Author: Syndicated

The economic disparities between residents of Milwaukee’s central city and other parts of the metropolitan area are well known. The suburbs, in particular, show lower rates of poverty and incarceration and higher income, education and home-ownership than many parts of the central city. That is especially true for one zip code. For many, 53206 has become a metaphor for the challenges facing inner-city residents, especially residents of color. The areas high incarceration rate and low employment rate have attracted national and international reporting. A recently released study spanning 17 years tries to quantify, what it terms, the “ecosystem of...

Editor’s Note: As a native of Milwaukee living in Japan, I lost everything on March 11, 2011. The disaster is why, as a refugee with an American passport, I eventually returned home. I have not spoken publicly about the experience in Japan after all these year. Originally, it was simply the lack of sensitivity and disinterest from people who I encountered, and eventually because I needed to move on with my life and put that chapter of aside. At some point, perhaps I will write about that journey, but until then there are others who continue to bless us...

After spending hundreds of millions of dollars convincing the American public that opioid painkillers are safe to use for chronic pain, and fueling a deadly, decades-long addiction epidemic as a result, the drug maker Purdue Pharma could file for bankruptcy to avoid being held accountable for its actions. According to news reports, Purdue is considering bankruptcy to halt thousands of lawsuits and allow the company to settle with the plaintiffs out of court. Critics on social media slammed the manufacturer for apparently seeking a way out of its legal troubles without allowing its accusers to bring their cases to...

Foxconn is feeling the pinch from the reduced sales of iPhones in Greater China, with reports of a culling of employee benefits and salaries, as well as mass resignations, coming out of the Apple assembly partner’s largest facility used for iPhone production. RiIn its first quarter results for 2019, Apple revealed it had seen a considerable drop in iPhone revenue in Greater China, accounting for “all of our revenue shortfall to our guidance and for much more than our entire year-over-year revenue decline.” For Greater China alone, revenue dropped 26.7 percent year-on-year from $18 billion for the quarter in...

In a parking garage below the Oakland teachers union headquarters, Milwaukee advocates joined dozens of volunteers who labored over the banners, posters, and picket signs illustrating a historic strike. A crowd of retired and current educators, college students and district parents with their children turned out for the third “art build” supporting the Oakland Education Association, whose 3,000 members are currently on strike as the union negotiates for higher wages and smaller class sizes. They spent a morning cutting canvas, assembling picket-signs and screen-printing images sourced from local artists, including Melanie Cervantes, Favianna Rodriguez and Micah Bazant. The dominant...

In 1969, black students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison called for a strike. Longstanding issues of diversity, a lack of an African-American Studies Department and other key issues were tenets of their 13 demands issued to administrators. They marched to the Capitol, took over classrooms, and blocked entrances. Memorialized as the Black Student Strike, its 50th anniversary prompted both celebration and reflection across campus in 2019. Alexandria Millet, a sophomore majoring in journalism, was admitted as a Chancellor’s Scholar. She was first exposed to the strike during a project in her introductory journalism class. From there, her interest grew....