Author: Guest

Wisconsin coalition calls on mainstream media to give fair representation of the Palestinian situation

Wisconsin coalition calls on mainstream media to give fair representation of the Palestinian situation

Posted by | Oct 11, 2023

A diverse and broad coalition of Wisconsin-based organizations dedicated to peace and social justice recently formed in response to what they believe has been a misrepresentation of the conflict faced by the Palestinian people. In a joint statement on October 10, the coalition expressed deep sorrow for the loss of lives on both Palestinian and Israeli sides. They also condemned what they described as years of provocation by the right-wing Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been indicted for corruption in 2019. The group also voiced their concerns over the one-sided narrative presented in the mainstream...

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Tetiana Storozhko: Being a witness to the history of Roma culture in Ukraine

Tetiana Storozhko: Being a witness to the history of Roma culture in Ukraine

Posted by | Aug 4, 2023

Return to Ukraine: This feature is part of an original Milwaukee Independent editorial series that recorded news from areas across Ukraine, including Milwaukee's sister city of Irpin, from June to July of 2023. It was the second time in the span of a year that the award-winning Wisconsin news organization traveled to the country during the war. The purpose of this journalism project was to document a humanitarian aid mission by the Milwaukee-based nonprofit, Friends of Be an Angel, and report about conditions 17 months after Russia's brutal full-scale invasion. mkeind.com/returntoukraine There are ongoing discussions in Roma society today...

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Public safety in Milwaukee County at risk without help from Madison to fund state-mandated programs

Public safety in Milwaukee County at risk without help from Madison to fund state-mandated programs

Posted by | Feb 21, 2023

Whether it was businesses adjusting to new ways to deliver their products or residents learning how to be social while staying healthy, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic significant disrupted life in Milwaukee County. For many, those disruptions magnified already existing problems with addiction, finances, and even interpersonal relationships between family, friends, and neighbors. Even though we’ve made progress on re-opening Milwaukee County and containing the spread of the disease, we still see the consequences of the pandemic manifest in community violence, drug overdoses, and mental health crises. The time has come to heal our community and to re-build...

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Hima Humeda: A Syrian college student’s story from childhood heart surgeries to caring for war refugees

Hima Humeda: A Syrian college student’s story from childhood heart surgeries to caring for war refugees

Posted by | Feb 17, 2023

Medical Mission to Jordan: After more than a decade of Civil War in Syria, and continuing conflicts like the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine that further displaced millions of civilians, understanding the longterm conditions that war refugees face remains relevant. But as public attention fades, such topics do not capture headlines today, even as the impact continues to be felt here in Milwaukee. mkeind.com/jordanmedicalmission Blurs of red and blue lights, wailing sirens, pricks of needles, a series of deafening explosions, and the continuous fight for survival comprise my earliest memories. By age ten, I had undergone ten open-heart surgeries...

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The Diary of Anya Verkhovskaya: Going to war in Ukraine without ever leaving her office in Milwaukee

The Diary of Anya Verkhovskaya: Going to war in Ukraine without ever leaving her office in Milwaukee

Posted by | Jan 2, 2023

Today I went to war without ever leaving my office in Milwaukee. Every morning at 3:00 a.m., which is 11:00 a.m. in Ukraine, I leave my warm, comfortable bed, drink my coffee, and then I stand up tall and strong to the bully. I stand up to Putin. I am a proud U.S. citizen, saving the lives of strangers halfway across the world. I work with citizens of many other countries, providing children, the elderly, and the infirm with supplies that make a difference on a small and large scale, and so can you. I am a political refugee,...

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Fighting War Fatigue: Volunteer network continues saving lives in Ukraine as public donations dry up

Fighting War Fatigue: Volunteer network continues saving lives in Ukraine as public donations dry up

Posted by | Jan 2, 2023

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine shocked the world over ten months ago, Anya Verkhovskaya’s phone began to fill with messages from friends and former colleagues in Ukraine asking for help. In the space of just a few months, the informal network transformed into an organized, large-scale humanitarian aid infrastructure. “I remember the morning of February 24th,” said Verkhovskaya, a Russian-born Jew who emigrated to the United States as a political refugee in 1989. “I had no experience in rescue and air evacuations or providing humanitarian aid, but I understood that I had to do something to help,” she...

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