Here & Now

Noon Wednesday with guest Rep. David Crowley

Marisa Wojcik:
Welcome to Noon Wednesday, I’m Marisa Wojcik, a multi-media journalist with Here & Now on Wisconsin Public Television. The Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus has elected a new chair. He’s a second term Democrat representing the 17th district in Milwaukee. Representative David Crowley joins us to talk about his vision for the caucus. Thanks so much for being here.

David Crowley:
Thank you for having me.

Marisa Wojcik:
In the blizzard that is happening outside. Well now it’s stopped snowing. But we appreciate you making the journey here.

David Crowley:
No problem.

Marisa Wojcik:
So I want to start with you were recently quoted saying that this caucus is going to be unapologetically black.

David Crowley:
Absolutely.

Marisa Wojcik:
What does that mean?

David Crowley:
Well it just means that we’re going to continue to fight for black Wisconsinites. And we’re going to be since we have grown literally from six member to eight members this session. We need to make sure that we are fighting for black Wisconsinites. And the fact that we have a new administration that is willing to work with us. That sees many of the glaring issues that affect people of color throughout the state. We know that we’re going to have a good opportunity to focus on African Americans. And so being unapologetically black does not mean that we don’t want to work with other minority groups. It just means that we need to make sure that we are in tune or what our goals are as a black caucus in making sure that we can push goals and really minimize the disparities here facing the state quite honestly.

Marisa Wojcik:
And Wisconsin frequently ranks the worst in a lot of these racial disparities.

David Crowley:
Absolutely.

Marisa Wojcik:
What specifically are you hoping to do with this caucus?

David Crowley:
Well one, we need to get out there. One we need to make sure that people of color especially African Americans know that we are fighting on their behalf. When you look at politics today, a lot of the times we don’t feel that people are out there fighting for us or understand the issues facing African Americans. And so we’re going to do everything we can to tackle many of these issues. Whether we’re talking education, criminal justice reform, transportation. But also making sure that we have diversity and inclusion and making sure that we have African Americans in different positions throughout state government. Throughout different private sector jobs and making sure that we are represented as well.

Marisa Wojcik:
How do you think you’ll measure some of the outcomes of your goals?

David Crowley:
One I think working with the administration. He has appointed many African Americans within his cabinet but I think that he understands that we have a long way to go and so, you know when we think about my time in the legislature. I started off as a staffer. I used to work for Senator Nikiya Harris Dodd. And as a staffer I didn’t see that many people of color that actually worked in the legislature and so just being able to see people in different positions, we know that we have a long road ahead of us. So we know that there aren’t going to be something that can say we did it. Especially within this first session but we know that we can take incremental steps in measuring our outcomes.

Marisa Wojcik:
Why were some of these initiatives maybe more difficult under different executive office?

David Crowley:
That’s a good question. I think that, when you think about the political rhetoric and the political times right now. People aren’t necessarily looking at black Wisconsinites or black Americans as being lifted up and I think that when you look at the past administration. It just wasn’t on their radar. I think that they really focused on folks who were making more money. Those in an upper income levels. But also at the same time I also want to blame the historical context of politics here in Wisconsin. Milwaukee has always been the lightning rod all right? And people put Milwaukee on its own island many of the times. And so we have elected officials throughout the state who win office by demonizing Milwaukee as if we are not one of the largest, if not the largest economic engine of the state. But we have folks who you know, we haven’t voted a Republican in I don’t know how long. And I really can’t pinpoint why former Governor Walker really didn’t focus on African American issues. Maybe ’cause we didn’t vote for him as much. But I think that with the incoming administration, we have a prime opportunity. We just elected the second black Wisconsinite to get elected statewide with Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes. The first one was Al Phillips. And you know he has joked around how he actually ran openly black. Right because when Vel Phillips won Secretary of State, a lot of people didn’t know that she was a woman. A lot of people didn’t know that she was African American. For us again when you think about it, we’ve been demonized and I think it’s some of the historical context. But I think that moving forward we can change that. Especially having the amount of African Americans that we have in the state legislature right now.

Marisa Wojcik:
So you mentioned Milwaukee as commonly referred to as being its own island. So are some of your initiatives truly statewide to provide services and things for people of color not just in Milwaukee?

David Crowley:
Well absolutely. I think that you know we’re going to do a big push around shard revenue. And when you think about shared revenue that gives local municipalities the ability to have more dollars in the coffers, more resources to focus on local issues. And mainly those issues are affected, affects people of color. And so it gives the opportunity for local municipalities to come up with their own solutions to the problems that they’re facing. When you think about African Americans throughout the state I mean the majority of them are in Milwaukee and I think 90% of all African Americans are in about six counties statewide. And so we know that just focusing on Milwaukee isn’t going to do it. We’re going to focus on Madison, on Racine. Kenosha, Dane County. And the Fox Cities areas where majority of us live. But no this is not just about Milwaukee. Milwaukee has been on an island but when you talk about being at the forefront for people of color, a lot of that will start with Milwaukee.

Marisa Wojcik:
So even though the executive office looks different, a lot of the makeup of the legislature is very similar. Do you see roadblocks? Do you see delays in trying to mix progress on your initiatives?

David Crowley:
Absolutely, we know that there is going to be a lot of challenges. I mean we are still in the assembly. We’re still in the minority. We only have 35 members. The Republicans have 63. But at the end of the day when you think about Governor Evers address and some of the things you’ve heard from Speaker Vos, we need to have some bipartisanship. Especially when you talk about moving this state forward. I’ve had some great conversations with some of my Republican colleagues. And you know they always talk about how we’re booming economically. But they also see the state that black Wisconsinites are in. We can’t talk about how we’re, about our low unemployment rate when we still have double digit unemployment rate within African American populations throughout the state and so I think they see that as an issue. Some people would say again, I’m recklessly optimistic about all of this but I think that we have a good opportunity to tackle many of the issues affecting people of color throughout the state and especially African Americans absolutely.

Marisa Wojcik:
And it’s not just along different party lines but sometimes, fighting within a party of its own can cause setbacks and problems. So as the leader of this caucus, how do you plan on unifying the messaging and what you’re trying to do?

David Crowley:
Well, it’s really about getting everybody on board. I am Chair of the Black Caucus but also Chair of the Milwaukee Delegation. Which consists of actually we’re probably the most diverse delegation in the state of Wisconsin. And so understanding that we are not in this alone. Having the divided government, I know that it’s going to be some growing pains. This is new for many of us. We haven’t had a Democratic Governor in wow eight years. We haven’t had a majority in the legislature for longer than that. And so yes we know that there’s going to be some growing pains but at the end of the day, when we talk about moving Wisconsin forward we can’t leave anybody out and I think that many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are starting to see that.

Marisa Wojcik:
Kind of tying it back to being unapologetically black, are these difficult conversations to confront people that are not of color with? Is it difficult to say some of these things and have them acknowledge that they are issues?

David Crowley:
It is very difficult. Not difficult for me to say but difficult for some people to actually take as reality. And I think at the end of the day, we got involved in politics to have those difficult conversations. So if we’re going to move anybody forward, especially African Americans here in the state, we have to have those difficult conversations. You may not agree with me. You may not like the facts. But the facts are the facts. And so at the end of the day we’re going to do everything that we can to work with folks and again I think we’re going to be able to do some things.

Marisa Wojcik:
So you’re 32 correct?

David Crowley:
Yes.

Marisa Wojcik:
And that’s younger than the average person in the state legislature.

David Crowley:
Well, we got a 19 year old now.

Marisa Wojcik:
Yeah, we do. So do you think that your age kind of changes your approach, you said you’re recklessly optimistic. Do you think that changes how you are approaching some of these issues?

David Crowley:
Oh, definitely. I’m lucky. Even before I got elected I had the opportunity to work for State Senator Nikiya Harris Dodd a while back and so I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t work in a sense. And so my approach is really going to be about how can we find common ground? We know where we disagree at. But we never start where we agree at. And so just trying to find different people’s self-interest, what are the issues that really mean something to them. And you know is really about, I mean it’s really about making and building solid relationships at the end of the day. I can’t go into anybody’s office and tell them what they should care about when they don’t even know what I care about right? And so I think there’s a saying we always talk about that I always say is nobody cares what you know until they know how much you care. And so it’s about me building relationships with folks on the other side of the aisle. On my side of the aisle. In the executive branch to really cultivate some solutions to actually solve some of the issues affecting us.

Marisa Wojcik:
So we’re coming up on Black History Month. And the caucus has some events planned. Can you tell us a little bit about those?

David Crowley:
Yeah so, Black History Month is going to be, we’re going to do a kickoff on February 1st. We’re still finalizing the details. But we’re going to do a kickoff not only in Milwaukee but here in Madison as well. And every week we’re going to have a themed week that we’re going to be tackling different issues. Whether it’s family, whether it’s education, mental health or health. Criminal justice reform. But also at the end of the month, we’re going to be recruiting folks from across the state to focus on a lobby day. And train people on you know, how to talk to legislators, how to come in and really talk to them about the issues affecting them. And that’s going to be on February 28th. I can definitely make sure that everybody gets all the information. But we should have all of that by the end of this week actually.

Marisa Wojcik:
All right well thank you so much for joining us.

David Crowley:
Thank you, this was an awesome opportunity and I appreciate it.

Marisa Wojcik:
Yeah, thank you. For more from Here & Now and Wisconsin Public Television, you can visit wpt.org and thank you so much for joining us on Noon Wednesday.