OPINION – While it is true that some white police officers kill Black people out of a sense of racial hatred, sometimes race isn’t the only motivating factor. Although there are some officers that view all citizens as individuals, deserving to being treated as such, others have been indoctrinated into a point of view that […]
Tag: Black Lives Matter
Posted inBreaking, Local news, Police and fire
Chauvin, former police officer, found guilty of murdering George Floyd
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Derek Chauvin, a former police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, was found guilty Tuesday on all three counts: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd died last May after Chauvin, a white officer, knelt on the 46-year-old Black man’s neck for […]
Posted inElections, Government, Local news, Politics
In evenly split Wisconsin, partisan divides may only grow
By Nora Eckert and Anya van Wagtendonk Wisconsin Watch This article is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. This summer, amid the country’s roiling pandemic and racial unrest, Sage Conrad hung signs outside of the café her parents own. The message was simple: “Black Lives Matter.” […]
Posted inCommunity, Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor: Who’s Killing Who?
This year the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis Minnesota, caused America and the world to concede to the reality of unjustifiable murder of unarmed Black people by the police, and the unrestricted totality of the injustices of systemic racism. Frankly speaking, these murders of Blacks by police are mostly based on racial […]
Posted inUptown Observer
Kenosha activist among Time’s ‘Guardians of the Year’
This image of Porche Bennett-Bey, a Kenosha activist, is embedded in Time Magazine’s online story naming her among its Guardians of the Year for 2020. Image courtesy of time.com. KENOSHA ⏤Time Magazine has chosen a local activist as one of its Guardians of the Year for 2020. Porche Bennett-Bey, aka “Mookie Bey”, has been a […]
Posted inCommunity
Aggressive policing escalates violence at protests, research shows. A former Madison police chief touts a better way.
By Clara Neupert Wisconsin Watch At least 1,500 young people gathered on Madison, Wisconsin’s Mifflin Street in April 1973 for a block party featuring street dancing, potato salad and sunshine. People drank beer, smoked weed and tossed Frisbees in the neighborhood near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus known informally as Miffland. Police officers observed the […]
Posted inNon-Profits
The Black Arts Council of Racine Halloween contest winners
The Black Arts Council of Racine hosted its first Halloween themed art contest for African American youth ages 11-19. The contest drew contestants from around Racine. As a result, the winners announced on Saturday, October 24th. Check out the winners below. Further, the BAC is a 501(c)3 started by local artist and owner of Art […]
Posted inElections, Government, Local news, Politics
Wisconsin GOP leaders made it harder to vote, especially for Black residents
By Claire Campbell and Laura Schultz Wisconsin Watch Melody McCurtis and Danell Cross start their day early on a recent sunny Sunday morning, going door to door in their neighborhood northwest of downtown Milwaukee. Leaders of the nonprofit Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, the mother and daughter make their way slowly along the route wearing masks […]
Posted inKenosha Lens, Uptown Observer
Art and activism: Beautifying, adding meaning to the aftermath of social unrest
Kenosha is a warzone. That is the perception that has been presented in many reports, comments and opinion pieces written since riots claimed Downtown and Uptown businesses on the nights of Aug. 23 and Aug. 24. The unrest became fatal not long after Kenosha Police Department Officer Rusten Sheksey shot Jacob Black seven times on […]
Posted inCommunity, Letter to the Editor, Opinion
Letter to the Editor: The complexities of reforming the City of Racine’s law enforcement agencies
Although I agree that some officers of the Racine Police Department undoubtedly need to undergo resocialization training as it pertains to their dealings with the city’s Black population, I think it is imperative that the training is facilitated by local specialists. Let me be clear from the start, this applies to officers of all races […]
Posted inGovernment, Local news, Politics
Defund the police? Milwaukee eyes future amid Black Lives Matter protests, coronavirus budget crunch
Milwaukee activist Annia Leonard wants a safe community without police, and she draws from her own experience when thinking about what that could be: like the time a conflict at her grandmother’s house ended peacefully in a garden — without anyone in handcuffs. Annia Leonard is seen outside of her grandmother’s house in the Sherman […]
Posted inGovernment, Local news
Trump’s chief of staff says federal troops may be coming to Milwaukee
The Trump administration wants to roll out a plan this week to send more federal troops into “Democrat-run cities,” like Chicago, Milwaukee, and Portland, according to an interview White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows gave Sunday night on Fox News. Federal officials in the Department of Homeland Security developed the Protecting American Communities Task […]
Posted inCommunity, Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor: Deeper Understanding of Police Reform
One would think police reform means taking most of the authority from those who are trained to protect and serve. However, it is only when one is looking from the bottom up that the true reasonings for the need of policing are exposed. Quite simply, the police is needed to protect the interest of the […]
Posted inCommunity, Letter to the Editor
A Mouthpiece for the Silent: How Ida B. Wells’ Crusade for Justice was the Blueprint for Black Lives Matter
I recently saw an advertisement for a PBS special celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of women’s suffrage. In the commercial, was a photo of Ida B. Wells, a journalist who during her lifetime chronicled the extreme racial violence and lynching that was perpetrated by whites against African American communities. After seeing the commercial, I was prompted […]
Posted inLocal news, Police and fire
Grand Avenue home set on fire second time
RACINE, WI – For the second time in six months, someone intentionally set fire to a home at 1315 Grand Avenue early Sunday morning. On the siding, someone also spraypainted the letters “BLM” and “Remember George Floyd and Ty’rese West.” A neighbor called the Racine County Joint Dispatch Center at 4:58 a.m. Sunday morning to report the […]