Rock Island Coalition Of African-American Stakeholders Insisting Rock Island Return Grant
The Rock Island Coalition of African American Stakeholders is insisting that the City of Rock Island return The African American
Civil Rights Grant to the federal government.
The Rock Island Coalition of African American Stakeholders released a statement today insisting that the City of Rock Island return the African American Civil Rights Grant to the federal government for the following reasons:
To the City of Rock Island, this is merely $33, 500 thousand dollars and a means to expand their economic development plan, simply a funded means to an end. However, to us, the Black Community, this is more than a marker on a tourism trail; it is the stories of our lives, the stories of our ancestors’ past, and the stories of our children’s futures. Because knowing their past will make children stronger, more resilient, and build better citizens for the future.
Shellie Moore Guy narrating with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra during a November Masterworks concert. Guy is part of The Rock Island Coalition of African American Stakeholders.
We feel that the city has acted with total disrespect for the Black community. And the statement we keep hearing that no one knew who to contact in the Black community we consider disingenuous. The executive director of the MLK Center is an African American man, a city employee, and a long-term member of the Rock Island community. When politically expedient, these same politicians can identify the key members of the Black community. When running for re-election, these same politicians can find the ministers from Black Churches, find a representative from the NAACP, find members from Black fraternities and sororities, and identify Black educators and business owners. While the list is not infinite, it’s substantial enough to determine who to talk to if the true intent is to engage the African American community in Rock Island.
And due to the importance that our history has to our lives and the lives of our future generations, we know that it is not too much to demand that skillful historians, archivists, and ethnomusicologists document and preserve the memories and experiences. It is also important that they capture the wisdom of our personal and first-hand accounts of pivotal events of our family’s rich history and contributions to the city of Rock Island.
The city of Rock Island logo.
We see it as our right to have the Black History of Rock Island properly documented by trained and credentialed African Americans that can be found in Rock Island. At Augustana College, such African American professionals exist; each brings their expertise to the table and are well suited to do this work. However, what’s equally important is we also have community members that have been and are currently documenting and curating the local Black history of Rock Island.
The difference between the Rock Island African American community and other participants of the QC PassPort: Touring Our Local History Trails is that their history was already documented by the type of qualified professionals that we see as our right to have to document our stories.
Yes, the Butterworth Center and Deere Wiman House, German American Heritage Center & Museum, The Moline Preservation Society, The Putnam Museum and Science Center, The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center at the Main Davenport Library, The Rock Island Arsenal Museum, Rock Island County Historical Society, Rock Island Preservation Society, Rock Island Public Library, and The Saint Ambrose University Library, might be on this tourism trail; however, they provided the already documented history that they wanted to be included.
Therefore we insist that our history be gathered and told in a way that builds each generation of African Americans with pride from the knowledge of knowing that the past is their strength, a strong foundation for our future generations to stand.
As for the current companies contracted for this grant, meeting members of our community with arrogance, condescension, rudeness, and disrespect speaks to the Reasons we will not work with Pearson LLC and Media Link to Document our History.
So who do we entrust with this important endeavor, and who do we choose to see as being qualified to help us persevere our History, seek out the stories that shed light on our lives and heritage? We trust qualified and credentialed African American professionals that can be found in Rock Island, the Quad Cities, and the University of Iowa, which is a rich resource of highly trained and skilled Black professionals that can help respectfully document the stories of the Rock Island African American Community.
In the words of Marc Morial, “There is no more powerful force than a people steeped in their history.”
