Photo: Riverbend Ponds Natural Area on Jan. 1, 2024 by @KatValdezWriter
“I made you this bright so that others would see in the darkness.”
– God to Eric, “Sex Education” Season 4
I love this quote. I love that God is a Black woman and Eric is a glitter makeup-wearing, proud gay man. To me, the meaning is simple: Don’t dim your light. Others are counting on you to lead the way. Become who you’re meant to be. Be bold.
How do you shine for yourself, your family, friends, colleagues, and community?
Upcoming Community Events and Volunteer Opportunities
- You have just 12 more days to submit your application for City of Fort Collins Boards and Commissions. The deadline is Jan. 15. We need more diverse voices! The city needs your expertise. It has many vacancies to fill but has received very few applications for the following: Air Quality Advisory Board, Land Use Review Commission, Senior Advisory Board, Water Commission, Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board, and Youth Advisory Board. Read details here: https://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/boards/
- “It Starts With Us” is the theme of this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. March and Celebration on Monday, Jan. 15. Visit the website for details and volunteer opportunities: https://lsc.colostate.edu/involvement/campus-activities/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-march-celebration/
2023 Year in Review
- Special thanks to volunteer extraordinaire MK for checking every link and re-organizing our Resources into categories on an attractive new landing page! Check it out and let us know what you think. We’re always open to improving the user experience and adding more local resources. Email diversefoco@gmail.com with “Resources” in the subject line.
- It’s worth noting again that we partnered with Writing Heights Writers Association (formerly Northern Colorado Writers) on Community Voices. If you live, work, or play in Fort Collins, we’d love to hear from you. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?
- We heard from folks around the country who contributed information and links to our Resources page, and others who were planning to move to Fort Collins and wanted to know what it’s like for people of color to live here.
- Community members connected and posted news, events, links to local businesses owned by people of color, and volunteer opportunities in our Facebook Events group.
- We updated our Vote page with resources and links to articles about the November election.
- From the “long overdue” files: we finally deleted our X account (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter).
- Congratulations to former DFC Advisory Committee Co-Chair Teresa Funke and her daughter Lydia Funke for writing and producing their first play! My sister and I were fortunate to travel to New York City in October to see the premiere ofWave Me Goodbye at The Kraine Theatre in the East Village. Uplifting and moving; really impressive. It’s inspired by a true story, adapted from Teresa’s novel of the same name, and will be available for community theaters and high schools to produce. They will publish the play this year and sell rights to perform it through her website TeresaFunke.com. Contact her at teresa@teresafunke.com if interested.
- During that same New York City trip, we were thrilled to experience Here Lies Love, the Broadway musical conceived by David Byrne and with music by Byrne and Fatboy Slim. The cast was 100% Filipino and many of the audience members were Filipino. Kind of a dream come true for two theater enthusiasts whose mother is from Tacloban, Leyte. It was a joyful, historically accurate production that also did not flinch at addressing the atrocities of the Marcos dictatorship.
Looking Ahead at 2024
- The 2024 presidential election. Keep an eye on our Vote page for information and resources on Colorado’s upcoming presidential primary: https://diversefortcollins.com/vote/
- More website improvements to come!
- Would you like to help explore the possibility of producing a limited-series Diverse Fort Collins podcast in late 2024? We seek volunteers with podcast production experience or the time and energy to learn. We’re eager to meet this spring to discuss guest speakers and format ideas. Email diversefoco@gmail.com with “Podcast” in the subject line.
Isolation and Exposure Calculator. A coworker tested positive for COVID-19 in December. I wore my mask everywhere for the designated time period and got tested a few days later per the CDC exposure calculator, a tool to help you determine whether to isolate or take other steps to prevent spreading COVID-19: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/isolation.html
Nonprofit Spotlight
“From Krispy Kreme to another In-N-Out, here are Fort Collins food highlights for 2024” by Erin Udell/Fort Collins Coloradoan (Dec. 28, 2023)
(Read this article free using your library card)
Excerpt:
Arboretum Coffee is on a mission in 2024.
The nonprofit coffee shop plans to open at 221 W. Prospect Road under the Prospect Station Apartments on Jan. 22, bringing its coffee and, more importantly, an apprenticeship program for Fort Collins’ refugee and immigrant youth to the area.
The nonprofit coffee shop plans to offer a 12-month program for refugees and immigrants ages 18 to 24
Participants will learn barista and customer service skills through on-the-job training and receive one-on-one mentoring and classes in financial literacy and career preparation, according to Arboretum Coffee Executive Director Hannah Norris.
Norris, who previously worked as a caseworker at the Matthews House in Fort Collins, said she wanted to start Arboretum Coffee after seeing an influx in refugees and immigrants coming to Fort Collins in recent years.
“A lot of refugees and immigrants have to start in unsafe and undignified working environments when they get to the U.S. in order to pay the bills,” Norris said.
To combat this and build community for these groups, Arboretum Coffee hopes to open with two cohorts of five participants in early and mid-2024. To learn more or volunteer for Arboretum Coffee, visit arboretumcoffee.org.
Pop Culture Recommendations (with “happily ever after” guaranteed)
Now that you’ve confirmed your new year’s resolutions, sit back and relax with any of the following.
- Sis Flicks Podcast: “The podcast where we won’t judge you for talking through the movie.” Sisters Nadhya and Paola geek out over rom-coms and blockbusters like The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
- If You Were The Last is a quirky romantic comedy starring Zoë Chao and Anthony Mackie. Groundbreaking! When was the last time we watched a rom-com with Asian American and Black actors in the lead roles? Screenwriter Angela Bourassa is one to watch. Available on Peacock.
Logline: Adrift in their broken-down space shuttle with little hope of rescue, two astronauts argue over whether they’re better off spending their remaining days as friends or something more. - God’s Own Country is a gritty, beautiful film about two Yorkshire farmers who fall in love, and in which — spoiler alert — neither of them dies or marries a woman in the end. An LGBTQIA+ drama ending in happily ever after? Sign us up! Kudos to writer-director Francis Lee. Free to view on Tubi.
Logline: Spring. Yorkshire. Young farmer Johnny Saxby numbs his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker for lambing season ignites an intense relationship that sets Johnny on a new path. (IMDb) - Same for Boys…another serving of joy that also portrays the complexities of coming of age (“Shall we stay here forever?”)
Logline: A sexually awakening gay teen athlete finds himself in a budding relationship with his mutually attracted relay race teammate. - Any books by the imprint Joy Revolution, led by best-selling authors Nicola Yoon and David Yoon.
- Watch a movie or attend an event at The Lyric, Fort Collins’ only independent cinema that’s also an inclusive community center. Hosting an event? Check out their rental information. They’ve got you covered.
2023 was challenging in many ways, and some of those challenges continue. May you find comfort and joy in community in 2024.
Katherine Valdez
Founder, Diverse Fort Collins
Diverse Fort Collins 