Photo Credit: Tom Jenz
Shantel Carson and photos of her five relatives lost to murder.
A few weeks ago, I met Shantel Carson in Sherman Park where she was organizing a community peace march to call attention to the violence in Milwaukee’s central city neighborhoods. She told me, “I’m here in Sherman Park to encourage peace. We wanna stop Black people from killing each other and bring harmony back to our village. We’re marching in areas that are highly impacted by killings. We’re not a violent people. We want peace.”
Self-assured, Shantel Carson speaks swiftly through a commanding voice. She is a co-member of the 9to5, National Association of Working Women and organizes youth-oriented talent shows. A few years ago, she was responsible for getting the box removed from job applications that requires an applicant to reveal any criminal history.
Tragically, violence has touched Shantel’s own extended family. In the last couple years, she has lost five close relatives to murder in four separate instances.
The list of losses:
One, her first cousin, Frank Carson Jr, was killed two years ago. He was shot in the head while sitting in a car. Frank was barely in his 20s. The killer is still on the loose.
Two, her cousin, Nico “Rider” Swanagan. He was murdered in a stranger’s house where he was buying pills. The drug dealer, still at large, apparently killed him. Nico was in his early 20s.
Three, her nephew, Nico Swanagan’s brother, Timothy Ray Frazier. On April 5, 2021, Timothy was shot and killed by a security guard in a bar near Sherman Park. Timothy was 36. On the north side of Sherman Park, a colorful memorial to Timothy had been established next to a tree. The tribute still stands.
Four, her nephew Kendric McMillian. Shot in the head in a car on Feb. 1, 2021. He was 20 years old.
Five, also shot dead and in that same car, her cousin Jerrion Certion, known as “Itty Bitty.” He had made it to 29.
These kind of killings rarely get news coverage, are even difficult to find on any internet search engine. Black on Black incidents of violence, too frequent, are often just statistics to the mainstream media.
Surrounded by violence and a single mother of four boys in their 20s, Shantel Carson carries on. She said, “We are doing peace circles, community circles for grieving families who have lost young ones to violence. We’re focused on what we can do as community organizers about the violence in our neighborhoods, whether it’s gun violence, Black on Black crimes, or police brutality. We’re trying to find programs to help our youth. The city puts money into the Bucks Arena, the Brewers Ballpark, the trolley car, and the big downtown buildings, but what about us? The city should put money into our Black neighborhoods. We need programs for the youth to keep them out of trouble. Many of our kids are suffering. They don’t have fathers, or they have abusive fathers, or fathers who’ve been in and out of jail. It takes a village to raise a child. How can we become a village again, how can our whole community come together?”
Now 50, Shantel grew up near 12th and Burleigh and graduated from Washington High School. She recalls her 1970s neighborhood as a village, neighbors taking care of each other, looking out for the children. She said, “Everybody was my mother on 12th and Burleigh. Seven of us in my family, and I’m the youngest. Oldest born in Mississippi, next oldest born in Chicago, and I was born in Milwaukee. My dad was in the house until I was about ten when he moved out. But I still spent a lot of time with him. We kids got raised in a church, the Faith Temple Church of God and Christ on 25th and Center. My mother instilled in us you can’t shack up with a man unless you’re married. I was married three times. My sons are from different fathers. With my four sons, I tried to be both a mother and a father. As for my community now, I need to be a mentor, a role model, an organizer, a leader. All of us, Black, brown, white, all cultures, we need to come together.”
