Longtime beloved Madison community activist Betty Banks was honored with the Madison Rotary Senior Service Award at the Rotary Luncheon on March 13.
“It feels good to be recognized. I’m honored,” Banks tells Madison365. “But I feel like we do what we do not looking for recognition, but looking for people to pay attention to what is done and the issues so that they can carry on the legacy or support the work.”
The Senior Service Award recognition is given to people 65 and over who have “contributed significant amounts of civic or social service to the local community or to society in general,” according to the Rotary Club of Madison’s website.
Banks was born and raised in Madison and lived in Greenbush until she was 5 years old, when her grandparents bought two houses on East Dayton Street. After graduating from Central High School, Betty embarked on a career dedicated to supporting families and empowering youth.
As co-founder of Club TNT (Today Not Tomorrow), an initiative she co-founded with the late Gaddi Ben Dan and Jeanne Erickson to empower people of color to share their own stories and report on community events, Banks spent decades helping countless youth build self-esteem and embrace positive lifestyles.
“The one thing that I was telling people at the luncheon is that I didn’t do this by myself. And Jeanne [Erickson] and Gaddi [Ben Dan} and [Club TNT media specialist] Bill Breitsprecher … it was all of us who did it,” Banks says. ” Yes, Gaddi and I started a lot of things, but we were blessed to have so many people carry it on beside us. Jeanne and I are carrying it on to this day.
“So I really do appreciate the award, but nothing is ever done by yourself.”
At the Rotary Luncheon, Banks was introduced by Renee Moe, the president and CEO of United Way Dane County, who nominated Banks for the Rotary Senior Service Award.
“Betty’s unwavering commitment to community empowerment is rooted in the values instilled by her parents. Her life’s work embodies these principles, ensuring that future generations benefit from her tireless advocacy and dedication to building a stronger, more resilient community,” the Rotary Club said in a statement.
In 1984, Banks with Gaddi Ben Dan, co-founded the Wisconsin Free Press, a community-based publication that pioneered the first-ever Black-owned newspaper in Madison to solicit and receive mainstream advertising. The duo also co-founded The Ambassador Times Journal, The Madison Times (before handing the keys to Betty Franklin-Hammonds), and VOICES newspaper.
Banks’ Club TNT creatively worked with young people for more than nearly three decades to educate them through entertainment on his Saturday morning show. Young, up-and-coming Madison talent was often showcased on the show, which included poets, dancers, rappers, musicians and singers.
Banks’ passion for preserving history led to the creation of ‘Stony The Road,’ a project celebrating African-American pioneers in Madison.
(Photo by David Dahmer)
Many of Banks’ projects she co-founded with her dear friend Gaddi Ben Dan, who passed away in 2022. Banks says she misses him dearly.
“Gaddi had an incredible love for this community. The one thing about him is that he always wanted us to make things happen. He had the energy and the intellect to make it happen,” she says. “It’s funny because he and I were as different as we could be when we first met. You know, he was from inner-city Chicago, and I was from East Dayton Street in Madison. But the love for community and for lifting others up was what we really had in common.
“Gaddi always celebrated honors like this Senior Service Award with me. Many times, I would get the award, but it would be for both of us and I always recognized his role. He inspired me. He gave me a lot. I think we both gave each other a lot.”
As the director of Family Enhancement’s Early Childhood Family Resource Center, Banks empowered young parents to strengthen their parenting skills. Banks co-founded the Harambee Birth and Family Center which provides essential maternal and child health services to strengthen families. Banks founded Project Babies with Erickson, which focuses on empowering families to take proactive roles in their children’s health and development. Overall, Banks has been involved in multiple endeavors and projects that support and strengthen families and inspire youth to be the best that they can be.
“It is about the future and it is about lifting up youth and we always wanted young people to know that those of us who came before them cared about them,” Banks says. “But the other thing that people need to understand is that everybody comes out of a family. And when you don’t support families, you’re going to have a weaker community.
“I think with the work that I did with families I drew from my experience in my own family,” she adds. “It really showed me what can happen when you provide information and resources and support for families.”
