FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community,

For over 40 years, House District 8 has been a symbol of Black leadership in the Colorado State Legislature.

However, the 2024 elections present a critical juncture where we risk losing this historically Black seat due to a highly contested primary featuring multiple Black candidates.

Such scenarios have historically led to the division of votes, often resulting in the loss of Black representation. To avoid repeating this pattern and to prioritize the preservation of Black political power in the state capitol, I have decided to suspend my campaign for the Democratic nomination for Colorado House District 8. This decision transcends my personal aspirations and reflects my commitment to the community and maintaining Black representation in our legislature. I want to thank those who donated to our campaign, endorsed both locally and nationally, and every neighbor that we met on the doors.

In 2019, I was honored to become the youngest Black elected official in Colorado’s history, serving on the Denver School Board. This experience deepened my understanding of the need for greater Black representation in educational and community leadership.

Subsequently, I founded the Colorado Black Caucus of School Board Directors, serving as its
inaugural President, and continued my commitment to the community by launching the
Black Santa Project, which has distributed over 30,000 toys to children during the holidays.

Building on my experience as serving as an elected official and community organizer, I am
thrilled to announce the launch of The Center for Advancing Black Excellence in Education.

We are an education nonprofit deeply dedicated to uplifting Black communities through the
power of education. Our mission is grounded in the conviction that access to high-quality
education is not just a right, but the foundation of thriving and resilient communities. We
commit ourselves to disrupting the systems that cause educational disparities faced by Black
students. Through this work, we will reimagine our K-12 education system and dismantle
deeply rooted systems of oppression.

Our approach is multifaceted: we implement innovative programs that provide vital resources, steadfast support, and strong advocacy, all meticulously designed to cultivate and honor the innate potential within each student. Our work is built upon three core pillars – educating future leaders, advocating for systemic changes in education, and celebrating our communities through philanthropic giving.

As passionate co-conspirators in the pursuit of educational equity, we are dedicated to fostering environments where Black students are not merely recognized but are also empowered to achieve excellence.

Our founding Board is made up of passionate educators, advocates, and community leaders who are dedicated to advancing Black excellence in education. Our fiscal sponsor and Board
Chair will be MiDian Holmes, the CEO of the Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership.
The other members are Michelle Quattlebaum, President of the Colorado Black Caucus of
School Board Directors; and Colorado Representative Dr. Regina English.

We are honored to receive support from a wide array of distinguished individuals nationwide.
Our mission is backed by State Legislators, Non-Profit Leaders, City Council Members, School
Board Members, and Executives from School Board Associations. Such as Colorado Senate
President Pro Tempore, James Coleman, Executive Director of the Arizona School Board
Association Devin Del Palacio, Executive Director of Ednium the Alumni Collective TeRay
Esquibel, and Colorado State Representative & Assistant Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon.
Discover more about our initiatives, including Ready to Run, The Black Excellence Project,
and The Black Santa Project at https://www.advancingblackexcellence.net

We are kicking off our fundraising with an ambitious initial goal of $30,000 to support our
transformational work. Contributions of any amount are invaluable to our mission. The only
way we can accomplish this critical and timely work is with your support. Donate Here: https://donorbox.org/the-center-for-advancing-black-excellence-in-education-1

Join us for our inaugural fundraiser on January 23rd at 6:00 PM at brother jeff’s Cultural Center (2836 Welton St. Denver, CO 80205)

Please use this link to sign up to host a house party so we can share with your networks the
importance of this organization. Your support is crucial in our journey to educate, advocate,
and celebrate Black communities.

In Solidarity,

Auon’tai M. Anderson, CEO

The Center for Black Excellence in Education

Press releases are provided to Yellow Scene Magazine. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

The post Former Denver School Board Vice President Auon’tai Anderson establishes a new education-nonprofit; The Center for Advancing Black Excellence in Education appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

We sat down with Auon’tai Anderson, former DPS Board Chair who, along with brother jeff fard and an army of volunteers, helped lead the Black Santa Project on Welton Street which started in 2021. Auon’tai is an energetic, magnanimous personality who cares deeply about the local community. While still in his twenties, his resume of giving back is already long. It only took one question to get him talking about Black Santa though. 

YS: Tell us how the Black Santa Project got started.

Auon’tai: This is our third year. brother jeff called me and said; “Hey, Miss Pam Jiner who runs an organization for seniors just called me about doing a toy giveaway. The person who was supposed to be her Black Santa was unable to show up. Can you help figure something out to see how we can help Miss Pam out?”

I said, “Well, I have a red tracksuit, and I can go to Party City and buy a beard and a wig. That was in 2021. So, I showed up with a red Nike tracksuit and white tennis shoes – Air Force ones, had a beard and Santa hat, and the whole getup. 

The kids who thought I was Santa Claus appreciated the diversity by giving them Black Santa. Also, a Santa that was non-traditional who wasn’t just the big jolly suit and cufflinks. 

YS:  He looked like them.

Auon’tai: Correct. So I looked directly like those who we were serving. 

We had a surplus of toys, so Pam brought them to brother jeff’s Cultural Center, and that is when the Black Santa Project on Welton Street was born on December 23, 2021. We did a two-day toy giveaway, the line wrapped around brother jeff’s Cultural Center. We saw there was a great need. 

At first, I thought it was just gonna be a one-time thing. But brother jeff was like, now we’re gonna have to do it again.

It took off last year which was our smallest out of the last three years because we couldn’t get the order from Toys for Tots in time. So we had to raise money and most of the donations came from everyday folks in the community. Last year we only were able to serve 500 children, because we had a limited amount of toys. Mile High Comics donated thousands of dollars worth of action figures and comic books to support the event. We had local nonprofits that were able to donate their extra toys. 

We planned our toy giveaway from December 22nd through the 24th because most toy giveaways had already happened by then. We like to be able to be that last stop for a family to make sure there are presents under the tree.

YS: When did you start doing Free Photos?

Auon’tai: We did three rounds of pictures with Black Santa last year which was the newest component that we added to the Black Santa Project.

This year, we were almost in a similar situation as last year. We originally did not get approved to get our Toys for Tots order because our order had gotten lost. So we had to resubmit and just had to patiently wait to see if we were going to get anything. Just in case, we had started a fundraiser. But the fundraiser link was just not working, and people weren’t donating. We weren’t getting anybody to buy the toys that we needed. And so it was looking very bleak up until December 16th when Toys for Tots notified us that we had been approved to get a donation. Which we were ecstatic about.

However, the max you can get from Toys for Tots is 700 toys. Fortunately, we made a connection with Miss Norma Jean, she’s the Executive Director of Ivan’s Crib. She owns a warehouse where Toys for Tots operates their regional base out of the Denver Metro area. While she didn’t have to, she had a surplus of toys that she donated. 

She actually called us back twice and said, “I want to fill your U-Haul up. I know the work that you all are doing, and I want to make sure that you can serve the kids in your community.”

She filled our 15-foot U-Haul truck up three times in total — all the way up to the roof, which we estimated was about 10,000 toys.

In part, the Black Santa Project was in response to the Cherry Creek Mall, which has limited Black Santa availability. The pricing structure was inaccessible as well, the lowest-priced package was $40. And the limited days they had Black Santa, my recollection is, that all of them were during working hours. 

When you have working-class families this experience should be tailored towards those individuals’ needs to be able to have the accessibility to take part in having their picture taken with Santa without the financial burdens, or also worrying about getting there. They have to pay for parking at the mall and many are thinking, If I only have $40, I don’t have the extra to go above and beyond for this experience. 

So we made a decision, as a team, to open this up to do a free professional picture with Black Santa. 

This year, we were able to get photographers to donate their time on December 10th and 16th. We were open from 11 am-4 pm on Saturday. Over those two events, we served almost 130 families who were able to get a free picture with Black Santa. Not only that, in addition to photos with Black Santa, we now have created ‘Auntie Claus.’ We wanted to ensure that those families have their special holiday pictures for years to come. 

This year we had people lining up at brother jeff’s Cultural Center as early as 7 am when the event didn’t start until 11 am. We served over 3000 children. We packed up every single toy in less than two and a half hours thanks to all the volunteers who came out. 

Because there was such a high turnout, we had to cancel our December 23rd event. We were able to find other giveaways that were happening to direct people to, but we still had people coming in the hundreds on that Saturday, just looking for toys. 

The need for toys is there and the mission of the Black Santa Project is that no child should have to go without a toy during the Holiday. 

Personally, I know what that means, I know what it feels like to wake up and not have anything under the tree. I never want any of our young people to have to experience that, especially since we can do something about it. 

We’re already gearing up for 2024, which is just 362 days away from the next Black Santa event.  

We’re focusing on what this looks like. We’ve realized that this is not a two-week or a-month sort of planning thing. We’ve already discussed, as different partners come on board with this project, that we’re going to need to start in July – or even earlier.

We are going to add more components to the Black Santa experience. Be on the lookout to see some new things coming, I can’t release them just yet, but some new exciting things are coming in 2024. 

We’re hoping to spread holiday cheer. 

We’re going to be coming off of a very trying time, the soul of our nation will be at stake in 11 months. We want to be able to be the bright spot for our community members in December, and even leading up until then, because I know a lot of people are going to be focusing on this election that is happening. But we also want to make sure that when the election is over, folks still have resources in our community, because the need is there. 

And so we’ll be starting early this upcoming year.  We are creating a long-term strategy. What does it look like to get the support to have a staff be a formal organization that can do this work all year round?

My dream is to be able to go to my old high school – Manual High School in DPS – to fill up their gym with toys for children and families. Manual High School has the largest gym in the district. That’s the overarching goal for us in five to ten years because we believe that it’s possible.

And we have so many new folks that are coming to our communities they deserve to also be at home for the holidays.  That’s why we didn’t do registration this year because we wanted people to be able to come and be a part of this experience with us and feel at home. We want our migrants to feel at home in Denver, and let them know that they are welcome. 

We’re gonna continue to do innovative ideas over the years to come. I look forward to maybe one day hosting the Black Santa Gala, where we have to book out the Hyatt because we have such a large event, that we have donors and folks across the state coming to support this mission and this vision.

I also believe that we can do a lot of good work year-round because Christmas is not just about December. Christmas, to me, is about a season to give. We can continue to give throughout the year – that is the Christmas spirit. We don’t have to wait until December to give.

We can even have a birthday fund for kids to have a special birthday party. There are things that we can expand beyond our imagination about where this can go. It’s a nonpartisan issue, a nonpolitical thing. I hope that we can be a place of community where we can bring opposing sides together and say let’s focus on our children. Let’s be able to continue to serve them to make sure they have the best experience for their celebrations. 

YS: You said it is non-partisan, but you had a woman giving you a hard time about Black Santa. When was the first known Black Santa in America or has it always been around and we just didn’t know about it?

Auon’tai: I’m not sure when it started, I am sure our ancestors had characters. I grew up with Black Santa figurines at my house. My aunties and my grandmother all had different Black Santa figurines that they would put around the house, but I never saw a black Santa while I was growing up. I’d never met a black Santa until I started to explore what this looks like for me to become a Black Santa.

There have been Black Santas that have come before me and are still doing the work, and I want to honor them for paving the path for others to step up.

I do know that there’s a study that CPR looked into multicultural Santas and they are only 5% of Santas worldwide. That’s significant, I’m a 5%’er in the term, being a part of a group of individuals around the world that are bringing multicultural lenses to the Santa experience. 

Let’s not forget this is a fictional character. This is not trying to destroy somebody’s childhood. 

YS: We saw that woman who was commenting about how wrong it is to have a Black Santa. Are you getting much of that?

Auon’tai: No, not really. I see that when Denver 7 did a story on it, people were like, “Will this Black Santa serve white kids?” We not only have white children that were served, we have black children, Asian children, Latino children, and AAPI children. We serve everyone regardless of where they come from, who they love, how they identify, or what their socioeconomic status is. 

I hope the people who feel triggered about a Black Santa will also have the same outrage when other pressing issues need and require our attention. 

This is the same stuff the Little Mermaid went through when they announced that she would be black and people lost their minds about changing a historical figure. It’s a cartoon, right? 

If we didn’t have the society that we lived in, where there was a white-dominated culture, I’m sure that this would not be a story, this would be the norm for everybody across the community. But because America has been deeply rooted in systems of oppression and racism, we have conditioned ourselves that these fictional characters, all they could be are old white men.

YS: You’re making me realize that my gigantic Santa collection I started well before my son was born 28 years ago has no multicultural Santas. They’re all old white men. You’ve inspired me to start diversifying my Santa collection. 

I love the idea of the project and where you guys are taking it and it just started by filling in, do you still wear the tracksuit?

Auon’tai: There are occasions where the tracksuit warrants, but we have moved and adopted the Santa Claus outfit, just because kids can immediately respond to the Santa Claus versus the tracksuit. We are talking about what future outfits for Santa and Auntie Claus will look like too. We’re having so many conversations. People will start to see some fun, new additions in the next coming year.

YS: Do you think you’ll extend it with more days since you had such a turnout for it? 

Auon’tai: I envision for 2024 that every weekend will have something going on in December, whether that be pictures or even Brunch with Santa. The possibilities are endless for what we can offer. 

We are considering all of our options for how we can make this even better. We’re going to be doing a lot of collaboration. We want to reach out to a lot of folks that are already in this space – because we often as a black community, are fighting for the same crumbs. It is time for us to come together with all of our crumbs and create our own pie. I would like to collaborate with others to figure out how we can support each other. Because there is space for all of us to do all of the things that we’re doing. We just have to be willing and open to having those open lines of communication and sharing.

YS: How can people reach out and get involved?

Auon’tai: They can email us at Info@AdvancingBlackExcellence.org

And in the spirit of giving year-round, Auon’tai and others have created a new event, FREE Back to School Haircuts on January 2nd, 2024. Local leaders, Denver City Councilwoman Shontel M. Lewis, Cesar the Barber, CEO of the Give Back, The Honorable Auon’tai M. Anderson, and Denver School Board Directors Scott Esserman and Michelle Quattlebaum, are hosting the Free Haircut event, on January 2nd at 12:30 pm at the Hiawatha Davis Jr. Recreation Center. No registration is required. 

The post A look ahead at the Black Santa Project with Auon’tai Anderson, but first up Free Haircuts. appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Demanding candidates and media outlets act with integrity and respect towards all community members. Full statement attached.

“As a bi-partisan coalition of Black elected officials, community leaders, and organizations, we stand together to condemn the blatant anti-Blackness that has been pervasive in the 2023 municipal elections in Denver. Including white candidates, independent expenditure committees, and local affiliates of national public broadcast networks. We have witnessed the following behavior that is concerning and must be called out:

• The media’s portrayal of Black candidates in this election season has been unbalanced, unfair, and harmful. More specifically, Black women have been scrutinized for their appearance, tone, and demeanor, while their accomplishments and leadership are overlooked and minimized. This harmful stereotype is used to discredit and invalidate their vast experiences, unique perspectives, and human emotions, particularly when they speak out against injustice.
• We have seen propaganda that promotes segregationist messaging and seeks to dehumanize the Black vote. This type of messaging is reminiscent of the Jim Crow South, where racist policies and practices were used to disenfranchise and marginalize Black people. We find this type of behavior to be unacceptable and demand that all candidates disavow and cease such tactics.
• We have seen commercials and ads that intentionally perpetuate harmful and racist stereotypes of people of color, particularly Black people, portrayed as criminals and undesirables. This perpetuation of negative imagery is not only inaccurate but also perpetuates a dangerous and dehumanizing narrative about our community. While we are grateful this has been called out, we are also concerned that these ads continue to be broadcast across the city and county of Denver.
• Black candidates have also been excluded from forums and debates, preventing them from fully participating in the democratic process. This exclusion is a form of voter suppression and is unacceptable in a free and fair election. We must ensure that all voices are heard and represented in the electoral process.

We must recognize that these actions are not isolated incidents but are part of a long history of systemic racism and oppression against Black people in the United States. The legacy of Jim Crow laws and policies is still felt today in our communities, and we must work to dismantle the systemic racism and oppression that still exists.

We demand that all candidates, media outlets, and individuals involved in the electoral process act with integrity, respect, and dignity towards all members of our community and that they commit to addressing and dismantling systemic racism and oppression in our society. We must come together to create a future where anti-Blackness is no longer tolerated or accepted.

In conclusion, we will not stand idly by and watch as our community is subjected to such hateful and discriminatory treatment. We call on all Denverites to cease and desist from engaging in such behavior and instead focus on meaningful and constructive policy discussions that benefit all members of the community.

We also call on media outlets to act responsibly and ethically and to refrain from perpetuating harmful racial stereotypes. We demand that all candidates and media outlets commit to promoting an inclusive and diverse democracy that works towards the betterment of all members of our community.

We urge all voters to join us in standing against anti-Blackness. It is time for us to come together as a community and work towards a future where we can all live in a just and equitable society, free from the harmful effects of systemic racism and oppression.

We are committed to continuing the fight against anti-Blackness and to working towards a better future for all members of our community. We will not rest until justice and equity is achieved for all.

In Solidarity,

Wanda James, University of Colorado Regent, District 1

James Coleman, Colorado State Senator

Jennifer Bacon, Colorado State Representative

Naquetta Ricks, Colorado State Representative

Regina English, Colorado State Representative, and Harrison School District Two Board Member

Auon’tai Anderson, President – Colorado Black Caucus of School Board Directors

Corey Williams, President – Harrison School District Two

Will Jones, Vice President – Mesa County School District 51

Stephanie Mason, Vice President – Aurora Public Schools

JJ Frazier, Vice President – Harrison School District Two

Janice McDonald, Vice President – Cherry Creek School District

Michelle Quattlebaum, Denver School Board Director District 4

Michael Carter, Aurora School Board Director

Darlene Derbigny, East Otero School Board Director

brother jeff – Founder/Director brother jeff’s Cultural Center

MiDian Z. Holmes – Owner/Founder, 8PM Consulting for Humanity

Hashim Coates, Interim Chair – African Diaspora Initiative of the Colorado Democratic Party

Sondra Young, President – NAACP Denver

Shenika Carter, President & CEO – Urban League of Metro Denver

Ashlee Wedgeworth – President- Urban League Young Professionals of Metro Denver

Candice Bailey – Colorado State Commissioner and Founder/Executive Director Light Carrier

Bianka Emerson, President – Colorado Black Women for Political Action

Khadija Haynes – CEO, K-Solutions

Vernon Jones Jr. – Faithbridge

Gene Fashaw, Educator

Photo caption: Screenshot of Denver Decides Mayoral Forum, Denver 7ABC, February 2023

The post A coalition of bi-partisan Black leaders in Denver stands together to condemn anti-Blackness in the 2023 municipal elections. appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Dear Community,

We are writing to invite you to support the Colorado Black Caucus of School Board Directors 2nd annual Black History Month Awards. This event will take place on February 18th, 2023, at the Jurisdiction of Colorado Church of God in Christ Headquarters, 750 Chambers Rd. Aurora, CO 80011 at 6:00 PM will be an opportunity for the caucus to honor and award individuals for their contributions to education in the Black community.

We are a Colorado Non-Profit, and we are not a 501c3 organization at this time, so any donations made to this event are not tax deductible. However, we believe that supporting this event is still an important way to recognize and celebrate the contributions of African Americans in education. The school board members who are a part of the caucus work hard to ensure that this event is a success, and we are grateful for any support you can offer.

We are offering several sponsorship levels for this event:

• Friends of the Black Caucus – $100.00
• Lovers of Education – $250.00: This sponsorship level will get your name in our program.
• Education Champion – $500.00: This sponsorship level will get your logo in the program and a mention during the program.
• Education Trailblazer: $1,000.00 This sponsorship level will get your logo in the program, a mention during the program, and we will allow you to table at this event.

Our overall goal is to raise $10,000.00 to support the important work of the Colorado Black Caucus of School Board Directors. You can also donate an amount under $100.00. The money raised will cover the expenses of the event, like space rental, fees for musicians and guest speakers, awards ceremony, launching our website, and the remaining funds will go towards our general fund for the upcoming events for the Colorado Black Caucus of School Board Directors.

Please use this link to donate to the Colorado Black Caucus of School Board Directors: https://donorbox.org/colorado-black-caucus-black-history-month-celebration

The Colorado Black Caucus of School Board Directors is dedicated to advocating for policies and practices that support the educational success of African American students. We believe that honoring and celebrating the achievements of those who have made a positive impact in this area is an important way to recognize the important role that African Americans play in education.

We hope that you will consider supporting this event as a way to show your appreciation for the hard work and dedication of these individuals. If you have any questions or would like more information about this event, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
Auon’tai M. Anderson, President of the Colorado Black Caucus of School Board Directors

The post Celebrate African American Educational Excellence: Support BHM Awards appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

After hearing the results of the ILG Investigation; all reports of sexual assault claims Unsubstantiated, I did not expect to be driving down to a Denver Public School (DPS) Board meeting today, to report on a Board vote to censure Tay Anderson. At no time in its history has the DPS Board ever voted to censure a member.

In fact, when another Board member, Brad Laurvick, was accused of sexual misconduct, no investigation was conducted.

After reading the 96 page report in full, it still does not make sense to me why the DPS Board would be censuring this 22-year-old black leader.

How could a man who was, by all investigations, falsely accused by a single, white woman who was found to be uncredible, of 62 acts of sexual assault (in a 5 month period, be facing a second “trial” after the evidence has been found unsubstantiated?

But that is exactly what is happening today at noon when the DPS Board is voting to censure the state’s youngest elected official for, what is essentially, a Bug Bunny cartoon and two chat messages.

While passionate about this situation, Jeff Fard has done extensive coverage of the details, the political motivations, and the facts. Regardless of the relationship these individuals may have with Tay Anderson, the fact remains, Jeff Fard and his guests have provided knowledge and detailed information that should be paid attention to in regards to the possible motives around this vote, and even the original accusations.

Currently, with School Board meetings from BVSD, SVVSD, Adams12, and so many other School Districts making the news because of the mask mandates and CRT (Critical Race Theory) debates, this situation in Denver is important to follow.

Petitions seek to recall three BVSD board members over coronavirus precautions

There’s A Big Fight Going On Over Equity and Diversity In Colorado Schools. In The St. Vrain Valley District, The Sides Are Colliding Loudly

It is well known, the GOP is working hard to get candidates elected that will oppose teaching race and equality. Additionally, many of their candidates are known conspiracy theorists regarding COVID and vaccines. These are big budgets: DPS has a $730 Million dollar a year budget and approximately a Billion-Dollar in Real Estate assets.

September 16th, 2021 Jeff Fard show:

If you have not followed the story, DPS Director, Tay Anderson, 23, was accused of 62 acts of sexual assault by a single woman named Mary Katherine Brooks-Fleming (also known as MK). In the ILG Report, Brooks-Fleming describes herself as the “Secretary of the Revolution”. Yellow Scene Magazine’s investigative report, ‘Evidence Emerges; Tay Anderson Controversy’, was a major component of this investigation and brought relevant new information to it.

From the report, page 71, ILG has found Mary Katherine Brooks-Fleming’s report to be inconsistent, incredible, and uncooperative.

Overall, Reporter 1’s claims were not corroborated by any firsthand or secondhand witnesses or evidence and were not corroborated by her own statements, which were inconsistent. This lack of credible evidence was a critical factor in my finding.

Reporter 1 presented two inconsistent chronologies, without sufficient detail that could be checked, specific witnesses who could be interviewed, or specific descriptions of sexual assault or misconduct that Director Anderson could respond to. She did not provide critically necessary data for us to investigate these serious allegations, despite being asked to do so six times. Her inability or unwillingness to provide this information undermined the credibility of her account.

Moreover, Reporter 1 has allegedly not retained, or has discarded, evidence that would have proven valuable in investigating this claim. Reporter 1 allegedly kept a written log of victims and events on a white board in her living room, but she stated that she erased it. Her care in allegedly writing down these events, and then her decision not to preserve her white board after making these accusations public, is inexplicable. Reporter 1 allegedly erased texts, IMs and social media messages from alleged victims. Her decision to not retain evidence undermines her credibility, given her stated objective of helping these individuals and giving them a voice. Instead, she apparently discarded evidence needed to support the allegations. As such, we were unable to establish that such relevant material evidence exists (or ever existed).

Additionally, Report 1’s statements about these events changed and were not consistent.

Inconsistency can undermine the credibility of evidence in some cases. Here it does so, because the change in the timeline appears to have been purposeful. Reporter 1 amended her timeline from her interview to her written timeline, seemingly to reconcile her actions with her allegations of sexual assault. According to her interview, her public statement praising Director Anderson would have happened after two rape victims came to her door. Moreover, her social media post inviting him to speak at an event for homeless youth would have occurred, according to her interview, after she received 62 complaints of sexual assault and misconduct.

That said, Reporter 1 is a self-identified sexual assault victim. As noted above, if she did indeed receive these dozens of allegations of the sexual assault, it likely would have been traumatizing for her. Trauma impacts the way a person can recollect data and their ability to recall (and describe) events linearly. Inconsistencies in statements are not unusual where trauma is involved.

However, the changes in the chronology are not just fuzzy timing, but are a serious disassociation between Reporter 1’s actions and her allegations. She made public statements praising Director Anderson, inviting him to an event with homeless youth after allegedly receiving reports of rape against him. Subsequently, after making the allegations, Reporter 1 said on Facebook that she was “on his side.” This fact pattern goes beyond an ability to remember a consistent chronology. She affirmatively put out positive information about a person who, at this point in time, she believed to be a serial rapist.

Finally, it must be noted that these allegations are objectively implausible on their face. The first reason is the sheer number of alleged victims over a very short time frame. Reporter 1 said that 50 of the 62 alleged victims described historic mistreatment to her (either directly or second-hand, depending upon which statement of hers you consider). Even so, this leaves 12 alleged rape victims by a single perpetrator over 64 days,149 during a time when DPS was on remote learning. This means that approximately every 5 days, Director Anderson would have had to select a new victim, build trust, find a way to be alone with them, and commit a rape. It also means that each of these 12 victims would have had to independently determine that no one could help them except for Reporter 1, a white woman with no ability to provide medical treatment, counseling, legal support or even conversational support in Spanish.

The idea that these students allegedly went to Reporter 1, instead of seeking help from the many

resources in the Latinx community, is implausible. It is not believable that this many assaults occurred without any teachers, parents, friends, ministers, guidance counselors or other trusted adults becoming aware. It is not plausible that not even a single witness would have attempted to contact us.

For these reasons, the allegation of 62 events of rape and sexual misconduct by Director Anderson against undocumented / DACA DPS students is Not Substantiated.

By all appearances, political motives could very likely be a big part of this entire story from the very beginning. Brooks-Fleming appears to have ties to Joseph Camp, a known online bully. Mr. Camp spent time in prison for hacking his college to change his student debt and was recently found to be part of the hack of Epik, an organization that helped contribute to hate speech through the elections.

Anonymous hack of Epik reveals a devastating amount of information

Starting with unsubstantiated accusations of sexual assault hurled at a young, black man with a rising career, who is known for speaking out and fighting systemic racism, and Brooks-Fleming, a white woman who does not speak Spanish, and who has been found to be unreliable in her testimony.

It is important to note, under Tay Anderson’s direction, SRO’s (School Resource Officers) were removed from DPS, and he has actively helped fight against the take over of public schools by Charter enterprises.

For those that do not want to read a 96-page investigation here is our synopsis:

The report acknowledges both the historical racism targeting of black men, as well as the reasons assault victims would be afraid to report their attack.

There were 5 points they were asked to investigate by DPS:

Page 20 of the ILG Report

Tay Anderson is found to be credible in his testimony:

• Tay Anderson fully cooperated with the investigation.
• Tay Anderson held himself accountable for his behaviors.
• Tay Anderson consistently denied assaulting anyone.
• Tay Anderson provided documentation for the investigation.

Brooks-Fleming has credibility concerns:

• Mary Katherine Brooks Fleming spoke on behalf of the complainant in her interview with Yellow Scene Magazine.
• Brooks-Fleming joked about owning a strip club in the YS interview.
• While some details of the assault told through Brooks-Fleming did check out, there were significant discrepancies that cast questions over the claim. One of which was Tay Anderson was not employed at the place of business at the time that was claimed and there is evidence that the complainant and Tay Anderson did not know each other prior.
• Brooks-Fleming seemed to time her testimony of 62 unreported assaults which she made at the Colorado State Capitol timed with the 20th Anniversary of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
• Brooks-Fleming was highly inconsistent in her reporting and even changed her story after being interviewed.
• Brooks-Fleming did not report any of the complaints she claims were made to her, and not only did she not provide evidence, but she also claims to have erased the evidence she claims to have had.
• Brooks-Fleming is a highly unlikely figure that DACA students would have turned to, considering she was not known for doing work within the Latina/Latino community, does not speak Spanish and not a single report was made to any organization, parent, or teacher.

The complainant has credibility concerns:

• The complainant retracted their statement with YS Magazine publisher.
• The complainant stated; “This whole thing was MK”
• The complainant provided Joseph Camp, a known online “super-troll”, information about protestors at an Elijah McClain protest.
• The complainant was very close to Brooks-Fleming.
• The complainant invited Tay Anderson to an event in a friendly chat message.
• The complainant refused to speak to the investigation.

BLM5280 has credibility concerns:

• There appears to be potential bias by the leaders of BLM5280.
• There have been previous conflicts between Tay Anderson and BLM5280.
• BLM5280 has a history of falsely accusing other black men of sexual assault (while the report only addressed one instance, YS is aware of 3 additional black men in leadership roles that have had unverified accusations made toward them).
• BLM5280 does not allow CisGender men into their organization.
• BLM5280 posts anonymously and leadership is unknown.

Never Again Colorado:

• Tay Anderson was the President of this teen-led organization when he was 19.
• Written documentation shows Tay Anderson was accused of dominating the other board members in decision making, but not accused of sexual misconduct.
• The entire Board spent time at the home of Madison Rose, who was 24 and the oldest of the group, “partying”. She would buy these underage teens alcohol and was having relations with a 17-year-old student.
• The other Board members of the now-defunct organization reported they would play “Never Have I Never”, “Spin the Bottle” and other party games.
• Tay Anderson apologized for his over-bearing behavior and stepped down as President.
• While it was found that most likely Tay Anderson participated in the environment including making sexual advances, it is also found that the entire group participated.

Conduct while a DPS employee:

• Of the 96 page report, 13 of these were redacted in this section.
• The overall finding was Unsubstantiated, however, because of the redaction it is unknown what the investigation was about.

Conduct while running for, or as a member of the DPS Board of Education:

Social Media Chats “Googley Eyes”

• Tay Anderson engaged in two social media conversations with a 16-year-old female that was friendly, but not sexual in tone. This message was provided to the investigation in an effort to be transparent but was not part of the original investigation. 
• Tay Anderson states he did not know their age, but when he learned of their age, ceased communication immediately. 

Social Media Bugs Bunny

• Tay Anderson was heavily targeted by Joseph Camp.
• Joseph Camp created false text messages regarding conversations with YS clients (confirmed with these business owners) and it is suspected he also created fake texts surrounding these accusations that were picked up by Darcy Schoening of the right-wing blog, The Herald.
• The image is of Bugs Bunny with Yosemite Sam pointing a gun at Bugs Bunny. It reads; “Do it Bitch”.
• Tay Anderson states this image, which was on his personal social media page for 3 hours, was in response to the many death threats and harassment he and his family have experienced from this ordeal.
• Two people reached out to ILG to report they felt it was meant to intimidate them although the post does not address anyone specifically and states:
• “When you’re used to life f*cking you up and don’t give a shit anymore”.
• While the investigation indicated they could see how the use of the word “bitch” would be aimed at women, in this context that seems unlikely. It could also be seen as a statement of frustration, and feelings of giving up.

Social Media “I will not retaliate”

• Tay Anderson also put a post up “to people who have engaged in conversation disparaging my name over the last few months. If you commented, liked a comment, made a post/tweet, or even a simple DM. I have your name, I won’t retaliate against you whatsoever. Here is the warning do not speak to me ever again. I will literally act like you do not exist.” He later added to the post he wanted a Restorative Justice process to take place.
• One school board member reported they felt it was a threat to retaliate against them, even tho Director Anderson’s post states “I won’t retaliate”.
• It is these last issues of the social media posts and the chats that the DPS Board is working to censure Director Tay Anderson.
• The charge appears to be led by School Board member Brad Laurvick, who initially called for the resignation of Director Tay Anderson before the investigation was complete.

Equally irresponsible has been the hedge-fund owned, Denver Post, who conducted the same interview YS did with Brooks-Fleming and the complainant but never reported that Brooks-Fleming did all the speaking in the interview. Knowing this their editorial board also called for Tay Anderson to step down before investigations were complete. Rather than correcting these missteps, in yesterday’s article, the headline written was purposefully misleading and did not cover the scope of the circumstances.

As we are witnessing here in Boulder County, school board races have become political hotspots across the country. There are big budgets at stake and political motives in winning.

As discussed on the Jeff Fard show last night, Margaret Fogarty, Margaret Bobb, Carol March, sent a letter to the Denver Public School Board asking them to reconsider their vote to censure, which appears excessive in light of the findings. They requested the DPS Board pursue Restorative Justice resolutions instead.

To: Denver Public Schools Board of Education

From: Margaret Fogarty, Margaret Bobb, Carol March

Subject: Stop the Censure

Date: September 16, 2021

We’re writing today to implore you to reconsider asking for a censure vote of Director Tay Anderson and instead look to initiate a restorative justice process at the Friday meeting.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge that the allegations against Director Anderson were serious, and we were fully supportive of a complete and thorough investigation. However, after reviewing the Investigation Legal Group’s findings we take umbrage with the disregard for the initial scope, timeline and budget that was laid out for the investigation. Given the findings, the scope creep was wasteful, and this entire exercise appears to be a politically motivated hit job with white supremacy, ageism and retribution influencing the Board’s actions.

What purpose does censure serve beyond further shaming your colleague who has already paid a high price including severe and permanent reputational damage, mental trauma, and threats of physical violence to himself and his loved ones?

Below we’ve summarized our perspective on why censure is a cruel and unnecessary step to conclude an already brutal and unwieldy process.

1. The investigation found nothing substantiated in relation to the original allegations it was commenced to address.

2. Given the extremely serious nature of the original allegations and the initial scope of the investigation, nothing that was substantiated in the report is relevant or worthy of further scrutiny.

3. Therefore, in fact there is only one substantiated aspect related to the original investigation, which according to the report, was an online interaction with a student that took place over the course of several days and was not sexual in nature.

4. Including Director Anderson’s conduct prior to being a board member, which he’d already discussed and apologized for publicly, was absolutely unnecessary and a complete waste of time and resources.

5. There is no precedent for censure and Director Anderson did not violate the board’s code of conduct.

Disagreeing with Director Anderson’s approach to policy and communications is certainly understandable, but the action the Board has taken over the past six months has perpetuated innumerable headlines suggesting he’s a sexual predator. The ILG report found those allegations to be unsubstantiated, but that genie cannot be put back in the bottle. You have one final decision to make on this matter. We ask that you initiate the restorative justice process immediately instead of calling for an unwarranted censure vote of Director Anderson.

As the reporter who conducted the initial investigation it raises enormous questions if the DPS Board moves to censure Tay Anderson for “google eyes” and Bugs Bunny memes.

The post Why would the DPS School Board censure Tay Anderson after being cleared of wrong-doing? appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Over the last few months, the Black Community has experienced extreme division with anonymous allegations made against Denver School Board Director Tay Anderson who is a registered Democrat. The Board of Directors for the African Diaspora Initiative of the Colorado Democratic Party will always hold space that believes survivors while equally holding space for accused individuals to respond to their allegations. Holding space for survivors include and is not limited to: the right to due process, the right to face their accusers, and the right to go through the proper investigative process by local law enforcement authorities. These processes exist to allow for restoration, atonement, and a path to forgiveness without stigma.

The post Statement from the African Diaspora Initiative of the Colorado Democrats in regards to Director Tay Anderson appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

PRESS RELEASE: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Colleagues,

On April 6, 2021 Denver Public Schools (DPS) announced that they had hired a private law firm (ILG) to conduct an independent investigation into allegations of sexual assault against me. BLM5280 first reported these allegations on March 26, 2021. I have always categorically denied these allegations, thus I agreed to cooperate with and participate in this investigation, which, I was told, would be completed in thirty days.

In May, DPS and ILG announced the investigation would take an additional thirty days to complete (thus adjusting the timeframe from the end of May to the end of June). Despite multiple attempts to connect in April and May, I was not contacted by ILG for an interview until early June.

However, on May 26, 2021, a Mrs. Fleming testified to the Colorado State Legislature that a serial predator had victimized an excess of sixty “DACA” students from the DPS community. Although Mrs. Fleming has never specificified that I was the serial predator who she was referring to, DPS and others immediately named me as this alleged serial predator. Despite not a single student being identified, or having come forward, ILG expanded their investigation to include these unsubstantiated third party claims. In response, I have publicly and categorically denied ever victimizing any DPS student whatsoever.

Out of respect to our students, on June 1, 2021, I informed our DPS community that I would be temporarily stepping back from everyday board functions while the independent investigation initiated by my fellow board members concluded. This public statement was issued after my request for a private leave of absence was denied and I was told that “The board would no longer remain silent at Tay’s request.”

Despite promises that this investigation would be completed within thirty days, then later prior to the start of the 21-22 school year, I have fully cooperated and participated in the independent investigation being conducted by ILG. I am now told that the investigation will not be completed for at least another four or five weeks, leading us to mid-August. The timeline of this external private investigation has changed multiple times and the scope of its inquiry continues to change.  Although I remain committed to engaging in a transparent and fair process, I can no longer wait for this process to conclude to initiate my return to serving the families of the Denver Public Schools.

Today I am emailing to inform you that I am returning to my full duties as a duly elected member of the Denver School Board. This is effective immediately.

I do not make this decision lightly. The independent investigation has bogged down, drifted into new areas, and dragged well past the timeline that was agreed to. No credible evidence has emerged to support any allegations of sexual misconduct by me. I have not been arrested, charged, or even contacted by any law enforcement agency regarding any of these false claims against me. And, more than anything, our DPS community has been fractured by these false allegations, and I am left compelled to try and heal the divisions which this situation has caused.

The important work which must be done for the upcoming school year cannot wait any longer for my elected participation. Despite the original agreements on the scope and timeline of this investigation between myself and ILG, the independent investigation has drifted into vastly new areas, including a period of time when I was not even an adult, an employee of DPS, or an elected member of the DPS Board.

I am committed to healing the harm this entire controversy has caused to our communities, but I can’t and won’t do that alone. There must be a commitment from all of us to seek true, transformative justice to heal the harm that all of us have experienced.

Nothing is more important than the work we must do to create safe pathways for survivors in our community to come forward, share their stories, and seek true, restorative justice. The restorative decisions we are making right now as a community are an opportunity to strengthen our sex education and consent courses in DPS. The space we hold right now is a precipice to be bold in how we refute the racist narratives that have plagued sexual violence for so long. We stand in a place where we must believe and trust in science that fights the COVID-19 virus and its variants. All of this work remains too important for me to be away any longer.

We must still remain centered in our commitment that all students in DPS have basic human rights afforded to them, regardless of who they love, how they identify, or what trauma they may have experienced. There is so much more work to do. I am committed to doing the people’s work until the end of my term in 2023, and believe that in order to do the best work for our community, it is imperative to have ALL members of the Denver School Board engaged and actively representing the constituents that duly elected them.

Let’s get back to work. – Director Tay Anderson, At-Large

Yellow Scene’s breaking story regarding New Evidence in the Tay Anderson Controversy

The post Let’s get back to work – Open Letter to the Board of Education; Director Tay Anderson appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

This article was coauthored by Shavonne Blades and Mona Cedillo

This article includes an interview with Tay Anderson and his attorney

This article will continue to be updated as new information is made available.  Updated on 6/30/2020 9:30 am to reflect a change in Apryl Alexander’s title at BLM5280 and to answer questions regarding Victim Number One’s statement retraction/recant. Updated on 6/30/2021 at 1:05 pm to reflect our calls to The Blue Bench as well as the purpose of our second call with the alleged victim following the retraction call. Updated on 7/01/2021 at 4:00 pm to include the full statement of Blue Bench Executive Director Megan Carvajal. Updated on 7/02/2021 to reflect Joseph A Camp’s call to our office. Updated to include Jeff Fard Show 7/2/2021 speaking to Tay Anderson “In His Own Words”. 7/3/2021 Updated to reflect interview with the Tay Anderson is included 10/2021 Updated to include the independent investigation, ILG Services, Report

Content Warning: The following reading includes discussions around topics such as sexual assault, stalking, sexual misconduct, covert manipulation, emotional abuse, extreme racism, misogyny, cyberbullying, social injustice, discrimination, and harassment. YS acknowledges this content may be difficult and encourages readers to care for their safety and well-being.

Those who may be triggered and may need someone to talk to can reach out to the following organizations:
National Domestic Violence Hotline – 1-800-799-SAFE
Violence Free Colorado – 1-888-778-7091
Family Tree Hotline – 303-420-6752
Safehouse Denver Hotline – 303-318-9989
Stronghearts Native Hotline – 1-844-7NATIVE
Latina Safehouse Hotline – 303-433-4470

On March 26, 2021, Black Lives Matter 5280 released a statement on their social media page and website alleging Denver Public School Board Director Tay Anderson sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. The statement claimed the anonymous victim turned to BLM5280 in February 2021 for assistance with approaching Mr. Anderson to “issue a public apology and seek help from a licensed professional with relevant expertise.”

In April 2021, BLM5280 reached out to Yellow Scene Magazine to request publication of the victim’s statement. In May 2021, the month following the release of the BLM5280 statement, Community Volunteer Dr. Apryl Alexander stepped down from her position with no public statement or explanation. YS reached out to the former Director to request an interview. Dr. Alexander responded on June 14, 2021, stating “I’m currently out of town until Wednesday and will be unable to call back until then. Also, I stepped away from BLM5280 in early May and there’s not much I can contribute.”

(cont.)

YS responded to BLM5280 stating we could not publish an anonymous statement without first speaking to the victim, who we agreed would remain anonymous, and attempting to speak to the accused.

On April 14, YS staff conducted the interview with the anonymous alleged victim who only spoke to confirm their identity at the beginning of the interview. The victim preferred to not identify the high school they attended out of fear of being identified and retaliation. The remainder of the interview was conducted through an intermediary, Mary Katherine Brooks-Fleming, who represented herself as the victim’s advocate, while the victim was on mute and did not speak directly to our reporters. Instead, Brooks-Fleming heard the victim’s answers first, then provided the answers to YS staff.

In the YS transcription from the alleged victim’s recorded interview, Brooks-Fleming begins the interview with the following statement:

“Luckily, for ‘victim number one’, as we like to call her because she was the first one to come forward, happens to be very close with the family. So the kids, whenever she comes over, it’s like Christmas. And so yeah, no one’s going to sleep in (unintelligible) cuz they went to bed with too much sugar. I think I got four (kids) plus 83 protest kids who come and go as they please, and two who call me mom and show up for her since Saturday. And I did hear a little more frequently from her than the others. So I’ve just gotten to the point, I tell people, I have six kids in our evolving door.”

Brooks-Fleming continued:

“Very nice to meet you. And thank you for your interest in taking this on. It has been a little…I have been quite surprised. I think quite surprised by the push back on this because this guy has been so problematic for so long. And there have been so many conversations with them. And each time people are like, ‘Oh, no, I talked to him. He’s not, he’s not gonna do that, again, he’s gonna do better.’ And these are the same people who are covering for him now, which is why I don’t know, we were just grateful that y’all are taking this seriously. And that you’re willing to print the statement. And she understands that the reason we’re doing this is because you have to have a few things disclosed. She is, by the way, she is a black woman. Obviously, you’re a black woman and you can understand her fear of retribution because he is… he’s known that… especially with the attorney who he’s hired, thank you for doing the background on that, I friended you after I saw that, like, oh, someone did his homework. I was like, I want to know that guy. Because I don’t know why more people aren’t up in arms about that. Like this guy systematically destroys women. If you are Brock Turner’s parents, this is who you hire. And it’s like no one in Denver knows that. But I guess it’s one of those things white people know.”

Brock Turner, a former Stanford University swimming athlete, was convicted in 2016 for the sexual assault of an unconscious female behind a dumpster in 2015. Turner’s jail time was 6 months, yet he served only 3 months. Brock Turner’s family did not retain Christopher Decker.

As the interview proceeded, Brooks-Fleming shared the following statement with YS which she attributed to the alleged victim, who continued to remain on mute:

“It was senior year of high school, 2017. We were colleagues, we worked together at one of my, one of our after school jobs. We did not socialize at all, outside of that job because we went to different schools. We’ve shared similar backgrounds, we were both homeless at the time. We shared similar ideals around oppression and black liberation that were… kind of set us apart in our respective environments. And that formed a bond between us, but not one that could be construed as friendship, let alone romantic. We were two people with a lot in common who happened to work at the same place. Then one night in May, at the end of our shift, we were taking out the trash together. May 2017, we were taking out the trash together as was a company protocol, or happened at the end of each night.  He took me by surprise, assaulting and raping me behind the trash can. This was in a covered parking garage, but still a public area. And I didn’t want to draw attention. I just wanted it to end. I got my things, and I got home as quickly as possible. And I didn’t speak about it again.”

To date, Mary Katherine Brooks-Fleming has been the singular voice on record (i.e., willing to identify herself) reporting allegations of sexual assault made by third parties against Tay Anderson. No other witnesses or victims, documented or undocumented, have come forth at press time to corroborate the Brooks-Fleming statements from the initial interview with Victim Number One or Ms. Brooks-Fleming’s testimony, in late May at the State Capitol. Additionally, there are no open Denver Police Department investigations at this time. As a result, a spectrum of community members from the greater Front Range have begun to question her role in the allegations.

(cont.)

Brooks-Fleming, also known as MK, first became known in the Denver activist arena during the George Floyd protests of 2020. She works as a fitness coach and author, and in her past life she worked on Wall Street and for other corporate entities. A background check confirmed Brooks-Fleming has been permanently banned from Sam.gov under the alias Ann Marie Brooks. The System for Award Management, or SAM, is a government-wide portal that consolidates the capabilities of multiple systems and information sources used by the federal government in conducting the acquisition and financial assistance (which includes grants and cooperative agreements) processes.

(cont.)

Her husband, Alexander Fleming, works at Deloitte, a professional services firm that provides financial advisory, risk advisory, tax, and legal services to companies, including oil and gas, around the world. 

YS reached out to Brooks-Fleming to inquire about Sam.gov. To date, she has not responded.

(cont.)

Ms. Brooks-Fleming, helped co-found Denver Wall of Moms, along with Tiffani Bearup and Te Eiko. Eiko stated to YS, “Wall of Moms was founded with the goal to use their white privilege to protect Black Bodies”. Known to tag herself as “Protest Mom” on social media, she has created and posted several videos speaking to young protestors to advise them on the suggested practices for protesting, some of them more unorthodox than often advised by many who are seasoned protestors. In one post in particular, Brooks-Fleming shows a whiteboard and claims “Every night I write the names of protestors I know are out, plus their date of birth and emergency contact.”

Wall of Moms, formed in May 2020 during the George Floyd protests, originated as a group of non-binary women in Portland, Oregon. The movement branched out to cities including Chicago, Seattle, Tampa, and Denver. The women were known to link arms to form a protective wall between protesters and authorities. NPR article on Wall of Moms.

(cont.)

Brooks-Fleming is perhaps best known for her recent testimony which was presented at the Colorado House Discussion on #SB73 Ending Statute of Limitations on Sexual Assault Accusations on May 25, 2021. In her testimony before the state House Judiciary Committee, Brooks-Fleming claimed, “there is a sexual predator targeting DPS children.” She alleged that 62 students had approached her for help regarding a single individual within the Denver Public Schools system. Brooks-Fleming did not identify the accused during her testimony. Her allegations included victims sharing their experiences from the “alleged predator” that had ranged from “unwanted touching to violent acts of rape.” She also alleged one of the victims needed stitches and the youngest was 14 years old. Of the 62 alleged victims, Brooks-Fleming claimed 61 of them lacked citizenship documentation or were recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. 

(cont.)

According to the Colorado Herald, a notably ultra-conservative online publication, in an article written by Darcy Schoening, Brooks-Fleming alleged these acts to have occurred beginning June 2020 to September 2020. During this time frame, DPS students were on a schedule for remote learning due to health precautions with the COVID-19 pandemic.

(cont.)

As to Brooks-Fleming’s claim that Anderson intentionally targeted DACA recipients or undocumented immigrant students, YS verified that DPS does not keep records as to the immigration status of their students.

In her testimony at the Capitol, Brooks-Fleming also stated that one of the alleged victims needed stitches, and that individual was a minor. A Facebook post Brooks-Fleming made preceding her testimony, confirms that she sought to have the procedure done for the victim, “outside the hospital system.”

(cont.)

Brooks-Fleming Facebook post requesting for a medical procedure “outside the hospital system.”

Although during Brooks-Fleming’s testimony, she did not identify Tay Anderson as the alleged predator, her social media posts shortly after she testified began to focus on Anderson as an alleged predator. Thereafter, Brooks-Fleming connected with DPS graduate Gigi Gordon, who started a petition against Anderson based on Brooks-Fleming’s allegations that he had assaulted 62 students. Following the posting of the petition, Gordon held a rally on June 10 to demand justice for DPS students.

(L) Gigi Gordon. PC: Mona Cedillo; (R) Gordon’s petition against Anderson on Change.org

Gordon and Brooks-Fleming received support from Colorado local media figure Jimmy Sengenberger, who posted Gordon’s efforts on the Facebook Denver Republican Page and on his YouTube show. Sengenberger has long used his platform to push ultra-conservative views, often against Anderson. Darcy Schoening, publisher for the Colorado Herald, is known as an extreme-conservative public figure, and uses her platform to promote Sengenberg and Brooks-Fleming’s allegations as well.

(cont.)

Another supporter of Brooks-Fleming is Samantha Koch, who refers to herself as “Outspoken Samantha” and voices opposition to Divesting the Police, Black Lives Matter and Critical Race Theory.  Priscilla Rahn Shaw (Republican candidate who unsuccessfully ran for University of Colorado Board of Regents District 6) also supports Brooks-Fleming. Shaw, too, has posted her views opposing Black Lives Matter and Critical Race Theory on social media.

(cont.)

Recent letter written by Rahn Shaw and Brooks-Fleming, posted on Facebook on June 3, 2021.

Sengenberger “SPECIAL REPORT: Denver School Board Member Assault Allegations | Episode 147 w/ Shaw & Schoening” YouTube Livestream on Jun 3, 2021. (L-R) Schoening, Rahn Shaw, Anderson, Sengenberger.

The rally hosted by Gordon was coordinated with the intention to publicly request the removal of Tay Anderson’s name from recent graduates’ diplomas Of the 8 students who attended the June 10 rally, none were the alleged victims of Anderson. Community activist, Mona Cedillo, who was invited to the rally by Desiree Gonzales, asked if any of the students present claimed to have been classmates, family or friends of any of the alleged victims. No students confirmed they personally knew the alleged victims. 

(cont.)

(L) Gonzalez shares the same flyer, also used by Joseph A. Camp, on one of her three Facebook profiles; (R) Gonzales responds to Cedillo’s questions, claiming she cannot release information due to an investigation with the Denver Police Department.

Mona Cedillo is a 16 year resident of Colorado. Born and raised in Southern California, Cedillo moved to CO in 2005. She is the Founder and Director of End Violence Against Women Media, an organization that provides social media awareness on various forms of violence against women. Known as a survivor and advocate, she is also an event promoter, community activist and published writer. Often she is seen using her platform to bring attention to issues of social injustice, especially to Brown and Black communities. Cedillo is also a co-author on this story.  

A main promoter for the June 10 action against Tay Anderson was “Desiree Gonzales”, who is known to have at least two more social media profiles with the names of “Gonzales Robin” and “Rebel Tapp.” Gonzales had reached out to Cedillo through two different Facebook profiles. Her messages assured Cedillo the rally would provide answers and people would hear from some of the alleged victims. Gonzales also told Cedillo that no organizations or advocacy groups, including the Brown Berets, were willing to help the alleged victims. 

(cont.)

Messages sent from Gonzales to Cedillo on Facebook Messenger.

As of Saturday, June 26, 2021 the following organizations confirmed with Ms. Cedillo that they were not contacted by any of the alleged victims or Brooks-Fleming: Colorado Latino Forum, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, and The Initiative. Although CO Latino Forum and CIRC were willing to provide documentation, the Executive Director for The Initiative, Ashlee Lewis, declined the request.

(cont.)

Claims by Gonzales that the Brown Berets refused to help the alleged victims were refuted by two main chapters of Brown Berets from CO. Both chapters have confirmed they were never approached by Brooks-Fleming or any of the alleged undocumented victims. 

(cont.)

While Brooks-Fleming has been the leading voice to come forth publicly with accusations, another outspoken detractor of Tay Anderson is Joseph A. Camp, recently called “Denver’s Super Troll” by Westword Denver. Camp is well-known for his racist Facebook posts as well as repeatedly sending unwanted messages to people whose views he opposes. He is currently targeting the campaign manager of Anderson, including her 13-year-old daughter, with unwanted phone calls, text, and doxxing her on social media.

(cont.)

In June 2021, an article published in Westword magazine titled “Is Colorado Super Troll Trying to Stir Up The Tay Anderson Mess” stated:

““In June 2013, following the U.S. Department of Justice’s announcement that Camp, a former student at the University of Central Missouri, had been sentenced to three years in federal prison without parole and asked to pay $61,500 in restitution for “his role in a computer hacking conspiracy.” Specifically, he and a named co-conspirator are said to have “gained unlawful and unauthorized access to the UCM computer network, which allowed them to view and download large databases of faculty, staff, alumni and student information. They were also able to transfer money to their student accounts and attempted to change grades.’

After serving a stretch in the Colorado Department of Corrections system, Camp stuck around the state, and in recent years, his actions have rated a number of headlines. In October 2019, for example, The Colorado 303!Life asserted that Denver’s Festival of Color had been ‘hacked by notorious cyberstalker Joseph Camp.’ Just shy of a year later, in September 2020, Denverite reported on the arrest of two men who were cited for carrying large-capacity gun magazines during a peaceful protest around the death of Breonna Taylor. In the piece, Camp, dubbed ‘a self-described documentarian, talent manager, ‘political satirical artist’ and presidential candidate,’ is quoted as saying he’d hired the men to work as security. He also said that he’d provided footage from events like the Taylor rally to ‘right-leaning ‘influencers’ and teased that he was slated to speak ‘with the right-wing blog The Blaze about the incident.”

(cont.)

UPDATE: Joseph A Camp requested a call from the YS office on 7/01/2021. YS returned that call on 7/2/2021 at approx. 10:00 am. YS agreed to include Joseph A Camp’s comment that he requested we include as his response.

“I categorically deny reaching out to anybody via text message, email or Facebook or whatever, beyond a request for comment. And I have never posted a single instance of racism despite the accusation that I am well known for posting on Facebook.”

UPDATE: As discussed on Jeff Fard’s show on 7/2/2021 Joseph Camp stated to Jeff Fard that Camp is only amplifying the voices of others.

Brooks-Fleming’s LinkedIn profile claims she serves on the board for Blue Bench, an organization focusing on sexual assault prevention and care. Currently, Blue Bench does not have Brooks-Fleming listed on their website. Calls and emails to Blue Bench to confirm Brooks-Fleming’s position on its board have not been returned.  Such a position would place Brooks-Fleming as a Mandatory Reporter, obligating her to report any case of sexual abuse or assault to authorities. She has denied her position as a Mandatory Reporter on a Facebook post. 

(cont.)

Brooks-Fleming post on Facebook denying her role as a Mandatory Reporter.

The role of a Mandatory Reporter is to be taken seriously, as it is often a trusted position within the community. In Colorado, a person who has regular contact with vulnerable people is legally required to file a report when abuse is observed or suspected. Brooks-Fleming answered in a Facebook Post that she has not filed such a report for “Victim Number One” or any of the alleged 62 victims she cited at the Capitol hearing, because she considers herself not a mandatory reporter.

(cont.)

When publicly confronted by a community member about why she had not come forward sooner, Brooks-Fleming stated “I’ve worked on this for a damn year. I have worked with everyone.”

(cont.)

During the same year Brooks-Fleming claims to have been aware of the allegations, she posted on Twitter praise for  Anderson, calling him a “brave and worthy role model in this broken time”.

(cont.)

Brooks-Fleming Twitter post praising Anderson. The tweet has since been deleted.

Within the same year, Brooks-Fleming reached out to Anderson for an event to be attended by DPS students. On Nov. 1, 2020, she invited Anderson to speak at an event to “Remind everyone of the homeless kids in DPS”. The event was for a Denver City Council meeting where she confirmed the location was to be “Outside the City and County Building”. Again, Brooks-Fleming has not responded to YS’ invitation for her to explain this apparently contradictory move.

(cont.)

It is critical to note, while YS conducted the initial interview with the alleged victim in April of 2021, almost two months later there have been changes with the alleged incident and the alleged victim’s statement.

On June 13, 2021 while conducting a follow-up call with the alleged “Victim Number One,” YS was informed they were retracting and not moving forward with their statements.

UPDATE: On June 13, 2021 while conducting a follow-up call with the alleged “Victim Number One,” YS was informed they were retracting and not moving forward with their statements. When asked if they were retracting they stated yes, but they also stated they no longer want to move forward pursuing that allegation “for safety and support reasons.”  They say they no longer have the support systems they did in the beginning, they are disassociating themselves from Brooks-Fleming, and feel threatened if they were to go forward with their story. We received a call from the victim’s attorney following publication and advise that she will be the best source for further details on Victim Number One.

On June 25, 2021 another call was made by YS to the accuser – to confirm that they were firm in recanting the prior accusation of sexual assault and if they would be making public their previous statement with YS. When asked, the accuser hesitated and stated; “I would love to give you my lawyer’s number”. When YS requested the contact information for the attorney, they told YS they would take our number instead. A best contact number was provided and a request was made to be contacted by this weekend. They stated they would “pass that along”. YS received a call from the alleged victim’s attorney at press time but was not given permission to reprint her statements. 

YS sent a LinkedIn message to Brooks-Fleming seeking an interview and no response has yet to be received. Within one hour of sending that request, YS was blocked from her LinkedIn page.

(cont.)

YS attempted unsuccessfully to contact Brooks-Fleming for an interview.

YS has reached out to OutFront, a publication which Madison Rose is listed as an author. Efforts were made to confirm if she would speak about her time at Never Again. She has declined the interview. 

Never Again was a youth-led anti-gun violence group of which Anderson, then 19, was president in 2018. The group is now defunct. The Never Again board was made up of diverse students and Madison Rose, who was 24 at the time, served as a board member. Per Tay Anderson and his attorney, Christopher Decker, the accusations regarding Anderson’s behavior at Never Again mainly focused on financial propriety and inappropriate comments. Tay has publicly apologized for these comments and agreed they should not be made.

YS reached out to BLM5280 and asked if they would be publicly reporting that “Victim Number One” retracted. BLM5280 has not responded.

YS also reached out to Blue Bench for verification of Brooks-Fleming’s position on the Board as she is not listed on the board’s website. YS has inquired when the role ended. No response has been received as of press time.

UPDATE: YS called The Blue Bench on June 12th, 2021 at 5:05 pm and left a voice mail to please return the call regarding Mary Katherine Brooks-Fleming serving on the Board for The Blue Bench. On June 22nd we called again at 1:46 pm and spoke to a receptionist speaking for 1 minute and 7 seconds. We inquired when Brooks-Fleming left the Board of The Blue Bench and were told she did not have that information.  The call dropped so we called back at 1:48 pm and spoke for 1 minute and 25 seconds and asked for Executive Director, Megan Carvajal email but was told they could not give that out. We then left our number and asked for Carvajal to return the call. We were told the staff was mostly working off-site but the message would be passed along. 

Statement from Megan Carvajal, Executive Director of The Blue Bench, in response to YellowScene Magazine’s article titled “Evidence Emerges; Tay Anderson Controversy.”
(Click “Show More” below for the full statement.)

[bg_collapse view=”link” expand_text=”Show More” collapse_text=”Show Less”]

“Mary Katherine Brooks Fleming served on The Blue Bench’s board of directors from May 2019 – April 2021. To respect confidentiality of the board, we cannot provide further information about her tenure on the board or her departure from the board.

“Board members of The Blue Bench are not mandatory reporters in their capacity as board members. Rather, they are charged with ensuring that The Blue Bench is a sustainable organization. Mandatory reporters are trained through The Blue Bench’s comprehensive and extensive victim advocate training program. Board members of The Blue Bench are not required to complete this training. Additionally, board members are not trained to provide support to victims in any way and do not directly work with survivors on behalf of The Blue Bench. Board members who receive disclosures of sexual assault are asked to direct individuals to our 24/7 hotline where a trained advocate will offer further assistance and support.

“We would also like to remind our community that we are here. If you or someone you love is a survivor of sexual violence and need support, our 24/7 sexual assault hotline is available at 303.322.7273 (English) or 303.329.0031 (Spanish). We are committed to providing advocacy, care, and support for survivors, which always starts by believing. And through our prevention education programming, we aim to engage the wider community in our mission to end sexual assault. To learn more about The Blue Bench and our programs, please visit our website at thebluebench.org or email communications@thebluebench.org.”[/bg_collapse]

Call log to The Blue Bench listed number.

On June 23, 2021 YS conducted an interview with Tay Anderson with his attorney, Christopher Decker, present. During the interview it was revealed they had become aware of the alleged victim’s name. As a result, much of the conversation focused around those allegations. 

Christopher Decker stated multiple times that he and his client are fully cooperating with the DPS investigation. 

Tay Anderson denied ever knowing the accuser prior to August 2020, and confirmed he was unemployed in all of 2017.

Mr. Decker states:

“This is why I want to get the details right because it is in fact true that Tay was unemployed in May of 2017. And to the extent we can, we will get you a calendar of his events during that month. He did not work at (redacted) on 16th. He did work at (redacted) in 2016 on the 16th Street Mall. He did not work with a woman by the name of (redacted). In 2017, he went to the, probably in the spring of 2017, he did go to (redacted) one time with an HBO film crew, and his staff assistant, Tiffany Caudill, and they bought doughnuts at the (redacted) and then gave them to the homeless.”

Decker informed YS that the accuser may have reasons to dislike Tay, one of which was the fact that the accuser worked for his opponent, Jennifer Bacon, in 2017. 

Anderson states:

“I ran for school board in 2017. Jennifer Bacon has told several different people, you know, she (the accuser) highly expressed her disliking or hatred of me, because I would tell people that I was homeless. And, you know, I was living with a family in the Whittier area and living with a family and during the time that she was living in a shelter. And that, you know, allegedly, there were inappropriate, and, you know, sexual misconduct things that happened to her at this shelter. And since then, she was really upset with, you know, the way that the way that I campaign often being the “homeless” candidate, you know, team running for school board, etc. And so that’s where this might come from, this is just hearsay.” 

Decker interjects:

“The slimmed down version of that and a lot of people say this about Tay, that he coops the bandwidth, or sort of steals the fire. And so the angst, as we understand it comes from the fact that he sort of ran as a homeless person and he was perhaps not as homeless as she was and she was victimized as a homeless person, and maybe had a more, a harder reality of homelessness than Tay did. And that that’s, you know, that was something that angered her personally.”

When asked about his relationship with Brooks-Fleming, Anderson replied:

“she came up after the first kind of organized revolts in Portland, Oregon, you know, that Wall of Mom grew out of there, then Denver Wall of Moms started to form on the frontlines here and several protests, but before then, I didn’t know who she was. And, you know, MK and her crew provided security assistance to me and other black organizers, like (redacted), but we never crossed paths. But they provided security for, you know, several black organizers during that summer, because we were under attack from an individual named Joey Camp.”

YS asked if Anderson was ever alone or romantically involved with the alleged victim. He states:

“The first time I met her (the alleged victim) was August 6th, 2020. I remember it vividly, because her group messaged me on Twitter to come to their rally and speak to help promote their event for the eviction moratorium. That was the first time we had ever even met. I didn’t even respond to the Twitter invitation that they sent me. I just showed up to the event. And then an individual named Echo at the time introduced me to (redacted), they even introduced me to her via this message. This was the first time I met her, and from there we never really had crossed paths. In August of 2020 she asked me to come and share a statement. 

YS asked Anderson again, in a follow up email, about his interaction with the victim. He responded by confirming he had never had relations with the accuser. He provided documentation confirming the only interaction he had with them was in August 2020:

“Thank you for your email. I can confirm that I have never had a relationship with (redacted). I was first made aware about (redacted)’ activism through a Twitter DM from her organization asking me to speak at an event in August of 2020. 

I am attaching screenshots to show the following: No direct communication between (redacted) and I on any social media (I don’t have her number or I’d provide text messages) and the Twitter DM of her (alleged victim) org asking me to speak in August. “

YS asked Anderson about his relationship with BLM5280. He replied:

“I didn’t go tit for tat with 5280. It was more of an individual community political fragmentation that Hashim Coates had back and forth with them the day before, their initial allegation was posted for that Thursday, March 25, of 2021. But BLM (and) I have never had a good relationship. And I think Chris mentioned this earlier, because, you know, they feel as if my organizing has taken credit or taken the work they’re organizing was predominantly led by black women. And so in two instances, I made a mistake. There was an instance where I made a tweet about Stapelton changing their name and we are coming for them. They got upset with that because Stapelton 24 hours later was changing their name. And so they got upset me from taking the work from black women, then they you know, didn’t really want to work together. I acknowledged that it was their work. And since then I’ve done so in other spaces. And then finally, when Helen Rigmaiden had her Windsor Garden sign, BLM5280 asked to be removed by security she called BLM5280 for them to support her, she didn’t get a response back to this call so she called myself and Brother Jeff in to do a community parade to pass out signs. And after that, that was where the very public criticisms of BLM members came from, like being under Tay Anderson takes the work of black women. And they labeled me like an emotional abuser on Twitter, because of these two events. And when I offered the chance to have a restorative conversation, they never got back to me about that. I did reach out to them to say, I would love to, you know, rectify any harm that I may have caused. And I don’t want to ever be the reason why we have rift in our community and I never heard back.”

On June 23rd, 2021 YS spoke with Tiffany Caudill, Tay Anderson’s previous campaign manager in 2017 during his first bid for the DPS Board. Caudill was witness to Anderson’s activities and schedule during the alleged timeframe for “Victim Number One.” She opened up the interview by expressing her belief in Anderson. YS asked Caudill: “What is it about your relationship that has led you to believe him?” (The following quotes have been edited for length and clarity.)

Caudill replied:

“I think that it’s a couple of different things. So, I met Tay in February of 2017…People were just wowed by this young activist. His ability to you know, pull a crowd and have them be completely, you know, enchanted by the things he was saying…In March of that year, he, you know, had made a post about being homeless... We ended up having a family take him in which enabled him to finish out his high school career his senior year. And, then ultimately, he talked to me about deciding to run for school board. And initially, I was brought on as, like, a speech editor, and to help with speech writing and things like that. And when he first announced his run, a lot of people were really interested in helping, but pretty soon after, I became his campaign manager... And ultimately, he’s become more a part of our family…And at one point, he kind of said, You know, I really need like a guidance and, like a parental figure… And, you know, I’ve, I’ve tried to be in that role as much as possible, whether he’s right or wrong, try and guide him and give him advice, and show him what it means to have a family and have that kind of unconditional love.

[…] I believe I know who he is, and in his heart, and the time spent with him it would be impossible, if I were to say, “Oh, yeah, I could see that happening.” I mean, we wouldn’t have the relationship that we have any part of me that believed, it’s impossible… at the time, we were just facing using these anonymous BLM52890 accusations…the things I was entertaining in my head, you know, were normal things like, was there a situation with a girlfriend that maybe he didn’t understand what it was? […] And we talked about really uncomfortable things that I don’t think either one of us wanted to discuss with each other. But, you know, ultimately, my belief was that he wasn’t capable of doing…something malicious and violent and intentional. […] if he did something that did cause harm, it was my job to hold him accountable for that, and to, you know, help him change that behavior. But as time has continued, nothing has changed on our end…we don’t have any more information than we did in the beginning.”

YS asked how much time Caudill and Anderson spent together in May 2017. 

Caudill replied:

“I would say that certainly wasn’t every breathing hour. He was still in school at the time. But our contact with each other did increase quite a bit because he had just really launched his campaign... So there were, you know, meetings after school, arranging meetings with other people. We spent a lot of evenings and weekends together…”

When asked if she could verify if Anderson was employed at the alleged timeframe, Caudill answered with:

“To my knowledge, he was absolutely not at that time We had to provide transportation for him, we had to help pay for rides, to and from events and doing some campaign things…”

Caudill stated she was willing to provide the calendar notes documenting Anderson’s schedule during from the alleged timeframe for verification. 

YS asked Caudill about Never Again. She shared her knowledge of the story:

“[…] The very first accusations were financial mishandling. And he, as president of Never Again, mishandled sexual harassment allegations against two other completely separate board members... Those were the accusations against Tay in 2018 and in 2019. They only changed and are different in 2021 after the BLM5280 accusations came out. Most of the people on the board of Never Again were 18-19… where these supposedly inappropriate comments took place was at her apartment where she hosted parties and provided drugs and alcohol to the other board members. She was also engaged in a sexual relationship with other board members, one of whom was under the age of 18. And that might be why she’s no longer willing to be interviewed. Whereas at the beginning, she was more than happy to provide interviews to the Denver Post and Westword, and whoever else reached out to her.

That is what I mean, did Tay act inappropriately while on the Never Again board, yes, but they all did. Regardless of that, going back to what I said before, about talking to Tay about his behavior and being accountable when we had that conversation when Never Again came out with the new allegations, you know, our conversation was, ‘is it possible that something you said made somebody else feel uncomfortable?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ And I was like, ‘then what? What do you think you should do?’ And he was like, ‘I need to be accountable for that.’ And when I talk about these conversations that I’m having with Tay, these are not bullshit conversations, it’s not easy stuff. If you did something that made somebody uncomfortable, intentional or not, you need to apologize for it. And he’s never pushed back on any of that. I’ve watched him sit down and write down people that you’ve had relationships with and think in his head if there’s anything, at one point I were wanting to reach out to any woman he had ever had a sexual encounter with, and talk to them and ask them and apologize if he had done anything because in his mind he couldn’t think of anything. But he understood that there was, you know, maybe, maybe something happened. And I think went on and we found out that this was wildly different than what we were trying to envision could have happened.”

Caudill closed her interview with:

“You know, I am a survivor. So this is something that I obviously do not take lightly. It’s something that’s incredibly painful for anybody with a past to sort of realize in any kind of way. So I think the part for me that was difficult, is being called a rape apologist, or being called a sexual predator enabler or being accused of electing a child rapist, those types of things that, for me, are hard to get. If somebody were to make a criticism of any of us for knowingly, anything even remotely, I would deserve all of that hate. But that’s not the situation. Those of us who are supporting Tay are supporting Tay with the belief that he isn’t capable of this, and that black men have experienced these types of accusations.”

Independent investigation report conducted by ILG Services. The 96-page report found all allegations to be unsubstantiated.

The post Evidence Emerges; Tay Anderson Controversy appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

This article is a Community VOICES contribution by Nicky Yollick. Thoughts and opinions expressed are strictly his own and do not necessarily represent the view of Yellow Scene Magazine. You can convey questions, thoughts, or opinions to editorial@yellowscene.com.

Screenshot, DPS “Fun” Board of Directors

In 2019, the voters of Denver were led to believe they had “flipped” the Denver Public School Board. Progressive activists worked tirelessly to elect three new School Board Members promising a progressive new direction in contrast to their predecessors who sought to privatize the District and run DPS like a corporation.

That is what makes the DPS Board’s selection of the Alma Advisory Group as the recruiting firm to identify candidates to replace recently resigned Superintendent Susana Cordova puzzling. 

Shortly after last Friday’s announcement, I began looking into Alma’s history of involvement with other organizations in national education advocacy, and the results of my research show the firm’s deep ties to the national movement to privatize public education. 

Alma lists nine members of staff on its web-site. A quick Google search of each member and their ties to the privatization movement revealed that five of those nine staffers had worked two-year residencies for a national advocacy group called the Broad Center. The Broad Center is named for Eli Broad who, along with the Waltons (of Wal-Mart fame) and Bill and Melinda Gates, is one of the top three funders of education privatization advocacy nationwide. 

Alma details on its web-site its past recruiting work, none of which includes recruiting for a position of Superintendent-level seniority. 

Alma has, however, recruited three national positions for an organization called CityFund, as well as two national positions for CityFund’s political arm, Public School Allies. CityFund is financed largely by Netflix founder Reed Hastings, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars of his personal fortune to dismantle public education across the country. 

CityFund has donated tens of millions of dollars to leading privatization advocates. An extended list of their grants can be found on their website, but examples provided to privatization groups include $21 million to RootED, over $2 million to 50CAN, $1.5 million to Teach for America, and $500,000 to the Relay Graduate School of Education. RootED also funds many privatization advocates, including Education Reform Now, Stand for Children Colorado, and Transform Education Now. 

The association between Alma and the privatization movement is clearly neither tangential nor coincidental. Furthermore, the partnership between Alma and the Broad Center remains alive and well, as Alma has recruited two leading positions for the Broad Academy, the wing of the Broad Center which oversees the residency program of which five Alma staffers are alumni. 

On Saturday, I shared a post to social media tagging the seven sitting DPS Board Members and asking how they could so blatantly ignore the will of Denver voters as expressed in the last two round of DPS elections which overwhelmingly mandated an end to privatization policies. Not one community-elected Director has offered any explanation addressing the connection between Alma and the national privatization movement. 

Denver’s communities and education stakeholders are starving for authentic engagement from the District. Many Denver activists believe that DPS was uninterested in understanding and fulfilling the community’s will during the last SuperSearch, instead manipulating the community into reaching decisions already predetermined behind closed doors. 

With this decision, the community has already been set up to expect inauthentic community engagement as the choice of firm to lead the selection process itself suggests that the Board disregards the voters that put them in power. 

For any elected School Board Director, the selection of a superintendent is likely the most important decision they will make in their tenure. This is even more true for a Board, like the one overseeing DPS, which operates on a “policy governance” structure, essentially ceding all power to execute Board policy to the Superintendent. Therefore, community members should be able to expect that no decision would be more representative of a Director’s policy agenda than their choice of Superintendent. 

We must demand accountability. 

The post Denver School Board Picks Firm With Deep Ties to National Privatization Movement to Lead Next SuperSearch | VOICES appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Photographer Kenneth Wajda was in Denver for the Impeach Trump Car Parade and Rally that took place on January 10th, four days after Trump and the Republican party attempted an armed coup. The rally, which called for the removal and impeachment of President Donald Trump, began in the parking lot of South High School in Denver, drove up through downtown Denver and ended at Manual High School, January 10, 2020. Wajda shoots for Yellow Scene Magazine and is a prolific local photographer. You can visit his website here.

Here are his images.

Community organizer Tay Anderson speaks to the crowd gathered at the Impeach Trump Now Car Rally in Denver.

RTD Board Director Shontel Lewis speaks to the crowd gathered at the Impeach Trump Now Car Rally in Denver.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser speaks to the crowd gathered at the Impeach Trump Now Car Rally in Denver.

Cars drive up Lincoln Avenue through Denver at the Impeach Trump Now Car Rally in Denver.

Cars drive up Lincoln Avenue through Denver at the Impeach Trump Now Car Rally in Denver.

Cars drive up Lincoln Avenue through Denver at the Impeach Trump Now Car Rally in Denver.

Cars drive up Lincoln Avenue through Denver at the Impeach Trump Now Car Rally in Denver.

Cars drive up Lincoln Avenue through Denver at the Impeach Trump Now Car Rally in Denver.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Democracy needs journalism more than ever. We’ve been telling the truth for 24 years. Your support helps us keep telling it for at least the next four years.

The post Impeach Trump Car Parade and Rally: January 10th | Kenneth Wajda Photos appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

TAY ANDERSON IS MAKING HISTORY IN COLORADO BY BECOMING THE YOUNGEST CANDIDATE TO RUN FOR DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION.

Photo Courtesy of Tay Anderson

Tay Anderson is not your typical type of visionary. In only 18 years of life as an African American adolescent, Anderson has overcome the struggles of homelessness, discrimination and an unwavering high expectation to accomplish what hasn’t been achieved before. He stands amidst an ever changing public educational landscape routinely saturated with uncertainty and oftentimes injustice. He refuses to idly wait for constructive change to happen on it’s own. Last year Anderson had the idea of running for a seat on Denver’s Board of Education. He is now officially the youngest candidate to ever run for the position. Four seats are currently left for the taking on the board with final results to be determined on November 7th after the election. Yellow Scene sat down with Anderson in a coffee shop in the heart of Five Points to uncover what his plans as a candidate are and ask how it feels to be making history in his hometown.

Yellow Scene: You are now officially the youngest candidate to ever run for the position of a seat for The Denver Public School Board. How does this resonate for you?

Tay Anderson: It is a humbling experience to be able to represent young people from across our city and our state. To be able to be not only just an advocate but a champion because we have advocates and now we need champions that are on the board. We need champions in our local legislators as well. The board will be governing over 190 schools and impacting over 98,000 students and so the core mission and vision for Denver Public Schools is for the board of education to govern a school district and that is what i’m trying to do is make sure that there is a governance for young people because at the end of the day, young people are the movers and shakers of the Denver Public School Board of Education.

YS: You’ve mentioned one of your top priorities will be to create more opportunities for students of color. How did this become a major objective for you and how will you implement it?

TA: It was a major objective because I’m black and I’ve seen the discrimination as a student myself or people thinking that African American, latino students Asian students or students of color cannot succeed like their white counterpart. I really want to elevate the platform so that when we look at statistics, it’s not negative about our students of color, that when we look at African American males we’re not saying one and three black men go to jail, we’re saying three out of three black men go to college in their lifetime. I really want to change the statistics that are formed around young African Americans. Right now, it’s perpetuated into the prison pipeline because we’re suspending and expelling our kids at a high rate so we need to

come up with a solution and I’m drafting that currently right now.

YS: I know you’ve played a major role when it comes to social activism for Black Lives Matter, Muslim rights, women’s rights and many others. Is this still a platform for your voice to be heard?

TA: The future of being an elected official doesn’t change once I’m elected. I will continue to represent young people everywhere and really making sure they know that once i’m elected it doesn’t stop. That happens with a lot of our politicians that they show up when they need your vote but they don’t come back once they’re elected. I really want to change that narrative of an elected official to say ‘I stood with you before I was a candidate, while I was a candidate and now i’m an elected official and I stay with you.’ It doesn’t matter who or what it’s for. I’ll continue to stand up as long as the principals who have the democratic core values share the progressive values that I believe in my heart.

YS: On a national scale, I know that you have an aim to provide tuition free access for a college education for all communities in the country. What are your future plans for this?

TA: Once elected I would like to change the entire high school curriculum within Denver Public Schools. I will bring forth a resolution that will mandate that the four years will be like college. Your first two will be general studies and really learning about science, math and doing just two years of school curriculum based learning and the last two years I would like to see all students either enrolled in in school current enrollment classes or going to Community College of Denver to take those currently enrolled classes because I want to make sure that students have the accessible opportunities so that they can get their associates degree while they’re getting their high school diploma.“

The post Young leader paves the way for Denver schools appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.