African American Roundtable Relaunches LiberateMKE Campaign for Fifth Budget Cycle
Organization Announces It Is Transferring Campaign to Community, Introduces New Leadership Team
Today, the African American Roundtable (AART) relaunched its LiberateMKE campaign, which advocates for police divestment and community investment. The organization announced that it is transferring ownership of LiberateMKE to the Milwaukee community. AART will continue training residents through its Leadership Development Cohort over the next two and a half years, who will lead the campaign through its next iteration.
“We are excited about the opportunity to create more space for the next generation of Black leaders in Milwaukee who support community investment,” said Markasa Tucker-Harris, Executive Director of AART. “Although we will no longer be at the helm of the campaign, we will continue to support it and the leaders and demand a city budget that reflects the needs and will of the people.”
“We're all fed up with city officials who continue to sell out Milwaukee residents to pay for police and their pensions,” said Devin Anderson, Campaign and Membership Director of AART. “The deal the mayor made on shared revenue is another example. This will not increase safety. Investing in city services residents so desperately need will.”
The new leaders of the LiberateMKE campaign are 14 fellows who completed a six-week cohort where they learned about the city budget, communications, organizing and advocacy. They are now creating and leading campaign strategy for this budget fight. They are:
Elle Hill
Alana McDonald
Samari Price
Yolanda Odufuwa
Bridgeman Flowers
Neteya Taylor
GToya Blackmon
Monifa Johnson
Georgette Moore
Joseph Wilke
Tiffany Pitts
Baisha Whitten
Albert Robbins
Nicole Crown
"Through LiberateMKE, I am most excited to organize for a city budget that invests more into people and not police," fellow Nateya Taylor said.
“My desire to join LiberateMKE stems from AART’s efforts in creating a culturally safe environment that's structured for political education and empowering actions towards Black liberation,” fellow Alana McDonald said.
Since AART launched the LiberateMKE campaign, the organization has:
Divested almost $4 million from the Milwaukee Police Department
Invested resources into community programs like housing, libraries and summer opportunities for young people
Taught residents how to civically participate in Milwaukee’s budget processes
Began to change the conversation about policing and safety in Milwaukee
As the fellows lead this year's campaign, their demand is that the City of Milwaukee divests from policing and invests in community repairment programs to rebuild local communities by funding housing programs, mental health and programs for young people.
They believe that direct investment in neighborhoods that have been systemically minoritized encourages harm reduction and proactive support against cultural biases, racism, and otherness and allows the community to heal from collective, historical, and multigenerational trauma.