On Monday, this year’s first session of the Indianapolis City-County Council represented a landmark shift in power.
Democrats officially assumed the majority they won in November, naming Maggie Lewis as council president and Vernon Brown as majority leader.
It was also an important night for two other young African-Americans, Vop Osili and Leroy Robinson, both of whom took their seats in the chamber as new members of the council.
“Even if I wasn’t the nominee for president, it would have still felt good just walking in with those guys,” Lewis told the Recorder later. “The feeling among us was, ‘it’s our turn now. It’s our turn to lead.’ We are humbled by the opportunity to serve, and we are excited, energized and ready to lead our city forward.”
Monday’s historic evening was just the latest example of the shift in political leadership that is taking place in the local African-American community.
Gradually, the great generation of leaders who were trained in the fine art of service during the civil rights movement are leaving office, with a new generation of professionals taking their places.
Recent developments within the last decade at all levels of government (federal, state and local) have shown this to be true.
In 2008 André Carson, a member of the City-County Council, was elected to succeed his late grandmother, Julia Carson, in the U.S. House.
On the state level, long serving Democratic state Sens. Glenn Howard and Billie Breaux, and Rep. Mae Dickinson, departed from the Indiana Legislature. Breaux, now Marion County auditor, was succeeded by her daughter Jean in 2007. Dickinson and Howard, who are now retired, were replaced by union official John Bartlett and attorney Greg Taylor, respectively, in 2009.
The current session of the Indiana Legislature will be the last to include Rep. Bill Crawford, who has served since 1973 and is known as a popular and effective legislator. Crawford will not seek reelection this year and plans to retire.
Change has also occurred on the City-County Council, especially the departure of veteran leaders such as Rozelle Boyd, Elwood Black, Lonnell “King Ro” Conley and Maggie Brents.
In 2007 young activists Jose Evans and Cherrish Pryor joined the council (Pryor was later elected to the Indiana House, with her vacant seat won by Lewis.)
Last year’s election brought Osili and Robinson to the council. Of the current African-American members, only Monroe Gray and Steve Talley have served before 2000.
“I think all of the individuals from the new generation are people of competence and skill,” Boyd said. “They have a great opportunity to make a contribution not merely to the African-American community, but the whole city.”
Boyd, who left office in 2007, became a councilor in 1965, when there were two separate councils, one for the city of Indianapolis and another representing all of Marion County. Following passage of the UniGov legislation in 1970 one body, the City-County Council, was created to represent both Indianapolis and surrounding suburban areas in the county.
That change, however, led to Republican dominance of city government for the next 30 years, meaning that African-American councilors, most of whom were Democrats, often had to work in a small minority.
“At one time we had as few as six Democrats and 23 Republicans, which meant that the only way we could get anything done was through persuasion and cooperation,” said Boyd, who became the council’s first African-American president in 2004, when Democrats finally had the majority.
The current group of African-American councilors, all of whom are Democrats, now have a better chance to make a difference by serving in a comfortable majority.
“My advice to them would be to remain sensitive to the need to cooperate (with Republicans), but not be overly anxious about surrendering power that was legitimately won,” Boyd said. “It is also important to take a look at how that majority power is going to be used for the good of the community.”
In addition, Boyd hopes the new generation of African-American officials will learn from the experiences of people in his generation, just as they did with leaders who served before them.
That is something Lewis is more than happy to utilize as she leads the council.
“Our community is in a good place for the next generation to carry the torch, but it is great to have people like Bill Crawford, Dr. Boyd and other leaders who can lend us advice if they see us going in the wrong direction,” she said.
People of the emerging generation believe they have many attributes to bring to civic leadership.
“Not only were many of us taught by great mentors, but we also embrace the structure that we have from higher education,” said Robin Shackleford, a candidate for the Indiana House in District 98. “Many of us were the first in our family to graduate from college, and we learned to work with a diverse group of people. We bring all those experiences to community service.”
Lewis agreed, saying, “I think this generation is more accepting of individuals for who they are and celebrates diversity. We also have the new-found energy needed to make this community better.”
Shackleford is being supported by the Democratic Party, with Crawford’s blessing, to win the District 98 seat upon his retirement. She would like to maintain Crawford’s commitment to goals such as economic development, improving education and accessibility to constituents.
Shackleford noted that people from her generation going into office are not overnight success stories.
“We’re not just coming out of the woodwork,” she said, laughing. “With respected leaders in our community, there were always young people around them with an interest in government, serving in internships and helping with campaigns. Now we are coming from behind the scenes to serve.”
Joe Simpson, another new African-American council member, is middle-aged and appreciates both older and younger colleagues.
The African-American community, he says, is able to benefit from the experience of seasoned leaders while exploring the ideas of emerging ones.
“I’m proud of how the new generation is stepping up,” said Simpson. “However, I would encourage them to never forget history, because it explains why something is the way it is, and helps you make the best decision as you move forward.”
Simpson had another piece of advice he received from his late father after winning his first elected position to the Washington Township Board in 1996.
“He told me to never, ever sell your soul,” Simpson said. “At the end of the day, that is all you have.”
