Milwaukee, WI

A panel discussion with the people who collect the voices and stories of Milwaukee Residents. Panelists: James Levy, Kitonga Alexander, Sandra Jones, Mike Carriere, Arijit Sen. Discussion led by MCHS Executive Director, Ben Barbera.

FREE Event & Open to the Public

Explore the “That Unfinished Work Project,” a vibrant showcase of diverse local stories. From community elders to grassroots activists, historians, and scholars, our exhibition uncovers the varied narratives woven into Milwaukee’s fabric.

This project is in tandem with the new Milwaukee County Historical Society traveling exhibit, “Climates of Inequality: Stories of Environmental Justice.” Created by a collaborative coalition spanning 22 cities globally, this multimedia exhibit illuminates environmental challenges, their historical contexts, and pathways toward sustainable solutions.

Don’t miss a chance to immerse yourself in the power of storytelling and community engagement. Join us at the Milwaukee County Historical Society and help shape our collective narrative.

City Hall Rotunda, 200 E. Wells Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202.
A pop-up exhibit and a panel discussion will gather community leaders, residents, university scholars, students, and city officials to explore why community voices are important and how they should be heard. Panelists, Supreme Moore Omokunde, Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, Evan Goyke, Milwaukee City Attorney, Lafayette Crump, City of Milwaukee Commissioner of City Development, Sharaka Berry, Community organizer, Stephanie Harling, Havenwoods Neighborhood Partnership, Executive Director, and Camille Mays, Peace Garden MKE, Community Healer, Community organizer.

For registration go to bit.ly/3TBNk4F

Week 1: Taking back our world.
Introduction to a city, its history, and what environmental injustice means for citizens
Saturday August 8, 2020, 11 AM CDT/ Noon EST

Moderator:
Adam Carr (Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)

Local experts:
Reggie Jackson (Nurturing Diversity Partners, America’s Black Holocaust Museum)
Camille Mays (Peace Garden Project MKE)
Anthony Diaz (Newark Water Coalition)
Neil Maher (Federated History Department, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University-Newark)
Christian Rodriguez (Ironbound Community Corporation)

Click here to view video highlights from Week 1.

Week 2: Taking back our homes.
What do we mean when we say housing justice in our city?
Saturday August 15, 2020, 11 AM CDT/ Noon EST

Moderator:
Adam Carr (Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)

Local experts:
Robert Smith (Center for Urban Research, Teaching, and Outreach, Marquette University)
Lamont Davis (Washington Park Neighborhood Housing Committee Chair)
Elizabeth Pierson (Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc.)
Christian Rodriguez (Ironbound Community Corporation)
Daniel Wiley (Ironbound Community Corporation)

Week 3: Taking back our bodies.
How is food production, distribution, and consumption a contested process in each city?
Saturday August 22, 2020, 11 AM CDT/ Noon EST

Moderator:
Adam Carr (Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)

Local experts:
Michael Carriere (Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, WI)
Carena Miles (Ironbound Community Corporation, Newark, NJ)
Tobias Fox (Newark Science and Sustainability, Newark, NJ)
Caroline Carter (Caroline’s Raw Creations, Milwaukee, WI)
Fidel Verdin (True Skool, Milwaukee, WI)

Week 4: Action!: Taking back our world.
What is Action? How can we act?
Saturday August 29, 2020, 11 AM CDT/ Noon EST

Moderator:
Adam Carr

Local experts:
Muneer Bahauddeen (Community Artist, Milwaukee, WI)
Nyheim Carter (Ironbound Community Corporation, Newark, NJ)
Tremerell Robinson (Center Street Bid 39, Milwaukee, WI)
Cheri Fuqua (The Middle Ground MKE, Milwaukee, WI)
Anthony Diaz (Newark Water Coalition, Newark, NJ)
Gregory Powell (Peace Garden Project MKE, Milwaukee, WI)

This workshop will bring together students, scholars, and community experts around the topic of collecting, interpreting, and using oral histories and testimonies of people whose histories may be under-represented in mainstream media and scholarly archives. We are interested in discussing the ethics and ethical considerations of collecting oral histories of marginalized and underrepresented people. How do we collect these stories and what moral responsibilities do we hold?

Panelists will explore the emotional dimensions of memory-work, the affective process of engaging with the past—and its ethical and historical dimensions. Some of our panelists have worked with people recounting traumatic memories and difficult histories. What emotional impact do such interactions have on the interviewer and the interviewee? How do emotions impact our ethical role as researchers and historians?

The workshop will begin with short presentations by five panelists. They will speak on the difficulties and pitfalls of these methods, ethical and affective imperatives that frame their practice, and offer tips on doing oral history. Then we will break up into moderated small group discussions with the panelists and students. We will end with a general discussion about the importance, implications, and relevance of working with oral histories.

Panelists and Discussion Leaders:

Kavita Panjabi, Former Professor and Chair of the Department of Comparative Literature and Founder-Coordinator of the Centre for Studies in Latin American Literatures and Cultures (CSLALC) Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

Chia Youyee Vang, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Lynne M Woehrle, Associate Professor and Director of Sustainable Peacebuilding Programs, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Portia Cobb, Interdisciplinary artist, Associate Professor, Film, Video, Animation and New Genres, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Director, Community Media Project.

Xin Huang, Associate Professor, Department Chair, Women’s and Gender Studies, Oral and Visual Life Narratives. University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Moderator: Lynne M Woehrle

Reference Reading:
Kavita Panjabi, “The ‘Retroactive Force of Interiority:’ The Conscience of Oral History,” In Unclaimed Harvest: An Oral History of the Tebhaga Women’s Movement, (New Delhi: Zubaan Books, 2016), 53-81.

This series is sponsored by the William F. Vilas Trust. Co-sponsors include the Urban Studies Programs, Master of Sustainable Peacebuilding, Department of History, Department of Anthropology, Global Studies, Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee County Historical Society.

There have been Black Milwaukeeans for as long as there’s been a Milwaukee. African Americans were here when the future metropolis was just a fur-trading post, and they grew with the city during its rise as a hotbed of abolitionist activity, an industrial powerhouse, and a haven for immigrants. The group’s numbers soared during the Great Migration of the twentieth century, and Black Milwaukeeans are the city’s largest single cultural group today. Unfolding over nearly two centuries, their story is an inspiring chronicle of struggle, resilience, and pride.

Join us for “A History of Black Milwaukee” presented by city-historian, John Gurda, on April 11 at 6:00pm at MCHS. A ticket reserves your spot and gives you access to our new traveling exhibit Climates of Inequality, a project of the Humanities Action Lab, hosted by Rutgers University-Newark.

Have you ever been curious about the naturalization process? Now is your chance to see the celebration of years of hard work for newly recognized United States citizens. The Honorable Judge Stephen C. Dries will preside over the event. This event is in coordination with the Climates of Inequality exhibit.

Climates of Inequality is a project of the Humanities Action Lab (HAL), a coalition of universities, issue-based organizations, and public spaces led by Rutgers University-Newark that collaborate to produce community-curated public humanities projects on urgent social issues.

The HAL-created exhibit will be supplemented by an exhibit created by UW-Milwaukee students under the leadership of Public History Professor, Arijit Sen that will examine food and housing justice in Milwaukee. The exhibitions, located on the second floor mezzanine, will be open from April 3, 2024-May 25, 2024.

Transportation from UWM is available, we will be offering a limited shuttle service for this day.