Photo credit: Michael Carriere
Patrick Smith and Jose Acevedo join protesters at Washington Park on Saturday, June 13, 2020.
Successful civil rights movements are not about facts; they are about stories. Or, as we talk about this phenomenon in 2020, the key is “controlling the narrative.” Symbols matter, as do the ways that such symbols are communicated to a broader audience. Content is a part of this process. But methods of dissemination of such content may be even more important.
Those currently pushing for police reform in the City of Milwaukee understand how this works. The Milwaukee Police Department does not.
As of June 29, 2020, the Milwaukee Police Department is crafting stories that will only strengthen the efforts of their adversaries. My choice of the word “adversaries” here is intentional: very little has been done by the MPD to create any sort of story of dialogue between the department and activists. Instead, we see images of police officers seemingly intimidating children and their parents, as they did at a rally in front of the Milwaukee District One and Administration building on Saturday, June 27 (to call the children, movement leader Frank Nitty read Dr. Seuss to the children).
Instead, we see images of MPD officers not wearing protective masks, confronting masked protestors at a variety of moments over the past month (in a June 29 press conference sponsored by the Milwaukee Press Club, movement organizer Destiny Monae stressed the importance of wearing such facial protection during marches). Adversaries do not care about the health of their opponents. Symbols matter.
Photo credit: Michael Carriere
Marchers make their way through Washington Heights on Saturday, June 13, 2020.
Arrest of Vaun Mayes
The most recent example of this dynamic is the arrest of community organizer and movement leader Vaun Mayes; Mayes was taken into police custody on June 29 on matters related to events that took place on the 2100 block of N. 40th Street last week. On Tuesday, June 23, community members—in the search for two missing teenage girls—confronted police officers in front of a house at 2120 N. 40th Street. While details on what happened remain sketchy at best, the house, which a number of neighborhood residents believe is connected in some way to child trafficking, was set on fire at some point during the confrontation.
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Yet the press release announcing the arrest of Mayes does nothing to clarify this situation. Instead, the document released by the MPD ambiguously notes that Mayes was apprehended on “a felony charge related to his alleged involvement in criminal activity.” So why was he detained, exactly? There is also confusion on whether Mayes’ detention is connected to any outstanding warrant in his name. The officer that took him into custody at 50th Street and North Avenue said there was. A detective questioned by WISN 12 said there was not. Again, symbols matter—as do the ways these things are communicated to a broader audience.
Document Everything
What makes such missteps so noticeable are the ways that movement leaders have apparently learned the lessons that the MPD has failed to heed. While MPD shrouds their motives in vague press releases, individuals such as Frank Nitty livestream all their protest-related activities on Facebook. While MPD communicates very little with the public-at-large on these matters, Nitty, often in a highly emotional state, shares everything.
Such a desire to document everything has laid the foundation for a movement that has come to value a certain type of inclusion, one that provides space, both physical and intellectual, for new narratives to emerge. While individuals such as Nitty, Mayes, and Khalil Coleman have clearly emerged as movement leaders, these three men—all in their 30s—have allowed younger men (such as Sedan Smith, the brother of Sylville Smith, who was killed by an MPD officer in 2016) and women (like the aforementioned Monae) to take on leadership roles.
At the same time, the movement has provided space for older men like Patrick Smith—Seville’s father—and Jose Acevedo, whose son Joel was killed by an off-duty MPD officer in April 2020. One of the most powerful visuals of the recent round of marches emerged when these two fathers, one African American and the other Latinx, embraced before leading protesters on a march through the city’s West Side on June 13. Chants were yelled in both English and Spanish as the marchers made their way up Vliet Street. Others held up signs with such messages as “Hmong Men for Black Power” as volunteers provided demonstrators, through a sort of traveling mutual-aid society, with water and food.
And, as the caravan made its way through the side streets of Washington Heights and Wauwatosa’s Washington Highlands, Frank Nitty went door-to-door to introduce himself to homeowners. After one such introduction, two young white girls put on their shoes, left their Highlands’ home, and joined the marchers. And two new stories were created, as countless people watched through Facebook. Symbols matter.
For more of our coverage of the protests occurring across Milwaukee, click here.
To read more stories by Michael Carriere, click here.
