Photo by Tom Jenz
Tamika Marable
Tamika Marable
Last year, Tamika Marable was crowned Mrs. Wisconsin 2021. The Mrs. Wisconsin pageant celebrates the integration of intellect, beauty and married women in community service. Quite an honor for her. But I was more interested in her life’s journey and also how she has dedicated herself to helping and inspiring children.
I met Tamika Marable at the Mequon Panera Coffee Shop and sat across from her in a quiet booth. I was thinking, what constellation of chance had shaped that beautiful face. She was 40 going on 22. Yet, I also sensed a latent beauty contained inside her. She has friendly eyes, a delicate full mouth, and a smile that advances warmth. In our lengthy conversation, I sensed accessibility.
I started our conversation by asking about her background.
You grew up in Milwaukee’s inner city, right?
I was born in Chicago, but when I was five, my mom brought the family to Milwaukee. Mom struggled with some personal issues and eventually, me and my sisters were placed into an inner city foster care home. Although I was able to see my mom on weekends, I stayed in foster care for a long time. I went to Morse Middle school in the Gifted & Talented program, but I graduated from Webster Middle School, and then I went to North Division High School. I did pretty well there and was even elected Homecoming Queen. In 2000, I graduated from North with a certified nursing and a dental assistant certification.
When you were 18, I understand you suffered a terrible family tragedy. Can you share that experience?
Yes, I was 18 when my two sisters died drowning. One was 10 and the other 14. They had left the house without my mom’s permission. They walked to Merrill Park, and one of them put her feet in the creek but slipped, and the other reached out to help her, and they were swept away and drowned. Before that incident, I remember waiting for the city bus with my 14-year-old sister. She was struggling with self-image problems. At one point, she said, “Mika, I want to be like you when I grow up.” (Tamika paused. She was crying. 22 years later, the tragedy still wounded her soul.) I’ll never forget that. As I matured and thought about my own purpose, like “Why am I here?”—that memory is what inspired me.
From what I’ve read, after high school, you spent two years at Racine Parkside University, but eventually left when you needed a fulltime job.
For a short time, I became a dental assistant. Later on, I took a job as a state correctional officer at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility on 10th and State Downtown. I worked with the guys who were incarcerated, making sure they followed the rules, and a lot of them were angry.
You may be locked into a prison, but the prison is really in your mind. I had to act tough, sort of put on a different personality than who I really am. It was kind of mentally draining. On my off hours, I was also going to Springfield College, earning a degree in human services and criminal justice. I was thinking of becoming a probation or police officer, but I told myself, “Girl, maybe that’s not for you.” I wanted to help people in a different way.
I moved into a social services job, helping with eligibility benefits for families. I stayed at that job for about two years, then went back to school again to obtain my social worker license. I started working with families within the child protective services. I was dealing with a lot of domestic trauma, even removing children from their homes. It’s very hard on children and families. A lot of stress. This experience brought up my own trauma from my past. So I moved on.
As I recall, you kept on with your higher education. You took a job with the Next Door Foundation as a family advocate for early childhood education. This prompted you to go back to school to become a teacher.
Eventually, I earned a master’s degree in urban special education from Cardinal Stritch University. I had finally found my calling in education. In 2017, I took a job as an elementary school teacher in the field of special needs education in the Milwaukee Public Schools.
Why did you choose to teach children with learning disabilities?
I started out teaching students with special needs but who also struggled with behavioral issues. Generally, these children think they have to be tough, rebellious. They may come from families and neighborhood trauma. For me, helping them became a challenge. Slowly, I learned to build a trusting relationship with each student. Once the child had the security that I would be there for them, teaching became easy. It felt good to show love. I feel like this career is a calling for me.
You have two master's degrees, one in business management, the other in urban special education. How has this diverse educational and work background helped you in your life?
I’m always seeking more, and I think this trait has helped me to be a better person and to know myself more. It’s also helped me build leadership skills, confidence and determination.
I looked at your LinkedIn page and discovered you call herself “Purposely Adorned.” Most original. It sparked my curiosity.
When I was crowned Mrs. Wisconsin in 2021, I felt like I didn’t win the title because I was beautiful, but rather I was adorned with a purpose. My message to everyone else is to adorn yourself with a purpose.
The Mrs. Wisconsin Pageant describes participants as “celebrating the integration of intellect, beauty and community service of married women.” Why did you decide to enter the pageant? How has that experience shaped your character?
I guess I just wanted to shine my light, see if I had it in me. At first, I said to myself, “Girl, you can’t do that.” You know? I felt this fear. But I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could get through the Mrs. Wisconsin process. Before that experience, I’d be in a roomful of people and think, “Wow, they really got it.” Often, I felt “less than.” But this pageant experience made me realize that whatever social situation I am in, there is always a value I can add. By the way, I used to be afraid of speaking in public, but now I am able to be a speaker.
To help young women, you founded the non-profit Sisters Too Inc. which serves to improve the quality of life for girls by helping them build positive, healthy relationships. I wonder how the Sisters Too program works.
SISTERS is an acronym: Share, Inspire, Serve, Teach, Encourage and Reward Success. Under Sisters Too, I created a program called PEAC for girls ages 7 to 14. I take the girls through this program to help them build confidence and healthy relationships and also how to deal with negative peer pressure. At the end of the PEAC program, I let them experience a pageant-like or celebration experience. They get a dress/gown, a sash and a crown. They each appear on stage, and I ask them a question. This helps them understand interview skills that they will need in life. The whole approach is designed to build confidence.
So what else are you doing? As if you could do anything more, dedicated as you are.
I created a new program called Read Too Grow. It’s for struggling readers to help them read better. I do this as an after-school activity.
Switching gears, I’ve been interested in discussing the topic of racism with people I interview because it’s been an important issue in the culture, news and social media—and a source of stress for many citizens. The question for me is why do people of different tribes and skin colors have difficulty getting along?
I think the climate is kind of getting better because so many people are now seeing the effects of racism. I try to look for the good. Getting along comes down to communication and having conversations. At MPS, I instituted a book club where we were reading about racial issues. We would sit around a table and exchange thoughts. The question often became, “Why do you think like that?” We’ve all had personal experiences that contribute to prejudice. It’s about unlearning those things. You need to ask yourself, “What can I do to not allow this racism and prejudice to continue in our society, our communities?” If I hear someone say something demeaning, I might speak up if necessary. I may ask them where that attitude came from. I just think we need to get racism out in the open and talk about it. But after the talking, some actions need to flow.”
One thing that has bothered me for a while is contained in some of the rap music songs, the lyrics denigrating Black women. It’s kind of the male street language.
Rap is considered a form of art. However, I believe a lot of that rap music is coming from a place of survival and trauma, coming from a place of hurt. This is what the Black artists have seen, how they have lived, what they know. In a strange way, it might be an outlet for healing. People heal in different ways. For me, it’s writing, journaling, and that is how I deal with the negativity I’ve seen or experienced. When many people hear the rap music and the street lyrics, they can identify with the feelings, the emotion—because they might have experienced the song’s message. That’s why it’s important for Black women to really know themselves, not let song lyrics demean you. As for me, I just don’t allow that kind of negative message into my ears.
