Denver Urban Spectrum

Three years ago, I visited Graham, North Carolina, to research my family roots at the Oak Grove Plantation (now the Alamance County Historical Museum) in Alamance County. My Holt family line, whose name I still carry, was enslaved there from at least 1760 to 1865 (according to documented records). During my research, I found that the town of Graham has a history that is more...

Hugh Ragin lives a life of creativity and flow. However, he is not the only one who has been creative with his narrative. Wikipedia claimed that Ragin was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.

“Somehow, a jazz history book said I was born in Honolulu,” said Ragin, with a bemused smile. “I was born and raised in Houston, Texas.”

This is one of the many stories that t...

It’s hard to believe that Alicia Keys’ Songs in A Minor debuted 25 years ago. I was a sophomore, riding to Montbello High School in a beat-up Astro Van, with her songs like Fallin’ and Never Felt This Way on repeat.

The emotional places those melodies carried me to still feel like yesterday. As a young romantic, I was navigating heart...

Women are tired.

Exhausted from often carrying disproportionate weight at home and in the workplace, navigating rising childcare costs, and too often being left out of the rooms where decisions are made. For all the progress it seems we’ve made, many of the challenges feel familiar, echoing battles fought by generations of courageous women before u...

As the U.S. has entered a new military conflict, Denver Urban Spectrum reflects on the history of African Americans and war.