Changing the Dialogue
A Conversation with Black Civic Network’s Nick Muhammad
Black Civic Network Executive Director and America Votes Community Power Builder Nick Muhammad operates at the intersection of art and politics using the lens of black cultural-competency. As Minnesota aims to reduce the disparities between its black and white populations, Nick guides Black Civic Network at it leads bold conversations on family and health in the black community. Learn more from Nick.
America Votes: Can you tell us about Black Civic Network and how it came to be?
Nick Muhammad: The short and simple of Black Civic Network is that it’s an initiative that myself and a few other community members tried to start about eight years ago, but at the time, the climate wasn’t as receptive to a black-focused organization, particularly in Minnesota, in the way that we’re able to operate now. Since then, there have been several reports on a lot of the disparities that face the state, particularly between African-Americans and their white counterparts.
Following a lot of issue-based campaigns that began to bring that to light and advocate for solutions inside of our state legislature and other means, people are now way more receptive to an organization that focuses primarily on the African-American community. That’s pretty much how we ended up with the support we have today, because people are realizing that we’re not just asking for the capacity to be able to focus on ourselves. They’re realizing that the benign neglect that has been going on has resulted in a very literal and figurative black eye for the state.
AV: How did your personal path lead you to starting Black Civic Network?
NM: Prior to starting Black Civic Network, I’ve always done issue-based campaigning, I was a lead organizer with certain neighborhood groups and the co-director for Minnesota Voice, which is a division of State Voices. I oversaw funding for about 30 organizations of color and made sure they had the resources to be a part of civic engagement, trainings and exercises within their respective communities. I’ve been doing this work over the last 17 years.
AV: What are the priorities and services of Black Civic Network today?
NM: Black Civic network is essentially a policy analysis and grassroots organizing group. We go out into the community. We register people to vote. We encourage people to vote. We host community dinners where we discuss issues that affect the community. We evaluate policies that impact us and try to create dialogue between stakeholders and the community itself. We strive to show up on unconventional issues that the community faces that may not be part of the national discourse of other groups that do a more multicultural approach.
AV: The health of black families as well as crime and poverty are issues that are really important to Black Civic Network. Can you tell us more about why these issues are so critical?
NM: In the state, we have a disproportionate amount of black families that are living in poverty. Almost 55 percent of our families are headed by a single, impoverished parent. The systems that surround those families and parents are not proactively dealing with them in a way that stabilizes parents early on. It’s a very divisive process that results — -more than likely it encourages — families to separate. That separation spawns a whole host of other problems, from the mothers being overworked and stressed, or living in abject poverty and passing that cycle of poverty on to the next generation, with children ending up in juvenile justice centers and growing up to become part of the Department of Corrections. It’s just not a good track. That aspect of health is what we concentrate on.
Dealing with the criminal justice piece, the reality is that Minnesota has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation for black men. The national statistic, I believe, is somewhere around five to one, and then you get to Minnesota and it’s ten to one, for African-American males being incarcerated compared to their white counterparts. If you look at the fact that we only make up five percent of the population — barely 275,000 people — the math is staggering to realized that we’re incarcerated at such a rate.
AV: What is some of the work you have planned through 2019 around these issues?
NM: Right now, the main thing is to collaborate with like-minded organizations that are already working at different sections of the black community and championing some of these issues on the political level and create more awareness and dialogue between stakeholders and political leadership. We’re paying attention to the upcoming elections and making sure that we’re setting the tone and raising the conversation in the forums that we hold for candidates. We’re making sure that we keep that message at the forefront of everything that we do and act as the bullhorn of the community.
