DENVER — Former Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock is launching a fellowship by his Hancock Basis that can ship highschool sophomores and juniors to historic websites and museums throughout the Deep South which have significance to Black historical past.
The Hancock Heritage Fellowship will choose 10 to 12 highschool college students, who will obtain a $3,600 stipend for his or her participation from June to December.
In his first interview since his time period ended, Hancock described what impressed the fellowship.
“A few month after leaving workplace, I made a decision to embark upon a solo drive throughout the Deep South. It was my option to form of simply decompress, reenergize, and simply form of let all of it go and revel in myself. So I flew into Louisiana, spent three days there, after which went into Mississippi, into Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and in the end into Richmond, Virginia, the place I concluded virtually 3,000 miles, 21 days solo,” Hancock stated. “I frolicked visiting all of the historic civil rights websites, African American historical past websites which are important in our journey right here, former slave plantations, a few of the nice new museums in Alabama and South Carolina. And I let you know, I used to be blown away. It hit me emotionally greater than I may have ever imagined.”
Hancock stated he returned to Denver with a newfound goal to start out the inspiration and the fellowship to take college students on the same journey.
“Let’s simply merely say the best training you may have is the one you search out for your self. You dig deep, and so you can’t erase historical past. You’ll be able to take the ebook out of the classroom. However the actuality is that you may solely attempt to bury historical past. But it surely’s as much as all of us, individually and collectively, to say, ‘No, no, no. That is not going to occur,’” Hancock stated. “I imply, we’re standing as we speak capable of get on the bus, eating places, sit wherever we would like, do something we would like as a result of so many individuals sacrificed for our proper to try this.”
Hancock stated he’s been engaged on the fellowship for a number of months, however current federal and company rollbacks of range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI) packages made the timing of the fellowship much more necessary.
“Whether or not it is Goal, Walmart, Amazon, who say, ‘We’re not going to do that anymore,’ that tells me it was by no means a worth of yours. It was a program. And that is actually unlucky since you can’t dismiss one thing that you simply profoundly worth and consider in,” Hancock stated.
The deadline for purposes is Wednesday, March 12, at 5 p.m. Based on a information launch, to be thought-about for the fellowship, candidates should be at present enrolled in class, labeled as a sophomore or junior, aged 16 to 18 at time of software, have at the least one grownup nominator, have parental or guardian consent, be a Colorado resident, and have authorized standing in the US.
Purposes might be accomplished by Hancock-Basis.org.
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