About This Piece

This is a Cultural Perspective project administered by the African American arts organization, ULOZI (Swahili word for “black art”). “Mile High and Rising,” in the artist’s words, “depicts the spirit of adventure, optimism and triumph that African Americans brought to Colorado and the old West. Despite the tumultuous Middle Passage and the decades of their enslavement, they mastered skills that enabled the survival of their people. The, Go West! came the call, and armed with the knowledge of better days, they sought freedom, human progress and prosperity. Barney Ford, Aunt Clara Brown, and many others staked their claims alongside the rivers of opportunity.”