While our systems strained through a pandemic, protests and politics, even while couped up in my home, I never felt disconnected from our communities.

For NNS, 2020 was a banner year for our “Community Voices” feature, as we published a new level of quality and quantity. No matter what new challenge arose, new writers and familiar friends put in the energy and thought to share what was on their heart and mind.

Among the year’s many highlights, a few I’ll remember beyond 2020:

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• LaTasha Lux’s harrowing account of assault while photographing a protest and the reverberating effect it had on her state of mind.
• Rozalia Hernandez-Singh and Marisa Hernandez-De Windt’s beautifully personal reflection on their legendary father’s 50-year art career in Milwaukee.
• Brenda Marie Banks’s poem “Alone,” which channels the experience of those struggling through COVID-19 in hospitals.

In 2021 and beyond, NNS will continue to be a venue for community voices especially those that are underrepresented in Milwaukee’s media landscape.

That could mean you.

If in the next few days, weeks, month or beyond you have an idea for a personal essay or op-ed pertaining to Milwaukee’s North and South Side neighborhoods, know we’re here.

E-mail me at acarr@milwaukeenns.org if you have something to say.

Adam Carr is the deputy editor for community engagement at the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.