7th April 2024

They marched 200 days in Milwaukee for fair housing and civil rights. Now, they're getting new recognition.

For 200 consecutive days Milwaukee's youth marched the streets enduring horrid racial attacks. But their efforts played a role in the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act and prompted the Milwaukee Common Council to pass an even stronger fair housing ordinance. Here is their story...

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • 8th June 2023

Black String Triage Ensemble's public rehearsal at bandshell cut short over permit kerfuffle

Black String Triage Ensemble is a musical performance group that brings the healing power of music to crime scenes from murders, riots to car crashes. And for the last two years, the group has hosted a public rehearsal at the Washington Park bandshell. But this year they were kicked out of the park.

24th February 2023

Meet the researchers who want to reverse covenants that once kept people of color from living in Whitefish Bay

Restrictive covenants played a major role in shaping the racial makeup of Milwaukee and its surrounding suburbs. Efforts are being made to reverse their effects.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • 18th January 2023

'Art Against the Odds' shows works made by prisoners in Wisconsin

From the solitude of solitary confinement or from behind prison bars, a new exhibit showcases the creative talents of current and formerly incarcerated artists in "Art Against the Odds."

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • 7th December 2022

Volunteers will sift through documents that once barred Black people from owning property in the Milwaukee area

A crowdsourcing project aims to document restrictive covenants, a subtle form of housing discrimination, to keep certain areas of Milwaukee exclusively White and Blacks out. Here's how two University of Wisconsin Milwaukee professors are doing it...

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • 27th June 2022

Many people recently released from prison find themselves left behind by technology. A new program gets them up to speed.

Returning citizens who have spent decades behind bars are often left behind by the fast pace changes taking places in technology. Smartphones or even streaming services like Netflix can overwhelm the formerly incarcerated. Two individuals who have experienced this "technology shock" has created a program to teach basic computer and Internet skills to bridge the tech gap for returning citizens.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • 14th May 2022

Wrong-way crash left Cordaejha Brown waiting for a phone call from 19-year-old Tyler Anderson that never came

Cordaejha Brown expected to hangout with boyfriend Tyler Anderson early Wednesday morning. The 19-year-old promised to ring Brown when he was outside her Milwaukee home. She fell asleep on the couch waiting for that call. It never came. Anderson was killed in a wrong-way driver crash on his way to Brown's home.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • 24th October 2021

A Milwaukee park is renamed for Lucille Berrien, a longtime political and social justice activist

For decades, Milwaukee youths played in a park named for a famous aviator who had Nazi leanings, now that park is renamed for Lucille Berrien, a longtime political and social justice activist.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • 8th July 2021

Milwaukee residents are going door-to-door in their neighborhoods to talk about the COVID-19 vaccine, give shots on the spot

As Covid-19 still continues its grip on the nation, vaccination rates among Blacks are still low. But a new initiative takes the vaccination message to the streets with Milwaukee residents going door-to-door in their neighborhoods to talk about the COVID-19 vaccine and give the shots on the spot.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • 24th June 2021

After picking up carpentry as hobby during COVID-19, this Milwaukee woman turned it into a profitable business

After picking up carpentry as a hobby during COVID-19, this Milwaukee fashion model has no problems welding a power saw making furniture and turning it into a profitable business.

The GroundTruth Project • 13th October 2020

Illinois advocates work to ensure ballot access for jail voters during pandemic

Activists in Chicago fought to secure access to the ballot box for hundreds locked up in Illinois county jails. But the Covid-19 pandemic could possibly jeopardize those efforts which made Chicago's Cook County Jail an actual polling site. Here's how Chicago Votes and other activists nationwide worked to secure the often precarious vote for jail detainees.

Austin Weekly News • 11th November 2019

Westsiders grapple with marijuana legalization

As Illinois became the 11th state to legalize recreational marijuana that raised a host of questions and concerns from West Side residents many of whom have been impacted by this nation's war on drugs.

Austin Weekly News • 13th September 2019

Raising chickens, uniting Austin

Austin resident, Seamus Ford, turned his backyard into an urban farm equipped with vegetable gardens and clucking hens to educate area residents about reducing their carbon footprint while improving their food production IQ.

AWN • 10th September 2019

Lights, camera but little action for blacks in film industry

The film and television industry has been good to Chicago but not so much for the area's African-American community trying to get acting and production jobs.

Chicago Reader • 10th September 2019

Can Cook County commissioners do anything about Homan Square?

Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin's demand for a federal probe into Homan Square, which some critics have likened to a CIA "black site" operated by the Chicago Police Department, may become a test of wills of how much authority Cook County government can assert over the city of Chicago.

Chicago Reporter • 10th September 2019

New Red Line extension plan would uproot fewer Far South Side homes

The Chicago Transit Authority chose a hybrid route to build the much talked about Red Line extension that would displace less homeowners and businesses. Shari Henry's family home is one that was speared. Still others are not so lucky.

Chicago Reporter • 10th September 2019

Ability to vote compromised for thousands behind bars

In person voting has returned to the Cook County Jail after nearly a decade's absence thanks to advocacy from voting rights groups. But many other pre-trial detainees in Illinois county jails may not have access to the ballot box. A movement is underway to guarantee inmates' voting rights.

Chicago Reporter • 16th November 2018

Alternative energy scams hit poor blacks and Latinos the hardest, complaints show

Thousands are misled into switching suppliers in hopes of saving money but instead see utility bills spike, sometimes driving them into debt.

Chicago Reporter • 26th September 2016

Video: Entrepreneurship a road to re-entry for some ex-offenders

To reduce recidivism starts with teaching entrepreneurial skills to those impacted by the criminal justice system.

Chicago Reporter • 7th September 2016

Pilot program aims to bring car sharing to low-income neighborhoods

Pilot program on peer-to-peer car sharing -- the Airbnb -- for cars aims to get more low and moderate income communities to use the service as a way to increase transportation options in transit deserts.