We’ve gotten to know a lot of fascinating and influential people over the last couple of years in our “12 on Tuesday” series. Here are a few of our favorite answers from the last couple of months.
Leslie Orrantia, UW Director of Community Engagement: Do you believe there is a Latino and black divide? If so, how do we address that division? Let’s say “ish.” I believe there are clear cultural divides, though I believe they are a product of passive circumstance in lieu of active discrimination. I believe if and where we don’t interact with other people unlike us, we either don’t think about what we don’t know or we fill in the blanks with guesswork. The truth is, day-to-day life is hard and logistics run the show. We don’t always have time, money, or energy to do something outside of eat, sleep, work, and care for our families. We strive for balance, and while striving for balance is good to keep one on track, it’s hard to challenge ourselves to get out of our comfort zone. So, I believe our greatest divides exist at the working-class level because folks are busy working and caring for their families, and outside of libraries and grocery stores, there aren’t a lot of organically diverse places for adults to meet others unlike themselves.
To address this issue, I think we need a two-generation approach. We need to create spaces for our youth in our schools to reflect on the self, our individual role in making our society a better place, engage in meaningful community building conversations and discuss these larger societal issues. For adults, I think we need to meet people where they are by building free opportunities for folks to meet in familiar spaces like libraries, churches, schools, and break bread together in community, and be intentional about building a respectful discourse.
Why do you live in Madison? I want to make our community better.
I grew up in a large suburb outside of Los Angeles. Although my community surely had some positives, one very big challenge I recognized in my teens was that folks simply accepted hardship with an “it is what it is” mentality and were often politically and civically disengaged, keeping their heads down and living their day-to-day disempowered.
Madison is different. More people care here and more are involved. I love the shared governance structures, community-building efforts, marches, the greater voter turnout, so many folks being the change they wish to see, and the rowdy folks that inspire others to be more rowdy than they’d otherwise be.
I believe change is made and sustained by people. And since we reside in a smaller community than others in which I’ve lived, I feel that change is more viable here. Madison is smaller, smarter, and less broken in many ways than other places I’ve lived and I believe all of this makes change possible, but we need to bring light to the areas that are not well-lit, bring attention to the issues and areas that aren’t getting any, and this starts with relationships, leverage, and intentionality. I think we have this as a community and I believe my skills, capacities, and ambitions fit Madison to aid in this change making effort.
Milwaukee Urban League Board Member Sean Lowe: You and other leaders of color recently met with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. How did the meeting go and why is it important for communities of color to have access to someone like the Mayor of Milwaukee? The meeting went extremely well and I am very appreciative of Mayor Barrett’s time with us. We share a mutual interest in having young professionals succeed in this city. It is important for communities of color to have access and young professionals in particular because we deserve to have a seat at the table. I am the President of the oldest and one of the largest young professional organizations in the entire State of Wisconsin. We are taking a seat at the table and having access to conversations with the Mayor and others because we are too influential, educated and connected in this city not to be there. Often times too many of us people of color second guess if we deserve to be in that room, instead of owning the moment and seizing the opportunities that come.You serve as the National Urban League Young Professionals Membership Recruitment and Retention Chair, the National Urban league Young professionals, and serve as the President of the Milwaukee Urban League Young Professionals. What about the Urban league makes you believe in their mission? We in the National Urban League Young Professionals focus on Leadership Development, Volunteerism and Philanthropy. I have been volunteering with the Urban League for the past 12 years. I have seen firsthand how they expanded my network of lifelong friends and peers tenfold. They have done incredible work with job placement in underserved communities and fighting for civil rights and racial justice locally and nationally. The Urban League understands the importance of having young professionals in leadership roles not just in the future but now and continues to provide those opportunities.
Fitchburg Mayor Jason Gonzalez: You were the first Latino to become an alder for Fitchburg. Why is having diversity in political office important? Diversity in political office is important because it brings life experiences and perspectives that are different than the majority. Currently, over one-third of our city is Latino or African American. As the Mayor of Fitchburg, I look forward to being a unifying voice for our growing diverse community. I will works towards address equitable and accessible city services, increasing participation on city committees and commissions, and continue to work with our faith-based organizations, nonprofits, and city stakeholders to address our disparities.
Why did you decide to become an attorney? I decided to become an attorney because having a law degree gives you the ability to make change in an area which is limited to many, the courts. I currently own my own practice specializing in criminal defense.
GSAFE Youth Programming Coordinator Ali Muldrow: 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.
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.
Madison365 Academy Reporter Nicolas Garton: Your parents own the restaurant Quiveys Grove. By watching them, what have you learned about owning a small business? My dad started Quiveys Grove. For my dad the most important thing was how you treat other people and how consistent you are in dealings with other people. My mom definitely has continued in that vein and that’s why they have survived in business for the entirety of my lifetime.
Social X Co-Founder Ranell Washington: Why is Social X needed in Milwaukee? Social X is here to assist diverse professionals in loving the City of Milwaukee and maintaining our talented young professionals. We are pushing to be that liaison for companies and other organizations to tap us and collaborate on the brain drain issue we have in the city. Our goal and mission is to help compete with the other cities that most upwardly mobile YPs flock to for great reason, but we believe Milwaukee can be a hub/oasis for diverse talent. We have all of the gems and resources to get it done, but work is needed to push the envelope and change the narrative.
We just got over school board elections here in Madison. One of the issues that came up was school choice. As one of the founding board members of Milwaukee Excellence Charter School, why are charter schools needed? I believe that charter schools can work in conjunction with the public school system by pushing the educational standards and offerings in unique ways. There is some flexibility that charter schools have with fundraising and targeting specific areas of concerns for students almost like a niche type school. Our school system in Milwaukee is definitely improving and adding new opportunities to educate the whole child, so kudos to Dr. Driver and her team at MPS.
Madison365 Academy Reporter Fatoumata Ceesay: What’s the biggest stumbling block in Madison to turning the corner on our racial disparities? The biggest stumbling block when it comes to Madison is admitting that Madison is not as liberal as many people make it to be. In fact, I think a lot of Madisonians think that since they live in a fairly liberal area, it isn’t possible for them to commit micro aggressions. There is no talk about racial issues in Madison, so how can we work towards working on racial disparities?
