Tucson's blacks feel a dearth of community

Many of those whose careers have brought them here in recent years especially yearn for the black population hubs they left behind, where social gatherings are as plentiful as jazz music and soul food.

"One of the biggest challenges when I moved to Tucson was that there is no neighborhood where I can go experience my culture and be with people who look like me," said Gezzele Martin, a health-care administrator.

She is among those hoping that a town hall tonight will get all the different sectors of Tucson's African-American community working together.

The Raytheon Black Employees Network, which has about 75 members, is bringing together a panel of community leaders to lead a two-hour discussion at Dunbar Auditorium on matters of importance to local blacks.

Martin, 43, said the lack of social venues is a topic that she and her friends often talk about. She has struggled to accept the relatively low profile of her community since she moved here from New York City in 1982, Martin said, adding that she has left Tucson twice since then.

"I felt like I didn't belong," Martin noted. She came back, most recently in 2001, solely because of family ties. She and her fiancé, Marvin Dodd, now are trying to purchase a hotel and restaurant, Martin said, which would augment the number of black-owned businesses and offer an eatery where black professionals could network.

"The social thing is huge," Martin said. "We can make things happen outside of work."

More black-owned businesses won't just benefit African-Americans but also will be a boon to the city's economy, she said.

According to 2000 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, blacks make up 4.3 percent of Tucson's total population of 486,699.

Gabriel Lissade, an electrical engineer at Raytheon Missile Systems and a member of the black employees network, said perhaps it is the size of the community that keeps it from thriving fully.

The town hall, he said, is an opportunity to identify topics that the community can zero in on together and then move forward to make positive changes.

"What we want to do is identify the issues that are important to our community: What have we done well, what can we do better and what's keeping us from growing?"

From what Lissade has observed in the seven years he has called Tucson home, the city could use more black civic participation, more black-owned businesses and more blacks in influential public positions.

"We are not involved in the community in a big way," said Lissade, 42. The state of his community here, he said, differs starkly from that in Seattle, where Lissade lived before he moved to Tucson in 1999. "In Seattle, there is a lot going on with African-American churches, shops and restaurants."

Another Raytheon employee, DeWayne Allen, said increasing the number of black enterprises can go a long way toward ensuring the vitality of the black community.

"There has to be a strong entrepreneurial base of brick-and-mortar, black-owned businesses," he said. And there's a need for more restaurants," said Allen, 31, a systems engineer who came here from Memphis, Tenn., in 1998. His mind still wanders back to his old city's blues clubs and abundant soul food, Allen said — but he has taken a liking to Mexican food.

Marc Johnson, who grew up in Tucson, left and returned in 2000 after 12 years in Europe, said a topic that needs to be taken up is the sense of community that seems to be missing among blacks.

"When I was growing up, everyone used to go to the park on Sunday," he said. "Right after church, you'd go out there and socialize. Now there's just nowhere to go."

The lack of social-gathering spots for blacks has weighed on his decision to move eventually to the state capital.

"In Phoenix there are black clubs and jazz clubs," said Johnson, 40. "It's a lot more than we have in Tucson."

Kwevi Quaye, a longtime Tucson businessman, said the small size of the community should pose no obstacles to building fellowship.

"You don't need to have a lot of people to have a community," he said. "You just need to have people who make a concerted effort to have a sense of community."

Quaye, who came here from Nigeria 22 years ago, said black churches — historically a beacon in the black community — still act as the glue that binds his people together. "But at the same time, everybody goes to different churches, so how do you bring everyone together?"

African-Americans, particularly newer residents, have to realize that Tucson is different from other areas with more vibrant black culture, he said. To enjoy the quality of life here, "We need to focus on what makes Tucson unique."

While it would be nice to see more black culture in her hometown, native Tucsonan Pamela Dunlap, 30, an admissions representative at Chaparral College, said she prefers focusing on community involvement, mainly through her church. She sings in the choir, works with youth and helps organize various functions.

Clarence Boykins, executive director of the Tucson-Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce, said the fact that his community is so spread out is both good and bad. "Culturally, it's a good thing because neighborhoods become multicultural and we get to understand each other a little better."

But from a business perspective, Boykins said, it is a disadvantage not to have a central place where soul food and other staples of black culture can shine — much like authentic Mexican food in South Tucson. The chamber is trying to change that by working to increase opportunities for black-owned small businesses in major economic development projects, including the Rio Nuevo revitalization project.

For his part, Carl Bedford, who does sales and marketing for the chamber, said he's encouraged by the interest that black young professionals are showing in the local community.

As in a relay race, he suggested, maybe it's time for longtime community leaders to "start passing the baton" to the next generation.

"The only thing that saddens me is that over the years, many of these professionals will leave Tucson," Bedford said.