Bronzeville Center of the Arts: Arts History Zine

ronz e v i l l e

A

We e

v e r s ary C i n n

fB

a t i on r b e o el

k 10th

Published by: BCA Bronzeville Center For The Arts In collaboration with: Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs 6th District City of Milwaukee Bronzeville Week Planning Committee Mod Gen Deborah Kern Chipstone Foundation Jon Prown, Chief Curator, Executive Director Terri Boxer, Attorney, Von Briesen & Roper, s.c.

Kelly Goodman, Accountant, Ritz Holman Kerstin D. Hardy, Attorney, Northwestern Mutual Diana Wilkerson, MLK BID Deshea Agee, Emem Group LLC

The Bronzeville Center For The Arts Zine is published by BCA, a Milwaukee-based non-profit organization. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Volume 1, Issue 1 Copyright 2021 Bronzeville Center For The Arts. All rights reserved under international and Pan American/Copyrights Conventions.

Reproductions in whole or in part without the written consent or permission from the publisher are strictly prohibited. This publication is printed in the United States.

America’s Black Holocaust Museum Graphic Design: Alyssa Cuffie Guest Editors: Cris Siqueira, Shelly McClone-Carriere Lion’s Tooth bookstore, 2421 South Kinnickinnic Ave Milwaukee, WI 53207 Contributing Artists: Aaron Boyd, Illustrator Brad Anthony Bernard, Visual Artist Rose Camara, BCA Researcher Mutòpe J. Johnson, Visual Artist Freida High Wasikhongo Tesfagiorgis, Professor Emeritus, Visual Artist J-Bird Sterling, Visual Artist Della Wells, Visual Artist Jasmine Wyatt, Visual Artist Printed by: The Bindery 347 E Ward St Milwaukee WI 53207 Advisors: Zachary Lifton, Founding Director Quinn Blackshere, Zine Programs Director Photography: Patrick Robinson Wisconsin Historical Society Wisconsin Black Historical Society BCA Address: 2235 Vel Philips Avenue Milwaukee WI 53212 Photo by Patrick Robinson, City.Milwaukee.gov/Bronzeville

Art by Aaron Boyd 3

The Bronzeville Center for the Arts is a newly-formed visual arts organization that is committed to exploring, preserving, and presenting African American art and culture to enrich our community through creative practices that span advocacy, education, entrepreneurship, and exhibitions. The BCA is supportive, collaborative, and ideational in promoting the projects of artists and cultures of African descent, and is fully devoted to the freedom of expression and social justice.

The BCA is dedicated to investigating ways that the arts can foster and inspire personal expression, the exchange of ideas, and creative entrepreneurship through a wide range of programs: exhibitions, internships, lectures, symposia, workshops, and special events.

As a center for cultural and social interaction, the BCA empowers people of all ages to tell and create their own stories, engage different perspectives, and collaborate on innovative art projects. These exchanges educate our communities, support cultural and social networks, inspire professional opportunities, and stimulate personal fulfillment.

This zine project is designed as part of BCA’s commitment to community engagement for the benefit of members of the community. More details about arts programing will be forthcoming.

Thank you, From the BCA Board Members I-43 Being Built, Image by Milwaukee County Historical Society

4

Letter from AlderWoman Milele A. Coggs

Throughout Milwaukee’s history, the success of viable communities has largely been directly related to the dedication of residents, small businesses, and community leaders. Bronzeville Week is a collaborative exhibition of what is and what can be in the heart of the Bronzeville Cultural & Entertainment District (in the Harambee and Halyard Park Neighborhoods), and is made possible by the combined efforts of many dedicated partners.

The shared desire to improve the area led to the creation of Bronzeville Week, which has greatly raised the identifiability of the Bronzeville District and bolstered the district’s overall economic growth and sustainability.

Bronzeville Week, an official City of Milwaukee event, is an annual experience that honors the residents of our beloved community, reimagines what is possible and pays tribute to an area of historic significance for Milwaukee’s African-American community – all through the celebration of commerce, art, and culture. This year marks our 10th year, and is being celebrated August 7-14, 2021.

This year’s theme is “Feel the Culture.”

The eight-day Bronzeville Week celebration always includes events and activities that speak to the history of the district, spotlight businesses currently located in Bronzeville, and highlights local talent. A host of additional resources and events designed to educate, enrich and entertain residents from across the City of Milwaukee and beyond are also a part of the week. In addition to creating an enjoyable place for residents, visitors and tourists, we see Bronzeville Week as a wholly positive way to celebrate the vibrant commerce, art, and culture of Milwaukee’s African-American community.

Peace, Love, & Justice,

Milele A. Coggs, J.D. 6th District Alderwoman City of Milwaukee

5

On Behalf of the MLK Bid Dear Bronzeville Center for the Arts, Historic King Drive BID #8 is happy to share our continued support for the City of Milwaukee's Bronzeville Week celebration. We recognize Milwaukee has a long and rich history of culture in African-American arts, jazz and blues. We are excited about the 10th Anniversary of Bronzeville Week and the upcoming events associated with the annual celebration of Milwaukee's African American arts.

As the lead economic development agency in the Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District, Historic King Drive BID #8 believes in emphasizing the importance of commerce and supporting artists of color of all genres and backgrounds. During Bronzeville Week we invite all members of our community to engage in the events and activities focused on highlighting Milwaukee's arts community.

Additionally, we support and look forward to the zine that is being launched during Bronzeville Week. This contribution to promoting African American arts, culture, and entertainment is a welcome addition to our community.

Sincerly, Photo by Patrick Robinson, City.Milwaukee.gov/Bronzeville

Diana Wilkinson Business and Outreach Coordinator

6

The Way things were This Milwaukee neighborhood was a thriving African American community that was systematically destroyed by the government’s eminent domain policy, a policy historically used to seize land for uses such as highways, public utilities, and schools. Eminent domain was also expanded to include the transfer of the seized land to private developers for redevelopment purposes. This policy allowed the construction of the I-94 / I-43 freeway system to plow right through the middle of the Bronzeville neighborhood, a place where a migrating southern African American population settled and grew economically, socially, and politically.

The cultural qualities of this neighborhood came about through a unique set of social-political circumstances that evolved naturally over time. But understanding the enduring qualities of the people who live in the Bronzeville neighborhood as well as the environmental, economic, and cultural benefit for the city of Milwaukee becomes a main point of interest today. American mainstream popular culture has always involved certain traditions that could only be attributed to African Americans and the Bronzeville neighborhood before the freeway construction displaced families, and businesses.

7

Bronzeville Mural, Mutòpe J. Johnson

"American mainstream popular culture has always involved certain traditions that could only be attributed to African Americans and the Bronzeville neighborhood before the freeway construction displaced families, and businesses."

8

Where bronzeville got its Name In the spring of 1916, the attention of the American press and public was focused on the Great War in Europe. Few noticed the tiny stream of Southern black men brought north by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to work on the rail lines. But following this experiment between 1916 and 1918 alone, nearly 400,000 African Americans - five hundred each day - took what they hoped was a journey into freedom.

The migration was a watershed in the history of African-Americans. It lessened their overwhelming concentration in the South, opened up industrial jobs to people who had up to then been mostly farmers, and gave the first significant impetus to their urbanization. For several years in the early 20th century, during the peak of the “Great Migration,” Jim Crow laws and segregation forced many Southern African Americans to travel northward to cities offering refuge from the blatant racism and lack of employment opportunities to seek a better way of life elsewhere.

Between 1910-1950, “Black Metropolises,” as they were sometime called, sprang up all across the country in large metropolitan areas. The AfricanAmerican residents coined the phrase for these predominately African-American neighborhoods as the “Black Belt.” They were often referred to as BRONZEVILLE, because it seemed to reflect the way people thought of their own community.

9

"They were often referred to as BRONZEVILLE, because it seemed to reflect the way people thought of their own community. "

Horace R. Cayton, the noted Chicago sociologist, stated that, “the expression bronze when counter posed to ‘Black’ reveals a tendency on part of the formerly characterized ‘Negro,’ to avoid referring to themselves as ‘Black.’ As a descriptive term the former is even more accurate than the latter, as most African Americans are actually various complexions of brown. Hence, the term Bronzeville was brought about to give the Black Metropolis the much-needed uplift such that people would not keep looking down on it as the ‘Black’ neighborhood.”

Photos by Patrick Robinson, City.Milwaukee.gov/Bronzeville

10

The Role of the church Leading up to the 1950s and early 1960s, Bronzeville churches were a big part of the lives of the migrants who were making their transition from living in the rural south to the urban lifestyle in the northern cities like Chicago and Milwaukee. More often than not the church played an important role in welcoming migrating Church of God In Christ circa 1939, African-American families. Church members greeted Wisconsin Historical Society the newcomers and immediately directed them to places of assistance like social services centers, providing them with food and clothing, and assisting them in the obtainment of housing and employment.

These social conditions placed a special burden on Black churches. They also hosted a wide variety of social, educational, and recreational activities, and soon gained a reputation throughout the South as places of refuge from racism, violence and places to go for worship. St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in Milwaukee in 1869, one of the first churches established in the city, and was located at Fourth Street and Cedar (now called) Kilbourn Street for 31 years. They made two subsequent moves in and around Bronzeville before being forced to leave because of freeway construction.

Calvary Baptist Church began on Seventh Street in 1895, as a small mission church where it was known for its music and social action of helping establish housing programs for the elderly. St Benedict the Moor Mission was founded in 1908, The Church of God in Christ was founded in 1919, and Greater Galilee Baptist Church was founded in 1920, as well as many others.

Churches of all sizes provided worship services of various denominations and became the cornerstones of the community. Doctors and lawyers lived in the same neighborhood and went to the same churches as the laborers and the unemployed. Even after open housing laws enabled the more affluent professionals who could afford to move elsewhere continued to stay on as members to support their home church where their families had frequented for generations.

So as African Americans moved to cities like Milwaukee, entities such as fraternal groups, civil rights organizations, and social clubs developed within the community and played an important role.

11

St. Mark AME Church, Wisconsin Historical Society

Education Getting an education became a principle component of families settling into the Bronzeville community. The forces of segregation kept the African American students of Bronzeville within the boundaries of 10 schools: Fourth Street (now Golda Meir), Siefert, Lloyd Street School, St. Francis, Ninth Street School, Roosevelt Junior High, St. Benedict the Moor, Lincoln High School, known today as Lincoln Center for the Arts, and North Division High School. While several of the schools were predominately African American, others such as St. Francis and Siefert had only a few Black students.

St. Benedict the Moor was the only Catholic boarding school for African Americans in the county. The school system provided free education to local students.

Students going into the building, trade, or service industries went to Milwaukee Girls Technical and Boys Technical School, known today as Bradley Technical High School.

Because the city was so segregated geographically, its schools did not integrate following the 1954 Brown vs Board of Education ruling. In a 1960 survey, the NAACP found that schools in the central city were 90 percent black. A few high schools did show signs of integrated student populations like Lincoln High School, West Division, (High School of the Arts) East Division (Riverside University High School).

St. Benedict the Moor Church, Wisconsin Historical Society

On August 28, 1963, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in Milwaukee organized the first civil rights demonstration in the city. A year later, in May of 1964, they organized a boycott of the Black schools that drew the participation of more than half of the African American students. The following year, Lloyd Barbee, a Democratic politician and civil rights activist, filed a lawsuit that challenged segregation in the Milwaukee Public Schools, charging that the school board practices allowed discrimination. Not until 1976, did the courts finally rule that Milwaukee schools were illegally segregated, and it took until 1979 for the school board to implement a five-year desegregation plan.

12

The Entertainment District During the Jim Crow era, early 1900s to mid 1950s, African-Americans were not allowed in the white clubs and hotels downtown. Thus, African Americans created their own vibrant entertainment district in Bronzeville, the neighborhood between Brewer’s Hill/Halyard Park and Haymarket was the center of Milwaukee’s jazz district.

When white patrons were attracted to the Jazz and Blues offered by Black clubs, the Bronzeville entertainment district became one of the few points of racial integration in Milwaukee in the first half of the 20th century. The few spots that did were referred to as Black and Tan clubs. Ironically white entertainment establishments did not often return the favor.

Gold Coast Tavern, Milwaukee Public Library Digital Collection

However, The Metropole was the first Bronzeville club to attain popularity in the 1920s, and the Flame 1352 N. 9th Street, and Moon Glow 1222 N. 7th Street, were two that lasted the longest. Other clubs included the Blue Room, the Chateau, the Celebrity Club, the Gold Coast Tavern, the Intrigue, the Milwaukee Club, Mr. Jimmy’s Place, Morri’s, the Pelican Club, the Polk A-Dot Ranchos, Savoy Tap 710 W. Walnut St., the 711 Club, T Joes, Thelma’s Back Door, Trocadero, and the White House.

Duke Ellington, Wisconsin Black Historical Society

Wisconsin Historical Society

Jazz and Blues music began to attract a following. Black bands traveled the ‘Chitlin Circuit’ throughout the Midwest, and even as far west as Seattle. Famous performers like Billy Holiday, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong all performed downtown and stayed in Bronzeville. The band members and their wives traveled together by bus, sleeping in the seats, since hotels would not rent them rooms.

Often musicians who traveled on the road to Milwaukee and other jazz circuit cities would stay at someone’s black owned rooming house establishments in Bronzeville. Local jazz musicians of the era included Manty Ellis, Berkeley Fudge, Bunky Green, Frank Morgan, Willie Pickens, Dick Smith, Frank DeMiles, Lorette Whyte and many others. Some went on to have illustrious careers in major markets, while others stayed home.

If we consider what these Bronzeville memories convey, it reminds us that what was successful culturally and historically is worth keeping. This is just a brief snapshot of Milwaukee’s rich history, it involves real living participants who tell our story, to help establish a process that promotes good preservation practices for future generations to build on.

To learn more about the Bronzeville Jazz and entertainment history visit: radiomilwaukee.org/story/artsculture/milwaukee-jazz-past/ 14

Cultural Politics American popular culture itself has always contained African American vernacular traditions. Edward Tylor, British anthropologist, (1871) defines culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” In the Akan language of Ghana, Sankofa is a word that translates in English to “Go back and get it” or “Refer to the past in order that we are able to move forward.” As the social cultural climate of Bronzeville began to change so did the politics. “When the migrating African-American population merged with other ethnic and nationalities there were bound to be issues of integration and tensions.”

Stuart Hall states that “popular culture carries that affirmative ring because of the prominence of the word “popular” and in one sense, popular culture always has its base in the experiences, the pleasures, the memories, and the traditions of the people. It has connections with local hopes and local aspirations, local tragedies, and local scenarios that are the everyday practices and the everyday experiences of ordinary folks.”

I-43 Being Built city.Milwaukee.gov/Bronzeville

15

Because the city was so segregated geographically Milwaukee politics have always been contentious. The Milwaukee branch of the NAACP was one of the many African American organizations that functioned as one of the city’s leading civil rights organization since 1919 through the 1960s.

Led for its first half century by prominent middle-class African American professionals, including Wilbur Halyard, Ardie Halyard, and James W. Dorsey, the local chapter battled racial discrimination in employment,

Great Migration, Art by Mutòpe J. Johnson

housing, education, entertainment, and policing. They did this through political lobbying, legal intervention, and direct action and protest. Many of Milwaukee activists, lawyers and politicians who were and are trail blazers include: Lloyd Barbee and Vel Phillips; police officer Felmers Cheney, brothers Terrance Pitts, a county supervisor, and Orville Pitts, a noted lawyer in the Milwaukee City Attorney’s office; the Black-owned law firms of Roy Wilson, John Broadnax, and Clifton Owens; and the firm of W. Dale Phillips, Emmet Gambrell, LeRoy Jones, and Russell Stamper, the organization Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and many others.

The Coggs family dynasty have also held many offices in Milwaukee politics, including Milwaukee City Treasurer Spencer Coggs; former County Supervisor Elizabeth Coggs-Jones; and three former state representatives: Isaac Newton Coggs, his wife Marcia Coggs and their nephew, Leon Young and today’s 6th District Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs.

Old Walnut Street, Art by Sylvester Sims

In order to continue to be a benefit to the city of Milwaukee, it is through the political struggles that Milwaukee’s residents have always actively considered, negotiated, and articulated both the cultural character and the interest of communities like Bronzeville.

To learn more about the cultural politics of Milwaukee's Bronzeville, visit: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2017/08/05/yesterdays-milwaukeethe-rise-and-fall-of-bronzeville/ 16

African American Owned Enterprises The boundaries of Milwaukee’s Bronzeville District can be briefly described as Brown Street on the north, Juneau Avenue on the south, Third Street on the east and 12th Street on the west (city.milwaukee.gov/RedevelopmentPlan.htm).

Milwaukee’s Bronzeville was a place where African Americans families worked hard to make a living and to make a community.

Between 1915 and 1932, the increasing flow of African Americans migrating from the South needed relatives to take them in or be able to afford to live in rooming houses. Geenen, Paul H., Milwaukee’s Bronzeville, 1900-1950 notes “in 1940, 51 percent of African American men were unemployed, with 29 percent of them actively looking for work, compared to the 13 percent of white men seeking work. The outbreak of World War II found many of the African American men in the armed forces, while the women found defense jobs at places like Allis-Chalmers.”

Formed in 1901, Allis-Chalmers made machinery for naval ships, such as steam turbines, generators, electric motors, artillery tractors, electrical switches and controls, for army use; and other products.

Image of Clara Restaurant, 17

Milwaukee Green Book

The Bronzeville community contained inexpensive places to eat, tailor shops, and barbershops where a man could get a decent haircut. After hours, African American patronized nightclubs, taverns, and even funeral home services benefited from the population in and around Bronzeville.

The men worked heavy, physical jobs during the day in factories and then came home and worked the evening hours if they had a growing start-up business of their own. The women worked long hours as domestic workers to earn a precious living and support the family as well. Many of these Black owned businesses were listed in the Wisconsin version of the famously known “The Green Book, Negro Business Directory.”

Image of Alyce Dress Shoppe, Milwaukee Greenbook

18

Map of Bronzeville

Photos by Patrick Robinson, City.Milwaukee.gov/Bronzeville

Notable Places America's Black Holocaust Museum Jazale's Art Studio Gee's Clippers Dream Bikes The Bronzeville Collective MKE Milwaukee Urban League

Mural by Jasmine Wyatt

20

Artistic Contributions The current Bronzeville Arts and Cultural District and surrounding area in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has significant historical importance to Milwaukee’s African-American history cultural and arts scene. Moreover, it could be argued that the Bronzeville Arts and Cultural District is the birth place of Milwaukee's African American visual art scene.

Up to 1967, the area of Third Street (now known as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive), was the second biggest shopping area in Milwaukee. During the late '50s and 1960s the area was referred to by many of Milwaukee’s African American residents as the “Black Downtown.”

After the 1967 riot or rebellion in Milwaukee and freeway expansion, most of the business moved out. Some businesses had started leaving the area before the 1967 riot or rebellion. While a few businesses remained such as Crown Hardware and Fein Brothers Restaurant & Supply Equipment remained. What replaced some of the businesses that did leave were nonprofits and arts organizations. Some of the arts organizations were The Milwaukee Inner City Arts Council and The Gallery Towards the Black Aesthetics, both founded in the late 1960s. The Gallery Towards the Black Aesthetics was founded by George Edwards and other young black artists in the late 1960s.

21

Some of the artists included were Evelyn Terry, Gerald Coleman, former Milwaukeean and Arizona-based Joe Willie Smith (was the Assistant Director), and former state legislator Johnnie Mae Tatum (was the Secretary). It featured artists from all over the Midwest and received national attention from the Whitney Museum of Art, New York City whom included the work of artist Evelyn Patricia Terry in one of its major group exhibitions.

Some of its now notable young class attendees included the former lawmaker Elizabeth Coggs-Jones and her cousin Rose Coggs who both attended jewelry making classes. The gallery interacted with artists Karl Priebe, artist Richard Hunt and artist Dr. Margaret Burroughs, founder of the Chicago Dusable Museum.

Ed Akinshiju Miller, Art by JBird Sterling

Inner City Arts Council Mural, Mural by Reynaldo Hernandez Photo by Adam Carr

The Milwaukee Inner City Arts Council provided visual and performing arts programming which produced plays, art exhibitions, an art festival and art classes for children. The first director of Milwaukee Inner City Arts Council was Quinton Baker. Artist Ammar Nsoroma, a Milwaukee based muralist who received the 2020 Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship for Individual Artists attended art classes there.

It also should be noted the iconic mural which currently exists on the Milwaukee Inner City Arts Council building was done by artist Reynaldo Hernandez. However, it was not the first mural on the building, the initial mural was done in the late 1960s early 1970s, by former Milwaukee based artist Calvin Dallas.

One year before the 1967 riot or rebellion Echo Magazine was founded by Virginia Williams. Echo Magazine featured articles about black culture and Echo Magazine, arts. The magazine was published until the 1980s.

UWM Archives They also had workshops for teens and children in the arts such as drawing, poetry classes, etc. The art classes were run by Welton Brady who went to Layton School of Art and was a member of one of Milwaukee’s prominent African-American families at the time.

Dr. Martin Luther King Library was another important landmark where artists made a name for themselves. The African American arts group The Freewheelers were founded in the mid 1970s. The Group had art exhibitions and exhibited throughout Wisconsin. Some of its members that came to prominence were Gerald Duane Coleman, world traveler, artist and illustrator. Coleman became an integral part of the Freewheelers group. Coleman did dramatic painted portrayals of historic figures, most notably Martin Luther King Library, Milwaukee Journel Sentinel

22

Strive Media Cover

Nat Love, a 19th century cowboy known as "Deadwood Dick," and many others. John Clark is well known known for his paintings about aviation.

Clark is the Jo Kotula Chair of the American Society of Aviation Artists; a past President, and “Artist Fellow” of the society.

In the 1970s he worked on a mural at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Another former Freewheeler was artist Charly Palmer. In 1996 he was commissioned to create artwork for the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia and was July’s 2020’ Time Magazine cover artist and was commissioned to create artwork for musician and recording artist John Legend.

The late Gerald Wallace was founder of People’s Theater. Wallace built a 40-seat theatre in the basement of his office at 2208 North 3rd Street (now Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive), it was used mostly for rehearsals but some early projects were performed there. During the late 1980’s, he founded the People’s Theatre Gallery in the former AT&T building on 4th and Wright Streets, where he exhibited and sold works of Milwaukee African-American artists. The mid to late 1970s, Robert Taylor founded an African-American museum on King Drive and Chambers Street. He would give tours and lectures about African-American history.

In the late 1980s and 90s, the Milwaukee Enterprise Center located at 2821 Vel R. Phillips Avenue, was an art incubator for artists and start-up businesses. It is currently known as the Welford Sanders Lofts. There were artists’ studios that included Evelyn Terry, Ammar Nsoroma, Della Wells, Bennie Higgins, Brad Anthony Bernard, and the now Detroit based artist Amos Kennedy among many others.

First City Arts Mural, Art by Calvin Dallas 23

Another Milwaukee arts based organization was Strive Media, formerly located at 1818 North Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., which was founded in 1990 by Mutòpe J. Johnson and his brother Matthew A. Johnson, challenging local youth to compete in real-world mass media. This nonprofit provided mentoring and training program for teens with experience they need to compete in the field of mass communication.

Art is For Lovers Gallery

Many of the teens went on to pursue national careers in media and broadcast television. More recently in 2014, the Art is For Lovers Gallery was located at 2228 North Dr Martin Luther King Jr Drive. It is managed by Karl Reeves and Gabrielle Tesfaye and the former Greer Oaks Gallery is managed and owned by the late artist Calvin Greer. This gallery was founded in the early 2000s and is located in the old Palmer House.

This just a sampling of African American history and artistic culture which emerged during the growth of Bronzeville. It becomes a comprehensive assessment of the circumstances that contributed to needs of visual artists of African decent, in America and globally. This fosters a thorough examination of the ingredients necessary for success. This pivotal moment in Bronzeville’s history demonstrates what began here and the role that working artists play within our communities.

Former Greer Oaks Gallery

24

Vel R. Phillips Mural, Art by Jasmine Wyatt

Celebrating Bronzeville History, Culture, and Collaboration Across Geographical Boundaries Guest Piece by Freida High Wasikhongo Tesfagiorgis, MFA, Ph.D.

The 10th annual Bronzeville Week Celebration in Milwaukee Wisconsin (August 7-14, 2021) celebrates African American “culture, history, art, commerce, and entertainment.” This summer it occurs in person and virtually, and includes a HaRUNbee Walk/Run, that underscores the aim of Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs and other co-sponsors to raise awareness of health matters and related racial disparities, while encouraging collaboration with the greater Milwaukee to confront them, and to promote wellness on all counts (City Milwaukee News Release, Common Council, 2021).

America's Black Holocaust Museum, Holocaust Museum, the Inner CityArts Council, and the Bronzeville Collective are merely examples of the art establishments/businesses in the historical King Drive BID. They are testaments to the value of art, aesthetics, entrepreneurship, economics and collaboration in the revitalization of the historic Bronzeville residential and business community, particularly in overcoming the destruction caused by the North-South Freeway (I43/I94) in the 1960s when it cut through the heart of Bronzeville.

25

Going forward in this Sankofa moment, we look back to celebrate and build on the history of this community that had by the 1940s developed jazz clubs, barbershops, drugstores, funeral homes, and taverns to meet the demands of the African American population; dramatically increasing with migration from the South in the 1960s (Niles Niemuth, Urban Renewal and the Development of Milwaukee’s African American Community: 1960-1980, 2014).

Amid the complex history of Milwaukee's Bronzeville, artist/educator Mutòpe J. Johnson, with his distinctive Bronzeville series of portraits, cityscapes, freeways, architecture, and more, stands as a hypericonic visual historian of Bronzeville.

Recognizing the detrimental effect of urbanization and related political climate, Johnson (born and raised in Bronzeville) states that his aim is to visually promote a “discourse about cultural awareness, adverse political power, and social responsibility.”

He adds, “This is to say that the power of the arts can become a useful tool to help influence public opinion” (Simone Doing and Max Puchalsky, “Artist Statements,” Justified Art, 2016, 121).

Johnson’s art praises African American figures, history, and culture, and it criticizes oppression, underscoring the historical link to the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement (Freida High W. Tesfagiorgis, “Justified Art! Visualizing Activism for Social Justice,” Justified Art!, 47). Yet, the noted themes concern the specific history of Bronzeville in Milwaukee and contemporary issues of social justice, corresponding to the respective interests of contemporary artists of Chicago Bronzeville, the greater Milwaukee and Wisconsin, and artists of other cities nationwide.

Hawkins, Jerry Butler, Della Wells, Blanche Brown, Mutòpe Johnson, Linda Mathis, Jerry Jordan, Tyanna Buie, and others. The Bronzeville Center for the Arts and Madison artists join city officials and the communities of Bronzeville and the greater Milwaukee to celebrate Bronzeville’s distinctive history.

Like populations throughout the United States, Bronzeville artists collaborate across geographical boundaries. They exhibit nationally and internationally, curate with artists locally and elsewhere, and display special relationships with artists in Madison, Wisconsin.

For example, the Gallery Towards the Black Aesthetics displayed the works of UWProfessor Freida High and her students (1973), and Evelyn Terry’s “Keep Your Soul”: Works by Black and About African American Women included a Madison artist (1990).

Artists of Madison and Milwaukee have participated in the same exhibitions, shared galleries, and/or juried exhibitions together; spanning the Milwaukee Inner City Art Council and the Performing Arts Center (1970s), the Milwaukee Art Museum and Madison Art Fair on the Square (1990s and beyond), and exhibits at the Society of Portrait Gallery (Della Wells, Jerry Jordan, and Charly Palmer, 2021). This long history includes Akinshiju Miller, Teju, Gerald Coleman, Edgar Jeter, Evelyn Terry, Henry

Billie Holiday,

By Mutòpe J. Johnson

"This is to say that the power of the arts can become a useful tool to help influence public opinion."

26

culture as an artistic understanding Guest Piece by Brad Anthony Bernard

Photos by Patrick Robinson, City.Milwaukee.gov/Bronzeville

The Black American experience in many ways exemplifies the ability to bring forth creative genius and celebrate a collective cultural identity. This is in spite of enduring centuries of oppressive and often lethal conditions of systemic racism.

The role of the artist, beyond practitioner alone, is that of a visual griot, documentarian, and storyteller. A maker of images that will tell our stories now and far into the future. The visual arts, like music and literature, have provided gateways to understanding history and culture of ancient civilizations. The times we live in now are no different. Arts and culture today are just as relevant. The Black American experience has created some of the most awe-spiring and thoughtprovoking art the world has ever seen. All while simultaneously creating and preserving the culture and spirituality to tell the stories and teach the histories that public education, politics and common knowledge conveniently dismiss and often leave out.

Through the proper integration of arts fused into communities like Bronzeville, culture as an artistic understanding provides a rich economic and environmental benefit. A cultural value that is accessible to all levels of learners, and sets the tone for a tangible educational experience for all citizens from every walk of life.

27

Bronzeville Center For The arts (BCA), honors the memory of George Julius Edwards who joined the ancestors in July 2021. Edwards was the first Director and one of the founders of the Gallery Towards The Black Aesthetics.

28

Bibliography Assmann, Jan. “Foreword.” Cultural Memory and Early Civilization: Writing, Remembrance, and Political Imagination. First ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2011. Vii. Print.

Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom: pg 4.

Boyd, Michelle R. “Introduction.” Jim Crow Nostalgia: Reconstructing Race in Bronzeville. Vol. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2008. N. Print.

Campbell, Mary Schmidt., and David Dirskell. “Preface.” Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America. Harlem: Studio Museum, 1994. Print.

Geenen, Paul H. Milwaukee’s Bronzeville, 1900-1950. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub., 2006.

Print.

Hall, Stuart. Social Justice, Spring-Summer 1993 v20 n1-2 (11).

Harpole, Rueben. Personal interview. April 2013.

“Impact of school desegregation in Milwaukee Public Schools on quality education for minorities... 15 years later.” Washington, D.C.: The Commission, 1992.

Johnson, J. Mutope. “Milwaukee’s Bronzeville a Case Study for Cultural Conservation,” UWM Seven Topics, MFA Thesis, 2013. Print.

Lawrence W. Levine. Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.

Marks, Carole. The Great Migration: African-Americans Searching for the Promised Land, 1916- 1930. University of Delaware.

Milwaukee’s Bronzeville, https://city.milwaukee.gov/Bronzeville.

Mullen, Bill. “Artists in Uniform: The South Side Community Art Center and Defense of Culture.” Popular Fronts: Chicago and African-American Cultural Politics, 1935-46.

Urbana: University of Illinois, 1999. pg75. Print.

Photos, Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum.

Photos, Wisconsin Historical Society.

Photos, Patrick Robinson, photography.

Stange, Maren. “Introduction.” Bronzeville: Black Chicago in Pictures, 1941-1943. New York: New, 2003. Xv. Print.

United States. Wisconsin. City of Milwaukee. The Department of City Development. Land Redevelopment. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. What Is Black Migration in the 1920S? Black History in America, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

29

Bronzeville Business Directory Visit https://kingdriveis.com/directory/ for the full list

Barber & Beauty 50 Shades of Fly https://50shadesoffly.com Gee's Clippers http://www.geesclippers.com Eats & Treats Dead Bird Brewing https://www.deadbirdbrewing.com Glorious Malone's Fine Sausage https://malonesfinesausage.com Jewel's Caribbean https://jewelscaribbean.com Pilcrow Coffee https://www.pilcrowcoffee.com Night Out Lounge 340 https://www.facebook.com/lounge340/ Skybox Sports Bar https://www.facebook.com/OurSportsBar/ Garfield's 502 https://www.garfields502.com

Wellness Ascent Wellness http://www.ascentwellnessprogram.com Alliant Physical Therapy https://alliantpt.com Non-Profits Ubuntu Research and Evaluation https://www.ubunturesearch.com Alma Center https://almacenter.org The Community Warehouse https://www.thecommunitywarehouse.org Westcare https://westcare.com Retail Services Bronzeville Collective https://www.bronzevillecollective.com Dream Bikes https://www.dream-bikes.org 414loral https://www.414loral.com

30

Read online and access resources here:

Migration to Milwaukee, Art by Mutòpe J. Johnson