For the last few hours of my last day in Denver, Dasha took me to explore the River North (RiNo) Art District. We drank cider, took in street art, and played with bike shares. It was a simple and fulfilling way to kill some time before my flight back to Miami.
RiNo Art District is a part of a non-profit art collective focused on uplifting local artists and small business owners. The district also represents a prime example of the erasure of Black history, culture, and prosperity. And how white visitors can contribute to that.
It’s Black History Month, and so I kick off this post with a bit of education about one of our country’s most gentrified cities right down to its most gentrified neighborhood—what was once considered The Harlem of the West.
The Harlem of the West
Me riding a bike share through Five Points, unaware of any of its Black history.
Since we only visited RiNo for a few short hours, it wasn’t until my preparation for the writing of this post that I learned of its Black historic roots.
I don’t usually call attention to national months like Black History Month on this blog. But since this post happens to fall during the month of February, I thought it important to provide RiNo’s history. This post stands as a point of contention within Denver and within myself as a white traveler who can sometimes take these spaces and neighborhoods for granted.
RiNo, named in 2005 by two white artists Jill Hadley Hooper and Tracy Weil, is located in the Five Points neighborhood. Five Points is one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods named for its intersection where 5 major streets of Denver converge.
Five Points is a historically Black neighborhood, known as the Harlem of the West, and recognized as an important location in African American history.
Welton Street was just a few blocks southeast of where Dasha and I explored during our visit. This street in the 1920s to 1950s was thriving with Black-owned businesses and clubs hosting Jazz legends such as Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, and Miles Davis.
In contrast to its historic music legends, this mural in modern day RiNo by A.L. Grime, a Venezuelan-American female artist, depicts modern day female Black rapper Sa-Roc.
The area became a majority African-American population due to segregation and racist housing laws that excluded Black people from other neighborhoods in Denver. In other words, they were pushed into this neighborhood—and then they made it awesome! Until rich white people came along and ruined things (again).
The Impact of Gentrification
Denver is now known as the second most gentrified city in the USA. Gentrification is the renovation and upgrading of urban neighborhoods by wealthy developers that results in the displacement of lower-income people. Race and identity politics are wrapped up in gentrification. Typically, the wealthy developers who come in are white and the displaced lower-income folks are people of color, in this case Black people.
Five Points is one of the clearest examples of gentrification in the country.
A corridor in RiNo showing the contrast between newer high-rise apartments and older buildings next door.
Over time, Five Points residents were dispersed. Some moved to integrated neighborhoods in the 50s and 60s. But the big pushout came with the recent development of high-priced, high-rise apartments in the 90s and 2000s. Black families were pushed out because rents became “too damn high” (as Dr. Cornel West would say).
Between 2000 and 2018, rent went up 22% and home values up 50% (Source: urbandisplacement.org). Even local artists who took up shop in RiNo’s warehouses in the early 2000s became priced out and moved on.
The Five Points neighborhood, and certainly the RiNo district, still have Black-owned businesses. But the main demographic they serve are the white people who have moved in or visit. Currently, the neighborhood residents are 36% people of color (11% Black, 17% Latine; Source: urbandisplacement.org).
Efforts To Reclaim Five Points History
The RiNo Arts District chose the rhino as its mascot, seen in murals and markers all over the area.
In 2020, there was a petition to rename RiNo back to its historic name of Five Points. Many people believe this is the right move forward to retain its historic identity.
Meanwhile, Tracy Weil emphasizes that RiNo is an arts nonprofit organization and not a neighborhood. RiNo brings programs to the area that include CRUSH WALLS, RiNo Made Salons, the RiNo Support Fund, and Social Impact Grants. According to Tracey, these programs work directly with people of color in the community who work toward social justice, equity, and anti-racism.
The preferred route in the fight against gentrification is not to push people out of these neighborhoods in the first place. Instead, people want to feel empowered to improve their own communities.
Political artist, Shepard Fairey, reflected on this in his decision to paint a huge “Power & Equality” mural in RiNo:
Street art has sometimes been criticized as a catalyst for gentrification. I’m a believer that with the right policies in place, support for public art and protections for residents and the most vulnerable populations can exist side by side. My Power & Equality mural is meant to support that idea on a local level while pushing back against the forces of division and racism."
—Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey’s “Power & Equality” basking in afternoon light.
Street Art With A Message
With Shepard Fairey’s reflections in mind, Dasha and I did see a lot of clear messaging in the street art around RiNo.
Breonna Taylor’s image was depicted right across from the STEM cidery where Dasha thoughtfully took me for a drink since it’s usually my drink of choice over beer. Breonna Taylor’s image is unavoidable as the mostly white crowd sipped at their ciders under tents. This mural was created as a collaboration between Black male street artists, HIERO, Thomas Evans, and Giovannie.
Jury selection began just a week ago for the trial of Brett Hankison, one of the Kentucky police officers who fired shots into the home of Breonna Taylor, killing her in her bed.
Commissioned for the side of a coffee shop, a “Don’t Treat On Me” mural by artist Andi Todaro is a feminist take on the Gadsden flag in support of reproductive rights. The Gadsden Flag usually depicts a coiled rattlesnake (not in the shape of a uterus as it is in this mural). It’s a Benjamin Franklin-era, revolutionary war symbol for liberty and defiance from British rule.
The Gadsden Flag image has been hijacked by the right to represent an extreme form of liberty against oppression perceived only by white supremacists and waved among Trump and confederate flags at protests like the January 6, 2021 insurrection.
The message “Disability Rights Are Human Rights” is depicted in this “Holding Hope” mural depicting sign language gestures and flowers as a collaboration between artists Chloé Duplessis (who is Black and legally blind) and Valerie Rose (who is white and half deaf). This was created in recognition of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Below is another by Valerie Rose in partnership with the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. Their mission is to use the best scientific knowledge to restore the gray wolf population which will promote environmental balance and other ecological benefits to the region.
The “Be A Good Person” mural is part of a clothing company by Julian Donaldson, a Black graphic designer who started the company of the same name in Denver. Be A Good Person promotes positivity and works directly with local and national organizations to make a difference, from raising money for MAKE-A-WISH to neighborhood sock drives for the homeless.
These are just a few examples of the social justice-oriented messages depicted in the RiNo art district. I’m sure I missed many in my short visit to the area!
In Conclusion
As white travelers, we must do our homework on the neighborhoods we visit. We must learn their history and understand our own contribution to gentrification through where we spend our dollars and choose to reside in our cities.
If you happen to visit Denver, make sure to visit its historically Black neighborhoods. Consider spending your dollars at some of the over 400 Black-owned businesses there.
