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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Melody Capote, Executive Director of Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute
5:11:05
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3 min
Melody Capote, Executive Director of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, testified about the recent $45 million baseline increase for the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) and called for an additional $30 million. She emphasized the need for equitable distribution of funds, particularly for small and mid-sized organizations eligible for Cultural Development Fund (CDF) awards.
- Expressed concern about the allocation of new funding, with $21 million going to 34 Cultural Institutions Groups and $23 million shared between CDF and DCLA administrative expenses
- Highlighted that her organization, despite its history and impact, is limited to a maximum award of $50,000 under the new funding formula
- Called for greater transparency, a reexamination of DCLA's panel review process, and a blueprint for equitable distribution of additional funds
Melody Capote
5:11:05
One of the cochairman Brannan and cochairman Ribeira and New York City Council members.
5:11:11
I am Melody Capote, executive director of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute in East Harlem, a cultural organization dedicated to using arts and culture as a vehicle for promoting racial and social justice, uplifting the African diaspora, and preparing the next generation of artists, cultural activists, and administrators.
5:11:30
I want to begin my testimony today by thanking the New York City Council for listening to us and for securing the additional 45,000,000 that now lives in the executive budget as a baseline for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
5:11:44
But I would be remiss if I did not thank my colleagues in the arts and culture field as well because I believe that it was through our collective advocacy efforts, our rallies, meetings, testimonies, and hearings like today, and our educating of city council members and staff that we finally saw this increase to DCLA, the first in almost sixteen years.
5:12:07
But how does this baseline funding actually break down?
5:12:11
What does this mean for those small and mid sized organizations that are eligible to receive CDF awards?
5:12:17
And how do we define and assure equitable distribution of these funds?
5:12:23
With this best budget ever claim, we've learned that approximately $21,000,000 will be allocated to the 34 cultural institutions groups and that 23,000,000 will be shared between CDF, the Cultural Development Fund, and DCLA administrative expenses.
5:12:41
Yet we have already been advised as CDF recipients that we with this new baseline, we should not anticipate increases and that the newest UCLA funding formula that is based on an organization's annual operating budget does not allow for an organization like mine to receive an award greater than $50,000.
5:13:02
We presently receive 31,000.
5:13:05
And that the new cultural equity fund for which eligibility is Thank
Yusef Salaam
5:13:09
you for
UNKNOWN
5:13:10
your testimony.
5:13:10
Time has expired.
Melody Capote
5:13:12
For which my organization straddles both one one zero zero three five and one zero zero two nine in one of the most distressed districts in the city and for which we received an additional $7,000.
5:13:26
That's a total of $39,000 for an organization that has an historic and stellar track record of presenting artists and scholars for and from communities of color, and like DCLA, will mark its fiftieth anniversary next year in 2026.
5:13:41
How can we possibly scale up?
5:13:43
I ask you again, where is the equity?
5:13:46
We are not prepared to celebrate, at least not yet.
5:13:49
We ask that you scrutinize how and where these funds are and will be distributed and who is not reaping the benefits of these increases.
5:14:00
I come before you today to rally for the additional $30,000,000 to DCLA with an insistence that there be an assurance that funds be equitably allocated to the over 1,200 CDF program groups and to assure the sustainability and through thrivability of its the operations and programmatic success of our organizations.
5:14:21
Let's work together with DCLA to secure greater transparency and practices, reexamine the agency's panel review process, and create a blueprint for equitable distribution of these additional funds.
5:14:33
Let's make this a real win for us all.