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Lead-water resolution that would make Milwaukee national leader in limbo | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj and Elliot Hughes
January 2, 2018
An NSF/ANSI Standard 53 certified filter, installed on this faucet (filters also come in on-faucet and pitcher form), reduces lead exposure by 99 percent. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Editor’s note: This is one of an occasional series of stories highlighting the health risk — particularly to children — of lead service lines, which deliver water from city water mains to about 70,000 homes in Milwaukee.
A resolution passed by the Common Council on Nov. 28, which activists and aldermen have said will improve the city’s response to the lead poisoning crisis, would make Milwaukee a national leader in protecting people from lead exposure from drinking water, according to a national expert.
However, the Milwaukee Health Department has not issued updated guidance to its filter distribution partners and declined to answer questions about whether it plans to communicate the changes to the public.
“Milwaukee is not only being watched closely by advocates for safe water but I think it’s safe to assume that Milwaukee is being watched closely by other departments of health and other city governments,” said Yanna Lambrinidou, affiliate faculty at Virginia Tech University, founder of Parents for Nontoxic Alternatives and member of the Campaign for Lead Free Water. “There is no other city that I know of that is in this position.”
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The resolution calls for the Health Department to include women of childbearing age (15-45) — along with pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under 6 — in the group that is most at risk for lead exposure and should be using a water filter. Its passage was the result of a months-long battle on the part of community advocates and health leaders, which Lambridinou said has been a typical path to moving lead-water policy forward in other cities, as well.
The resolution also expands the recommended age for testing children — up to age 6 — and directs the Health Department to update all its public communications related to drinking water safety.
Emmanuel Ngui, a professor of community and behavioral health promotion at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, applauded the changes in the new resolution. By including women of childbearing age, pregnant women and young children in the list of at-risk individuals, “you are closing the loop completely,” he said.
But he said he hopes health officials, care providers and activists won’t deliver this message strictly to women between the ages of 15 and 45. Ngui said any female who hasn’t yet reached menopause, including those under 15, should be educated on the risks of lead exposure.
This 2014 map of Milwaukee shows the prevalence of lead poisoning cases by aldermanic district, with red areas having the highest density of cases. (Courtesy of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
MDH Director of Disease Control and Environmental Health Angela Hagy wrote in an email that the Health Department intends to continue educating people about the risks of lead in water, claiming the resolution “does not change the medical recommendations” relating to lead-testing guidance for care providers.
Hagy added, “While the resolution did not come with additional funding or staff, we are continuing to look at partnerships, outreach, and awareness efforts that we can expand or build upon,” noting the department “will continue to expand and enhance messaging and outreach to clinicians over the coming year.”
According to spokesperson Sarah DeRoo, during the last year the Health Department has attended events and community meetings, and advertised on “bus exteriors, bus shelters, billboards, and community websites” about the dangers of lead exposure.
DeRoo added that the Health Department’s filter distribution partners do not need additional guidance because “their clients are the at-risk populations.”
She added, “Therefore they do not have additional guidance other than to look up the addresses of their clients and distribute filters to those at properties with [lead service lines].”
Patricia McManus, president of the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin and a member of the city’s Water Quality Task Force, said she has not been satisfied with the Health Department’s response to this issue. “It seems like there’s more arguments about not doing anything than to have a comprehensive plan,” she said. “When you don’t have a plan, then you plan to fail.”
Since the resolution’s passage, the Health Department has updated language on web pages focused on lead awareness and who is eligible for its Drinking Water Filter Program to reference “women who may become pregnant.” The Drinking Water Filter Program page provides a list of recommended filters (in English and Spanish) and explains how residents who cannot afford a filter can obtain one.
However, much of the city’s public messaging, on multiple pages on its website, does not acknowledge the change in the at-risk pool, or provide readily accessible information on the risks of lead and how best to protect oneself.
The Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers (SSCHC), in partnership with MHD, distributed about 800 filters to those with a lead service line during two months in late 2016; so far this year, SSCHC has distributed 362 filters to households with children under 6 or pregnant or breastfeeding women. The SSCHC Community Lead Outreach Program is based at its WIC clinic at 1337 S. Cesar E. Chavez Drive in the 12th Aldermanic District, which has 5,585 homes with lead service lines; the two adjacent near South Side districts include 15,813 homes with lead lines. According to Health Department data, District 12 has the highest concentration of lead poisoning cases on the South Side.
Director of Environmental Health Kevin Engstrom said MHD has not provided any additional direction related to filter distribution since the resolution was passed. However, he said the resolution would not affect the organization’s lead efforts, which focus on children under 6.
“Through our lead outreach program we’re not working with women of childbearing age who don’t have children,” he said.
Alli Williams, 30, who rents the lower level of a home in Silver City, said she has known she has a lead line for about a year, since she checked a list of homes with lead service lines on the city’s website. At the time, Williams was the only one living in the unit and, despite doing some initial research into filters, she did not feel a sense of urgency at the time. “It just dropped off my mind,” she said.
Since then, a roommate moved in who has an 8-year-old son. Williams said she is more concerned about the child than herself and renewed her search for filters after reading a recent Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service article. However, Williams said she doesn’t know what filter to get, or how to install one.
After being told by a reporter about the risks of lead exposure and informed that they live in a unit with a lead line, about a third of the 19 residents interviewed for this story said they were interested in getting a filter. Not all of those interviewed are considered at risk, but many had members of at-risk groups, such as young grandchildren, visiting their home.
Lead poisoning can cause miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth, and affect brain development in children. It also can cause long-term harm in adults, including increased risk of high blood pressure and kidney damage.
Milwaukee Health Department officials have said lead paint is the primary source of lead exposure; Lambrinidou disputes that this is always the case. She added that lead in water can also be a primary source of exposure, citing historical and scientific research, the EPA’s 1991 Lead and Copper Rule and CDC estimates that 30 percent or more of elevated blood lead level cases in the United States do not have an immediate lead paint source. Soil can also be a source of lead exposure. Exactly how much different sources contribute to lead poisoning is unknown.
Engstrom and others agreed with McManus that the city must develop a plan, in partnership with community members, to identify priorities and determine a timeline for implementation. They agreed that the April 2017 Water Quality Task Force report, and the 20 recommendations that came out of that process, would be a good place to start.
In the meantime, Lambrinidou said the Health Department needs to strengthen official communications “to really deliver all of the facts,” so Milwaukee residents can adequately protect themselves. Ngui suggested the Health Department partner with schools, universities, physicians and religious institutions to reach women of childbearing age.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify Yanna Lambrinidou’s position on the cause of lead exposure.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 1, 2018

source: news-milwaukeenns

created: January 1, 2018

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Adam Carr


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On the Block: New Year’s resolution | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
January 2, 2018
Marilyn Daul, 52, said four years ago she could barely breathe so she quit smoking. Daul, who works at a tavern in Lincoln Village, said this year she hopes to cut down on drinking.

created: January 2, 2018

author: Edgar Mendez


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 2, 2018


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Founder of We Got This inspires black men to mentor youth | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
January 3, 2018
Editor’s note: This is one of an occasional series of pieces about grassroots leaders in Milwaukee.
Andre Lee Ellis knows the challenges African-American boys and young men growing up in poverty face. Now in his late 50s, Ellis was raised in what is now called the Townhomes at Carver Park, a public housing development near downtown. He said he has spent most of his life in poverty. The father of six biological children and 13 grandchildren, he has become the self-appointed father figure for hundreds of boys and men in his community.
A charismatic man with theatrical training, Ellis founded a grassroots organization called We Got This in the summer of 2014. He says it started when the mother of 11-year-old Jermaine came to him for help with her son, who was getting into trouble with the police.
“I spoke with someone at the district police station and let them know of a program I was going to start (for boys and teens) … where we would clean the neighborhood for four hours, teach them how to grow food and I would pay them,” Ellis said.
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The police released Jermaine to Ellis on the promise that Ellis would give him a job that would keep him off the streets. The boy agreed to meet Ellis in a garden he had established in an empty lot next to his rented flat. Jermaine showed up that first Saturday morning at the corner of 9 and Ring streets in the Borchert Field neighborhood and spent the morning working with Ellis in the garden. Ellis paid him $5 an hour for four hours’ work.
The next Saturday morning, Jermaine returned with five friends. Ellis told the boys that he didn’t have enough money to pay them all but he asked them to put their fists in the air and he took a photo. “I told them if we tell our story, black men who care will come by 12 o’clock with $20 to pay you,” Ellis said. He posted the photo on social media, and seven black men from the community showed up with money.
The following week, twice as many young men came to the garden. “That is when I knew we had a program,” Ellis said.
From that time on the number of young men has continued to grow and most of the money to pay them has been donated by individual community members and foundations.
In 2016, television talk show host Steve Harvey got wind of We Got This and invited Ellis to appear on his show. Harvey gave We Got This a check for $10,000 and declared Ellis one of “Harvey’s Heroes.” Ellis said that since then families traveling to Milwaukee on vacation often visit the garden on summer Saturday mornings.
Gregarious, creative and energetic, Ellis is always developing new ideas to build the program. Responding to the young men’s interest in dressing up and going out “on the town,” as they occasionally see Ellis and his wife Angela do, he established an annual formal dining event for the youth.
Now called “500 Tuxedos,” the program has adult men rent tuxedos for themselves and for the young men and begin mentoring relationships. Each year, before the dinner, they address a wide range of topics including grooming and etiquette, as well as what it means to be a successful man. Underwritten by a private donation from County Executive Chris Abele for the last two of its four years, the dinner took place last month at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center Crystal Ballroom.
For several years Ellis has worked with the city to acquire a foreclosed house across the street from the garden. Initially, he planned to use it to expand We Got This into the winter months. When it became apparent that zoning laws would not permit using the house for this purpose, he worked with the city to get it razed. He plans to plant an orchard there next summer.
A man of strong religious faith and vivid language, Ellis often asserts that he is “going with the God plan.” He says that he has found his calling in this work. He has not only drawn hundreds of boys and teens into We Got This, he has inspired hundreds of black men from all walks of life to get involved in supporting and mentoring black youth.
In addition, We Got This has inspired and supported others to do similar work in other neighborhoods. Leaders of Program the Parks, the Marcus Garvey Garden and Sistas Got This Too all credit Ellis for leading the way to build the health and strength of the African-American community from young people on up.

created: January 3, 2018

author: Andrea Waxman


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Screen Shot 2018-01-02 at 11.09.05 PM | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 2, 2018


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How to volunteer in January | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Martha Cannon, Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee
January 3, 2018
A volunteer assists in an art project at the Adult Day Care at St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care—Bucyrus Campus.
Does your New Year’s resolution include volunteering to help out your community? Volunteer Milwaukee, a service of the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee, features a calendar full of events for volunteers, both one-time and ongoing. Here are a few of the opportunities in January.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Information Session
Learn all about becoming a mentor to a youth in our community for Big Brothers Big Sisters Of Metro Milwaukee Wednesday, Jan. 17; 5:30-6:30 p.m. Learn more and register.
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Contact Danny Robb at drobb@bbbsmilwaukee.org or 414-831-4585
Sexual Assault Hotline
Answer the crisis line and provide information/intervention to victims of sexual trauma weekends or overnight for Aurora Healing and Advocacy Services. Register for intensive two-week training (February and March) by Jan. 31.
Contact Nicky Glaser at HealingVolunteer@aurora.org or 414-219-5228
Adult Day Care Helper
Assist elderly and adults with disabilities with activities such as reading, arts and crafts, and at meal and snack time; weekday mornings or afternoons with once a week commitment at St. Ann Center For Intergenerational Care – Bucyrus Campus.
Contact Monica Yarn at myarn@stanncenter.org or 414-210-2432
Healthy Dating Summit Assistant
Help with set up, registration, workshop support and surveys at Sojourner Family Peace Center for event that promotes healthy relationships for middle and high school students Thursday, Jan. 11 and 25; 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Additional dates throughout school year.
Contact Lily Grant at lilyg@familypeacecenter.org or 414-810-1826
Delivery Day at Zion Rock Food Pantry
Food will be unloaded and stocked on the shelves for Friedens Community Ministries Tuesday, Jan. 16; 10:15-11:45 a.m. Food pantry is located on Milwaukee’s northwest side.
Contact Sandy Yang at Volunteer@FriedensPantry.org or 414-289-6030
Help children and families create art at Betty Brinn Children’s Museum Thursday, Jan. 18; 5:30-7:45 p.m. This event is run by Artists Working in Education – AWE.
Contact Tatiana Diaz at tatiana@awe-inc.org or 414-722-1719
I Have A Dream Blood Drive
Donate blood and save lives for BloodCenter of Wisconsin Saturday, Jan. 13 at Northside YMCA (Prime Time Room), 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Contact: Todd Coleman at Todd.Coleman@bcw.edu or (414) 937-6249


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Red Cross rescinds decision not to do on-site visits in 10 city ZIP codes | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ald. Khalif J. Rainey
January 3, 2018
I am pleased to learn of the announcement today by the Milwaukee office of the American Red Cross that it is rescinding its decision to stop on-site volunteer response to house fires in 10 Milwaukee ZIP codes – including the 53206 ZIP code (and 53216, 53209, 53210, and 53218) in the 7th Aldermanic District.
The Red Cross realized the disrespectful and poor message being sent by turning its back on thousands of Milwaukee families and residents, and rightly changed course.
Again, the Red Cross made the right call by reversing its decision and I want to extend my proper thanks to those who joined the strong chorus of outraged voices when the original decision first came to light. Our persistence was rewarded today with the announcement from the Red Cross.
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author: Ald. Khalif J. Rainey


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Program the Parks founder Vaun Mayes helps youth through hard times | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Areonna Dowdy
January 4, 2018
Editor’s note: This is one of an occasional series of pieces about grassroots leaders in Milwaukee.
Vaun L Mayes, a community activist and founder of Program the Parks, grew up as a troubled teen, transferring from school to school. He attended three high schools before he was sent to Project Excel, an alternative school for court-ordered youth kicked out of Milwaukee Public Schools.
“I was a homeless teenager with no sense of direction,” he said, shaking his head. “I was stealing cars, active in mass fights and rock fights with the police. I did these things because I was mad about my situation and nobody cared about me.”
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While he was still a student, Mayes got a job cleaning at the Hillside Terrace Family Resource Center to help get him on his feet and stay out of trouble with the law. In June 2016, Mayes, started a program in Sherman Park to help teens in his neighborhood.
“I worked with troubled youth who did a lot of the same things I did in my past, like stealing cars. I wanted to create this program to give kids the opportunity that I didn’t have as a kid,” said Mayes.
Vaun Mayes (center) speaks at a news conference in December 2016. (Photo by Adam Carr)
Every Friday, Mayes would serve pizza and show a movie, giving the kids something to look forward to.
Mayes said it was a challenge to run the Sherman Park program because the location was too big, making it difficult to keep track of the young people. He rented a space on the 600 block of Concordia Avenue where he could manage the participants as well as host a variety of programs.
“The money that I received to help fund these programs is 94 percent community donations,” he said.
Mayes does not seek government funding because he doesn’t want the restrictions that usually go along with the funds, including how the money should be spent.
Mayes said he has made connections nationally with the families of people killed in altercations with police, who reached out to him for help. He has been in touch with the families of Freddie Gray, who died while in the custody of Baltimore police officers, and Philando Castile, who was shot to death by a police officer in Minnesota. The mother of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old shot by police in Cleveland, reached out to Mayes because of his work with youth.
“I have always worked with the community and with people and I was a youth not long ago. It’s important for me to be efficient and effective so I can help get parents empowered. These parents deserve justice,” said Mayes.
Mayes has created multiple activities and programs to engage young people. He has his own printing press and a studio area where participants can record, learn audio engineering and mix beats. He has a library filled with books and rewards the youth when they read and give an oral summary. “I put this into place so they have an understanding of what it feels like to earn,” said Mayes.
In addition, Program the Parks offers meals, karate lessons, a Single Parents Club and educational programs including Intro to Arts, Know Your Rights, Road Safety and Community Patrols/Safety Training.
Mayes said his programs are about unity and uplifting people going through hard times.
“I want to be able to host town halls for neighborhoods that have issues,” Mayes added. “In order to fix the problem, we must identify the problem.”

created: January 4, 2018

author: Areonna Dowdy


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 3, 2018


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Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections will close youth prisons in wake of unconstitutional use of solitary confinement, other inhumane conditions | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
ACLU of Wisconsin
January 4, 2018
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections announced today that it will be closing the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake state-run youth correctional facilities in Irma. The decision comes following an injunction secured by the ACLU of Wisconsin and Juvenile Law Center (with pro-bono assistance from Quarles & Brady) through a class action civil rights lawsuit in federal court centered on the use of solitary confinement, pepper spray, shackling, and strip searches of children. The suit was filed on behalf of youth confined in the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and the Copper Lake School for Girls. The facilities had previously been under federal investigation for a range of abuses and violations of constitutional treatment of the youth.
“The closing of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake today is fantastic news,” said Jessica Feierman, associate director of Juvenile Law Center. “This is a huge step forward for Wisconsin.  We are relieved that the state is moving away from a model that just doesn’t work — large youth prisons that violate the Constitution and are dangerous to youth.  The task now is to ensure that youth are placed at home or in the most family-like settings possible, and provided with the positive supports and services they deserve.”
Children at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake were routinely placed in solitary confinement, put in mechanical restraints, pepper-sprayed, and strip searched. These facilities incarcerate approximately 150-200 children as young as 14 years old.  Prior to state and federal raids on the facility in December 2015, staff also regularly physically abused youth in the facility, even breaking their arms and legs in some cases. Horrific conditions persisted-approximately 15 to 20% percent the young residents are confined in seven by ten foot solitary confinement cells for 22 or 23 hours per day.
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The closing of the facilities will not be immediate, according to the Department of Corrections. The plan is to move youth to several facilities closer to most of their homes in Southeast Wisconsin.
“While this is a step in the right direction, we will continue to pay attention to how young people are treated while they are being moved from the current facilities,” said Larry Dupuis, legal director of ACLU of Wisconsin. “Our lawsuit is against the Department of Corrections officials – not just LHS/CLS – and we will continue to fight to ensure that any resolution of our lawsuit protects these children where they are now as well as at the new facilities.”

author: ACLU of Wisconsin


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Emergency shelter working overtime in brutal cold | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Elliot Hughes
January 5, 2018
Guests of the Street Angels Milwaukee Outreach emergency shelter at Ascension Lutheran Church grab some hot food on Wednesday, when 76 people stayed at the shelter. (Photo by Elliot Hughes)
Last week, Brent Wiersma encountered a man about to be thrown out of a South Side fast-food restaurant who did not look like he belonged in the cold.
He did not have a decent pair of pants on, nor did he have good socks. He appeared to have frostbite from his feet all the way up to both knees. Wiersma, who does not have a permanent home himself and volunteers at an emergency shelter hosted by Street Angels Milwaukee Outreach, called upon fellow volunteers to help the man reach a hospital.
Meanwhile, there are two suspected cold weather-related deaths in Milwaukee County in the last month, according to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner.
Winter in Wisconsin is only just beginning and it has already been a rough time for the homeless. Low temperatures have fallen below 10 degrees every day since Christmas (11 days running) with no sign of respite until Jan. 7, when the low temperature is expected to be 24 degrees.
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The Street Angels Milwaukee Outreach emergency shelter, which has been open for 11 straight nights during a stretch of brutally cold weather, collects donated food and supplies. (Photo by Elliot Hughes)
The long stretch has also been hard on at least one organization that tries to help the homeless during these times. Street Angels, an all-volunteer group that spends three nights a week handing out resources to the homeless, hosts an emergency shelter at Ascension Lutheran Church, 1236 S. Layton Blvd., on frigid nights.
Street Angels has been around for less than three years and has a volunteer roster of about 15 people. It’s never dealt with a long stretch of cold like this before, where its shelter has been expected to be open day after day, according to co-founder Eva Welch.
“It’s been rough,” said Welch, who, in her day job, works as the operations manager for Just One More Ministry. “We had a huge Christmas party on Christmas Eve. We had 70 of our homeless friends there. We did all the transportation, all the food. So that was a long, long day. The next day, we went and delivered 200 children’s stockings to the shelters and within an hour after getting done we had to set up for the first shelter.
“It’s very exhausting right now.”
Welch said her organization has a decent number of volunteers, but she expects more will be needed as the winter goes on. Street Angels’ emergency shelter runs from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on nights in which temperatures fall below 10 degrees. Volunteers who can be at the shelter from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. and from 3 to 7 a.m. are hard to come by, she said.
Street Angels ran an emergency shelter during the 2015-16 winter, Welch said. There was a stretch where the shelter was open three straight days, had one day off, and was then open for four more days.
If forecasts prove true, the shelter will be open 13 consecutive days this time around, according to AccuWeather.com.
Welch said the shelter does not turn down anyone. One volunteer is required for every 12 guests, she said, and on Thursday the shelter hosted 76 people. That’s up from 47 people on Christmas night, Wiersma said.
Last July, the Milwaukee Continuum of Care estimated there were 922 homeless people in Milwaukee.
Welch encouraged anyone interested in volunteering or donating items to visit Street Angels’ Facebook page or to contact her at eva@streetangelsmke.org.

created: January 5, 2018

author: Elliot Hughes


text:
| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 4, 2018


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3-2-1-0 Blast Off to a healthier you | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Mission: Healthy Kids
January 8, 2018
It’s the New Year, and with it often comes a feeling of renewal and resolve to make healthier changes in our lives. Families are often looking for advice about how to create healthier habits for their kids and themselves. One easy way that can have a big impact is to use the 3-2-1-0 Blast Off model. It’s user-friendly for everyone to remember, and many families have seen really positive results.
3 – EAT 3 MEALS A DAY
Do not skip meals, especially breakfast. Skipping meals can make you tired and have trouble concentrating. It also slows down how you burn energy and leads to weight gain. In fact, kids and teens that eat breakfast daily have healthier weights.
2- LIMIT SCREEN TIME TO 2 HOURS A DAY – OR LESS
You burn almost no energy when you sit in front of a screen! Too much screen time can cause weight gain, lower grades, poor sleep and weak muscles and bones. Screen time includes: TV, computer (not including homework), video games, smart phone and tablet.
1- GET AT LEAST 1 HOUR OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY EVERY DAY
Physical activity means moving your body in a way that makes your heart beat faster and uses your muscles. Regular physical activity will help you have more energy, maintain a healthy weight, sleep better and focus better in school or at work.
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0 – HAVE 0 SWEETENED DRINKS
Sugary drinks include: soda, juice, lemonade, chocolate milk and sports drinks. Avoiding sugary drinks is one of the best things you can do to keep your weight healthy and lower your risk for type 2 diabetes. It’s also way better for your teeth! Just one of these drinks often has more sugar than you should get in an entire day.
Chances are that you already are taking some of these steps in your daily life. Set realistic goals to move you further along the path as a family. You’ll find that all of these seemingly small actions can make a big impact that adds up to a healthier family.
Mission: Healthy Kids is a partnership of Kohl’s Cares® and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin that raises awareness about the impact of nutrition and physical activity on kids’ physical development, ability to learn and emotional well-being. You can find resources to help kids eat right and stay fit. For more information, visit missionhealthykids.org.

created: January 8, 2018

author: Mission: Healthy Kids


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MissionHealthyKids_logo-01 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
January 5, 2018

author: Name *


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Defining moments at BLMA’s “1st Thursday’s” mentorship luncheon | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dom Portis
January 8, 2018
Dom Portis (Photo courtesy of the author)
On a brisk Thursday morning, inside the halls of Washington High School of Information Technology (a central landmark in the heart of the Sherman Park neighborhood), defining moments are happening. In fact, these defining moments have found a comfortable convening space at First Thursday’s, a reoccurring mentorship luncheon organized by the Black & Latino Male Achievement Program at Milwaukee Public Schools. Organizers of the Black & Latino Male Achievement Program say that this will have a profound impact on MPS students. Thursday’s discussions are all about self-esteem and identity. These luncheons were initially meant to be a one-time event as part of their launch week that happened back in October. The event was received so well by both students and stakeholders that they now take place on the first Thursday of each month at Washington and Bradley Tech High-School, two learning institutions within the Milwaukee Public School district.
Through First Thursday’s, the Black & Latino Male Achievement Group creates a safe space that connects young boys with positive examples of men of color who have excelled and succeeded in a multitude of arenas — ranging from business, entrepreneurship, non-profits, political office, education, technology, etc. The luncheon is designed to seat 3-4 young men at a table that is ‘hosted’ by a mentor; this host is responsible for facilitating an activity or discussion around a specific topic. Young men are tasked with a writing prompt that encouraged them to champion their story as a way to document their history to combat misunderstandings of what it means to be a man of color. Students spend roughly 15 minutes diving deep on one question before rotating to a new table for fellowship with a new mentor and a repeat process. This builds consistency. To be able to receive valuable lessons from non-traditional educators, community men who have an extreme buy-in to the success of young boys of color who understand the obstacles and can provide hope, guidance, and mentorship on how to navigate in the skin that they’re in.
What I was able to witness on the second floor of that library was nothing short of magic. There were roughly a dozen men of color, taking pride in restoring value in the next generation of black and brown males. Staring back at them were just over 30 young soon to be men, varying in grades, each of them dedicated to re-defining the narrative that follows them. The narrative, one so familiar that we’re almost numb to the statistical data that sees the achievement gap amongst Black & Latino male students remain bottom feeders, the same narrative that finds Black & Brown males incarcerated at alarming higher rates. Negative stereotypes and broken systems allow poverty and systems of oppression to accept Black & Brown men with open arms like loving mothers.
I found comfort in finding out what was important to this group of men; there was a respect for the floor that called for individuals young and old to stand when speaking full group. It couldn’t be stressed enough that these engagements were not a space for judgement and that the learning was two-fold; that the mentors are in a position to learn just as much as the mentees.
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In between bites of pizza, I had the opportunity to share at great length what it means in my eyes to be a leader. I challenged students to look deeply and find the leader within themselves as opposed to traits they identify with as leadership. I witnessed camaraderie. I felt respect. I laughed. I was put in a position to reflect on my own core values. I learned. I saw a portal into the next generation. Most importantly, I left for the day confident the needle is moving in the right direction.
“For every man who has lived there should be a document authored from his own perspective, for the purpose of his own wellness. And if he so chooses, those volumes with his insight, knowledge, intellectual property, financial developments, and travels should be passed down and archived within his family or community.”
– Ayesha Gallion

author: Dom Portis


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
January 8, 2018


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Job posting: Receptionist & Conference Center Administrator at United Way | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Michelle Gutknecht
January 8, 2018
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County envisions a world where all individuals and families achieve their human potential through education, financial stability and healthy lives.  United Way advances the common good by recruiting people and organizations who bring the passion, expertise and resources needed to get things done.  United Way’s global mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities to advance the common good.  We invite you to be a part of the change – to Live United.
United Way is a recognized national brand and is the largest funder of health and human services outside of the federal government.  Funds raised through UWGMWC remain local and are invested in nearly 220-plus programs at over 110 local nonprofit program partners.
POSITION OVERVIEW
The Receptionist & Conference Center Administrator is responsible for providing reception area support including switchboard operation, guest and visitor services and Brengel Conference Center administration (scheduling, coordination, tracking, etc.).  Performs data entry, mailing assembly and other projects as assigned.
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NOTE:  This position is filled by two job sharing individuals and will generally work 2 days per week.  Please also note that the possibility exists for additional hours once our Volunteer Engagement Center opens within the next year.
KEY JOB FUNCTIONS
RECEPTION/SWITCHBOARD
BRENGEL CONFERENCE CENTER ADMINISTRATION
CLERICAL SUPPORT
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES  This job has no supervisory responsibilities.
KEY QUALIFICATIONS
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE
High school diploma or general education degree (GED) equivalent, and 3-6 months related experience and/or training as switchboard/receptionist.  Basic computer and keyboarding experience.
OTHER QUALIFICATIONS
Ability to provide excellent customer service to various constituents, internal and external.  Ability to work on tasks/projects independently.  Ability to work well with job share partner.  Good organizational capacity with attention to detail.  Proven ability to juggle multiple tasks.  Patient and positive attitude.
TO APPLY:
For further job criteria and complete details, click on: https://www.milwaukeejobs.com/j/29509106. If you meet or exceed job requirements, please apply directly at this web address today.  Please indicate salary requirements.
Equal Opportunity Employer
M/F/Disability/Vet

author: Michelle Gutknecht


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Running Rebels youth hold media accountable for negative images | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Running Rebels Youth Advisory Council
January 8, 2018
The Running Rebels Youth Advisory Council is challenging media organizations to feature positive content about Milwaukee’s black community and youth.
In 2017, Running Rebels Youth Advisory Council (YAC) started the process of translating results from a two-year Rebel-Medical College of Wisconsin study exploring youths’ neighborhood perspectives into action. In October, YAC members Kevon Wright, Frank Howard, Darius Simmons, Terrance Robinson, Ashanti Travers, and Victor Barnett Jr. examined data from 12 focus groups with 64 youth, concentrating on data demonstrating how chronic, negative media representation of young black men perpetuates racism and contributes to disinvestment of black neighborhoods.
The data was consistent with YAC members’ feelings, as Ashanti Travers shared: “I feel like the media is one of the roots of racism — or it’s fuel to the fire—with how often people turn on their TVs or listen to the news, seeing negative images of young black men is inescapable.” Terrance Robinson explained how “seeing chronic, negative media images of young black men makes us feel disconnected from our community and divided from white people. . .it’s hard to have pride when the negative images are all you see.” Darius Simmons noted: “It pisses me off (media portrayals) because that isn’t all of us, and it maintains this deep hate, resentment and fear.”
This motivated the YAC to develop two media “action asks:” 1) Friday black positivity recaps, where positive articles on Milwaukee’s black communities (e.g. black artists, black- owned businesses, youth leaders, etc.) could be tracked and showcased each week; and 2) A weekly segment, written by or focused on youth.
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To share their “action asks,” YAC invited media outlets to a presentation and discussion where they shared their data and used skits, rap and poetry to create narratives showing how they see themselves portrayed by the media, and contrasting them with narratives more in line with how they see themselves and featuring more positive endings, as in Darius’s rap below:
Listen, how we supposed to survive in a system
That glorify the young getting sprung on that drug through addiction?
If life is a race then it’s clear that we not winning
Coming from a broken home is the cause of fractured children
A system that lock away the young for conviction
What you expect him to do if he don’t have a pot to piss in?
Barely living getting by so he selling weight
Just to get it cause his momma can’t provide
So he gotta do for his siblings
But you won’t get it
That’s the life of the misfortunate
Dread headed can’t afford a haircut it’s unfortunate
Cause don’t no job want a hood nigga with qualities not proportionate to the image they wanna display for all of their marketing
But wait–Now it switched–that boy working now
Guess it’s working out
He maintain a stable income cleaning up the surface now
Momma beat her diabetes his brother and sister now eating
cause his momma can work for what is needed
Got his grades good
Applied for some collages and got in to a few
He accomplished it
Young brother who achieved with all odds stacked against him
Had got an opportunity and he couldn’t miss it
The “action asks” likewise challenge media outlets to start off 2018 with more of the positive narratives that youth experience — but rarely see — represented in the media. For media that commit to the “action asks” Kevon Wright noted: “I hope people watching the media (afterwards) will see that that’s how a lot of us actually are and actually see ourselves—we already see positive black youth, communities and neighborhoods, but now others can see more of it.”
As for the media response to the “action asks,” Frank Howard observed: “A lot of people were very positive” and sympathetic to the message. Media representatives also shared some of the reporting constraints they face, like how positive news can get cut to make way for “breaking news stories,” and feeling that the positive news isn’t as well received or desired by consumers. One raised the issue of the lack of black reporters in Milwaukee media organizations and the influence that can also have on the narratives shown. Terrance appreciated the discussion and acknowledged: “I think they were more helpful than we anticipated. They challenged us, but they also helped us figure out the next steps in how to advance with our ‘action asks.’”
Ultimately, four of 12 invited media outlets committed to at least one action ask: Channel 12 WISN, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WUWM and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, with bonus support from the Milwaukee PBS series Black Nouveau. During the month of January, the YAC will track and recap articles that meet the “action asks” every Friday on the Rebels Facebook page. Look out for the recaps and for a follow-up article on our results in early February!

author: Running Rebels Youth Advisory Council


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 7, 2018

created: January 7, 2018


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Shuttering of Lincoln Hills a first step in bringing true rehabilitation for youth offenders | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ald. Ashanti Hamilton
January 8, 2018
In recent years there have been concerted efforts shared by city, county and state officials, mental health providers, community organizers, families, and other community stakeholders to reimagine the pathways we use to rehabilitate youth who are sentenced for serious offenses. The efforts to rethink the current approaches in place to support our youth came as a result of growing concerns that pointed to the reality that youth incarcerated at Lincoln Hills School for Boys were more likely to endure severe trauma instead of rehabilitation.
The concept of relocating treatment and rehabilitation opportunities for youth to smaller settings that are closer to the communities where many of the offending youth come from is a concept that Council members and many community stakeholders continue to support. Research is clear that rehabilitation and treatment for youth in smaller secure settings are more likely to result in disrupting cycles of recidivism as opposed to incarcerating youth in prison settings that are isolated from the community for a period of time.
As President of the Common Council, I urge constituents and stakeholders to share input and participate in the efforts to relocate Milwaukee youth to settings where they can get the treatments and supports that can bring about rehabilitation. We all want a city that is safe and we want to see our youth rehabilitated in conditions that prepare them for successful reentry into our communities.
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author: Ald. Ashanti Hamilton


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Statement by members of the Common Council about Chief Flynn | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Members of Milwaukee's Common Council
January 8, 2018

author: Members of Milwaukee's Common Council


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CC_Statement_1-8-18 copy | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 8, 2018


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CC_Statement_1-8-18 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 8, 2018
CC_Statement_1-8-18


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New Thurston Woods restaurant offers residents American soul food | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Alexandria Bursiek
January 9, 2018
Shawn Allen (left), 40, orders food from owner Danicha Brown. (Photo by Alexandria Bursiek)
Danicha Brown and Vishalla Davis have wanted to start a restaurant for several years. On Saturday, Brown and Davis opened Shake N’ Bake American Soul Kitchen inside Hibo Foods, 3432 W. Silver Spring Drive.
The exclusively carry-out restaurant, in the Thurston Woods neighborhood, serves what Brown calls “American food with a little soul.”
Before opening the restaurant, Davis, 40, worked as a cook at Dee’s Elegance, a Milwaukee bar, where she saved up to open Shake N’ Bake. Davis enjoys cooking and she and Brown have talked about opening their own restaurant for the last several years. They lease kitchen space at Hibo Foods and replaced some of the equipment that was already in the space. Both work at the restaurant full time.
Danicha Brown (left) and Vishalla Davis, co-owners of Shake N’ Bake American Soul Kitchen, pose at the restaurant. (Photo by Alexandria Bursiek)
Brown learned how to cook from her grandmother, Birdell Locks, and her great grandmother, Laura Grayson, both now deceased. She grew up eating soul food, which is what inspired the dishes on the Shake N’ Bake menu. It includes items such as chicken and waffles, fried okra and cheese fries. She said that the dishes are comfort food meant to encourage people to “relax and have a good time.” Brown now gets cooking tips from her mother, Denise Pernell, and other family members.
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Brown and Davis have lived together on Milwaukee’s North Side for 10 years and have five children between them. Brown’s son, Caprice Evans, 18, and sister, Melody Hawthorne, 27, also work at the restaurant. Brown and Davis cooked for their friends and family so often that they were often referred to as “The Bakes” which inspired the hashtags on the back of the restaurant uniforms.
Many of the customers who visited on opening day have eaten Brown and Davis’ food before, and came on Saturday to support the establishment.
“I’ve been eating their good cooking for years,” said Milwaukee resident Antoine Bullocks, 38. “Whatever they cook, you want some.” He added that it is hard to choose what to eat because everything is so good. Currently, the Shake N’ Bake Facebook page has 11 reviews, all five-stars, with 591 people following the page.
Although the focus of the kitchen is American cuisine, on Sundays Brown and Davis plan to offer dishes from various cultures, serving food buffet style and providing dishes that are off menu. Customers will be able to select a number of premade sides, and pair it with a made-to- order main course.
Brown and Davis chose to lease the kitchen in the convenience store because they know the owner, but ultimately would like their own building with complete creative control. In the future, they would like to have a place where customers can sit down and socialize.
Shake N’ Bake is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.

created: January 9, 2018

author: Alexandria Bursiek


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 8, 2018


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An opportunity for the City of Milwaukee to move forward with community needs in focus | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Markasa Tucker, Director of African-American Roundtable
January 10, 2018
Dear Mayor Tom Barrett and the Fire and Police Commission,
With Monday’s announcement regarding Police Chief Edward Flynn’s retirement, we immediately set our eyes on the future of Milwaukee and the new opportunities this change will present for our city. As representatives of the communities you serve, we write to urge you to consider the following qualifications and commitments as you appoint an interim and hire a new police chief for the city of Milwaukee:
•Commitment to the completion of the Community Committee’s process, which includes the implementation of policies based on community recommendations regarding DOJ draft report
•Commitment to transparency when officers are involved in shootings and major incidents to provide community with timely information including information about the officer, their name and disciplinary records
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•Commitment to changing the climate and culture by supporting a proactive orientation that values systematic problem solving and partnerships with the community
•Commitment to lead and serve as a role model for taking risks and constantly emphasizing and building collaborative relationships to implement community policing and they use their position to influence and educate others about it.
•Commitment to monthly meetings between district representation and community groups (grassroot and resident-based) on strategies for improving public safety
•Commitment to creating an accountability system and tracking system of implementation of the strategic plan
•Commitment to proactive engagement with the community instead of only being present in times of crises that vilify our community
•Commitment to having an open door policy to improve community relations with advocates, leaders, and residents
•Commitment to working with the sheriff as an advocate for increased access of mental health services, revamped training and access to resources for officers to properly approach and work with people who suffer from mental health crisis and illnesses
•Commitment to ensuring police officers undergo regular psych evaluations
•Commitment to and a proven track record of residential and community policing
•Commitment to hiring those who live within the City of Milwaukee to improve the community policing model
•Commitment to working with community organizations, advocates, and residents on implementation of new policies and revamping the community policing model within the department
•Commitment to specialized trainings for new hires and annual trainings for all staff and officers in
subjects ranging from restorative justice, diversify issues, racial profiling and bias-based policing
to hate crimes and the use of force
•Commitment to eliminating abandoning, misguided, and unconstitutional policies that encourage
baseless stops of drivers and pedestrians
We ask that the recommendations collected from recent community town halls regarding the Department of Justice Draft also be taken into serious consideration.
According to a Journal Sentinel article, under Flynn’s leadership the City of Milwaukee has paid over $21 million in settlements related to police misconduct since 2015; and according to data we’ve been tracking, over $30 million since 2008. It is also important to note that the Milwaukee Police Department’s budget has been greater than the city’s tax levy over the past few years. In addition, over 47% of the city’s general fund is allocated to the police department that takes away from housing and other community needs.
The Fire and Police Commission is responsible for setting employment standards, testing candidates for positions, and appointing the police chief. FPC stated in a media release that they wish to assure the Milwaukee community that they are committed to serving the community’s best interests as they begin the important task of selecting a successor. As members of that community, we remind the FPC that to act in our best interests and make Milwaukee a great city, you need to respect and act on what our residents say they need. According to the FPC website, the commission determines qualifications, solicits applications, and appoints a new chief, but at what point during this process will the community’s voice be heard and acted on?
This is a new day in our city and the community also looks forward to being a part of that important task.
Sincerely,
African American Roundtable
ACLU
BLOC
Coalition for Justice
ComForce
Debra Huntley
ITAV – Community Empowerment & Solutions Center
Nancy Yarbrough – Fresh Start Learning Inc
Peace Garden Project
People’s Progressive Organizing Committee
Planned Parenthood Advocates of WI
Program The Parks MKE
Sherman Park Community Association
The Freedom Fighters
UBLAC
UniteMKE
#WeAllWeGot MKE
YWCA
9to5 Wisconsin
The African American Roundtable (AART) is a coalition of community leaders and organizations that are led by, or
primarily do their work, in the African American community. AART’s mission is to improve the quality of life for
Wisconsin’s African American community through issue based civic engagement.

created: January 10, 2018


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Community Advocates Public Policy Institute awarded $1 million grant to address housing | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Community Advocates
January 10, 2018
The Community Advocates Public Policy Institute’s “Healthy Housing Campaign” is one of four innovative community-based health projects selected to receive $1 million in funding from the Wisconsin Partnership Program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH), through its Community Impact Grant program.
The project was selected for its potential to drive systems and policy changes that could lead to equitable and sustainable improvements in health.
The “Healthy Housing Campaign” will pair policy advocates and community organizers at the Institute with academics at the University of Wisconsin to build a community-driven advisory council, conduct a health impact assessment, recruit and train teams of advocates from several Wisconsin communities to analyze the housing challenges affecting community health, and identify the levers various policymakers have at their disposal to increase housing affordability, quality, and stability. The project began in Milwaukee on January 1, 2018, and will expand to other counties in the state within the next five years.
The project’s manager, Mike Bare, Research and Program Coordinator at the Institute, said: “Housing is one of the most powerful determinants of health. Ultimately, we hope our work will improve the health and well-being of low-income Wisconsinites and their families. We are thankful to the Wisconsin Partnership Program for recognizing this community need and providing us with resources to improve housing policy in order to make our communities healthier.”
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City of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett praised the effort, stating: “I appreciate the team at Community Advocates and the University of Wisconsin for taking on this community-driven effort. Thousands of families in our City are looking for relief, and many want to be part of solutions like this. This campaign will not only complement our own existing work, our community will be healthier and stronger for this collective effort. We are glad to be a partner in this important work.”
Staff for the “Healthy Housing Campaign” at the Institute will partner in the project with University of Wisconsin faculty members Marah A. Curtis, MSW, Ph.D., and Geoffrey Swain, MD, MPH.
Professor Curtis, an expert on how housing policy impacts the well-being of children and families, said: “There is little argument that access to stable, affordable, and healthy housing are major well-being inputs for families.   How to create and sustain these conditions, however, is more complicated and requires all stakeholders to be involved. Many different actors, departments, officials, tenants, and landlords come together in a dynamic private market to deliver a core good we all need to thrive. So, how do these various actors with differing access, roles, and investments come together to ensure the capacity for families to do the business of daily life?  This project is exciting, because it allows for these various actors to reimagine the relationship of their community roles, the quality and affordability of their housing stock, and their choice to move toward the creation of increasingly healthful living environments that benefit Wisconsin families.”
Dr. Swain, who has nearly a quarter-century of public health practice experience, and is one of the state’s top experts on social and economic determinants of health, said: “Health is more than just health care, and it’s more than just eating right and exercising. Some of the most powerful drivers of health outcomes have to do with the places where we live and work, grow up and grow old—and the policies that determine whether those places will be more or less health-promoting. Having stable, affordable, healthy housing is one of the very most important factors in determining whether children and families will be able to live healthy, productive lives.”

author: Community Advocates


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How to keep your healthy New Year’s resolutions | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dr. Michelle Graham, UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin
January 10, 2018
(Photo by Wyatt Massey)
Setting goals to maintain or improve your health is more than just a turn-of-the-year obligation – it could mean the difference between a long life and a premature death.
Studies show 80 percent or more of premature chronic conditions, such as heart attack, stroke or diabetes, are caused by modifiable lifestyle choices, as opposed to being caused by genetic factors. Yet many Americans lack an understanding of the connection between lifestyle choices and chronic health conditions.
A recent UnitedHealthcare survey found that 23 percent of Americans correctly recognized that 80 percent or more of premature chronic conditions are caused by modifiable lifestyle choices, such as risk factors like smoking or obesity, not genetics. More than one-third (37 percent) thought between 50 and 79 percent of premature chronic conditions were caused by lifestyle choices, while 35 percent said genetics were to blame for more than half of these diseases.
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With that in mind, here are five steps to encourage a healthier lifestyle for 2018:
Assess your overall health and well-being, and identify an actionable area for improvement, like your daily diet or your weekly physical activity levels. You are ready for a healthier change, so set realistic and measureable goals. For example:
Like life, this plan of action can change, so it’s important to revisit or even revise your goals each week. In fact, revisiting your goals may help you achieve them. And remember to track your progress so you can remind yourself that you are making positive changes and reaching milestones.
You’re working hard, so go ahead and treat yourself to something you enjoy that does not conflict with your plan and goals, such as buying a new piece of workout apparel or purchasing a new song for your smartphone. Rewarding yourself as you reach short-term goals may help keep you motivated to stay on your path.
The most common reason that plans fail is because they are unrealistic. While it’s great to be motivated to improve your health, too much change too soon can be unsustainable. Consult with your doctor to find a diet and exercise regimen that best fits your lifestyle.
To help support your health goals, you may have access to wellness programs available through your employer. In addition, some health plans offer people a variety of health and wellness programs and incentives, including telephonic wellness coaching, gym membership reimbursements, and financial incentives worth more than $1,000 per year by meeting daily walking goals. Be sure to ask your employer or health plan what is available to you.
Following these tips may not be easy at first. Research shows it takes about 21 days for a new activity, such as exercising, to become a habit, and 6 months for it to become part of your lifestyle. These healthful habits may become second-nature and, as a result, help you maintain your health for years to come.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 9, 2018


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New restaurants, light industry part of revival of 9th District | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
January 10, 2018
Captain “D’s,” a national seafood chain, will open its first Wisconsin restaurant on West Good Hope Road soon. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
After decades of decline, a slow revival is occurring in Milwaukee’s 9th District, which encompassess the far Northwest Side of the city, including the Granville and Northridge neighborhoods. The redevelopment of the area is gaining momentum, which could mean more jobs and businesses, according to Ald. Chantia Lewis, who represents the district in the Common Council.
“We’re not only working to revitalize and pump businesses back into the district, but we’re trying to bring a vibe that’s never been there,” Lewis said.
Lewis highlighted five new restaurants and three new businesses that just opened or will open soon in the 9th District, including  Captain “D’s,” a national seafood chain that will open its first Wisconsin restaurant on North 71st and Good Hope Road, Irie Palace, 8762 W. Granville Road, and Lush Gourmet Popcorn, 8430 W. Brown Deer Road, which won a local Shark Tank competition.
Marcia Taylor, who’s originally from Detroit but moved to Milwaukee 10 years ago, is the owner of Lush Gourmet Popcorn. She said that while she didn’t originally know her store would be located in the 9th District, she’s glad to be part of the area’s redevelopment.
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“We were thrilled when we found out we’d have the chance to help rebuild this community,” Taylor said. “It’s a great opportunity for us.”
Mary Hoehne, executive director of the Granville Business Improvement District, has helped to encourage the growth of the industrial sector in the 9th District. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
As part of winning the Shark Tank competition, Lush Gourmet will operate rent free for its first three months. Taylor is working with the city and Scale Up Milwaukee to get the business started, which should be soon, she said.
Lewis is also working with the runners-up of the competition, Sleepover Children’s Parties, a company that designs specialized tents for children, to help get the business off the ground.
“The message we’re sending to businesses is that the 9th District is open for business,” Lewis said. Lewis created the Twitter hashtag #New9thMKE, to help draw more businesses to area and is encouraging residents to share their stories, she said. One of the goals of the campaign is to help dispel misconceptions which grew during the area’s downturn about it being unsafe.
Getting residents to become invested in the area has been a challenge since its decline in the 1980s and 90s. This is not surprising, considering that in 2015, only 1,100 residents lived and worked in Granville, which has nearly 31,000 jobs, according to a report created as part of the Granville Charette. The report, done by Community Design Solutions, noted that while the area is prime for industrial use, which has flourished there, it lacks pedestrian amenities that define a neighborhood and draw residents. It also lacks modern housing options, said Mary Hoehne, executive director of the Granville Business Improvement District (BID).
“People are looking to move to places that have modern amenities,” Hoehne said.
Hoehne helped create the Granville BID, which commissioned the report, in 2013, and since then multiple industrial companies have either moved into or expanded in the area, she said. One example she cited is ETE Reman, an automatic transmission company located at a repurposed Wal-Mart store at 8155 N. 76th St. ETE recently purchased a former Toys “R” Us store in Granville where it plans to expand its business, according to Hoehne. Most of the new jobs being created at ETE will be entry-level, which Hoehne hopes will attract workers from the surrounding neighborhood.
The city has helped facilitate industrial growth in the district by rezoning large portions of Brown Deer Road, Hoehne said.  The Common Council also recently approved the transfer of a large parcel of land at the location of the shuttered Northridge Mall — long considered a prime example of the area’s decline — to be redeveloped for light industrial use, Lewis said.
Between light industrial and the new restaurants, “we’re trying to turn around this entire narrative,” said Lewis, who described the neighborhood as one of the safest in the city.
The negative narrative grew more out of neglect than actual crime, said Hoehne, recalling the days when uncut grass grew several feet high and surrounded shuttered big box stores in Granville. The BID and others have worked for years to change that, she said, and the results are now showing. Now the challenges will be to get residents to fill the jobs that are being created and encouraging workers to put down roots in the area. Without modern housing or businesses such as coffee shops, restaurants and boutiques for residents to frequent, money earned in the district will continue to be spent elsewhere, she said.
That’s why she’s encouraging the city to offer incentives for developers to build housing for middle-income residents and to help draw more new businesses to the area.
“The city needs to make a stronger commitment to the area. There is no defined plan to bring investors,” said Hoehne, who added that the area is one of the most multicultural in the city. Hoehne said the area’s multiculturalism is its strongest benefit, and stated that the goal is to avoid gentrification in the district. The BID helps to encourage diversity by hosting an annual car show and other events that draw residents of all races, she added.
Darel Duarte moved into a duplex near Appleton Avenue in the 9th District three years ago. He said the area’s diversity is one of the first things he noticed.
“I was used to living in places where basically only Hispanics or African-Americans lived, so it was nice to see a mix here.”
Duarte, who works in security, said he’s noticed the new restaurants and other businesses in the area, and hopes to work at one eventually.
“I would love to work somewhere near my house rather than travel across the city,” he said.
It’s a vision that Lewis and Hoehne also share.
“Once we draw the workforce from the surrounding community,” Hoehne added, “we will be able to realize the great potential of our community.”


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MATC pilots initiative to help students from 53206 earn degrees | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
January 11, 2018
Hazel Blackmon and her son Mekhi, 7, pose at their home on North 23rd Street. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Editor’s note: This is one of an occasional series of articles about the people and places of 53206.
Hazel Blackmon had completed the prerequisites for an associate degree in nursing and had started working on the clinical portion of the program when her education was derailed. A single mother raising six children, Blackmon, 35, struggled with the fallout from identity theft, which included losing her financial aid. Then her mother got sick.
“I wasn’t able to focus in the way that I should have to complete that semester of clinicals … and it pretty much burned me down,” she said.
Now, two years later, Blackmon is getting a second chance. Next week, Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), where she was previously enrolled, is launching Commit to Complete, an initiative to help students such as Blackmon return to school and earn their degrees.
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Like the MATC Promise, for students coming to the college directly from high school, the new program increases access to higher education, said Johnny Craig, MATC’s vice president of student services. As soon as they launched the MATC Promise, college leaders began thinking about how they could use the concept to serve adults in the community as well, said Tony Tagliavia, MATC’s director of marketing and communications.
“It is a ‘last dollar’ scholarship grant opportunity that helps students that have some unmet need so they don’t have to have that out-of-pocket expense,” Craig added.
MATC students take care of business before the start of the spring semester that begins Jan. 16. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
To participate in Commit to Complete, students must live or work in the 53206 ZIP code, have earned 24 college credits, have not attended college in two years and meet several other criteria. Students also must be enrolled in specific programs “tied to high-wage, in-demand careers
The initiative will cover tuition and fees for accepted students. Though the cost of books is not included, “we’re always looking to help and see what we can do,” said Tagliavia.
Local philanthropist and Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, made a personal gift of $500,000 to support the launch of the program, according to Tagliavia.
Blackmon learned of the program through fliers sent home and posted at Next Door, where her youngest son attends preschool, and from a cousin who is an MATC graduate. She supports her four children, ages 5 to 13, and two teen cousins working full time as an insurance adjuster and supplements her income with hair design and cake baking. Being so busy, Blackmon said she did not immediately see that this program could open the door to her dream of becoming a nurse. But after hearing about Commit to Complete several times, she realized that “the universe was trying to tell (her) something” and she visited MATC.
Blackmon is excited to be going back to school. Not only will nursing increase her income, she said, “It will fill a void in my life. I’ve always taken care of people. That’s just who I am. I’m very hands-on and nursing is the field that I always wanted to be in.”
Zsa Zsa Brown, 52, also feels a calling to help people and she too will begin the clinical part of the nursing program through Commit to Complete.
Brown worked as a caregiver for the elderly and wanted to be in a position to offer more care. She enrolled in MATC’s nursing program five years ago. After three years and 40 credits of course work, Brown was forced to drop out because she wasn’t able to quit her day job to put in clinical hours. In addition to supporting herself, she helps support eight grandchildren, she said.
Now working full time as a customer service specialist for a dental insurance company, Brown will be able to schedule her work hours in the early morning and evening so that she can do her clinical hours during the day. The long hours “will be well worth it in the end,” Brown said.
She expects to complete her associate degree in four semesters and plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree after that.
Abele’s donation is allowing MATC to pilot the program in 53206, “the community it wants to focus on initially,” said Craig, “but we will look to expand in the future.”
For the spring term, the college received 115 applications for Commit to Complete, according to Tagliavia. MATC is still processing applications and speaking with students and will not have enrollment figures until the end of the month, he said.
Tagliavia noted that the college will work with students to complete their degrees through other grants and financial aid if they don’t meet all of the Commit to Complete criteria.
“No one is being turned away,” added Craig. “We want to bring (students) back … to complete their degrees and impact not only their lives but the lives of their families and their chances in the community.”
For more information on Commit to Complete call 414-297-6118 or go to complete@matc.edu

created: January 11, 2018


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 10, 2018


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On the Block: ‘I like being my own person’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
January 11, 2018
Ashanti Travers said he didn’t take his freshman year at Pulaski High School seriously. But Travers, now a junior, earned a 4.0 earlier this year while holding down two different jobs. It was experience that has helped him understand the importance of responsibility and realize his potential.

author: Jabril Faraj


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38710572905_836e9a4183_k | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 9, 2018

author: Adam Carr


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Community groups seek to influence MPD chief appointment | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
January 12, 2018
MPD Chief Ed Flynn speaks to reporters Thursday at police headquarters downtown. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Some community groups are viewing the recent resignation of Milwaukee Police Department Chief Edward Flynn as an opportunity to influence the selection of his successor.
The community should have a say in the appointment of an acting chief and the selection of Flynn’s permanent replacement, according to the African American Civic-Engagement Roundtable (AART), a coalition of community organizations and individuals. The Fire and Police Commission (FPC) is responsible for selecting an acting chief — which will come from inside the department — and, ultimately, a permanent replacement.
“My first reaction was ‘Good riddance.’ My second reaction was, ‘Who are we gonna get to be in his place?’” said Nate Hamilton, whose brother Dontre was shot and killed by a police officer in 2014. Flynn has been police chief since January 2008.
Open letters from the AART and Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT), a youth advocacy organization, call for a chief who is committed to increased community involvement in policing, accountability for officers, collaboratively addressing mental health issues and eliminating “data-driven policing,” which they say results in over-policing of low-income black and Latino communities. The AART letter also seeks a commitment to complete the local collaborative reform process launched late last year.
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Flynn is the fifth longest serving chief in MPD’s 162-year history, and longest-tenured since lifetime appointments were eliminated more than 30 years ago. He announced his retirement Monday, a day after the 10th anniversary of his swearing-in.
Flynn was two years into his third term as police chief, which was set to end in 2020. Sheriff David Clarke, Milwaukee’s other top law enforcement officer, resigned at the end of August under pressure.
During a news conference, Flynn touted his accomplishments, and praised the department. He noted a 4 percent decline in crime and 16 percent drop in homicides during his tenure, despite two “very tough years” in 2015 and 2016 where there were more than 150 homicides. “I was brought here to be a change agent, and a change agent I have been,” said Flynn, calling MPD “a model agency.”
Bria Smith, a member of the Milwaukee Youth Council, sits inside Daddy’s Soul Food & Grille, 754 N. 27th St. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
“Chief Edward Flynn has brought the Milwaukee Police Department into this century,” said Mayor Tom Barrett. “It is data-driven, it is professional, it is well-regarded.”
Barrett also praised the former chief’s professionalism and care for the Milwaukee community.
But some community leaders and aldermen said Flynn will be remembered as an arrogant leader who did not take criticism well. Many of those interviewed said his resignation was not a surprise, considering the state of police-community relations, which they described as tense.
“It’s very well-documented, it’s obvious,” said Nasheka Bryant, deputy chief of the Freedom Fighters, a grassroots group that provides armed patrols of central city neighborhoods. She pointed to the scathing 243-page leaked Department of Justice draft report as proof of the strained relationship, adding that Flynn did not exhibit “genuine care and concern” for the black community.
Ald. Bob Donovan, one of Flynn’s biggest supporters early on, said it was time for the chief to go. “He has lost the confidence of the rank-and-file of his department, he has lost the faith of the wide majority of the Common Council, he has clearly alienated the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners and he has lost the confidence of a growing number of state legislators on both sides of the aisle,” Donovan said.
While activist Vaun Mayes said it’s a good thing that Flynn is leaving, Mayes noted that his departure “doesn’t take away the system that’s in place that the police department is using.”
Mayes specifically took issue with Flynn’s data-driven policies that led to a disproportionate number of traffic stops in central city neighborhoods, a practice for which MPD, and Flynn, have been widely criticized. Flynn, along with the City of Milwaukee and FPC, is named as a defendant in a class action suit brought by the ACLU early last year that alleges these stops violate the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act.
In an email, ACLU of Wisconsin Spokesperson Molly Collins said Flynn’s successor should “embrace efforts to eliminate racial profiling and abandon misguided and unconstitutional policies that encourage baseless stops of drivers and pedestrians.” Others added that a new chief must represent the community, and take what they need into account.
“This will require a commitment to community oriented policing that actually involves voices from communities affected by police strategies, rigorous data collection and transparency, and meaningful training and accountability for officers,” Collins wrote.
“It’s really early … but I know the wheels are turning real fast in this matter,” said Bryant. “We’re just trying to stay on top of it, and make sure that we don’t get another Flynn in there. We don’t need another 10 years of that.”
In a statement issued the same day as Flynn’s announcement, the FPC said it would prioritize candidates who have “an intricate familiarity with the department structure, possess a vision of a 21st century Milwaukee Police Department and have earned the confidence and trust of the department members and the community at large.”
Beyond that, MaryNell Regan, executive director of the FPC, said the board would discuss what characteristics it would look for in a replacement during the Jan. 11 meeting in closed session.
She added, “The community will be involved moving forward.”
Bria Smith, 17, a Harambee resident who is a member of the Milwaukee Youth Council and a fellow at LIT, said the community should have a say, whether the hire is permanent or not. She added that the chief of police “has lots of power to inflict … harm, or good.”
“We have to live here,” Smith said. “We should be able to choose what we endure and what we don’t endure.”

created: January 12, 2018


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 12, 2018


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Health Commissioner forced to resign in wake of “egregious public health failure” | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
January 12, 2018
Health Commissioner Bevan Baker speaks at an event in November. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Editor’s note: This is one of an occasional series of stories highlighting the health risk — particularly to children — of lead services lines, which deliver water from city water mains to about 70,000 homes in Milwaukee.
Mayor Tom Barrett accepted Milwaukee Health Department Commissioner Bevan Baker’s resignation Thursday because the department failed to ensure that families of 8,000 children with elevated lead levels in their blood were notified.
“This is an egregious public health failure that was in direct non-compliance with procedures put forth by Common Council resolution,” according to a Common Council statement.
At issue is the Health Department’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program and the department’s delay in implementing a resolution that directed it to update recommendations and messaging regarding lead in water, according to aldermen and Freshwater for Life Action Coalition (FLAC) Spokesperson Robert Miranda.
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Barrett’s special assistant Jodie Tabak did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Baker, who served for 13 years, was also chairman of the City-County Opioid, Heroin and Cocaine Task Force. He is the second chairman to leave the task force. Hector Colon, former director of Milwaukee County Health and Human Services, left the county in June to become president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.
The lead resolution passed unanimously by the Common Council late last year directed the Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) to update recommendations regarding those most at risk for lead poisoning from water and how often children should be tested. It also directed the department to communicate these changes to care providers and the public. The Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reported on Jan. 2 that MHD had made no effort to implement the recommendations.
A Jan. 4 email to Milwaukee Health Department Communications Officer Sarah DeRoo sent by Ald. Tony Zielinski’s office requested that “media advisories, community updates, written recommendations, etc., be issued by the Health Department in compliance with the resolution. DeRoo responded on Jan. 5 saying, “MHD has received the below and will follow-up with information for you next week.”
“We still haven’t heard anything,” Zielinski said.
DeRoo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Earlier this week, Ald. Bob Donovan, public safety and health committee chair, agreed to bring up the issue at the committee’s next meeting.
Benjamin James, a former MHD employee, sent an email to Barrett and all 15 alderpeople raising questions about the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program and whether MHD is doing enough to protect people from lead exposure.
Ald. Michael Murphy called the recent revelation “very troubling,” adding that it “calls into question the status of the health of our citizens and especially our children.”
But Zielinski said, “Today, we discovered there are more egregious issues than that even.” He declined to comment further.
A joint statement signed by all 15 alderpeople said the Common Council will investigate the matter to determine what processes and procedures MHD has ignored, mishandled or not complied with. “The protection of our children must remain our highest priority,” the statement said, “Our review of this matter will be handled with a seriousness appropriate to a failure of this magnitude.”
A special Steering and Rules Committee Meeting Wednesday, Jan. 17, at 1:30 p.m. will be the first step in that process.
Miranda said the issue is bigger than Baker, adding that responsibility “rises to the highest level of local government,” and that “elected leaders did not take this matter to heart.”
He said, “Not only do I expect to see more people being either reprimanded or being exposed, but I see political careers being threatened.”
Edgar Mendez contributed to this story.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story stated incorrectly that Mayor Tom Barrett asked for Baker’s resignation.


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Community conversation: Converging crises in Wisconsin adult and juvenile prisons | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Patricia Obletz
January 12, 2018
Join State Rep. Evan Goyke and the Milwaukee Turners for an important community conversation:
INMATE 501: Converging Crises in Wisconsin Adult and Juvenile Prisons.
Sunday, Jan. 21, 3 p.m.
Turner Hall Palm Garden
1038 N. 4th St.
Milwaukee, WI 53203
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Prison overcrowding and justice reform in Wisconsin will be the subject of State Rep. Evan Goyke’s Jan. 21 Turner Hall presentation, Inmate 501: Converging Crises in Wisconsin Adult and Juvenile Prisons.
The event, which is free and open to the public, is part of the Milwaukee Turners’ continuing Confronting Mass Incarceration community conversations.
Goyke was an original proponent of the idea, recently adopted by Governor Walker, to close the troubled juvenile Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake juvenile prisons and open five smaller, regional juvenile institutions. The existing compound would be repurposed as a badly needed adult treatment center.
But there is so much more that must be done!
Wisconsin spends more on its prison system than it does on higher education.
Reducing the state’s burgeoning prison population would have positive impacts on families, poverty, economic growth and civic fairness. Doing so would require new approaches and innovative ideas from affected communities, including those with first-hand knowledge – inmates, prison staff, and the formerly incarcerated –of prisons in Wisconsin.
Three former inmates – James Cross, Daniel Monge and Minister William E. Harrell – will join Goyke for his presentation and to discuss the issues and needs of the corrections system and how it must be changed to drive down the prison population and reduce the community-to-prison cycle.
Join us.

author: Patricia Obletz


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CMI-hands on bars | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
January 11, 2018


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City of Milwaukee entry-level career fair | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
City of Milwaukee
January 13, 2018

created: January 13, 2018

author: City of Milwaukee


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Job Fair brouchure copy | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 13, 2018


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Justice delayed is justice denied | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
William R. Tisdale
January 15, 2018
North Holton Street is one of Milwaukee’s racial dividing lines. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
William R. Tisdale, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council, writes that a recent decision by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development stands in the way of equal housing opportunity and racially integrated communities.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced that it is suspending implementation of a key fair housing regulation for at least two years. This delay irresponsibly thwarts the fundamental purposes of our civil rights laws: the creation of equal housing opportunity and racially integrated communities.
Nearly 50 years ago, Congress passed the federal Fair Housing Act with the clear aim that the act would help dismantle racial segregation in our nation. In order to promote integration for the benefit of all Americans, cities, counties and states are only eligible for certain types of federal funding if they agree to affirmatively further fair housing – meaning that they must identify and analyze local obstacles to equal housing opportunity and integration, and then take action to remove such obstacles.
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For decades, however, local governments have made minimal, ineffectual and half-hearted gestures toward dismantling segregated living patterns. Indeed, in some cases, cities and counties have actually enacted policies that reinforce and increase residential segregation. HUD, a perennially understaffed federal agency, has done little to hold local governments accountable to their obligation to affirmatively further fair housing. Nonetheless, local governments have continually received millions of dollars of federal housing aid and community block grants.
The consequences of these types of neglect are glaringly obvious in regions like ours. Metropolitan Milwaukee is the most racially segregated urban region in the nation for African-Americans, and has been hyper-segregated for decades. This segregation has deeply harmful economic, social and cultural costs for all of us – including both whites and people of color. Our region’s stark racial disparities in infant mortality, education, health care, accumulation of wealth and assets, homeownership, employment, educational achievement and more all spring, in part, from our segregated living patterns.
In 2015, HUD and the Obama Administration made a significant change by issuing more detailed and clear guidance to local governments on how they could and should fulfill their obligation to affirmatively further fair housing. This guidance, also known as the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Regulation, gave local jurisdictions new access to HUD data and analytical tools, and provided information on how to use those tools to create plans for more integrated communities and expanded fair housing choice.
On Friday, Jan. 5, HUD announced that it will delay implementation of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Regulation for at least two years, and will not review any plans that local jurisdictions currently have in development or have already filed with HUD.
Suspension and delay of this regulation is inexcusable and unacceptable; it undermines the purpose of the federal Fair Housing Act and allows the damage caused by segregation to grow.
Let us be clear: racial segregation of our communities was created by deliberate, institutionalized public policies and practices. The passage of time will not undo segregation. The private market will not undo segregation. The best — yet underfunded — efforts of community-based organizations and private fair housing organizations will not undo segregation. Litigation, while sometimes effective, will not completely undo segregation.
Just as governmental entities purposefully and methodically created segregated communities, government entities must purposefully and methodically work to foster integrated communities. Doing so is a legal and ethical imperative, for the common good of all. The neighborhoods where we live affect everything about our lives, our opportunities and the choices we are able to make. Right now, our choices are not free — they are constrained by barriers that have been in place for so long that too many of us accept them as normal or inevitable. That this is so represents a failure of political will and a stain on our community pride.
If Americans value equal opportunity for all people — the proverbial “level playing field” — we have the responsibility to do more than pay lip service to that ideal. We must work for that level playing field, and we must insist that our government do the same.
William R. Tisdale is President and CEO of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council (MMFHC). MMFHC is a private, non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote fair housing throughout the State of Wisconsin by combating illegal housing discrimination and by creating and maintaining racially and economically integrated housing patterns.  It operates satellite offices in Dane County (the Fair Housing Center of Greater Madison) and in Northeast Wisconsin (the Fair Housing Center of Northeast Wisconsin).
Persons who feel they may have experienced illegal housing discrimination should call 414-278-1240 or 1-877-647-FAIR (a toll-free number for use outside the 414 area code). For more information about MMFHC and its services, visit fairhousingwisconsin.com.

created: January 15, 2018

author: William R. Tisdale


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 14, 2018

created: January 14, 2018


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NNS distributes free copies of ‘The Long March to Freedom’ on MLK Day | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sharon McGowan
January 15, 2018
(Photo by Adam Carr)
For 200 consecutive days, beginning on Aug. 28, 1967, members of the NAACP Youth Council, under the guidance of Father James Groppi, demonstrated for the passage of open housing laws in Milwaukee. Fifty years later, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service produced a 15-part series in which it looked back at the marches through the eyes of participants, and addressed residential segregation and black leadership today.
The book, illustrated by local artist Gabriela Riveros, will be available to the public at the Martin Luther King branch of the Milwaukee Public Library, 310 W Locust St., from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., or as long as supplies last.
Copies also will be distributed at other King Day celebrations, including the YMCA’s 21st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Breakfast, which is sold out. The book was available at the Marcus Center celebration on Sunday.
In their introduction, Dr. Robert Smith and Dr. Dan Bergen wrote, “Fifty years ago, members of the Milwaukee community marched in pursuit of justice. This collection captures the steady beat of footsteps as a rhythm for the pursuit. It is a beat that resounded throughout our city during the civil rights movement, and continues to reverberate today.” Smith is director of the Marquette University Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach and Bergen is executive director of the Marquette University Office of Community Engagement.
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“The Long March to Freedom” includes profiles of nine members of the NAACP Youth Council:  Joyce and Ken McGhee, Shirley Butler-Derge, Margaret Rozga, Lyneria Childs McGhee, Prentice McKinney, Claudette Harris, Earl Bracy, Barbara David Salas and Deborah (Campbell) Tatum.
The book includes in-depth articles by NNS reporters Edgar Mendez, Andrea Waxman, Jabril Faraj and Naomi Waxman. Web/social media directors Dwayne Burtin and Adam Carr also contributed to the project.
In addition, journalism students at Marquette University’s Diederich College of Communication contributed to the book. Videos and text stories were produced by a digital journalism class taught by LaToya Dennis; text stories and graphics also were provided by Julie Grace and Dean Bibens, students in Herbert Lowe’s journalism capstone class.
“The reporters engage activists from the era, and contemporary voices, to honor the 50th anniversary of the marches, and to contextualize a history that remains so critical to understanding the doggedness of the racial disparities we face as a city today,” wrote Smith and Bergen.
Printing of the book was made by possible by Marquette University’s Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach and the Office of Community Engagement. Community organizations interested in receiving bulk copies should contact NNS at info@milwaukeenns.org.

author: Sharon McGowan


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
January 15, 2018


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Activist Jamaal Smith tackles education disparities | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Leah Harris
January 16, 2018
Editor’s note: This is one of an occasional series of pieces about grassroots leaders in Milwaukee.
Teaching motivated Jamaal Smith to become an advocate for education equality.
“Education should look the same for every child regardless of color.”
Jamaal Smith was dressed in a black shirt with the word “justice” sprawled across the chest.
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With a laugh, Smith said he’s a proud product of Milwaukee’s 53206 ZIP code — where there are more incarcerations than any other ZIP code in the United States. Smith said his childhood neighborhood was supportive, resilient and taught him about the fight for justice.
“Despite all the issues that may exist, I saw how people were able to still reach out to the younger generations. Someone reached out to me,” he said. “An entire community reached out to me and I felt an obligation to do the same.”
From Milwaukee Public Schools, Smith went on to attend college at Alabama State University and graduated with a degree in computer science in 2006. After college, Smith moved back to Milwaukee to work in information technology, but quickly realized it wasn’t the path for him. “There was no pleasure … doing that work,” he said.
Smith switched from IT to teaching. He taught at Destiny High School at 7210 N. 76th St. for four years. There, he began to notice the challenges that students of color faced in the education system, such as larger class sizes, budget cuts and the lack of teachers of color. From then on, Smith said he was motivated to become an advocate for education equality.
Smith, 36, said he advocated for students’ rights with the MPS school board and the teachers union. Smith also joined the Milwaukee branch of the NAACP as the education committee chair. “We lobbied for making sure all students of color have access to an education that allows for them to have opportunities similar to their white counterparts,” he said.
Smith said he focused on the disproportionate suspension and expulsion rates between white and nonwhite students and the difference in resources between predominantly white and predominantly nonwhite districts because these issues affect the future success of students.
“Education should look the same for every child regardless of color,” Smith said.
Now, Smith is the Racial Justice Community Engagement Manager for YWCA Southeast Wisconsin.
Smith said that he wants people to realize the power they have within themselves. He noted that systems such as health care and housing — in addition to education — are unfair to minorities. He attributes the disparities to lack of resources and lack of access for nonwhite, low-income communities. Smith said these disparities prevent communities from thriving and lead to other problems, such as crime.
Smith said that everyone deserves equal and equitable access to the same resources. “But we know we don’t live in an era where that exists,” he said. “If people had access to resources that they need, then we would see a different America.”

created: January 16, 2018

author: Leah Harris