Ali Muldrow currently works as the director of youth programming for GSAFE, which works to create safe environments for LGBTQ youth. She began her work in education in 2006 when she became the after-school spoken word club liaison for the East High School in partnership with UW-Madison’s First Wave program. Ali played a key role in creating Wisconsin’s first Spoken Word class; a class that allowed high school students to receive academic credit for their study of urban art forms. She is currently running for Madison Metro School District Board of Education Seat 6.
Rank your Top 5 MCs.
Missy Elliott
Queen Latifah
Eve
Queen God Is
MIA
Which motivates you more: doubters or supporters? Supporters. I am motivated by connection and respect, so I like to be surrounded by people who encourage me and value me. I enjoy working as a part of a team; uplifting the people around me is important to me.
Why do you live in Madison? I live here in Madison because it is my home. I am from Madison; being here allows me the opportunity to be in the same city as my parents, sisters and brother, niece and nephews. I love this city enough to be critical of it. This is my community; this medium-sized Midwestern metropolis has shaped me into the person that I am, and my hope is that I will shape this community into what it can be; a place with great schools where every single child has access to an excellent education.
What three leaders in Madison under 50 have impressed you the most?
Miss Progress
Tehmina Islam
Adrian Whitney Purnae
What’s the biggest stumbling block in Madison to turning the corner on our racial disparities? I think the biggest mistake we could make is aiming to get better. We have one of the largest achievement gaps in the country. My greatest fear is that will get really excited about moving from being number two or number three on that list to “only” number six or number seven. We have to aim for the forefront of inclusion. We cannot be satisfied by incrementally reducing our achievement gap. We must be determined to see the brilliance in every single young person and committed to celebrating learning in a way that allows our schools to produce incredible thinkers and a community of young folks who value each other and learn from each other!
What are your top three priorities at this point in your life? 1) Working with my community to create schools where students fall in love with learning. Ensuring every single student has access to an excellent education. Cultivating the intelligence of young people in a way that allows us to redefine what it means to be smart, and empowers our children to see themselves as capable, compassionate, and important.
2) To love people in way that allows us to build together and bring out the best in one another. To be happy and grateful and solution focused.
3) To learn from people who think differently than myself and collaborate with people to create a world that is just and kind.
You helped in creating Wisconsin’s first spoken word class. You also were the liaison at Madison East High school after school program for Spoken Word. Why is spoken word important to the next generation of students? I believe that the language of power is creativity. A friend of mine told me recently that she draws the line at made up words I asked her to tell me a word that wasn’t made up and she couldn’t. I then told her that her corrections would’ve killed an author like Dr. Seuss. I often describe the leadership development work I do with young people as an orientation of the imagination. Giving young people a chance to be creative, giving young people access to their originality, makes space for young people to see themselves as geniuses. Spoken Word is about telling your story. It’s about claiming your right to be who you are and see things the way you do, but more importantly, it’s about listening to all the people around you tell their stories. Spoken word is a tool for building community and honoring diverse voices, and in a lot of ways, Spoken word saved my life.
Rosa Parks or Harriet Tubman: who do you relate with more? Harriet Tubman is someone I greatly admire. When I think that the work I do is too hard for me, I imagine her running toward freedom, ignoring how badly her feet hurt. And I remind myself that the hard part of living in an oppressive society is going along with it. I consider it an incredible opportunity to live in pursuit of liberation and to resist oppression actively. The only great thing about living in an oppressive society is fighting for change. I believe Harriet Tubman teaches us all to be brave and find strength in ourselves, while holding the door open for others to do the same.
Do you find more discrimination in being a woman of color or being a member of the LGBTQ community? Being a queer person of color is really complex. Often times people try to divide my identities and pit pieces of me against one another. The struggle for me has always been being whole, as all that I am. I cannot qualify the oppression I experience as a queer woman of color, all of my identities are made invisible regularly and I have gone in search of my full self and reclaimed my right to exist – as all that I am – over and over again throughout my life. In the words of Audre Lorde, “There is no hierarchy of oppressions.”
I have no idea what it’s like to live with my identities separated. In school as a kid I did not read books about women of color or about queer women of color, I couldn’t look to a history book and find representation of folks with identities like my own with their accomplishments highlighted. People see me as black and make assumptions about what it means to be black and that impacts my life. People recognize me as a cis gender woman and expect me to be confined to the limitations they think define my gender and that creates obstacles that I am constantly overcoming. I identify as the B(bisexual) and the Q(queer) in LGBTQ and I am in love with my partner Sandy, who identifies as a man.
People have asked me why I am open about my sexuality and identity when I can so easily pass; meaning that as a person in a heterosexual relationship, I have access to heterosexual privilege. My answer is it’s about more than who I love, or sleep with. If a gay man is single, it doesn’t change his relationship with his sexuality; if a queer bisexual woman is in love with a man, her identity isn’t defined by that relationship. Part of taking myself back is focusing on what my identity means to me, and living my truth.
I have read a lot of interviews and comments about you lately. Tell me in your own words, who is Ali Muldrow? I am a 29-year-old mother of two. I was born and raised in Madison Wisconsin. I believe that education is the foundation of community. I’m running for School Board for the love of learning, and I’m bringing to that endeavor a lens of equity and inclusion, of consent and inspiration.
As someone who went to school in the Madison Metro School District, I know first-hand some of the challenges with the school system. What would you tell a parent of color who was thinking about putting their child in MMSD or in one of the surrounding suburbs (Middleton, Sun Prairie, Waunakee…etc)? Why should they choose the MMSD knowing their horrific numbers when it comes to kids of color?
In interacting with families of students, I primarily aim to listen. I don’t know if it’s necessarily about what I would tell a parent but more about what I would ask them. I think it’s important we ask families what they want for their children. I could never tell a parent they don’t have the right to be worried about their child; I would instead communicate that I am willing and enthusiastic about working together to ensure our students are supported in ways that are meaningful to them.
Like you, I also attended MMSD – from early childhood through graduation. I am running for school board because I believe in this district. I believe that district leadership recognizes the challenge that is before us; we have to confront who we are in order to change, we have to engage in an honest dialogue about the role of race. I believe that all children should have access to the tools they need to learn and I believe that our public schools can provide that. We’ve seen some inspiring first steps. We’ve seen dedication to revising policies, crafting really intentional plans for growth and investment, expanding access to DLI programming, and most recently deciding to offer Montessori education, which is a method that celebrates diversity and promotes student autonomy in learning.I am committed to the success of every single student and I want parents to know that I will fight for their kids’ right to learn.
What’s your favorite holiday and why? My children’s birthdays; their birthdays remind me of the most powerful I have ever felt. Giving birth to my children and watching them grow brings me more joy than I could ever describe.
