Leaders of Madison's Black "Renaissance" documentary flyer
Black representation on the Madison city council and Madison school board is at an all-time high. Two African American legislators from the Madison area now sit in the state Legislature. The city police chief, county sheriff, county district attorney and school district superintendent are all Black and there are three Black judges on the Dane County Circuit Court. There are also multi-million dollar projects in the works spearheaded by Black leaders to address the gaps in wealth, home ownership and school achievement experienced by Black Madisonians.
Does this all add up to a “Black Renaissance” in Madison? Dr. Chuck Taylor asks that very question in his new documentary, Leaders of Madison’s Black ‘Renaissance’, which premiered Feb. 26 at the Overture Center.
Taylor, an educator, author, publisher and diversity expert who retired from Edgewood College in 2017, says he went into the documentary with an open mind. He found people on both sides of the question; some, he says, asked him to define “renaissance.”
Betty Banks, the former director of the Family Enhancement Early Childhood Center who now runs her own nonprofit, Today Not Tomorrow, said in the film that “the jury is still out.” Activist Brandi Grayson, founder and CEO of Urban Triage, went further, rejecting the notion.
A renaissance, said Grayson, implies “that we are making systemic and institutional changes in policies and procedures that center the humanity of those most vulnerable and we are not.”
But others in the film see a significant moment for Black residents of Madison. “I can’t find anywhere in the United States where there is this much activity and momentum among African Americans in terms of moving into positions of influence, leadership within businesses that they work for, starting businesses and organizations [and] getting involved and engaged in politics and policy,” said Kaleem Caire, founder and CEO of One City Schools, which operates a preschool and elementary school focused on academic success and breaking the longstanding achievement and opportunity gaps that impact children of color. Caire has cause to be optimistic.
With the help of a $14 million donation from local philanthropist Pleasant Rowland, One City announced plans last spring to buy a 157,000-square-foot office building in Monona where it will relocate and also begin to teach middle- and high-schoolers in the fall.
This project is one of several major projects launched by Madison’s Black “trailblazers” highlighted in Taylor’s documentary.
The Rev. Dr. Alex Gee talks about his $38 million Center for Black Excellence and Culture, whose mission is to challenge “structures that impede diversity and sustained Black advancement” and that promises to be a place that cultivates Black talent, promotes wellness and provides community and cultural opportunities. It will be located on the south side near the Beltline on West Badger Road.
Dr. Ruben Anthony Jr. of the Urban League of Greater Madison talks about the group’s Black Business Hub. Slated to open this fall on the 2300 block of South Park Street in The Village on Park, the hub will be devoted to “incubating, accelerating, and networking Black and other BIPOC entrepreneurs.” The Urban League is also working on a project to increase Black home ownership.
In all, Taylor interviews about 40 people in the film. He says it was not easy whittling down who to include: “Everybody and their brother wanted to be in it and they let me know,” says Taylor in an interview two days after the film’s premiere. There was even some lobbying from the mother of someone who did not make the cut.
The documentary, with music by Leotha Stanley, was filmed by Jeremy Nichols and narrated by Deana Wright. In order to write a cohesive script, Taylor says he organized the leaders by such fields as education, youth services, criminal justice, politics, and church and community services. He says that the leaders he interviewed saw the least progress in the areas of criminal justice and media.
The mainstream press, says Taylor, still heavily favors coverage of crime and sports over positive stories involving Black people. “When you look at Facebook, every day there’s positive news, extraordinary news, about what Black folks are doing in the city, but it never makes it to the mainstream press.” As a close reader of local media, I pushed back on that a bit. In fact I found a lot of coverage in Madison’s two dailies on many of the individuals profiled in the documentary, along with the issues and projects discussed. But Taylor says it’s a matter of balance and representation. “The view is that Black people will be also looked at through the lens of crime and sports. That is the biggest concern.”
Taylor says reaction to the film has been enthusiastic, and many people want to know where they can access it now. He is reluctant to make it available for streaming while he seeks film festival options. But some people have expressed interest in hosting a viewing party in Penn Park this summer and Taylor says he has a commitment from a local television station that it will air the documentary, likely later this spring.
On the question of a Black renaissance, Taylor falls on the side of the believers. “There has always been great Black talent and people have done great things in the community,” he says. “But there’s never been this comprehensive and combined activity taking place at the same time.” He says things began to change five to 10 years ago, due in part to the release of the 2013 Race to Equity report that highlighted the opportunity gaps experienced by people of color in Dane County; the response to the police killing of George Floyd; and the Black Lives Matter movement. It all, he says, “resulted in this historical moment in Madison.”
Chuck Taylor
Taylor: 'There has always been great Black talent and people have done great things in the community. But there’s never been this comprehensive and combined activity taking place at the same time.'
If Taylor weren’t the creator of the documentary, there is little question he would have been one of the trailblazers showcased. I met Taylor in 1990 when I was a freelance writer and he was hosting in Madison the second annual conference of a group he founded, the Multicultural Publishers Exchange. It was a national organization composed mostly of independent publishers, 70 percent of whom were African American; the group’s mission was to help these publishers find audiences for works by and about Black people at a time when such resources were scarce. It was a national story and I covered it for the Los Angeles Times.
The publishers group was just one of the many projects and efforts Taylor has led over the years to empower those who have been disenfranchised. Taylor and his 11 siblings grew up “dirt poor” in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, but in a community with a strong support network. He went on to earn a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the UW-Madison; become an expert in and consultant on diversity issues; and write, edit and publish numerous books (disclosure: I helped copy-edit one a few years back). He has worked extensively in higher education, including as dean of the business school at Edgewood College. In a 1991 profile I penned on Taylor for the now defunct Sunday magazine of the old Milwaukee Journal, Taylor shared his main source of motivation. “Material things don’t drive me,” he said. “Everything I have done, and probably will ever do, has a social meaning.” Thirty-some years later, it looks like Taylor stayed true to his word.
