Ms. Agnes Bain And The African American Cultural Center

By Betty Jean Grant

Betty Jean Grant

My heart is broken right now. I don't want to believe what I am hearing about the African American Cultural Center. But, unfortunately, I believe all is not well with AACC because government officials such as County Executive Mark Poloncarz and County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick are in positions to separate gossip from facts. Those two elected officials and the Republican minority caucus are calling for either a county and state audit, the involvement of the NYS Attorney General or a criminal investigation. These people are not playing! Is this a set up for finding a connected Fall Guy to blame? If it is, I will not be surprised. Surely, y'all have not forgotten the 'Get Betty Jean Grant and the cellphone/ Stamp In Vote' campaign of several years ago. Those people had picked out a jail cell for me. But thanks to my lawyer Judge McCLeod, Amicus Brief writer, esteemed Attorney Peter Reese and a few community supporters, we thwarted their efforts.

 According to the county leaders' press releases and other edits, that stated that not only did the AACC received hundreds of thousands of dollars it was not eligible to receive; some of the Center's staff and board members pilfered ( the center's current executive director's exact words) funds that were allocated to the cultural organization from the county, in the form of a grant for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 county budgets.

If it is proven that those entrusted with the stewardship and well being of not only the financial aspect of the organization but the cultural, mentorship, safe haven and educational upliftment roles; they have diminished the role AACC has played in the lives of countless, impoverished children on the eastside of the city. And, for over 42 years, Ms. Agnes Bain was there, at that center, making sure her 'babies' were taken care of. I do not know if Ms. Bain had children she birthed; however, I can point to thousands of children she helped raised.

Agnes M. Bain started working at the newly founded cultural center as part of the staff in 1977. She served as a go-fer, whose duties included making coffee, running errands and as clerk/secretary and other jobs Mr. Malcolm Erni, the founder needed her to do. Ms. Agnes was so efficient Mr. Erni stepped down and hired her as the center's 2nd Executive Director, in 1978. Ms. Bain ( I cannot permit myself to call her just Agnes) ran that center so well that she was still its executive director when she passed on January 28, 2020.

Under her leadership and firm hands, the AACC developed into one of the finest cultural center in Buffalo. They also had the 'baddest' drummers and dance troupe around and, in the 1980s and 1990s, used to travel and perform all across the United States.

I knew Ms. Bain long before I became a county legislator and had to approve the grants applications that were required, by the county, in order to receive county funding. Ms. Agnes always submitted flawless Requests for Funding applications and at one time, around 2009-2011, the cultural center was one of a few nonprofit organizations that had 501-C3 status to qualify to apply for grants directly from the different levels of government. Those agencies and groups that needed funding but did not have 501-C3 status, had to have what we call a Pass Through organization, receiving and disbursing the funding to them.

The African American Cultural Center acted as the Pass Through agencies for groups such as Buff City Hoops, Stop The Violence Coalition, Family Fishing Days, Kwanzaa, Juneteenth, Roebling Ave Block Club, We Are Women Warriors, Community Voice and numerous other eastside groups, over the years.

In 2009, with the election of a county executive, Chris Collins, who did not support the idea of nonprofit organizations on Buffalo's Eastside receiving a dime of county monies; the reputation of Ms. Bain and the financial stability of the AACC made it easier for then Legislators, Miller-Williams and Betty Jean Grant, to lobby our fellow Democrat and Republican Legislators to include the AACC and the eastside of Buffalo in the county's budget.

It is conceivable for me to think, let alone believe, that a staff or board member of the cultural center would steal from the children or put the center in an embarrassing or negative light. It is even harder to believe that the wrong amount of money was allocated to the cultural center without the knowledge and/ or support of the Erie County's Dept of Environment and Planning and the full county legislative body due to the fact that if the wrong amount was awarded to the center, the legislature is charged with making corrections or approving a revised budget. When the county's administration sends a budget for the legislature to pass, any amendments or revisions they make, goes back to administration to be approved.

This writer does not see how the overpayments were not caught by government officials. I don't think the African American Cultural Center overpaid itself; that was done by the county. But if one penny was spent or pilfered by dishonest or untrustworthy individuals connected to AACC, I say, Shame On You!

The forever, Honorable Agnes M. Bain; a community heroine and surrogate mother of everything good, kind, loving and supportive, does not deserve to have her legacy connected to or her name associated with the greed of those who profess to serve us but were too busy enriching themselves.