Representation matters: Idaho Democratic Black Caucus hosts meet and greet | Regional

BOISE — When Michael Armand found out Barack Obama was running for president, he vowed to do everything he could to get him elected.

Armand thought it would be worthwhile to leverage the power of Idaho’s Black caucus. But to his dismay, he discovered the state did not yet have one.

“My heart sank,” Armand said. He had moved to Boise from Chicago in 2007, and was unfamiliar with local politics, he said.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever forget that feeling of, ‘wow, where am I? What am I a part of?’”

But Armand was able to help with fundraising efforts for Obama’s campaign, so much so that staffers from the campaign’s central office asked, “What’s going on in Boise, Idaho?” Armand said.

Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, with a Black caucus still absent from Idaho, Armand thought the time was ripe to form one. He founded the Idaho Democratic Black Caucus, though he acknowledged the process has been slow-going and has required some rethinking of its approach.

The caucus held a meet and greet Thursday evening at the Linen Building in Boise where Black leaders and other leaders could share their insight on increasing civic engagement among the state’s Black community, and generate interest in the caucus itself.

Armand emceed the event. He says he still draws inspiration from efforts locally that helped elect Obama.

“If you don’t think you have a voice, you have a voice,” Armand said. “If you don’t think you have an opportunity to make a difference in Boise, Idaho, because of the color of your skin, I’m telling you that’s not true.”

Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director Jared Deloof, who is white, acknowledged that the party has a poor track record of living up to the “inclusivity, diversity, and giving folks a real voice at the table,” it espouses, but that is changing.

“We’re not perfect, and we’ll stumble as we go forward,” Deloof said, “I’ve told Michael, whatever the Black Caucus needs from IDP, we are here to support and make this a real force in Idaho in a way that it hasn’t been unfortunately for too long.”

The mission of the new caucus is to “advance the black community by developing leaders, informing policy, and educating the public on civic engagement,” according to its Facebook page.

Speakers at Thursday’s event agreed that developing new leadership requires finding and connecting with potential leaders in the community, understanding the barriers they face with running for office, and providing support to help them succeed.

Caucuses are one of the main ways people who are underrepresented in politics have to support one another and ensure their voices are heard, said Idaho Rep. Chris Mathias, D-Boise.

“If more people come together and use it as a mechanism to accentuate and elevate our voices, there are things we can do,” Mathias said.

And not everyone has to run for office to make their voice heard, Mathias said. There are many governing roles that only require appointments to lead, and increasing representation could help reshape communities, too, Mathias said.

The most important thing is picking something you are passionate about, Mathias said.

“You’re going to (have to) want to do it,” he said. “You’re going to really want to believe in the people you serve and you’re really going to believe in your role because if you don’t have that x factor, it’s going to grind on you,” and you could burn out, he said.

Two factors have contributed to low participation and burnout by marginalized groups: the state’s Democratic Party historically not doing enough to elevate marginalized voices, and marginalized peoples having fewer resources to participate, Mathias said. Helping more people get involved is important so that the effort isn’t limited to a few people, he said.

“If we’re committed to learning from the mistakes of the past, if we’re willing to contribute just a little bit of time because we don’t want one or two or three people to spend their whole lives trying to keep this going … I think we can have something that will grow quickly and sustainably and have the potential for a massive impact,” Mathias said.

Another barrier to participation is people feeling like they do not have enough experience to lead, that their voices do not matter, or that they do not belong in certain spaces, said Idaho Sen. Carrie Semmelroth, D-Boise, who is Asian American. This is often referred to as imposter syndrome, she said. However, that term is misleading because it makes it seem like those feelings are the person’s problem when it is systems in society that have conditioned them to think that way, she said.

“When you can transform that and rethink it as, your voice matters, and showing up matters, it just changes the game,” Semmelroth said. “There’s no imposter there. Your words matter and your presence matters.”

Leaders of color are grateful for those that came before them, and understand the importance of helping forge new pathways for new leaders, Semmelroth said. She recalled Rep. Sue Chew, D-Boise, giving her a tour of the Legislature when she first arrived, and how she felt inspired by leaders such as Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb and Rep. Paulette Jordan.

“This is a call out to everyone who is here tonight, to your communities and the people you know — I would like to be there for you,” Semmelroth said. “If you have somebody in your life that you think could maybe even just come and talk if they’re considering running for office, have them call me. I want to be part of that trail for whoever comes next behind me, Sue, and Chris.”

Leaders often want to mentor people looking to lead, said Toni Belknap-Brinegar, chair of the Vallivue School District board, who leads a fellowship program that trains people from underrepresented groups to serve on boards. Fellows are paired with mentors as part of the program.

“There are many people who are willing to uplift us,” Belknap-Brinegar said, “the issue is, we haven’t been asking.”

Shari Baber, who completed the fellowship program, spoke Monday night about becoming the first Black woman to serve on Boise’s Parks and Recreation Commission. She also founded Brown Like Me, an organization tailored toward helping Black youth build community.

“All you have to do is show up,” Baber said. “Just show up and serve your community. I appreciate everyone who is in this room tonight because that is what it takes to make change.”

Raising awareness about Black-owned businesses and supporting them is another way to empower people who are leaders in their communities, said Trish Walker, CEO and founder of Idaho Black Community Alliance, and a fourth-generation Idahoan.

“Community is about much more than proximity,” Walker said. “It’s about caring for each other, it’s about understanding each other, it’s about uplifting each other,” and it’s important that people, including state leaders, support Black-owned businesses, she said. Her organization is building a directory of those businesses and planning to tour the state to connect with Black business owners and connect them with resources.

Caucus leaders plan to take at least one African American person to lunch each week to talk to them about what they would need to run for public office, register new voters, serve as a delegate, and participate in other kinds of civic engagement, Armand said.

“If you know somebody of color, and you see that they have this tremendous personality, these tremendous skill sets, and you think they’d be great in public office, bump them on the shoulder and give them my card, and say, ‘call Michael at the Black caucus,’” Armand said.