Special Projects

Wisconsin State Senator Dora Drake began her career the way many Milwaukee-born senators do, with roots that run deep and a community that she has never been able to turn away from. “I lived in the district I represent now, the 4th Senate District,” she said. “It comprises the north portion of Milwaukee to the […]

Meeting Professor Leslie Harris in her Johnston Hall office felt less like an academic interview and more like sitting with someone who had spent years listening, really listening to Milwaukee. Her space was warm, filled with books, and somehow made the conversation feel bigger than the room itself. As soon as we asked about her […]

Daran Wiley is remembered as a protector with a big heart by his mother, Rashawn McKenzie. “He wasn’t just my protector; he protected his siblings,” McKenzie said. “I learned that it didn’t just stop there, that he genuinely cared about everyone around him. He wanted everybody to be treated equally and fairly, and he stood […]

Two Black men both raised in Milwaukee, both shaped by hardship, grew up on different sides of the city, yet their paths eventually converged around a shared mission. Their childhoods echoed similar realities: sirens at night, boarded windows, and the constant tension of living where many children learn the sound of gunfire before they learn […]

Student reporters, Brooke Hargraves and Akira Quinn, discuss their project, “Revisiting the Lost Class” and why they chose to do it.

Milwaukee is struggling handling its lead crisis, with it devastating its most vulnerable residents and having long-lasting impacts on children. In recent studies, lead has been linked to criminal activity in Milwaukee. According to Amy Kalkbrenner, a professor of public health at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Zilber College, lead primarily affects children’s brain cognitive abilities and […]

We met Jennifer Koss on a quiet afternoon at the UWM Golda Meir Library. A former Milwaukee Public Schools teacher of 17 years, she greeted us with the warmth of someone used to listening, observing, and carrying more stories than most people ever will. We sat around a table in a small study room, and […]

Timothy Shum lost his son, Dave, to suicide many years ago. Shum is now the chapter leader of the Milwaukee branch of The Compassionate Friends, a worldwide organization for peer support groups to deal with the loss of a child. However, it took Shum time to end up in this leader position due to the […]

Public education in Milwaukee has long served as a critical support system for children growing up in low-income, under-resourced neighborhoods. But in recent years, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) has faced a troubling decline in student attendance and rising concerns about student safety. The lack of resources, staffing shortages, and the daily realities many children face […]

One of the first things Bryant Triplett ever cooked for his mother was a T-bone steak which he delivered to her when she was sick in bed so that she would eat something. Bryant Triplett was 14 when he was killed by an act of gun violence on Dec. 28, 2024, just three days after […]

As I looked at him from across a computer screen, I saw the calm of someone who has lived several different lives. When we asked about his background, he shrugged gently, almost apologetically. “I’ve only been the director for less than three months,” he said, but his path to that office was anything but simple. […]

The first thing Daran Wiley wanted to be was an astrophysicist, according to his mother Rashawn McKenzie. He even dressed as one for a school event one year. “He came home and he was like, ‘Mom, I want to be an astrophysicist and if you don’t know what it means, it’s okay, I can tell […]