how do we support her? calderón: and she's actually not a republican, 'cause that was one of the questions that i... - all the things she says sound republican to me, whether she's a blue dog... when i read this stuff she said, there's no way that i could flip my efforts into voting for her. - and so the question becomes, do we go with someone who clearly... man: who has, on the surface, said she dislikes us. well-- but she's never said that, to be fair. woman: no, she's never... - she's never said that. man: no... - but i understand that that's the impression... - the impression she gives from the things she says are such, like, latinos are criminals. - which she also never said. i think your critiques are fair. - mm-hmm. - and i'm, and i'm not here to defend her, 'cause believe me, rebekah knows... (woman laughing) - you ran against her. - i'm the last... i know, i know, and what i'm trying to say is, i, i need us to really move past these two bad options. yes, there's things that she's said and done that we don't like. but when she says "i will have you on my transition team, because i do have deficits," it means possibilities when we didn't have them

with this guy. woman: that's right. ♪ ♪ henderson: man. lisa-- i can't believe she's doing this. ♪ ♪ i feel like i don't have the stomach for these politics (bleep), honestly. don't have the stomach for it. (directional clicking) reporter: denver city councilman albus brooks says a supporter contacted him this morning after finding flyers on cars near curtis park with his face on them-- his face attached to the body of a monkey. just disgusting, right? it has no place in our society. cdebaca: it was as offensive to me as it was to my opponent when i saw it, and i wasn't called about it. i found out because i logged in to facebook and had a notification where i was being accused of producing it by the mayor's director of public affairs. so to find out about it in that way, one, it was public; two, it was directly accusing me from a high-level staff member on another campaign.

it completely disregarded all of the work that i've been doing throughout my career. i have exclusively focused on racial justice, and people knew that. it was my first real lesson in what desperation can look like when the power structure is crumbling. they had a very far reach and they had a lot of power to shape that narrative. you know, we talk in general about the power of money in elections. but i don't think people really absorb the power of money in elections. because in the last week of the campaign, they were able to buy ads on every television station every five minutes that smeared me. and we didn't have enough money to combat that. so perception becomes reality. and so unfortunately, we were left in a responsive position. to sit there and say that, i think you need to acknowledge that you've made your own mistakes, as well,

and we learn through them every single day. - just to clarify, ms. giellis is referring to text messages that you acknowledged sending in 2012 to the police, to the city employee. there was never a lawsuit against me, there was never a sexual harassment claim against me, and there's never been a settlement that was directly related to my actions. and the other thing is, when you see the texts from detective branch-wise, you see my texts. woman: that's right. (audience applauds) mayor, can you... man: no, no, no! you gotta finish that. - hold, please. - you don't see... the reason why i did that, the reason why i never said that it was sex-- that's why, the reason why i said it wasn't sexual harass... 'cause you don't see the back-and-forth conversation that occurred. (crowd exclaiming) that's the point i said. and so, that's all i ever said... - hold your applause, please. (crowd yelling) - sir. (crowd yelling indistinctly) woman: that's all the questions... we can't just avoid all the questions. cdebaca: i really am most worried about truth not coming across in its complete form. and i'm looking to community to make sure that we are reclaiming that narrative

and really taking an active role in shaping it. - so i'm detective leslie branch-wise. and as you all know, i worked in the mayor's unit for a short time before requesting to leave due to the culture that the mayor created while employed in his unit. cdebaca: leadership starts at the top. and i think when you have a mayor who blames the victim after sexually harassing... (audience applauds) someone who is in the police and tasked with protecting him, and then you have a council that refuses to investigate that, you create and feed into a culture of toxic masculinity that puts women in jeopardy and danger every single time they step into work, especially when they're in those spaces, in the department. we all came together as city council and looked at all the evidence before us. now you have the evidence in front of you, that detective leslie branch-wise said that

she was not sexually harassed through... (audience murmuring) ...through the affidavit. cdebaca: i think the cracks that we've created in the dominant power structure are significant. man: show some tact, show some class. man 2: hey, hey, hey, hey! woman: yeah, you're one to talk. - brooks: okay, okay, bruh. (audience erupting) you said she was a communist, bruh. she never said that. - what she said was a communist statement. - she never... how is that a communist statement? woman: she's not a communist! joy: how is that a communist statement? so if you can use that, that specific platform... - when she denounced capitalism. - ...to lie about her, then you can use your platform... - i never lied about anything. what she said she said. i never took anything that she said out of context. man: yeah, it's not worth it. joy: okay. - she said what she said. man: it's not, definitely. great to see you. joy: i'm okay, i just-- i just needed him to know where i stood. man: i wanted to come over there and... but you were handling it. - i appreciate you. cdebaca: whatever happens, we win, because what i come out of this with is more ammunition than i've ever had.

now that i know the truth and the insides of this ugly machine, i think i can not only be an effective legislator if i get in, but i can be an incredible support and ally for people who want to put themselves through this hell going forward. henderson: what are you doing on election day? veronica barela: making phone calls all day. andrea barela: we've been calling, making phone calls all day. veronica barela: all day. henderson: excited? - no, i'm not excited. i'm not. - okay. - i'm just, just trying to hang in there is what i'm trying to do. - all right. - and excitement isn't a part of it. (both laugh) henderson: oh, my god, you look so nervous. stop it. - (chuckles) henderson: so, how many ballots got turned in so far for your, for this district? tafoya: over 5,277, according to the last update. - wow. but it's more than double what the last two municipal races were, which speaks to, i think, our outreach, and then the candidates that are running. i think it's a good thing. reporter (on radio): does it seem like this race kind of got small? hancock (on radio): it got small, and it went places that unfortunately, that i can tell you i never felt the need to go

or wanted to go. (radio switches off) henderson: i'm not happy about who i feel like i had to vote for for mayor. i think it should have been lisa. just when i started working on this, i kept thinking, "oh, it doesn't matter, like, "who wins or who loses. it's still gonna be, like, this amazing story." but now i really care, 'cause i feel like the city of denver is, like, losing, because they don't want to elect people that care about our most vulnerable members of society. (bleep) politics sucks. like, i saw things over the course of almost a year of doing this, and none of it's (bleep) fair. the whole thing is rigged in favor of money and white privilege and white supremacy. and just, like, the power is not there for us. and it never was meant to be there for us, and so for me, what candi and lisa and veronica represent is, like, power and how much we need to have that in all levels of our government

if we want a country that we can be happy to pass on to our children and our grandchildren. okay, so i'm going to vote. (sniffles) (sighs) lady speech: so, you've upset everyone quite a bit with your gay (bleep). (cdebaca laughs) with your pro-homeless people (bleep). and that's why you got as far as you did. may your legs be replenished from all the walking you've done for freedom. may you be grounded in the love from your ancestors, from your community. may you be cleansed from all negativity that other people have tried to surround you with. and you celebrate tonight, you did that. you've already won in the hearts of so many. there are little black girls, little brown girls

who think and who understand, who know they can be leaders because of what you have done. that is a win. and then you stand up for me. ♪ ♪ (man speaking on p.a. in background) woman: we need to sing a song now, everybody. tafoya: thatcher, you're the best singer. you want to sing a song? thatcher barela: what do you want to sing? i can break out my spiritual book. (all laughing) woman: i don't know if she voted. (all talking in background) woman: what i notice a lot about... - we're losing. - ...latinos these days, is, they like to blame poor people. - (sighs, clicks tongue) (bleep). - for a lot of (bleep). and so, she was talking about...

i'm already losing. thatcher barela: you're already losing? how do you know? - they just updated the results, grandpa. man: you're losing? what was it all about? ♪ ♪ (woman inhales sharply) (all laughing) lady speech: turn on into that glow! turn into that glow! (all laughing and exclaiming) - it's not over, but you went up. it's not over, but you only came up. (all exclaiming) (all laughing and cheering) (woman exclaims) lady speech: put your shoes on and go to see your people. joy: look at your people. (cdebaca exclaims) (crowd chanting): candi! candi! candi! candi! candi! - (shouting excitedly) (chanting continues, group cheering)

(cheering and applauding) (cheering thunderously) - (speaking inaudibly) (cheering continues) (crowd chanting): candi! candi! candi! candi! candi! candi! candi! candi! (cheering) so when are they gonna do the next count? has it come out yet? - yeah, the next count-- i lost. i lost. - for sure? - yeah, for sure. man: did you lose? - mm-hmm. - by what? by how many? - 700. (people talking in background) (firework going off) man: whoa! woman: hey, you. - hi. - how are you? - good, how are you? i'm sorry i put you through so much. (chuckling)

(crying softly) (people talking in background, harmonica playing) (tafoya crying) - it's okay. - (sniffles) - it's okay. - (gasps) - it's okay. - (sniffles) - we did everything we could, you did everything you could. - (gasps) - couldn't have done any more. - (gasps) (sniffles) - here. - (sniffles) tafoya: losing is the worst, but it's part of it. everyone wants the top, but none of the growing pains. thing is, veronica scratched and clawed for the rest of us for 40 years. it's been a real honor to walk the road with a real civil rights champion. and of all the progressive women that were in here, one won.

and i guess that is-- at least one won, and, and i hope she won. you are looking at the next city councilwoman. (crowd cheering) cdebaca: i don't... i honestly... (cheering continues) man: you got it! - (speaks inaudibly) - uh! listen! listen, y'all, listen! listen, fam! listen. - i've been talking... - hold on. - ...for a year and a half. i don't even know what else to say. - ain't nothing else to say. (laughs) - because everything that i have been saying every single day, sometimes for hours at a time, is right here-- when we show up for ourselves... - yes. - ...we have power. - yes. woman: raise your hands... - raise your hands.

- ...if you volunteered. raise your hands! joy: that's you. y'all did this. - raise your hand! - y'all did this! (crowd cheering) cdebaca: they say that our supporters are rowdy... (crowd laughing and cheering) misbehaved! - (exclaims) - inappropriate. too liberal! and that is why i love all of you. when we fight... crowd: we win! - when we fight... crowd: we win! - when we fight... crowd: we win! - when we fight... crowd: we win! - when we fight... crowd: we win! - when we fight...! crowd: we win! - when we fight... crowd: we win! oh, yeah! (crowd cheering) (cheering and applauding) - so eat, drink, have fun, stay, do whatever you want. we are done.

(people talking in background) ♪ ♪ henderson: do you think that if jamie giellis hadn't had made her, like, "gaffes," as the kids were calling it, like the naacp thing. if those things hadn't have been in place, do you think she could have won? - i think she could have won. she was polling, actually, ahead of hancock before the negative campaign ads. so... but i also don't want us to be naïve about it. so, yeah, she made some gaffes, so did hancock. the hancock administration dumped a million dollars the last week of the runoff to run that negative campaign ad. she was the one who got it then.

i would've gotten it if i would've been in the runoff, and there's no counter. i would not have had the money to counter whatever they put out against me. we had, second to the mayor, the most individual donations of any other campaign. and we had well over 1,000. we were able to raise close to... i think we were a little bit over $150,000 or $160,000. and it was through grassroots donations. none of those dollars were really from some big entity. it was from regular, everyday people all over, who sacrificed a cup of coffee or a movie, and instead gave those dollars to our movement. (group exclaiming and clapping) you like? woman: damn! (howls, others laughing) cdebaca: people are viable when we invest in them, and we make them viable by investing in them.

calderón: hello! (all exclaim) (cdebaca exclaims) calderón: candi and i had a conversation, and, you know, it was interesting, 'cause i was thinking about, "what am i gonna do next?" and applying for different jobs and things. and then it just hit me, like, why am i not offering my support and services to candi? like, i'm in her district. we ran together; that's how we met. before i could get, like, all of my sentences out of my mouth, she was, like, "yes, let's do it!" (people talking in background) ♪ ♪ yeah, i'm gonna be her chief of staff, and we're gonna be able to do some things in this district that we both have been fighting for for a long time. and we're aligned on all of the issues that put us in the race in the first place. henderson: when you guys walk through the building, how does it feel? it's hilarious. woman: yeah, it's pretty funny. - 'cause they don't expect to see us here. woman: they don't even know-- they don't even know which way to scatter. (all laugh) they're, like...

it's, like, "we have no contingency plan for this!" candi, quick reminder: you cannot disrupt yourself from the dais. cdebaca: right. okay, okay, okay... woman: lookit! - it has my name on it. (all speaking at once) - it's... (group laughing, exclaiming) (all laughing and talking) woman: okay, great. woman: congratulations. - congratulations. woman: you are now a councilwoman. - (softly): yay! ♪ ♪ (people talking in background) man: good morning, denver! (crowd cheers) welcome to the 2019 inauguration of municipal officials of the city and county in denver.

councilman christopher j. herndon, representing district 8. (crowd cheering) councilwoman candi lee cdebaca, representing district 9. (crowd cheering) woman: candi! candi! candi! candi! calderón: campaigning is one thing, but we have to really think about what does it mean to lead an uplift an entire district, not just speak to your base of supporters. part of governing is reaching out to people who disagree with you. it was one of the things that i was a critic of of this administration, that they didn't listen to people whose views that they didn't like. woman: stop criminalizing the homeless, mayor hancock! stop the sweeps! stop criminalizing the homeless, mayor hancock! (crowd cheering) man: four more years! four more years! (crowd applauding)

henderson: so in your new role, like, will you be interfacing with the mayor? most definitely, and i'm looking forward to it. (laughs) but i also think in a different capacity-- like, for me, my focus isn't him. my focus is continuing to build power in the community, and that excites me. henderson: i feel like we're gonna see you on the national stage. ooh. i don't know. you know, a lot of people keep saying that and bringing that up, and... when i talked about the mayoral race and how hard it must be to craft a message that resonates with such a broad spectrum of interests and desires, that challenge is exponentially greater when you run to represent us at the federal level. and i don't know if our state or our country is ready for the message that i'm willing to carry.

♪ ♪ calderón: i had read something that, even though alexandria ocasio-cortez won, there was something like 60-something candidates that were backed by, you know, the same organization who didn't win. i think it's important to remember that, because this is a process, and it's going to take multiple attempts, and it doesn't necessarily mean it has to be by the same person. but we have to, like, keep going and keep building on the efforts. whether that a person won or didn't win, that was still a organization that was built, that was still lots of names in a database, that was still messaging that happened. like, we have to keep that momentum, but i also don't want to be flippant about it. like, it is hard (bleep), right? it is emotionally hard, it is financially hard.

and there has to be something inside you that burns within you to keep going day in and day out. that's why i'm, like, proud of my race. like, i don't have any regrets or angst or shame about my race. i mean, like, you know, this, we built power. it's what we set out to do, and we're not done yet. we're gonna keep going, and it's gonna just take on a new form, but the energy is still there. the initial ideas and principles are still alive. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ you got the... ooh ♪ ♪ you got to put it there, you got to triple it ♪ ♪ starvin', stomach touchin', no lunchin' ♪ ♪ broke, no hope ♪ ♪ pocket lint clutchin' ♪ ♪ can't eat, can't sleep, can't function ♪ ♪ cop pushin' me in the street, bum rushin' ♪ ♪ pull somethin' out of the trash can and ate it ♪ ♪ pretend imaginin' my mom just made it ♪ ♪ breath smelling like boat smoke with no soap ♪ ♪ sprinkle of soap, holes that my toenails poke ♪ ♪ in my sock from walking the block with no shoes ♪ ♪ if i die, i won't even make it on the news ♪ ♪ bump chill giving this shpiel a narration ♪ ♪ hancock, it's on your watch, legislation ♪ ♪ talk about my tax dollars, put it in context ♪

♪ buy land, build a complex ♪ ♪ it's not that complex ♪ ♪ i'm not impressed because we're failin' the test ♪ ♪ folks claimin' that they're blessed ♪ ♪ but you're lookin' a mess ♪ ♪ keep a watchful eye in my eye ♪ ♪ what you do when the dark comes out on the block ♪ ♪ kids with no place to go, they just roamin' ♪ ♪ pushed out from gentrification and zonin' ♪ ♪ hone in on the issues, get it fixed ♪ ♪ ah ♪ ♪ picture the vision ♪ ♪ do you care how they livin'? ♪ ♪ is your pride a mile high? ♪ ♪ hancock, the unforgiven ♪ ♪ forbidden people who treated unequal ♪ ♪ never-endin' sequels, this world is pure evil ♪ ♪ it's a war going on outside ♪ ♪ face your fear ♪ ♪ lack of humanity damaged us from the rear ♪ ♪ we got money for wars but can't house the poor ♪ ♪ bank accounts galore hiding billions offshore ♪ ♪ too many rich people making mils ♪ ♪ poverty's prophets are deceptive ♪ ♪ now tell us who's a villain ♪ ♪ you'd rather see them in... ♪ - i look forward to serving you... ♪ ...like a toy all wound up ♪ ♪ homeless caps round up ♪ we'll build from the ground up ♪

♪ scared to come around bluffs ♪ ♪ what would you do if this was you? ♪ ♪ would you take it for granted the way you do? ♪ we knew you would ♪ ♪ to mayor hancock ♪ ♪ the streets need you ♪ ♪ you promised you'd do something ♪ ♪ but we don't believe you ♪ - so, running with my girls, we finished the film in 2020. it premiered 2021, and it is now 2023. dr. lisa calderón ran for mayor again in 2023. she again came in third place. she recently just started a new training program for women to, to run for office. so she's working on continuously, like, building that army to run powerful women. councilwoman candi cdebaca ran again in 2023. unfortunately, she was unseated this election. but, on the positive note, she's also a new mom and has a brand-new baby. so she lost the race, but her baby won.

that's how i feel about it. veronica's still working, running nonprofits, saving them, housing, working on, you know, affordable housing projects. she will not quit, she is just, stays, stays working for the community. shayla richard is continuing to work and raise her son and working on her philanthropy. she's on the board of the new training org women uprising. shontel lewis ran for city council and she won. we couldn't be more proud, we couldn't be happier. she's actually my councilwoman now. she represents my district. at the end of the film, it is noted that i said i would never run for office, but i did run for a seat on my, on my h.o.a. and i won my seat. i'm not running for any other office. so please don't ask me that. i am not running for office, and people need to stop asking me. (laughs): it's not happening. we want to hear from you. join the conversation using the hashtag #runningwithmygirls.

i'm rebekah henderson and i approve this message. del toro: major funding for america reframed was provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, wyncote foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting. additional funding for america reframed provided by open society foundations, acton family giving, park foundation, the national endowment for the arts, and the reva and david logan foundation. stay up to date on america reframed at worldchannel.org. subscribe to world channel's youtube to go beyond the lens with our filmmakers. tell us what you think using #americareframed.

(soft music) - i guess a lotta people would've come out of what i went through as a child kinda broken. the truth, is i think everybody is, in some way, shape, or form. people desperately need to relate, and music is this beautiful tool that you can use to share who you are.