Michael Hancock’s Road To Becoming Denver’s 45th Mayor “I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”
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By Rachel Phillips-Cox
– Langston Hughes
espite an economically disadvantaged upbringing Denver Mayor-elect Michael Hancock set out early in life knowing where he wanted to go – a career in politics. Hancock can even recall the exact moment when the thought came to mind. “Believe it or not, it was former First Lady Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No to Drugs” campaign. We were walking door-to-door trying to recruit kids to the campaign.” During one campaign walk, Hancock thought, “I like this politics stuff,” as it allowed him to engage with people. His vision was confirmed during 6th grade when his teacher noticed something special in him despite his acting out in the classroom. During one incident, Hancock recounted, “My teacher gave me an ultimatum...get involved with student government or go to the principal’s office.” Hancock recalled that he got involved with student government because his teacher made him; however, he would not let her know that he kind of liked it. When Hancock turned 13 years old, he thought, “I think I can do this as a career or this is something that I want to do in life.” Recently, Hancock saw his 6th grade teacher and told her that making him get involved in student government was, “The moment that changed my life because she could have easily taken me down to the principal’s office and thrown me under the bus.” Hancock looks back on his challenging upbringing as a blessing in disguise. He candidly admitted that, “The challenges I faced growing up taught me a lot about myself although I did not realize it at the time that they were teaching me anything.” He added, “Those challenges taught me that perseverance and faith…which I still use today get me through the tough times.” Hancock also disclosed that he persists in “Having hope and belief that it might be tough, but we will get through this; and not overreacting or becoming too emotional as a result of situations.” Hancock elaborated,
Photo by Pat Duncan
“When you face tough times and things come out right, you tend to adopt this internal hope that ‘no matter what I face I can get through anything.’” Hancock looks back on his past now and thinks that even though it did not seem very fun, it was really a blessing that made him stronger and taught him things about himself that he did not know. Along with the blessing of tough times that strengthened Hancock’s character are the people during his youth that pushed and encouraged him to excel. Hancock acknowledged that, “My mother was my greatest mentor in my life as I witnessed her perseverance to make ends meet for her and her 10 children.” He also credited his uncle for, “Teaching me how to be a man and showing me how to treat people with kindness and respect.” Hancock believes that we motivate our youth by living and being the example for them. Hancock explained, “I can tell my son and daughters about the difficulty I faced growing up, and when they complain, I tell them they do not know the real meaning of tough times.” He further explained, “They have never experienced tough times. Just because the soda that you want is not cold, try not having a soda or not having anything to eat...I’ll show you tough. Or when they say they’re hungry and there’s nothing to eat because everything is frozen…I wish I had something frozen that we could thaw out to eat when I was growing up.”
Hancock understands that today’s kids are different, so to him, we have to lead our youth demonstrating to them that, “Just because something goes bad or wrong in your life, it does not mean it’s the end of the world. Tomorrow does come.” Not only does Hancock pay it forward with his kids, he has mentored countless youth and emerging leaders in the Denver community. Hancock spent the last four years mentoring Chris Herndon, who was recently elected to fill Hancock’s vacant District 11 Denver City Council seat.
A Divine Plan
There are days in our lives in which we believe that everything seems to be going according to a divine plan and we feel that our moment has arrived. Hancock is living his moment now. “We all have seasons and you wake up one day and realize that your season has arrived,” he commented. He feels that he has been given a special opportunity to lead the city of Denver. He advised, “You must do the best that you can when your season has arrived, because there will come a day when people will forget about Michael Hancock. Therefore, don’t forget to bless others while living in your season.” Hancock was a well-received city council member with his many efforts to improve District 11 during his two terms in office. Hancock noted that his greatest achievements included, “Raising awareness to building great schools to build better neighborhoods;
Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – July 2011
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bringing infrastructure into neighborhoods that include Northfield Mall in Stapleton; the massive parkway that is underway around the Montbello Recreation Center; and developing strategies to fight foreclosures.” Hancock hopes that Herndon will continue his effort to build more infrastructure in Green Valley Ranch. During the 2011 mayoral campaign, Hancock’s opponents attempted to attack his ability to lead the city when they claimed that the city council passes laws, but lacks the skills to implement them. Until Hancock, no other city council member won a Denver mayoral election. Hancock’s ability to lead was shown in his previous managerial roles at the Denver Housing Authority and the Urban League of Denver. During Hancock’s tenure as the youngest president at the Urban League, he developed a strategic plan to lead fundraising efforts to quickly turn around the organization’s budget downfalls. When Hancock was reminded how his first check at the Urban League bounced, Hancock chuckled, “It’s funny now, but it sure wasn’t funny then.” Hancock perceives himself as an inclusive and visionary leader. “My biggest skill is to surround myself with people who can grab a hold of my vision and take off in that direction to achieve set goals,” he asserted. Despite the negative campaigning against Hancock during the mayoral race, he remained focused on leading a campaign that was positive and focused on the office. “Being at peace in knowing that this was my appointed time to be in the place that I was destined allowed me to run a campaign that I could be proud of,” he maintained. “Throughout the campaign, my attitude was that even if I lost I would be satisfied in knowing that I ran a positive campaign that was not sidetracked by engaging in negativity.” While on Denver City Council, “The public is allowed to sit in and react to some of the toughest decisions that the council has to make,” he said. “Being in a fish bowl and having to deal with some of the public’s reactions to some decisions, prepared me for the negative effects in my campaign for the mayor’s race.”