The conference began with the pouring of water onto some soil, a spiritual process to give homage to the ancestors.
The silence was broken on Saturday as the Colorado Showstarz dance team flipped to the stage, pumping up the crowd with jubilant cheers.
The desire to meld past traditions with younger generations prompted 600 people to gather on the Auraria campus for the African-American Leadership Institute’s Youth and Family Empowerment Conference.
This is the first year the institute combined two annual programs, the boys’ “Expanding the Visions” and the girls’ “Sistah Pride.”
“This has been a day of empowerment, where all are valued in this circle, everyone has a presence,” said Linda Williams, the institute’s president.
Following the conference’s theme, “Let the Circle Be Unbroken,” adult mentors shared wisdom in a series of workshops to guide students as they struggle to make smart life-decisions.
High school students from around the Denver metro area listened as a panel of five student speakers addressed issues of fear, manners, the elderly and community.
Passions arose on the topic of racism. Students stood up, upset to be categorized by their skin or the idea that success is a “white man’s world.”
Jordan Daniel, a ninth-grader, said she was shaking during the speech. She has been called an “Oreo” at school: black on the outside, white on the inside.
“There are so many stereotypes out there, and I have to live beyond it. Don’t assume I’m stupid because I’m black or a girl,” Daniel said.
Senior speaker Brendon Henderson, from Kent Denver School, said everyone has the opportunity to be successful and should not let race hinder having a nice house or car.
“If you do it and you’re black, it’s automatically a black thing to do,” Henderson, 18, said.
The adults addressed the importance of healthy communication in a marriage in order to have stronger families.
As the workshops ended, people congregated to enjoy the traditional beats of African drumming.
“It’s like a grounding for everyone; if you appreciate the past, you can appreciate everything else,” said 10th-grader Akil I. LuQman.
Staff writer Julianne Bentley can be reached at jbentley@denverpost.com.
