Forgotten Milwaukee
By Frizell Bailey In the December 2005 issue of Vital Source, the “Forgotten Milwaukee” series began to examine school choice. School choice has been controversial politically, with white Democrats largely opposing the policy and Republicans among the staunchest supporters. This does not hold true among black Democrats. Black parents overwhelmingly support school vouchers. According to the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 60 percent of African Americans support school vouchers and only 35 percent oppose them. This is almost the same margin of support as Republicans hold for the voucher program. But that “choice” is somewhat limited. The Wisconsin program only allows 15 percent of public school students in MPS to choose a charter or voucher school. There’s also the problem of transportation. More than half of choice schools offer either limited or no transport for students, and the program itself doesn’t provide any transportation guidelines or requirements. Income affects outcomesI do not question the conventional wisdom that public schools have failed students. However, a simple fact often gets lost in the debate over not leaving children behind: teaching is really hard. And teaching at-risk students is even harder. I found this out firsthand as a middle and high school teacher in the Mississippi Delta. Like many new, young teachers I thought I’d march in like Sidney Poitier in To Sir, With Love. Instead, I found the job to be far more difficult than I had imagined. Here’s the problem. What I didn’t understand at the time was that when poverty is extreme, people loose hope. It’s difficult to see the value of education when the only people around you that have educations are teachers or people who don’t look like you. I spoke with two local educators to explore this idea within Milwaukee Public Schools. Dr. Aquine Jackson is the chief academic officer for the district. Kathy Williams leads the Division of Teaching and Learning for MPS. Both agree that income plays a role in the success or failure of students. The key issue, according to both, is one of preparedness. Students whose parents don’t have the time and resources to provide educational experiences to complement what happens in the classroom are at a disadvantage. This doesn’t change the reality that schools have a responsibility to educate such students, but it does make it more difficult to close the achievement gap. It is widely believed that a socially, economically and ethnically diverse student body benefits students, especially poor students. Just as is true for concentrations of poverty in housing, having a student body that is comprised primarily of students from disadvantaged backgrounds adversely affects their academic success. “There has been research that supports the idea that when there is economic diversity in schools, students make more rapid gains than when they are all in the lower income bracket,” William says. “There is not as great a concentration of needs and students learn from each other.” Williams believes that the problem is one of overtaxing the system. […]
Jan 1st, 2006
Forgotten Milwaukee
By Frizell Bailey Few would argue that a quality education is critical to a child’s success in life. There is a clear correlation between educational attainment and income level. So it would seem a no-brainer that the surest way to tackle the economic disparity that exists between blacks and whites in Milwaukee would be to offer poor blacks students a quality education. However, black students in Milwaukee all too frequently fail to receive one. According to a 2004 Milwaukee Public Schools Report, 61 percent of MPS seniors graduated in 2003. Broken down by race, the study found that while 71 percent of white students graduated, only 56 percent of black students did. Why is there such a huge gap between white and black graduation rates? The easy answer would be to talk about the failures of Milwaukee Public Schools, which are, according to critics, the logical culprit. Educators, the argument goes, simply are not doing their jobs. We need more accountability. We need to rid ourselves of these no-account teachers who simply want a paycheck. Some see a solution in school choice. The Choice Is Yours.In 1990, then-Governor Tommy Thompson signed a state budget into law that included a pilot program allowing 1 percent of Milwaukee Public School students to opt out of the district in favor of private, non-sectarian schools. Then in 1995, Thompson proposed expanding the program to include religious schools. The Legislature approved the measure, making law what would become the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). At the heart of the issue for proponents of school choice is a free market. Just as in any other industry, the theory goes, public schools have no incentive to innovate if there is no real competition. The thinking has been that parents, given a choice, would remove their children from failing public schools and enroll them in “better” private or charter schools, given the choice. As for public schools, they would either learn to compete or go the way of the dinosaur. Either way, students would receive a better education. This rationale, of course, fails to consider one fundamental element of human nature. People will do anything for money. Who’s Minding The Store?Perhaps the biggest criticism of choice schools is that there is insufficient accountability. And there is perhaps no more glaring an example of choice school failure than Harambee Community School. Cleveland Lee, the school’s chief financial officer, was found guilty of theft and filing false income tax returns. Lee embezzled almost $750,000 from the school, using the money to buy luxury cars and remodel his home instead of educating students. Legislative leaders have tightened oversight of choice school finances in the wake of such scandals. But these new rules still do not give the Department of Public Instruction authority to oversee the educational programs of these schools, though in recent weeks DPI has sought to enforce educational standards as outlined by existing minimum school standards law. Anyone Can Teach?Within the program’s current structure, there are no qualification requirements […]
Dec 1st, 2005
Forgotten America
By Frizell Bailey First in a Vital Source series examining therole of race in social disparity in America. In his September 15th address from Jackson Square in New Orleans, President Bush spoke of the need to address the persistent poverty that was evident to the whole world in the days after Hurricane Katrina. He called for “bold action” that would ensure more black ownership of homes and businesses and increased job skills – actions not so much bold, really, as common sense. Poverty and racial inequality are nothing new in New Orleans. So how is it that it took a catastrophe like Katrina for us to acknowledge them? Perhaps we were all seduced by the hospitality and charm of the city, served up like ladles of steaming gumbo. Or maybe it was the jell-o shot mindset of “laissez les bons temps rouler,” let the good times roll. More likely, though, we all just looked the other way. No one likes a buzz kill as harsh as extreme poverty. This land is my land.There has been much talk about what to do with New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. It seems the overwhelming opinion is that it should be bull-dozed and not re-settled. After all, there’s no way to raise the land above sea level. People around the country and the world are even privately asking why people lived there in the first place. It’s never been a secret that the Ninth Ward is the most flood-prone neighborhood in the city. While letting the area return to the marsh land is probably a good idea, what people are forgetting in questioning the logic of building a community here in the first place is the original settlement patterns of the Ward and New Orleans as a whole. From the beginning, blacks have taken up residence in the low lying, vulnerable areas of the city, due in large part to economic inequality and just plain bad timing. French colonists who originally settled there purposely chose the best land, meaning the high ground. This includes the Garden District and the French Quarter. It is no coincidence that these areas were not flooded. When blacks were finally able to buy homes in the city in any kind of numbers, only low-lying land was available to them. Most of the “good” land had already been snatched up. Cost also played a part. Blacks could not afford what little higher ground that was still available, so they built communities adjacent to more affluent white neighborhoods to be near their service jobs. Much of my own family lives in the New Orleans area. When I was a kid, some lived on the Westbank in the suburbs; some lived on the Eastbank in the projects and subsidized housing. On a visit to New Orleans as a teenager, I got my first look at the extreme poverty in the city. We had to pick up one of my cousins from his home in the projects near the Lower Ninth Ward. At that […]
Nov 1st, 2005
An Elegy
By Frizell Bailey Christmas used to be my favorite holiday. And how could it not? Any holiday where you get loads of gifts and can gorge yourself on platefuls of fatty food is all right by me. Besides, this festival of gluttony is a great way to cap off the end of the calendar year. But it was more than that. Christmas, for me, was always first and foremost about family. I grew up in a tiny Mississippi town of the sort that most people think of when they think of the South. There were no fast food restaurants or malls or even a Wal-Mart for 30 miles. We had one stop light on Main Street until it was replaced by a stop sign. Much of my family lived right there in town and had lived there all their lives. Those that didn’t came home several times a year from New York, New Orleans, Chicago and California for family reunions and holidays. By far, Christmas was the granddaddy of them all. There’s no place like home for the holidays.Most years saw our little section of town inundated by convoys of extended family. For a solid week just about every member of the Thomas and Bailey family was “home.” Hotel rooms were rarely an option. The mere mention that someone was considering getting a room was sure to offend and be dismissed as sheer nonsense. So kids doubled up in twin beds or slept on the floor. My parents’ three-bedroom house, which usually seemed unable to accommodate the six of us, suddenly seemed spacious enough to hold up to seven additional people. I would gather with groups of my aunts and female cousins in family kitchens to prepare copious amounts of food: turkey and dressing, glazed ham, potato salad, several cakes and sweet potato pies. We would usually stay up late into the night, and each of the following nights, catching up and generally enjoying one another’s company. On Christmas day, the children would, of course, spend much of the day playing with their new toys while being ushered between Big Momma’s and M’deah’s (my maternal grandmother) house. My father and uncles could usually be found watching football and savoring brews in between munching on turkey and dressing and playing with the kids and their new footballs or radio-controlled cars. Holidays with my family, however, were not entirely like the Waltons. Ours, like most, had its share of dysfunction. There were often arguments and disagreements about one thing or another. And because holidays often meant the consumption of large amounts of alcohol, there were sometimes arguments that escalated into fisticuffs or, worse, gun brandishing. It may sound like a horrifying thing, but if you knew my family it would all seem quite humorous and harmless. These arguments usually ended in lots of apologies and tears, brothers hugging and saying how much they loved each other. But sometimes, you can’t go home again.It has been a number of years since we have […]
Dec 1st, 2004
Challenging Charities
By Frizell Bailey The nation’s poverty rate rose for the third straight year in 2003. According to a Census Bureau report released in September, 35.9 million Americans were living in poverty, up 1.3 million from the previous year. Most alarmingly, that figure includes 17.6 million children. The Census Bureau report supports what those in the business of meeting the needs of the poor and homeless have known for several years. The demand for emergency food and shelter is on the rise. Unfortunately though, the same factors generating this increased need are also having an adverse effect on charitable giving. As a result, organizations that require such funds to feed, clothe and house those that have fallen on hard times are, in many instances, finding that overall contributions have declined in the wake of record donations in the late 90’s. Vital Source recently spoke with three local charities who provide food, shelter and other services to citizens in need to gain a clearer understanding of the rising demand/declining resources situation in Milwaukee, and to learn how those organizations have worked to meet the challenge. Harder now for Hope House. Hope House is a homeless shelter near downtown Milwaukee. In addition to providing emergency and transitional housing for individuals and families, Hope House also provides health care, childcare, emergency food service and educational services for youth and adults. “One of the trends we have been seeing is the decrease in government funding allocations that Hope House has in the past relied upon” says Kirk Stone, Fund Development Coordinator. He says funding from government agencies for charities has been dropping since 2001. This has been particularly difficult for Hope House, since government funding typically covers over half of their operating budget. To compound the problem, they have also seen declines in other revenue sources. “School-based giving is down and corporate giving is down. We are starting to see a greater increase in the dollar amounts of individual gifts that are coming in, but from 2001…the total number of individuals who have been giving is down” says Stone. The same paradox holds true for foundations. “Foundation gifts have increased in terms of dollar amount (per capita)” says Kirk. “But the (number of) organizations that are giving and the organizations giving specifically to homeless issues has been decreasing.” Working with less. Hope House has had to scale back its staff as a result of their funding crunch. According to Executive Director Ken Schmidt, they have tried to make cuts that don’t directly affect services. It hasn’t been easy. “In 2002 we lost $85,000, which we made up through our fund balance. Most of our cuts have been on the administrative side. For example, I no longer have a secretary. It’s kind of a catch-22 because I should be spending more time raising resources, but I’m doing more administrative work.” Their youth education program, for example, used to be funded partly through literacy grants from the W2 program. The state has been forced to cut these […]
Nov 1st, 2004
Frizell Bailey understands the blues.
By Frizell Bailey 2003 has been dubbed the Year of the Blues, marking the 100th anniversary of W.C. Handy’s making some of the first blues recordings in 1903. I grew up in a Mississippi town so small that we had only one stoplight until they took it down in favor of stop signs a number of years ago. The town was small but the blues was large. At most gatherings, and in the hand full of bars in our tiny downtown, blues was what you expected to hear. There was a radio station in Jackson, the only real city in the state, that played all blues, except for a hip hop show late nights and gospel programming on Sundays. I hated the blues. For me it represented everything I wanted to separate myself from. Blues was the music of the downtrodden, the destitute and the uneducated. Desperately trying not to be the small town boy that I was, I turned away from the folksy sound that permeated my childhood. It wasn’t until moving to Jackson to attend college in ’91 that I began to appreciate the blues. It was a three-pronged process, beginning with a part-time job at the largest independent record shop in town, where I suddenly had all manner of music at my disposal. Then there was the influence of the store’s owners and my coworkers, who seemed to agree with Louis Armstrong. “If it sounds good, it is good.” So I gave everything I could a fair listening, from Aabba to Frank Zappa. The groundwork was laid. In 1997 I began teaching in the Mississippi Delta. For those unfamiliar, the Delta is the poorest region in the country. But it is also the birthplace of the blues. Many of the biggest names in the blues came out of this region, from B.B. King and Robert Johnson to Elvis Presley. He may be known as the king of rock and roll, but Elvis was first and foremost a blues man. It’s easy to see why the blues was born in this area. The land is rich, but the people are poor. Even today, most people work in agriculture or don’t work at all. It was amazing how much this land affected me. I finally began to get it. The final phase in the development of my appreciation of the blues occurred at the Subway. The Subway is a juke joint in Jackson offering some of the best live blues in America for a mere $5 cover. Located in the basement of a building that used to house the only hotel where black people could get reservations, Subway sells cans of beer on ice in a bucket and “blues” dogs at the house next door. Friday and Saturday nights, the joint is jumping. People crowd into the tiny space, black and white alike, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder, bodies gyrating, souls engulfed by the music. Whereas I once winced at the sound, today my heart swells, soaked to the core with […]
Dec 1st, 2003
All Arabs are the Same
By Frizell Bailey Recently, Mhammad Abu-Shawish, local business owner and former Director of Arabian World Fest, was indicted on charges of conspiracy, visa fraud and the misappropriation of $75,000 in federal block grants. For members of Milwaukee’s Arab American community, this is most certainly another blow to their battered public image. People of Arab/Middle Eastern descent are unfortunately learning what African Americans have known for quite some time. The acts of a few can mean big trouble for the many. It has long been the case in the United States for black folk that you are not just an individual, but also a race. Now in post-9/11 America, people of Middle Eastern descent have joined the club. I guess you could call it the “monolithic me” syndrome. All those (fill in the blank) people are the same. It doesn’t take a black child in this country long to realize that whatever successes or failures he or she has will likely be writ large onto his or her race. If a black person does well, he is a credit to his race. If he makes a misstep, it is because black people are incompetent, lazy, violent, et cetera. I can recall watching the evening news with my father and noticing him come under a mild panic if the anchor mentioned some horrible crime to be reported on later. I could tell what he was thinking: please don’t let it be a black person. These days I can imagine an Iranian American child watching his father wince in pain as he watches a news report of some suspected Muslim extremist under investigation for some alleged conspiracy. What he knows, as my father knew, is that these individual crimes will most likely have ramifications for everyone that looks like the suspect. Fearing a possible backlash, the Arab American Community of Wisconsin, Inc. issued a statement in an attempt to distance itself from Abu-Shawish, who is a former member of their board of directors and founder of what is now called Arab World Fest. Joseph Makhlouf, executive director of AACW, expressed his concern in a recent article in the Journal Sentinel. “Since we are the Arab festival and this will be in the paper, they’re going to say that all the Arabs are the same,” Makhlouf told the Journal. “That’s what we’re concerned about. That people will judge us by one person and one action.” Mr. Makhlouf’s concerns, as most would admit, are well founded. We can all recall the acts of violence against people of Middle Eastern descent in the weeks and months after 9/11. In my hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, someone tossed a metal trash can through the front window of a Muslim museum. Never mind that most of the staff and a number of members of its board are American-born. The curious thing, of course, is that there were no such attacks on businesses or organizations owned by white men after Timothy McVeigh drove a rental truck loaded with explosives into […]
Nov 1st, 2003
Is this thing on?
By Frizell Bailey The view from Ben Merens’ 23rd floor office is spectacular. It sweeps the eastern half of downtown, with the river and the lake as bookends. Admittedly, not at all what you’d expect from the offices of a public radio station; a ClearChannel office, maybe. “It’s a little embarrassing,” Merens says with a smile. He explains to visitors and would-be public radio members and underwriters that Wisconsin Public Radio got the space at a steal when occupancy in the building was low. Merens is the host of a call-in talk show that airs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the Ideas Network, broadcast in Milwaukee at 90.7 FM. The show covers current events and includes expert guests, policy makers and commentators. It’s a perfect fit for Merens. But it took a while to get there. PR = Public Radio. Merens studied Public Relations at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He admits that he didn’t really know what career he wanted to pursue while studying at UW. He recalls one of his professors hinting that Public Relations might not be for him. “She said ‘you’ll never practice a day in PR.’ I don’t know why she said that; I didn’t know it, but she was right. I never really have.” After graduation, he took a year off from school to study with the Second City Theatre Group in Chicago. He got a job doing singing telegrams to pay the bills. He eventually went back to school and received his Masters from Northwestern University’s Medell School of Journalism. Over the next few years he worked in print and radio in Long Island and Chicago, but he still hadn’t found his niche. In the late 80s, Merens was teaching at Chicago’s Columbia College. He remembers telling his class that it was not enough to simply get your degree without a plan for what you wanted to do once you completed your studies. He challenged them to think about what they wanted out of their career. They, in turn, challenged him. He had to admit that he didn’t know what he ultimately wanted to do, but he promised them that he would have an answer for them by semester’s end. He soon realized that what he liked most about journalism was asking questions and conducting interviews. “I was the kid in school who was always asking questions. My teacher would say ‘what is going to become of you, you’re always asking questions?'” Fast forward. Merens has been with Wisconsin Public Radio for twelve years, a job he might not have noticed had his wife not brought it to his attention. “I was looking for work and my wife said ‘have you read the paper today?'” It was Sunday night and he was in no mood to sift through the classifieds. But he took the paper from her and noticed the ad for a host/producer for a nightly business show on Wisconsin Public Radio. Ben landed the job, and in an […]
Oct 1st, 2003
The Upscale Vagabond
By Frizell Bailey One evening I was walking down Brady Street when a couple sitting on the sidewalk near Jimmy John’s asked me for some spare change, a fairly common occurrence. Usually, depending on my mood, I fork over whatever I happen to have in my pocket or say I don’t have any cash on me if my pockets are empty. The pair was a young couple, probably in their early to mid twenties. Their black lab-ish dog sat next to them wearing a bandana. Given my situation at the time, the term “spare” change had taken on a much more literal meaning. Struggling to balance graduate school and a personal life out to kill me, working had become sporadic at best. I politely told them that I had no change to offer and continued on my way. But a block or two down the street it occurred to me that there was something rather odd about this down-on-their-luck trio. While the two humans looked sufficiently scruffy to be panhandling, the dog looked decidedly less needy. What nerve they had, I thought to myself, to ask me for money when they have a dog that looked like it had never missed a meal or bath. The couple, I decided, must be dirty and un-kept out of personal choice, or to scam suckers like me for change. This got me thinking about myself and my own situation. My well kept appearance belied the fact that I had no job, very little money, and no place of my own to live. Despite this I had managed, through the kindness of others and other more creative means, to fairly closely maintain my standard of living. This was the genesis of the upscale vagabond. The Ethos of the upscale vagabond. The upscale vagabond ethos was borne out of necessity. Since college I have acquired certain tastes. Though not quite caviar in scale, my personal likes are definitely not the ramen noodle tastes of my undergraduate days. Needless to say, even though I was temporarily “down on my luck,” I had no desire to return to this lifestyle. Upscale vagabond existence is about living above your means, but without actually paying for it. It’s about being able to sip suds or martinis when you can really only afford fountain drinks with free refills. It’s who you know. The adage “it’s not what you know but who” applies not only to getting a great job, but also to having a fun and fulfilling social life, especially when money’s a little tight. When you’re broke is not the time to be timid or introverted. Trust me, people will exchange cocktails for lively conversation. On the question of libations, the first thing you want to do is chat up your bartender. They’re at work so they have to be there. And especially if they are working a shift alone, they’re probably jonesing for a little conversation, particularly with someone who is not either tanked out of their mind […]
Oct 1st, 2003
Hog Heaven
By Frizell Bailey This August, Harley Davidson riders from all over the country and around the world will rumble into Milwaukee for the Harley Davidson 100th anniversary celebration. For three action-packed (and very loud) days, from August 28 — 30, folks who have a talent for advanced planning will descend on the Summerfest grounds for an orgy of Hog-style entertainment, including concerts by Montgomery Gentry, Peter Frampton, Steppenwolf and Kansas; custom and antique bike exhibits; the Harley-Davidson workforce exhibit; stunt and drill team performances; a cornucopia of summertime food and drink; fireworks of the sort that keep Milwaukee famous, and “much more” (according to Harley’s website). Again, that’s for those who just can’t sleep at night until they have dotted and crossed their vacation i’s and t’s. Ticket packages are long sold out, and only a limited number of single day passes will be available at the gate. Same goes for hotel rooms. Long, long gone. So what’s left for the “free spirits” that once epitomized Harley culture? Where do you go when you want to witness the majesty of the centennial celebration, without the pre-packaged, pre-planning mentality so common in modern times? Although the profile of the Harley Rider has changed dramatically since Easy Rider (no need to expand on this, everyone knows that acid-loving road warriors have been largely replaced by the Titanium AmEx set), there are still remnants of the spontaneous spirit that once characterized hog riders. For a taste, grab your leather vest and head on down to the Rider’s Ranch. Brian Lash, CEO of Target Sport and proprietor of the Ranch, says that Rider’s Ranch visitors are not only last minute, but also interested in staying in a friendly environment with other riders. “Our attendee is someone who appreciates the outdoors and wants to experience the camaraderie the Ranch offers.” Come for the bikes, stay for the party. Diane Bozeicizich, housing finder with Mega Housing, a reservation service partnering with Target Sport, agrees with this assessment. “It will appeal to riders because it’s less expensive and because of the party atmosphere.” It’s that festive air that makes the Riders Ranch a destination of choice, but the sprawling campground cum three ring circus was born out of need. The Ranch was first conceived in 1997 when Harley Davidson became aware that every hotel room in the Milwaukee area was booked. Under pressure from Harley riders who could not get accommodations, Harley contacted Target Special Events, a Boston-based firm that has helped to organize events such as the two Woodstock concerts in the 90s and the Atlanta and Salt Lake City Olympic Games. According to Lash, the 95th anniversary Riders Ranch went off without a hitch. “We did not have a single complaint to us or Harley, and we had over 20,000 visitors.” Lash says that they expect to be at full capacity for the 100th anniversary celebration, and anticipate 45,000 visitors over the course of the three-day event. Life at “The Ranch.” For all its air […]
Aug 1st, 2003
Big Tobacco Wins Another Hand
By Frizell Bailey Wisconsin is smoking. Sometimes it seems that you can’t throw a brick out of a window without striking a smoker. Don’t get me wrong. I have no particular beef with either smokers or non-smokers. In fact, I smoke. The irony is not lost on me (I do, however, like to think of myself as “recovering”). It is a curious thing that so many people, especially young people, take up a habit we all know is bad for you. I suppose the same can be said of alcohol, pot, or any other drug you would like to name. But there’s a difference. These other drugs make you feel good pretty much right off the bat. On the other hand, you have to really want to smoke to become a smoker. I can’t speak for everyone, but those first few cigarettes required an awful lot of persistence and commitment. So, why are so many Wisconsinites sucked in by smoking? History smoked. In 1891 a law was passed restricting the sale of cigarettes to minors. The law was rarely enforced. One University of Wisconsin student in 1912, in his thesis about unenforced laws in the state, lamented that “No tobacco man stops to question a youth who asks for a package of tobacco whether he is old enough to smoke, and few dealers refuse it even to small boys whom the dealer cannot help knowing are too young to smoke.” In 1959 the law was actually repealed by the legislature. It wasn’t until the late eighties that the law would be placed back on the books. In 1988, Wisconsin was one of only nine states that allowed the sale of cigarettes to minors. A study released in 2000 by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine ranked Wisconsin 49th, just ahead of North Carolina, in the sale of tobacco to minors. But why has it been so difficult passing tobacco control laws in Wisconsin? All in the lobby. As we all know, money equals power and influence. And the tobacco industry certainly has a little to spare. According to a report entitled, “Influence of the Tobacco Industry on Wisconsin Tobacco Control Policies”, released by the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center, the tobacco industry has been especially successful in its lobbying efforts in Wisconsin. The report states that the tobacco lobby has spent over $7.2 million on lobbying the state legislature since 1997. How do they do it? By covering all bases. In Wisconsin, as is probably true in most states, the tobacco industry has been like that slightly shady but always fun uncle that gave all the kids money and toys. The tobacco lobby in Wisconsin contributes to individual elected officials and candidates, as well as to the two political parties and campaign committees. Although they make contributions to both major parties, the party in the majority generally gets the lion’s share. From the beginning of the year in 1999 to the fall of 2002, the tobacco industry contributed $23,700 […]
Jul 1st, 2003
Milwaukee Youth STRIVE for excellence
By Frizell Bailey There seems to be an awful lot of attention paid to the misdeeds of young people these days, from the tragic beating death in a Northwest Milwaukee neighborhood to the contentious Mayfair mall controversy. But there are plenty of teens in Milwaukee making positive contributions to their city and their communities. The Strive Media Institute, located on Martin Luther King Drive in Milwaukee, is an after school program where teens get practical experience in just about every facet of the media. The non-profit institute was founded in 1990 by Matthew Johnson, a Milwaukee native who saw a need for an outlet that provided tools to youth to help them become strong members of the community. Not your father’s ad agency. Strive functions like an agency, with both external clients and internal projects. The program is divided into four different business units: film and video production, technology, print journalism, and integrated marketing communications. What separates Strive Media from many other mentoring and training programs for teenagers is that the media products are conceived and produced by kids in the program. This is even more impressive when you consider that Strive’s weekly TV show, Gumbo Television, won an Emmy, and will air regularly on TMJ-4 beginning this fall. They also produce a glossy magazine, Gumbo, once every two months that enjoys statewide and national distribution. The kids have a presence in cyberspace with their Tecknow Solutions group, which designs websites and was featured on the front page of the Journal Sentinel’s Business Section. Fighting youth smoking with FACT. The Integrated Marketing Communications program is an agency with local and national clients, one of the most high profile being the FACT anti-smoking campaign. In addition to widely aired TV commercials written and produced entirely by Strivers (as they call themselves), the program targets youth smoking with events, undercover compliance checks and other guerilla tactics aimed at empowering teens to make their own choices about tobacco, and not succumb to Big Tobacco marketing. Anabel Navaro, Integrated Marketing Communications Supervisor, believes keeping control of the campaign in the hands of teens is critical. “FACT’s focus is to urge kids to be cognizant of their actions, to recognize that by smoking they’re actually putting money in some rich guy’s pocket who’s trying to kill them. And that’s what makes it cool. If you had adults working on a mission like this, you wouldn’t be getting the passion.” The Institute receives compensation for FACT as part of the tobacco settlement. With the elimination of the Tobacco Control Board and the impending reduction of anti-tobacco program funding (which so far has decreased from $25 million in 2001 to $15 in 2003, and is slated for another $5 million reduction next year), Strive Associate Director Molly Collins is concerned, but by no means assumes that FACT will come to an end. “There’s going to be some money for the youth programs, and while it might be a competitive RFP (request for proposals — from various agencies) […]
Jul 1st, 2003
