When I was about 12, I was laying on the back of the wagon in Marion, Alabama. My granddaddy had been plowing the field all day, and I was looking up at the clouds, thinking about what I’m going to do when I grow up. At that particular time, what I saw for myself was
A Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement Read More »
I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Where I lived, there weren’t very many white people around. It felt really segregated. But I went to public school in the neighboring city, in Shaker Heights. That suburb was the complete opposite, but I had a diverse group of friends. Photos by Stephanie Bartz “My parents
Bridging Racial Divides Read More »
Miranda: I grew up in Green Bay, right near the edge of town. It used to be lots of cornfields and forests, but now it’s mostly subdivisions. I was a very early reader; I started reading before kindergarten. I didn’t grow up in a house with a lot of books, but we did have one of those complete
The Life-Changing Magic of Children’s Books Read More »
I was born in Chicago Heights, a Chicago suburb. When I was six years old, my family and I moved to Middleton, Wisconsin because my dad had a new job. Photos by Hedi Lamarr Rudd This was a huge culture shock and a tough experience for me. In Chicago Heights, I was around a lot
The neighborhood I grew up on had a lot of green spaces. We were in the middle of Milwaukee but all around me, people were growing things. Photo by Jade Iseri-Ramos My great-grandmother had a garden four houses away from ours. Every spring, she would take her hoses out of the basement and attach them
“We can’t do anything without clean water.” Read More »
In this series, we are featuring the Odyssey Project, a University of Wisconsin humanities class for adult students facing economic barriers to college. With its whole family approach to breaking the cycle of generational poverty through access to education, this program has been transformational. Keena Atkinson is an alumna of Odyssey. They say whenever you
“Our lives changed because our understanding changed.” Read More »
In recent decades, many of Wisconsin’s independent and local newspapers have folded or been absorbed by large media conglomerates that hollow them out and reduce local content. Ron’s story is part of a series that illustrates why local journalism matters and why we need journalists to confront our urgent local issues. I was always a
“Local news is so important. It’s the glue that connects us.” Read More »
I went to Milwaukee Trade and Technical High School and during freshman year they had us take an exploratory shop class to decide the trade we wanted to spend the next three years learning. Photo courtesy of Tom Jenz They had an electronics shop, plumbing shop, carpentry shop, all these different shops. I didn’t know
“I knew then I wanted to be involved.” Read More »
James Edward Mills of The Joy Trip Project worked with the National Forest Foundation to create The Black Men Northwoods Retreat. Below are stories from four of the men that were part of the trip to the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Photos takes by James Edward Mills I’m the world’s first African American diabetic to complete
Finding Peace and Strength in the Northwoods Read More »
Dr. Bola: “My husband, Philips, got a job in the Paper Valley and we moved here 20 years ago. Photos by Megan Monday I’m a professor of multicultural education now, but at that time I was just finishing up my PhD from Penn State. Appleton appealed to me because I am a small-town person. I’m
“It’s important for all of us to work towards acceptance.” Read More »
Every day, people are released from prison and return to communities across the state to rebuild their lives. Wisconsin has an incarceration rate of 676 per 100,000 people and, notably, imprisons Black men at a higher rate than any other state in America. The barriers people face when they are released can be overwhelming and are considered partially responsible
“I paid my debt to society.” Read More »
My parents grew up in Laos during the Secret War, which was a smaller conflict of the Vietnam War in Laos. During May of 1975, the Hmong General, Vang Pao, decided to leave Laos. He said to the Hmong people who were still there, ‘Go to Thailand. That’s where you’ll find safety, and from there
The Power of Mentors Read More »
