Podcast: Vaun Mayes
Vaun Mayes talks about growing up in the South, the importance of empathy and the forces — including racism, profiteering and crime — at work in Milwaukee.
All posts tagged: Racism
High ticket prices for ‘Evicted’ keynote exclude most vulnerable
Matthew Desmond’s ‘Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City’ has become a cultural phenomenon, but the eviction crisis persists with no solution in sight.
Voces director to Waukesha Latinxs: ‘you are not alone’
A youth- and Latinx-led group of about 15,000 marched through downtown Waukesha to demonstrate solidarity with local Hispanics and undocumented immigrants, as Waukesha County Sheriff Eric Severson moves forward with a plan to train deputies as immigration agents.
Milwaukeeans unite to reject Muslim ban, affirm American values
Milwaukeeans gathered at City Hall to voice opposition to a recent Trump Administration executive order that suspended the entry of refugees into the country, denies entry to anyone traveling from seven Muslim-majority countries and indefinitely bans Syrian refugees.
Hundreds march in Milwaukee to support equal rights
In response to the swearing-in of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States a diverse crowd of demonstrators gathered to promote equality and inclusivity, and protest what attendees said are exclusive policies of the new administration.
Milwaukee Stories Podcast: Martha Barry
Martha Barry talks about the legacy of racism, what white people can do to confront prejudice and structural injustice and her personal journey of listening, learning and being exposed to different experiences.
“We’re all god’s children”
Ed swaggers up a nondescript, but busy block of North 40th Street. He pulls a tallboy can of beer from a light-colored jacket and puts the drink to his lips. “I was spoiled most of my life. But, um, bein’ out in the world has a way of, you know, you have a way ‘a gettin’ over that,” he says. “Just, you know, meetin’ people on your path — you know what I mean? Doin’ what your mom and dad didn’t raise you to do, you know, but … I mean, you learn.”
“It’s a whole lot different now”
Brian crouches in his yard, gloves on, peering through his glasses at the undesirables inhabiting the small strip of dirt that surrounds his house in Southgate; a basket of already liberated weeds and brush sit next to him on the ground. As of this mid-Spring day, no flowers have bloomed yet. Brian has lived in the Milwaukee area for almost 40 years, but he was born and grew up in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. “Good place, like any small town, to raise a family,” he says. “But, uh … I’m glad I don’t live there anymore because there’s a lot of — at least when I grew up — there was a lot of prejudiced people.”
“I live by myself around the corner”
Willie Louis Speed Jr. walks down a quiet street in the Martin Drive neighborhood, tucked away just south of West Vliet Street. Speed’s life, up until now, has been anything but that. “I was born in Tunica, Mississippi,” he says. “I’m actually from Chicago. I came up here.”
“Everything started closin’ down”
Jonathan Groves walks down West Locust Street, toward 19th, carrying a big, black garbage bag filled to the brim with clothes. Groves, who was born in Milwaukee, wears two large sweatshirts, one on top of the other, both draped over his slight frame. Hephatha Lutheran Church looms behind him. “I grew up on the north side of Milwaukee; King Drive, 7th and King Drive,” he says. “I had some good parents and went to school — didn’t graduate. Church, you know, um. Then, as I got older, drugs, alcohol. But thank god I ain’t on that no more.”