With a dedicated career helping children and families adversely impacted by immigration, homelessness, abuse, and oppressive systems in South America, Europe, and his native Milwaukee, Luke serves as Director of Program Design and Community Engagement at the Institute for Child and Family Well-being at Children’s Wisconsin.
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: 7x 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
Destructive Politics: House Speaker chaos shows GOP has ability to obstruct but not to actually govern
The Republicans won a narrow majority in the House of Representatives in 2022, aided by gerrymandering and new laws that made it harder to vote, but they remain unable to come together to elect a speaker. In three ballots on January 3, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy...
Reggie Jackson: What my stroke taught me about health and relationships
I had a stroke one day during the second week of November. Fortunately, my wife noticed the symptoms and forced me to go to the ER. I spent two days in ICU and one additional day in a regular unit. The stroke was “mild” and taught me a valuable lesson. The situation...
Remembering 2022 as the year democracies pushed back against authoritarians and exposed their weakness
Just a year ago, we were focusing on Russian troops massing on the border with Ukraine, which the U.S. government and allies recognized as an attempt both to keep Ukraine from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a longstanding military alliance...
Compulsory Christianity: The danger of professed Christians who have no real interest in Jesus
There is nothing more dangerous than professed Christians who have no real interest in Jesus. They are rather easy to spot if you are paying attention. They are usually the ones most loudly claiming things like religious liberty while methodically swallowing up the...
A look down: Enjoying the Zen of the natural world from a collection of drone images
It has been a long year and, following the past three, there is an element of weariness baked into our daily experience. As a photojournalist I always try to find the beauty in whatever environment that surrounds me. It is easy to go to a tourist spot and find a...
Being done with church: When people reach the limit of what they can tolerate in their house of worship
Today may be your personal Exodus. This year may have been your last straw. You may have reached the limit of what you can tolerate from the Church and its people. Perhaps you’ve been tending an uneasy peace with it all for a while now: the hypocrisy and bitterness...
A yuletide assault: The real War on Christmas has been waged by the Religious Right for years
Yes, there is a war on Christmas in America. The Evangelicals were right. The pulpit-pounding preachers were right. Franklin Graham was right. The Republicans were right. Donald Trump was right. Fox News was right. The Religious Right was right. Every single one of...
Ukrainians have demonstrated for three hundred days that a free democracy is worth the investment to save
Three hundred days ago, Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a new assault into Ukraine, where his troops had been fighting since 2014. Apparently, he expected that a new strike would bring a quick victory that would enable him to break away the eastern regions...
Activists charge Republican gun culture and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric as direct cause of Club Q massacre
Survivors of the mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado, testified on December 14 before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Club Q is an LGBTQ club in the city of about 500,000 people. The shooter opened fire there on the night of November 19-20,...
