Author: Reggie Jackson

“Do you know I’ve never voted in my life, never been able to exercise my right as a citizen because of the poll tax? … I can’t pay a poll tax, can’t have a voice in my own government.” – Mr. Trout, a Georgia native (1936) “More than 250 bills to curb or complicate access to polls had been introduced in 43 state legislatures as of February 19, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, which is tracking the bills — and bills have since been introduced in at least two more states, North Carolina and Wisconsin.” – CNN...

“The United States must vastly improve the educational outcomes for this new and diverse majority of American students, whose success is inextricably linked to the well-being of the nation.” – Education Week Magazine The 2014-15 school year marked the first time that non-white student enrollment in public schools surpassed that of White students. Babies of color (1-years-old and younger) now outnumber their White peers in the U.S. America is a nation of 330 million individuals that we lump into several groups we call races or ethnicities. The categories have changed a lot over time as each decennial census has...

“You own this. You own his rhetoric. You own his sentiment.” – State Senator LaTonya Johnson to her Republican colleagues Once upon a time I used to joke that because I was born in Mississippi and raised in Wisconsin that I’m from Wississippi. Well, it’s no longer a joke, and it has more to do with the rampant racism here than it does with where I was born and raised. More confirmation comes when the Wisconsin State Assembly “honors” a racist like Rush Limbaugh while also refusing for the second year in a row, to honor Black History Month....

“He was pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope. Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did.” – Captain Jay Baker, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office After a gunman in the Atlanta region went on a murderous rampage killing eight people, including six Asian American women, the excuses for him started immediately. Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jay Baker said at one of the first press conferences after the killer was arrested, that the shooter had a bad day. Are you kidding me? A bad day? The victims...

The year 2020, a year where we faced a deadly pandemic, saw the city reach a grim record surpassing 1991 as the deadliest year in the city’s history with a record 193 homicides. It was devastating to lose so many Milwaukeeans to murder. Six children under the age of ten were murder victims in 2020. Fourteen-month-old Alonzo M. Lamar was beaten to death by the boyfriend of his mother while she was at work on January 1, 2020. According to the Milwaukee Police Department “the baby’s body had substantial bruising to the head and face and human bite marks...

In the last year America has had an awakening about the extent of racism in this country’s past and present. Dozens of books, podcasts and articles have been written about being an ally in the fight against racism. They tell you how to be a good ally but they miss out by not telling you things that are counterproductive. There are things I’ve seen that are well meaning acts by racial justice advocates that seem well meaning but are a real turnoff and leads to frustration and burnout from those of us who are victimized by American racism. The...