Policing in Communities of Color
On October 6, 2021, at 7 p.m. MDT. Attorney, former Colorado state senator and representative Penfield Tate moderated a public conversation with Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition Deputy Director Juston Cooper, former Independent Monitor of the Denver Police and Sheriff Departments Nicholas Mitchell, civil rights attorney Qusair Mohamedbhai, and Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson. They talked about the past, present, and future issues surrounding policing and public safety in communities of color and explore how to work together to enhance public safety. You can view the recorded event on Colorado Humanities Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Moderator and Panelists
Penfield
W. Tate III
Attorney, former Colorado state senator and representative
Founder of Tate Law serving individuals, businesses, and government agencies, Penfield was an aide to former Denver Mayor Federico Peña, in the cabinet of former Colorado Governor Roy Romer as Executive Director of the Department of Administration, and spent over six years in the Colorado General Assembly — four years in the House as the State Representative for District 8, and over two years in the Senate as the State Senator for District 33. Penfield is the founder of Tate Law, and his client-centered, problem-solving approach to his nearly 40-year practice focuses on serving governments in public finance and municipal law and people in corporate and business matters, such as wills, estates, trusts, and wealth preservation.
Juston
Cooper
Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition Deputy Director
Juston Cooper graduated from Denver public schools in 1996, and holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Marketing from Metropolitan State University and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Colorado at Denver. His varied career working on social justice issues through political engagement, public policy, strategic planning, organizational development, coalition building, and grassroots organizing has helped to build and implement public health and safety strategies that address criminal and juvenile justice reform. Justin asserts that it’s essential to build and mobilize political power in community in order to truly provide health and safety. He believes that in order to reconcile the harm done to communities by systems of oppression, we must understand the systemic issues and barriers oppressed communities face.
Nicholas
E. Mitchell
Independent Monitor (of Denver Police and Sheriff Departments 2012-2021)
Nick is currently the court-appointed monitor of a Department of Justice consent decree with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Between 2012 and 2021, Nick was the Independent Monitor of the Denver Police and Sheriff Departments and oversaw all internal investigations into Denver’s approximately 2,300 sworn police officers and sheriff deputies. He received awards from the Denver Bar Association and the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, and has been recognized as an expert on civilian oversight and law enforcement reform on CNN, in The New Yorker, and other national publications. Nick is a graduate of Fordham Law School and is a former Gates Foundation Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He was previously a member of the Board of Governors of the Colorado Bar Association and the Board of Directors of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.
Quisar
Mohamedbhai
Civil Rights Attorney
Qusair is a partner at Rathod | Mohamedbhai law firm. His practice is exclusively in the areas of plaintiff’s employment discrimination and constitutional civil rights litigation. He advocates for the rights of employees in the workplace, and for the civil rights of all individuals against governmental and institutional abuses of power. His awards include the Sam Cary Bar Association – Warrior for Justice award (2018), Lawyer of the Year – Law Week Colorado (2017), and Colorado LGBT Bar Association Ally of the Year (2017). He teaches (National Institute for Trial Advocacy, University of Denver Sturm College of Law and others) and publishes on civil rights issues in addition to representing his clients, most notably The Estate of Elijah Javon McClain, et al. v. City of Aurora, et al. (Police Violence Causing Death) in 2019.
Vanessa
Wilson
Aurora Chief of Police
Vanessa Wilson was sworn in as the 14th Chief of Police for the city of Aurora, Colorado on August 17th, 2020, and is the first woman to serve as Chief. She joined the Aurora Police Department on December 30, 1996 as a Patrol Officer. She served
as the Interim Chief of Police starting on January 1, 2020. Chief Wilson earned a Bachelor’s of Arts, from the University of Wyoming, and in 2019 graduated from FBI National Academy Class #275. Highlights of her career include the establishment of the Aurora Police Department’s first Domestic Violence Unit, scheduled to become fully operational this year. Chief Wilson was also recently selected to be a member of the FBI’s National Executive Institute Association of key Federal, state, and local chief executives of the largest law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe.
This program is the sixth in the collaborative Changing the Legacy of Race and Ethnicity – Conversations for One America series presented by Colorado Humanities and many partners to encourage understanding and discussion about the legacy of race and ethnicity in America. Conversations examine causes for current situations and offer ways to make changes now for a more just future. This program was inspired by summer 2020 events, when several violent acts of racism sparked an awakening in America and the streets were filled with passionate advocates who demanded the end of police brutality and systemic racism.
Whites and Racial Justice
Dr. Dwinita Mosby Tyler facilitated a conversation with journalist and author Helen Thorpe and former Colorado State Senator Michael “Mike” Johnston of Gary Investments about what Whites can do to support racial justice. The panelists responded to live to questions and comments from online participants. View the recorded event on Youtube and Facebook.
Moderator and Panelists
Dr. Dwinita Mosby Tyler
Dr. Dwinita Mosby Tyler is Chief Catalyst and Founder of The Equity Project, LLC, a consulting firm supporting organizations and communities in building diversity, equity and inclusion strategies and The HR Shop, LLC, a human resources firm designed to support non-profits and small businesses. She is also the former vice president of Children’s Hospital Colorado and former Executive Director of the Office of Human Resources for the City and County of Denver and the first African American woman to hold each of those positions.
Mike Johnston
Mike Johnston is the President and CEO of Gary Community Investments, which uses non-profit and for-profit investments to transform the lives of low income children in Colorado. Mike was a senior education policy advisor to Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign and transition and served two terms in the Colorado State Senate, 2009-2017, where he passed over 100 bills with bipartisan support.
Latinx Equity Before/After Covid
View an online panel of experts from a health equity agency, city government, school board, and chamber of commerce discussing issues and prospects for Covid-19 recovery for Latinx and Hispanic communities, both locally and nationally. This public conversation addresses equity gaps in education, health, and economics for Latinx and Hispanic Coloradans. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing racial and ethnic inequalities. According to recent data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, white Coloradans are twice as likely to have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as Hispanic Coloradans.
Moderator and Panelists
Theresa Trujillo
Theresa Trujillo currently serves as the Director of Community Organizing at the Center for Health Progress. She is a community organizer with decades of experience in facilitation, deepening community engagement, and campaign management. She understands that community organizing is something we build and create; it does not just magically happen. She relies on the power of storytelling and relationship building as a means of transformation. Theresa’s passion for power building within marginalized communities has guided her to engage in disciplined, strategic practices to build democratic and collective power, and to create the conditions for a community to thrive. Her activism is rooted in her local community and she deeply appreciates the unique opportunity to organize in the community where she was born and raised.
Bobby LeFebre
Bobby LeFebre is an award-winning writer, performer and cultural worker fusing a non-traditional multi-hyphenated professional identity to imagine new realities, empower communities, advance arts and culture, and serve as an agent of provocation, transformation, equity and social change. LeFebre is a two-time Grand Slam Champion, a National Poetry Slam Finalist, an Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist, and a two-time TEDx speaker. He has performed at hundreds of cultural events, social actions, detention centers, conferences, and colleges and universities across the United States and abroad. LeFebre’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Huffington Post, The Guardian, American Theater Magazine, NPR, and Poets.Org. In 2019, LeFebre was named Colorado’s 8th Poet Laureate, making him the youngest and first person of color to be appointed to the position in its 100-year history. LeFebre holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Metropolitan University of Denver and a master’s degree in Art, Literature and Culture from the University of Denver.
Debbie Ortega
Councilwoman Deborah “Debbie” Ortega has dedicated her life to serving the citizens of Denver. She was elected Denver Councilwoman At-large in 2011 and reelected in 2015 and 2019. Prior to being elected at-large, Ortega served as the first executive director of Denver’s Homeless Commission. Under her leadership the foundation was laid for the success of Denver’s Road Home, the city’s 10-year plan to end homelessness. She represented City Council District 9 from 1987 to 2003. Councilwoman Ortega led the efforts to have three neighborhoods declared an EPA Superfund site and to clean-up environmental contamination from decades of smelter and other industrial operations in the area. Councilwoman Ortega’s commitment to Denver’s citizens extends beyond her office, as she is currently Chair of Del Norte Neighborhood Development Corporation, providing housing and services to low-income residents.
Angela Cobián
Angela Cobián (she/ella) is a is a teacher-turned-community organizer and currently in her first term on the Denver Board of Education. As the daughter of Mexican immigrants, she has dedicated her career to building power among students and families. Cobián was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to consult with the NGO Enseña por Mexico on program development for student-led social change initiatives, as well as co-teach English at the Universidad Pedagogica Nacional in Mexico City. Upon returning from Mexico, Cobián began organizing the parents of her former students as a Bilingual Community Organizer with Together Colorado, an affiliate of the Faith in Action National Network. She led school and congregation-based organizing on immigration and education issues. Angela continued her work in collective action as the Director of National Organizing and Development with Leadership for Educational Equity, where she redesigned national programs to shift to anti-racist organizing and coaching organizers to launch new regions across the country. She continues advocacy for civic and social change as the Director of Coalition Advocacy at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Action Fund. In recognition of her “dedication and commitment to the Latino community,” Angela Cobián received the Lena L. Archuleta Community Service Award from the Denver Public Library in 2020.
Mike Ferrufino
Mike Ferrufino serves as the President/CEO of the Colorado Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, representing a diverse network of more than 100,000 Hispanic owned Colorado businesses. He advocates locally and nationally on behalf of the COHCC members as well as for low-income, minority, and immigrant communities. His expertise in the Hispanic market has helped to increase the effectiveness of regulatory and legislative strategy. He is a national leader in economic development and business strategies and has more than 30 years of experience in Spanish language media as Vice President and General manager of Latino Communications. He is most passionate about empowering traditionally underserved populations to create economic opportunity, close educational opportunity gaps and improve health outcomes.
About the Series
The issue of racism and violence against people of color runs deep. While we‘ve made progress over the years, this feels like a moment when people all over the country recognize that half-measures are not enough. This is a deep, centuries-in-the-making challenge that we face to undo racism, and we need decisive action.
Changing the Legacy of Race & Ethnicity is a conversation series initiated by Colorado Humanities and implemented with partners to encourage understanding and discussion about the legacy of race and ethnicity in America, and how to make changes now for a more just future.
The first five panel presentations are available to view on Colorado Humanities’ and select partners’ YouTube and Facebook pages.
