Photo by Erin Bloodgood
James Godsil
On a quiet overcast morning, I sat next to James Godsil on a bench overlooking Lake Michigan—this was his office, he told me. Full of life and humor, he had plenty to say, often looking off at the lake and speaking about philosophical ideas and future possibilities. Many know Godsil as a community connector, a co-founder of Sweet Water Organics, a civil rights advocate, or a long-time community roofer. One could say he is a part of this city – a man who has put his heart and soul into helping Milwaukee grow and flourish since he moved here in 1969.
Reflecting back on his early years in Milwaukee, Godsil remembered the booming working class and industrial jobs that paid for the giant beautiful houses we can still see in the central city. But in the ‘80s and ‘90s those industrial jobs began leaving the city and left many people in ruin. In that time working as a roofer, Godsil would drive around neighborhoods looking at the large percentage of old roofs—the broken and decrepit pieces showing the obvious disinvestment.
Early on, he began to dream about developing neighborhoods and creating what he called a Milwaukee Renaissance. What started as an idea eventually manifested itself into a website where he would tell the stories of extraordinary everyday people around Milwaukee or the “Olympian mensch” as he would say. This led to community organizing with the help of key partners who worked to development group emails as a way to reach people on a larger scale. “Demonstrating one of the things my life has underscored profoundly,” said Godsil. “A small number of people with an idea that’s in the grain of history who can play in the sandbox together…can accomplish huge mounds of things.”
Still Happening Today
His Milwaukee Renaissance is still happening today, and he knows that to be true because, as he says, there’s a part of the population that has fallen in love with Milwaukee and will use the resources they have to “dig in” and make the city better place to live.
Photo by Erin Bloodgood
Now after being in Milwaukee for 52 years, Godsil sees the changes and the vibrant welcoming city Milwaukee has become. Streets like Locust, Center and Capitol have lively store fronts and are cultural hubs. Unlike in the ‘70s, roofs on the East Side are new and well-maintained. And even though Milwaukee has come a long way, he knows there is still work to be done, communities to bring together and roofs to be replaced.
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At the age of 76, Godsil is reluctantly slowing down, but not by much as he continues to connect people across the city and lend his support to the Sweet Water group in Chicago and the Norris Academy just outside of Milwaukee. Diagnosed with a rare blood cancer, he is making sure to spend every valuable moment with his children and grandchildren.
When I asked him what his hopes for Milwaukee were, he said this: “I think it’s good that people among us dream big dreams. Like Dr. King had a dream where ‘little Black boys and girls can join hands with little white boys and girls, and they will be judged not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.’ And I witnessed that dream manifesting. A crucial thing is patience. Oh, it’s not the intensity, but the duration of passion that interests me. My vision, my dream, my hope, is that Milwaukee continues (and it will, I imagine) fighting the good fight like I’ve witnessed.”
Godsil stressed the importance of grandiosity and “stretching one’s mind and imagination to utopian levels” because in order for a renaissance to happen, we have to dream impossible ideas for our city.
Read Godsil’s Milwaukee Renaissance website at www.milwaukeerenaissance.com.
