Showing posts with label Milwaukee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Milwaukee. Show all posts

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Bertha Coats Is Missing!

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Police Department is asking for the public's help to find a critically missing 37-year-old woman, Bertha Coats.

Police say Coats was last seen on Saturday, March 18, near 104th and Congress around 5 p.m.

Police describe her as a black woman, 5 feet, 2 inches, 220 pounds with brown eyes and red shoulder-length curly hair. She was last seen wearing "Laffy Taffy" pajama pants and an unknown-colored jacket.

Anyone with information should call the Milwaukee Police Department, Sensitive Crimes Division at 414-935-7405.

Saturday, April 09, 2022

Cavalier Johnson Becomes Milwaukee's First Black Mayor

Cavalier Johnson made history on Tuesday, becoming the first Black mayor in Milwaukee’s history.

The 35-year-old Democrat received 62,143 votes while his opponent Bob Donovan earned 24,543, according to unofficial results. Former mayor Tom Barrett left the position open after stepping down in December to become the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg.

Johnson, who was serving as Common Council president, took over as acting mayor after Barrett resigned. As he now takes his new position, Johnson said there is a lot of work ahead. The new mayor highlighted the need to stem violence, restore neighborhoods and mend the city’s fractured relationship with the state government.

“We want our city to be loving, nurturing and stable. That’s why I ran for mayor,” he said.

Johnson is expected to finish out the remaining two years on Barrett’s term, then run for reelection.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Middle aged Black men make up the majority of Covid-19 cases in Milwaukee

The majority of confirmed Coronavirus cases in the city of Milwaukee involve middle-aged African American men, Health Commissioner Jeanette Kowalik said Monday.

Kowalik did not offer a specific number or percentage but said the majority of the city's confirmed cases — 158 in total as of Monday afternoon — are middle-aged African American men.

The first three Milwaukee patients reported to have died after contracting Coronavirus were all African American men in their 50s or 60s. The men who died had underlying conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) or heart problems. One was Lenard Wells, a trailblazer for racial equality in the Milwaukee Police Department.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said a lot of the people who have tested positive in Milwaukee, particularly on the city's north side, had not traveled abroad.

Health officials are working on "communicating as fast as we can and as deeply as we can into these neighborhoods to let people know that this is not just about people who had been in China," Barrett said. "This is about something that's here right now."

Kowalik also pointed to the lasting effects of the city’s history of segregation as a factor.

The concentration of Coronavirus cases mirrors other health outcomes, she said, an indication that there is a disparity that requires more outreach and education.

“Looking at the maps of Milwaukee, and looking where people live, looking at the history of redlining and segregation and how that crosses over into today," she said, "when we’re talking about various health outcomes like infant mortality, childhood lead poisoning, you see very similar distributions.”

Health officials are planning public service announcements focusing on the African American community, which will stress awareness about Coronavirus, its symptoms and who is most at risk for complications — as well as prevention measures, such as hygiene and social distancing, Kowalik said.

[JSONLINE]

Sunday, August 14, 2016

To my black brothers & sisters in Milwaukee: Don't destroy your own neighborhoods

By George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com [EMAIL]

UPDATE 09:50 EST: We now know that the person shot was an 23-year-old African American male named Sylville K. Smith.

Over night there was a shooting of a young man by Milwaukee police. We don't know much about the incident at this time other than the police claimed the deceased was armed. At the time I am writing this post we don't know the race, although I'm sure we all can make an educated guess about the race of the deceased. Some also want to wait to see what the race of the police officer that did the shooting is but those people don't understand that the race of the officer makes little if any difference.

In the aftermath of the shooting protesters took to the streets of Milwaukee to voice their anger. Unfortunately many went further than expressing their anger, they burned down a gas station and several buildings in their own communities.

Again, we don't know much about the shooting but I do know burning down your own neighborhoods is stupid, and that just doesn't pertain to the current situation in Milwaukee.

I would like to ask those young men and women what do they think they are achieving?

I would like to ask them who do they think they are hurting?

We have always been told that violence achieves nothing. Well, that is wrong, it does lead to the destruction of neighborhoods that may never come back. The only people hurt by burning down buildings are those that live in the area now and in the future.

Does anyone really think the powers that be give a damn if black protesters destroy their communities? If you truly believe that there is institutional racism and that there are those that want to hold minorities back then stop helping those forces by destroying your own neighborhoods.

It can take decades for communities to bounce back after riots. It's been over 45 years since riots of the late sixties, and many of those communities have still not recovered. Today in 2016 it's still a big deal when a major retailer wants to open a store, or a developer wants to build housing in Newark NJ, Detroit, or Cleveland.

Riots only keep businesses from coming into our neighborhoods. When those companies don't come it limits access to jobs, fresh foods, medicine, and other goods and services a community needs to thrive. We are taking a bad situation with policing in our communities and making it worse by rioting.

I understand the frustration and anger. Many of us feel it, but we also know that violence is not the answer and that there is no simple or easy answer. I don't have all the answers, but it will take time for the policing situation in minority communities to be corrected. But if we all keep on it and vote in our local elections to get in people that will change things or to put out those that didn't.

I know many of you are tired of hearing about the power of your vote but you should be more sick of the needless destruction of our communities.

We are hurting no one but ourselves.

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com

Violence protest erupt in Milwaukee after police shooting

Six businesses and at least one car were set ablaze, and an officer was hit by a brick, as violence erupted Saturday night following an officer-involved shooting that left a 23-year-old man dead. Watch this story below.