Guest, Author at Milwaukee Independent

Aaron Perry: Self-awareness is a political permission slip to “say something”

Posted by Guest | Feb 12, 2020 |

“Say something, I’m giving up on you.” Those are lyrics performed by the band, Great Big World. In reflection, it’s another example of life imitating art. 2020 is here and our own great big world is asking us to say something. So, before it’s too late, I’m going to. Self-awareness is one of life’s most beautiful and cruelest attributes. It can be a constant struggle, a seemingly invisible target. One that if you happen to hit it and be able to evaluate yourself objectively, then we often don’t like what we see and have little clue on how to...

When Hell Freezes Over: New documentary celebrates the life of Father James Groppi

Posted by Guest | Jan 30, 2020 |

Milwaukee-based creative studio 11th Story recently released a youtube trailer teasing a new documentary about the life of local Civil Rights leader, Father James Groppi. Expected sometime in 2020, the new film uses TV footage of Father Groppi from the late 1960s, along with photos and recorded interviews. This will not be the first documentary about him, and other than some highlights of his activism the trailer provided little else to explain this version’s narrative. We’ll uncover the story within the story of segregation in Milwaukee of a clergyman who questions a religious institution in order to pursue his...

Wuhan Coronavirus started far from Milwaukee but global links have brought the infectious risk home

Posted by Guest | Jan 28, 2020 |

The Chinese government has quarantined Wuhan, a port city of 11 million people, and has restricted travel for more than 51 million citizens to and from 20 other cities, including Beijing, to contain the coronavirus that has sickened thousands and killed several dozens. The order came during China’s Lunar New Year celebrations, a time when people – the equivalent of the entire population of America – were on the move. The rapidly expanding outbreak has overwhelmed the Chinese hospitals and fueled fears of a global pandemic. Health officials estimate that 100,000 people could be infected with the new coronavirus...

Milwaukee Tool to expand Wisconsin footprint with investment in Menomonee Falls campus

Posted by Guest | Jan 16, 2020 |

Governor Tony Evers, together with senior leaders of Milwaukee Tool, local government officials, and regional economic development officials, recently announced that the company would be expanding its footprint in southeastern Wisconsin with a new campus in Menomonee Falls. Milwaukee Tool’s investment will lead to the creation of 870 new jobs by 2025. Milwaukee Tool expects to invest over $100 million to construct and outfit the Menomonee Falls campus, which will complement the company’s current Global Headquarters campus in Brookfield. Milwaukee Tool will also invest $7.5 million to expand its Imperial Blades subsidiary in Sun Prairie. “Our state is extremely...

George Carlin on War: How bombing brown people became a growth industry

Posted by Guest | Jan 14, 2020 |

“In a sane and just society, the architects of the nearly 17-year-old war in Iraq, which is still ongoing and has left an estimated half-million people dead, would face war crimes charges and those who cheered them on would be thoroughly discredited.” — Jessica Schulberg, HuffPost Amid swirling tensions between President Donald Trump, Iran, and the potential for a new war in the Middle East, a historic clip resurfaced on social media of comedian George Carlin, bemoaning the pattern of American militarism in which the United States, often with the help of a conspiring media and a lazy public,...

Indifference to Puerto Rican suffering after natural disasters exposes the inhumanity of America’s soul

Posted by Guest | Jan 11, 2020 |

As Puerto Rico dealt with the fallout from a series of devastating earthquakes in recent days, the Trump administration continued to block the release of $18 billion in disaster aid to the island, more than two years after the money was appropriated by Congress. Two years after hurricanes annihilated the island, it was hit by a devastating 6.4-magnitude earthquake on January 7, followed by a series of aftershocks. Puerto Rico is not a ‘Sh*thole’ country, but an unincorporated territory of the United States. Its population are American citizens. Yet yet its recovery has been sabotaged by blatantly racist policies...