At the height of the racial justice protests of 2020, Denverites — like the rest of the country — reckoned with our past. Statues depicting bigots and racists were torn down, and quietly the City of Denver assembled a commission to examine, research, and reassess the names of our parks — green spaces like Jefferson Park, La Alma-Lincoln Park, but also some lesser known park names with potentially troubled pasts. Today host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi talk through the six park names the commission put up for debate and discuss why they think we should — or shouldn’t — be giving some of these park names the boot.
What do you think about renaming these six parks? We would love to hear from you, too. Got a strong defense of Lincoln? Or maybe there’s a park name you’d really like to see go? Leave us a voicemail or a text at 720-500-5418, and you might hear it on the show soon!
Paul mentioned past guest Chase Woodruff’s newsletter exploring the literature of the West — “Lit Out West.”
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Learn more about the sponsors of this episode:
- “Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily: Love in Exile” at the Newman Center (Sept. 30)
- BadBoyBoards
- Lighthouse Writers Workshop
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