Storytelling event will discuss race, overcoming obstacles

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel will focus on race through an oral storytelling event on May 30. The event will feature stories of people overcoming issues of racism, sexism, homophobia or bigotry.

The event is part of our 50-Year Ache series, which examines where Milwaukee stands a half-century after the open-housing marches of 1967 and 1968.

The stories may be painful to hear, but will demonstrate how people overcame trying points in their lives — much like the marchers overcame obstacles 50 years ago.

The storytellers include: Earl Ingram Jr., the voice of Resistance Radio 1510-AM; Tina Nixon, a spoken-word artist and founder of My Sista’s KeepHer, a program designed to help heal and reach young girls of color through poetry; Andre Lee Ellis, founder and executive director of “We Got This,” a program that teaches black boys how to garden and connects them with mentors; Nicole “Darlin Nikki” Janzen, a spoken-word artist and Milwaukee Public Schools instructor; Gary Hollander, an LGBT activist and retired University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee instructor; and Pardeep Singh Kaleka, who lost his father in the deadly 2013 Sikh temple attack.

The free event will be May 30, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Anodyne Café, 224 W. Bruce St. in Milwaukee. Seating is limited.

To sign up, go to: www.jsonline .com/50yearevent.