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
Pardeep Kaleka: Understanding our moral obligation for delivering humanitarian relief to Afghanistan
“President Biden’s decision to set aside half of Afghanistan’s frozen reserves to 9/11 families is short-sighted, cruel, and will worsen a catastrophe in progress, affecting millions of Afghans, many of whom are on the verge of starvation.”...
Walking Wounded: When each day feels like a funeral for the living with memorials to all that has been lost
Each day is a day of mourning for millions of Americans. You can see the bereaved everywhere you look. hey may not be dressed in black or sitting in a church pew or tearfully standing graveside or in the back of slow-moving cars with headlights flashing, but they are...
Do Black Lives Matter? Part 3: The devaluation of Black people in the criminal justice system
This article is one of a special four-part series for Black History Month 2022. Reggie Jackson paints a picture of how we got to our current state, detailing a people who have been treated as less than human beings, and then less than first class citizens throughout...
A denial of freedom: Why cries of “1776” by January 6 insurrectionists are more like “1860” by Confederates
I have thought a lot lately about Representative Lauren Boebert’s (R-CO) tweet on January 6, 2021, saying, “Today is 1776.” It is clear that those sympathetic to stealing the 2020 election for Donald Trump over the will of the majority of Americans thought they were...
The Panic of 1893: How Republicans have hurt the economy and perpetuated a myth to blame Democrats
The economy has boomed under President Joe Biden, putting to rest the lie to the old trope that Democrats do not manage the economy as well as Republicans. This should not come as a surprise to anyone. The economy has performed better under Democrats than Republicans...
Gilligan’s Island: The disturbing themes I noticed while binge watching the classic sitcom during the pandemic
“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip. That started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship.” Those lyrics began the opening song of the beloved sitcom “Gilligan’s Island.” Broadcasting for three seasons from 1964 to 1967,...
Do Black Lives Matter? Part 2: The devaluation of Black people in politics and law
This article is one of a special four-part series for Black History Month 2022. Reggie Jackson paints a picture of how we got to our current state, detailing a people who have been treated as less than human beings, and then less than first class citizens throughout...
Always Facing Left: What collecting Mao pins in China taught me about art and ideology
By the 1960s, Cоmmunіsm in Chіnа permeated every aspect of life by promoting a political ideology designed to abolish the hierarchy of social classes. The “Chаіrmаn Mао Bаdgе,” a small pin with the face of Mао Zеdоng embossed on it, was worn by people to show fidelity...
Dangerous Books: Perhaps Bible-believing Conservative Christians should consider banning the Bible
A Tennessee school board recently voted to ban “Maus,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust from their eight grade curriculum. This has become a familiar tactic of Republican parents, politicians, and pastors, working through local...
