Sutton Connects Communities
Cécile Sutton hates to see a good thing go to waste. Namely, her neighborhood.
Sutton lives in Denver’s Five Points where, she says, there is a rich history of jazz, a recent influx of new residents and a diverse population, but no sense of community.
“I had four kinds of neighbors and none of them were talking,” she says. “There are the Spanish-speakers who keep to themselves; there’s me and a neighbor living in the same building; a single mom across the street; and a $300,000 home on the corner—we never see that guy.”
And the neighborhood’s business owners are suffering as a result, says Sutton, who studied English and ethnic studies at UC Denver, graduating in 2007. So, she decided to do something about it. She launched “Five Points Juke Joint,” a community celebration that she hopes will expand to become a monthly destination for people seeking a fun, artistic and cultural experience.
On the last Saturday of every month, Sutton organizes these community gatherings on Welton Street. The first event was held Sept. 29, 2007 and featured UCD jazz musicians. The second event was held in a local coffee shop, Blackberries, where they showed the movie “The Wiz.”
Ultimately, Sutton would like to see the event grow to the stature of First Fridays on Santa Fe Avenue, drawing people from across the city.
“This is one of the more cultural neighborhoods we have downtown,” explains Sutton. “We shouldn’t let all the energy that’s been put into this neighborhood over the years go to waste.”