Author: Pardeep Kaleka

Residents of Milwaukee have both a local and national identity, as citizens of Wisconsin and America. Headlines from across the country report terrible things that do not reflect the local community, yet the city faces its own complexity of issues. For so many national issues it is easy to turn a blind eye because they do not have a local footprint. But much of the national dialogue shapes actions and discussions in our neighborhoods across the County. The United States has long advertised itself as the world’s beacon for a civil society. The truth may be that it has...

“Our internet world of cyberbullying, trolls, and tweets was forged in 1998. We have created, to borrow a term from historian Nicolaus Mills, a “culture of humiliation” in which those who prey on the vulnerable in the service of clicks and ratings are handsomely rewarded.” – Monica Lewinsky May was been dubbed Violence Prevention Month in the City of Milwaukee. The resolution was inspired in memory of 10-year old Sierra Guyton, who was shot and killed while on a playground in 2016. The past year has also marked the brutal intensification of the Civil War in Syria, political instability...

Escapism is defined as a “habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from reality or routine.” When a billionaire reality TV star was elected President of the United States, much of America seemed surprised by the outcome. They should not have been, if they took an honest look at the values of our society. We are a nation where other pop culture superstars effect political policy. These celebrities are often asked to testify in front of Congress as issue experts on everything from environmentalism to a genocidal crisis. Being famous for being...

“I have lived through a real mаssаcrе, right here in Milwaukee. It took the life of my father and five others from my faith community.” – Pardeep Kaleka Building walls to protect America was a big focus of the Presidential campaign last year, but it has become clear that those once invisible walls already exist, within America. These metaphorical walls are now more visible, and were put up by our own communities, friends, and families. All of us to some extent live in a state of denial about social conditions, and more recently political ones. As a first generation...

Editor’s Note: Pardeep Kaleka was a panelist at a public meeting hosted by the Wisconsin Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights on August 29, to discuss the issue of under-reported hate crimes and civil rights violations. This is the testimony he presented at the hearing. | Hello, thank you for the opportunity to address the commission. On Sunday August 5, 2012 a white supremacist named Wade Michael Page walked into The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin and ʍurdered six immigrants; Paramjit Kaur, Prakash Singh, Sita Singh, Ranjit Singh, Suveg Singh, and Satwant Singh Kaleka, my father and...