Des Moines Community Leader: Phil Hall

Black Iowa News invited community leaders, business owners, artists and authors to discuss their work and the state of Black Iowa.

Tell us about your work in Des Moines.

I serve on the United Way board of directors, and I’ve been associated with United Way for a long time. People are donating thousands of dollars to the United Way. I take it as a huge responsibility. They’re entrusting us to be good stewards of money . . . that is going to do good for the community. I am trying to make sure that I’m living up to being that good steward and trying to help influence where those dollars can best help the needs of our community. And, of course, being an African American, I have a keen sense of how those dollars can help African Americans. So I’m very proud that they started the United League, which is really focused on the African American community. So I am one of the board members, one of a couple of board members that is considered a sponsor for the United League and so we’re trying to promote the activities that the United League is doing to really bring information, collaboration, awareness to the African American community, and that we’re getting some dollars into programs that are targeted and focused on helping people in the African American community.

I stay very active with my fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha. I am the current chair of our foundation, which is very focused on scholarships. We just most recently awarded five students with scholarships. And that’s always super exciting to me that we’re helping to advance, give them an opportunity to get that college education, and these students are so grateful for those dollars that help them to pay for school, which is so expensive.

What motivated you to begin volunteering?

My father believed in giving back. We didn’t necessarily grow up with a lot, but my father was adamant about trying to do something to help where you live to be better. Both my parents were adamant about the importance of voting. And so they volunteered, and as kids, we had to help. So we would be door-knocking and leaving leaflets about how to register to vote. As a kid, we wanted to be playing basketball and riding bikes. So it got instilled really early that it’s important, no matter what your station is, to try to give something back.

What are some of the most pressing issues or challenges facing Black Iowans?

One of the things that concerns me greatly is the disproportionate number of people of color who are incarcerated in this state. That is extremely troubling. Especially as a Black male, and it’s like, why are we so disproportionately seeing people of color in prison and incarcerated? Because once you have a record, it becomes so challenging, in many cases, to kind of have that life or the American Dream that you want because now you’ve got different roadblocks that you’re dealing with, in terms of employment, in terms of getting credit, in terms of just everything. So, that for me, is a significant concern, and a challenge for our community. Also just access to information. Oftentimes, African Americans just don’t have access to the same information. Whether it’s about jobs, finances, planning, whatever it might be. It’s just difficult. It just seems like it’s not as easily accessible or not as understood where to get the information. I am just concerned for our youth. Are they getting all the benefits they need to be successful in school? I worry about our schools creating equal opportunities. Do all schools have the same information? Do all schools have the same advanced technology? Do all schools have the same proportion of student-teacher ratio in the classroom? It just feels like they don’t. And the schools that don’t, often tend to be schools that are made up of more students of color.

What are some possible solutions to the problems experienced by Black Iowans?

I think about voting. Less about registering to vote and more about access to information about why you need to vote. Do people understand what they’re voting for and whom they’re voting for? Do they understand the candidates they’re voting for and or against, and do they understand what those people are advocating for? And then even if they’re elected, how, do they understand how we hold them accountable for what they said they would deliver? A lot of times the emphasis is on getting people registered to vote and getting them to the polls. I’m also interested in how we educate people about what are the issues of importance that we need to be voting for, or pushing these candidates running for office to do something about? Because those are where decisions get made. And those are how policies get created that impact us and impact our communities. And we’re not educated about those things. So we’re either not voting, or we’re voting for the wrong people who are not really supporting and advocating for the things that we need to make our lives better. So somehow, I think we’ve got to do more to educate people about who they’re voting for and what we’re voting for.