“Being the Black Caucus didn’t necessarily give us the greater voice,” Pellebon said. “For example, I would get communications from people very upset that I chose to be a part of the caucus even though there are caucuses like the Progressive Caucus that nobody pays any attention to. When you are looking at things that directly affect the Black community, we did want to set apart what our stances were because this is something that directly affects our families, our sons, our neighborhood, our community.”

The Black Caucus, in essence, was a safe space where the supervisors could voice their thoughts and clarify their points of view without judgment.

“Each of us brought our own strengths,” Pellebon said. “Any time that there is a group dynamic, you learn more. You become more confident in how it is that you are working through something. I would say for me, what was helpful was to have a group of people who were like-minded and I could bounce ideas off of. I could say, ‘Here’s where I am coming from. This is what I think. What do you all think?’ Again, it’s the same way that any other caucus works. Progressive Dane does that. It is really a space for us to say, ‘Here are those of us who are like-minded, who have very similar ideas and communities that we are representing. How do we as a group push an agenda forward?’ From there, that gives you empowerment to continue to push in spaces where it isn’t necessarily a caucus space.”

Due to the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system — which ultimately determines what the jail population looks like — on the Black community in Dane County, the Black Caucus took the lead in advocating for criminal justice reform as a part of the building of the jail.

“We had an enormous impact on the jail. We did manage to pass a five-story facility, but that was something that was a really hard negotiation within the county board. That was something that was ultimately vetoed by County Executive Parisi. But that was something that passed across the county board in the budget. From there, once it was vetoed, we had to find another space. And that’s when first Kalvin and I came together, and then Kalvin and April came together. We sat down and said, ‘Here’s what is going on.’ I say kudos to Sheriff Barrett because Sheriff Barrett contacted me and said, ‘We have to get this done. How do we do this?’ We sat down for coffee and I said, ‘Alright, I am going to bring in April.’ And the he sat down with April. From there, I gave him a list of reforms that I wanted to get through. I conferred with folks on the county board and said, ‘Alright, those of us who have been ‘Nos,’ what would get us to a ‘Yes’ on this project? What reforms can we obtain and assurances that we can obtain because we know at some point, this is going to move forward. This is a great time for us to move the needle on the reforms.’ I was able to talk to quite a few folks who are ideologically in our circle and say, ‘Let’s look at this list. What makes sense? What can be done? What needs to be done? What is our ultimate wish list?’ Once I had a comprehensive list, April and I sat down with Sheriff Barrett and said, ‘Here’s our list. This is what we are doing. Here’s why?’ That’s how we got to the compromise on the jail consolidation funding package.”