Check Out MiDian Holmes’ Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to MiDian Holmes.

Hi MiDian, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I grew up in Denver, Colorado, and recall stories and experiences in my childhood filled with racial tensions. Some events were in the national spotlight and others were casual occurrences in my classroom or neighborhood.

Stories centered around Rodney King, Latasha Harlins, Amadou Diallo, and the verdict of O.J. Simpson were just a few triggering reminders during my formative years that the country was divided, despite being taught that America was a place of freedom and acceptance. While I was able to compartmentalize these national headlines, I was no stranger to racism from my peers, teachers, and sadly enough, my mentors.

As the Owner/Founder of 8 PM Consulting for Humanity, I work tirelessly to bring my life experience, a relentless pursuit for racial justice, and my expertise as a community leader, corporate executive, and social justice advocate to a new mission. My work is centered on three main pillars, each addressing a community and providing them with opportunities to learn, reflect, grow, and change our society. I teach and live my commitment to this work.

As a proud graduate of Montbello High School, I was thrust into adulthood at the age of 18 when I became a mother. By the time I was 23, I was blessed to be the mother of three. Although many doubted and attempted to condition my mindset to believe that I wasn’t suited to raise three children due to my age and status of poverty, I leveraged my faith and passion for my family to ensure that my children would thrive.

I built a foundation of love, accountability, and opportunity and demanded that society afford my children the platform to learn, grow, and reach their full potential. In doing so, I found my voice. I realized very quickly that if I wanted my children to be seen, I had to be an advocate for their education.

It was clear that there were strategic and systemic roadblocks waiting to disrupt my children’s education and I used each imposing opportunity to learn, inquire, challenge, implore, speak up, push back, and inspire the people and the systems that stood in the way. Amid this journey, I became an advocate not only for my children but for the children and families in the communities that I represented.

I formed and leveraged what is best described as a relationship with the local school district. My voice resonated, and in 2016 I received an appointment to become a member of the Denver Public School Board of Education.

Challenges would soon meet me again, as less than 24 hours after my school board appointment was announced, my reputation and motherhood would be called into question through a week-long media frenzy. I decided that instead of being the subject of distraction to the needs of the then 90,000 students in DPS, I would not accept the Board’s appointment and would focus my attention more productively. I realized that my work on behalf of systemically-impacted students would be delayed, but knew that my voice couldn’t be denied.

Despite the shift in circumstance, I leaned in and strengthened my presence at my children’s schools, continued to attend the school board meetings, offered public comment at the state legislature and city council, and organized, protested, and demonstrated when I witnessed, learned of or experienced inequities in the community. I led multiple action committees within the school district and the community and was appointed by former Mayor John Hickenlooper to serve on Denver’s Excellence in Education Committee.

I forged a successful 18-year career in corporate America specializing in communications and business operations. I am a leading voice on matters of equity, inclusion, and integration in the workplace. My commitment to this work has earned me the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award, a feature in the PBS-aired documentary Standing in the Gap, and recognition in many publications.

While society continues to produce countless individuals and families impacted by the plague of racism and injustice, I recognize that our culture is suffering. I seek to educate, enlighten, and empower people through personal connection and reflection, as I have done throughout her life.

I am sought out and leveraged by the community at large and am committed to holding the hands and hearts of others to join me on the journey to Get Uncomfortable, Stay Uncomfortable, and Transform our Comfort!

This work isn’t just conceptual for me, it is practical. As I continued my work, I took the leap of faith to name it and establish a consulting firm that would be a conduit for the work, the impact, and measurable results. 8 PM Consulting for Humanity was established as an independent consulting firm with a vision to offer programming that promotes social justice, and equity, and combats racism. Our goal is to offer resources and information for the community on how to hold themselves, their workplaces, and their local governments accountable to remove disenfranchisement and instill equitable policies and practices.

Our programming takes our clients on a journey. One that will require enough vulnerability to change how we socially and/or professionally think, act, and engage. What we once may have been comfortable or complacent with in matters of social injustice will ultimately make us uncomfortable and compel us to be a voice of change for ourselves, our place of employment, and our community. Our program will educate, inspire, empower, and equip us to change society. We have developed intentional programming and make our clients a promise…this is NOT training, this is a transformation. Personal experiences matter and they become the curriculum. Without judgment, we create a platform that calls for engagement, the development of trust, and bravery!

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This has not been a smooth road, and I don’t anticipate that our path will ever be. Born and raised in Denver, I have seen my share of tragedy and triumph.

From the rich histories (I use this word intentionally because we all share the same past, but the stories that are pulled from the past are not always the same) that I learned from the elders in my family to my own lived experiences, I knew early on in my life that the perpetuance of systemic evil is very real and is prevalent in our times today.

Carrying hope into this work is not easy, but it is necessary! Finding ways to restore my hope is a challenge and calls for a lot of reflection and acknowledgment that the fruits of the work I am doing will likely not be seen in my lifetime. So the hope comes in as I dream about the joy of those that come beyond me. This is a lifetime commitment and requires “forever work”.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As people have asked me “What do you do?”, I used to find it hard to explain myself in summation. I used to find myself returning the question “How much time do you have?”, and leaning into my “pitch”. But then one day, I found it…I found the answer to that question and summarized it in one word.

I am a de-colonizer, and I work in the de-colonization industry alongside allies, accomplices, and co-conspirators.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I would love to leave readers with a quote that I heard from Rev. Raphael Warnock…

“If the project you are working on can be finished in this lifetime, your project is too small.”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.its8pm.com
• Instagram: @8pm_Consulting
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/midian.z.holmes