More than 350 honored local attorney John Robert Holland, local cultural icon Cleo Parker Robinson, and the memory of the late Judge Phillip S. Figa at ADL’s 2008 Civil Rights Award Luncheon.

For more than 30 years, Holland has given a voice to those marginalized in our society. He has: forced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to strengthen regulations of nursing homes; demanded full access to public transportation for people with disabilities; stood up for an African American mother and her children when they were refused service and humiliated by racial slurs in a fast-food restaurant; represented employees who were fired after exposing wrongs by government agencies, and established a First Amendment right for whistleblowers who act in the public interest.

Most recently, Holland and his daughter and law associate, Anna Cayton-Holland, volunteered to represent four detainees who have been held for several years in Guantanmo Bay without being criminally charged and without access to courts. At their own expense, they traveled to Guantanamo several times, and their efforts resulted in the release last September of one man who had been held for five years.

Holland said his work “is born in the howl of the people whose rights have been stomped, who have suffered indignities so great words can’t describe them. Something in my spirit is triggered by the howl, and once I hear it, I have to take a case.”

 

Parker Robinson is a Denver native who grew up in a biracial family in Five Points. Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s was not an easy time for a biracial child and she faced taunts, threats and discrimination. Instead of turning to anger and disillusionment, her parents taught her that people can change and showed her how to set an example of non-violence, compassion, and color blindness.

Through her dance company, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, she has introduced themes of civil rights, social justice, and the African American experience. Her ensemble spreads cultural and human understanding wherever it travels around the world.

By giving scholarships to more than one-third of her students, her youth programs reach those who otherwise would not have the opportunity to dance. Parker Robinson’s 12-week Project Self Discovery provides the arts to youth as an alternative to substance abuse and gang violence, while her International Summer Dance Institute hosts a series of dialogues on various issues around ethnic and cultural similarities and differences.

“I do truly believe it is the arts that will move us forward to a deeper understanding of love, and compassion for all – regardless of age, gender, race, culture, or spiritual self,” she has said.

ADL also honored the late Judge Phillip S. Figa by awarding him ADL’s Distinguished Community Award posthumously.

Judge Figa dedicated his career to serving the Colorado community, and sadly lost his battle with cancer on Jan. 5, 2008. His family accepted the award on his behalf.

He was a past ADL Regional Board Chair, a U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Colorado, a past President of the Colorado Bar Association, and is renowned for many accomplishments, including his expertise in the field of legal ethics.