Frank Nitty II has become a protest phenomenon. In a few months, dressed in his trademark dreadlocks under a flat-billed cap, he has attracted nearly 100,00 followers across Wisconsin and the U.S. Last Saturday, I met Frank at the People’s Cookout near Mitchell Park. The largely black crowd included some Hispanics and a few whites.
In the center of the vast greensward, participants lounged on blankets and lawn chairs, or stood in small groups chatting. Some wore Black Lives Matter T shirts. At the north end of the park, a boombox the size of a small RV blasted music from an alternative FM station. Along the west perimeter stood large grills for cooking brats, chicken, and burgers.
Frank is 39, but he looks 29, slim, fit, and with an unwavering expression that means business. His well-known live videos portray him as a man of fervor and intensity, but in person, he shows few moments of drama. He speaks with an accent of sincerity but with an undertone of suspicion as if he wants to rectify the black man as misunderstood.
I felt caught in the swirl of Frank’s gigantic personality. He has an aura that inspires respect among his followers, and several cornered him for advice and friendship. As he speaks, he becomes lost in conversation as he carefully makes his points. His style of protest has been freewheeling, improvisational. Each day he shows up in spots where he might make a difference.
I asked about the purpose of the People’s Cookout.
We’ve been protesting for 43 straight days. We invited people of all colors to come out and party, talk to each other, relax. We’ll give out free food, and we will celebrate. More important, we will register voters.
What do you call your protest movement?
I call it The New Milwaukee even though the movement is bigger than Milwaukee. The New Milwaukee is about changing the stigmatism of the old Milwaukee of racism and the most segregated city in the country. We want to break these barriers, help finance home ownership for African Americans, eliminate police brutality, get recognition for inner city people and make life more positive for people of color. We’re doing this one step at a time. But I’m reluctant to call the movement anything because I don’t think I own it. I think the people own it.
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What do you mean by ‘the people’?
Everybody. White, Black, Hispanic, all sexes, all ages, all race, anybody who thinks that the country’s been unfair to them. When you stand up for black rights, you stand up for all people who went through something negative, mistreatment by their family members, at their places of work, by the police, politicians. People who’ve been abused, even beaten on the streets. The popular term is Black Lives Matter, but I am taking it further. Oppressed people everywhere all matter.
How does your movement apply to Blacks?
The reality is that black people are targeted in this country. We didn’t ask to be at the bottom of the totem pole. We want to start with us, the blacks who are oppressed. But we care about all lives. We care about abolishing ICE and getting fair treatment for new immigrants, enforcing their rights, and these are mostly Hispanics.
If you accomplish your goals, what would our society look like in three to five years?
Think about it like this. Martin Luther King didn’t just free black people. He freed all the races that were oppressed. He might have said, “We’re standing up because black people can’t go into restaurants or drink at the water fountains or sit at the front of the bus,” but when the laws changed, it was for everybody, all racially oppressed people. In three to five years, we see laws changing, more tolerance, acceptance among the races. We see laws and legislation adopted to restructure the demographics of racism and an enlightenment that takes place in businesses and housing. But realistically we cannot eliminate racism from people’s minds. No one can.
It seems like you hate the police. Am I wrong?
There are and have been police who mistreat black people, treat them unfairly. I’d say maybe two percent of all cops. Most cops are not bad and try to be fair. Our complaint is that very few of these two percent are prosecuted or held accountable for their racist actions. I think that the 98% of the good cops should hold the 2% of bad cops accountable. I also think there needs to be a jury of the people to arbitrate bad cop behavior and recommend punishments. We don’t get that from the Milwaukee justice system or the politicians. We want to get this change instituted within a year.
The mainstream media seems to ignore black inner city residents unless there are crimes. Should that change?
Here is a scenario. Let’s say all of the city’s black people didn’t go to work for a week. Would the city be able to run without them? Of course not. Half the citizens of Milwaukee are black. There is the irony. Half of Milwaukee citizens are largely ignored by the politicians and the media power brokers. How can the mayor, the aldermen and many of our elected officials ignore what half the people in Milwaukee are asking for? Here is more irony. The city officials can rush to erase the Defund the Police painting on a downtown street but take forever to fix the inner city streets, collect garbage, remove snow, arrest reckless drivers. Currently, you have Milwaukee’s Hispanics, Asians, even many whites asking for specific change.
Where did you grow up, Frank? What is your background?
I was born and raised in Milwaukee, near 39th and Hampton. Went to the 35th Street School. We moved around, but I’ve always been on Hampton. I graduated from John Marshall High School on 64th. I was raised by my mom, single parent home. Frank Connor, by grandfather, was a big influence. Strong man, great man. At one time, I was the youngest loan officer in the state of Wisconsin. Then, I was in real estate sales.
In 2008, I had a car accident and ruined my back. My mom had a stroke. Then, the market crashed and killed home sales. After that, I lost my fiancé. She was pregnant and lost the baby. My cousin was murdered. For a few years, I was trying to find myself. Did a lot of music. Then, I looked to helping my people because it seemed like that was the only thing left for me. I was always involved in community work. In 2016, I quit my job and really jumped into a leadership role for my people. I’m single, no wife, no girlfriend. I can devote all my time to the movement.
How many more days can you keep up the protests?
Forever. I can do this forever.
I’m a white man. I admit I am prejudiced. White people are prejudiced. Blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Muslims are prejudiced. Can’t we all get along even though we are not alike?
Education comes with this. We are all prejudiced, but we are not all racist. Segregation and racism are systematic. Our governments are not being oppressive to all races, but they are being oppressive to the majority of black people. When the police pull you over as a white man, they treat you differently than me as a black man with dreadlocks. We as normal humans can put our differences aside, but I don’t think our government should be systematically racist or oppressive. Let’s get the system corrected, and the differences between people will follow. Some people will never change. They will die racists. My interest is in educating the younger people. If we teach them tolerance and fairness at a young age, we are then breaking the generational curses.
There are a lot of white people who support your movement, even in places like Fox Point, Mequon and Cedarburg. But they are afraid. They think the inner city is crime ridden and dangerous. How do you get to them?
This is difficult because the mainstream media portrays the inner city as everything that’s scary. We are in the news only if there are murders, accidents or robberies. But we’ve been marching everyday peacefully for over a month and no one got hurt. I’ve been throwing events everyday and no one got hurt. Would you ever see on the news ... ‘The movement had a peaceful event and no one got hurt?’ This is the reason I show my travels in live video on my phone. I want my followers to see what really happens, not what the media may report for a negative minute on the ten o’clock news. This is how we’ve increased our followers. They see us at peace on video, and they join us. We like it when white people join us. If you support our movement, we welcome you.
Have you tried to meet with the mayor or the aldermen?
Not right now. The line’s been drawn in the sand philosophically. I want them to come meet with me, listen to my philosophy. If the Mayor has a negative mindset about what we are protesting about, I won’t sit down with him. I don’t want a half-stepper saying ‘I kind of support you.’ If you support our cause, come march with us. You know? You gotta stand up for something.
For more of our coverage of the protests occurring across Milwaukee, click here.
To read more stories by Tom Jenz, click here.
