10 Years After Unrest, Faith Leaders Optimistic About Sherman Park

Faith leaders (from left) Marcus Arrington, Walter Harvey, Venice Williams and Walter Lanier reflect on the 10 years since the unrest in Sherman Park. (Collage by Jake Dale / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)

Ask Bishop Walter Harvey about the uprising that shook Sherman Park a decade ago, and he will point to thriving new marketplaces and a spirit of entrepreneurship.

Ask healer Venice Williams the same question, and her initial response is a telling, heavy silence.

In 2019, the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service spoke to faith leaders about the three-year anniversary of the Sherman Park unrest.

That unrest was sparked by the killing of Sylville Smith by a Milwaukee police officer and other systemic problems that had plagued the neighborhood for years.

Now, a decade since the unrest, Sherman Park faith leaders reflect on the event’s lasting impact and process of moving forward.

Bishop Walter Harvey of Embassy Center MKE poses for a portrait. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)

Harvey, the apostolic leader at Embassy Center MKE, called the unrest a decade ago a scar, not a wound.

Rather than lasting bitterness, hurt and rage, Harvey says Sherman Park and his church have learned and grown in the years since.

“The scar is a reminder of what used to be, but we moved on in more positive directions, and I think the community as a whole has as well,” Harvey said.

Current Senior Pastor Marcus Arrington echoed Harvey’s metaphor of the scar that was left after the uprising.

“We don’t have to stay broken,” Arrington said. “The scar represents the past. It was traumatic, it was frustrating, but we’re better since it occurred.”

A silent response

Venice Williams poses for a portrait. (Photo provided by Venice Williams)

Seven years ago, NNS spoke with minister and healer Williams about the Sherman Park unrest.

“I think some eyes that had been closed were opened,” she said at the time.

When Williams, who is also director of Alice’s Garden, an urban farm on Milwaukee’s North Side, was asked what changes have happened since then, her response was muted.

“My silence is, I guess, the answer,” Williams said.

Williams views the Sherman Phoenix Marketplace as a success and sign of progress but said deeper issues in the neighborhood still haven’t been tackled.

“Does that space or any physical space address the root causes and concerns of what happened on that day?” Williams asked.

Positives in the neighborhood

In 2019, Harvey told NNS that Sherman Park was “experiencing economic flourishing.” Today, he still believes that’s the case.

Harvey listed not just the Sherman Phoenix Marketplace but also the Fond du Lac Avenue Business Improvement District 54, Sherman Park Grocery Store and Upstart Kitchen as examples of entrepreneurship in the area.

“It was in response to listening sessions that we held here in 2016 after Sylville Smith was shot, where we heard things like a cry for economic justice,” Harvey said.

Changing the narrative

The Embassy Center MKE church was once known as the Parklawn Assembly of God.

According to Harvey and Arrington, the name change in 2022 to the Embassy Center was sparked by a need to create entrepreneurs and ambassadors who spread and make change in their community.

“We’re not just a church where members come; we are an embassy where ambassadors are set out from,” Harvey said.

Marcus Arrington is senior pastor at Embassy Center MKE. (Photo provided by Marcus Arrington).

Arrington says business and entrepreneurship are part of their mission.

“We see business as a type of justice,” Arrington said.

Arrington describes himself as a son of the neighborhood, growing up on North 39th and West Burleigh streets and attending Washington High School.

As a leading figure at the Embassy Center, he sees a chance to strengthen the ecosystem and neighborhood pride in Sherman Park.

“We’ve invested money into learning ways that we can become more socially and economically invested in the community,” Arrington said.

He says the name Embassy Center was about creating a reminder that as ambassadors, each person is part of something bigger than themselves.

“Part of an ambassador’s job description is to build relationships, because diplomacy depends on it,” Arrington said.

He said the uprising from 10 years ago exposed the lack of connectedness that plagued the community.

There’s been more cohesiveness and support since then, he said.

Arrington says programs like ComForce, Safe & Sound and the Sherman Park Community Association are products of not allowing a moment of tragedy to define the community.

That community presence was an important takeaway of the unrest.

“One of the ways you demonstrate that love is by being with people in their most vulnerable moments,” Arrington said.

The next 10 years

For the faith leaders we spoke to, continuing to innovate and build their community in the next 10 years after the uprising is always top of mind.

The Rev. Walter Lanier, who has spent the last 15 years as a pastor at Progressive Baptist Church, says connectedness and collaboration within faith groups and the Sherman Park community is vital.

“In order for the efforts to be effective, there needs to be more coordination,” Lanier said.

Walter Lanier serves at Progressive Baptist Church. (Photo provided by Walter Lanier)

Lanier highlighted his three Cs for the future: Connectivity, collaboration and catalytic investment.

Harvey wants to bring the “neighborliness” back to the area. According to Harvey, this happens through both vertical and horizontal listening, which refers to the practice of listening to both God and the immediate Sherman Park community.

Arrington wants to continue making sure his ambassadors take pride in the Sherman Park neighborhood while putting the onus on themselves to help improve it.

“What are we willing to do to keep pressing forward into the vision of a strong, vibrant Sherman Park where all residents can flourish,” he asked.

Williams, of Alice’s Garden, wants to see more community spaces that help Sherman Park residents figure out their “why.”

“We all need to do a better job of walking with people and listening and providing opportunities that are life-giving,” Williams said.

A “Love” sign in Alice’s Garden, 2136 N. 21st St. (NNS file photo)

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.