Denver, CO
How the legacy of Colorado’s first Black surgeon lives on in Denver’s Five Points
DENVER — A portrait hanging on the wall reminds Candace Lartigue of who came before.
“When I walk in the doors here, I am part of a legacy,” said Lartigue, a nurse practitioner at Denver Health’s Eastside Family Health Center.
In the heart of the historic Five Points neighborhood, African American history runs deep. And at the country’s second oldest community health clinic, that history revolves around one man: Dr. Bernard F. Gipson Sr.
“As a Black woman working in healthcare, you don’t see a ton of representation,” Lartigue said. Even today, “you don’t see a lot of Black surgeons.”
Especially not like Dr. Gipson, who became one of the first Black surgeons in the country, at a time when African Americans were deep in the Civil Rights movement.
“There have been a ton of contributions to civil rights, to the health equity movement, to social justice, coming out of Denver,” she said. And Dr. Gipson played a part.
“He actually took care of Dr. Martin Luther King, I think it was a second visit out here, for altitude sickness,” Lartigue said.
Eric Goody, Denver7
Denver7 wanted to learn more about Dr. Gipson’s life and legacy. That’s when we discovered that the man himself preserved his story before he died.
Tucked away into boxes donated to the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, photographs, letters and certifications share a glimpse of his monumental achievements.
“People see the black and white photos and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that was a long time ago’ and we’re like ‘No, no,’” said Dexter Nelson III, the library’s museums and archives supervisor.
Nelson and his team are dedicated to preserving Denver’s African American history, but even they hadn’t heard of Dr. Gipson.
When they pulled these boxes from the archives, we learned about the doctor together.
Eric Goody, Denver7
The most stunning part of the collection: Audio recordings of Dr. Gipson telling his own life story 50 years ago.
“I was really just blown away with his tenacity,” Nelson said.
Gipson was born in Texas in the 1920s, as the youngest of nine children. He grew up poor, but his family rallied around him to get an education.
In the audio recordings, Dr. Gipson said his career in medicine began when he was only 11or 12 years old.
A Black doctor visited his town, and later performed life-saving surgery on him. Dr. Gipson said, “to influence a youngster like I was at that time, with no money, that I become educated… does go to show, as we move along in life, that we must be careful because you can’t tell who is watching and may get an idea.”
But his journey would be long, and rife with racism.
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Gipson left Texas to study at the most prestigious university a Black man could attend at the time: Morehouse University.
He completed all of the requirements to go to medical school. But then, World War II threatened to end his career before it started.
Army recruiters told him he needed to report for duty. But Dr. Benjamin Mays, president of Morehouse, made some phone calls to help Gipson. It was a Black Lieutenant Colonel, Campbell Johnson, who deferred Gipson’s military service so that he could study medicine.
“These men had the hard knocks, and they knew what we were going through, even though we were supposedly having it better,” Gipson said.
At first, Gipson hoped to study in his home state of Texas. But he said the State of Texas wouldn’t allow a Black man to attend the University of Texas. Instead, Texas actually paid him to study at Howard University.
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“I don’t know how I kept from being knocked down by some of these experiences. But each time, I seem to have gotten strength to do a little bit more,” Gipson said.
While at Howard, he studied under Dr. Charles Drew, a pioneer who invented new methods for preserving blood plasma, making large-scale blood banks possible. He was also the first Black professor of surgery at Howard.
“I had never heard of a Black surgeon in my life,” Gipson said. Learning from Dr. Drew inspired him to take on that specialty.
He went on to intern at Harlem Hospital in New York, and complete a surgical residency at Howard’s Freedmen’s Hospital, as well as the U.S. Public Health Hospital in Boston.
Eric Goody, Denver7
From there, the military brought Gipson to Colorado in 1954.
“They had never had a Black Chief of Surgery at Lowry Air Force Base,” Gipson said.
Dr. Gipson had already passed the first part of his American Board of Surgery specialty board — the highest board for surgeons in the country. But he still faced racism.
When he traveled to Kansas City to get his final board certification, the hotel where he expected to stay turned him away.
“Can you imagine having studied for five years postgraduate and gotten all your credentials ready, on the final lap… you’re welcomed to the hotel, and a little girl telling you can’t sleep?” Dr. Gipson said.
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Nevertheless, he became Colorado’s first Black surgeon to achieve the highest certifications. And after his time serving in the military, he went on the start his own family practice in Denver. There, he treated patients until his retirement in 1995.
Dr. Gipson was 93 years old when he died in 2015.
He left behind a lasting legacy — preserved in boxes at the Blair-Caldwell library.
Nelson, the archives supervisor, said the goal of preserving stories like this is to inspire and inform visitors. Now that he’s learned about Dr. Gipson, he hopes to pull these records out again, for a museum exhibit.
The goal: To show that “people from humble beginnings came up and did amazing things, and that you can do that, too,” he said.
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Denver, CO
Denver bans federal law enforcement officers from covering their faces, DHS says it won’t comply
Denver city leaders unanimously passed a ban on all officers, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, from wearing face coverings while detaining or arresting people. That law also requires officers to wear visible identification.
It’s the second sweeping ordinance against federal officers in Denver in just a few days. Last Thursday, Mayor Mike Johnston signed an executive order banning federal immigration agents from operating on city property without a judicial warrant.
It also directs Denver police, deputies and fire personnel to investigate reports of violence and criminal behavior.
The Department of Homeland Security responded calling the executive order “legally illiterate,” adding, “no local official has the authority to bar ICE from carrying out federal law on public property … and while Mayor Johnston continues to release pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto their streets, our brave law enforcement will continue to risk their lives to arrest these heinous criminals.”
DHS didn’t mince words when responding to Denver’s new face coverings ban either, saying in part, “To be crystal clear: we will not abide by a city council’s unconstitutional ban. Our officers wear masks to protect themselves from being doxxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers. Not only is ICE law enforcement facing a more than 1,300 percent increase in assaults against them, but we’ve also seen thugs launch websites to reveal officers’ identity.”
On the other hand, the Denver City Council didn’t mince words when it approved the ban.
“It’s very disturbing to me, as an American, to see masked agents on the street,” said Councilman Kevin Flynn who represents District 2. “I don’t know what the best way is to enforce our immigration laws, but I think I know the worst way when I see it.”
“I said all along, this was a slam dunk,” added Councilman Darrell Watson of District 9.
Last month, a federal judge struck down a California law prohibiting federal agents from wearing masks. But, the city council says it made sure its ordinance is enforceable.
You have to treat all law enforcement the same,” said City Council President Amanda Sandoval. “So, our sheriffs can’t have masks. Our State Patrol can’t have masks. And federally you can’t have masks. And we delineate that within the ordinance which, that’s where California got the issue.”
Sandoval said she was monitoring the legal process and comparing the two ordinances to ensure they would be good to go.
Although the city council believes the ordinance is constitutional, the Denver Police Department says it’s still working to determine what implementation could look like, and provided this statement to CBS Colorado:
“Our Safety departments are working with the City Attorney and bill sponsors to determine what implementation could look like. Of utmost importance is discretion and prioritizing de-escalation when encountering these situations. Our goal is to apply this ordinance in a way that builds trust and transparency without putting officers, deputies, or the public at risk.”
Coupled with the city’s new executive order, Sandoval believes Denver now has the necessary guidelines in place.
“A map for residents to understand predictability, and that’s what I always want, is what can the residents be able to rely on.”
There are exemptions in place for the ban, for example: during an active undercover operation, when gear is required for physical safety, and for personnel performing SWAT duties.
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DENVER — More than 24 hours after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, Coloradans are continuing to express their feelings about what the attack means not only for the world, but here in our state.
For the second straight day, Coloradans expressed their opinions on the steps of the state Capitol about the attack by the US and Israel on Iran.
But instead of anger, as was the case on Saturday, the tone on Sunday was more cheerful.
“Today it’s a celebration about like getting our freedom back, and we would love to have people to be happy with us,” said Forzun Yalme, who helped organize the event with Free Iran Colorado.
For some Iranian-Americans, the news of the attack brings a new sense of hope that freedom is near.
“For me to be Iranian-American, in 47 years here, I learned about democracy and human rights and what I like,” detailed Amir Tosh, another member of Free Iran Colorado. “I want to transfer what your values are for democracy, human rights, freedom to my country, my motherland.”
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“My uncle and grandma, grandparents, they were all so happy about what happened, because we can, like, now feel the freedom,” explained Yalme.
But some Iranian-Americans are more cautious.
Colorado’s only Iranian-American state representative, Yara Zokaie, doubts the operation will have a significant impact to Iran’s leadership.
“I’m sympathetic to people who want regime change by any means necessary, but I think we also need to stop and realize what this actually means,” said Zokaie. “Regime change is not something that can happen in one airstrike.”
Zokaie admits she herself was elated to hear Iran’s supreme leader and other top officials were killed in the attack.
But she hopes Coloradans remember the innocent people who have already been killed and those who are more likely to come.
“I ask that we remember the humanity of people in the Middle East as this news unfolds. I ask that we call for a peaceful resolution that we empower Iranian people who will bring change from within, and that we call for no war with Iran,” said Zokaie.
Several people at today’s event at the Capitol approached our Denver7 team. They shared their gratitude for President Donald Trump, the US military, and the Israelis for their action in helping bring freedom to Iran.
They hope others will see that as well. They plan on being here for the next hour and a half or so.
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