(Editor’s note: Last week, Signifyin’ author Mikel Kwaku Osei began a treatise about various items he discovered while cleaning out an area of his ‘man cave.’ Some of the found materials dated back nearly four decades. He continues this week…)
…Found a copy of the program from the November 2013 Messmer Catholic School’s Portraits in Leadership event.
The honoree was my favorite educator of all time, Brother Bob Smith, former president of Messmer Catholic Schools and a high-ranking soldier in the war for educational options.
Brother Bob, a Capuchin monk and nephew of House of Peace founder Brother Booker Ashe, was the inspiration and catalyst behind the rebirth of Messmer after the northside school was abandoned by the Catholic Archdiocese in 1984.
Brother Bob formed a coalition of parents and community stakeholders that kept Messmer’s doors open and set into motion an educational revolution centered around providing low-income children with alternatives to the failing government schools.
Under his leadership, Messmer became one of the premier northside schools with alumni that included several elected officials, business leaders, and academics.
‘Brother B’ also stood at the vanguard of the crusade (yes, crusade) to include sectarian schools in the Milwaukee Parental School Choice program. He took his crusade national, becoming among the most recognizable figures associated with the movement, sandwiched between Polly Williams and Howard Fuller.
Brother Bob is synonymous with Messmer. He steered ‘his’ children to greatness. He inspired, cultivated, and disciplined.
He once said that the ingredients for an excellent education are a strong curriculum, teachers with high expectations (no excuses), and a nurturing environment.
I sent my three sons to Messmer because of Brother Bob. We lost a great educator and advocate when he was forced to retire at the dawn of this century…
…Found a 2005 letter from an incarcerated niece who had learned of my bout with death.
My medical problems were detailed in ads for Froedtert Hospital under the tag, ‘second opinion.’
A month earlier, I had visited a cardiologist in response to chest pains. Tests were ordered, from which the doctor surmised I was OK.
But after watching me consume an entire package of antiacids during a meeting at the Medical College, one of the participants suggested something was amiss and recommended I seek out a second opinion.
Can’t help but applaud the Froedtert staff, who quickly surmised the extent of my discomfort, and within six hours of a follow-up meeting, I was in the hospital, undergoing triple bypass surgery.
Ironically, within hours of my bypass surgery, one of the primary arteries collapsed, and I flatlined
I can write this article today because of a snowstorm that kept the surgeons from leaving the hospital. Call it a coincidence or divine intervention, but however you view it, I survived.
Interestingly, a dozen people (most of whom I had not engaged in the past) posited that God (Nyame) had other plans throughout my recovery. In an article, Journal Sentinel writer James Causey (Milwaukee’s best journalist) declared that I had, ‘Another story to tell, another plea for unity to issue….’
I’ve been doing just that.
…Buried under a box of books, in the back of the storage room, under a stack of old magazines, was a copy of a 2004 Journal Sentinel front-page article about my commitment to provide scholarships for my late son’s students at the Young Leaders Academy.
Following my oldest son’s death in a car accident on his 27th birthday,
I served as a teacher’s aide in my son’s 5th-grade class following his death on his 27th birthday.
My classroom work was a form of therapy—both for the students and me.
At the end of the school semester, my wife and I made the commitment to start college savings accounts for each of the 28 students.
That plan didn’t work out, but instead, I used money from my book, ‘Not Yet Free at Last,’ savings, and a few contributions from friends to award each of the students enrolled in colleague a $1,000 scholarship. I raised another sum to support several during their sophomore year of college.
A quote above the photo of the students and myself (adorned in full African attire) highlighting a story about my quest was from one of the students who declared, ‘He barely knows us, but he’s doing all this for us….”
Over 23 students enrolled in college, and most completed their secondary education. I am proud to say that all of them are productive, culturally attuned citizens today.
…A large plastic box containing old clothes I foolishly believed I would fit into again, including a (much too small) faded sweatshirt I kept from a 1980s-era Black Leadership Summit held in St. Louis.
The culmination of the conference was our work toward a national Black Agenda, which we approved before the closing libation.
I attended with a dozen delegates from Milwaukee, including Mac Weddle and Tyrone Dumas.
For the last month now, I’ve heard Black radio criticize local Hue-man politicians for failing to adhere to the Black agenda. I left a couple of messages for clarification.
What is the so-called local Black Agenda? Is it the same or similar to the national consensus of three decades ago? Was it developed by stakeholders or the missionaries and poverty pimps who benefit from our pain and exclusion?
…Among my six-foot-high pile of photos (most of which I shot as the MCJ’s staff photographer) was a picture of my ‘Ho Mobile,’ a black customized van completed with a stereo system, a mini-bed (in case I was too tired to make it home), and a mini-refrigerator.
I was known for that vehicle, which carried an outlined blackbird on the side, as much by police as by my neighbors on 20th and Hampton.
I mention the police because my criticism and attacks on the racist police chief led to my being confronted.
As a target of racist Chief Harold Breier’s ‘Red Squad’ and one of the few journalists brave enough to call him and his tactics racists, I found myself the only one on my block to receive daily parking tickets and being stopped for driving two miles per hour under the limit.
His officers readily admitted the true motivation of the stops, but I never lost a case in court over the tickets or driving violations.
The most enduring scenario occurred days after I was called a ‘Communist’ by Breier following a column I wrote on his ridiculous denial of the Mafia in Milwaukee and statement that he opposed school desegregation because it would bus crime across town.
On this day, I stopped by a friend’s house on Brown Street. As I returned to my van, I noticed a large bag of marijuana behind the driver’s seat.
The only reason I discovered it was because I always entered the van through the sliding door.
Being a veteran of the civil rights movement and a fan of TV cop shows, I looked around for a suspect (there was no way I could afford that much weed, even if I smoked; thus, it had to be planted).
Seeing none, I took the bag out and returned to the house’s porch. Thinking I didn’t want to implicate my friend, I casually put the bag under a plant and returned to the vehicle.
As I was one block away from then State Senator Monroe Swan’s office, I intended to bring him back to the house and shoot photos. Instead, I had turned the corner onto 2nd Street and, within 50 yards, was pulled over by an unmarked car with four burly cowboys—who promptly surrounded the van as a detective (yeah, a detective) approached me on the driver’s side.
Two John Wayne types stood at the back of the vehicle, one with his hand on his gun, apparently waiting for a signal. Which they never received, as the second officer peering through the side window didn’t see the ‘evidence.’
The detective asked me to step out of the van, which I happily complied, adding a couple of sarcastic yes sirs and one “yaza boss.”
After the second officer stepped out of the van, I was released. No apology. No, sorry, sir.
He didn’t even stamp my freedman passport.
I parked the vehicle and walked the block to Swan’s office, and relayed the story to him and Leonce Rhodes, who was meeting with the state’s Black senator.
Visiting. Rhodes was a member of the Fire and Police Commission but didn’t provide me with any recommendations, stating I was in a no-win situation because I would be arrested if I retrieved the evidence. And, if I filed a complaint, I couldn’t prove harassment.
He suggested I contact the FBI. Yeah, right. I was more fearful of them than I was of the police.
Think I’ll keep that photo as a remainder.
What happened with the marijuana? I’ll say that it was the cheap variety, probably from the west side of a Mexican planting field. I don’t think it will arm residents of the area who are still trying to determine the variety of the plants growing in Brewer’s Hill. Then again, maybe that is why the whites have moved back to the area…
…Among the box of photos I sorted through was an undated black and white picture of a Nazi rally on the appropriately titled ‘Southside.’
Not by coincidence, while the Nazi rally was disingenuously called to ‘end forced busing,’ history reveals the only pawns bused to justify state transportation aid were Black students.
The late Donna Rogers and I were the only Black journalists covering the rally and were forced to settle in space reserved by the sheriff’s department inside the roped-off area.
The fact that we were among the racist roaches was terrible enough. Worse was the aim of Black protestors (who had marched across the viaduct) carrying cartons of eggs which they pelted upon the racist roaches—and us…
…A May 2006 picture of former NFL quarterback and Superbowl MVBP Doug Williams’s visit that year stood out.
Williams was the keynote for Marquette University Chasing Excellence Award program. I shot the photo of his presentation and talked with him briefly, learning of the insults and attacks he had to endure during his journey to become the MVP of the Superbowl.
From Grambling state, Williams broke the NFL color line when he entered the league, proving, among other things, that Black quarterbacks are as intelligent as white ones.
Williams dispelled that racist notion and proved to be superior both physically and intelligently as he lifted his team– inappropriately called the Redskins–to the NFL championship…
Another photo found was of a press conference led by Howard Fuller and Mike McGee to announce the latest strategy of the Justice for Ernie Lacy Coalition, which they led.
Lacy was our ‘George Floyd’ and was executed similarly—albeit by a Milwaukee cop. He had been mistaken for a rape suspect, described by the MPD hierarchy as a ‘black male, between the ages of two and 60, with a gold tee. Lacy was snatched up by the police as he was leaving and convenience store on Wisconsin Ave. He reportedly ‘resisted, ‘at which point he was pounced on by the cops and strangled to death.
The police union sought to subvert the trial and went so far as to threaten the district attorney, E. Michael McCann, with a recall election if he pursued an inquest.
Fuller and McGee led the series of protests and demonstrations and pressured the status quo—‘ no justice, no peace….’
…Found in my ‘education file box’ was a copy of a booklet of articles and reports on Milwaukee’s failed school desegregation process.
The 70-plus-page document included dozens of articles, including several written by me.
The booklet had been developed by none other than Howard Fuller.
I don’t know if the book was put together before or after Howard resigned his position as superintendent of MPS in protest of the board’s myopic agenda that maintained a system of educational apartheid…
….There was a time when I kept each year of the state’s Blue Book.
Most were kept in the paper, but I found a copy of the 2007/08 edition among my household collection for some reason.
The annual book contains information on agencies, personnel, and demographics. It includes irrelevant information, including the state bird, vegetable, and even the state dance. Which, not surprisingly, is the polka.
But the pages that drew me to the book were the listings of African American representatives.
In 2007, Spencer Coggs was the 6th district senator, with Leon Young, Barbara Tole, and Tamara Grigsby as representatives.
Lena Taylor was the senator in the 4th, with Polly Williams, Jason Fields, and Fred Kessler representatives.
Rep. Bob Turner was the only Black state lawmaker from outside of Milwaukee. He represented Racine.
Interestingly, Taylor is the only member of that group still in office.
Grigsby and Polly are among the ancestors; Tole and Young have retired. Spencer is the city treasure, and Fields has ventured into the business community.
From a legislative perspective, Fields was the most successful Democrat, having had more bills signed into law than all of the other representatives combined. He earned that title because he was clever enough to move around the Republican obstacles. Instead of merely blaming and condemning, he worked the system.
To my knowledge, at the bottom was Young, who never introduced a bill in five or six terms.
Kessler, who is white, was considered a missionary who always seemed to be on the wrong side of issues.
Grigsby was brilliant but a diehard Democrat who always put her party first like Young.
Polly, the Black Nationalist, was my favorite (no Lena) and was the envy of Black Nationalists worldwide. She is the architect of the school choice movement and fought tooth and nail against her party to teach her constituents how to pick the locks that chained us to the educational plantation…
Lastly, I found an unopened cassette tape case entitled ‘Overcoming Procrastination.’
I don’t know when I purchased it, but it was probably a few decades ago since I haven’t seen a cassette.
Like the 8 tracks, jimmy caps, and marriage, cassettes are on the endangered species list.
Hell, I don’t even have a cassette player anymore. But I recognize that if I listened to it, maybe I would not have to dig myself out of this week-long process.
Even though I’m about 60% finished, chances are I’ll procrastinate before finishing this task.
There are enough memories to keep me engaged for the foreseeable future if nothing else.
Hotep.
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