Milwaukee is really the only hometown I’ve ever known. I was born in Washington, DC, but I’m the youngest of five, and I was kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back. Before I was one year old, we moved to Milwaukee so we could live closer to my dad’s family in Chicago. I …
My father was an English teacher. When I was seven years old, he asked me, ‘Masood, when you graduate, where would you like to go?’ I said, ‘I want to go to America.’ Photos by Hedi Lamarr Rudd He said, ‘Why is that?’ I answered, ‘Well, I’m reading a lot about America and learning about …
“I believe that if people can be taught to hate, they can easily be taught to love.” 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 …
I am called Paul DeMain, but my name is Skabewis in the Ojibwe language. I take the title ‘The Messenger.’ I speak for things that don’t have a voice. I speak for the water, and for our natural world that is impacted by water. Photos by Julian Emerson I grew up in Wausau and have …
I grew up in a real small town. My class had 72 students. Living in a small town, where there wasn’t open dialogue and strong support for the LGBTQIA+ community, I didn’t always feel accepted for who I was. Photos courtesy of Brandon Rounds Growing up, I was very close with my stepsister. She had …
Joel: In high school, I took an entrepreneur leadership class. There they really pushed me to think about my community and where I come from. Photo by Abby Chi I had to think about the problems I’ve seen in my community and what I could do about them. I was born in the Democratic Republic …
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 …
“My mom came home in 2001 and that’s when my healing started.” 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 …
Content warning: This story contains references to sexual assault. I grew up in Wausau, Wisconsin, two miles shy of the base of Rib Mountain. I loved nature, the natural world. I give my mom and dad credit for this because they would let me out and I would just go roam the woods. Photos by …
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 …
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 …
