Wisconsin National Guard turns 185: From territorial militia to a combat reserve with an international role
The Wisconsin National Guard traces its history to the days before Wisconsin had achieved statehood. Just as Wisconsin evolved and developed over the following decades, so did the Wisconsin National Guard as it transformed into something quite different from its...
Joe F. Campbell: Remembering how the Big Boy burger gave him hope in Vietnam as Veterans mourn his loss
I have actively shared stories about the Veteran community in Milwaukee for years, and used photojournalism to document their commemorative events. At times I was fortunate to highlight some of those former soldiers who once served in the protection of our nation. I...
Milwaukee’s pandemic-related violence prevention programs get much needed funding from Governor
Governor Tony Evers announced on March 7 that $8.4 million previously allocated to the city of Milwaukee’s Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) was officially released, following approval by the Milwaukee Common Council. The funding was part of the governor’s larger...
Business and education leaders call on state officials to invest in Wisconsin’s children and schools
The Pabst Theater Group hosted a special press conference at the Riverside Theater on March 2 to help a group of local business and education leaders address the issue of investing in the state’s future. The coalition collectively called on Governor Tony Evers,...
Milwaukee fires assistant city attorney after saying Putin was justified to invade Ukraine on Russian TV
The nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization called the City of Milwaukee’s decision to fire an assistant city attorney with a history of anti-Muslim extremism welcome but long overdue. Milwaukee Assistant City Attorney Jennifer DeMaster was...
What we are taught to be ashamed of: A tale of two grandmothers and our ethnic identity in America
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has forced Americans across the political spectrum to consider many issues. While taking place thousands of miles away, there is still a very real impact close to home. For me, it included considering how I was denied my...
Solomiya Kavyuk: I am an American. I am Ukrainian. If you love democracy, you can be “pro-Ukraine” too.
I have lived in America three times as long as I lived in Ukraine. I am an American citizen. I graduated from an American college. And yet, if you were to ask me who I am, I would tell you I am Ukrainian. I was born in a city in Western Ukraine called Ternopil. I come...
Krystia Nora: Painting a picture of family, war, and the hope for a free Ukraine with poetry
With the unprecedented Russian invasion of her family’s homeland by Putin’s forces, Dr. Krystia Nora has stepped forward at solidarity rallies and peace demonstrations to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Ukraine. Dr. Nora...
Thirty Years a Slave: Remembering Milwaukee’s first published Black author Louis Hughes
Louis Hughes was born 190 years ago in 1832, to a White plantation owner and Black slave in Charlottesville, Virginia. Thirty-three years after gaining his freedom at the end of the Civil War, he wrote a memoir about being a slave and became the first African American...
Jennifer Vosters: A visit to Kyiv that offered insight, awareness, and an inspiration for solidarity
A lot of people can speak more knowledgeably and eloquently than I can about what the Ukrainian people are facing right now in the midst of an invasion by Russia. I only add my Milwaukee perspective for the sake of solidarity and awareness. I spent a week in Ukraine...
Darryl Morin: Where family and freedom converged at the crossroads of a trip to Crystal City
Today there are those who argue we should forego the honest teaching of our nation’s history as it may prove too traumatic to the descendants of those responsible. There are also attempts to justify more recent attacks on the freedoms and the families of those who may...
Born Free and Equal: A look at the historical photos by Ansel Adams from the Manzanar Relocation Center
America’s most well-known photographer, Ansel Adams, documented the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California and the Japanese Americans interned there during World War II in 1943. The Library of Congress made digital scans of both the original negatives and...
