Tonight on studio 1 were celebrating black history not just by looking back, but also by lifting up the stories that continue to shape Colorado today.

We start at Lincoln Hills, a mountain refuge for African-American families during segregation, now brought to life through a new exhibition.

We hear from someone who experienced it firsthand.

We'll also meet black creators and changemakers in Colorado who are using art, food, and community to tell deeper stories.

From bold murals and illustrated conversations to spaces that celebrate African culture and black identity.

In our special tonight, we're remembering history, celebrating culture, and honoring those who continue to move Colorado forward.

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

This is studio 12.

Good evening.

I'm Ryan Hare and I'm bazi kanani.

Welcome to this special edition of studio 12.

As we celebrate Black History Month, an important piece of Colorado history is getting a new look at the History Colorado Center.

This month, a reimagined exhibitio called Lincoln Hills Mountains Sanctuary tells the story of what was once the largest African American recreational resor west of the Mississippi River.

Opened in the 1920s.

Lincoln Hills was a rare place of its kind, offering rest and refuge for black familie during the era of segregation.

It brought civil rights leaders, writers, and jazz musicians to the foothills of Gilpin County.

We spoke with Terri Gentry of the Lincoln Hills Cares Foundatio about the legacy of the resort and the importanc of preserving stories like hers in our history here in Colorado.

Here's more with Terri.

I look at Black Histor Month as something that started a hundred plus years ago as Negro History Week.

And so the intention was to help people understand that we contributed to this history.

We were not just enslaved.

We were not just less than.

We are major contributors.

We are human.

We want to celebrate and honor our ancestors.

We are here and we've done everything we can to make this plac a better space for our children and grandchildren and our descendants.

As Engagement manager for black Communities.

Every day is a new venture because there's a lot of untold stories and a lot of information that we're still seekin in communities around the state.

We are constantly seeking ways to gather those histories and stories and to acknowledge them and recognize them.

Our education department' been working to connect the dots for the students, so finding out about their own experiences and their ancestors, that's a re to focus on and to help them understand why they're here.

Because of the people that were here before them.

We're in the wonderful exhibit of Lincoln Hills and Lincoln Hills.

This is a small resort area about a mile west of pine Cliff, Colorado.

For me personally, the Lincoln Hills exhibit is a wonderful narration of my family experience.

It's a wonderful narrative about the incredible things that my grandparents did to make our lives better.

An incredible narrative about some of our community members that we grew up with, and their effort to change the trajectory of our community and how we live our lives.

One of my favorite things is the video that they have set up, because you get to actually see community members that experience the history up here.

For example when you talk about the cabins, we have retired Judge Jackson and his mom, Nancy, Celia Jackson, talking about the cabin that his great grandfather, William Pitts built and their experience through the area and the longevity of their time up there.

We would do the whole summer resort a national program for our group in higher Rocky Mountain regions.

Year African-American families began buying land and building it in the 1920s.

Carpentry and building.

This company, Lincoln Hills, was purchased by Mr.

Equal to Mr.

Rainier in the 1920s, and they started selling propertie to individuals around Colorado.

Later on, when Mr.

Hamlet, the Hamlet brothers purchased land and they built Winx Lodg and a couple of other dwellings there and building and entertain people up there.

So you'd have a lot of the most amazing jazz musicians coming up to Lincoln Hills and, and wonderful audiences to enjoy all of the music and the food.

Lincoln Hills is an important space for our community because it's a space called black Joy.

That's what it is for us being in the outdoors, all of the trees and the wonderful fragrances and the little critters running around.

You.

My sisters and just absolutely loved going up.

Our grandparents would take us up there.

Grandpa wanted to be sure that we got to experience the outdoors in some way.

I have the coolest grandparents, George and Ernestine Smith.

I have so many memories of being up in Lincoln Hills and being in our cabin and loving things like, my grandfather is the best cook on the planet, and he would cook on the barbecue grill when we were up there.

Oh boy.

And it's just seems like the food tastes better up in the mountains.

And we had the fireplace going because it's it might be cold, it might be 20 degrees at night up there.

And the fireplaces roaring and keeping us warm.

And we have these beautiful comforters and quilts, handmade quilts.

And grandmother and grandfather would make sure we're wrapped up good.

When we went to sleep at night.

The quilts were so important to us when we were little, you know, wrap up in a quilt when it was cold outside.

So this really celebrates the different things about Lincoln Hills in that form.

My favorite thing on the quilt.

Well, I love the little critter here.

We've got fish, some of the girls from Camp Disney and the train and the Winx Lodge there.

So there's just so many pieces and parts of Lincoln Hills that are part of the quilt and part of the celebration of that wonderful experience up there in history.

Colorado has a range of different programs and events that they put on, and we love having volunteers come in and help with that.

We want the community to be involved.

We want the communities to come in to the museum, view all of our exhibits and witness the things that are happening, but help us with programing.

Help us with gathering stories and and oral histories.

We want everyon to invest their time and energy into making sure that we gather all of the perspectives and stories of each and ever community member in this state.

It's so important that we get the hel of the community to come in and we can collaborate and work on a variety of different things to make that happen.

Thanks again to Terry for speaking with us and sharing her story.

The Lincoln Hills Mountain Sanctuary exhibition at the History Colorado Center in Denver is part of its communit based Colorado Stories Gallery.

To learn more, go to History colorado.org or the Lincoln Hills Cares Foundation at Lincoln Hills Cares for a Colorado artist known for big, bold murals and community driven public art, is now using his talents to tell a story about Colorado farmers and ranchers.

Thomas Dieter Evans has built a name and a reputation for himself at the intersection of art and activation.

His latest work is a mural for the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

The project marks 150 years of agriculture in our state, and celebrates the people and communities behind it.

We were able to meet up with detour during the beginning stages of the mural, as he shares how his signature style was born, and how learning about agriculture changed the way he looks at everything from water right to what's in the produce aisle.

Here's Thomas.

Detour.

Evans.

I only have a couple more days left on this.

Thomas.

Detour.

Evans.

I'm Thomas Evans, but I go by detour colors.

Do I need, you know, a good one to, sell out here?

A lot of people know m for the murals, but I work on, But a lot of people know me now for sculptural work.

Just like interactive work, community activation, things like that.

So trying to make sure I'm at the intersection of just like, art and community.

Yeah.

So the colors on a lot of my work stems from the idea of like, not being restricted.

Stumbled on that through doin live art and with live artists like you don't have time to mix colors or to match colors.

And for me, when I did live art, that's where the colors kind of like show through, because I just had to use paint out the bottle, in this area to represent highlights or shadows or whatever.

And then from there it just became, so like a thread that I kind of we sell a lot of the stuff that I do, you know, trying to make sure it's abstract but also still relatable and consistent and, like, recognizable.

So that's where I kind o get into, you know, doing work like this behind me is like making it super colorful, but also somethin that you can kind of recognize.

Yeah.

So a couple of Bob Ross videos later, I'm like, oh, this is how you this is how you do it.

How Ross was wearing.

I gues what inspires me is being able to do work that is different than everyone else.

Impactful, work that's tied to community and tells a story.

For me, sometimes it's more about the process or the materials that I put into a piece.

I did one recently install at the airport, which was a sculpture piec that was all upcycled luggage, and that one was really great because I got to meet so many people that were donating or contributing, you know, pieces of luggage.

They had stories to the actual sculpture.

So that one is like esthetically, there's a lot of meaning to it in terms of the colors and the shape, but it means a lot mainly because of the community that was involved in terms of putting everything together, because it would not be in the form it is if people didn't contribute all their stories and all their, you know, their background and their memories to the actual sculpture piece.

So me, I want to try to figure ou a way to make a lot of my work different, but also add in community as well, and hopefully this translates well.

Have networked with the agricultural community in Colorado.

But my family does own farm land back in South Carolina.

So my dad grew up on the farm, took me back to the farm.

They, you know, grow corn and, you know, cotton and things like that.

So it's one of those things was kind of like I was familiar with it, but haven't worked out her at all with any other community.

So it was really fun jus to learn more about the history.

So for me, it was like really great just to be able to add, the contribution of artwork, to the community and to the stories in a way, where it's kind of like, oh, now you're able to learn more about the history of, agriculture in Colorado through the arts that I do.

So on this side of the mural talks a little bit more about where we're at in agriculture.

So the opening of this first campus, I really wanted to sort of show the next generation, getting into crops.

So having a couple of young individuals sort of growing the next generation of crops, but also some of the, fruits and vegetables and sort of, commodities that Colorado has, in their, their farmland.

So, like, learning how to paint potatoes, was interesting learning how to, you know, even like, paint wheat, on a sort of like a micro but large scale and then painting tractors, things like that.

So it was really, really fun being able to sort o how do I mix everything together and overlap a lot of this stuf so that it's a cohesive mural, but also to making the mural fun to wear.

Now it's not just, you know, right angles.

It's like now I kind of made it folded, foldable, but to transpor but also diecut everything and referencing different things within those sort of diecast like the tractor, but also like I was saying earlier, like this center point irrigation.

So like that's where this sort of like circular sort of pattern comes from as well.

Yeah.

So this one, when I applied for the project and they were saying, hey, we would love to have a mural that talked about the 150th anniversary of agriculture in Colorado.

I was like, okay, we figure out where everything kind of started, you know, the history of Colorado and trying to do a mural that would tell the story of the past with, the native communities, the Ute, the Plains communities and tribes, and then how sort of like snowmelt kind of feeds everything because, like, I didn't know about water ice until I moved to Colorado.

And, like, learning.

Okay, this is how you know you can grow things in Colorado only because of the snow and th melting in the rivers that it, it provides.

So it's one of those things was kind of like, for me, it' inspiring, to learn about that, but also communicate exactly how important each of those thing are in the history of Colorado.

Trying to put it into, not only words but now it's like into visuals.

And what that means today, is for me, exciting because now it's like when I eat food, I look at it differently and like, what was how many, how many peopl had their hands on it in a way.

Or when I go to the, you know, the produce section at the grocery store, okay.

Whereas where is this coming from?

Now I have a more of a appreciation of, you know, where the food comes from.

And who's growing it.

And, you know, just the whole community, agriculture community.

And then having a piece where it's super unique but also tells their story.

I feel like it's, honored to be able to be picked to actually tell that story.

Through my work.

So for me, it's super, super exciting.

And then to see at the stock show is super excited to see at the state Fair and meet a lot of these individuals.

So fo me, it's, this is just an honor.

I mean, it's difficult to figure out how to do, like, a portable mural, so took a lot of work, but I'm glad that I'm able to actually take this off o what would usually be on a wall and have it travel to many places where they may not have, the, the street art culture or the street art sort of, esthetic in their, in their community.

But now it's like they have a piece of artwork that represents them and something that they can enjoy that's different than what they're really used to.

And talking about their story.

The most challenging thing is like trying to tell everything.

And you can't really tell everything.

Trying to do that in many ways, whether it's like super in your face on the piec or super abstract and it's like it's the shape references that kind of story.

There's so many different parts of Colorado agriculture, that you want to tell, but there's only so much space to kind of tell that story.

So that's the only thing I thought was really interestin and sort of difficult was like, how do I sort of tal about all these different things without leaving anything out?

And for me, I try to do as much as I can to kind of like reference something to where now it sparks a conversation for you to kind of learn mor about it, trying to talk about where Colorado was before, and then what happened, the past, you know, 150 years and then almost kind of like what's happening today, especially with the openin of a spur spur campus, you know, educating the next generation on agriculture and growing.

And then new types of crops, that are more, you know, pest resistant or, you know, new type of technology to help you, have a better crop yield that year.

I would say I hope this mural, when someone from the agriculture community sees it, please, they feel tha their story is being told, that their story is being celebrated, through the arts and through like a unique artist, and style, hope that, you know, the kids see it and say, oh, this is really cool.

My community is is being celebrated.

I want to continue being, farmer carrying on that legacy.

So I hope hopefully this inspires the next generation as well.

Dieter says creating the mural was an honor, and that he can't wait to see each piece of it go out to different parts of the state and learn more about detour.

You can go to his website.

I am detour.com.

Next up in our segment calle The Doodle Desk and illustrated Interview, PBS Twelve's Kyle Dyer sits down with familiar faces from the Colorado Inside Out table for a deeper, more personal conversation as they reflect on the experiences that shape their perspectives on Colorado, the panelists tak on a playful artistic challenge, drawing each other's portraits.

During the interview.

In tonight's episode of Doodle Desk, Kyle Dyer talks to Colorado Inside Out panelist Alton Dillard about how his career has been shaped by journalism, election and civic engagement in Denver.

Alton reflects on community, authenticity and the importance of thoughtful local dialog.

While he and Kyle are also busy drawing.

Take a look.

Oh gosh.

As a journalist in Denver for so many years, whenever I think back on election days, Alton Dillar is the one of the first people who comes to mind no matter what time of day we called early mornings, late at night, or righ in the middle of election chaos, Alton always showed up.

He was professional calm, conversational and carries such a deep respect for the wor he was doing as a spokesperson for the cit and county elections in Denver, and that chapter of his career may be behind him, but Alton remains one of th most valuable resources we have, not just on how elections work, but how the entire city of Denver ticks.

He knows everybody, he engages with everybody, and he is admired for the way he connects, communicates, and brings people in.

Alton, what inspired you to become so active and civically active?

So I come from a very civically engaged family.

I probably was going to model cities meetings as a five year old, and then I first got into politics, walking precincts for former Mayor Wellington Webb when he first ran for the state House in 1972, when I was a nine year old.

So between that side and then I'm also the nephew of the late Lauren Watson who ran the Black Panthers here.

And so I've always com at community from either side.

You can wield the pan, you can wield a brick, and everything in between as the situation warrant.

Okay.

All right, well, let's get started here.

So, what, inspired you to go into journalism?

That was your first career, career ish?

Yes.

Okay.

Yes.

My first career was actuall as a laborer because I graduated with my journalism degree into a recession.

But of course, my inspiration to go into journalism is my mother, who is a one of the surviving founders of the National Association of Black Journalists and she, worked hard.

It was her second career.

She actually was a schoolteacher beforehand.

And so one of the other things that she always taught was that you have more than one career in you.

Yeah.

So I actually drove a, rent a car shuttle at the old Stapleton airport for three years.

And that's actually how I met.

Former United State Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who you ended up working for in Washington.

Ended up working for him both as his deputy press secretary and his press secretary.

As far as the whole, quote unquote, journalism career, I actually had an offer from the, CBS affiliate down in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

But it didn't happen until I was 29 years old.

So I was a little old to work for $12,000 a year.

The news director during my interview said that he looked favorably upon staffers who helped him meet women.

And I was waiting for the punch line.

And this dude was serious as a heart attack.

And then the kicker was, I was out, covering a high school, football game as part of my audition.

And someone call me boy from the stands.

Oh, and then the double kicker was one of the town fathers, was driving drunk and rolled his ca about a block from the station.

And I had exclusive footage of and got ther before the first responders did.

And they, squashed my footage, and I was like, I'm not doing this for $12,000 a year now.

So I became a discriminator of information instead of a hunter and gatherer of information.

I know you love to speak.

What advice do you giv people who are starting out, or like you or your mom who have transitioned?

Is there some kind of advice you give to people?

I just tell people, you know, be your authentic self.

So one of the tools that I us when it comes to telling people just how to, quote unquote speak is a, you know, take a beat.

So that little pause that I did before I said take a beat to my brain, it felt like 10s beat is only like a second, but it helps you with your pacing.

That's good for me to think about.

And I do talk fast.

So like that.

Taking that beat.

Yes.

So helpful.

Speaking of being on color inside out.

You're such a busy man.

Why is this important to you.

Why is it important for you to invest in your time to come in and be prepared to, talk abou what's going on and around us?

Well, you know, one of the reasons I think is just the ability to have, you know, frank discussio about what goes on in the world.

And I've always been a CIO fan because of the way the show is laid out and the way the show runs.

I almost cannot watc any of the major network cable quote unquote news anymore, because five people sitting around the table yelling at each other, three people sitting around table yelling, that's not news.

It makes me nostalgic for the old Chuck Roberts days with headline News back, you still have quote unquote news.

And so the other thing I think I bring the voice of the muddy middle.

I've been a membe of both parties at either time, during the course of my life and the course of my career, and I've bee an unaffiliated voter for years.

And so I always like to say that I bring the voice of the muddy middle to a lot of today's issues.

I'm curious about what do you think is underrated about Denver?

Create anything.

You know, what I think is underrated is discourse.

Yeah.

This is something that I put on my Facebook not too long ago was having a, you know, pretty frank discussion with a friend of mine who disagrees with my notion that lack of critical thought has put us on this path as a country and a society, just the inability that we have to speak or even associate with those whom we may not agree.

And I've got friend all over the political spectrum.

I have got gun toting friends down in Douglas County who, like, bring gun into restaurants when we go out.

I've got conservative, Republican, Catholic friends who I've know through the world of elections.

But I just think that's wha really, you know, rounds you out as a society is that ability to have the discussions.

Do you have to agree?

No.

Do you have to win the other person over to your way of thinking?

No.

One more personal question before our big reveal.

It's important for you in so many different ways to give back.

Like you say, you do a lot of things and do a lot of work.

The goodness of your heart, although we don't want that t be your whole, your whole thing.

Right.

But you're also a basketball coach, and I. These young boys need guys like you.

Why?

Why do you do that?

Oh, that's the simple one.

Because people did it for me.

My mother divorced when I was about three, and so she always kept me busy.

She had me in Boy Scouts after school.

Band, is a different era.

Like, for instance, my gym teacher would take me to father son night.

You'd end up in the newspaper these days if that happened.

That's just how our society has changed.

So for me, because people took time out of their lives, whether as Scout masters, whether there's Mr.

Sandoval at the, Red shield at 29th and high, people took time out of their lives to help keep me on the path because my family doesn't do statistics either.

You know, I'm a fourth generation college graduate, so growing up without a father in the home that was was what it was, but it was not going to chart my path in life.

Your mom must be so proud of you.

She is.

She's 90.

Yeah, my mom is 87.

Oh, and.

Okay, her husband's 92.

But I always like to tease my players when they talk about how their mom's baby them.

That, mother's a noun and a verb, and they just have to get used to dealing with it.

As long as they're around.

Yeah.

You're so lucky you have.

We both still have our moms.

Right.

And it's kind of fun to I mean just she's been recognized so much because of he role in journalism lately too.

Yes.

As a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists, I just rang in their 50th anniversary.

There were 44 of them who me at a hotel in Washington, D.C.

in May.

Get my mask right here.

I guess it would have been for 50 years.

75.

And at the risk of their careers.

So what's next?

What's next for you since you're kind of always changing?

I have, again, my little communications consultancy that I d that keeps me just busy enough.

I also serve on I'm the president of the Lincoln Hills Cares Foundation.

I'm a member of the Lincoln Hills Cares Corporation board on the corporate side and tell people who might not know, okay, the history of Lincoln Hills, okay?

Lincoln Hills is historically a black enclave.

It's located up in the area where Gilpin, Jefferson and Boulder counties kind of intersect.

And so in this you know, and I'm putting this in air quotes a liberal utopia of Denver, Colorado.

We had active redlining well into the 60s and beyond.

So a lot of the giants of black music, for instance, could perform in Denver.

They couldn't lodge in Denver.

Isn't that crazy?

And so they would go to Lincoln Park, they would go up the Lincoln Hills to the, little lodge there.

And, you know, we're talking going up Coal Cree Canyon at 1 or 2 in the morning, which I'm sure is not no way.

Denver.

But that is something that you know, we really work to keep the preservation piece in there and then also to expose, you know, quote unquote, city kids to, you know, a different way of looking both at life as far as being able to enjoy the great outdoors and then also to think in terms of maybe even having a career in the outdoors.

So, yeah, those are two of my boards.

I'm also a trustee of the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation, and then I am on the AARP State Executive Council.

Yes.

And my other board is the University of Northern Colorado Alumni Association.

What are you most proud of?

What I am most proud of, I would have to say is the basketball.

I've my first batch of peanut heads.

Seventh graders are now 32 year old men, and I still run into them around town even at places like Juneteenth.

And they still call me coach.

So that's my reward for all this.

I love that.

Okay so you ready for the big reveal?

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

I'm ready.

As ready as you'll ever be.

Think.

Think abstract.

Right on.

Right back to you.

Okay.

I'm keeping my glasses on, I can see.

Let's reveal to each other and then we'll show everybody.

Come.

Ready?

Yes.

UN deux trois.

Whoa!

Up again.

Think for cosplay.

Wasn't quite pacing properly.

You go show it to the camera on my scale.

All right.

It's a joy to work alongsid you all tonight and get to know you even a little bit better.

And to see it your artistic ability.

So this won't be something.

Maybe art lessons or in the future.

Yes, maybe I can do that.

I got your earring in though.

I got your earrings.

All right.

Thank you.

All ten.

That was just a snea peek of one of our conversations with our panelists.

For our full conversation with all of our insiders, check out the doodle Desk on the passport app.

PBS Twelve's YouTube channel or on our website, PBS 12.org, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We look forward to seeing you th In the coming weeks, we'll be showing you more of Kyle's Doodle desk interviews right here on studio 12, so do be sure to stay tuned for that.

Tonight we're taking you somewhere you may want to add to your list of unique experiences to check out in Colorado.

It's a place where food, community, and culture blend together beautifully.

We are talking about the new tribal African speakeasy in downtown Denver.

We sat down with the owners to hear their story, sample delicious cuisine, and explore the authentic African arts that fills the space.

So we are tribal and this is our march to Africa.

I'm tribal.

I'm from Douala in Cameroon.

And Douala is basically the economic capital of Cameroon.

I'm from Cameroon, set up on my own, which is the political capital.

I used to do a lot of Afrobeats events, big African parties in Denver and other cities, as well as started selling a little homesick, like I was away from my family, and I wasn't really seeing any corner cultural establishment that made me feel like I was reconnecting with home.

So then I started going to parties, and then from the parties, I was like, hey, like this.

Actually, a lot of people seeking culture here.

My crowd was kind of outgrowing the party in the nightclub scene a little bit.

They still wanted a way to enjoy African culture, and that's how I came up wit the idea of opening a speakeasy.

It's much mor than a speakeasy in a restaurant is a whole lot of culture is tied to, you know, how we grew up, what we saw growing up.

Africa is so misrepresented away from Africa.

It takes art, sometimes peopl to go to Africa to be like, wow.

Like nothing I've known about Africa my whole life is even the case.

We wanted to build a space where we actually control the narrative and what people are saying about African culture.

Let's start off with the door, right.

You guys have a QR code.

When he came up with the idea of the learning path that you got to learn something.

I was like, yeah, we do.

We have to do this because, you know, you might never have known anything about Africa, but you know, that one second you take to answer a question of like, here was the capital of diesel, where is this located?

And then, you know, you kind of like the next thing is like, maybe I should look this up o our website, there's a button.

When you click on that, it takes you to a standalone page, which is basically giving you a lesson about a random fact about Africa.

It changes all the time.

So you actually read that simple fact in less than a minute.

And so one quiz question which would generate a QR code for you.

And that's the QR code that we scan for you to come in, basically unlocking entry for you into the speakeasy.

We're not trying to check people's knowledge.

We're trying to help them learn something.

Well, I did it.

I mean, initially when w started this, being a speakeasy where you didn't intend to b a fully established restaurant.

Oh, we wanted to have African food bites.

If you think about i the Spanish culture tap house.

Right.

We wanted to just kind o be that, but we also felt like there might be some people her that might be a little hungry.

So we introduced the model and plate that you saw, which is kind of the plate that is shaped as the African continent.

That's been the most sold plate since we opened, and is doing numbers at everybody's armory.

I thought it was going to b a portion of people are hungry, but everybody comes in here and they want everything.

A little variation of plates.

We have our beef.

So y'all we have our chicken suya.

Then we have our Motherland Plate, which is a combination of everything that we do.

So you have jollof rice plantains or roasted potatoes, veggies, chicken or beef or shrimp.

And then we also obviously have our soil powder and African tradition and the room sauc that we made house made as well.

Oh my gosh, that sauce is amazing.

When we started this, you know, the goal was we want to represent all the countries.

I want to make sure everyone feel represented.

But you know, it's easier said than done and sometimes you have to start somewhere.

The amazing part of this concept is not just that we're offering food to others, but it's also the discovery and the learning experience that we are having about other countries in Africa as well.

So we can probably bring it to the people.

I'm making for you today.

Travels espresso martini here.

We like to specialize in using things particular to Africa.

That's no different than what this martini here.

And then we top it off with a little secret spice.

And that is all there is to it.

Let's go ahead and get you a sip of that.

The art.

I really take it to heart because, you know, I remember being a kid in the streets of Douala, Cameroon, going to the market with my mo at the entrance of the market.

You see a lot of people on the street that are very artistic because they're not getting a lot of spaces inside because it's too expensive.

So they're just on the street with a lot of the artwork, the paintings and a lot of pieces.

Right.

So when we build this space, I wanted to create a shelf space for them where they basically get visibility into, you know, and people seeing the work that they have been doing.

And now we're able to buy art from them at a premium and switch it every coupl of months and sell it back here.

So these guys no are very encouraged in Africa, to continue to exercise on the talent because they know they have a space overseas that is really showcasing the work, even if locally they're not getting a lot of recognition.

But we do have like artists that are in Denver, data in Colorado, Fort Collins, wherever that are Africans, that are like, you know, dude, that can represent Africa in some way.

For example, the mural on the wall, it's a Denver based artist that we want people to be able to soak in all of those different things because, as he said, all of those little pieces, the album message, the access, anything, there's a story behind it, like anything that was installed in here or that was built in here, you know how to story.

And there's a reason why you said the lights, because most flags, they have like just three stripes.

These lights are divided into three columns.

They represent counters.

And the whole thing is very, very intentional.

Even the lights, like it was important that it was hand.

Those lights are handmade.

The lady makes it one at a time which kind of gives homage to, like the artisans in Afric that do a lot with very little.

We want to really put everything to build a unique spot because this has never been done before.

African culture is a very inviting culture.

If you guys ever get the chance to go to Africa, and I hope you do, people are going to want to fee you like they want you to eat.

They want you to drink, they want you to dance.

They want you to have fun.

We just want people to feel lik this is a home away from home.

On behalf of African culture, the part that I take to heart the most is I want people to understan that this was built by Africans, but brought to everyone and anyone.

So I want when people, when they leave you, they want to feel like, wow I truly had a unique experience.

I want to tell everybody about it.

This is an African en establishment that is run by Africans but is being brought to everyone and anyone.

It was important that people come in here.

They are able to respect the culture but also enjoy.

Our PBS 12 crew said they truly felt like they were inside a place, immersed in both heart and culture and they can't wait to go back.

And I can't wait to check it out.

To learn more about their menu and upcoming events, head to their website, tribal speakeasy.com and make some plan to get a taste of something new.

Our next segment is part of Humanize Women in the workforce and Original series here on PBS 12 where we interview real people sharing their raw stories in their own voices.

We had the pleasur of interviewing Barbara Brooks, a powerhouse advocate who' rewriting the script on aging.

As the founder of Second Act Women, she's building a movement to empower women in midlife.

Barbara says women should embrace their value and speak up against ageism and thrive both personally and professionally.

Here's more with Barbara.

I'm Barbara Brooks, 58.

Proud of that chapter number, by the way.

I'm originall from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

A graduate of Colorado State University.

And I also like to say, I'm proud to say that I was born in Orlean, France.

That's the only French you're going to get from me.

Two military parents, mom, dad and also my brother were all military.

And so they retired here, as Houstonians in Colorado Springs in my, my preschool years.

So I'm a coloradan, but born abroad.

I started my career as a director of marketing of shopping centers all across the United States, Park Meadows Retail Resort being the last place that I was at as director of marketing.

And so my career has taken me from marketing and public relations, to in 2011, losing that, wonderful position and becoming an accidental entrepreneur.

So over the last few years, prior to where I do now, which is Campbell, slightly different, I was a market.

I had a marketing and, and public relations agency with my business partner, Guadalupe Hurt, who I met when I was at Park Meadows.

So fast forward to today, since 2018, when I myself, at 51 a the time, could not find a job, I decided to take an idea off the shelf and create a company focused on elevating women over a certain age.

Now I'm a pro age speaker.

When you bring all generations together, of which there are five in some workplaces, or four in most.

That's, of course, Z millennial, Gen X and boomers, and then traditionalists or above that.

That would be my mom.

My side way of eradicating ageism is to keep us all in the workplace.

This age group of 40, 50, 60 plus is powerful in so many ways.

The defining moment in my new career of being a pro age speaker and advocate was I couldn't get a job.

I was 51 only.

Operative word only 51, and I couldn't get a job.

And that was that 2018.

Prior to me turning 50, the glorious number of 50, I was able to get 90% of the positions that I would apply for, and somehow the world has said that humans over 50 are no longer valid.

No longer do we need your services.

Ageism is the last accepted ism in America.

Today.

We can make fun of it, look at it, go to hallmark, pick up a card.

Black balloons.

I used to laugh at them.

I gave my friends, gave me black balloons, and we laughed on my 40th.

It's not acceptable.

It is an ism that is affecting so many.

And so now today you have women, particularly over 40, who are driving the econom through their small businesses.

I believe the number is in the mid 40s.

I think it's 45 to 44% of small businesse in Colorado are owned by women.

And then nationally, it says that women over 40 are starting more businesses.

And so when we're talking about what was the change, for me it was ageism.

So I did something about it.

I decided I'm going to help other women.

And so that's where second act women came about.

We host career events, events to elevate our mental health.

If we can't get a job an we are caretaking for our kids, for our parents, for ourselves, and a lot of times we're not putting that oxygen mask on first.

If we're not able to do that because we can't hold have a job in the workplace, that's detrimental.

And I myself.

Have experienced the caregiving type.

And if I can say one thing.

How blessed I am that where I am today, even in this new career and where I have been since 14 working and the human that I am today is a testament to the mom that I am very important.

Who in 2023 had a stroke and we had to sell our childhood home of 50 years.

But there's hope.

I do this because there's still women who need to be advocated for.

And here's the thing.

1 in 3 people in America today guess how old they are?

50 and the US, UK and Australia in that order are all at the forefront of helping to o of working to eradicate ageism.

It's got better.

But the fight will continue.

We need for the world to understand our value.

We need to be hired.

My future is brighter than ever before, and so are the women who are 40, 50, 60 plus.

And I'm fighting for that.

If there's one thing I can tell anybody who's watching this, who needs to hear it, and they are over 40, 50, 60 plus, you can don't let anybody.

And this is the biggest cliche, but at 58, I finally get it.

Don't let anybody tell you you were less than.

Don't let anybody tell you you're too old.

Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do what the thing is you want to do.

You want to do do it.

And I will tell you, you will have a community behind you.

Not just my community of second act women, but if you surround yourself around the right people, you will have women who are there with you, lifting you up.

Because today in my world and I'm a gen-xers, there is no crabs in a barrel pulling each other down.

Heck no, we are there.

Women in particular.

We are there for each other more than I've ever seen in my entire life.

You will have others who are there to lift you up because you are worth more than you ever know, not even in the experience.

The wisdom, what you bring to the table on the job, but also what you bring in life.

You have reared kids or not.

You have done things or not because it's choice.

But you have to remember that you can and you will, and we will all watch you, and we will lift you and be there for you to watch the entire humaniz women in the workforce series, you can go to our website, PBS 12.org, or find the series on our YouTube channel.

Jazz has long shaped the cultural identity of Denver's Five Points neighborhood, not just through music, but through art, history, and community.

Darryl Anderson is a Denver based visual artist whose work draws inspiration from jazz, translating its rhythm and movement into bold, colorful imagery from gallery exhibitions to large scale public art installations at Denver International Airport and RTD transit stations.

Anderson's work is rooted in his desir to unite the world through art.

Here's more about Darryl in tonight's heart of the West.

Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go.

Don't you know, that, first name is Darryl?

And last name is Anderson.

Okay.

Yeah, you can integrate some of that in there.

And, now let's go on down to look at Blue.

I like to be known as an international artist.

I was born a block up the street, from the Ross on you.

So there's such a strong relationship with wonderful things to talk about.

About how this whole community has grown.

My work from 40 years of doing this has taken me all over the world.

And for me, that's very, very important because I was born on the five, I. Always had a desire in the beginning when I would create art to get away from that dysfunctional environs.

Man, I was raised here, so it was a safeguard.

It was a place that I could get, lost in my imagination.

As I got older, I went to, East High School, and there was a teacher ther named Dick Art who taught art, and he told me that, you know, one day yo probably could become an artist.

So my time, in the military, when I got drafted, when I was a flight attendant for a while and quitting that job and doing this full time.

And ever since then, I followed my dream.

If you don't.

Follow your passion, you'll regret it for the rest of your life.

Zero.

Go.

There we go.

Oh, yeah.

You can do some of that.

To be born and raised here.

And, it's about giving back.

You know, I think it's very important from where I came from, the accomplishments that I've made in my life, tha I share those with my community that, put out there that anything is possible.

I remember, the Ros Onion was my studio for a while, so people would come into Russ oneand what are you doing in there?

And it was like, I would engage the community to make art.

Matter of fact, RTD did mosaics that I had a chance to do and all the handicapped stations.

But the train wasn't here yet, so the, community wasn't too fond of that.

So I switche from where I was supposed to do the public art, and I brought it to the Five Points.

And I had everybody at the time in the community helped me make those mosaics.

So all of a sudden the are know, reunited with community, United with RTD.

Hence the train runs and and now there's people who take ownership because of that, because of the way I was able to engage.

You know, jazz makes my heart sing.

Danc will take you all over the place and bring you back home, settle you down and chew you out.

My mind is constantly traveling the way jazz does.

You can do it, old man.

To me, it's one of the cornerstones of the existenc of who I am in this community.

With, the Russ honey and the jazz that happened down here.

When the casino cavalry did their thing and brought all these jazz musicians in here a while back, while I still had that, the Russ Odeon as a studio.

So, this visual dynamic of putting swirls and movement and strategy is to present for Broadway how jazz is formulated.

So I'm visually trying to show the sound of jazz on a two dimensional surface.

Oh, yeah.

See?

Okay.

Trying to get up for Let's Dance.

We have fascinating people in our community.

One of the gift I've gotten over time is having a relationshi with this wonderful human being who has added so much to my life, what he has done for our community, what he has done for me, the way his music scenes, not just with the piano, but the way he sings with his giving, he has affected so many different people in the community of Denver.

He's like a music survivor, but the roots of that lies into his beautiful memory.

Yeah, you could quote wha he was doing on a certain day.

What year?

Who is with and, what are you accomplished?

So that was my delicious relationship with her.

Now, Stevens.

Because of the influence that, Pernell had in my life.

So I want to document, Pernell in a in a public setting because there's so many people who knew from now, he's an icon in our community.

He's done so much for so many people, music wise, giving it space and time.

And it was always a pleasure in.

We would go down five points during the jazz festival, and he would play the Five Points Jazz Festival and just talk about how the whole place has changed.

I can make his image last forever, and hopefully it outlives me.

I needed to make sur that I take care of my community by making something visual that will last and represent who and what our community is about.

So it's just an honor and a privilege to make him live forever.

Having this to happen is going to be exciting and wonderful because you know, when I totally get out of the way, it turns out to be wonderful art and what he's done to show this artwork.

For me, it's pretty awesome because I get to come back to my community and make a difference.

It's a variety of the kind of work that I do because I'm kind of all over the place.

I'm never to succum to one particular form of art.

I do public art.

I do all kinds of fascinating things.

And for me, it's about taking a risk to see if I can do it.

An accomplishment that scares me after death.

And then all of a sudden I mak it happen and it just puts in, the residence of my mind that anything is possible.

Truly incredible work.

And we want to thank Daryl again for sharing his time and his story with us.

To learn more about Daryl and his art, you can go to Daryl anderson.com.

Thank you for joining us tonight as we shared stories rooted in black history, creativity, resilience and community stories that remind us how the past continues to shape Colorado today, this Black History special on studio 12 is about honoring those who came before us and celebrating the people who continue to carry their work and their dreams forward.

For more conversations, culture and community storytelling, visit us at PBS 12.org o find us on our YouTube channel.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Bosie Kainani and I'm Ryan Hare.

Have a great week.