What's next for District 17 Alder and President of the Madison Common Council Sabrina Madison?

Hi there, 

You may have heard the news I shared with a small group yesterday. Below you'll find an edited version of what I shared with them regarding my decision to not run for re-election, nor run for Mayor -- and why. 

Here's what I shared yesterday: 

Almost 20 years ago, I came to Madison with my son because I wanted and needed a fresh start.

At the time, one of my brothers had recently been sentenced to prison, and honestly, it felt like I was losing my best friend. My family was going through it, and I wanted something different for me and my son.

We had actually visited Madison about a year or so before moving here. We visited  with my granny, my aunts, and my mom. We stayed at a hotel in the area that I now have the beauty of representing as Alder.

I remember thinking Madison was quiet, clean, and safe. It seemed like a place with opportunities for my son and me. 

When I moved here, I only knew two people. I knew my manager, who had hired me as a shift supervisor at Goodwill, which is also located in my district. And I knew my new landlord, because I had just rented an apartment on the south side.

That was it.

Things started coming together. I had a new job, a new apartment, and pretty soon after we got settled, I transferred some college credits and enrolled at Madison College.

One of my first courses was Introduction to Social Change Skills.

And that class, in many ways, became my introduction to Madison.

It introduced me to resources, organizations, local government, volunteerism, community organizing, and the many ways people could get involved and make a difference.

I had no idea then just how much that experience would shape the rest of my life. 

With the support of many of you in this room, I went on to create opportunities, not just for myself, but for thousands of people across Madison, throughout Wisconsin, and even bringing people here from across the country.

Over the years, I've worn a lot of different hats.

I've been a poetry slam host and winner.

I've hosted the Conversation Mixtape.

I've created the Black Women's Leadership Conference and the Black Business Expo.

I founded a nonprofit organization.

I became an Alder.

And today, I have the honor of serving as President of the Madison Common Council.

Along the way, I've received some pretty dope awards and recognitions. From Best of Madison Business to being named one of the most influential people in Madison. I've been recognized by Essence, a global media brand that has been centering Black women since before I was born, as one of their 100 Woke Black Women. I've also been named to In Business Madison's Power 100 list twice!

I'm proud of those accomplishments. And I'm especially proud of the people who have been able to do something with an opportunity that might not have otherwise existed.

And I'm proud of the work I've been able to do as Alder for District 17.

I've worked to ensure that the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park would open fully funded, creating 21 new jobs and bringing that much needed resource to the best side of the East Side.

I took the lead to secure the final few million dollars needed to get the Madison Public Market across the finish line so that it could open.

I've worked to bring additional resources and support to Sandburg Elementary School.

I've pushed for improvements to traffic safety throughout the district.

I worked to get a Neighborhood Resource Team established in the district, which also helped bring summer Parks Alive programming to the Sandburg area.

These are the kinds of things that matter to me. Not just the announcements, not just the ribbon cuttings, but the work it takes to make something happen and the people who benefit when it does.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve District 17 and the City of Madison in these capacities.

But I also want to be honest about my experience in public service.

Every year, while I've experienced plenty of successes, I've also been the target of coordinated harassment, attempts to bully me, and outright false narratives.

And some of that has come from other Black women who are current and former members of the Common Council.

I think it's important to say that because I don't believe we should pretend that harmful behavior doesn't exist simply because the people engaging in it share some of our identities or because they occupy positions of leadership.

I have experienced people making assumptions about my intentions, spreading things that aren't true, and creating narratives about me that have very little to do with the actual work I've done.

And I know some of that has been fueled by the belief on what I may or may not be doing next. 

I am not the kind of person to compromise who I am or how I lead to make other people comfortable.

I also want to say something about leadership more broadly.

We have to get better at speaking up and speaking out when people who hold positions of influence are actually causing harm.

We cannot continue to confuse popularity with leadership, social media engagement with community building, or the ability to rally people around a false narrative with the ability to lead responsibly.

Lying to people, deliberately riling them up with disinformation, and spreading information they know isn't true is not only irresponsible. It can be dangerous.

When you knowingly spread false information about an elected official, you can put that person's safety at risk, and their families at risk. You can potentially incite someone to commit a crime against them. And in doing so, you're not only putting the elected official at risk, you're potentially putting someone else's freedom at risk, too.

There is also harm being done to people whose mental health is already fragile, to people who have experienced police violence, and to community members who may be struggling to make sense of what's happening around them.

And for what?

Clout? Facebook friends? Status? Hugs? The appearance of being the person who is fighting for the community?

Leadership built on manipulation, chaos, and keeping people angry and misinformed is not sustainable.

If your leadership depends on continually creating conflict, maintaining false narratives, and keeping people emotionally invested in a version of events that isn't true, eventually that foundation will catch up with you.

And I hope that when it does, the people who were drawn into those false narratives will take the time to reflect on why they were being asked to believe in disinformation and who was benefiting from it.

I say all of that because I believe folks have a responsibility to do better. 

I know who I am. I know the work I've done. I know the opportunities I've created. And I know the difference between standing up for something and participating in behavior that causes real harm.

But of course I don't want the more challenging parts of my experience to overshadow the work, because there is so much that I am proud of.

And I want to thank the people who have supported me throughout my leadership. The people who opened doors, made introductions, who made me leave the house after the death of a good friend, who offered encouragement, showed up, volunteered, collaborated, knocked doors and believed in ideas that sometimes probably sounded a little wild when I first shared them.

I also want to thank the people who knew about some of the decisions I've been considering and held that information close to y'all chest.

My son has known for at least a year. And I especially want to acknowledge him because he has held this close while watching me work through what's next and what that would look like.

There are others who learned closer to the spring, and I appreciate them respecting my space and allowing me to come to share this update on my own terms.

And that's really what brings me here today.

Over the last year or so, I've been doing a lot of thinking about my life, what I want it to look like, and what I want to make room for.

I've spent so much of my adult life creating, building, organizing, advocating, showing up, and making things happen for other people.

And I don't regret any of that.

But I've also been thinking about what it would look like to give myself some of that same energy and attention.

When my good friend passed away unexpectedly in the spring, it affected me in a way that's difficult to put into words.

I had already started setting things in motion. But losing her really strengthened my commitment to finally give my life back to myself.

It reminded me that my life is happening right now. Not after the next election. Not after the next project. Not after the next accomplishment.

Right now.

And I don't want to keep postponing the things I want to do with my life.

I want to be able to wake up and decide that I want to go out of town, take pictures, write something, explore a new opportunity, or simply spend time with my people.

So, with all of that said, I have a few things I want to share with y'all.

I will not be running for reelection to the Madison Common Council in April 2027.

And I also want to be clear: I will not be running for Mayor of Madison.

I know there has been plenty of speculation about that, so I wanted people to hear it directly from me. Plus give folks time to consider running for my seat which they can start doing in December. 

I've been working on what's next for me for over a year. And what's next is about creating more freedom for myself.

Some of y'all know that I love photography. I love writing. I love storytelling. I love traveling. I love talking to people and learning about their experiences.

And I want to bring those things together in a way that allows me to build something new.

I want to finish my book.

I want to go back to school and study journalism. (which I start in January)

I want to continue developing something that centers storytelling, photography, and the experiences of people whose stories don't always get told in authentic and meaningful ways.

I've also accepted an opportunity outside of Wisconsin that will require me to be available in August. And yes, that opportunity meant I'd have to learn a little something about baseball! (Go Brewers!)

But there's another very important reason for this next chapter.

My granny.

Many of you know how much she means to me. She has dementia, and I want to spend more time with her. I want to have those moments with her while I can. I want to be able to travel and spend time with her without constantly having to work everything around the demands of public service and running an organization. And I want to take my mama on her first plane ride too! 

I also want people to understand that leaving Madison doesn't mean that I don't care about Madison. It doesn't erase the relationships I've built or the work I've done. And it doesn't mean that I won't continue to care about what happens here. What's next actually still includes Madison, just no longer full-time. 

Madison was the place where I got a fresh start almost 20 years ago.

It's where a woman who moved here knowing almost nobody eventually became President of the Madison Common Council.

That's going to be a pretty dope chapter in the book I'm writing. 

And I will always be grateful for the people and experiences that helped my son and I along the way. 

But now, it's time for something different.

I'm not disappearing. And I'm for sure not done creating.

I'm just changing what that creation looks like, for me.

I'm going back to school.

I'm finishing my book.

I'm building something new that marries photography and storytelling. 

I'm traveling again.

I'm spending more time with my granny and my son. 

I came to Madison almost 20 years ago looking for a fresh start for my son and me.

Today, I'm making another decision to start fresh.

Only this time, I'm doing it for me. Miss Progress! 

Thanks for allowing me to serve as your Alder... and yes, I sure will be finishing my term.  

In community, 

Sabrina