Juneteenth is Monday. It commemorates the date in 1865 when some enslaved Black people were finally informed that they had been freed as slavery ended in the United States. As part of that commemoration, CPR News has partnered with Cleo Parker Robinson Dance to create community forums aimed at elevating Black voices in Colorado.
Chandra Thomas Whitfield will lead a conversation with the dance company's namesake and founder, along with DEI scholar, Dr. Brenda Allen, at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 17, just down the street from Denver's annual Juneteenth Festival taking place this weekend on Welton Street.
Today, we share part of last year's conversation. The topic was "Black Voices Matter: The Impact of Black Communications and Journalism." Dr. Allen, from the University of Colorado Denver, was the moderator. The panelists were CPR's Sherkiya Wedgeworth-Hollowell; Stephen Brackett, the state of Colorado's music ambassador; "Maleman" Dotson with The Drop radio; and Alfonzo Porter, managing editor of the Denver Urban Spectrum newspaper and a journalism professor at Metro State University.
One final note: The panel was recorded in 2022. Porter died unexpectedly several months later, in March, 2023.
