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
Why the potential of overturning Roe v. Wade follows Dred Scott decision to remove constitutional rights
News broke on May 2 of a leaked draft of what appears to be Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s majority decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision establishing access to abortion as a constitutional right. That news is an alarm like the 1857...
An Inflection Point: Americans must at least be willing to reclaim our democracy from the rise of oligarchs
In our history, the United States has gone through turning points when we have had to adjust our democratic principles to new circumstances. The alternative is to lose those principles to a small group of people who insist that democracy is outdated and must be...
When book bans become personal: A list of the twenty-two books I own that have been politically prohibited
“In total, for the nine-month period represented (July 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022), the Index lists 1,586 instances of individual books being banned, affecting 1,145 unique book titles. This encompasses different types of bans, including removals of books from school...
Confusing the concept of democracy with a distorted ideology of unrestricted freedom for individuals
All but two of the Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against a resolution finding Trump aides Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro in contempt of Congress, for refusing to comply with subpoenas from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th...
Abandoning Democracy: When a One-Party government commits war crimes then claims to be a force for good
Political scientist and member of the Russian legislative body Vyacheslav Nikonov said on April 17 that, “in reality, we embody the forces of good in the modern world because this clash is metaphysical … We are on the side of good against the forces of absolute...
Pardeep Kaleka: The connections of our Sacred Faiths are calling us to embrace mutuality
There are no shortage of discussions that highlight how we are more disconnected now than ever before. We hear it endlessly in conversations regarding politics and contemporary social issues. The landscape of America seems to constantly reinforce our divisions....
Shielding a culture of racism: Why Anti-CRT legislation should really be called “White Comfort Bills” instead
I must acknowledge that the term “White Comfort bills” is not mine. I recently had the pleasure of meeting a brilliant scholar who made a point that resonated with me. As I have tried to say many times, the so-called “anti-CRT” bills really have nothing to do with...
Reggie Jackson: Why the Emmett Till Antilynching Act is mostly just another empty gesture
Nearly seventeen years ago my mentor Dr. James Cameron returned from a trip to the Senate chambers when they issued an apology for never passing an anti-lynching bill. As a lynching survivor and creator of America’s Black Holocaust Museum, he was center stage as the...
First Black female Justice: Ketanji Brown Jackson makes history after Senate confirmation to Supreme Court
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to become Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on April 7. The Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee by a vote of 53 to 47, with three Republicans joining all 50 Democrats in favor of confirmation. The three...
