As another busy election year is upon us, I want to challenge us not to bury ourselves eyeballs deep in the vicious electoral cycle. I want to challenge us to shift our mindset to fight–and rest. Fighting with no rest can leave us weary and cause us to possibly miss liberation altogether. I want to take you all on a journey of me saying yes to rest while I fought. 

AART launched a monthly donor program and could use your support! Your donation will help our vision become a reality–and our work in Milwaukee more impactful.

The United States’ dependence on capital accumulation has always managed to be at the expense of Black people, especially our most marginalized.

The African American Roundtable exists to organize, nurture and transform Black leaders to build power in service of Black liberation. Our vision is to be a joyful, political home for Black people to thrive in liberated, interconnected communities.

As we near the end of 2023 and the start of 2024, I want to thank you for coming along on this journey with the African American Roundtable.

When we set out to nurture Black leaders and build power in service of Black liberation, we knew that the task ahead wouldn’t be easy.

As we wrap up 2023, I want to uplift the work we have done on our Participatory Budgeting Project. This year, the African American Roundtable put up $40,000 of our organizational fund to invest in four projects on the Northwest Side.

Milwaukee will add 15 more police officers because of Act 12 that Mayor Johnson negotiated with Wisconsin Republicans. Fifteen more police officers will be added in 2024. After years of cutting police officers, this budget increases the number of police, because Mayor Johnson negotiated a bad deal for Milwaukee.

Those familiar with Milwaukee's far Northwest Side know that it has changed over time. Decades-long economic decline, divestment, and lack of city leadership has caused this majority Black area to suffer tremendously.

Social justice, or the equity of opportunity, resources, knowledge, and connections, is a concept completely achievable within any community, even in a city such as Milwaukee, which typically receives more recognition for its violence rather than the tremendous amount of peace and collaboration that exists.

On March 10, 2023, the Walmart located on Silver Spring Drive permanently closed its doors for business. The closing was announced a month prior, leaving frequent store shoppers shocked and devastated. This is yet another example of disinvestment to Milwaukee’s Northwest Side, a part of the city that is treated as if it’s not part of Milwaukee.

Since we launched LiberateMKE in 2019, we’ve heard about the impending financial cliff facing Milwaukee. In the preceding years, Milwaukee has made no changes to address the major driver of their financial crisis, the police department.

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas.

Four years ago we set out to change Milwaukee. We were fed up with the status quo of police killing Black people, while their departments absorb the majority of our budgets, and our communities not having what they need.

In February the African American Roundtable (AART) launched its participatory budgeting process that will invest $40,000 in Milwaukee’s Northwest Side.

The African American Roundtable is excited to announce that our 2022 Annual Report has been published!

Last year was a year of strategic growth where we focused on the sustainability and future of the African American Roundtable. We made a major impact in Milwaukee and beyond.

On the night of September 28, a public meeting was held to discuss the potential opening of a youth detention center. There was a diverse crowd, but none that were in relation to the group of people whose lives would be impacted by their decision.

The African American Roundtable (AART) engages in c3 Transformative Democracy. Though we will not endorse candidates, we advocate for residents and work to educate them on electoral processes.

Over the last four years, Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections (DOC) has been under legal pressure to relocate young people abused in unacceptable living conditions at Lincoln Hills School to new facilities.

With Mayor Cavalier “Chevy” Johnson’s first budget just being approved, we thought it would be a great opportunity to check back in on how the mayor’s budget priorities align with the needs of our communities. Here is a report card on the mayor’s record.

Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer who targeted men and boys in Ohio and Milwaukee, committed traumatic acts that popular culture profits from. Netflix, producers of Dahmer TV shows, merchandisers, and blind consumers of it all fail to acknowledge the stories that matter most: the stories of each and every life impacted by Dahmer's violence.