Coffee in Five Points and broke a window there in what appears to have been retaliation for a sign the business placed out front this week that read, “Happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014.” 
 
 The sandwich board sign sparked outrage — and drew national attention — when local writer and event organizer Ru Johnson shared a picture of it on her Twitter account Wednesday afternoon. I'm so grateful they put an Ink Coffee in this neighborhood. More than 440 people had confirmed they plan to attend the event by Thursday afternoon. He said ink’s apologies have not passed muster yet and he hopes their CEO and the managers of the Five Points store will sit down with him and community leaders to talk about the thought process behind the sign. He made no mention of the vandalism but pledged to better educate himself and his staff about the effects of gentrification in Five Points, one of Denver’s most storied black neighborhoods, and take steps to support the residents there.  Audio: Terry Nelson speaks with Chloe Veltman 
 
 2013 Five Points Jazz Festival (Photo: Courtesy of Denver Arts & Venues) Once known as the Harlem of the West, the Five Points neighborhood in Denver has a history rich in the melodic scats and smooth harmonies of jazz. Our (bad) joke was never meant to offend our vibrant and diverse community. The folks know their coffee and I have never had to wait in line more than like 5 minutes. Dubbed, “We Don’t Drink Ink,” the event is intended to highlight the negative impacts of recent redevelopment of Five Points has had on the many black and Latino families who lived there for years, organizer Tay Anderson said. But all of the bands showed up and people came to Five Points to hear jazz in the terrible weather without any coverage.
– A Denver neighborhood known as "the Harlem of the West" isn't taking too kindly to a local coffeehouse's recent sidewalk signage. The Five Points community has long been known as an artists' enclave and home to many black and Latino families, but economic growth and an attempt by the city to bring it into the "mainstream" has forced many people out of their homes and started to change the culture, the Guardian reports. Which is why it didn't go over well when ink! put up a sandwich board boasting about gentrification and it caught the eye of local writer Ru Johnson and others Wednesday, per the Denver Post. "Happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014," the sign's front read; the back noted: "Nothing says gentrification like being able to order a Cortado" (a coffee drink with warm milk). "yo @inkcoffee we are not cool with this sign ... Bad decision. Bad design. BAD. W.T.F.," Johnson posted on Twitter, along with a photo. 9NEWS notes the ire of others, who commented about "white privilege" on social media and posted bad reviews on Yelp. The outside of the coffeehouse was even sprayed with "White Coffee" graffiti Wednesday night. "Hmmm. We clearly drank too much of our own product and lost sight of what makes our community great," ink! wrote on Twitter Wednesday evening, followed by a longer apology from founder Keith Herbert Thursday. "I am embarrassed to say that I did not fully appreciate the very real and troubling aspect of gentrification," he wrote. He promised to keep on top of the issue, educate himself and his staff, and "demonstrate the depths of our contrition."