SEASON 1
September-October 2020
Our first season started with creating a unique set of collaborations featuring BIPOC entrepreneurs, musicians and small businesses across the Metro Denver area. To conclude our first season we hosted a special fundraiser to support Transformative Leadership for Change, whose fellowship program supported several of our featured collaborators.
COLLAB 1 - Celestial Alegria
Lolita
Lolita is a Latin pop artist. Her latest release is called, "Toda Mi Gente (Remix),” ft. Big Samir of The Reminders, and is proudly being featured for this first collaboration.
It’s a Spanglish pop song about gun violence and police brutality. The song weaponizes joy through pop music and puts it to use in the fight for social justice.
You can stay up to date on her latest music, videos, events, & more by visiting her website and following her on social media @lolitaworldwide.
Lady Justice Brewing
Lady Justice Brewing mission is to create a great beer to make the world a better place. For this collaboration, Lady Justice created a special Celestial Alegría Hazy IPA that launched Thursday, September 3, 2020! This delicious brew taste like all the joy of summer with hints of strawberry and lemon.
The Sentinel agreed to include this delectable beer in their article “ALE YEAH: 10 beers — hold the pumpkin spice — to tip back this season.”
To learn more about all the great things they are up to,
follow them on social media @ladyjusticebrewing.
Celesté Martinez
Celesté shares more about her brand, “I choose Celestial Alegría because Celestial is a play on my name Celesté. I choose Alegría, which is Spanish for joy, because I want all of my work to ignite joy through transformation.
The first time I first heard Toda Mi Gente (Remix) by Lolita ft Big Samir I knew I wanted to collaborate with her. Working together was absolutely incredible and Lolita’s performance was phenomenal!
When I reached Lady Justice Brewing, I remember telling Betsy, ‘let’s make this beer taste like joy in a glass.’ And y’all they did it!”
Toda Mi Gente (REmix)
Lolita ft. Big Samir
COLLAB 2 - Undocu hustle
Alejandro Flores-Munoz
Alejandro Flores-Munoz is a seasoned entrepreneur and activist who has made it his mission to advocate for marginalized communities. As an outspoken queer, DACA, Latinx person Alejandro's life work is to be a champion for the next generation of intersectional entrepreneurs.
Brought to the United States by his mother in 1997, Alejandro had strong progressive values instilled into him from a young age. His family upbringing and willingness to overcome adversity are what inspired him to open his businesses: Unum Sunglasses, Progressive Button and most recently Stokes Poke. He is also the co-founder of the Undocu Hustle Show with Victor Galvan, where he transparently and vulnerably opens up about his journey as an undocumented entrepreneur offering tips, advice, and support to those looking to start or grow their business.
Pink Hawks
Pink Hawks is an Afrobeat / Chicano Hip-Hop orchestra, playing original and future-traditional music to dance to.
Their newest track, “Elote” is being featured for this second collaboration. This song narrates the struggle between the elotero (working-class) and the battle for the legality of one’s humanity on stolen land, through a cumbia/merengue infused sonic-scape.
When you purchase this donation-based track with all proceeds benefiting Casa de Paz, a Denver organization that reunites families separated by immigrant detention, one simple act of love at a time.
Dos Luces Brewery
Dos Luces Brewery was originally co-founded by Judd Belstock and Sam Alclaine. Named in Westword Best of Denver in both 2020 and 2019, this brewery focuses on two core types of beer, a corn-based Chicha, and a corn and maguey-based Pulque.
For thousands of years, Chicha and Pulque were the two bright lights illuminating the way for brewers in the Americas. Brewed from gluten-free ingredients, corn, and aguamiel, these beers are rich in flavor and deep with history. Little known in the US, Dos Luces looks to these traditions for inspiration and aims to explore the vast possibilities these truly American ingredients hold.
For this collaboration, Dos Luces is brewed up a special Undocu Hustle Pineapple Tepache!
ELOTE
Pink Hawks
COLLAB 3 - Dark Goddess
Assétou Xango
Assétou Xango is a poet and a coach for Black Femmes. Their work deconstructs the binaries of all social identities to promote the wellness that comes with allowing ourselves to be fluid people.
Assétou is currently the Aurora Poet Laureate and a 2020 Academy of American Poets fellow. Earlier this year their poem “Give Your Daughters Difficult Names” received national recognition, but for this collaboration Assétou is uplifting their recent work centering the “Dark Goddess.”
Assétou’s coaching is in service of Black Femmes and opening them up to life and possibility. Through this work, Assétou works with their clients to locate what stories and imprints from the past are keeping them from having the life they deserve.
Assétou would be hosted a Poetry Reading called “Poems from the Void” at Whittier Cafe to celebrate the release of the Dark Goddess Mint Mocha.
Whittier Cafe
Whittier Cafe is Denver’s first African espresso bar and social justice cafe established in 2014. Its mission is to teach people about coffee and where it comes from. All beans come from various African countries to make their delicious menu of drinks. They also now serve a selection of Ethiopian wines and beers for customers to enjoy.
Millete Birhanemaskel, Founder of Whittier Cafe, describes the cafe as, “We are the place people come to organize. We are the place people come to grieve. We are the place that people come to when they are not sure where to go or what to do next. We are known as the activist coffee shop.”
Whittier Cafe has created a Dark Goddess Mint Mocha for this collaboration that was absolutely delicious and captured the spirit of our collaborators.
Whittier Cafe is Open Mon-Thurs 7am-7pm, Fri-Sat 7am-8pm & Sun 7am-8pm.
Kayla Marque
Kayla Marque is a singer-songwriter born and raised in Denver, Colorado. Her mission through Kayla Marque Music is to encourage and empower people to create their own narrative, live authentically, and experience themselves in totality, thereby healing through the medium of self-expression and discovery through nurturing and cultivating artistic creation.
Last fall Kayla released her Brain Chemistry project, which included two EPs, first was Right Brain and the second EP Left Brain. Both alt-pop EPs are named to show off the different sides of Marque’s journey and artistic expression.
Check out Kayla’s incredible music video for her Right Brain single “Mercy”
You can stay up to date on her latest music, videos, events by following her on social media @iamkaylamarque.
Mercy
Kayla Marque
COLLAB 4 - TLC
Bianca Mikahn
Originally from Denver, Bianca Mikahn is an emcee, poet, digital composer, cultural activist, educator and a fierce mother. Bianca’s stage presence and lyrical content have earned multiple nominations for “Best Emcee” as well as a feature in the “100 Colorado Creatives” series from Denver Westword.
You can find Bianca integrating arts and facilitation in her current work with Creative Strategies for Change Denver and Youth on Record. Addressing stigma reduction and mental health for BIPOC, Bianca is the founder and Executive Director of a youth program called Check Your Head. You can also connect with Bianca through her work of Mental Health Mondays.
At Bianca Mikahn’s Virtual Performance with us she released her latest single “The Truth” Purchase it by visiting her band camp page here.
TLC
Transformative Leadership for Change was founded by and for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) leaders to transform ourselves, our organizations, and the larger movement ecosystem so we can thrive and see our visions of liberation come to life.
Bianca Mikahn along with all of our featured entrepreneurs: Celesté Martinez, Alejandro Flores-Munoz, and Assétou Xango, from this season participated in the TLC year-long fellowship program in 2019. Knowing how much impact this fellowship has had on each of these incredible beings we’ve decided to conclude this season with a celebratory fundraiser!
We successfully raised $500 to donate to Transformative Leadership for Change in partnership with Rosehouse.
RoseHouse Botanical
Rosehouse Botanicals is a living botanica and apothecary that specializes in rare, unique and helpful plants. You can their storefront located in the heart of Denver’s Historic Baker neighborhood & South Broadway business district.
Rosehouse is packed with a curated but ever-changing selection tropicals, cacti, succulents, air plants, orchids, and terrariums. The shop also offers Rosehouse’s hand-crafted botanical line of botanically based goods to nurture the body & soul of you, and your plants! In 2019 Rosehouse began a partnership with Denver’s oldest herb shop, Apothecary Tinctura, to expand their offerings and bring a wide-ranging selection of medicinal teas, tinctures, elixirs, essential oils, and exclusive green beauty lines into their space.
Rosehouse truly has something for any and all the plant obsessed!
The truth
Bianca Mikahn
Behind the scenes
Karson Hallaway
Karson Hallaway (He/Him) is a photographer from Denver, CO. Raised outside of Houston Texas, Karson came back to Colorado to pursue a degree in Multimedia Publications with a focus in visual journalism from Metropolitan State University of Denver. After graduating from MSU in the Spring of 2020, Karson spends his time utilizing his skills to amplify voices in BIPOC communities while also strengthening his allyship for social justice, inclusion, and equal representation for LGBTQ+ people.
Enlightofme
Enlightofme is a media company with a focus on people, organizations & companies that have a humanitarian objective. Our team provides high-end media such as video, audio, web, photography, and graphic design. Enlightofme also provides lectures and workshops surrounding media, art, and entrepreneurship.
