Redefining with music
The staff members at the Broadway Neighborhood Center want to show Iowa City that there is more to the Southeast Side than negative stereotypes — but they may have to persuade residents in the community first.
Jerome Brown, who works at the center, leads weekly discussions for adults about life in their community.
“[The group] is about community awareness,” he said. “The Neighborhood Center is somewhere to come to feel welcome.”
At this meeting, Brown met with Brenda Windmon, Monique Jackson, and Mary Genus. He provided a dinner — they shared fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes with gravy. The dinner consisted of much more than home-style cooking, it was an opportunity for the women to voice their perceptions of the neighborhood.
“Over here, this isn’t friendly,” Jackson said, scooping a helping of macaroni and cheese onto her plate.
Windmon, a resident of the Southeast Side for four years, said, “I’m trying to move out of this neighborhood, but it’s hard.”
The women said that they feel like they are stuck in place. “Targeted,” “black,” and “bored” are some of the words they used.
“If there was stuff to do down here, people wouldn’t find crime,” Jackson said.
That is exactly what a group of AmeriCorps volunteers at the Broadway Center, 2105 Broadway, is trying to provide.
Saturday is the kickoff to AmeriCorps week, when volunteers across the country do projects, such as the festival, to promote the group and showcase the work it does in communities. Volunteers at the center become involved through the Community Corrections Improvement Association.
The group will host the first 319 Music Festival on Saturday from noon to 9 p.m. at Wetherby Park; the event will welcome residents from all around the Iowa City area. The park will be transformed from a neighborhood landmark into a concert venue in which neighbors can share food, music, and conversation. There will be a stage set up as well as numerous food vendors.
“We are trying to get people from this neighborhood to come out and get to know [their] neighbors,” AmeriCorps member Bethany Bender said. “When people come out, they are more invested in their neighborhood.”
If people can meet at such events as the 319 Music Festival, workers at the center believe, they will feel more comfortable in the place they call home. Bender called the neighborhood “transient” and said all of the people who move in and out can make the area feel unfriendly.
Sue Freeman, the director of the Broadway Center, presented the idea for a music festival. After a positive response at a similar Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration put on by the center, a group of AmeriCorps members began planning the event.
Members of the planning committee said building the framework for a festival has been a lot of work. Bender said the center wants to make it a tradition every year, with this year serving as a template for the future.
“None of us have done anything on this scale,” she said. “It’s been great, though; we have gotten a lot of the people [involved in music] to volunteer their time.”
The music at the festival ranges from folk to blues to funk, hip-hop, and gospel, said Bender, a 2009 UI graduate.
The booking agent for the festival, Kristin Allen, said the search for acts has been a success. Within hours of recruiting, she got positive responses from numerous musicians who were willing to perform.
“All of the professional musicians have been really excited about it,” the UI graduate said. “[They see] a need to bring positive attention to that side of town.”
David Zollo is one of the musicians will donate his talent to the festival, but it does not stop there. From last summer through this spring, Zollo has given piano lessons to two children at the Broadway Center.
“I have had some amazingly talented students,” he said.
He grew up in the Iowa City area, and one of his closest friendships was formed playing on the Southeast side. He said he thinks it is important to establish creative relationships with kids to show them a sense of community.
“The kids have given me much more than I have given them, I’m sure,” he said.
Performances in the festival are not limited to professional musicians such as Zollo. Among the amateur performers are group of City High School steppers, elementary-school-age violinists and pianists, and a local rapper called Millz.
A mission of the Broadway Center is to change the perceptions about what outsiders think occurs. Center officials said they want to encourage people from all over Iowa City to attend.
“There are a lot of negative perceptions about this side of town because people hear about it but don’t really come over here,” Bender said.
Students are a group that Bender and other event planners would like to see attend. As a former student at the UI, she said it is easy to get caught in the bubble on campus. One reason she became involved with AmeriCorps after graduation was to learn more about Iowa City.
More importantly, they want to change the perceptions of members in the community such as Windmon, Jackson, and Genus.
“I think if they would do [events] like this more often, it would cut down [on crime],” Jackson said. “There is nothing to do here, so people get themselves into trouble.”
Brown said the Broadway Center volunteers want to be proactive.
“The idea is to promote the Southeast Side and alleviate the negatives. Also, give the people who do find trouble a place to hang out,” he said.
The three women at the meeting looked at him skeptically about the festival. They said there are a lot of things that people do once or twice to make a change in their neighborhood. They said they hope this festival is not another one of those faltering attempts.
Their consensus seemed to be: “Well, if there is free food, you know you will have a good turnout.”
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