New interim director of Nebraska African American commission sees pace picking up after turnovers

LINCOLN — A state agency charged with advocating for Nebraska’s African Americans has cycled through two executive directors in the three years since it launched.

Each stayed less than a year before resigning. A trio of spots on the governing board also are vacant as the Nebraska Commission on African American Affairs continues to find its bearings.

But a founding commissioner who is now filling in as interim director expects the commission to step up activity this year and amplify the voice of Nebraska’s roughly 92,000 African Americans in towns small, big, rural and urban.

Indeed, John Carter of Benkelman said he’d like the 14-member commission to go as far as to assume oversight of certain state economic development funds to help ensure that dollars intended for Black populations reach and impact them.

“If you’re going to have a legislatively mandated commission, it needs to have relevance. It needs to matter,” said Carter. “We’re hitting the ground running to identify and address the issues.”

Meetings this week to set a new  pace

A pair of meetings scheduled this week should help set a new pace, said Carter and others familiar with the commission. 

On Wednesday, the commission will hold a quarterly public meeting at 9 a.m. at the State Office Building in Lincoln. Among items to be discussed is a “lack of response” from Gov. Jim Pillen’s Office.

Carter said the governor’s staff hadn’t returned recent phone calls, email or meeting invites from the commission and said that was a barrier to filling board vacancies and moving forward in general.

A spokeswoman for Pillen, in response to a reporter’s query, said the commission is not a “code agency” and therefore is not subject to the governor’s direct control. But Pillen supports the commission’s statutory mission, Laura Strimple said, and has “demonstrated a strong commitment to expanding opportunities for Nebraska’s African American community.” 

Strimple noted that the governor met with commission members in July, and she said he has been in contact with them through other state agencies such as the Department of Administrative Services.

Turnover at the commission has contributed to some communications delay that, Strimple said, “has been cleared up.”

Carter, who also is chair of the commission, said he hopes to see the commission this year take its place as a “true liaison” between the Black community, the state and the Legislature. 

On Saturday, the commission plans its first community-based public meeting since a meet-and-greet session early on. It is to be held at 10 a.m. at North Omaha’s Malcolm X Center. 

A key topic, commissioners said, is the industrial business park and multipurpose sports center planned in North Omaha — and how the state commission and community members can work together to have more influence on such high-dollar projects.

Commissioner Gwendolyn Easter of Omaha said she and others are concerned also because elected leaders of North Omaha were not invited to be part of the dignitary lineup that last week announced recipients of nearly $125 million in public funds for the business park and sports center.

More input in economic development

Carter said a goal is to see the commission become as or more involved than the Nebraska Department of Economic Development in such matters that involve economic growth projects in the Black community.

According to the 2020 legislation that created the commission, its functions include coordinating programs relating to the African American community and economic development.

Too often, said Easter, longtime African-American businesses and residents are overlooked and livelihoods are hurt in the name of bigger development. Changes in the North Omaha child care industry are an example, she said.

As larger early childhood education institutions entered the market with support from institutional leaders, she said, smaller and older businesses such as her Safe Haven preschool academy suffered.

“At one time that was our leading business that Black people thrived in,” she said of home-based and smaller day care settings. She advocates for more discussion and brainstorming with established residents and businesses. 

If the aim of public dollars is to help bring change to a historically neglected community, Carter said, locals should be provided with more assurance that “indigenous” families and workers will benefit. He pointed to the planned North Omaha business park: “Will it support people or just be an extension of the airport?”

More town halls

State Sen. Terrell McKinney, one of two African Americans in the Legislature, said the turnover of executive directors at the commission has not been “a good sign.” He said he is hopeful the commission will elevate its profile and connection to his North Omaha district, and believes the commission could become an effective ally.

“I welcome that,” he said. “There are not too many of us down there, and the commission can be a vital resource and ally to try and change things.”

Carter, a retired Dundy County sheriff’s deputy and former assistant police chief in Tekamah, said he envisions more commission-hosted town hall meetings across the state to hear how African Americans are faring. 

Individual commissioners already are expected to listen to people in their respective areas of the state and convey needs and progress to the larger commission.

But Carter plans to seek more funding so the commission can increase staffing and programming — “to do a better job of integrating African Americans into everyday life of Nebraska.” 

He sees now as a “great time” for the state commission to raise the volume in relaying “community perspective” especially on economic empowerment.

He cited concern, for example, over the recent loss of key state cabinet-level African American officials including heads of the DED and Department of Health and Human Services. He also referred to the departure of an African American woman as CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.

Opportunities and treatment of Nebraskans are not equal — and “depend on the color of your skin and where you live,” Carter said.

At least one way to make positive inroads, he said, is for commission representatives to visit towns across the state. He cited a Juneteenth celebration that he helped organize in McCook, Nebraska, a few years back.

Most who attended were white, Carter said. But information and soul food were shared, and he felt that many left with a greater understanding of African American history and struggles.

“What I’ve learned is if you go into communities, share experiences and stories … it can change minds and build relationships.”