Overview:
Rosalind "Bee" Harris intends to retire after nearly 38 years as the founder of an award-winning local outlet about people of color.
As the Denver Urban Spectrum approaches its 38th anniversary this April, Rosalind “Bee” Harris, founder and publisher, continues to lead the monthly publication. Despite her plans to retire soon, Harris has been and will continue to be an important community resource in Denver.
“Everyone has a story, and there’s so many that need to be told,” Bee said. As Bee thinks about the legacy of the outlet she founded, she is proud of the work Denver Urban Spectrum did “telling stories, reporting history and being a monthly publication. We pick and choose because we want to pick really good stories that we could share with the community.”
Though she’s been covering news here for so long, you’d think Bee was from Denver; she was actually born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on March 19, 1950, to Ruth Smith Boyd and Doyle James. She had five siblings, three brothers and two sisters, and she got her now iconic nickname when she was living in Grand Rapids.
“When I was a baby, my siblings couldn’t pronounce Rosalind, so they called me ‘baby,’” Bee said. “Then ‘Baby’ went to ‘Bee Bee.’ People in my hometown would call me and say, ‘Hey, I want to speak to Bee Bee James.’ That was one of the stories I was told about my nickname; the other one was that I came into the house and got stung by a bee, and I said, ‘Bee,’ but I don’t know. Those were the two stories I heard.”
Following high school, Bee attended Davenport College of Business before moving to Minneapolis and enrolling at Patricia Stevens, a career school where she studied fashion merchandising with a minor in graphic design. She then went to school at University of Nebraska Omaha for fine arts with a minor in journalism, though she didn’t get her degree. Following her time in Omaha, she moved to Denver in 1980.
“I worked as a graphic designer at several different places before I started the Denver Urban Spectrum in 1987,” Bee said. Originally, Bee was only supposed to be the outlet’s graphic designer, but when it became too much work following the first year, her partners ended up leaving. “After a year, it kind of landed in my lap,” Bee admits. So she became the publisher of Denver Urban Spectrum.
“I was already acclimated to what needed to be done,” Bee said. “If you want to talk about challenges, it always was the advertising dollars and getting money to keep it sustainable. There are grants available that could help journalism, but that happened after COVID.”
Despite some challenges over the years, the free digital and print publication is still distributed throughout the Denver community. It highlights not only people of color but all communities locally, nationally and sometimes internationally.
“We want to cover the masses of the community,” Bee said. That’s why we do stories about metro Denver and national stories.”
Although social media, YouTube and other technologies are useful for reading the news, they limit the ability to interact with physical magazines. Bee stated that the Denver Urban Spectrum will continue to publish in print in order to maintain its community presence. She believes that the outlet is more important than ever, given how social media has changed the media industry. “It has disrupted true journalism,” Bee said. “People can post anything, and you take it at face value.”
The Denver Urban Spectrum is also an example of “Black ownership/media ownership,” which Bee believes is extremely important today. Since its inception, the outlet’s mission has been to “educate, inform and enlighten by spreading news about people of color.”
Bee stresses that the goal of her work is to create community. Even when there are occasional funding or other obstacles, she has always continued to give back, ensuring that the long-term effects she had on the people who shaped the community were also shared.
“There are probably too many stories to mention, but one I like to talk about was the passing of ultramarathon runner Essie Garrett,” Bee said. “[She] said at the time of her death that she only wanted the Denver Urban Spectrum to cover her story and life’s history.”
As part of Bee’s community engagement efforts, the publication is hosting a Colorful Stories luncheon on May 30, presented by Denver Urban Spectrum, celebrating women whose stories of tribulation, courage and triumph serve as an inspiration to future generations. It features remarkable community leaders such as Geta and Janice Asfaw as honorary event chairs, Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce CEO Simone Ross as the MC and moderation by Dr. Carolyn Love to benefit the Ruth Boyd Elder Foundation.
Bee established this foundation in memory of her mother, who died as a result of elder abuse in her home in 2008 at the age of 80, just one night before Barack Obama took office on November 3. The Ruth Boyd Elder Abuse Foundation was established to raise awareness about preserving her mother’s legacy while also advocating for aging adults.
She also founded the Urban Spectrum Youth Foundation to provide employment and training opportunities for young people in the Denver area. Bee intends to continue working with both the youth foundation and the foundation dedicated to her mother after she retires. Still, she has not officially left her position because she wants to ensure the company’s financial security before departing.
“Passing the torch has been a challenge,” Bee said. “However, we are working at overcoming obstacles, which is to make sure that the publication is sustainable, financially. Currently, my editor [and current chief operating officer], Ruby Jones, will take the helm of the Denver Urban Spectrum.”
As Bee continues to help secure the legacy of the outlet she founded, she offers this advice to the journalists who will succeed her.
“This journey is a step at a time,” Bee said. “It could be fast, but it’s important to stay in your lane. As far as your journalism aesthetic, integrity.”
