As the founder of Celebrate Your History, social scientist Bianka Emerson has worked diligently — and quietly — to organize a yearly award ceremony and soul-food dinner that recognize Denver’s forgotten heroes.
The spotlight was turned, though, when the Denver section of the National Council of Negro Women included Emerson as one of the seven Living Portraits of African American Women for 2011.
The others were Denver Clerk and Recorder Stephanie O’Malley; historian Jacqueline Benton; community engagement specialist Leslie Juniel; social justice advocate Gladys Brown Jones; educator Wanda Beauman; and Smoky Hill High School sophomore Salina Trahan.