Having the last word on last year...

2006

by MCJ Staff

Part one of two parts

Now that the dust has settled after the stampede of “Year-In-Review” specials in newspapers, magazines and broadcast/cable news channels, the Community Journal feels it’s finally safe enough to put its own two cents in a review of the year that was 2006.

In years past, the newspaper has done a month-by-month, chronological end-of-the year review of the top one or two stories in each issue of the paper. This year, we decided to “switch it up” and do something different.

This year, we're going to focus on stories we think helped shape 2006. We tried to come up with a theme that best exemplified the type of year it was. At best, all we can say is that it was…well…a mixed bag of good, tragic, historic, thought provoking, unusual, culturally defining and status-quo.

The top story of 2006 was definitely the drowning deaths of Purvis Virginia Parker, age 11; and Quadrevion Henning, age 12. The two boys were reported missing on March 19 when they failed to return home after playing basketball.

For the next several weeks an entire city banded together in the search for the “Dre” and Purvis. Black, White, Hispanic; young and old, of various income levels, political ideologies and educations helped Milwaukee police and the FBI search for the boys.

I-Witness reporter Barbara White, who provided the newspaper and the community with some of the most comprehensive coverage of the story, said the families of Dre and Purvis and the community became “united in one love to bring home Purvis and Quadrevion.”

The missing boys became a lightning rod for unity, giving hope that perhaps people in Milwaukee-regardless of ethnicity and race were finally ready to move forward and work to move the city forward.

But the bubble burst and not because the boys' bodies were found in a lagoon in McGovern Park on a Friday night almost a month after they were first reported missing.

The vibe of harmony and unity that came out of the search for the boys disintegrated when three Milwaukee police officers were found “not guilty” of beating Frank Jude in 2005. The verdicts sparked rallies and marches calling for justice.

Interestingly, the verdict came the same night that the boys' bodies were found. No one has made an issue out of that, perhaps noting that it was a simple coincidence the two incidents occurred on the same night with only an hour's difference when reported by television news.

The verdict also mobilized the faith community which, lead by Bishop Sedgwick Daniels, conducted a motorcade down Wisconsin Avenue to the Federal Courthouse to present petitions with 12,000 signatures to federal prosecutor Steven Biskupic calling for justice in the Jude case and to look into possible civil right violations in the beating.

The beating and verdict showed many in the community that the old adage still rings true: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Race and racism still trumps anything of any significance in Milwaukee, be it politics, education, economics, healthcare, even sports.

That point was brazenly brought home when in another trial, four Democratic party workers were found guilty of slashing the tires on vans that were to be used by Republican Party campaign workers to transport voters to the polls in the 2004 presidential election.

Three of the four workers were African Americans-among whom were the sons of former Mayor Marvin Pratt and Cong. Gwen Moore. Each defendant was given sentences of four to six months with fines of $1,000 each.

Not guilty verdicts for cops charged with nearly beating a man to death and guilty verdicts for a tire-slashing incident. The more things change...

The community lost another hospital while gaining another symbol of urban blight. St. Michael's Hospital closed in June, leaving yet another healthcare void for Black Milwaukeeans struggling to have their health needs met.

The once vaunted northside hospital was a victim of rising healthcare costs, particularly as it related to treating the uninsured (which was mostly Black Milwaukee residents). In recent years, the hospital's financial losses totaled an estimated $25 million.

The community lost another institution-an icon really-of courage, truth and dignity in James Cameron. He died in June at the age of 92.

Cameron was the founder of America's Black Holocaust Museum and Americas only living survivor of a lynching.

In August of 1930 at the age of 16, Cameron was falsely accused of participating in the murder of a young White man in Marion, Ind. As a result, Cameron witnessed a mob of 15,000 people beat and lynch his two friends.

Miraculously, Cameron survived his severe beating and attempted lynching, but was sentenced to four years in prison for accessory before the fact to manslaughter.

The near lynching inspired Cameron to devote his life to fighting racial injustice and discrimination, as well as creating the museum, which opened in 1988 devoted to America's shameful history of lynching, slavery and Jim Crow.

Black Milwaukeeans packed Coffee Makes You Black coffee house for the first ever “State of Black Milwaukee” forum, in which Black elected officials from city, county and state said the community must take control of its destiny to overcome its problems.

“It's on us to do for us,” said Ald. Mike McGee, Jr. who, along with state Sen. Spencer Coggs and Milwaukee County Supervisor James White, outlined problems facing Black Milwaukee and what the community must do collectively to overcome them.

Since that fateful meeting-and a similar forum held by another Black group-the community has yet to see any formal plan in which the Black Milwaukeeans come together to empower themselves economically, politically, educationally (with the exception of parental choice) and culturally for a better future…and save us from extinction.

For the first time in its 10-plus year history, parental school choice faced perhaps its biggest challenge-a participation cap that would have forced the state Department of Instruction to impose a rationing program, which would have meant that more than 4,000 students in the program wouldn't be allowed to return to their choice school next fall.

Not only that, but 25 schools would have had to shut down. Such as prohibition on the pioneering education program would have severely impacted the community with a loss of jobs and a $12 million in goods and services.

The survival in the program hinged on the state Assembly majority leaders and Gov. Jim Doyle reaching compromise. Choice advocates, parents of choice students and even the students themselves lobbied the governor to “lift the cap” and preserve the program.

After a little political gamesmanship--which included television and radio commercials-on both sides, Doyle signed the bill expanding the program.

“This legislation allows the choice program to continue its growth like advocates wanted, but it will also help public schools in Milwaukee and across the state by providing significant new funding to help lower class sizes,” Doyle said after signing the legislation at the Hillside Boys and Girls Club on West Cherry Street.

But a bigger crisis was garnering the attention of the community-the escalating violence on neighborhood streets. The Community Journal reported on the violence that occurred during the summer months. On several occasions there were clusters of violent incidents. At times, police were racing from one crime scene to the next within a couple of hours.

Ald. Mike McGee, Jr. unvield a proposal last July he believed would have gone a long way to solve the city's cruising problem.

McGee proposed using the parking lots around Miller Park as an alternative to cruising residential streets. The plan called for cruisers to park in the stadium parking lot “Crenshaw Style,” which refers to Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles where young cruisers often gather with their vehicles parked in a line.

A test run was even tried at the stadium that went off without any problems.

However, two aldermen, Michael Murphy and Bob Donovan, objected to the plan, saying it would take police off the streets (some would be used to supervise the youths) and create excessive noise and safety concerns for residents living close to Miller Park.

For now, the plan has been shelved. Given Milwaukee's tendancy to “shelf” ideas, don't expect the cruising proposal to see the light-of-day again. (Part 2 next week)