Reggie Jackson, Author at Milwaukee Independent

Reggie Jackson: When white privilege comes up against a pandemic

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Apr 22, 2020 |

“The unwelcomed, unwanted, unwarranted and force-induced intrusion upon the campus of the University of Alabama today of the might of the Central Government offers frightful example of the oppression of the rights, privileges and sovereignty of this State by officers of the Federal Government. This intrusion results solely from force, or threat of force, undignified by any reasonable application of the principle of law, reason and justice.” – Alabama Governor George Wallace Speech, while refusing admittance of black students at the University of Alabama June 11, 1963 “It was with a heavy heart that I found it necessary to...

Reggie Jackson: Re-evaluating patriotism and the definition of being a hero during the pandemic

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Apr 20, 2020 |

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” – Arthur Ashe “Heroism often results as a response to extreme events.” – James Geary People the world over love heroes. Great and not so great novels have been written about our heroes. The story of individual and collective heroism is a part of the defining mythology of every society. Those who get to name heroes are generally those who also write our histories. We live in a society that compels...

The Battle to Be Me: How internalized racism impacts People of Color in America

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Apr 17, 2020 |

“There is a fact: White men consider themselves superior to black men. There is another fact: Black men want to prove to white men, at all costs, the richness of their thought, the equal value of their intellect. To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture. The Antilles Negro who wants to be white will be whiter as he gains greater mastery of the cultural tool that language is…The fact of having to speak nothing but the other’s language when the other was the conqueror, ruler, and oppressor was at once an affirmation of him,...

Reggie Jackson: Using a pandemic is just the latest weapon to disenfranchise voters in Wisconsin

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Apr 10, 2020 |

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” – 15th amendment to the U.S. Constitution ratified February 3, 1870 We have heard the common refrain that people died for our right to vote in the black community for decades. We are told constantly to value the sacrifices of those who risked life and limb to gain voting rights for our people. The right to vote was supposed to be the salve for our...

Reggie Jackson: The next challenge of the COVID-19 fight in Milwaukee

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Apr 3, 2020 |

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” – The Dalai Lama “Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” – Nelson Mandela Over the past week I have had to deal with the emotions of having a good friend hospitalized with COVID-19 and now a member of my wife’s family fighting for their life. The emotional roller coaster has been harsh. For those Milwaukee County residents that have...

Reggie Jackson: Critical lessons we need to learn about COVID-19 from China and Italy

Posted by Reggie Jackson | Apr 2, 2020 |

“The virus is faster than our bureaucracy.” – The head of the Italian Protezione Civile (the Italian equivalent of FEMA) Italy has suffered more COVID-19 deaths than any nation in the world. On March 19 they surpassed China’s death toll when 3,405 total deaths had been recorded. In the two weeks since then, the death toll has grown to over 13,000. We can learn a lot about what the outbreak will look like in the United States by taking a closer look at China and Italy. A recent article in Harvard Business Review by Gary P. Pisano, Raffaella Sadun...