Poet Fabu Phillis Carter at the Opening of the Center for Black Excellence and Culture

On May 6, Madison welcomed the Center for Black Excellence and Culture with a ribbon cutting that felt more like a homecoming.

The gathering drew community members across generations — alongside elected officials including U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, and La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey.

Among those present was poet and cultural elder Dr. Fabu Phillis Carter, whose very presence carried the weight of history. She arrived wearing a black and white illustrated jacket gifted to her by the late Ms. Milele Chikasa Anana — founder and publisher of Umoja, a landmark magazine devoted to celebrating Black culture. The jacket was more than fashion. It was a bridge between generations, a reminder that the road to this moment was paved by visionaries who came before.

Dr. Fabu has spent decades as a keeper of Black culture in Madison — through poetry, community leadership, and an unwavering commitment to honoring and amplifying Black voices. Her presence at the ribbon cutting was a recognition of that legacy, and a symbol of the continuity this Center is built to carry forward.

Center co-founder Alex Gee, dressed in a blazer embroidered with the Center's logo, opened with words that set the tone:

"Black culture has been consumed, but not invested in. Imitated, but not institutionally supported. Celebrated publicly, but underfunded structurally. And that is why this moment matters. This Center is not optional. This center is necessary, this Center is overdue, this Center is infrastructure for identity."

Beside him stood his sister and co-founder Lilada Gee, radiant in a multicolored dress and bold yellow sunglasses that read "BOOM."

The Center at 671 W. Badger Road is built for the full spectrum of Black life — featuring theaters, art galleries, sound recording booths, and makerspaces, alongside mixed-use event spaces for everything from prom planning to birthday dinners. A children's library sits next to a gathering space for older adults. The design is intentionally colorful and intergenerational.

By 3 p.m. — just one hour after the open house began — a line stretched from the entrance down the road. Some visitors waited nearly an hour to get inside.

Madison has long needed this. Now, it's here.