‘IT’S GOING TO PAY OFF’
A month into protests against racism and police brutality, Milwaukee residents have no plans to stop
Much has changed in the month since the first George Floyd protest took place in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee Public Schools terminated a contract with the Milwaukee Police Department. Gov. Tony Evers endorsed a ban on chokeholds used by police. A majority of Common Council members support analyzing a 10% cut in the police department’s budget.
But activists say there’s still much more to be done, and no end point in sight.
Milwaukee’s open housing marches ran for 200 days from 1967 to 1968, and some community activists plan to beat that record.
“A lot of people said we’re going push through the 200-day march record from 1967, but I honesty just say until change, real sustainable change,” said 23-year-old Curtis Cook, who organized Saturday’s March for All Black Lives protest. “So, who knows. It could be a whole year.”
Cook led a caravan through Milwaukee’s East Side, stopping at intersections for speeches and to engage with bystanders — including diners having lunch on Café Hollander’s patio.
“I’m here to disrupt your good time in the sun, to disrupt your happy meal and happy life to let you know I’m an
gry,” said Cook. “I’m mad, mad as hell because black people are dying every day, and no one gives a damn.”
For Cook and other organizers, making citizens aware of the injustices protesters are marching against is just as important as being heard by leaders, lawmakers and policymakers.
And protest organizers and marchers aren’t getting tired of sharing their message. Cook’s march was just one of at least 11 planned in Milwaukee over the weekend, ongoing events that range in size and duration, drawing individuals young and old committed to the fight for racial equality.
‘I had to do something’
When nationwide protests broke out after George Floyd’s death, Karen Hartwell, 72, decided to stage her own small protest. Every Wednesday and Saturday from noon until 1:30 p.m., she stands at the intersection of Oklahoma Avenue and 27th Street, holding signs calling for racial justice.
She started out with her friend Darlene Garns, but over the weeks, she’s been joined by more people who discovered her protests through Facebook, word of mouth or by simply driving past.
On Saturday, 10 protesters (and a chocolate Lab) gathered at the intersection, holding signs for passing traffic to read.
“After the murder of George Floyd, I just knew I had to do something, but I didn’t know what to do,” Hartwell said. “I’m too old to go on the long marches, so I decided to stand with my signs.”
Kathleen Turner saw Hartwell’s post in the New Milwaukee Facebook group and decided to join. Since then, she’s consistently joined the intersection’s protesters, and she’s even designed her own merchandise for the cause: a black T-shirt that reads, in gold letters, “The truth is hard to hear when you don’t want to hear it.”
The protesters said they’ve been heartened by the largely positive reception they receive from passersby.
They have, however, faced pushback. A man on a motorcycle, Turner said, slowed down and said, “No they don’t matter,” in response to her “Black Lives Matter” sign. Another time, Hartwell said, a man with a bullhorn circled the intersection shouting that racism doesn’t exist.
Those individuals only reinforce the importance of the protests, Turner and Hartwell said.
Hartwell doesn’t plan on ending her protest any time soon. She just ordered one of Turner’s shirts in a size large enough to fit over her winter coat.
“There’s a lot of folks like me who can’t do the big things,” Hartwell said. “But we certainly can do something. And actions both small and large really make a difference.”
‘I can see the change happening’
Jatamia Harris of Milwaukee had been to three protests this month as of Saturday. That day, she was attending the Women’s Movement for Change March in honor of Breonna Taylor, a 26year-old EMT who was killed in her own home by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers in March.
“When you keep on something, they have no choice but to change,” Harris said. “We not going to stop until you change something.
“If it takes more time, I’m committed to doing it,” she said. “I believe in my heart it’s going to pay off.”
About 70 people participated in the march, including community activist Tracey Dent, who said change will only come if people remain consistent and committed; it has to be a longterm effort.
“We’re putting Band-Aids on issues right now,” Dent said. “Racism is rooted. Hundreds, thousands of years. I can see the change happening. The marches themselves, they’re so diverse.”
‘We cannot give up’
Rosemary Rice said she’s attended several police brutality protests in Milwaukee and across the country in recent years, including for Michael Brown — shot by police in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri — and for Eric Garner, who died in New York City in 2017 after being put in a chokehold by NYPD officers.
She attended Saturday’s March for All Black Lives — led by Cook and 18year-old Ashton Monroe — and said she’s happy to see so many young people take the lead in Milwaukee, which has a history of unrest and police brutality.
“It’s all over, but here, I think the young people are really standing up for this one,” Rice said, referring to Floyd’s death. “It’s something about this one that young people are saying, ‘No more, we want to do something, and we want the generations before to help us push this agenda.’”
Cook said he and Monroe organized the protest to bring all black people together in a welcoming environment.
“We have so many different walks of life for black people, we’re not all the same, and I want us all to feel represented,” said Cook, who is running for Wisconsin Assembly District 11.
The caravan paraded down Locust Street and stopped at the Downer intersection to hear speeches by Cook and activist Ladi Lauren.
“If you pay attention, a lot of things are happening quickly,” Lauren said in her speech. “So, it’s important to recognize that we are all, as a people, under attack. And in order to win this war of evil vs. good, we cannot give up. We are fighting a battle that most of us have been fighting for many years.”
The march continued down Downer and stopped in front of Café Hollander, where Cook decided to say a few words to customers having lunch on the patio.
Some patrons seemed shocked as they listened, others took out phones to record. Other customers tried to ignore the protesters and enjoy their meals, though the megaphones and the crowd’s loud roars were impossible to tune out.
‘We’re going to march until we can’t march no more’
Sandy Solomon has been to 17 George Floyd protests so far. She hopes they continue, she said — she’s not tired of marching.
As part of the LGBT community, she made sure to attend Sunday’s march for youths and families organized by Courage MKE — a nonprofit that provides resources to LGBT youths.
“I want the kids to be heard; I want them to be seen,” said Solomon.
The march took place on the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, a series of violent protests in response to an NYPD raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay club. The protests launched decades of LGBT civil rights advocacy.
Sunday’s march MC Montell Ross said he’s been to several protests in Milwaukee and isn’t tired.
“I don’t think I could ever be tired because it’s fighting for the right of the people that look like me, sound like me and have grown up like me,” said Ross, who was previously elected to serve as Mr. Courage MKE for the nonprofit. Community activist and protest leader Frank Nitty — whose daily livestreams of protests around the city have garnered thousands of loyal viewers — also attended the youth march.
After protesting for a month straight, Nitty said he’s ready to continue to fight for black lives for as long as it takes.
“I’m nowhere near tired,” said Nitty. “My goal isn’t 200 days, though; my goal is change. It might even be 400 or 600 days. I don’t care about a record being broken; I care about change. So we’re going to march until we can’t march no more.”