Two to know: A student making a difference and a writer to get jazzed about | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Princess Safiya Byers & Sean Bush
January 8, 2020
Lashonda “Alex” Good comes from a family of community leaders. (Photo by Princess Safiya Byers)
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the age and occupation of Joey Grihalva.
Name: Lashonda “Alex” Good
Age: 17
Why she’s worth knowing:
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Good comes from a line of people who care for and serve the communities that they live in or identify with. She is carrying the torch.
Good is an active member of Top Teens of America, The 27 Street Drug Free Coalition, Urban Stable, and she is the president of the NAACP Youth Council.
What she says:
“My mom and my grandmother both worked in the community throughout my life. For me, it started with my mom making me go to these events with her, but then I started to like it. I like it because I could see people coming together, and I could see the outcome of what we were doing. Now I love working in the community.”
What others say:
“Alex is one who paves her own way, she is involved in so many things, and she’s passionate about so much,” said Adrian Spencer, Good’s mother.
“I am happy to have Lashonda as the president of the council,” said Linda Carr, NAACP Youth Council adviser. “She is very intelligent, an amazing leader, and I believe she will go far. Alex was proactive, she reached out to the adult chapter to see how she could run for president.”
Issues she’s concerned about:
“Gun violence is a big problem in the Milwaukee community, but it’s also nationwide. There have been lots of mass shootings so it’s an issue everywhere.”
Parting words:
“A lot of people my age don’t try to do things because they don’t know about it or because they don’t think they’re smart enough to get it done.”
“People need to hear what we have to say, because we are the ones that will be affected by the decisions everyone keep making.”
“We need more youth programming for young people. They get into stuff because there isn’t anything for them to do.”
-Princess Safiya Byers
Joey Grihalva hails from Sherman Park and has an appreciation for Milwaukee’s rich jazz history. (Photo provided by Joey Grihalva)
Name: Joey Grihalva
Age: 34
Why he’s worth knowing:
Grihalva is a MPS teacher, writer and author of “Milwaukee Jazz.”
What he says:
“Uncovering the rich jazz history of my hometown has been nothing short of revelatory. I am deeply honored to have spent time with such talented artists and their kin. And I am equally excited to share their stories with the larger community.”
Issues he’s concerned about:
The importance of race is not lost on Grihalva. He understands what jazz music means to communities of color and how music continues to be a vehicle for combating racial oppression and segregation in today’s society.
“I grew up in Sherman Park, and I have always been sort of hyperaware of race. I know and acknowledge that jazz is primarily a black art form,” Grihalva said.
What others say:
“Joey has been a wonderful asset to the music community at large,” says local jazz musician Jamie Beiwick. “He really took a lot of time to do [the book] the right way. It turned out really amazing and I’m so glad it turned out the way that it did.”
-Sean Bush