MARCH ON MILWAUKEE
COMMUNITY CONFERENCE
September 29, 2007
9-5pm Sessions
7-9pm Evening Keynote
UWM-Union, Ballroom
The
community conference united community members with historians,
policy analysts, politicians, activists, teachers and students in a
discussion about segregation and other forms of social inequity in
Milwaukee. The conference panels were divided up by theme, each
introduced by a separate speaker.
The Community
Conference was free
and open to the
public.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:
8-9am Check in
9am-Welcome
(UWM Union Ballroom: Jasmine Alinder, lead conference organizer/Asst.
Professor of History at UWM; Richard Meadows, Dean of the College of
Letters and Science at UWM; Gregory Jay, Profesor of English and
Director of Cultures and Communities at UWM; and David Wilson,
Chancellor of the UW-Colleges and UW-Extension)
9:15-9:30am Keynote for Panel 1: Pamela Jo Sargent
9:30-10:45am Panel I: PAST--How have segregation and social inequity been challenged?
Key
Questions: How does the northern civil rights movement fit into the
larger national/southern civil rights movement? What were the key
1960s civil rights struggles in Milwaukee? Who was involved? What were
their demands and their methods for achieving those demands? Panelists
include: Joe Trotter (Prof. of History at Carnegie Mellon), Patrick
Jones (Asst. Prof of History at UNL),
William Jones, (Assoc. Prof. of History, UW-Madison), Jack Dougherty
(Assoc. Prof at Trinity College), Peggy Rozga (Prof. of English at
UW-Waukesha/ Former NAACPYC member), Fred Reed (former Commando).
Moderator: Michael Gordon
11:00-11:15am Panel II Keynote: Deborah Blanks, SDC
11:15am –12:45 Panel II: PRESENT--What continues to cause segregation and other structural forms of social inequity?
Key
Questions: What kinds of institutional (public and private) practices
have caused and continue to cause segregation, environmental racism,
unemployment, concentrated poverty and the stark wealth gap? How did
civil rights legislation affect access to education, housing, jobs and
healthcare? In the post-civil rights era, why is Milwaukee still so
racially and economically segregated? Panelists include: Rhonda
Williams, (Assoc. Prof. of History Case Western), Gregory Squires (Prof
of Sociology, GWU), Rose Brewer (Assoc. Prof. of African American and
African Studies, UMN), William Tisdale and Carla Wertheim,
(Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council).
Moderator: Felita Daniels Ashley
12:45-2:00 Lunch Break and Discussion with Vel Phillips and Dick Gregory, moderated by Faith Colas
2:00-3:00—pm BREAK OUT SESSIONS
*Break-out
sessions, with discussion leaders, based on issues that include:
housing, education policy, teaching civil rights, jobs, incarceration,
health care, poverty, youth organizing, community organizing,
immigration, voter's rights, and women in the civil rights movement.
3:15-3:30 Keynote for Panel III Senator Lena Taylor
3:30-5:00 Panel III: FUTURE--How should we address segregation and social inequity now? Key
Questions: What kinds of policies would help to reverse segregation?
What are Milwaukeeans currently doing to reverse the tide of racism,
discrimination, concentrated poverty and segregation? Marc Levine
(Center for Economic Development); Eloisa Gomez (UW-Extension); Marcus
White (Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee); Christine
Neumann-Ortiz (Voces de la Frontera); Carol Sample (Spotted Eagle Inc.); Amoun
Sayaovong (Attorney); Gilbert Jones (Youth Participant). Modertor:
Mikel Holt.
5-7pm Dinner Break
7-9pm Evening Keynote:
DICK GREGORY
introduced by Keith Murphy
