During the May 2024 commencement season, the University of Wisconsin-Madison honored Dr. Reverend Alexander Gee, an African American Studies alumnus, with an honorary degree in recognition of his lifelong dedication to advancing racial equality in the State of Wisconsin. Dr. Gee is a distinguished community activist, educator, and founder of initiatives which promote Black excellence and leadership. This spring, he will return to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to teach a seven-week, one-credit course. In this course, Reverend Gee plans to guide students in exploring the evolution of the Civil Rights movement and how they can actively contribute to social change through their academic pursuits. The department recently had the opportunity to speak with Reverend Gee about his community work, his upcoming course, and what he thinks may be next in his pursuits. Throughout our conversation, he reflects on his transformative experiences at UW-Madison and the inspiration behind his non-profits. With a strong emphasis on state and even national engagement, Dr. Gee envisions his current project, the Center for Black Culture and Excellence, as a vibrant hub for innovation and cultural expression. He encourages students to connect their passions with practical resources, aiming to embolden the next generation of leaders to drive meaningful change within their communities. Join us as we delve into Reverend Gee’s lifelong vision for a more equitable future.
You’ll be returning to your Alma Mater in the spring to teach a seven-week course entitled: “Rebuilding Black Societies Through Social, Economic & Cultural Innovation.” What can students expect from this course?
We often feel as though we want to understand history so that the failures aren’t repeated. But we also study history to understand what has worked, what’s been missing, and what would contribute to current-day success. I want students to recognize that the Civil Rights movement has evolved and what it might look like today is creating space for the exploration of Black culture and excellence. Or it might be creating Black focused social services and leadership development agencies. We can create startups, and we can become social entrepreneurs. Folks who create businesses do good in the community and are a part of our community; they do transformative work, but also, their work is a form of advocacy and action.
I want students to understand that they can do more than just study movements, but they can be a part of a modern-day movement by using their majors. I used my Economics and African American Studies degree to build a business that focuses on Black excellence. And why? Those two topics intrigued me forty years ago as a student and they’ve evolved into my life’s work. I want to give students the time to realize that what they may be thinking of, dreaming of, or feeling today could be a part of what is to come in time. We’ll look at what I have created and use that as a backdrop to turn to students and ask: “What are you dreaming? How do you want to transform the world? How can you change your city?” …Essentially, I’m asking: “How do you dream of changing the world for the Black community?”
I want students to understand the small roles. We’ll look at the economic structure of the U.S., why there’s so much emphasis put on small businesses, and we’ll explore the role of non-profits. We’ll look at how lives, communities, and worlds are changed. We’ll hear from different community members to gather an array of perspectives (not just my own). This course will be an opportunity to research grants, funding, and sources of support for the work students want to do. I want students to explore their passions in this class. My passion is leadership development, Black excellence, and telling our stories. This course aims to connect our heads, our hearts, and our lived experiences.
I appreciate how the course will center the dream of the student while giving them practical resources. That’s going to be electrifying for students.
Definitely. I want their educational experience to connect the academy with the community. The work can do this! And maybe that’s the beginning of creating a more town and gown partnership.
What are some of your fondest memories from your time at UW-Madison?
Black culture had always been taught like it was history. But in the African American Studies department, we studied Black literature. There was something about breaking down literature and dissecting it…as a preacher, you know, that spoke to me. Preachers do that with texts too! I had professors who modeled how to break a text apart in literature the way I eventually would in a sermon. That felt very familiar to me, but I didn’t know you could do that. In the department, I had professors read my papers thoroughly enough to ask me questions about where I got my insight from. That was very affirming.
I was part of the Academic Advancement program as a freshman at UW; it was created as a five-year program in the late 60s. We were told that the campus was a large place. But Bill Van Deburg, who at the time was the chair of the African American Studies department, came to our orientation. I’m sure we had representatives from other departments, but he was the only professor I remember coming in. The African American Studies department was very visible to the students who were in the Academic Advancement program and to those who were members of underrepresented groups: Black, Latino, Southeast Asian, Native, and Indigenous students. When I enrolled in his class, I already knew him because he was at my freshman orientation. The campus felt smaller because of the department: I felt welcome during office hours, and I got to know the program manager. On such a big campus, I felt like when I declared a major, it also felt like I had a grounding home in the department.
You have so many great memories that seemed to have brought upon many epiphanies, even if you didn’t recognize how they would converge at the time.
Certainly. Another important moment for me was being asked to do Professor Tom Shick’s memorial service. I did his eulogy. As a student, sitting in humanities classes was the first time my two loves, history and the role of the Black church in Black history, converged. I’d never heard those two come together and I felt so grounded and so integrated at that moment. It captivated me. I felt it gave a historical context to my theology and a theological context to my history. I didn’t know that that was what the church did, but that was very powerful for me.
What were your early thoughts during the creation of your first non-profit, Nehemiah? Who supported you and what inspired you?
My wife and I took a course from Professor Nellie McKay a year before we met each other. Later in our marriage, we were talking about this coursework and her experience with Professor McKay, and I said: “You took that class?!” and she said, “Yeah, I took it with my roommate Cammy…” I said: “I remember Cammy! She sat next to my mom and my mom and Cammy were friends!” So, it was funny to learn that my mom, my wife, and I were all in her class together. When we started Nehemiah, my wife, my mom, my sister and I created this business together. We all had the realization that there were very few Black individuals in the social work field. We didn’t have Black judges or Black school administrators. We were seeing the decline of Black student achievement and excellence in Madison. We thought, if we can create programming that would support folks, then there would be Black counselors, Black teachers, Black mentors, Black case managers…
We wanted to enhance a sense of awareness and a sense of importance in the community. Nehemiah wanted to strengthen and empower children and families. Our programs ran from pre-K to high school. We always wanted to take a human services and leadership development approach to assist the Black communities of children, youths, and adults. We wanted to help folks navigate Madison better so they could thrive here. Instead of asking “What’s wrong and how can we fix it?”, Nehemiah aimed to ask: “What is your strength? What is your ability? What’s your story? Let’s make that your strength.” Nehemiah is a different approach to our collective story.
When did you first start thinking about the Center for Black Excellence and Culture?
In 2013, we built a new addition to the Fountain of Life Covenant Church, and our old sanctuary space was going to become a cultural space. But we ran out of funding. We envisioned that there would be a space for art galleries, a stage with performances, and a large space for cultural gatherings. We envisioned a place where folks could rent roundtables and could all share stories. We ran out of resources to build it, but it always stayed in the back of our minds. All of this to say, that back in 2012, we were thinking about a space for culture. So, when the idea of the Center for Black Excellence and Culture began to take form, we celebrated. I found an old video from 1997 where we were outside, and I had a bullhorn. In the video, I say: “One day we’re going to have a classroom for the next Black businesses, we’re going to have playhouses, we’re going to be able to tell our stories. We’re going to be able to grow businesses and business owners!” And that was in the late 90s. I was casting a vision. So the idea has existed for the past three decades in some form.
We started thinking specifically about location around 2018. The idea had been percolating for about thirty years, but it’s been on our radar for about the last six. When we expanded the Fountain of Life Covenant Church facility, we bought the land next door that used to have a car wash. So we had an extra acre to our 4.8 acres. We realized we could build the Center on that land. But what’s so cool is that we didn’t know why we bought that land in 2012. But we knew that it was to do something that would empower the Black community.
How will you measure the impact the Center has on the community?
The Center for Black Excellence and Culture is for the community here in Madison and South Madison, but we also want to tell the story of Black excellence across the whole State of Wisconsin. We’ll have to use nontraditional methods for quantifying the impact. I think we’ve already started measuring success. For example, our first 200 gift donations came from the Black community. That’s a story that’s never happened in this city and probably the state. It’s an indication of the desire to incorporate Black aesthetics, Black subcontractors, and Black designers. Even our architect is Black. There’s just a sense of hope and a sense of pride here already.
This project also incorporates mental health research and well-being research. When you get rid of social isolation, and instead ground folks that in a cultural celebration, you can measure the impact of mental health and brain disease on an emotional level. So, one of the things that we’re planning on doing with UW-Madison folks from the African American Studies department, and folks from the UW medical school, is measuring the impact on mental wellness by just having a place to exhale.
You know, people often talk about Black Wall Street in Tulsa. People talk about the bombing and all the wealthy lots being destroyed. But what we don’t talk about is that there weren’t just banks and real estate companies, but there was a playhouse, there was a bookstore, a bakery…there was a gathering. It wasn’t just business. It was creativity.
We want to bring creativity and business together. We will have two theaters in our space…I want to know of a Black casting agent. I want to know a Black lighting company. I want to know about a Black costume design company! We want to go beyond just having a Black playwright, a Black director, and Black actors. We want to start creating. We want to give people the skills to create businesses in the area. We want folks to know that this isn’t just a co-working space, but a space for innovation.
You’re the lead pastor at Fountain of Life Church, you’re the founder of Nehemiah, you’re working on the Center for Black Excellence and Culture, you’re a writer, a teacher, a father, a husband, a podcaster, and a community activist. What is next for you?
Ah, guilty. Guilty. You know, my mom passed away on New Year’s Day, January 1, so I just wanted to quickly get through 2024. But some of my craziest accolades have happened this year: the Luminary award, the honorary doctorate from UW-Madison, being asked to teach at UW, and signing the contract to teach…it all started with small ideas. I used to dream that I would teach for my Alma Mater. Dreams that I’ve been sharing for years have made themselves a reality this year. But what’s on the horizon next? I want to take the Center for Black Excellence and Culture from a concept and its fundraising to an actual living, breathing program that becomes a destination for people in the country to study as a model. I want this dream to be a national dream where nonprofit leaders come together with politics and theology. I want to inspire Black influencers to bring the community together. I want to expand my teaching roles. I want the Center to facilitate processes for thinking critically about how we bring resources to the Black community. I want to be a thought leader to establish strategic partnerships in changing our communities. I want to be a part of global gatherings where people are thinking of empowering the Black community to grow and thrive and celebrate our excellence. I want to take all that I’ve learned from being a pastor, a nonprofit leader, being a cultural center developer, and I want to train and inspire others to be leaders. I want to inspire others to dream even when you don’t have space where dreamers look like you, or fundraisers who don’t look like you, or designers who don’t look like you.
I’m always asking how I can create space for those leaders to dream and learn how to put their plans together and how to build a network to bring that to pass. And how do you do that in an environment where people believe in themselves and believe it can be done even if it has never been done before? How do we persevere? How do we partner to dream and how do we take our skills back to our communities? That’s my journey.