Staff, Author at Milwaukee Independent

MSOE formula hybrid team racecar holds international speed record

Posted by Staff | Aug 30, 2017 |

Each year the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) hosts a variety of student design competitions for teams of engineering students from universities around the world. Among these competitions is Formula Hybrid, which adds another level of complexity by requiring hybrid and electric powertrain. In the driver’s seat of MSOE’s SAE formula hybrid vehicle, junior Nicholas Vang skillfully steered his way around a one-kilometer section of track at the New Hampshire International Motor Speedway. Vang was one of three students to drive the 44-lap endurance portion of the SAE International Formula Hybrid Competition that took place in May. Practically...

Audio: Voices from August 28 and Milwaukee’s Fair Housing Marches

Posted by Staff | Aug 29, 2017 |

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 helped inspire federal fair housing legislation. The March On Milwaukee 50th Coordinating Committee hosted the “200 Nights of Freedom Kickoff” in the City Hall Rotunda on August 28, commemorating the anniversary of Milwaukee’s Fair Housing Marches. This audio was recorded live at the event, and includes remarks from Prentice McKinney, a NAACP Commando during the marches, Margaret Peggy Rozga, widow...

Video: When Milwaukee had courage to march against segregation

Posted by Staff | Aug 28, 2017 |

“We’re going to get fair housing not only for the city of Milwaukee but we’re going to get it on the national scene. It’s going to be this consistent type of courageous protest that’s going to bring about fair housing legislation. Frederick Douglass talked about this a hundred years ago. He said no one ever got their rights given to them on a platter. You’ve got to fight for it, you’ve got to struggle for it, and that’s what we’re doing.” – Father James E. Groppi A compilation of video, originally compiled by Jasmine Alinder and Cris Siqueira, surrounding...

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

Posted by Staff | Aug 27, 2017 |

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...

Local leaders see pardon of Arpaio as “a presidential endorsement of racism”

Posted by Staff | Aug 26, 2017

Photo by Gage Skidmore and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 President Trump pardoned former Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, who was found guilty of criminal contempt for deliberately violating a federal court order that prohibited illegal detentions based only on suspicions about immigration status. The court order prohibited Arpaio from violating the constitutional rights of minorities by using racial profiling when stopping and detaining Latinos. The ruling stems from an initial lawsuit brought by Latino residents of Maricopa who successfully challenged Arpaio’s policies of racial profiling and illegal detentions. The plaintiff class was represented by the American...

Audio: Main Street designation ceremony for MLK Drive BID

Posted by Staff | Aug 23, 2017 |

This audio was recorded during the announcement event, when the Historic King Drive BID was officially designated the newest Wisconsin Main Street. Speakers included Representative David Bowen, Daphne Jones of Malone’s Fine Sausage, Deshea Agee and LaMarr Franklin of the Historic King Drive BID, Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs, Lisa Mauer of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., and Mayor Tom Barrett. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) designated the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District (BID) No. 8 on August 22, at a public ceremony held at the soon to be opening Pete’s Fruit Market-Bronzeville. The Wisconsin Main Street Program...