Milwaukee joins coalition for ten-day march from Charlottesville to D.C.

The 50th anniversary celebration of the Housing March on Milwaukee takes place on August 28, the same date that a ten-day trek begins to once again confront White Supremacy in a new generation.

Activists from Milwaukee plan to attend the “March to Confront White Supremacy: Charlottesville to D.C.,” which will march over 100 miles to demonstrate a shared commitment to confronting white supremacy. The call is being answered from faith and community leaders to dismantle white supremacy in America by taking the demand for moral leadership to the nation’s capital.

“We are uniting right now to reckon with America’s long history of white supremacy and to demand leadership that will side with those of us who will no longer abide it,” said the website statement for the march. “Over the last several years, white supremacist violence, rhetoric and policies have escalated and intensified – exploding during Donald Trump’s run for president and reaching a boiling point as people of moral conscience stood up to an army of white supremacists newly-emboldened in their hatred in Charlottesville.“

The coalition includes groups such as the Women’s March on Washington, Color of Change, Indivisible, Repairers of the Breach and the Movement for Black Lives. The march will stop at Confederate monuments over the duration of the 10 days.

The march comes in the wake of other rallies orchestrated to stand in solidarity with Charlottesville after the events of August 12 that left one brave counter-protester, Heather Heyer, kiIIed in an act of tеrrоristic violence.

The 10-day march begins this coming Monday, August 28 and will conclude on Wednesday, September 6. The organizers stated their purpose as:

“It’s clear that we can no longer wait for Donald Trump or any elected official to face reality and lead. We are coming together to reckon with America’s long history of white supremacy, so that we can begin to heal the wounds of our nation…

For years, white supremacist violence, rhetoric, and policies have escalated and intensified – exploding during Donald Trump’s run for president and reaching a boiling point in Charlottesville, as courageous people of moral conscience stood up to an army of white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and members of the KKK.

This is the time for us to stand up for justice and equality. This is the time to confront white supremacy in our government and throughout our history. We demand that President Trump to be removed from office for allying himself with this ideology of hate and we demand an agenda that repairs the damage it’s done to our country and its people.”

The protest comes a half century after Milwaukee’s 200 nights of freedom. Beginning on August 28, 1967, the Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council/Commandos, Father James Groppi, Alderperson Vel Phillips and a host of activists and community members marched for over 200 consecutive nights to demand an end to housing segregation. The marches signified Milwaukee’s contribution to the Black Freedom Movement in America and helped inspire federal fair housing legislation. This moment was the pinnacle of civil rights activism in Milwaukee. Two generations later, the struggle against racism continues, both in Wisconsin and across the nation.

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