Denver-Based Black Newspaper Celebrates 31 Years In Business In A Fun, Unique Way!

Denver-Based Black Newspaper Celebrates 31 Years In Business In A Fun, Unique Way!

By Rosalind “Bee” Harris

       DENVER, CO – In April, Denver Urban Spectrum (DUS), Denver’s premiere publication for communities of color, celebrated 31 years of spreading the news about people of color. Last year, the 30th anniversary momentous occasion included the debut theme song More Today, a reggae style remix of the 1969 classic More Today Than Yesterday by the Spiral Staircase.

Performed by Denver vocalist Goatfish and produced by Bobby Wells, More Today is available on CDBaby with proceeds benefitting the Denver Urban Spectrum Youth Foundation and can be heard on Sound Cloud.

With the surge of popular line dancing around the country, this year DUS partnered with Mr. Charles and the Let’s Move Dancing Crew to create a new line dance to complement the theme song on YouTube.

People are familiar with the Electric Slide, the Cupid Shuffle and the Wobble and can see them performed or can join in and dance them on any given night at local hot dance spots. The Denver community learned the Spectrum Strut, created by dancer Kim Drayton (aka Kimmy Kim) and Charles Doss, who is recognized and known as the dancing man and was recently recognized as a 2018 DUS African American Who Makes A Difference honoree. He has been teaching line dancing for more than 10 years and is committed to teaching anyone and everyone to get up and move.

“I have respected DUS for years as the community go-to publication, and to have this opportunity to contribute to the Denver Urban Spectrum was unexpected but very much welcomed,” said Doss. “It’s all about the community.”

Former New York police officer Kimmy Kim moved to Denver in 2006 and has been line dancing for eight years. She started with Charles Doss in 2010 and has been teaching line dance routines with Doss and the Let’s Move Dancing Crew for two years. “It means a lot to create a dance on this level. The song is great and I just felt the music and was inspired by the beat,” said Kim who hopes this music/dance video will exceed the more than 100,000 views she received from her dance routine she created from the song If Loving by Keith Sweat and looks forward to promoting it to her more than 8,000 followers.

“We wanted to do something different and fun this year to celebrate another year of serving the community. And, what better way than by dancing?” said DUS Publisher Rosalind “Bee” Harris.

Doss, Kim and the Let’s Move Dancing Crew practiced the Spectrum Strut and launched the dance and new music video at the 31st anniversary celebration at the Kasbah Nightclub on April 20 with Denver world music band, Goatfish and Friends. The video, which was which was filmed in Denver, included a special guest appearance of 97-year old classical and jazz bass player Charles Burrell, the first African American to be a member of a major American symphony, the San Francisco Symphony. Other significant scenes include the historic Five Points community and City Park’s Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial by internationally known sculptor Ed Dwight.