Amani Latimer Burris’s passion for political office is a direct result of her love of Madison, the knowledge of her own personal history, and the inspiration of her parents.
“I think I’m concerned about all the issues that a lot of my constituents are concerned about and I’m looking to collaborate for solutions,” Latimer Burris, a District 12 alder candidate for Madison City Council, tells Madison365. “I come from a family of advisors, advocates, and change-makers, so I think that the torch has been passed and I have to continue to carry it on because most of these things that we are looking at solving are long-term issues that are going to take a lot of work and a lot of discussion.”
Latimer Burris has deep roots in Madison. Her mom, Milele Chikasa Anana, was the founder, publisher and editor of UMOJA Magazine, Wisconsin’s longest-running African-American magazine. Anana was a civil rights activist, a “Village Mother,” and an outspoken advocate for racial justice. Ms. Milele passed away in May of 2020. Her dad, James Latimer, is Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is one of the city’s most-respected musicians.
Latimer Burris says that her extended family on both sides has directly impacted two major events in American history: the 1921 Tulsa Massacre/Greenwood and Juneteenth and that the further exploration and understanding of both are part of a “rooted journey” where she realized “serving is what we do and we actually have the ability to do it.” It inspired her to throw her hat into the ring to run for Madison Common Council.
Latimer Burris started her career as a journalist and has worked in research and advising, policy development, issues advocacy, coalition building, and grassroots outreach for a number of different organizations on a local, state and national level including the National Urban League, NAACP, and DPW, according to her campaign website.
Latimer Burris is an advisor to social justice advocate Opal Lee, who, at age 95, brought forth Juneteenth as a national holiday in June of 2021 after nearly five decades of relentless work. Burris is also vice president/vice chair of communications for the Democratic Party of Dane County. She is looking to represent District 12, located on Madison’s north and east sides.
“I think there’s so much we need to focus on in District 12, which is so representative of what’s going on with the city. There are so many issues from housing to transportation to traffic safety, like getting across the street and whether there are there enough sidewalks. What are we going to do in the future as we grow?” asks Latimer Burris, who has also previously served as a campaign aide for former Mayor Paul Soglin. “On the north side, we have a lot of neighborhood development to do and economic development. People that I talk to across the district want to know that we are going to continue to support their neighborhood programs and make things viable for the future.
“One thing that I do find is that people want what I call transparency, integrity, and accountability. They want their leaders to listen to them and take their input seriously.”
In 2020, Latimer Burris unsuccessfully ran for state senate. She says that she learned a lot from that run and would soon go on to work for Wisconsin State Sen. Lena Taylor. After that, she became an advisor to Lee, a retired teacher, counselor, and activist in the movement to make Juneteenth a federally-recognized holiday. Lee is often described as the “grandmother of Juneteenth”.
“I traveled with her for 18 months. She’s 96 years old and has lived an amazing life. She was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize [in 2022] for her work to make Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday,” Latimer Burris says. “It was amazing the people that I got to meet when I traveled with her. We went to the vice president’s house and we’ve been to the White House. But we’ve also met the mom that’s really fighting for environmental issues in this city and people that are organizing food banks in another city and plenty of just regular working people.
“That’s where I started to get a sense of the problems that we face and the solutions that we’re looking for. … it’s happening nationwide.”
Latimer Burris remembers a really inspiring day for her on that journey with Opal Lee when she got a chance to spend a day with Valerie Biden, President Joe Biden’s sister, at the Biden Institute, the President’s domestic policy think tank at the University of Delaware.
“We went through a bunch of different meals together and we finally get to dessert. Now, we’re just having ice cream. It’s just like regular people. I’m like, ‘Yeah, she’s the President’s sister, but we’re just like family … sitting around the table,'” Latimer Burris remembers. “We’re talking about politics and she said, ‘Amani, you know what the most important office is in politics?’ and I’m like, ‘Okay, you have the presidency, of course,’ and she’s like, ‘No, it’s local. it starts with the school board.’
“I almost fell out of my chair because in a way, she was totally right. By the time the issues hit the White House, it has gone around in the cities for a long time. And the people in the cities are the ones that start to figure out the solutions that they connect with,” she adds. “I went to bed that night just feeling like family and that the world is a possibility and I am part of creating that.”
Valerie Biden’s words are something that, she says, always stuck with her… even moreso when she heard that Syed Abbas was stepping down from District 12 alder in December. Maybe she should run for alder, she thought.
“I really went into deep thought to make the decision to run. I did what’s called the Ben Franklin method where I did four pages of pluses and minuses of running for office because I’ve been in this space and I know how taxing it is and I know how much work it is,” Latimer Burris says. “I know that these issues are long-term and they’re very deep.
“At the end of the day, it came up plus-10. And I said, I can’t just talk about it, I need to be in it. And so that’s the decision that I made.”
So for the past few months, Latimer Burris has been going door to door on Madison’s north and east side. She says she is finding that the people that she talks to really love the north/east side. (“We have to come up with a better name for this area,” Latimer Burris laughs.)
“They know that this area of Madison is growing and they know that things are changing. People love that the area is intimate and that they know their neighbors and that some of their neighbors are quirky and some are traditional,” she says. “So how do we mix the old school and the new school?”
The election is on Tuesday, April 4. Latimer Burris will face off against Julia Matthews, a research specialist for the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, who was the top vote-getter in the Feb. 21 primary.
“We’re at the point right now where we are setting up the future of this city for the next 10-20 years … so people are really concerned about that,” Latimer Burris says. “I think it’s all about reaching out to people and connecting people and listening to people and bringing these issues forth and giving you information so you can make a good decision of what you want your alder to do. I don’t think there’s a better choice than me for that job.”
