Author: Syndicated

In a parking garage below the Oakland teachers union headquarters, Milwaukee advocates joined dozens of volunteers who labored over the banners, posters, and picket signs illustrating a historic strike. A crowd of retired and current educators, college students and district parents with their children turned out for the third “art build” supporting the Oakland Education Association, whose 3,000 members are currently on strike as the union negotiates for higher wages and smaller class sizes. They spent a morning cutting canvas, assembling picket-signs and screen-printing images sourced from local artists, including Melanie Cervantes, Favianna Rodriguez and Micah Bazant. The dominant...

In 1969, black students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison called for a strike. Longstanding issues of diversity, a lack of an African-American Studies Department and other key issues were tenets of their 13 demands issued to administrators. They marched to the Capitol, took over classrooms, and blocked entrances. Memorialized as the Black Student Strike, its 50th anniversary prompted both celebration and reflection across campus in 2019. Alexandria Millet, a sophomore majoring in journalism, was admitted as a Chancellor’s Scholar. She was first exposed to the strike during a project in her introductory journalism class. From there, her interest grew....

The Atlanta History Center opened “Cyclorama: The Big Picture,” featuring the fully restored and historically corrected cyclorama mural “The Battle of Atlanta” on February 22. The colossal work was originally created by the American Panorama Company in Milwaukee by 17 German artists. At the centerpiece of the new multi-media experience is a 132-year-old hand-painted work of art that stands 49 feet tall, longer than a football field, and weighs 10,000 pounds. The mural is one of only two cycloramas in the United States, making Atlanta home to one of America’s largest historic treasures. The cycloramas is also an unintended...

President Donald Trump’s prediction that he would be taken to court over his national emergency declaration proved correct on February 15, the same day he made the announcement, with the ACLU filing one of several lawsuits against the Trump administration over the “blatantly illegal” move. The organization noted in a statement that the president openly admitted the national emergency declaration, which he made to obtain funding for a wall at the southern U.S. border is unnecessary — bolstering the ACLU’s case. “By the president’s very own admission in the Rose Garden, there is no national emergency,” said executive director...

Wisconsin Republicans erased any mention of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick from a resolution recognizing Black History Month on February 12, saying he was too controversial to be included in a list of influential black leaders. Kaepernick, born in Milwaukee, has remained a devoted supporter of civil rights causes despite vocal, continued opposition from those who have unilaterally branded him “unpatriotic.” Over the past few years, Kaepernick has famously donated over $1 million to various rights-based and community charities–including a $25,000 donation to Milwaukee’s own Urban Underground youth program–and has founded a free “Know Your Rights Camp,” dedicated to...

Concerning ‘Digital Divide,’ the term ‘Digital’ here refers to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) while ‘Divide’ means differences, disparity or gap. In general, it is a phenomenon wherein those who have access to ICT are benefited by the use of it and their economic well-being is ensured in the form of highly paid jobs and more business opportunities in comparison to those who do not have access to ICT and remain aloof of these benefits and hence in a disadvantageous position. The divide does not affect only economically but socially as well. The term also refers to gaps between...