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 …
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 …
When I was little, my mom had a vegetable garden and my dad was a small-scale farmer. We had a 25-acre fruit farm in upstate New York where he grew apples and cherries and pears. I think that was where my love of growing things started. In my own family, in my own childhood. Photos …
I grew up on the north side of Milwaukee. My dad drove a truck for a living. He was gone all week on the road and home on the weekends. My mom was a homemaker. She was at home with the four kids—me and my two sisters and brother. We grew up in a neighborhood …
Pardeep: When I first met Arno, a little over two months had passed since August 5, 2012, the day my father and five other Sikhs were executed in our peaceful Wisconsin temple by a self-avowed white supremacist. Photos by Megan Monday Pardeep: Two of the victims were brothers, both had families and young children. A woman …
When she was younger, my grandma was on our tribal council. She’d always take us around with her, to Madeline Island, to Red Cliff, all over. She’s elderly now, and when I moved in with her she wasn’t doing very well. I got worried about her sugar addiction, and about all the medications that she …
I grew up in Cusco, Peru, which is an incredible place to grow up. My great-grandfather was the president of Peru and then my dad was the mayor of Cusco. People come to Cusco from all over the world. We grew up entertaining all kinds of people in our house. We always knew that we …
“I wanted to help marginalized people learn about their rights.” Read More »
My husband and I were together for a long time, but after our kids were grown our marriage came to an end. Before we split, I had been running my own business—a consignment shop in Chicago. But, then I was on my own, and I needed a job with benefits and, I decided, a change …
I was born in Madison, but we moved around a lot. I went to 13 different schools before I entered high school. My father was an alcoholic for a number of years, and he used to beat me and my mom when he was drinking. My father came from Nicaragua, and my mother’s family was …
I know people will be judgmental of my story. I know that. But at this point of my life, I finally am confident owning who I am. For a long time, I was just so scared to share it. But my story…it’s beautiful to me now. Photos by Megan Monday “When I was growing up, …
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 …
Dorecia: I found out that I was pregnant when I was 17 years old. I was scared, I didn’t know what to do, and I hid the pregnancy for as long as I could. Photos by Megan Monday No one knew for six or seven months. I was always a good student, I even skipped a …
WISCONSIN HUMANITIES