Paul Kjelland and Nicolas Lampert
Undeniably, the fight for civil rights has made much progress over the past sixty years. But tragedies such as the death of Dontre Hamilton remind us that there remains work to be done. At 3 p.m. on Sunday, November 8, the unveiling of two murals and the simultaneous activation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Place (at the corner of N. Martin Luther King Dr. and Ring St.) will point the way forward.
Created by two Milwaukee-based artists, Nicolas Lampert and Paul Kjelland, the murals represent the history of Milwaukee’s civil rights movement during the 1960s. One depicts legendary local activist Father James Groppi leading the Milwaukee Commandos (a group of black men organized to prevent violence during Freedom Marches). The other mural speaks to the fight for housing rights. The murals were commissioned to serve as the focal for the new Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Place, an “innovative new park that seeks to blend public art, education and urban agriculture.” By reminding the city of its past, the Peace Place hopes to set Milwaukee’s present on the path towards a brighter future. Three speakers will translate the visual message of the murals during the unveiling: Peggy Rozga (civil rights activist and widow of Father Groppi), Milwaukee Commandos leader Prentince McKinney, HeartLove Place director Claudette Harris (also a veteran of MKE’s civil rights movement).
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True to its mission, the creation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Place brought together a number of local organizations. Representatives from Summer of Peace, ReciproCITY, HeartLove Place, MSOE, Groundwork Milwaukee, the City of Milwaukee’s Home Gr/Own Initiative, Walnut Way, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Community Design Solutions and Architecture 350), and Growing Power played an indispensable role in making the project a reality.
