Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca brokers peace with activists and fellow councilmember
Denver City Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca has a well-earned reputation for rhetorical combat and tough causes, but she was blessed as the peacemaker this week when activists who share her vision went after Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval.
The Afro Liberation Front was talking up a protest of Sandoval, planned for Friday evening over her remarks related to a policing bill the City Council considered last Monday night.
Like ALF, CdeBaca wants to demilitarize police and put the resources into building up the community.
Sandoval said Monday night that CdeBaca portrays issues as the combative councilwoman versus everyone else, and it’s not. She went on, however.
“I support a lot of your initiatives,” Sandoval said. “I support a lot of things that are going on. But it’s the same violence that is happening in our community. It’s Black on Black. It’s brown on brown. And we have women on this council and we have five Latinos who can vote together. And if we all work together instead of trying to work in silos, we could actually get things done. So in that vein, I cannot move forward and support this.”
It was the “Black on Black/brown on brown” comment that got ALF riled up, it appears.
The organization did not respond to Colorado Politics’ efforts to reach them Friday. CdeBaca’s office referred Colorado Politics to ALF for questions, and declined to elaborate on CdeBaca’s position on the dustup between her activist allies and her council ally.
The two council members are occasional adversaries but usual allies, particularly on issues regarding the city’s Hispanic community.
Late Thursday evening, after some spirited tweeting by ALF members, CdeBaca tweeted, “What if instead of this, a town hall or roundtable on blackness and internalized oppression in the Latinx community?”
Sandoval tweeted back quickly, “I’m down with unity in the community, let’s have a roundtable or town hall discussion.”
Friday afternoon, ALF agreed, tweeting:
“In light of recent developments we would like to postpone the action that was originally planned for this evening. While we remain angry and disappointed in Councilwoman Sandoval’s actions, we have come to the decision that we could like to allow her to explain her initial comments & apologize.
“However, we need 100% accountability & transparency on her part. We want accountability for her actions that have helped police. We want effective measures for the communities that she & others like her claim to represent. If this is not something she follows through with, we will move forward with an action to hold her accountable.”
Protesters calling for equal justice gather at the Colorado Capital in Denver in a video posted on the website for the activist group Afro Liberation Front.