Author: Lee Matz

Waleed Najeeb: A spiritual duty to bring specialized relief to those suffering from a decade of war

Medical Mission to Jordan: After more than a decade of Civil War in Syria, and continuing conflicts like the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine that further displaced millions of civilians, understanding the longterm conditions that war refugees face remains relevant. But as public attention fades, such topics do not capture headlines today, even as the impact continues to be felt here in Milwaukee. mkeind.com/jordanmedicalmission Medical professionals spend many years learning, growing, and accomplishing work in their field. For those who were not born in the United States, or are from immigrant families, the path to medical school is often...

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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 horizon of eye candy. It can be a challenge to locate visuals of redemption among the mundane transitions of daily life. But that can be the fun of it, to see the invisible world we miss with our blinder of routine. For all the anxiety that comes with self-discovery,...

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Cinema as a surrogate parent: Outgrowing the shared experience for entertainment in a fragmented culture

Legendary film director Martin Scorsese has invited a lot of controversy in recent years over the definition of cinema, particularly with his view of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That opinion has a lot to do with the art of how motion pictures are made, and then experienced by the general public. However, two other forces more disruptive than Thanos are also at work altering the century-old form of entertainment and how it is consumed, streaming and COVID-19. The world of my childhood existed as a place with three primary television networks, and movie theaters as a place to escape...

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Remembering Denis Sullivan: Departure of Milwaukee’s nautical icon is another loss for our local heritage

It was suddenly announced in September that Wisconsin’s flagship schooner, Discovery World’s S/V Denis Sullivan, would be sold to a nonprofit educational sailing organization based in Boston. It was an unexpected end to a journey that began in 1991, and ran aground like so many things in Milwaukee due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a local ambivalence to preserving cultural treasures. The beloved Denis Sullivan launched in June 2000 after two years of construction, at a financial cost of $4.2 million and a labor cost of a million volunteer hours. It was originally proposed as a tall ship that...

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Marcelia Nicholson: A Day in Photos with the Chairwoman of the County Board of Supervisors

Considering herself to be an educator at heart, Marcelia Nicholson made the tough decision to leave her career as a teacher in response to her community’s lack of fair representation. To become an elected official was her best chance to try fixing what she saw as a broken system. First elected to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors in 2016 representing District 5, she was re-elected in 2018 and 2020. In April 2022, Nicholson was unanimously re-elected as Chairwoman of the Board for the 2022-2024 term. She was the first Black woman and Latina elected to that position. Born...

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