The Art of Listening

One of the responsibilities that accompany being a city commissioner for the City of Madison involves reviewing requests for funding and contributing to a voting process which determines if an applying agency is granted all or part of the funding they request. With any grant application, there is a need to identify a problem and articulate a solution that is associated with a dollar amount. As a group, we determine if the agency’s proposal is a viable and sound response to a valid issue, and if the majority is in agreement, the funding moves forward.

One aspect of this process that strikes me is how many agencies develop solutions without incorporating the contributions of the communities affected by the issue. Individuals affected by social ailments are not incapable of contributing or producing a solution.

I seem to have a slightly different prospective because in addition to being on two city commissions, I also work for an agency and serve on a board that responds to needs within the community that I live in. Through all this, I interact with a lot of agencies and a lot of providers, and overall, I have often witnessed people being told what their problem is and then subsequently being told what their solution is. As a resident of Allied Drive, I have often been told what to do to solve my problems. Go to the food pantry or fill out these forms for some other kind of assistance. As one resident, I am saying that is not the long-term solution. No one seems to ask me what I want. Partly because it is assumed that they already know.

You ever see the kung-fu movies where in the midst of a fight scene, two fighters jump kick at each other, but completely miss one another? That is the problem and solution here. As I see it, many community and government agencies, and many people, often fail to listen. When we are in a position of power and responsible for providing solutions, we often forget that we have a responsibility to listen. Really listen. Listen with the purpose of learning and understanding without any preconceived thoughts that you already know what is going on. What you may learn is that the real problem is not what you thought and therefore, the solution was not what you envisioned. This applies to all the leaders in Madison. There are never any waivers to listening and understanding. In other words, just because you are of the same race as those you are trying to serve, or speak the same language, or just because you know someone’s mother, or just because you have known the person since they were a child, does not automatically mean that you fully understand each other.

There are a lot of people out here that want to contribute to better lives for all residents. There are also a lot of people here who want better lives. I don’t know exactly what the path looks like to get there, however I know there can not be just one voice guiding all of us which way to go. Please listen, and allow everyone to have a voice in our efforts to move forward.

This column was originally published in Madison Voices, Allied Drive's community newspaper. Visit their Web site at: MadisonVoices.com

Allied Drive Unsafe For Children?

At a recent Madison city council meeting, an elected official was witnessed commenting within a public city meeting that Allied Drive is not a place anyone would want to bring their kids on the weekend. Such a snide comment reflecting snippets of news commentary of alleged violence within events in our community very likely influences others to believe that Allied Drive is inappropriate for children.

Despite the little pieces of Allied Drive that is revealed on the news, any Allied Drive resident would concur that our children drive our community. We have a lot of kids here. Some think that our kids are neglected. Don’t pass judgments strictly through surface observations. Poverty brings forth very complex factors.

Some think our neighborhood is violent. I wonder if the recent murders and abductions on State Street have resulted in similarly vehement remarks about State Street not being a place anyone would want to bring their children. Especially considering State Street’s violence can be perceived as a notch above Allied Drive.

Though violence is reported from time to time on Allied Drive, there has always been a story associated with the logic that led to the events. It’s over a man, or someone cheating, or someone not getting paid. In all of Madison, it is rare that acts of random violence occur.

The sad fact of the matter is that some Madisonians blame Allied Drive for virtually all of the city’s crime. Even a recent neighborhood meeting several communities away tried to make Allied Drive responsible for a substantial crime occurring in their community. However the reality is that Allied Drive busts encompass people from all over Madison. If you drive down Verona Road and pass the Allied Drive area and you see cars pulled over with multiple police officers interrogating the individuals in the car, there is a likely chance that you are seeing someone from another community that the police caught either coming into Allied Drive to do some wrong, or coming out of our community after doing some wrong. My small community encompassing about nine blocks is not a scapegoat for the entire City of Madison’s problem with drugs and crime.

For the record, in the two years that I have lived on Allied Drive, I have gotten to know many mothers, fathers, brothers, daughters, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and many, many children. Never have I felt that our children are unsafe beyond typical precautions that would apply anywhere else. It annoys me when people judge our community without knowing the first thing about our community.

A principle I would like to offer elected and appointed officials with the responsibility of "dealing with Allied Drive" is one that could quite possibly apply to all areas of life. Don’t judge a community from its worst without experiencing its best.

This column was originally published in Madison Voices, Allied Drive's community newspaper. Visit their Web site at: MadisonVoices.com

Where Do You Want To Go Today?

Nearly five million Americans can’t vote because of a felony conviction. The fancy word for that is disenfranchisement. The concept of disenfranchisement applies not only in politics and the right to vote, but also when it comes to technology. There is a term that computer geeks throw around called "digital disenfranchisement." It is more than a clever phrase – it is a scary reality that faces our community today.

There is a forecast that as technology develops, those of us that lack the technological savvy will be left behind, in every sense you can imagine. Some readers may be able to relate. If anyone has ever tried to apply for a job across the street at Cub Foods, there is no way to apply unless you sit at a computer and enter the information into a Web-based form. Similarly Copps, Staples, Home Depot and many other major employers in Madison summoned paper applications into the not-so-distant past. It is sometimes scary how fast technology is moving because not everyone is keeping up.

Prior to working in the non-profit world, my career was rooted in technology and the Internet. I was very fortunate when I was homeless and in line at the Hospitality House trying to get funding toward an Allied Drive apartment. I had this power that many other homeless people did not have. I knew my way around the technological world.

For me, that meant that I was able to utilize the Internet access at Hospitality House and other various agencies to hustle up money by selling things I no longer needed on eBay and I was able to talk to business owners and convince them to give me some money in exchange for a fully-functional Web site.

In the long run, technology allows literally anyone to make money through the Internet through PPC advertising, blogging, and even MySpace has income potential if you can be creative. I often tell people that the power of technology comes with the ability to do what you really want to do in life. I work a full time job at a non-profit agency because I love what I do. However, if it came down to money, I can tell you hands down that I would make double the money if I were to sit at home all day on my computer. Those who want to make money on the Internet will know what PPC advertising is, how to build a Web page, and have stories to tell. That could be anyone on Allied Drive.

It’s not easy and it could take years to really understand what you are doing but the point is to start. Begin by spending time with like-minded people and learn what you can at every moment that you can. Free Internet access is everywhere, Boys and Girls Club, the library, Urban League, the Job Center. Learning technology is easy. All you have to do is click. As Microsoft would say, where do you want to go today?

This column was originally published in Madison Voices, Allied Drive's community newspaper. Visit their Web site at: MadisonVoices.com

Losing Walgreens is a Matter of Time

As residents of the Allied community, there are many things that we know without having to look at statistics or data. We know that there are a lot of people out here that depend on the number 18 bus and if service on that line went down, many people would be out of jobs. We don’t have to look at a study to analyze the findings to know that. This is our community, we just know.

Similarly, we know that a lot of people steal from the Walgreens on the head of Allied Drive. It is a sad truth that we all just know. And I am sure that it is no surprise to the rest of Madison. There are a lot of perceptions about those of us living on Allied Drive, and one of them is that none of us have any money. Therefore it is a no-brainer that the stores over here most likely have a hard time staying profitable due to all the losses resulting from theft.

However, I know from going to Walgreens almost on a daily basis, that many of the thefts that take place are not acts of desperation. The rest of Madison must know that we are not all impoverished human beings over here that steal eggs and milk in order to feed our children. Ever since the weather broke, I go to Walgreens and I see kids bored out of their mind going into Walgreens for some quick thrills. Some of these kids are like six years old and they will all run into Walgreens, grab a King-Size chocolate bar and run out laughing and giggling, and I think in my mind, those boys will be in prison by the time they’re fourteen. We are in Wisconsin where half of the prison population is locked up over what Def Jam would call a DWB (driving while black).

These kids need to quit playing and find something to do. And maybe it is up to some of us to offer some guidance. There are many ways that we can incorporate children into our lives. I have adopted a little sister down the street from me (who I am guilty of neglecting at times, but I try to make up for it when we are together), and if everyone did the same, maybe that would have an impact on our community.

It’s not like we go anywhere fancy to spend time together. We make cookies and watch a movie, or play with Max (my puppy) and when we are together, we talk about real life things and I think that has an impact somewhere. We have a lot of kids in our neighborhood, and they all have mothers that are struggling. They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, we have a lot of children here, and not a whole lot of village, so if we want a healthy community, we need to all pitch in. I think a little investment of time with our children will go a long way. And then maybe we can count on Walgreens to stay.

This column was originally published in Madison Voices, Allied Drive's community newspaper. Visit their Web site at: MadisonVoices.com

The Adversity of Diversity

I recently heard a dialogue between various DJs on the radio about the racial and ethnic diversity in Madison. Listeners who called in claimed to love Madison because it is such a diverse city with so many ethnicities of the world represented. Yea, right!

The way I see it, Madison has summoned all people of color to a little pocket on the edge of the city, namely Allied Drive. If we decide to abandon our cultural identity to incorporate “white culture” into our lifestyles, maybe the hippies up on Jennifer and Williamson will welcome us to their neighborhood. But if we do not assimilate, most likely the landlords will be unable to get in touch with our references and ultimately be unable to verify our rental application. I personally spent weeks in Madison dealing with landlords in the various trendy areas of the city. Allied Drive, however, approved my application and handed me keys within three hours. It is possible that the white landlords really were playing phone tag with my rental and employment references. It is also possible that the woman of color who processed my application on Allied Drive was unbelievably lucky in the fact that she got in touch with of all my references within an hour.

Other circumstances could be woven into the situation to argue that race had nothing to do with my experience. Race arguments are tired. Even some African-Americans will say that they have ditched the race card because they are tired of talking about it. But how can it be ignored when so many of us on Allied Drive can relate similar experiences?

Some would argue that we can’t afford to live anywhere else. Please. There are a lot of us who have good jobs here. I talked to someone who manages several properties on Allied Drive and she confided that three graduate students live in her buildings among many educated individuals earning salaries comparable to the rest of the city. And as far as Allied Drive being a slum where no one pays their rent, that is a fallacy too. Well over 90% of the residents pay their rent in a timely manner with no worries, according to her observations.

I dread looking for housing anywhere else in Madison and disclosing on an application that I lived on Allied Drive. Already I have trouble obtaining goods and services that are readily available to the rest of the city simply because my address is on Allied Drive. How will I combat the unsaid assumptions that I have all these connections with Madison’s vast drug and firearms network? Remember, Allied Drive is a whole three blocks. I could be a potential danger to any neighborhood. Is it really worth the trouble dealing with the landlords “out there”? No, not really … at least on Allied Drive I can experience true diversity.

This column was originally published in Madison Voices, Allied Drive's community newspaper. Visit their Web site at: MadisonVoices.com