Opinion: Community Voices

Angela Lang is the executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC) and a board member of ACLU of Wisconsin. She opposes the plan approved by the Wisconsin State Assembly to build a new $350 million prison.

Margaret Rozga, poet, civil rights activist and professor emerita of English at UW-Waukesha, praises the students who participated in the Danceworks competition, and all those who helped organize it.

During the month of January, the Running Rebels Youth Advisory Council challenged local media to report more positive news about Milwaukee’s black community. In this article, YAC members reflect on the results.

Rick Deines, a conversation facilitator with The Zeidler Center for Public Discussion, reflects on the importance of telling personal stories about race relations.

Ventae Parrow, EXPO of Milwaukee leadership recruiter and trainer and an MATC student, writes that it’s time to shut down the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF). Parrow has been detained at MSDF for the past seven months. He has a revocation hearing scheduled on Feb. 6.

Dominic Inouye is a freelance writer and photographer and the founder of ZIP MKE. He originally shared this story as part of the Ex Fabula Fellowship Program.

William R. Tisdale, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council, writes that a recent decision by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development stands in the way of equal housing opportunity and racially integrated communities.

Charles Robinson Sr., a mediator, college professor, former administrative law judge and member of Pastors United, write that ceremonies must be created to heal the sadness and grief of lives cut short by violence.

Margaret Rozga, poet, civil rights activist and professor emerita of English at UW-Waukesha, finds hope in the progress that successful housing programs have achieved, especially in terms of finding paths to housing stability and affordability.