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 […]
Tag: BLM
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 […]
Letter to the Editor: An Awakening to The Reality of Black Political Power
Now that this election is almost over, at time of this writing, Biden/Harris are gaining in the polls, it is time that Blacks prepare to demand a serious return for their investment in the political coffers of the Democratic Party. Without a doubt it was our participation that enabled the ticket to survive thus far. […]
Militia member says Kenosha police sought to push protesters toward them on night of deadly shootings
A militia member patrolling the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 25 claimed that police on the scene told him they planned to herd demonstrators toward the armed men — and then leave. In a widely shared video from that fateful evening when two people were killed, Ryan Balch, who said he served a “tactical […]
Speaker Vos Announces Co-Chair of Task Force
Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) announced Tuesday that Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) will co-chair the new Speaker’s Task Force with Majority Leader Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna). The special committee will focus on racial disparities, educational opportunities, public safety, and police policies and standards. “I want to thank Rep. Stubbs for accepting the invitation to co-chair the bipartisan […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
As the nation reckons with race, a mother awaits unemployment aid — and Wisconsin officials lack research
Alfreida Casterlow could hardly bear her first weeks working from home during the coronavirus pandemic. Disrupted routines upset her 20-year-old autistic daughter. Casterlow, 43, would try to keep her daughter engaged. She would lie alongside her, rubbing her forehead to soothe her — all while continuing to operate switchboards for Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee. Then […]
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 […]
Following National Trend, City of Racine Spends Heavily on Policing
After George Floyd, a black man, died at the hands of a white Minneapolis Police Officer on Memorial Day, protests and calls to defund, demilitarize, reform, and even abolish the police have swelled across the country. Floyd’s death “shocked the conscience of the nation,” Racine Police Chief Art Howell said in a letter to the […]
Horlick High School Confederate soldier mascot removal petition circulates
RACINE, WI — Racine Horlick High School has had a Confederate soldier mascot for more than 70 years, and a petition is circulating to get the mascot changed. Former Horlick High School student Shannon Campion has started a petition on Change.org to throw the Horlick Rebel — a scarlet-and-gray-clad confederate soldier — into the dustbin […]
