Photo credit: State Representative Evan Goyke's Facebook page
“Running the Race for Justice” was the theme of Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope’s (MICAH) 31st annual public meeting at Bayshore Lutheran Church on Thursday, Oct. 24. Member communities of MICAH come from different faith traditions, but all are on track with the belief that social groups, as well as individuals, can be judged by actions taken for the benefit of others, including “the least among us.'”
Lisa Jones, the group’s community organizer, invited meeting attendees to identify their issue of greatest interest. She urged everyone to “work with, not for” others. MICAH participants may choose to follow their social justice calling by working on any of the organization’s issue areas: education, jobs and economics, transportation, criminal justice reform (Restoring our Communities committee) and children's health (Coalition on Lead Emergency committee). A separate religious leader's caucus only includes clergy participants.
At the meeting, the first committee report came from a member of immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, with whom MICAH has been working for many years. Voces is focusing attention on the restoration of drivers’ licenses with privacy protection for residents currently barred from applying due to their undocumented citizenship status. They helped organize last year’s successful May 1 “Day Without Latinos” to encourage legislators from both the Democratic and Republican parties to work together collaboratively on a bipartisan bill to restore drivers’ licenses for non-citizens (before the rules were changed in April 2007). The next “Day Without Latinos” is planned for two days, May 1-2, 2020.
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MICAH's education committee has been working on improving education for African American and Latino boys in Milwaukee Public Schools after a task force identified the district as guilty of discriminatory practices against black male students, given the ratios in the number of suspensions given out to minority and white students. A guidebook for policies and procedures that attempts to level the playing field for the benefit of all students has been written and submitted to an MPS school board committee. However, MICAH's education committee is still waiting for a direct response to that report.
In cooperation with the City Health Department and many other agencies and community groups, MICAH’s Coalition on Lead Emergency (COLE) has been working to help parents identify and provide medical treatment for children affected by lead poisoning. In some zip codes, 20-30% of young children have high lead levels in their blood. This creates a serious risk of developmental impairment in infants and toddlers. The Milwaukee Health Department requires home nurse visits and home inspections for lead hazards when tests reveal high level lead poisoning.
One proactive measure COLE has proposed is a $240,000 pilot project to distribute free lead education kits that include an NSF/ANSI-certified lead filter water pitcher with two replacement filters to every newborn child's home in zip codes 53204, 53206, 53208 and 53210, so breast-feeding mothers can avoid unintentionally harming their babies. An active effort to coordinate public education with other groups is also being made so parents will know where they can go for testing and what to look for when children display visible signs and behavioral indicators of lead poisoning.
Presenters on the lead issue at the MICAH meeting included 6-year old Aiden and his older brother, Jaden, both of them suffering from lead exposure from paint, soil and water since birth. The hyper-activity and ADHD dual diagnosis makes them both “special needs” children, but thankfully, Aiden, who has received a great deal of love and support from his church congregation, Hepatha Lutheran, no longer needs all-day therapy in school. Hephatha was the site of MICAH and COLE's recent Lead Free Summit.
MICAH’s jobs and economics issues group has been working on its Transform Milwaukee Jobs project with the goal of increasing funding for both subsidized and unsubsidized low-wage transitional jobs among the 15,000 to 20,000 18 and 19 year olds in the city who are not in school and not working. Part of this population includes young mothers who require assistance with childcare. Enrolling small businesses to join in the effort to educate and train these young people is near the top of the list for priorities for the jobs and economics issue group. They have had some success.
State Rep. Evan Goyke addressed MICAH on criminal justice issues for the Restoring Our Communities (ROC) task force. State Sen. Lena Taylor also spoke in support of the effort to promote the two “Unlock the Vote” bills (Senate Bill 348 and Assembly Bill 477). Members were encouraged to call their legislators’ offices to promote both of these attempts to redress this issue. We profess ourselves to be governed by democratic principles but the way that laws and administrative policies have been drawn up in recent years only emphasizes the “mock” in “democracy.”
This issue is sometimes identified with “voter negation” and how it's been imposed and practiced in the criminal justice system, through the revolving door of parole release, parole revocation and re-incarceration.
Also on hand for MICAH’s meeting were Nancy Ezell, released from the Taycheedah Correctional Institute partly through the advocacy of the ROC Task Force, and Sylvester Jackson, representing EXPO (Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing.) Re-emphasizing the theme of Running the Race for Justice, both spoke eloquently to the group about finally being released from the revolving door of incarceration and getting the opportunity to register to vote, which generations of their families had never been able to do. The race for justice is sometimes a marathon relay event.
