| Vol. 5 No. 16 AUGUST 12, 2010 |
The Capital City Hues (608) 241-2000 gramling@capitalcityhues.com Subscription Information: The Capital City Hues PO Box 259712 Madison, WI 53725 ($45 a year) Contact Number: (608) 241-2000 Advertising: Claire G. Mendoza sales@capitalcityhues.com |
EDITORIAL STAFF Jonathan Gramling Publisher & Editor Clarita G. Mendoza Sales Manager Contributing Writers Rita Adair, Ike Anyanike, Paul Barrows, Alfonso Zepeda Capistran, Theola Carter, Fabu, Andrew Gramling, Lang Kenneth Haynes, Eileen Cecille Hocker, Heidi Pascual, Jessica Pharm, Laura Salinger, Jessica Strong, & Martinez White Webmaster: Heidi @ heidipascual@sbcglobal.net |
| I felt I was a witness to a somewhat historic occasion last Tuesday, August 10. As a part of the 2011 city of Madison budget process, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz held one of his preliminary budget hearings — a vehicle for him to provide the public with some general information about the budget and the budgetary process as well as find out what is on the public’s mind — at the Urban League building on S. Park Street. I can’t remember a time — and I stand to be corrected — when a city budget hearing was held on S. Park Street in a building owned by an African American organization. And what was truly awesome about it was that it was the most diverse budget hearing that I have ever witnessed. There were African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, American Indians and Euro-Americans there to testify or to listen to what the mayor had on his mind. Who was also present were youth from the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County. For the past several months, it seems that I have seen youth from the Boys & Girls Club in their blue t-shirts at many community functions, from 100 Black Men’s Golf Outing to this budget hearing, reflecting the activist philosophy of the club’s new executive director, Michael Johnson. At the end of the budget hearing, after a little coaxing, one of the youth got up to speak. That opened the flood gates as more students began to tell the mayor what was on their minds. It sure looked like democracy in action to me. As South Madison has one of the most diverse populations in the city and has more than its fair share of poor folks living there, it was no surprise that most of the comments from the community speakers concerned the city’s Community Services and Community Development Block Grant programs. It is primarily though these funds that Madison’s neighborhood centers and non-profit organizations receive funding for the vital economic development, housing social, educational, senior, youth development and day care services. The South Madison area is still dependent upon many of these services and so these services were on the minds of those who testified. The mayor has stated on the record that he plans to at least keep the funding for these two funds at 2010 funding levels. For many non-profit leaders, I’m sure that commitment may give them some relief. But within the context of stable overall funding, I am getting the sense that there is a push afoot for some redistribution of the funds to reflect changing needs. Back in 1982 when I first joined the Urban League staff, the social service and non-profit sector was in its infancy, driven by idealistic — for the most part Euro-American — leaders who came of age in the 1960s and early 1970s. Most of the staff and leadership of these organizations — with the exception of the Urban League, Centro Hispano and United Refugee Services — were Euro-American serving an increasingly client of color population. Through the years, that client population has continued to become more diverse, but it wasn’t until perhaps the past 10 years that these agencies have brought on increasing numbers of staff of color and those who are bi-lingual. It is only in the last few years that Madison has witnessed more than just a handful of executive directors of color leading these organizations. I get the sense that there is a new leadership and a new generation of color coming to the fore that are pushing to be a part of the solution as it relates to the many inequities that communities of color experience. And as part of that solution, they want the corresponding resources to get the job done. In some ways, the human service and non-profit delivery system that is funded by the Office of Community Services and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program has been a somewhat closed system in which the same players received the same or increased funding each year regardless of their performance with especially communities of color. Again it was a system led by this idealistic group of leaders who are also part of the Baby Boom generation. As the baton is passed from one generation to another, I feel that there will be a demand that these agencies be effective within the communities of color or that they step aside. This shift could be reflected in the current round of Community Services/CDBG funding or maybe it will be reflected in the process two years from now. Nonetheless, I feel the vibrations in the ground. That shift is coming. |
| Reflections/Jonathan Gramling Budget Happenings |
| Summertime Celebrations Madison celebrations heat up during August |
| AFRICA FEST 2010 |