Statement: RNC in Milwaukee

“Sometimes we are blessed with being able to choose the time, and the arena, and the manner of our revolution, but more usually we must do battle where we are standing.”

Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches

“From their inception down to the present, police forces have protected and served the wealthy few against the many, and the white against the rest… Today, despite the diversification of police services, the main activity of police remains street patrol. Street patrols enforce a range of ordinances to manage the poor and other populations seen as disorderly or insubordinate. They use race–and especially blackness–as a key identifier for potential targets."

A World Without Police, 2016.

This week, The Republican National Convention will occur in Milwaukee, WI. For those who do not know, Milwaukee is home to most of the UBUNTU Research and Evaluation staff. Although a remote team, we treat the entire community as our office, often meeting and co-working across the city. Recent violence during former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania has resulted in heightened security, and there are an estimated 30,000 additional police in our city this week in preparation for the former president’s visit to the Republican National Convention.

The UBUNTU team is acutely aware of how more police presence increases the likelihood of violence against Black people, especially when providing services for public figures who see Black people through a lens of criminality. Today, we, as Black people with other marginalized identities that are queer, trans, femme, and non-binary are at the most significant threat. Further, we know that the current rhetoric and policy championed and discussed at the RNC incites violence against people like those of us at UBUNTU and our families. On top of this, movement across the city of Milwaukee is already restricted. This premeditated stifling of movement is going down the intentional road of suppression. There has been state-sanctioned resistance to organized protests. Security point checks are making it hard for people to travel to work and childcare as the security checkpoint requires anyone currently on parole to report engagement with law enforcement.

As community members, we are frustrated, and as data scientists and evaluators, we are reminded of how measures are conflated —- more security doesn’t mean more safety or more crime; it means more chances to cause harm and violence to the most marginalized folks in the city.

While we knew about the RNC coming to Milwaukee for weeks, this latest act of violence has caused heightened tension in the city, layering on top of misgivings many of us had about the RNC coming to our home in the first place. As a result, in the spirit of prudence, we are taking extra precautions to protect our team, their families, and our community. We will not tap into the capitalist urge to conduct “business as usual” when we, our families, and our communities are under direct threat --- which has been business as usual since the founding of this nation.

From Monday July 14th through Monday July 21st:

Expect delayed responses from our team this week, as care for our immediate community is our priority.

Please be gracious, as we may need to reschedule previously scheduled meetings.

If you are of the praying or meditating kind, send energies of peace and protection our way.

If you feel so compelled, here is work that you can support this week in Milwaukee to help a city essentially under siege:

If safe for you, join and/or support peaceful protests: participate in local demonstrations, support efforts for legal assistance, wear your masks, encourage others to wear their masks, and look out for each other.

Provide resources and safe spaces: donate to local organizations, open your businesses and third places as Safe Havens, and distribute food and water to those in need, especially our un-housed community members who were even further displaced as the RNC arrives to Milwaukee.

Collectively pool resources for safety: carpool with each other as a way to keep an eye on one another, as well as saving traffic frustrations while the city of Milwaukee changes traffic patterns to accommodate the RNC

Advocate and educate: Every time is a good time to learn more about the fight for black liberation. Familiarize yourself with your community's happenings and policies shaping where you live, what you eat, and how you learn. Contact your local representatives to advocate for needed change through policy. Educate yourself and others on the impact of increased police presence in our communities.

Check-in on each other: check it with friends, family, and community members for emotional, spiritual, and strategic support.

Follow and participate in The Great Milwaukee Block Party - joyful resistance in trying times! https://linktr.ee/greatmkeblockparty