BLACK RESILIENCE IN COLORADO 

Denver 

News: With apologies to an oft-quoted line from the movie “Field of Dreams,” the message imparted by Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actor Anthony Anderson at a luncheon marking the fifth anniversary of Black Resilience in Colorado (BRIC) was this: If you manifest it, it will come. 

Anderson, an actor, comedian and producer who has had starring roles in such popular TV shows as Black-ish and Law & Order, joined Denver native Dallas Jackson, who created and/or directed films and series that include Rebel (BET); the 2018 slasher film, Thriller; Welcome to Sudden Death (Netflix); and The System, starring Tyrese Gibson, for a fireside chat moderated by BRIC’s founder and executive director, LaDawn Sullivan. 

“I’m 55 years old and in a place where I’m old enough to know what the past is yet young enough to be part of the change,” Anderson said. “I’m not a dinosaur. There are things I can learn and things I can teach. I’m a firm believer that I have willed everything into my life; I’ve manifested it … and we all have that power, so tap into it, believe in it and spread it, then it will come back to you tenfold.” 
Jackson said his dream to become a writer began in Denver and continued to Los Angeles, where he found work delivering mail in various studios, then graduated to reading scripts and eventually writing them. It was hard, he acknowledged, but even so, his best advice is to “Listen to the dream in your heart. It’s never too late to start working on that dream, so take things one step at a time, put one foot in front of the other and go do it.” 

The Nov. 1 event was held at the Westin Denver Downtown. It filled the hotel ballroom with community leaders like Carlotta LaNier, the youngest of the storied Little Rock Nine, a group of African American students who in 1957 were the first to attend classes at Little Rock’s Central High School; former state Sen. Janet Buckner; Joe Whitfield, a district court judge in the 18^th Judicial District; Ryan Ross, president/CEO of the Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado; Omar Montgomery, president of Aurora chapter of the NAACP; Javier Alberto Soto, president/CEO of The Denver Foundation; and Morris Price and his sister, Marlene Price. Their companies, Morris Price Consultancy and Trajectory Consulting, were among the luncheon sponsors. The Colorado Health Foundation was the presenting sponsor. 

Javon Brame, chair of the BRIC board and senior director of client success for CampusWorks, Inc., addressed the relevance of BRIC’s name. “Black resilience is the force that continues to drive us forward,” he said. “It’s a story of unbreakable strength.” 

BRIC, he added, was “Built by us, for us and with us. It ensures that Black voices will continue to be heard.” 

Executive director LaDawn Sullivan noted that she had a vision for an organization like BRIC seven years before its birth on Juneteenth 2020. 

Since its start, BRIC has invested over $6 million in 400-plus Black-led and Black-serving organizations in such fields as housing, education, health, cultural preservation and economic justice. It has provided over $200,000 in low-interest capital improvement loans, delivered leadership and organizational development for over 300 nonprofit leaders of color and helped secure $33 million in capacity grants for Colorado’s historically marginalized, led and serving organizations. 

“As we enter our next chapter,” Sullivan said, “We will continue to build pathways for equity, ownership and opportunity – BRIC by BRIC – so that our past and our present are never forgotten.” 

About the organization: The Black Resilience in Colorado Fund is the first Black-focused community fund in Colorado, explicitly providing financial resources and support to Black-led and Black-serving organizations. It is a fiscally sponsored project of The Denver Foundation, which provides administrative and back-office support as well as the charitable tax status for donations. 

Website: bricfund.org 

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