Across USA, they call for unity

From a former NFL psychologist to a mother who lost her son, community members use personal experience to push for police changes and better treatment of immigrants.

Veteran psychologist Ramel Kweku Akyirefi Smith has worked in locker rooms across the National Football League, including with the Green Bay Packers. In his hometown, he has been a team psychologist for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Many of the athletes he has counseled are African American men who are idolized for their grace, speed and strength. But after years of clinical work, Smith has learned that these outwardly confident men often hide their own psychological wounds.

In Milwaukee, Smith is the best-credentialed and most outspoken authority on depression, suicide and mental health who also can navigate the raw racial tensions that those topics provoke.

And since the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Smith has been on the front lines in the city, marching but also working behind the scenes to register people to vote and to push for durable change.

That included signing a letter sent to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers from a host of Milwaukee advocates — including the Milwaukee chapter of the NAACP, pastors and retired police officers. The letter, sent just before Juneteenth, called for a range of reform in areas that include criminal justice, education and housing.

“Since the protests,” Smith said, “I’ve never stopped working.”