A Statement from the Board of Directors of The EBEP Regarding the Dangerous Actions and Public Misconduct of Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky

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A Statement from the Board of Directors of The Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership

July 7th, 2025

DENVER, CO– We, the Board of Directors of The Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, an intergenerational collective of Black women leaders who stand unapologetically for justice, dignity, and legacy, issue this statement with both ancestral clarity and contemporary urgency.

Recently, our CEO and Founder, MiDian Shofner, attended a public candidate forum with the intent to engage Aurora City Councilmember Amsalu Kassaw on his deafening silence regarding the police killing of Kilyn Lewis, a 37-year-old Black man whose life was unjustly taken by Aurora SWAT Officer Michael Dieck. MiDian’s presence at this forum was lawful, composed, and intentional.

What followed, however, was a chilling reminder of a long and dangerous pattern: a white woman, cloaked in power and proximity to law enforcement, weaponizing both to remove a Black woman from a public space. Not for causing disruption, not for inciting harm, but for daring to name truth, demand accountability, and defend Black life. Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky’s actions reflect a lineage of violence and white entitlement that has too often ended in tragedy for Black communities.

Despite being verbally attacked, physically intimidated, and publicly threatened by Councilwoman Jurinsky, MiDian chose composure over chaos. She refused to meet violence with violence. She rejected the perverse invitation to a boxing ring and instead offered a vision for collective healing, inviting our community to a dance floor through a counteroffer of a ‘dance battle’ instead of a fist fight. This was not offered to entertain the community, but to provide an example to our youth who need to see different outcomes when faced with the option of violence.

This is leadership. This is what courage looks like. This is the standard.

We unequivocally denounce Councilwoman Jurinsky’s reckless attempt to incite violence under the thin veil of sport. This was not humor. This was not leadership. This was a public display of weaponized whiteness masquerading as spectacle, placing the life of a Black woman, our CEO, in direct danger.

Even more disturbing is that this behavior was not only broadcast by an elected official, but was also publicly affirmed by community elders who should know far better.

To those elders who co-signed this violence with laughter or silence, we are disappointed and disgusted.

Leadership is not measured in age alone. It is measured in discernment, in moral clarity, and in the ability to see beyond your own nostalgia to the realities our people face now. You should have known better. You do know better. And if you’ve forgotten, allow this moment to remind you: our youth are watching. Our daughters are watching. We are all watching. There is no healing in harm. There is no wisdom in spectacle. There is no legacy in enabling violence.

Despite all of this, MiDian agreed to a private healing circle, initiated by two women in the wellness community, alongside Councilwoman Jurinsky. That engagement came with firm boundaries: legal matters would not be discussed; peace would not be mistaken for partnership; and truth would not be softened for the comfort of white fragility. Her participation, even amidst deep personal risk, is a reflection of her integrity and of a leadership tradition rooted in possibility even when confronted by the violent contradictions of the present.

However, we must also acknowledge the harm that has occurred: there is a toll.

Since this incident, MiDian and her family have received direct threats. And we, as a Board, are now forced to reallocate resources from programming to protection, from service to security. Every dollar spent shielding her from white rage is a dollar pulled from community investment. This is the ripple effect of racialized violence. This is the cost of leadership while Black.

We now demand the following from the full body of the Aurora City Council:

– A formal public condemnation of Councilwoman Jurinsky’s statements and behavior.

– An immediate censure and sanctions for violating the ethical obligations of her office.

– Mandatory hair follicle drug testing for all current councilmembers, with a particular and immediate test for Councilwoman Jurinsky, given her erratic conduct and history of inflammatory behavior.

Anything less than action is endorsement. Your silence will be remembered not as neutrality, but as complicity.

Black women do not need to prove their strength in boxing rings. We prove it in courtrooms, classrooms, boardrooms, council chambers, and in the streets. We are not here for your entertainment. We are here to build, to lead, to liberate. We will not be baited into violence to make our presence palatable.

MiDian has carried both the brilliance and burden of Black womanhood in Aurora with grace and grit. She deserves protection, not provocation. Respect, not ridicule.

This statement is not only a defense of MiDian. It is a defense of every Black woman who has ever been cornered, questioned, or threatened for standing tall in the face of power and oppression.

We will not shrink. We will not flinch. We will not be moved by threats masked as invitations.

And we will not rest until Aurora becomes a place where Black women can lead, dissent, and organize without being targeted by elected officials—or anyone else.