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In Lexi's first crónica, she introduces listeners to Marquette professor Michael Schläppi, the man on a mission to make rice a commercial cash crop in Wisconsin. 

#Milwaukee #Mequon #MequonNaturePreserve #Rice #RedStoneRice #MichaelSchläppi #Marquette #research #Wisconsinagriculture #agriculture  #farming #cashcrops 

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After being told that the historic heart of Latinx MKE is 5th and National, our hosts find the most “Latin” space there now is the drag show, “Divas de La Noche,” at Hamburger Mary’s. Mariano Avila, Scottie Meyers and Lexi Mack interview the manager and one of MKE’s OG Divas on this intimate insight into the city’s Queer, Latinx community.

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And we're back! We're going to take you along with us as we uncover a few short stories to hold you over until season 2 of the podcast. We’re calling these in-between episodes “Las Crónicas." The Chronicles. Based on formats borrowed from Latin American chronicles, we explore Milwaukee's history and culture through physical spaces in the city. So get ready to hear stories bringing together our past and present through places you may or may not know. Expect new episodes each Friday until early December.

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When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, Maryam Durani, a woman's rights advocate fled to Milwaukee where she's already making a difference. Kate Avila, a teacher for 15 years, was forced to leave her profession to homeschool her children when the pandemic hit and is now part of "The Great Resignation" in America. Both women are finding meaning in "home" as they settle in Milwaukee.

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Pandemic life has changed our relationship to home. For starters, the mental health “burden” means a combined 90 million years of people’s healthy life expectancy evaporated in 2020. But that isolation also gave our colleague, Chris Hays, motivation for making a bomb mole for host Mariano Avila, and to discuss his “historic timing,” as he’s moved around the country searching for home.

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Defining “home” through a pandemic lens is complicated, especially when you’re in a new city, like host, producer Mariano Avila who just moved to Milwaukee. But whether you’re an immigrant who learned to make the US home through PBS kids shows, or eating lasagna in Cher’s mansion, like our general manager Bohdan Zachary, or parsing out the difference between being Native American in a reservation vs a city, like Ron Greiger, or researching how COVID influenced people to move in 2020, like D’Vera Kohn from the Pew Research Center, the significance of home is as personal as it is complex.

Join the conversation with hosts Mariano Avila, and life-long Milwaukeeans Lexi Mack and Scottie Meyers on this new episode of Speaking Of.

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The mayor’s alternative version of the Black History Month recognition goes up for a final vote, but not before an intense debate featuring a “stick to sports” argument, some awkward anecdotes and a surprisingly relevant migratory bird resolution that passed just a month before. As we wrap up this trilogy on the battle for Black history in Brookfield, our hosts get personal as they reflect on the segregation in Milwaukee’s suburbs. 

Here are some notes and references from this episode: 

A tip of the hat to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Evan Casey, who covered this story as it happened. Read his story about Brookfield's Black History Month recognition, which includes some great photos of the students at the center of this story.  

Check out 88.9 Radio Milwaukee's six-part podcast series "By Every Measure," which unpacks systemic racism in Milwaukee. 

The Washington Post earlier this year examined the new Great Migration, in which Black Americans are returning back to the South. Lots of good data here.  

Here's where you can check out Brookfield's International Migratory Bird Day resolution. 

If you want to watch any of this drama play out as it happened, the City of Brookfield does record and post Common Council meetings. 

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The battle for Black history in Brookfield continues with part II of the story. The resolution written by the students enters City Hall and things don’t go according to plan. What ensues is an intense debate about the “appropriate” way to honor Black History Month. We hear rousing speeches from the high schoolers, a “timeless” comment from a council member and plot twist from the mayor. 

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The Black Lives Matter protests that emerged in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd inspired a group of diverse high school students to confront the predominantly white suburb of Brookfield to be a more inclusive community. And they did that by writing and proposing a resolution to honor Black History Month — a resolution that turned out to be too controversial. This is a story about how these civically engaged teenagers are forcing their hometown to grapple with race, accountability and the whitewashing of American history.

Here are some notes and references from this episode: 

Our "Porch Politics" video segment featuring voter perspectives from the WOW counties. 

The Marquette University Law School Poll from Aug. 30 to Sept. 30, 2020, which asked potential voters about their attitudes about "the Black Lives Matter movement." 

Spectrum News 1's coverage of the Black Lives Matter protest in Brookfield on June 5, 2020. 

DC Fallout's Bandcamp page. 

The history and impact of the Chapter 220 program, Wisconsin's only school integration program. Story is by WUWM 89.7 Milwaukee's NPR education reporter, Emily Files. And poignantly, the story centers around a Black student attending school in Brookfield. 

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