just a few days ago.

Where do you come up with $1 billion to backfill the federal the loss of federal funds?

I honestly don't know where that's where that's going to come from.

One suggestion I've heard is changing the criteria for Medicaid, and that means kicking people off the rolls.

And I and I find that a really disturbing prospect.

If there is a special session.

And according to the Colorado Sun, who wrote about this first, we're probably not looking at this until late summer or in the fall.

If you want to see what else, our fantastic panel of Patty, Marianne and Christy had to say on this episode, you can find Colorado Inside Out, a PBS 12.org on the PBS passport app or on our YouTube channel.

You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

And we're already gearing up for this week's episode, which premieres this Frida at eight right here on PBS 12.

We have so many great shows right here on PBS, and one of the most beloved is, of course, masterpiece.

If you follow the series, and especially if you're a fan of Jane Austen, you've likely been waiting for this one.

Miss Austen tells the emotional story of Jane's sister Cassandra, and the extraordinary step she takes to protect her sister's legacy.

Here's a look at that new drama that premiered Sunday night on Masterpiece.

I am writing to inform you that my father ha only a short time left with us.

My trunk.

Where are you going, mom?

I have urgent business to attend.

Took at three.

There are certain items here that belong here.

Cassandra, we weren't expecting you.

May I introduce Cassandra Austin?

Austin as you.

Perhaps some relation to Miss Jane Austin.

She was my sister.

Everything one needs to know about Jane Austin is foun within the pages of her novels.

You know that is most certainly not true.

The short letters that were cast up, all manner of treasure.

My dearest Eliza.

Prepare yourselves for a house full of Austin.

My beloved sister Cassie is in love.

We said yes, of course I said yes.

Yes, I, his daughter would be an asset to any man.

But poor Jane, when I'm sure was going to become a fan.

Happiness isn't like a cold.

You can't just pass it on.

We have bad tidings to impart.

Cassie, you must prepare yourself.

Wasn't there a gentleman you both met?

Most never even rivalry.

I'm something of an expert in romantic matters.

And I'm quite sure I saw sparks flying between you.

I think I'll go to my bonnet.

Miss Isabella is to vacat the vicarage within a fortnight.

Now I must leave the only home I have.

I have no thought of my own feelings.

I could never turn my back.

As this about love comes at a price.

I will somehow have to live without her.

It is somethin that my sisters must go through.

We are not my sisters, Claire.

She has her happy ending.

Did you find any letters from time?

Not a single one.

Oh.

Miss Austin is a four part series.

If you want to catch the next three episodes, they will be right here on PBS.

12 Sundays at 7 p.m. and on the PBS passport app.

As promised, we're checking back in with Colorado Representative Brittany Patterson.

A lot has happened since our last conversation with her, including a powerful moment on the House floor that made national headlines.

We caught up with Representative Patterson with her son, Sam, to talk about the ongoing fight for proxy voting and what's next.

Well, it's been a wild ride.

After we spoke last time, I, I was able to go to be sworn in beginning in January, and then I was too close to my due date to be able to fly back to Washington.

There's a point at which you're restricted because it's unsafe.

And I, you know, was at home for a couple weeks before giving birth to Sam.

Amazing to welcome this baby to my life.

But, tragic what has happened every day since, with what's being dismantled at the federal level and what it mean for the rest of the kids in the.

My older son is so excited to be a big brother.

I have a five year old and his name is Davis.

He's the best.

And I have a little Sam who's now three months old.

It's challenging because you know, this morning, like all morning summer some are good and some start off with difficulties getting the kids out.

And, you know, my my toddler was, I was having a bad morning, and then Sam started crying.

And, you know, just those moments as a mom, it's really navigating to it.

But I'm lucky to have a supportive partner.

It was really inspirin to see how many women were moved by seeing me show up with Sam when he was four weeks old, because there was a vot that I needed to be there for, and they were unwilling to make accommodations, for our circumstance.

And thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today with my newborn Sam, and I think it's because so many women are facing the same struggles of how to navigate.

I'm taking care of their families and, and making sure that they're, doing what they need to at work and also facing, you know, hostile work environments that are not friendly an accommodating and understanding.

We were able to come together in a bipartisan way.

We had, a broad coalition of support.

And, and the speaker refused to bring it to the floor.

So we went through what's called a discharge petition to force a vote on the floor, where it actually goes around leadership.

And, only fiv and 25 years have ever passed, and we were able to get enough signatures, to force a vote.

Ultimately, Speaker Johnson, tried to kill our abilit to vote on it before it came up for that forced vote.

Once we overcame that, he then, adjourned and completely stopped.

Halted business for the rest of the week.

He was able to put it in a rule where Republicans were put in a position where they couldn't vote no, because they be voting against many of their number one agenda items and, could face you know, primaries.

And so ultimately, we weren't able to overcome that.

But we did get a and, very close to actually getting it done.

I know if we had a lot more moms in Congress, things look a lot different for this country.

Definitely not giving up.

We'll be bringing back the proxy voting resolution.

We'll see when the best opportunity is.

But I know that Democratic leadership is very open to looking at this.

If we're able to get th majority in the next election.

I think the women who want to know what to do.

I mean, definitely follow us for update and, you know, ways to engage.

But, we need more women in, in places of power, whether that's in the boardroom or in government.

We need moms voices represented.

There's too much at stake for the future of our kids.

So there's never the right time to run for office.

I used to do candidate recruitment, and I was trying to talk a woman into running for office who I thought would be great.

And she when I was walking her through, you know, what to expect in that it's never the right time.

There's going to always be reasons not to.

She said, well, it sounds like having a kid.

And so she accidentally recruited me into into being up into having kid because it's never going to feel like the right time and you're going to make it work because that's what moms do.

Yes.

Sam is going to DC with me next week.

Next week would mark the first time that I was, could have officially been back if my resolution would have passed and I could have voted, remotely.

For this time, I was still working in the district.

But, as you know, I'v already flown back four times, so this will be his fifth time to DC, next week.

So I hope that my son, I'm feels proud that I'm his mom.

And that that I went to fight for all the kids whose, health care is on the line is better than food and support because, couldn't be more at stake right now.

I'm.

That's so hard.

But, you know, nobody fights harder than a mom.

This issue is not going away.

We're not going to stop fighting, and we're going to get this passed.

But I hope we can ultimately bring Johnson to the table on this.

Very luck to have these boys in my life.

You can find mor about Representative Patterson, her work and policy priorities at her official website.

Patterson.house.gov.

For generations, native stories have too often gone untold, but author Tommy Orange is doing his part to change that.

A Pulitzer Priz finalist and bestselling author of They're There and Wandering Stars, Tommy's work brings depth, honesty, and urgency to the modern indigenous experience.

A member of the Cheyenn and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, Tommy is reshaping the literary landscape and challenging the way America understands its own history.

We sat down with Tommy while he was in Denver to talk about his path to writing, his roots, and why he feels telling these stories matters now more than ever.

Growing up, Tommy Orange didn't see himself as a writer.

I didn't really focus in school or was not a good student in elementary, middle school, high school, went to community college, and then I went to kind of a trade school for sound engineering.

But after struggling to find job, he landed at a bookstore.

We didn't get much business.

So, I was, you know, being paid to read in a sense and found fiction for the first time there and, realized I wanted to not only read as much as I could, but write as much as I could.

I was told, you know, something like the Sand Creek massacre story from my dad growing up.

This was a story that we heard, and I was told another version of history at school, and that made me feel a lot of things.

I have a white mother and a native father, but I didn't know what I thought about them until I really started writing and getting serious into something like a novel.

It is a lot of thinking throug character and story and action.

There, there became a breakout novel portraying the often unseen lives of native people in urban settings.

You know, native people have been living in cities, since the 1950s, and they're there, a far as I can tell, is the only, like, really big representation in books that I've seen that has gotten that much attention.

The reception from native people has been sort of exuberant, like people really excited to be seen.

And for this stor that they know hasn't been told enough, is being paid attention to is a follow up novel.

Wandering stars, published i 2024, took an unexpected turn.

I hadn't intended for there to be a historical piece, and I starte writing the sequel, and a year into writing it, I was in Sweden for the Swedish translation of their their.

While in Sweden, a visi to a museum changed everything.

The museum curator was giving me this awkward tour where he was like, you know, we shouldn' have your stuff and we're sorry, but do you want to see it?

While I was bein shown these things behind glass, I saw a newspaper clipping abou Southern Cheyenne, and that's, I'm enrolled in the Sharon Rabbit tribes of Oklahoma.

But I'm something like that.

And I fell down this rabbit hole of information that led me to the origin story or the blueprin for the boarding school system.

And in my tribe was sort of, you know, at the center point of half of the prisoners at this prison castle where the boarding school idea came from, were Southern Cheyenne people.

So that was a really surprising piece of information I didn't know about.

His novel Wandering Stars opens with the 186 Sand Creek massacre in Colorado.

Shedding light on its lasting impact in the forced assimilatio of Native Americans, Tommy hopes to make sure this histor is acknowledged and remembered.

After the massacre, they.

There were celebrations in downtown Denver with people on stage holding dismembered body parts.

And I think that what I want to get at here is the participation of regular people people celebrating the massacre, these irregular Americans.

I think this is sometimes parts of history we don't like or we don't think about or we tend to to to glance over.

And I'm grateful for people who are engaging with this kind of information.

And it's these are the people that history does not look at, but these people are actively wanting to engage with a narrative that is pretty much the opposite of the main on running in the American media.

And the general thing that people are talking about now, or at least that seems to be taking over slowly.

Tommy says writing is both an act of imagination and a way to confront difficult truths.

And the fiction writer.

So part of that is imaginative leaps are required.

That includes, you know empathy, you know, what is it?

What would it feel like?

The wondering of what it would feel like to be this kind of person, to be this character in this situation?

That's all imagination.

His work has earned him many high honors, including being a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

When it first happened it was like very emotional and, amazing and, and there's a lot o awards that it was nominated for and that there, there got and it was all incredible.

Tommy wants to inspire future writers and reminds them that rejection is part of the journey.

The only story that you alone could tell is important and to be that specific.

And that is that comes from a place of your own personal knowing that no one else could write.

We learned that Tommy Orange is working on a third novel.

He was not ready to reveal any details just yet, but based upon the success of his previous novels, it will be a highly anticipated release.

We leave you tonight with sounds on 29th.

We're taking you to Los Lake Lounge on Colfax, where Denver based band We Nights is brewing in the Rock.

Jasper Atkins launched the band in 2019 and together with Dan Burback on drums and Harrison Edwards on bass, they've been shaken up the local music scene ever since.

Thanks for watching studio 12.

Be sure to follow u on social media and on YouTube.

We'll see you next Tuesday night at 8 p.m.. Until then, have a great week!

I'm bazi kanani.

And.

You brought me to the people.

I don't even have to give kind of.

My mind is really.

I only hope I can live.

I simply keep rolling the campaign over.

The sun's coming up for.

We get down.

Yeah, the sun's coming up.

Oh, we're getting down, down here.

We?

Got a few blow gaskets just a mile from town to back at my desk.

Am.

He's me.

Come get him down.

Then I wanna where do we go when the sun passes?

Snag shadow.

Do you feel it?

Don't let go.

Oh, don't I don't do power.

Oh, baby, keep rolling down.

Hey, no songs coming up when we get it down near.

The sun's coming up.

Oh, we're getting down.

Yeah, the sun's coming up.

But we're getting down.

Yeah, the sun's coming up.

But we're getting down to.

Many.

Many hills.

The snowman.

The.

We're getting down.

And the sun's coming up.

But we're getting down now.

The sun's coming up.

But we're getting down to the sun's coming up the.

We're getting down near.

The sun's jumping up.

But we're down.

And the sun's coming up.

The.

We're getting down.

Oh, we.

So, Harry.

Jasper.

It's what night you all told me that you're also big fans of vinyl, right?

Has there been an album that you both that you disagreed about?

I don't know about, disagreed about?

I think our tastes have a lot of overlap.

And then there's some stuff that we're really particular into.

I think that there's a lot of stuff that I always like a little bit, but got more into after getting to know Jasper, like, I've always kind of liked, like grown up, I was raised i Texas, and there was always kind of country records around, but I knew that those weren't cool, so I didn't think I could like them.

But then like, over time you know, like the Johnny Cash and stuff like tha started to get some more play.

And then I didn't really get big into Waylon until, like, Jasper and I were hanging out like, I knew that I liked his image, you know?

But since then, like, I'v collected in several of his LPs.

So I think that's a big one.

Between us.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think I feel like we just.

I feel like we didn't just.

That was the thing.

Like, I feel like when we first met, he was showing me stuff.

Like he was more into, like, kind of krautrock, like kind of goth by, and I guess would be the just like that darker wave sound.

You show me a lot of that stuff.

We had, Wet nights, weekenders at Skylark Lounge on South Broadway also last year, where every first Saturda of the month we were doing vinyl deejay nights, and so that was fine.

So we were just bot just bringing all of our records and just be going back to four, back forth, like, I just want to be sick, Max.

Like, got to hear this.

And just getting to hang out and play music all night.

I think that time period definitely got me more acquainted with, like growing up, I didn't listen to a lot of anything that I would consider to be like classic rock or dad rock, and I got to enjoy a lot of really great music later on by getting throug all the bands that those groups were influenced by.

Like I think one that we were pretty immediate on was like Black Angels and a lot of, you know, staples of lik the more modern psych rock scene and you bringing those records kind of like got me even more into Velvet Underground, the doors stuff that was very obviously influential of them, and I knew that.

But I wasn't quite like always reaching for that.

And now I do do a little bit more.

But, you know, it kind of goes in ways like, I feel like aspects of your taste reminded me of thing that I normally really like and like had it been in the season for me as much.

But yeah, I think those, those vinyl night were pretty influential to like, you know, songs that we wrote over the course of, like, those couple of years wit in that period of White Nights, because we had a night, you know, at least once a month where we were like, bring our records and go and song for a song and being like, oh, you got that?

That reminds me of this.

And it was just like a great way to build and meld our tastes better.

And I think that all of that stuff kind of came through and a couple of like, really unique songs that we recorded during that, like era of the band.

I see my baby.

No, sit down.

Because it was the happiest song this year.

But you know my feelings in Better Through She's a Queen.

I love what she's rocking in a replay to.

Me.

Oh.

You know she moved through.

Yeah.

The way she moved.

Oh, you know when the snow girl.

Baby, can you dig up thi I believe you know she gets it with the high heels on this one I feeling.

Now, like when we suck it, it'll be great.

Where?

You know she found it?

Yes, where she'd be.

Oh, you know where to get me.

Baby, can you get.

Me.

My baby.

You know she got me crazy.

With the high heels on this.

You know I miss my baby.

You know she drove me crazy with the high heels on this.

You know I miss my baby.

You know she got me crazy with a heart.

You don't miss your heart.

I miss my baby.

You know, she got me thinking.

With the high heels on this show about me.

You.

You.