
Featured Columnists

As an award-winning Senior Columnist for the Milwaukee Independent, Reggie Jackson covers a range of African American issues. He is also a Consultant with Nurturing Diversity Partners, and volunteers as Head Griot for America’s Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM) in Bronzeville.
REGGIE JACKSON: 5x Award Winner in Best Column categories from the Milwaukee Press Club

As a teacher for over twenty years, Dominic Inouye helped students to develop their reading, writing, critical thinking, and, most of all, their voices. He worked as The Pfister Hotel Narrator, a one-year appointment, and currently manages the ZIP MKE project that photo documents the city to promote cultural understanding.
Dominic Inouye: 2x Award Winner in Best Column category from the Milwaukee Press Club

Dr. Kenneth Cole is a Licensed Psychologist who has spent the past two decades helping members of the community in developing the ability to bring about positive change for their lives, and empowering those individuals to advocate for themselves.
Kenneth Cole: 2x Award Winner in Reporting categories from the Milwaukee Press Club

Pardeep Kaleka is the Executive Director of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, published author of The Gifts of Our Wounds, award-winning columnist with Milwaukee Independent, and a clinician specializing in utilizing a trauma-informed approach to treat survivors and perpetrators of assault, abuse, and acts of violence.
PARDEEP KALEKA: Winner in Best Blog category of the 88th Annual Milwaukee Press Club Awards
John Pavlovitz: Winner of Best Blog at the 89th Annual Milwaukee Press Club Awards
Recent Columns
The White Reality: Being tired of talking about privilege is a good indicator of being afflicted with it
A friend recently said to me, “John, I’m so tired of hearing about white privilege. I get, enough already.” Not surprisingly, she was not a person of color. Being tired is an option for her. I know it is for me. Many people don’t get to make that choice. Our level of...
The significance of the Derek Chauvin verdict: I am not celebrating this as a sign of police reform
The much anticipated trial is finally over. People around the country are breathing a sigh of relief. Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all charges. Some will say the system finally worked. Some will proclaim this a victory in the effort to hold police accountable....
A small measure of Justice: The Derek Chauvin verdict brings a moment of relief to people of color
A jury in Minneapolis, Minnesota, convicted former police officer Derek Chauvin on April 20 of all criminal counts in the death of George Floyd. On May 25, 2020, Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds after arresting him for allegedly trying to...
Action Follows Faith: What Christians should do when their Church remains silent about Racism
Sunday is coming. Soon, millions of Americans will find themselves in the houses of worship that dot nearly every corner of this country; disparate buildings where they’ll gather under the banner of religion, of faith, of goodness. Whether set in trappings that are...
Pardeep Kaleka: The need to build a systematic strategy that prevents mass shootings
A few years ago, when I asked my wife if she would like to take the kids to see a movie, she informed me that she doesn’t like patronizing theaters. When I asked her why, her response was not surprising. But it did make me think about how many more people felt the...
Cruelty Sickness: Our shared fatigue after four ferocious years of the ongoing Culture War
I am a collector of stories. I watch people, I listen closely to them, I eavesdrop on their conversations in person and on social media, and I look for the patterns to try and understand what’s happening to us as a nation. I’ve tried to put my finger on how I’m...
Elite Rule: The idea of allowing only “better” people to vote was first proposed by wealthy slaveholders
Commentator Kevin Williamson published a piece in National Review on April 7 justifying voter suppression by suggesting that “the republic would be better served by having fewer, but better, voters.” Representatives, he says, “are people who act in other people’s...
A “White America” First Caucus: When the party of Abraham Lincoln becomes the party of Jefferson Davis
News broke on April 16 that a number of pro-Trump House Republicans, including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), are organizing the “America First Caucus,” which calls for “a degree of ideological flexibility, a...
And another one gone: What Daunte Wright’s shooting teaches us about reform efforts
“My heart is literally broken into a thousand pieces and I don’t know what to do or what to say. But I just need everybody to know that he is much more than this.” – Daunte Wright’s mother, Katie Wright During the most anticipated trial of police arguably since...