Monday Information

Denver has a long history. The first people of Denver were Native Americans. As time went onward, the Denver area was part of the Territory of Kansas. It was land that existed from May 30, 1854 to January 29, 1861. It was created by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which deal with slavery, popular sovereignty, and whether Kansas would be a free state or not. The Denver area wasn’t settled that much until the late 1850’s. Many prospectors looking for gold moved on. This changed in July 1858. During that time, Green Russell and Sam Bates found a small placer deposit near the mouth of Little Dry Creek (in the present-day suburb of Englewood) that yielded about 20 troy ounces (620 g) of gold, the first significant gold discovery in the Rocky Mountain region. News spread rapidly and by autumn, hundreds of men were working along the South Platte River. By spring 1859, tens of thousands of gold seekers arrived and the Pike's Peak Gold Rush was under way. In the following two years, about 100,000 gold seekers flocked to the region. By the summer of 1858, there was a group of people from Lawrence, Kansas. They arrived. They also formed Montana City on the banks of the South Platte River (or modern day Grant-Frontier Park). This was the first settlement of European Americans that would become the Denver Metropolitan Ara. The site ended very quickly. The reason was that there were poor findings by miners. Most of the settlers and some structures moved north to the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek. At that location, a new settlement called St. Charles was established. That location was accessible to exiting trails and had previously been the site of the seasonable encampments of the Cheyenne and Arapaho. Five weeks after the founding of St. Charles in October of 1858, the town of Auraria was founded by William Greeneberry Russell and a party of fellow settlers from Georgia on the south side of Cherry Creek.  The town was named for the gold mining settlement of Auraria, Georgia. It was formed in response to the high cost of land in St. Charles and gave away lots to anyone willing to build and live there.  A post office was opened in Auraria in January 1859 serving the 50 cabins that had already been constructed. A short time later a third town, called Highland was founded on the west side of the South Platte River.


Surrounded by steep bluffs and separated from the other two settlements by the river, it was slow to develop. In November 1858, General William Larimer placed logs to stake a square mile claim on the site of the St. Charles claim. He was a land speculator from eastern Kansas. The claim was across the creek from the existing mining settlement of Auraria. The majority of the settlers in St. Charles returned to Kansas for the winter and left only a small number of people behind to guard their claim. Larimer and his followers gave the representatives whiskey, promises, and threats and the St. Charles claim was surrendered. The name of the site was changed to Denver City. This was named after the Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver. Some wanted the city would be the county seat of then Arapaho County, Kansas. Ironically, when Larimer named the city after Denver to curry favor with him, Denver had already resigned as governor and no longer had say in naming the capitol. Denver was a mining settlement in the beginning. Gold prospectors panned gold from the sands of nearby Cherry Creek and the South Platte River. Larimer, along with associates in the Denver City Land Company, laid out the roads parallel to the creek and sold parcels in the town to merchants and miners, with the intention of creating a major city that would cater to new immigrants. During the early years of Denver, land parcels were traded for grubstakes or gambled away by miners in Auraria. More gold deposits were found in the mountains west of Denver in early 1859 as gold was lacking in the Denver area. This might cause Denver City to be a ghost town. The gold rush started and Denver was used as a hub for the new mines. Early expeditions into the area, such as the Pike and Long expeditions, had returned east referring to the plains as the "Great American Desert" which deterred immigration. Despite this, frontier posts and forts existed and traded with the natives and frontiersmen. However the closest major trading routes, the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails, didn't come with in a hundred miles of the Denver area. Until a permanent trading route was established the locals had to make due with what little extra new immigrants brought with them. New immigrants migrated into Denver. Auraria began to take an early lead with the first saloon, smithery, and carpentry shop. But in May 1859, Denver City donated 53 lots to the Leavenworth and Pike’s Peak Express in order to secure the region’s first overland wagon route. Offering daily service for “passengers, mail, freight, and gold,” the Express reached Denver on a trail that trimmed westward travel time to as few as six days. With supplies being delivered to the Denver side of Cherry Creek, businesses began to move there as well. By June, Auraria had 250 buildings compared to Denver's 150 buildings, and both cities were growing quickly. With this growth, there came a need for a wider government.


Many people have talked about the iPhone7. It was launched in September 16, 2016. This is a new product from Apple. It has a new glossy black color, better battery life, faster processors, and improves water resistance. It has no headphone jack. It has a dual lens camera for iPhone 7Plus. Its A10 Fusion processor is upgraded. It has a stereo sound too. It was first released by Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California. Both the iPhone 7 and the iPhone Plus are very popular smartphones. Another new feature on the iPhone 7 includes a new quad core system on chip where at most 2 cores are used at once. It has an improved graphic performance too. Much of the reception about the new devices has been mixed. Samsung Galaxy S7 is another popular smartphone device too with great batter life and water resistance. The iPhone 7 does have touch sensitive area and improved camera function, but it has a lack of a headphone jack. Some users have been reporting a strange hissing noise from the phones. The noise, which is unknown how common or widespread, happens while the device is under heavy usage. Cnet reports it as "faint buzzes and hums coming from the backside.” The Daily Telegraph speculates that the iPhone 7's new A10 Fusion processor is the source of the sound, linking to tweets that compare the phone's hissing sound to "hearing the fans spin up loudly whenever your Mac’s CPU gets used to its actual potential. In 1984, Apple introduced the MacIntosh computer, which changed PCs forever. In 2001, Apple revealed the I-Pod for the first time in history. The first iPhone came announced in January 9, 2007.  It was introduced in America on June 29, 2007 by the late Steve Jobs. Technology will continue to evolve and we are blessed to live in a time where various phones, the Internet, social media, and other devices are abundant in our world society.


The opening of the African American National Museum of History & Culture is historic and great. I am excited about it. I am an African American. My experiences in this world are unique. My people survived the Maafa, Jim Crow, the evil peonage system (which was de facto slavery), and others evils. Our black ancestors not only build up this nation, but made tons of inventions. We have been trailblazers that proclaimed the Dream in public view and the heroes to inspired the world to promote human rights. Our stories, our strength, and our resiliency as African Americans is nothing short than a miracle. No other people in human history survived what we have survived and made lemonade out of lemon in a fashion that we have made. So, the National African American museum of History & Culture is exciting. Also, we know what the journey isn't over and we have a very long way to go. New chapters of history are being written. Yes, we are America. Before Ellis Island, we were here. Before the words written on the Constitution were etched, we were here. Before the Mayflower, we were here too. Slavery couldn't stop us. Jim Crow couldn't stop us. Therefore, we (as African Americans) will continue to grow, to inspire others, and to fight to justice without apology and without compromise. We, who are African Americans, are diverse geographically, ideologically, culturally, class-wise, and in other manifestations. Yet, we should fight for the same goal, which is total freedom, justice, and equality for black people. We should honor our heroic ancestors who shed blood in order for us to live in this generation. We should be inspired to strive for excellence, to remember our past, and to engage in this audacious journey to make a better future for ourselves and for our posterity. That is that intrinsic path that we (who are African Americans) are in.

It is sad news that Brother Bill Nunn passed away today. He was only 63 years old. He was born in the great city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Throughout his life, he was a great actor who played a diversity of roles. As a friend of Spike Lee, he was in some of Lee's most iconic films like School Daze (which wanted to expose elitism, colorism, negative peer pressure, and other evils in our world. The film's ultimate message was to promote Black Unity), Mo Better Blues, Do the Right Thing, and many other movies. Bill Nunn was in New Jack City. Bill Nunn was in Spiderman movies as well. He had charisma, intelligence, and love for our people. In the film Do the Right Thing, it realistically not only showed urban life in New York City. It showed the realities of black America during the late 1980's when our people were suffering police brutality (as the Radio Raheem character was killed by one cop by a choke hold. This was very similar to Eric Garner in NYC being unjustly murdered by one cop in a choke hold), racism, and economic injustice. These same problems continue to persist in 2016 after almost 30 years of time. Do the Right Thing was so ahead of its time. Radio Raheem was a character that typified many working class black men trying to survive in a cruel, imperfect world. In real life, I have seen Brothers with the large radios walking down the street back in the day. So, Radio Raheem isn't based on fantasy. It's based on real people. Always humble, he loved his family and was an amazing father to his children. Spike Lee gave a great, eloquent commentary on Bill Nunn's life and legacy as a man. We realize that life is precious and sacrosanct. Also, his life reminds that we must continue onward in the work of using almsgiving, standing up for justice, and believing in the Dream in our hearts and in our minds. That is how Bill Nunn lived his life and we shall continue in the journey for real freedom as Brothers and Sisters.
I send condolences to Bill Nunn's family and friends.
Rest in Power Brother Bill Nunn.


By Timothy