Statement from the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance
Carib b ean Juneteenth Caribbean Heritage Fair 2014
ECoxpe rience Experience lorado Black Culture Colorado Black Culture
June 20-22 June Hillside Community Comm mmu unit nity y Center Center Hillside Fount ntain ain Park Park Fountain 925 South Institute Street Colorado Springs, Springs, CO CO 80903 Colorado be
an Am
Colorado
ica n He
12
recommendations for how individuals, churches, community organizations, leaders and elected officials can be part of the solution. Bailey said she is “struck by the persistence of institutional racism. People want to see change, make change, but don’t know how. We need a bridge (from conversations) to affectively advocating for change.” Dorothy Hayden-Watkins, Ph.D., who wrote the “Introduction” for the CBRT report, warned the attendees to “not underestimate the power of the law. (We do not need to be) relegated to suffering harassment without recourse.” Phillips said the alliance will “continue to work with the Citizen Oversight Board and the Office of Independent Monitor to ensure changes are being made and our concerns are being addressed. Denver Sheriff Gary Wilson has provided an opportunity for the GMDMA to serve on three committees within his department that will allow us to review current practices and recommend change.” Editor’s Note: For more information about the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance, email revgolson@aol.com. For more information about the Colorado Black Round Table, email drsrbb@yahoo.com.
er
Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – May 2014
Rev. William T. Golson
ies nieittsssi muil am CoFm
“The district attorney’s office will not recommend or pursue criminal charges for any case without believing they can obtain an affirmative court room decision. This was the reasoning behind their decision not to file criminal charges in regards to the death of Marvin Booker. This is not new information; the disposition of the DA’s office was officially rendered in writing after their office filed their report. The DA’s office cannot go back on their decision unless new evidence or testimony was to be presented that would warrant criminal charges. The FBI and Federal Justice Department made inquiries into the case and also did not choose to pursue criminal charges against the officers involved. “The recent ruling of the appellate court cannot be used to create a criminal case against the officers involved in the Booker case. This judgment comes from a lower ranked court and the findings of the civil appellate court can only be used in the pending civil case but cannot be used to substantiate a filing in a criminal court. The appellate court rulings will allow the family to pursue, and rightly so, civil litigation against the city, and the GMDMA stands with the Booker family to that end.”
The GMDMA provided updates about Booker’s case at the Colorado Black Round Table (CBRT) meeting on April 19 at the Hiawatha Davis Jr. Recreation Center. The CBRT is comprised of African American leaders from around the state. The updates were a continuance of dialogue the alliance has had with the community over the years, including press conferences, to engage concerned citizens on various issues impacting the African American community. But they emphasized that fighting civil rights violations and violators is about more than holding press conferences and organizing marches. During the meeting, Phillips said, “It’s about the long-term commitment necessary to bring policy changes necessary to protect victims of injustice and punish perpetrators. We are not totally dismissing a radical approach. It [our actions] needs to be done knowing what our ‘ask’ is and what we want at the end of the day.” He added that it’s important to understand what can be proven in a court of law. Under Golson, the alliance is working to become “proactive instead of reactive and to be in a position to ask ‘is this policy or outside policy?’ The more justified noise we can make the better. We just can’t get upset when we don’t know the facts.” The attention of ministers to such matters is invaluable according to H. Malcolm Newton, Ph.D., president of the Denver Institute for Urban Studies. He emphasized that the leadership role of churches has “always been the way that we have been able to mobilize” to address issues of concern in the African American community. The timing of the alliance’s presentation coincided with the CBRT’s response to a report by the Rocky Mountain PBS I-Team’s “Losing Ground” report released January 2013. It revealed that many gains African American and Latino Coloradans made with the 1960s civil rights movement have now been lost. Sharon Bailey, Ph.D., director of the Colorado Black Round Table: Losing Ground Community Education Project has authored a report called, “Gaining Ground in Colorado’s African American Communities.” It makes
h Carib
ted, who is watching? Most importantly, who is prepared to do something about it? After nearly four years of standing beside a family as they maneuvered the legal system in a quest for justice (for Marvin Booker), the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance (GMDMA) is on a renewed mission to change policies that impact civil rights. The death of Booker on July 9, 2010 and the attack of Anthony Waller while in a courtroom on Sept. 11, 2012, stand as two of Denver’s more recent and memorable cases involving a detained African American man and a deputy or deputies. The spotlight is on their cases, but they are not the only ones to face such incidents, according to Rev. William T. Golson, president of the GMDMA. “Although there are many others these two have been, and are, of particular concern to the alliance due to
Ministers’ Mission Spurs Discussion at Black Round Table Meeting
nt
When a wrong has been commit-
Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance.” She added, “I understand that including the alliance in conversations will help to collectively find meaningful solutions to issues that often arise throughout Denver’s diverse communities.”
ta g e Mo
By Angelia McGowan
the video record that has been observed in the news,” wrote Golson in a column published in the April 2014 issue of the Body of Christ newspaper. “As we view these videos, in particular, it leaves little doubt that a violation of rights has occurred.” The alliance has met with Denver city officials, including the mayor’s office and the district attorney’s office, to better understand the city’s disciplinary process, specifically their “concerns with the use of excessive force and law enforcement personnel malbehavior. We have learned that there are administrative and legislative barriers that are responsible for outcomes that have repeatedly plagued our community with these types of reoccurring events,” said Pastor Del Phillips, vice president of the alliance. Establishing a relationship is important according to Department of Safety Executive Director Stephanie O’Malley. “A public-facing agency like the Denver Department of Public Safety is better able to meet a particular community’s needs when it develops strong government-community relationships,” said O’Malley, who assumed her role in December 2013. “Recognizing the benefits that result from these types of interactions, I support instances that bring community members to the same table as decision makers, as is the case with the Greater
ri
Ministers Commit to Working for Policy Changes
www.africanamericanvoice.net/juneteenth.html www.nationaljuneteenth.com or 7719.528.1954 19.528.1954