- Milele Chikasa Anana: These are some photos
from the March on Washington in 1963.
We came there to protest
that our democracy wasn't working.
I don't see myself in any of these pictures,
but I'm sure
that one day, I might
find myself listening to him.
[saxophone melody]
My name is Milele Chikasa Anana.
I have been a publisher,
an editor,
a social worker,
an activist,
and...
...general Hellraiser. [saxophone playing]
I came to Madison
in 1968.
In that era,
when I would look at newspapers or the news,
I saw
only stereotypical images of black people,
and I thought,
"This story is not balanced.
"There must be something more,
must be something missing here."
[conversation and laughter]
- Ms. Milele, we so appreciate
the legacy
that you have made with the "Umoja" magazine
because it is history.
My son could tell you--
- Anana: We started Umoja" magazine in Madison
in 1990
to portray
the positive attributes
of the Black culture.
[jazz music]
I did everything.
I took photos,
interviewed people,
I wrote up their stories,
I edited.
And all the spelling mistakes were mine. [chuckles]
- Woman: But also, it's her power of persuasion.
- Well now, that might have something to do about it.
- Dana Warren: She thinks it's important that people
are rewarded for
the good things that they do,
and I think that's what she's done with "Umoja," yeah.
- It helped me a lot
because, coming from Chicago,
it did expose me to
a black community here.
And to really see positive news
about black people,
I just really appreciate that.
- When Milele chooses you to be a part of a story,
that's a big deal
'cause she's like, "I think it's important
that people know what you do."
- Anana: What we found
over the years is that
if you feature a black person
who has done something,
other black people say, "Oh, I can do that too."
So, that has inspired a lot of people
to know that others had these dreams,
but didn't know whether they could do it or not.
- Did you have difficulty
securing artists for the covers?
- No, it was exposure for them. - Woman: It was exposure.
- Anana: I knew I didn't have the resources
to make a cover portrait,
so I decided
to use black artists
to portray our experience.
- Jerry Jordon: The idea behind the mural, I wanted
to paint something that would
represent who were the people
or the community that helped
make Madison what it is today, and
I didn't see it would be possible
not having "Umoja" magazine
represented in this mural. [Milele chuckles] - All right.
- Jerry Jordan: I work in oil, pastel, charcoal,
and I usually work with the human figure.
I've painted a lot of covers
for "Umoja" magazine over the years.
I suspect around
12 or 13 covers.
She has given a lot of artists
an opportunity to get their work seen by the community.
- Edith Hilliard: The artwork is absolutely beautiful!
Maybe artwork that you wouldn't normally see,
so that was an excellent idea
for her to do that.
- Jerry Jordan: I'm very proud of
my partnership with Ms. Milele over the years.
She would demand the best out of you,
and you want to live up to it,
so you always give your best.
[somber music]
- Anana: I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
It was a segregated society,
and my mom said
that no human being is greater than another one,
no matter what they may look like.
I never will forget that.
I was sitting right on the edge.
I think I was so close, I heard--
Somebody told Martin Luther King
to tell about the dream,
tell about the dream.
When young people ask me why I went to
the March on Washington, I look at them and say,
"Because of you."
We went there to make
a larger impact on the world
and we did that.
I worked
on "Umoja" magazine
for 29 years.
I wish that there were a "Umoja"
for every community
in the United States
to celebrate the good things happening
in the Black community.
- When anybody thinks of positive things
that are happening in Madison,
that's where they heard about it, from "Umoja,"
so I think that's her legacy.
- Anana: In the Swahili language,
'moja' means one.
When you add 'u', it becomes
'together, all of us.'