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Urban League's closure leaves community-watchdog void
Sun, 11/23/2008 - 8:40am | Julie Wurth Contact Author
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Photo by: Vanda Bidwell

Urban League of Champaign County interim Director Sandra Jones and others are packing up to leave their building in Champaign after the organization shut its doors Nov. 14.

CHAMPAIGN – Years ago, a black mom walked into Ks Merchandise and found not one black doll to buy for her daughter.

She confronted the manager, who told her, "No one's ever asked me to buy black dolls, and I only buy things that are going to sell."

The mom, Vernessa Gipson, told him, "Maybe you don't sell them because you don't have them." She complained to the Urban League of Champaign County, which wrote a letter to the store's corporate headquarters, which apologized.

To Gipson, who later worked at the Urban League, it was a small example of the agency's central role in advocating for black and lower-income families,

"The league was one of those places that you knew had the backs of black families, and families with low income, and other at-risk families," Gipson said. "It just makes you wonder who's out there being the watchdog right now."

The league, which closed Nov. 14 amid mounting financial problems, helped low-income families buy homes, ex-felons find jobs and young adults hone their work skills. For families on hard times, it was a hub for services throughout the community.

But, particularly under former president Tracy Parsons, the league also spoke out on civic issues, pushing for educational equity in Champaign-Urbana schools, working to open minority business opportunities, and brokering disputes between police and the black community.

Who will take on that role now?

Most likely a combination of organizations and individuals, community members and civic leaders said last week.

The league's programs have been parceled off to other groups, and several government agencies and nonprofits do similar work. But it leaves a "huge void" no one agency can fill, said former county board Chairwoman Patricia Avery.

"We have a lot of good people doing good work. But no one has the mission statement of the league," Gipson said.

Lyn Jones, president and CEO of the Champaign County United Way, said directors of United Way-funded agencies discussed the issue Tuesday.

"There's clearly awareness on the part of agencies in town that there's going to be some gaps" in services, Jones said.

Peter Tracy, executive director of the Champaign County Mental Health Board, said the county has organizations headed by blacks that can pick up part of the league's mission. Tackling youth and delinquency issues, for example, are the Champaign-Urbana Area Project, headed by Avery; the TALKS Mentoring program run by the Rev. Harold Davis, and the Mental Health Center's Peer Ambassadors program.

On police-community relations, the city works closely with prominent blacks on the Champaign Community and Police Partnership committee, who "will tell us quite frankly what they think the needs of the community are" and how the city should respond, Assistant City Manager Dorothy David said.

Former Urban League board president Larine Cowan, director of affirmative action at the University of Illinois, said the community has moved past the point where it needs a single spokesman for the black community, as Parsons and the late John Lee Johnson were sometimes viewed.

Blacks now hold elected office and leadership positions in C-U schools, local government, Parkland College and the UI, Cowan said.

"There are so many learned people of color who can speak to almost any issue affecting African-Americans and people in general," Cowan said. "I think that's a good thing."

One person can't represent the views of a diverse black community, added city council member Gina Jackson, whose district extends from Campustown to northeast Champaign.

"Several people should step to the forefront," agreed former Urbana city council member Lonnie Clark.

Clark was friends and business partners with the late Vernon Barkstall, who headed the Urban League for 27 years. Parsons now works at Clark's radio station, WBCP (named for Barkstall, Clark and former Champaign city council member J.W. Pirtle).

Noting Barack Obama's election as president, Cowan said the country has grown in terms of race relations. It might be time for a new organization, a multiracial group that encompasses blacks, Latinos, Asians and "poor people regardless of race," Cowan said.

"It doesn't mean that the problems of African-Americans have dissipated," she said. But "there are opportunities here for us to start something new, and something that will impact more people,"

Newly elected county board member Carol Ammons, a social worker with Catholic Charities, said the league wasn't just for blacks, helping seniors and low-income residents of all races.

Jackson said economic development, not civil rights, was the Urban League's primary responsibility.

But it also made people aware of racial disparities that they might otherwise overlook – the absence of minority children in gifted classes, for example, or the overabundance of black youth in juvenile detention, Gipson said. Even with blacks in leadership roles, it helps to have an outside advocate, she said.

The NAACP historically filled that role at the national level, but the local chapter has little staff and struggled in recent years. The 2005 conviction of its former president, Cleveland Jefferson, for stealing money from the chapter made supporters reluctant to contribute time or money, said its current president, the Rev. Jerome Chambers. A St. Louis native, Chambers said he's had to overcome the "outsider" label.

Clark and Gipson said it may be time for local ministers to take a more visible role.

"Many of their parishioners are going to be adversely affected as a result of this," Clark said. "Collectively, they need to be discussing it and seeing what contribution they could make."

Black communities have historically relied on a "collective, progressive, consistent voice from the faith community," Gipson said. "I'm not seeing that recently."

The Rev. Evelyn Underwood, president of the Ministerial Alliance of Champaign-Urbana and Vicinity, said she couldn't speculate on the organization's role until the ministers discuss the league's situation.

Chambers and Avery want to rally local support to try to save the league, and draft a community impact statement on its closure.

"The league is too important to be written off in the community," Chambers said.

He and Avery said they tried to contact interim Urban League director Sandra Jones in the last year to offer their help, but got little response.

For her part, Jones said she tried to solicit more support for the league through local black churches last February, but only four allowed her to speak to their congregations.

Underwood said she hopes the National Urban League will step in to help.

Herman Lessard, senior vice president of affiliate services for the National Urban League, said his agency was kept apprised of the chapter's financial problems and sent a team in last January to help.

But the local Urban League can't reorganize, or start a new chapter, until its legal and financial problems are resolved, officials said. The agency is under investigation by state and federal authorities because of questions about the use of grant money. Investigators told Jones the inquiry could take two years.

After the "dust settles," Lessard said, the national will work with the community to see if there's any interest in resurrecting the league.

The 45-year-old chapter was founded to bring blacks and whites together, and it has the most integrated board in the community, Jones said. That mission is still important, Avery said.

"Even if the programs are picked up by other agencies, I'm more concerned that the spirit of the organization and its founding will be lost," Ammons said.

What's happened to Urban League programs?

Education

— Community Day Care: 40-year-old day care center at Bradley Avenue and Neil Street closed on March 1 because of ongoing deficits. City recently bought that property and several others in the same block for $250,000.

— Education programs: League also closed its education department March 1, transferring $80,000 in United Way funding for three programs to Regional Office of Education in Rantoul.

Civic engagement

— At Promise of Success: Joint project with Champaign schools and University of Illinois to encourage academic achievement by middle-school students was transferred Oct. 1 to UI Extension. Imani Bazzell, former director of civic engagement for league, is now a UI employee.

— Mental health grant: $20,000 grant to help Mental Health Board of Champaign County draft federal proposal for comprehensive children's initiative was returned to mental health board. Grant will now go to Champaign-Urbana Area Project.

Work-force development

— Digital Divide: Community computer lab designed to bridge "digital divide" for underserved populations is moving to Parkland College, a partner on the project.

— Ex-felons program: State has not decided what to do with $135,000 annual grant to help convicted felons re-enter work force through job training, employer support, etc. Similar $15,000 grant was returned to Champaign County Regional Planning Commission.

— Ways to Work: Program funded through National Urban League to help workers buy discounted cars with low-interest loans was discontinued last spring because federal government changed grant requirements, interim League director Sandra Jones said.

— Workforce Initiative: State grant to provide GED programs and skill development to young adults was transferred to Illinois WorkNet in Champaign, a grant partner.

Housing

— Urban League Development Corp. ran home-ownership program for low-income families and two apartment buildings for low-income renters.

The 12 homes were transferred to Busey Bank and Regions Bank, which held mortgages, under a "deed in lieu" of foreclosure, Jones said. Homeowners will now pay those banks instead of Urban League but should see no other changes.

— Crestwood Apartments, Urbana: 20-unit building was transferred to Hickory Point Bank under "deed in lieu" of foreclosure. League owed $800,000 on property and had tried to sell it for $1.1 million.

— Urban Park Place, Champaign: League will continue to manage building as it works with Illinois Development Authority on the property's future.

— Credit counseling; Canceled. Funding came from National Urban League.

League Headquarters

— Two-story building at Springfield Avenue and Neil Street is being transferred to developers Mike and Dan Hosier, who bought it and nearby parking lot earlier this year.

Urban League Boards

— Boards for Urban League and its development corporation must remain in place until state and federal investigations are completed, which could take two years, Jones said. League did not declare bankruptcy because it held no assets of its own. Any property was tied up in mortgages or owned by granting agencies, she said.

Help book

Families who don't know where to turn for services can check out the 2008 edition of Champaign County's "Help Book," 50 pages on subjects from children's services, health care, finances and housing to immigration, libraries, schools and recreation. The free book is available at Family Service, 405 S. State St., C, and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, 201 W. Kenyon Road, C. It's online at www.helpsource.org (click "contents") and www.famservcc.org. The United Way of Champaign County also supports the project.

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CHAMPAIGN – Here's how the movie went: Denzel Washington plays a professor who forms a debate team at his Texas college in 1935. It's the Jim Crow era, and the team of black students is the first to debate teams from white colleges. They go on to challenge Harvard University for the national championship.

Here's how the story goes in Champaign: Vernessa Gipson of the Regional Office of Education is inspired by the movie, "The Great Debaters." She forms a debate team of Champaign high school students, gets them into the Chicago Debate League as a guest team, and they win the conference championship in the junior varsity division.

Their story is as good as any movie.

Take Keyonte Cobb. The junior at Central High admits he was getting into a lot of trouble at school. He was involved with a gang and he got into fights. He spent some time in jail.

Gipson, who is the director of school, family and community partnerships for the Regional Office of Education, met Keyonte when he wanted to join the hip hop dance club that is part of the Regional Office's Teen Reach program.

"I was listening to him talk, and how much he talked," Gipson said. She suggested he join the debate team instead.

Keyonte says doing so has changed his life.

"It made me a new person," he said. "It's made a big change in my life."

Now, he's looking at colleges such as Howard University and Morehouse College. He hopes to study performing arts and pre-law. At a recent college fair, his first question to the college representatives was if their schools had a debate team, Gipson said.

When she was forming the debate team, Gipson asked teachers for recommendations. None of the six on the team were among the recommended students. But Gipson saw something in them: their "mouthiness."

Initially the debate team attracted a number of students. But many didn't stick with it after they saw how much work it would be.

In addition to the six team members who compete, about a dozen other students participate in debate after school.

The debaters spend several hours nearly every Saturday working on their research or arguments. The week before a tournament, they also meet after school every day for several hours. They have a binder with 600 pages of research.

Every debate team in the country argues the same issue. This year's resolution: "The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States."

Debaters argue on several topic areas related to the resolution, advocating for or against the following: a "single stop" location for access to social services; extending higher education opportunities to illegal immigrants; targeting Katrina victims to receive more social services; providing housing first and quickly to the homeless before focusing on other necessary social services; and providing unlimited social services to sex workers.

Teams pick their topics to support, but they must prepare to argue against all of the topics in a debate.

"That's the good thing about debate," said Bria Harvey, a junior at Centennial High. "You get to see both sides. It makes us more open to things."

All that work intimidated Claire Johnson, a freshman at Central. She was one of those who dropped out of debate early on.

"At first, it was really hard, the studying," Claire said. "I didn't like the studying very much at all."

But after the team gave a mock debate at Central, she rejoined. It looked like too much fun to miss.

"I love to argue already," Claire said.

Gipson agreed: "I said, 'Put it to good use, girl.'"

(The work might have scared some students, but it brought out the obsessive side of Central sophomore DaNaya Burnett. She's particular about her files.

"Everything for me has to be organized and color-coded," DaNaya said. "I can't put yellow files in with the red."

"Housing would be with Katrina," Gipson joked.

"It's just not acceptable," DaNaya replied.

Because the debate team is the only one in the Champaign and Urbana school districts, it participated in the Chicago Debate League. Gipson asked to participate in a debate coach training session with the league.

Then she talked with the league's executive director, telling him, "My kids down here need this experience to travel and see other gifted kids of color doing something unique."

He agreed to let the team participate as a guest school for one year, requiring them to pay a $2,500 stipend. Regional Office of Education's grants covered the stipend, as well as materials and mileage, hotels and meals when the team traveled to Chicago.

The team debated in five tournaments between November and February. The six team members were divided into teams of two, who took turns making an argument for their case and rebutting their opponents' arguments.

In addition to team awards, individual speakers are recognized. The students recently teased Keyonte about an award he received for poise and compassion shown to his opponents. During his first few debates, he showed attitude rather than compassion.

"His nonverbals were so aggressive," Gipson said. "It was the eyes, the body language, the gesturing. What I always said to Keyonte is, 'Debate is not a fight.'"

The students had to learn to "keep more of a stoic face and speak with passion, not intimidation," Gipson said. "To speak to the judge, not the opponent."

They also learned to take notes quickly and succinctly, so they could rebut their opponents' arguments accurately. They improved their reading comprehension and learned about current events.

To participate in tournaments, the debaters had to keep their grades up, and their behavior – no detentions allowed.

Keyonte had a C in one class after the first debate. Barbara Cook – an attendance secretary at Central and an assistant site coordinator for the regional office who also works with the debate team – let him slide and participate in the next debate.

But then he got a D.

He couldn't debate again until he raised his grade. It didn't take long for him to do so.

"I didn't want debate to be taken from me, because I knew how much it had done for me," Keyonte said.

When Gipson felt Bria was being distracted by electronics during debate practice, she called Bria's mother. And visited the house. And initiated a family conference about the matter.

"I got everything taken from me," Bria said. "Laptop, iPod, cell phone."

She complained recently that she still hasn't had them returned.

"She's a debate champion, and she still doesn't have her electronics," Gipson said.

All that hard work and pushing to improve has paid off.

"I've seen them come from being really insecure about their own ability to having much more confidence," Gipson said. "We heard so much 'I can't' out of this group, and Barb and I saw so much potential."