October 2020 Print Edition

OCTOBER 2020

DEB ANDRACA

ROBYN VINING

THESE ACCOMPLISHED NO-NONSENSE WOMEN SHOULD BE IN THE STATE ASSEMBLY

DORA DRAKE

PLEASE VOTE ON NOV. 3RD

EMILY SIEGRIST

SARA RODRIGUEZ

LOUIS FORTIS

Photo by Tyler Nelson

PUBLISHER'S LETTER

FIVE WOMEN WHO SHOULD BE

WORKING FOR US IN THE ASSEMBLY

O

n the cover, we have five outstanding women running for the State Assembly in suburban or partially suburban districts, one incumbent and four challengers. These women have been successful and become leaders in their careers because they are problem solvers who are willing to listen to all sides and then work toward solutions. These are the type of individuals who should be in the legislature if we want to move Wisconsin forward. Currently we have a totally dysfunctional legislature where the legislative leaders refuse to work with the governor because he is from the other party. This is not good for our state, and it doesn’t have to be this way. We can do better.

I served in the State Assembly a few decades ago representing suburban communities, Glendale and Brown Deer, at a time when we also had split government. The Democrats controlled both chambers of the legislature and Tommy Thompson was governor, and we got things done. There

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was communication, compromise and a genuine interest in working together to solve problems for the people of Wisconsin. There were frustrations and difficult moments, of course, but that’s part of legislating.

NOVEMBER 3 ELECTION In less than four weeks, we have an election that is the most consequential election in any of our lifetimes, and it is important that we all vote. We are obviously in an unusual time. We are in the middle of a pandemic where the U.S. has had the highest number of people with COVID-19 and has had the highest number of deaths from the virus in the world. We are in a recession with an unemployment rate that we have not experienced since the 1930s; we have an awakening to social injustices that have scarred our state and nation since their inceptions; we have a country is that more divided than at any time since the American Civil War; and we have

foreign nations like Russia, China and Iran trying to undermine our elections.

Despite this litany of issues that we are currently facing, the American people and the American way of life will prevail if are engaged, informed and vote. We have strong institutions that can survive difficult times. One thing I learned as a state legislator is that Americans are basically fair and decent people when they have the facts presented to them in an honest manner. We need to move beyond some of the nonsense on social media and the various conspiracy theories and think about what is right for our country and future generations. We will get through all of this and heal as a people and a country.

Please Vote. Your choices are your private, personal decisions, between you and your conscience.

Louis Fortis Publisher/Editor-on-Chief

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NEWS 08 Five No-Nonsense Local Women Who Should be Elected in November 12

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A 12-Step Program for Anti-Racism in Milwaukee

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The Modern World

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This Really Is the Most Important Presidential Election of Our Lifetime — Taking Liberties

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Janan Najeeb Works to Build Bridges of Understanding Hero of the Month

24 Kenosha and Racial Reckoning Issue of the Month

Photo by Quinn Clark

26 The Tandem’s Caitlin Cullen Feeds the Community Throughout the Pandemic Off the Cuff

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FOOD & DRINK

Illustration by Tess Brzycki

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30 In Search of Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts — Flash in the Pan 34 Hospitality Workers Navigate the New Normal 36 50 Years of Comforting Soul Food at Mr. Perkins

SPECIAL SECTION 40 Americans are Still Paying Out of Pocket for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Photo by Erin Bloodgood

CULTURE 48 MOWA Exhibit Focuses on Wisconsin’s Role in Alternative Comics in the ‘60s and ‘70s 52 Milwaukee Musicians Find Opportunities in Film, TV and Other Media

LIFESTYLE 60 How to Read the Political Mind Out of my Mind 62 Should I Buy a House/Condo or Rent and Invest My Money Elsewhere Personal Finance 64 Purple Reign Infuses Cakes and Brownies with Long-Lasting Pain Relief — Cannabis

Photo by CreativeStudio/Getty Images

42 Best of Milwaukee Listings

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Photo Courtesy of MOWA

Illustration by of Ali Bachmann

68 Transform Your Home with Nature Inspired Flair — Domicile

HEAR ME OUT

SPONSORED BY

70 Dating in the Age of COVID Dear Ruthie 72 LGBT History Month and More My LGBTQ POV

ART FOR ART'S SAKE 74 From the City that Always Sweeps

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Cover: Deb Andraca - Photo Courtesy of Deb Andraca; Dora Drake - Photo Courtesy of Dora Drake; Sara Rodriguez - Photo Courtesy of Sara Rodriguez; Emily Siegrist - Photo Courtesy of Emily Siegrist; Robyn Vining - Photo Courtesy of Robyn Vining

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08 PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Louis Fortis (ext. 3802) GENERAL MANAGER: Kevin Gardner (ext. 3825)

Photo by manusapon kasosod/Getty Images

MANAGING EDITOR: David Luhrssen (ext. 3804) Photo Courtesy of Dora Drake

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Photo by hrisbm/Getty Images

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STAFF WRITER/COPY EDITOR: Jean-Gabriel Fernandez (ext. 3818) ASSISTANT TO THE GENERAL MANAGER: Blaine Schultz (ext. 3813) EVENT SALES COORDINATOR: Carrie Fisher (ext. 3823) ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Bridgette Ard (ext. 3811) Brian Travis (ext. 3829) EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE SALES DIRECTOR AND PUBLISHER: Jackie Butzler (ext. 3814) BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Chuck Hill (ext. 3822) IN MEMORY OF DUSTI FERGUSON (OCTOBER 18, 1971 – NOVEMBER 20, 2007) WEB PUBLISHER: Cole Vandermause (ext. 3807) WEB EDITOR: Tyler Nelson (ext. 3810)

Photo Courtesy of The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center

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WEB WRITER: Allen Halas (ext. 3803) Photo by Tyler Nelson

BUSINESS MANAGER: Peggy Debnam (ext. 3832) CIRCULATION COORDINATOR: Blaine Schultz (ext. 3813)

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Photo Courtesy of Purple Reign WI

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NEWS

WHY THESE FIVE CANDIDATES

SHOULD BE IN THE STATE ASSEMBLY

BY LOUIS FORTIS

I

n this election cycle, as in 2018, suburban women are again in the spotlight nationally, running for elected office in record numbers. This is also certainly the case in Milwaukee’s suburbs. There is a good reason for very talented women to set aside their careers to run for elected office: When they watch the legislative leadership continue to fight science and sue to eliminate a simple mask-wearing ordinance, putting families and the economy at risk, they feel it’s time to get involved.

These women refuse to just sit back and watch as COVID-19 cases rise and the death count continue to grow in our state while the Republican legislative leadership plays power games. They want to get something done for all our citizens.

THEY WILL SET ASIDE POLITICS AND WORK HARD TO HEAL OUR DIVIDED STATE, FOCUS ON BUILDING A STRONGER ECONOMY WITH FAMILY SUPPORTING JOBS, AND THEY WILL PROMOTE THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF ALL OF WISCONSIN’S CITIZENS.

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We are fortunate that this year, there are a number of highly qualified, principled and pragmatic, no-nonsense women running in suburban or partially suburban State Assembly districts surrounding Milwaukee. We need candidates like these women who will work across the aisle to develop fair and balanced legislation that improves the lives of regular working people. These races will be tough, but these women can win.

INTRODUCING THE CANDIDATES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER: Deb Andraca is running in Assembly District 23, which includes Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, Bayside, as well as Eastern Mequon, Thiensville and Grafton. She is running against Jim Ott, who has been in the legislature for 14 years.

Andraca has a diverse and very impressive career along with a list of volunteer civic positions. She’s a proud mother of two daughters. Career wise, Andraca was a vice president at FleishmanHillard, an international public relations firm. She worked in Washington, D.C., for the Solar Energy Industries Association. She was also the communications director and lobbyist at the Environmental Law and Policy Center. Andraca has a master’s degree in political management from George Washington University. After her daughters were in school, she went back to college for a teaching credential at Alverno and became a teacher.

In her teaching position, she experienced a lockdown drill where students learned safety procedures in case of a mass shooter.

That lead her again onto a political path pushing for some basic common-sense gun laws, support for public education and high-quality health care. When her efforts failed to get any serious responses from her state legislator regarding these issues fell through, she decided that, “if I can’t change our Representative’s mind, I would have to change his job.”

For more information on Andraca, go to debforwi.com.

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NEWS

Sara Rodriguez is running in Assembly District 13 which includes portions of Wauwatosa, West Allis, Elm Grove and Brookfield.

Rodriguez is a graduate of Brookfield East High School and is now a working mom with two kids. She has two master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University in Public Health and in Nursing. In addition to having worked as a nurse, she was also a health care executive serving in various roles, including founding a health care consulting firm.

She was vice president of population health and integrated care management at a local health system. Rodriguez also worked in public health positions at state, local and federal agencies, including as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She also served in the Peace Corps. Now, she volunteers as a girl scout leader for her daughter’s troop.

Dora Drake is running in Assembly District 11, which includes portions of Glendale and Milwaukee.

Drake was born and raised in Milwaukee’s Graceland neighborhood. The oldest of eight siblings, she has the drive that oldest children often have. She was accepted into Marquette University’s Educational Opportunities Program and worked at least two jobs while attending classes. She graduated with a degree in Social Welfare and Justice. She has worked in the criminal justice system and was a Pretrial Case Manager at JusticePoint, a nonprofit that promotes “evidence-informed criminal just programs.” She also works at the Center for Self Sufficiency, where she helps individuals to successfully re-enter society.

Drake has a reputation for being very solution-oriented and an effective bridge builder. She believes in giving individuals who have made some mistakes in their lives and served their time an honest second chance. She is definitely someone who will be able to work across the aisle to get things done.

For more information on Drake, go to doradrakeforwi.com.

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For more information on Rodriguez, go to saraforwi.com.

Emily Siegrist is running in Assembly District 24, which includes Brown Deer, River Hills and parts of Glendale, Mequon, Menomonee Falls and Germantown.

Siegrist is a nurse practitioner, a veteran, a teacher and a mother of two. While growing up, her family had some financial hardships that taught her to work hard, look for avenues to succeed and to take advantage of the opportunities that are available. After high school, she joined the Army National Guard, where she excelled, and then went on to college and again excelled, becoming a nurse practitioner.

She wants opportunities for our young people where they can reach their life goals through hard work. That requires excellent educational opportunities and state legislation that builds a strong economy in Wisconsin to provide good jobs for today’s children. Beside fighting for excellent educational opportunities and a strong economy, her other issues are providing high-quality, affordable health care and a cleaner environment along with addressing veterans’ issues.

Siegrist ran a strong campaign for State Assembly in 2018 and is building on that base of support in her 2020 race.

For more information on Siegrist, go to emilysiegristforwi.com.

Robyn Vining is running in Assembly District 14, which includes Brookfield and portions of Wauwatosa and Milwaukee.

Vining is running for her first reelection. She was elected in 2018 and has served her district with distinction for the past two year.

Vining has a master’s degree in religion.

She is a small business owner and a former pastor. Her areas of interest are protecting the health and safety of families and their children. Vining is a founding board member of Exploit No More, which works to put an end to sex trafficking of children.

She is an outspoken supporter of clean, honest government, and she introduced legislation to insure fairer district boundaries. She is also a dedicated champion for helping small businesses.

Vining worked hard to get appointed to the State Assembly Committee on Health, Children and Families, and she got appointed to the Financial Institutions and Small Business Development committees as well. Finally, she is a member of the Assembly Task Force on Adoption.

For more information on Vining, go to robynforwi.com.

THESE WOMEN REFUSE TO JUST SIT BACK AND WATCH AS COVID-19 CASES RISE AND THE DEATH COUNT CONTINUE TO GROW IN OUR STATE WHILE THE REPUBLICAN LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP PLAYS POWER GAMES. WHY THESE CANDIDATES ARE IMPORTANT FOR WISCONSIN These five women are the type of individuals who should be in state government.

They will set aside politics and work hard to heal our divided state, focus on building a stronger economy with family supporting jobs, and they will promote the health and safety of all of Wisconsin’s citizens. We get to decide whether they get that opportunity on November 3. Your vote matters.

Louis Fortis is a former Wisconsin State Assemblyman who represented Brown Deer and a portion of Glendale and Milwaukee in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

A 12-STEP PROGRAM TOWARD ANTIRACISM IN MILWAUKEE SINCE 12-STEP PROGRAMS WORK FOR OTHER ISSUES, WHY NOT RACISM?

By Virginia Small

S

ome call our current era The Reckoning. In Greater Milwaukee, thousands have participated in Black Lives Matter protests drawing people of all backgrounds, ages and identities. Nonetheless, transforming our segregated metro area will require sustained antiracist efforts on many fronts.

“Although recent media coverage on the longstanding issue of police brutality against people of color has sparked a national discussion and calls for legislative action, a more significant impact can only come from a fundamental change in the way our society views race by acknowledging the history of racial disparities… ingrained in our culture,” said Milwaukee County Supervisor Sequanna Taylor.

“History will judge us by our actions, not our words,” award-winning columnist Reggie Jackson recently wrote.

“Writing checks will not defeat systemic racism if the walls of the system of racism, which has benefitted white people for generations while disadvantaging people of color, are not dismantled,” Jackson is the Head Griot for America’s Black Holocaust Museum in Bronzeville.

The following perspectives by Milwaukee-area people of color were gathered from my interviews and from published and broadcast statements.

Virginia Small is a veteran journalist and communications professional. The Milwaukee Press Club recently awarded her a silver medal for a story published in the Shepherd Express.

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SEIZE THIS MOMENT As Jackson wrote in his Milwaukee Independent column: “Use your influence to get as many white people to the table to talk as you can now.

Understand the tremendous peer pressure many white people feel from family, friends, neighbors and coworkers to not talk about racism. It’s about human decency and respect. It’s time to learn and unlearn… Let’s follow the example of the post-Apartheid South Africa.”

2. VENTURE BEYOND FAMILIAR SPACES Brandon Culpepper founded PeppNation Sports Leadership Camps, a nonprofit organization mentoring young people through athletics and workforce development. The Amani resident values interactions with a common purpose in racially integrated spaces. “That’s one reason we conduct statewide, co-ed rugby, basketball and lacrosse tournaments for young athletes. Families experience our shared humanity together,” Culpepper said. He cited the lakefront and “pockets of Riverwest” among Milwaukee’s most diverse environments. “Despite the pandemic, we still can be intentional about our activities, spaces and socializing. We need to ask, ‘What can I do to get to know people outside my isolated bubble?’”

3. SUPPORT BUSINESSES OWNED BY PEOPLE OF COLOR This was among suggestions by David Crowley, Milwaukee County’s newly elected executive. MKE Black, a nonprofit website and app, publishes a directory of local black-owned businesses. Paul Wellington and Rick Banks launched MKE Black last year, “to encourage people of all races to try new businesses and create more opportunities for black businesses,” said Wellington.

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READ BLACK FICTION Cree Myles reviews books on Instagram’s “Bookstagram” platform at @YouBetterFnRead. “One reason I push literature so hard is because it’s one of the most accessible ways to grow empathy, to strengthen that muscle,” Myles said. “You have to have courage [to become actively antiracist], but where does that courage come from?” The digital organizer for the nonprofit Leaders Igniting Transformation recommends fiction with “substantive black characters created out of black minds, so that the breadth of our experiences can be humanized.” Myles said that empathy can help people build trust with someone from a different background, “so that you are more able to believe what they say has happened to them, to be in solidarity with them… That’s where the revolution starts.”

FOLLOW BLACK VOICES ON SOCIAL MEDIA Myles said this lets people learn from others at the center of their own narratives.

“You can be in their space and watch the conversation without engaging.” She said that quiet listening and humility are crucial to resisting reflexive self-centering and falling back on internalized privilege. She took this approach to better understand LGBTQ perspectives. Other options: Watch films made by people of color and webinars about racial justice.

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6. STAND AGAINST ALL FORMS OF BIGOTRY AND HATE In 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order widely called a “Muslim ban,” because it stopped travel to the U.S. from several Muslimmajority countries. Janan Najeeb was heartened that “thousands of [Americans], including many who don’t even know Muslims, went out to the airports to say, ‘No, this will not happen on our watch.’” (A court soon struck down the ban.) Najeeb, a founder and president of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, said in an interview for the “This Is Milwaukee” project that we need to find “ways to bring the community together and to give a voice to all members of the community.”

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STUDY MILWAUKEE’S HISTORY OF SEGREGATION For years, local policies and practices legally sanctioned racial segregation and kept black and brown people from equal access to housing, jobs and building wealth. They includes restrictive covenants mandating that only people defined as “white” could buy homes in nearly all Milwaukee suburbs. Federally sanctioned “redlining” of city neighborhoods also controlled where people of color could get mortgages. Reggie Jackson said that ensuring equitable access to resources and opportunities—ones that white people have taken for granted—is crucial.

“We cannot continue to allow the hoarding of resources and barriers to access” that systemic racism has relied upon.

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RESIST DENYING ANY ROLE IN SYSTEMIC RACISM Community organizer Camille Mays said that it’s important to understand and acknowledge how racism has benefitted white people. “It’s easy to dismiss all that history and claim, ‘I don’t have anything to do with that.’ But we can’t just keep denying that racism has operated for generations and is still happening.” Reading books such Layla Saad’s Me and White Supremacy can help white people understand and dismantle their biases.

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INITIATE CONVERSATIONS, INCLUDING UNCOMFORTABLE ONES Frank Nitty, who has led Black Lives Matter marches in Milwaukee since May, encourages participants to speak with family, friends and others about racism and its impacts. Khalil Coleman, another BLM leader and longtime organizer, said in a recent Milwaukee Press Club interview: “It’s very important for allies to help protect black lives…It’s critical for white people to… talk with other white people about racism, about how when black lives are affected, all lives are affected.” He hopes the marches will “agitate, educate and organize for better outcomes” in terms of democracy and justice for all.

10. SUPPORT CHANGE AGENTS Markasa Tucker directs the African-American Roundtable, “a coalition led by and serving the African American community in Milwaukee” and part of Wisconsin Voices. Tucker spoke about “fighting the injustice of systematic racism” when interviewed for the “This Is Milwaukee” project, and she urged supporting alternatives to policing and mass incarceration, as well as for violence prevention that addresses root causes, including poverty and mental health challenges.

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CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO Tucker deeply studied the City of Milwaukee’s budget in 2018, met with legislators and dissected allocations. She sought to grasp how and why half of the city’s spending funds policing, leaving other needs underfunded. In 2019, Tucker co-led the “Liberate MKE” campaign in which 1,100 people were interviewed about what they wanted to see in the city’s budget to address targeted needs. She said, “True democracy requires providing accessible spaces and tools” for people to participate in processes in which they often are left out and changing policy “to positively affect people’s lives… It’s about being listened to and respected.”

We can all assess policies and practices wherever we work, live, study, shop and gather—to evaluate whether they support antiracism or racism—and then commit to taking some action. As James Baldwin wrote in 1962, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

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RESPECT KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM People who identify as white need to remember that efforts countering centuries of racism have been ongoing for generations by people facing its impacts.

Antiracist work must be informed by relevant study, listening to people of color and inclusive representation within all levels of organizations.

John W. Daniels Jr., a longtime Milwaukee civic leader and chairman emeritus of Quarles & Brady (where he was hired in 1974 as the firm’s first African American attorney), told the Profiles in Diversity Journal: “Inclusion isn’t just a virtue, it’s the face of reality, business and otherwise. Daniels pointed to “data in just about every business sector demonstrating the benefit of inclusion. For those who are able to see, understand and act on this, it offers yet another competitive advantage… It does, however, require an absolute commitment from the very top of the organization as well as a commitment to accountability.”

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NEWS TAKING LIBERTIES

THIS REALLY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIME

By Joel McNally

I

t’s become a political cliché to call every presidential election the most important election of our lifetime.

But what else can you call an election in the midst of the worst multiple crises in American history totally mishandled by a clueless amateur president who has made every crisis worse?

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Americans are losing their lives, tens of millions of jobs have been destroyed, and our daily lives have been transformed by concerns for our safety and economic futures. It didn’t have to be this way with competent national leadership.

PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH No, Donald Trump didn’t create the deadly, international coronavirus pandemic. But,

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for months, he dismissed expert warnings, claiming the virus would disappear magically in warm weather. We now know from journalist Bob Woodward that Trump knew how deadly and wildly contagious coronavirus was. He deliberately lied to the American people. Millions foolishly believed him and failed to protect themselves, resulting in tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. Trump never developed any national strategy to combat the virus so he could blame governors when it raged out of control. And, of course, without adequate national testing or protective equipment, it did spiral out of control. The University of Washington’s scientific health model predicts a likely U.S. death toll that might exceed 400,000 by year’s end, ranging between 288,000 and 620,000.

KILLING AMERICANS DESTROYED OUR ECONOMY Trump irresponsibly sacrificed American lives trying to artificially boost the economy before Election Day. That did just the opposite, permanently killing more jobs and small businesses, as well as more Americans. Republican governors rushed to reopen businesses, spreading death and economic devastation far and wide.

Joe Biden correctly links economic recovery to controlling the pandemic. Trump equates economic success with a rising stock market benefitting the wealthy.

Biden ties it directly to creating more jobs for working Americans. Voters know which matters most to their families.

Illustrations by Tess Brzycki

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR RACIAL PROGRESS IN AMERICAN POLICING

continue looting the U.S. treasury for his family’s benefit.

Cellphone cameras provide undeniable evidence of unnecessary police violence against black and brown Americans, which a majority of our citizens find unacceptable. Biden welcomes that growing support for racial equality in American policing. Trump continues to inflame racism as he always has. Trump denounces Black Lives Matter protests as rioting and looting destroying U.S cities. Those demonstrations are overwhelmingly peaceful. A Princeton University study examined 7,750 BLM protests since Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd and documented that 93% occurred without any violence or property damage.

THE RUSSIA THING STILL MATTERS

PRESERVING THE CONSTITUTION UNDER THE U.S. SUPREME COURT Right-wing extremists seem to care more about the U.S. Supreme Court while voting than ordinary Americans do. Right now, every decent American should be concerned about that. If Trump wins another term and appoints as many as three more justices, the Constitution and lawful government are toast. He’ll appoint the most corrupt lawyers he can find, in the proud tradition of Attorney General William Barr, to shut down all his rape investigations, exonerate all his criminal associates and

Mitt Romney seems to be the only Republican Senator who cares that Vladimir Putin helped elect Trump and appears to control him. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson happily spreads fraudulent, pro-Trump propaganda created by Russian intelligence agents. Trump is afraid to offend Putin by telling him not to pay bounties for the killing of American troops. Trump thinks U.S. soldiers killed by Russians are a bunch of “losers” anyway. If Biden is elected, the U.S. will resume its leadership of world democracies opposing their most dangerous international adversary.

THE LIES, THE STUPIDITY AND THE STONE COLD CRAZY Trump set a new world record in early July by telling his 20,000th presidential lie, as documented by The Washington Post.

Presidents often exaggerate accomplishments, but never before had one lied constantly throughout their term. But only Trump’s lie downplaying coronavirus was more dangerous than his incredibly stupid suggestion that government should study injecting household disinfectants into human beings to kill the disease. Poison

hotlines still receive calls about Trump supporters drinking bleach. Don’t even ask about Trump’s embrace of stark, raving, mad conspiracies. No one should bother thinking about QAnon and whether the mysterious “Q” is helping Trump expose high-ranking Democrats participating in Satanic, cannibalistic, pedophile, sex-trafficking rings that murder children and drink their blood.

LIFE AND DEATH ISSUES THAT REALLY MATTER Our own children are telling us what really matters in this election. They can’t believe adults continue to allow civilians easy access to military weapons to massacre them in their schools. The kids also think it’s important to stop the rapidly growing climate crisis from destroying all human life on the planet. To resume dealing with the issues that matter, it’s important that we elect Biden, an intelligent, rational political leader who cares about protecting America. Both parties used to nominate such those kind of decent mainstream candidates before Republicans decided to go in a different direction.

Joel McNally was a critic and columnist for the Milwaukee Journal for 27 years. He has written the weekly Taking Liberties column for the Shepherd Express since 1996.

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NEWS HERO OF THE MONTH

THE MUSLIM WOMEN’S COALITION

BUILDS BRIDGES OF UNDERSTANDING

By Erin Bloodgood The Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition (MMWC) sits on the South Side of Milwaukee, run by a group of influential Muslim women who have worked to educate people about Muslim culture for the past 25 years. The idea for the organization started to take shape when the group would meet regularly to discuss the prejudice and disparaging comments they were experiencing at work.

Upset about the remarks made about their hijabs and customs, the women decided that teaching others about their culture was the solution.

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“The vast majority of people are not racist by nature, but their racism is manifested as a result of fear of the unknown,” says president and founding member Janan Najeeb. “If we can work to help them understand and to help them address those fears by creating opportunities to engage with them, then I think we will do a tremendous job of dismantling a lot of these hatreds that are out there.”

JANAN: “THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ARE NOT RACIST BY NATURE, BUT THEIR RACISM IS MANIFESTED AS A RESULT OF FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN,” Najeeb and the group began hosting discussions and recommending readings about the Muslim religion to non-Muslim groups. But they soon realized how few accurate books were available in the Milwaukee area. They couldn’t blame people for knowing so little about their culture when most of the books they could find about Muslim culture were inaccurate and written by non-Muslims.

So, the group of women began collecting books with the right messages that they could lend out. Then, in 2009, when the group became an official 501c3 organization, they acquired their current space on the South Side and built a library. The library is now filled with thousands of books “that accurately represent who we are,” says Najeeb. The shelves are also filled with children’s books that have characters and stories that Muslim children can identify with. These books are not often found in our public libraries and schools.

As Najeeb explains, it’s important for kids to see names of characters they recognize and holidays they know.

“There’s a sense that they matter, that their story matters and that they are recognized. That is important when you are a minority.”

REACH OUT AND CONNECT The MMWC makes a point to reach and connect with people through multiple mediums, and the library is only one part of their extensive programming.

They host book clubs, give lectures, offer job training for women, and they even started the Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival. This year, most of their events are online because of the pandemic, but that hasn’t slowed them down.

The organization still plans to host the film festival this year in collaboration with the Milwaukee Film Festival by giving people the chance to watch the film American Muslim online. The film follows a number of Muslim individuals that were affected by the executive order that Trump signed in 2017 banning predominately Muslim countries from entering the United States.

The film and the other events that MMWC create all come back to their core mission of building bridges of understanding between the Muslim community and the greater Milwaukee community. As Najeeb explains, “If you create opportunities to really get to know people, to have a discussion, it’s really difficult to hate them.” The division in our country can start to wane if we take the time to understand the cultures we know little about and get to know people outside of our circles.

Erin Bloodgood is a Milwaukee photographer and storyteller. Visit bloodgoodfoto.com to see more of her work.

Learn more about MMWC’s work at mmwconline.org.

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THE WINNERS OF

This past August, the Shepherd Express launched the Mask On Face-Off social media contest, presented by Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, to help promote health and safety, all while making wearing a mask fun!

MOST MKE PRIDE Submitted by: Heidi H.

BEST DRESSED

Submitted by: Monica M.

FRONTLINE WORKER FAVORITES

MOST CREATIVE DIY/HOMEMADE MASK Submitted by: Robin P.

Submitted by: Dave C.

BEST FAMILY PHOTO

BEST CAUSE MASK

MOST TEAM SPIRIT

MOST INTELLECTUAL MASK

BEST ANIMAL-THEMED MASK

Submitted by: Charlene D.

Submitted by: Heidi S.

Submitted by: Jessica M.

Submitted by: Derek R.

Submitted by: Theresa G.

CONGRATS TO ALL 10 WINNERS OF THE CONTEST WHO ARE PICTURED HERE WITH THEIR WINNING SELFIE!

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FUNNIEST MASK

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NEWS ISSUE OF THE MONTH

Photo by Quinn Clark

KENOSHA AND RACIAL RECKONING

BY JAMES HALL

T

he devastating succession of deaths of unarmed black persons at the hands of police officers, culminating with the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the lethal shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, along with the recent shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., reflects something deeply and fundamentally wrong in America. By now, most Americans are aware of the numerous incidents in recent years and even know the names of many of the victims.

Unfortunately, the issue is now being framed as a political choice to either support Black Lives Matter and the protesters or the police and law enforcement.

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The long list of recent encounters has certainly resulted in a very wide array of protests, articles, removals of Confederate and other insensitive statues and monuments, donations to organizations and institutions promoting justice and equality, calls for reform of laws and policies, expressions of “wokeness” and similar actions. It is significant that there is a wide range of diverse people engaged in these actions at the local, national and global levels.

Many believe that the current period will prove to be a “watershed moment” resulting in the long overdue transformative change in our society to truly embrace

justice and equality for African Americans.

I believe there is still a question of whether the nation will undertake the necessary “reckoning” required for real change to occur in order to address the systemic racism that exists in American society. This is based on an examination of the nation’s history and the values upon which our culture has been built.

HISTORY OF POLICE CULTURE AND AFRICAN AMERICANS The ideology of the inferiority of blacks has existed since the first Africans arrived in the Virginia colony in 1619. This ideology led to a racial caste system that viewed

blacks as subhuman. From the beginning, blacks were victims of kidnapping and torture, and laws provided that slaves could be killed for resisting their masters. Law enforcement, criminal laws and punishments were established with the intent to assist in the protection of whites and their property and the subjugation of blacks into a labor class benefiting whites.

This ideology was hardened both by the Supreme Court’s 1857 Dred Scott decision ruling that blacks were an enslaved race and not entitled to any rights bestowed by the Constitution, and the infamous 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision which enshrined racial segregation as constitutional and ushered in the period of Jim Crow and lynchings.

THE HISTORY OF THE CULTURE OF POLICING IN THIS COUNTRY ALSO TOO OFTEN INCLUDES AN AFFINITY BETWEEN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUPS. This history has not only fostered a view of black people as presumptively criminal, but it has also cultivated a tolerance for inhumane levels of brutality toward them in the name of law and order. America grew accustomed over the decades to witnessing the harsh punishment of blacks and a blatant disregard for protecting their rights or providing equal justice under law. This has been reflected not only in slave patrols, Black Codes and lynchings, but more recently in policies such as stop and frisk, mandatory minimum sentences, three-strike laws, children tried as adults, “broken windows” and qualified immunity.

From the beginning of the nation’s history through today, police forces in the United States have been the “tip of the spear” in maintaining the culture of white privilege, which generally has meant protecting whites and the privileged class from African American males who, as stated, have been characterized as thugs or criminals (formerly as savages or animals).

There is a legitimate question of whether much-needed reforms to certain law enforcement policies—such as eliminat-

ing chokeholds and no-knock warrants, requiring cameras and limiting qualified immunity—will translate into changing the underlying police culture on the issue of race. This explains the calls by some for “defunding the police.” I do not believe anyone credibly advocates for a situation with no role for law enforcement. It might be better described as a need to re-envision and re-create law enforcement agencies from the ground up, which would include re-purposing them to protect and serve everyone, and not only white and privileged citizenry.

SPOTLIGHT ON KENOSHA Kenosha is a city that is indicative of the problems and stark disparities that exist in many U.S. cities and metro areas.

The economic and social disparity was exacerbated by the departure of Chrysler in 1988. There is a lack of jobs and opportunities for a large segment of the African American population. The economic disparity between whites and blacks in Kenosha is among the highest in the nation. As for law enforcement, only 3% of Kenosha’s police officers are black, compared to approximately 12% of its residents. With all of the focus on police shootings around the nation, Kenosha still had not purchased body cameras to be worn by its officers, although the City approved a measure to do so three years ago.

It seems that the message that had been communicated to Kenosha Police officers and the community prior to the shooting of Jacob Blake was the one consistent with the view of blacks as second-class citizens and comprising a social underclass. In 2018, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth stated, referring to five people of color who he had called “garbage people”: “We need to build warehouses to put these people into it and lock them away for the rest of their lives… Let’s stop them from truly, at least some of these males, from going out and getting 10 other women pregnant and having small children.”

The history of the culture of policing in this country also too often includes an affinity between law enforcement and white supremacist groups. Perhaps this explains the reason why a young white man was allowed to roam freely on the street, assault weapon in hand, after shooting three people (killing two of them), even with people informing police that he was

the shooter. That was distinctly different from the treatment received by Blake from police—seven bullets in his back. The community has called for an investigation of the relationship between both the Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and armed militia groups.

WHAT IS NECESSARY TO REFRAME OUR VALUES? Violence and looting that have occurred in connection with some protests, which Black Lives Matter has disavowed as a part of the protesters’ agenda, cannot be condoned. It is typical that persons with other agendas that include violence or looting attend protests and create disruption. I submit that the best way to ensure that there is no violence or looting associated with protests is to eliminate the reasons for the protests in the first place.

If we are serious about addressing the problem of injustice and inequality, passing law enforcement reforms, while obviously necessary, will not be enough. It will also require American society taking ownership for the racism, acknowledging white privilege and its benefits and actually considering and embracing appropriate reparations to address the huge wealth disparity in this nation. As long as African Americans are regarded as second-class citizens, these disparities will likely continue.

I truly hope that the current protests and social justice movements will result in an outcome that embodies structural change and racial justice. To accomplish this, I believe we must get to the root of the problem - abolition of the existing culture of racism must occur and be replaced with reckoning, acknowledgment and programs of restorative justice and reparations.

James Hall is a leading Milwaukee attorney and litigator with a national reputation for representing plaintiffs in matters involving discrimination in employment, housing and education. He was a past president of the Milwaukee branch of the NAACP and served on the national board of the ACLU among his many civic contributions. He is also adjunct instructor and lecturer at UW-Milwaukee.

OFF THE

CUFF WITH CAITLIN CULLEN

TEACHING AND FEEDING THE COMMUNITY THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC

BY JEAN-GABRIEL FERNANDEZ

The Tandem (1848 W. Fond Du Lac Ave.), a Milwaukee restaurant which serves farm-fresh comfort food made from scratch, is Caitlin Cullen’s way to give back to the community. Cullen, who started her career as a high school teacher in Detroit and then in the Dominican Republic, found the education system to be “very flawed.” She made the gamble to become a cook, eventually putting her at the helm of one very exciting little restaurant. Off the Cuff caught up with her, and she agreed to share her experience as a restaurateur and educator in these troubled times.

Photo by Tyler Nelson

HOW DID THE TANDEM COME TO BE? I was young enough to try a new career path, and I wanted to try cooking for a living, so I came to Milwaukee and worked my way up through a bunch of different kitchens. I lied my way to the top because I didn't know anything about cooking and I had no experience. After a couple years of working in Milwaukee’s kitchens, I decided I wanted to try something new. Running my own restaurant combining my passion for education with my passion for cooking, creating a sort of teaching restaurant where young people who are disadvantaged in our

communities would get the chance that I got. I opened The Tandem in November of 2016. We've been doing that ever since.

WHEN THE PANDEMIC HIT, WE STARTED COOKING OFF ALL THE FOOD THAT WE HAD IN-HOUSE AND TURNING IT INTO GOOD SINGLE-PORTION MEALS, FREEZING THEM AND HANDING THEM OUT TO OUR NEIGHBORS. HOW DO YOU HELP DISADVANTAGED YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH THE TANDEM? We hire folks no matter their experience or their criminal record. It's really hard to get a job if you don't have any job expe-

rience, and it’s almost impossible to get job experience at all without a starting point. So, we hire young people and help them figure out the kinks of working in a restaurant, whether it be behind the bar, in the kitchen or out on the floor service.

Due to that, we have an extraordinarily high turnover. We’ve had over 130 employees in the three-and-a-half years we’ve been open. A lot of them moved on because they had that experience and were eligible to get better jobs at places like Uncle Wolfie’s, Doc’s Smokehouse and other places all over the city.

HOW DID YOU REACT TO THE PANDEMIC? When the pandemic hit, we were really sure we were going to go out of business.

The restaurant business is really difficult in normal times, the margins are very low, and our specific mission to help people often comes with a really long training period and a lot of costs. We’ve been

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NEWS OFF THE CUFF

open for three-and-a-half years, and for three of those years I’ve been fairly certain that we were going to go out of business.

It was a really bad business model for longevity, but we always made it work. So, when the pandemic hit, we started cooking off all the food that we had in-house and turning it into good single-portion meals, freezing them and handing them out to our neighbors.

the pandemic hit, I decided that it was important to pay myself what I was paying my staff. We have a staff of six, now, including me, and all of us are making $900 every two weeks.

THE PANDEMIC HAD AN UNEXPECTED POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE TANDEM, IS THAT RIGHT? We were expecting that we would not be a business much longer, and we wanted to do the right thing. Because we were doing work like that, folks took notice and started giving us donations to keep our program going. We stopped actually selling food two days into the state-mandated shutdown, and we started doing free meals for the community based on donations. Thanks to that, we caught the attention of a couple local and national organizations, and they helped pay for that support when other systems of food safety fell through.

We got help from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative, and the big boy that made all of it possible and paid out more than $400,000 to us was the World Central Kitchen, which is a global organization. We have distributed more than 50,000 meals and contributed more than $430,000 to other local restaurants to help them stay in business and help us keep up with the demand for meals. We contract them for help. So, we are not a restaurant right now.

We don’t really plan on being one again anytime soon.

I’ve never been able to pay myself a salary through the restaurant. I’ve literally never been able to take any money off besides taking groceries and booze from the restaurant, and some cash every now and then to buy a pack of cigarettes. I think it’s just important, if I want to be able to criticize structures that are keeping people in our nation in a caste system of poverty forever and if I want to change something, it requires I make a sacrifice.

It’s fine, I have never wanted for food—I own a restaurant and bar, so I always have groceries, booze and toilet paper. So when I did decide to start paying myself when

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or a meal based on what they like from the day’s selection. We will be using local tutors, either educators who have extra time or college students who know how to use Google Chrome and online classrooms to access schoolwork. The long-term goal is getting this program out to other community centers to help young people survive this school year and possibly next year. We will be trying to meet tutors where they are at; if you can tutor once, great, if you can tutor every day, awesome!

We will be paying volunteers up to $600 to help us educate our young people.

With the state of unemployment benefits right now, a lot of folks don't want to be hired for work because they would lose the benefits that are keeping them afloat, especially when work isn't consistent, so the $600 pay means they are receiving a stipend and they are not employees of the restaurant. But if somebody who is a capable, meaningful tutor has to work to support their family and would have to effectively schedule off work to take one of the shifts, I want to make sure that they're compensated for their time.

BESIDES THE FREE MEALS PROGRAM, WHAT IS IN THE WORKS FOR THE TANDEM? The big thing that’s coming down the pipeline is our after-school program.

Basically, kids in our neighborhood are falling through the cracks during the regular school year. Right now, as things are going digital, even if they’re getting sent home with a Chromebook or an iPad, they are going to struggle to keep up with their schoolwork—even more so than in regular school years because there’s going to be less structure and less help getting them through the work. So, we are working on a program, which is almost ready, where students from all over Milwaukee can sign up for tutoring sessions. The plan is to roll out sessions starting in the second week of September.

HOW WILL THE TUTORING PROGRAM WORK? The tutoring sessions are an hour-anda-half long, and we offer 60 slots every day. Each session comes with a free meal so that your brain has food in it while it is working, and it also gets people to do tutoring when they might not do it otherwise. The goal is to offer each kid a snack

WHAT SHOULD OUR READERS KNOW ABOUT YOUR PLANS GOING FORWARD? One of the important things to understand is that this program is something that we are making up as we go. We are doing this just because we care and figuring it out is going to take time to get it right. So, I hope that people will be understanding with us and realize that we’re doing this because we think it’s important and because a lot of bigger organizations citywide that are supposed to be doing this work are kind of dropping the ball right now. So please, be patient with us. If we can all work together on this, we might be able to find a way to improve our education system permanently, as opposed to just a gesture this year.

To support The Tandem and for more information about the tutoring program, visit tandemmke.com or facebook.com/tandemmke.

Jean-Gabriel Fernandez is a French journalist and graduate from La Sorbonne University. He writes about politics, cannabis and Milwaukee’s rich culture.

IN SEARCH OF

CAULIFLOWER AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS

BY ARI LEVAUX

After the first big frost of the season, things got real at the farmers market. Buyers arrived knowing it was our last chance for warm weather crops; I was there for tomatoes, and I felt like a big spender with my two boxes, earmarked for salsa. Then, a chef friend showed up with a hand truck, as if to remind me that I’m a wannabe player, and loaded it with crates of lipstick-red sweet peppers. With one season ending, another was beginning, and soon we were chatting about Brussels sprouts.

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The season for these dense, green nubs has just begun, and it will last deep into spring. Around the market, farmers were selling Brussels sprouts often still attached to the stems. My friend’s restaurant specializes in seasonal food, but thanks to one particular dish, Brussels sprouts are always in season at his table.

Fried Brussels sprouts and cauliflower is the one dish that stays on his menu year-round, regardless of the season, by popular demand. It’s a mess of deep-fried sprouts, cauliflower florets and fatty pork lardons tossed in a cider vinegar reduction and presented atop a thick smear of mustard crème fraiche. The sharp, rich flavors and crunchy textures keep the eater bewitched until the plate is empty, at which point they might wonder what just happened.

Before we parted ways that brisk, Saturday morning, he invited me to come by the restaurant and learn the recipe.

I went off in search of cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. The locally grown Brussels sprouts are not as large, uniform or tightly wrapped as their perfectly trimmed imported counterparts.

But, as I would find out later by following this recipe, those funky, untrimmed Brussels sprouts are fun to use. They blossom like flowers in hot oil, the crispy, translucent leaves deliciously disheveled like perfect cases of bed head.

“As chefs, we always want to have something fatty, crispy, tart and sweet,” Gill

sermonized, when I arrived at his kitchen.

“This dish is the epitome of that.”

The veggies and lardons are audaciously rich coming out of the fryer, and that fattiness is countered by the cider reduction. The mustard crème fraiche adds delicious redundancy, contributing more fat and more tanginess, while the spice of the mustard harmonizes with the Brussels sprouts and cauliflower— both plants are members of the mustard family.

While you are free to replace the lardons with chopped bacon—or skip them altogether—you don’t have permission to deviate from the vegetable directives. If you don’t blanch the Brussels sprouts, the outsides will burn before the insides cook. And if your oil isn’t at least 350 degrees, cry into your soggy, greasy veggies—but not to me.

FRIED BRUSSELS SPROUTS AND CAULIFLOWER Served with lardons, mustard crème fraiche and apple cider reduction.

Ahead of time: Make the mustard crème fraiche, apple cider reduction and lardons; blanch and dry the Brussels sprouts.

Ari LeVaux has written about food for The Atlantic Online, Outside Online and Alternet.

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Mustard Crème Fraiche 1 cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon buttermilk 1 teaspoon cider vinegar

FRIED BRUSSELS SPROUTS AND CAULIFLOWER SERVED WITH LARDONS, MUSTARD CRÈME FRAICHE AND APPLE CIDER REDUCTION

1 teaspoon lemon juice 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard 3 tablespoons ground mustard Stir the buttermilk, vinegar and lemon juice into the cream; let sit for two hours. Stir in the mustards.

Keep refrigerated until needed.

Cider Vinegar Reduction 1 large onion, chopped 2 tablespoons oil 1 cup sugar

Ahead of time: Make the mustard crème fraiche, apple cider reduction and lardons; blanch and dry the Brussels sprouts.

The Veggies If you can get untrimmed Brussels sprouts, leave them untrimmed for whimsical aesthetic effect. For the frying, my friend recommends peanut oil, although he can’t use it at the restaurant because of peanut allergies. Safflower and sunflower oils are good choices too.

2 servings 2 cups (8 oz.) Brussels sprouts, evenly sized

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups (8 oz.) cauliflower florets, broken or cut into 2 inches or smaller on a side

1 quart cider vinegar

1 quart fry oil

Heat the oil in a pan and “caramelize the crap out of the onions” on low heat for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar, salt and vinegar, and cook until the volume reduces by 2⁄3. Let cool, and blend until smooth. Strain out the (very tasty) onion sludge.

Keep the cider reduction refrigerated until needed.

½ cup (2 oz.) quick-cured pork belly lardons (or 2 slices bacon, cut crosswise into ½-inch wide pieces) ¼ cup cider vinegar reduction ¼ cup mustard crème fraiche Blanch the Brussels sprouts for about 2 minutes. Transfer immediately to ice water for another 2 minutes, then drain. They should be completely dry before going into the oil.

Quick-cured lardons 1 lb. pork belly, cut into ¾ inch cubes 2 teaspoons salt ½ teaspoon ground cardamom 1 teaspoon ground black pepper Combine the ingredients and wait about two hours.

Keep refrigerated until needed.

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Heat a quart of oil in a heavy bottomed pot or deep pan. The oil should be at least 2 inches deep and at least 3 inches from the rim.

When it reaches 350 degrees, turn the heat down to hold it there.

Fry the lardons for a minute or two, until they are golden brown.

Remove and let drain. Add the cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, and fry for about 3 minutes—until the cauliflower is brown and the Brussels sprouts puff up. Remove and drain.

Toss the Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and lardons in salt, then the cider reduction, and serve atop a puddle of mustard crème fraiche.

HOSPITALITY WORKERS

NAVIGATE THE NEW NORMAL

By John Reiss

W

hen the seismic reverberations of the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread through communities far and wide in the spring, the hospitality industry was one of the hardest hit.

With restaurants forced to quickly shutter their doors, a sizable number of those employed were suddenly without work. For the workers, it’s not just about the money.

Their stories cover matters of personal safety, the health of loved ones at home, a genuine fear of the unknown, as well as the unforeseen dramas of human nature over something that many feel should be as simple as wearing a mask.

In an industry known for low wages and benefits, not to mention tough working conditions, the pandemic came as a real blow to workers, many of whom were working two jobs and living paycheck-to-paycheck to make ends meet. While some restaurants quickly retooled for takeout business, others didn’t out of safety concerns or an inability to make a profit with the new business model, forcing them to stay closed or even go out of business.

As COVID was initially hitting the news,

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some hospitality workers didn’t pay much attention. When cases started climbing, however, they all described a foreboding shift in what was happening on the job. Angel Sevilla, a server at the Capital Grille in Downtown Milwaukee, “sensed something was coming” when the regular guest count dropped by half. Rebecca Rosenbaum, a bartender at Story Hill BKC on Milwaukee’s West Side, said she too could sense “anxiety in the air,” wondering at the time whether it was even safe for the restaurant to be open. Saher Mohammed, employed as a cook at a popular Downtown restaurant, initially hoped the shutdown wouldn’t happen, but he too was aware that something was going on because of the decline in business. Once the city announced the forced shutdown of restaurants’ dine-in service, Kelly Miller, a server at La Merenda in Walker’s Point, stated that “it was surreal… I remember watching guests hugging each other” as they left the restaurant that evening.

INDEFINITE LAY-OFFS? Workers received phone calls or emails from their employers and were told to anticipate being laid off indefinitely and to

apply for unemployment benefits. Some, like Miller, applied quickly and were able to get benefits. Sevilla was directed to come to the unemployment office after starting his online application but went weeks without any income. Mohammed still hasn’t received his unemployment because of the backlog of cases.

Eduardo (not his real name), a sous-chef at a top-rated local restaurant, couldn’t collect unemployment because he is an undocumented worker. With a wife and three children, he was without an income for three months. Fortunately, however, he had some savings to rely on. His fate was similar to that of other undocumented friends he knew who worked in restaurants, construction, and landscaping; some started catering out of their homes to make ends meet. His predicament is one of the truths of an industry whose success depends on workers willing to toil for low pay and employers who look the other way when it comes to employment eligibility yet are grateful to have dedicated employees. He’s worked 12-14-hour days at two jobs for over 10 years since settling in this country.

Like Eduardo, hospitality workers are often juggling family, school and other obligations. Miller is a nursing student at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) and has a young child. Her husband, an independent contractor, was able to care for their son while she was doing her online classes, which she estimated took about eight hours a day. Mohammed and Sevilla are students at MATC in the Culinary Arts program, and because the college had to shift to online format, some practical classes were delayed. While classes have resumed for the fall, graduation for many students will be hindered because of the pandemic.

PIVOT TO CURBSIDE As restaurants pivoted to takeout and curbside business, some workers were called back. Mohammed declined because he wanted undocumented workers who needed the pay to be given a chance to work. Sevilla took a gig at Odd Duck in Bay View, and Miller went back to La Merenda, both choosing food-to-go models because the dining rooms weren’t open for service.

Once restaurants and bars were able to welcome back on-premise customers, Mohammed went back to his previous cooking job. It was busier than he thought it would be, and because the restaurant was understaffed, he felt it was difficult to maintain the standards of cleanliness needed because of the coronavirus. The hectic pace and stuffy kitchen made it hard for the crew to keep their masks fully in place or to maintain social distancing.

He decided the risks at the time weren’t worth it and quit.

When Miller went back to serving at La Merenda, she was anxious about the possible risks at work. Because of her future career plans in healthcare, however, she decided she needed to embrace the protocols that were in place, face her fears, and

not let those fears keep her from her job.

With masking precautions in effect, she’s been keenly aware of the challenges not only of keeping safe but also of being able to interact with her customers and coworkers. So, while her mask has become “another piece of clothing you put on like your socks,” she says, “I probably went through a grieving period” over how “hard [it is] to make connections with people now.”

NEW PRECAUTIONS IN PLACE Sevilla is back at the Capital Grille, where new safety precautions are in place. “We are more mindful of cleanliness than before. You think you’re doing everything you can, but you don’t realize this whole other scary level it can be taken to,” he says.

“But you get used to it.”

Rosenbaum returned to work when Story Hill BKC reopened for seating and said it felt like she was starting a new job because of all of the changes. The seating is spread out with dividers between tables, and customers are now required to wear face masks when they’re not actually eating or drinking. Rosenbaum says she may be in contact with as many as 50 customers a day and recognizes the need to read each customer to gauge their comfort level with her.

In May, Eduardo returned to work for one of his previous employers who had reopened for full service. He felt fortunate to be working because he needed to send money back to family who are out of work in Mexico. He doesn’t worry about getting COVID-19, he says, but he’s worried for his children and family if he loses his job again.

IN HARM’S WAY? The nature of the hospitality industry is highly social, and predicting its immediate future is a difficult if not impossible task. Typically, restaurateurs, workers and customers engage in a shared experience, one that currently isn’t possible. That shared experience relies on “regular” customers, but also people who go out less often, who go out to celebrate a special occasion, such as a birthday or anniversary. These customers may not be back in force until a vaccine is available, and so getting back to “normal” may be a difficult goal to reach on that basis alone. As Angel Sevilla says, “It’s hard to tell when people will feel [they’re not putting themselves] in harm’s way to go out to dinner.”

Whatever the number of customers, the shared experience in restaurants and pubs also depends on a level of familiarity and good will between staff and customers.

The absence of facial and auditory cues that masks obscure or distort, to say nothing of the physical discomfort created by wearing one—all factor into the comfort level that eating and drinking establishments work so hard to create. Kelly Miller says that because the customer base at La Merenda is like family, her job has “never felt like work to me.” Now, however, that relationship has “been affected hugely.”

Alongside the strain of keeping everyone healthy in our restaurants is the very fact of the mask itself, with all the emotional, cultural, and political significance that is bred by the very presence or absence of it on our faces. Saher Mohammed hopes that people will come to appreciate the interpersonal relations we share with one another once we get beyond the pandemic—and, we can add, out from behind our masks.

John Reiss is a culinary arts instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College and has taught many of Milwaukee area’s top chefs.

FOOD & DRINK MR. PERKINS

Photo by Shepherd Staff

MR. PERKINS

SERVING COMFORTING SOUL FOOD FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS

BY SUSAN HARPT GRIMES

S

ince 1969, Milwaukee residents have known that Mr. Perkins Family Restaurant was a place to go for excellent food and good company. A classic American diner, Mr. Perkins offers all-day breakfasts and dinner specials that often include much-beloved soul food recipes.

The restaurant has been owned and operated by the same Perkins family over the years, which has contributed to the staying power of this Milwaukee institution.

Also, you never know who you’ll see when you’re there, because the reputation of Mr. Perkins’ excellent food and hospitality has attracted visits from star athletes, actors and other famous personalities.

At the time of this writing, Mr. Perkins is only available for carry-out business as we are living within the restrictions of a global pandemic. They’re operating with reduced hours; currently, it’s Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and a few

special days a month. Mr. Perkins’ breakfast menu is always available, but the dinner menu changes weekly, and offerings are typically posted via social media.

On a recent visit, there were a handful of appropriately spaced customers waiting to pick up their orders placed at the counter, while a steady flow of call-in order customers were welcomed in and then cheerfully sent on their way again moments later with bags full of tantalizing aromas and promises of delicious food inside. Service was efficient and friendly. The dozen or so booths seemed a bit forlorn without the crowd that would have been there in more social times, yet there was still camaraderie among the waiting patrons. The walls are lined with picture tributes to Mr. Willie Perkins Jr., who passed in 2010, as well as sports jerseys and pictures of famous visitors.

CATFISH AND EGGS Breakfast lovers will approve of the varied egg and breakfast meat combos, like Sausage Patties and Eggs ($8.95), Pork Chops and Eggs ($11.50), or a lightly breaded Catfish Fillet and Eggs ($11.95). All come with a choice of grits, rice or potatoes on the side.

For those looking for a filling lunchtime meal, Mr. Perkins dinner specials will fit the bill. Lunchtime entrées include the perfectly cooked Pork Tenderloin and Rice ($10.50) or the moist and delicious Baked Chicken ($13.95). All dinners come with two sides and a yummy cornbread pancake. While at most restaurants the main course often gets all the attention, it must be mentioned that the sides at Mr. Perkins can nearly steal the show. You can feel the love and care that goes into making the rich cream corn, beautiful yams, incredible Photo by fatumwr/Getty Images

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crispy fried okra, cheesy mac and cheese, best-in-town collard greens and all of the other sides.

The special days that Mr. Perkins operates currently consists of the first Friday of every month when they are open in the evening for their fantastic fish fry ($10.95-$15.95), which includes a generous portion of perch, shrimp, tilapia or catfish and two sides.

Also special are Soul Food Sundays, typically the first Sunday of the month, which features customer favorites like Chitterlings ($19.95), incredibly tender Oxtails ($16.95) and Pork Neckbones ($10.50). All come with two sides, and portions big enough to get a second meal of leftovers.

For those in town who have been in the know about this wonderful family restaurant and Milwaukee landmark, you should be envied by all who are just discovering this gem of a place on the near north side.

Mr. Perkins Family Restaurant 2001 W. Atkinson Avenue (414) 447-6660 | $-$$ Handicap accessible: Yes

Susan Harpt Grimes is a longtime restaurant and features writer for the Shepherd Express.

IS IT WINE OR

SOMETHING LIKE WINE?

By Gaetano Marangelli

C

hances are the wine you’re drinking isn’t honest. Chances are it’s cultivated chemically, vinified industrially and manipulated for the demands of the market. Like a recipe for soda made from fruit.

Chances are what you’re drinking is less like wine, more like a wine beverage.

Let’s say you’re the kind of consumer who shops carefully for what you eat.

You don’t eat slices of cheese from cellophane wrappers. You don’t eat whipped topping from aluminum cans.

Wine—like cheese, like cream, like tomatoes, apples, eggs or beef—is a product made from agriculture. People who make wine from the grapes they grow consider themselves to be—first and foremost and above all else— farmers. In the United States, 99% of wine sold by volume is made from grapes grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. More than 99% of wine sold is vinified with additives and processes.

If you don’t eat processed foods, why would you drink processed wine?

CONQUEST OVER NATURE Like any agricultural product, wine changed in the wake of World War II with the development of new technolo-

gies. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides were introduced to insulate the growth of vines from the vagaries of their vineyards. Additives and processes were introduced to court the taste of wine to the demands of the market. Wine became more product, less agriculture.

Winemakers gained predictable grape harvests and dependable quantities of wine in a conquest over the nature of their vines. Consumers gained wines of easy virtue—a conquest of wine’s nature.

Organic, biodynamic and natural wines controvert that. They are a rejoinder to wine as a product of industry. Their advent occured in the latter part of the 20th century, but each of their origins, histories and practices are distinct from one another.

Organic and biodynamic wines specify practices of viticulture. Organic wines are made from grapes cultivated without chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

Biodynamic wines are cultivated in a self-sustaining vineyard ecology— without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, with cover crops and creatures, and following the forces of nature (e.g., biodynamic viticulture sows and reaps according to the lunar calendar).

HONEST WINES Neither organic nor biodynamic wines specify practices of vinification, as the process of converting grape juice into wine is called. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau allows American winemakers over 60 additives and processes which alter the taste, color and texture of wine. Organic and biodynamic wines can be vinified with any of them. Some adjust the way a wine appears. Some transform a wine’s identity. The quality of organic and biodynamic viticulture suggests vinification practices that are, more or less, hones—but, just as often, less than more.

Natural wines specify practices of both viticulture and vinification.

They’re made from grapes which are cultivated organically or biodynamically and which are vinified without additives. (Adding small quantities of sulfur as a preservative is practiced by some natural winemakers, eschewed by others.)

The benefits of natural viticulture and vinification are honest wines. These wines are exciting. They’re alive. They want to speak to you. You want you to listen to them. But they don’t give

themselves away to you. They ask more of you than that. And you want to taste them again and again.

Wines like these aren’t easy to make. They may have flaws. The way they act may vary. They may be less like you want them to be and more like they are naturally.

HOW TO SHOP FOR ORGANIC, BIODYNAMIC, AND NATURAL WINES There are local shops which stock natural, biodynamic and organic wines, but there are few merchants who can succinctly and reliably represent which are which and why. Best to rely on yourself, your phone and search engines. When you’re at a shop, begin by looking for bottles of wine from these importers and distributors; their names are on the back labels. With the bottle before you, go to the company’s website and read about the wine.

JENNY & FRANCOIS SELECTIONS A portfolio of natural wines from around the world.

LOUIS/DRESSNER SELECTIONS Natural, biodynamic and organic wines from France, Italy, Spain and Germany. More useful details about their wines can be found on the web site of David Bowler Wine, the company’s New York distributor.

ROSENTHAL WINE MERCHANT Great wine estates from France and Italy, many of which are organic, biodynamic or natural. Those that aren’t are natural enough.

KERMIT LYNCH WINE MERCHANT More great wine estates from France and Italy—organic, biodynamic, natural or natural enough.

JOSÉ PASTOR SELECTIONS Mostly organic, biodynamic and natural wines from Iberia and the Americas.

Gaetano Marangelli is a sommelier and playwright. He was the managing director of a wine import and distribution company in New York and beverage director for restaurants and retailers in New York and Chicago before moving to Wauwatosa.

SPECIAL HEALTH

AMERICANS ARE STILL

PAYING OUT OF POCKET

FOR COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

BY SHEILA JULSON

G

arlicky chicken soup was once the standard cure for a cold and peppermint was used to soothe an upset stomach rather than going to the drugstore for an over-the-counter pill.

Grandma’s remedies have been coming back in a big way: About 59 million Americans spend money out of pocket on complementary health approaches, totaling approximately $30.2 billion a year, according to information provided by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)—a U.S. government agency housed under the National Institutes of Health that explores integrative and alternative medicine.

HERE IN THE U.S., DRUG COMPANIES HAVE THE DEEP POCKETS TO FUND A MYRIAD OF LARGE-SCALE STUDIES THAT DWARF NON-PROFITABLE NATURAL APPROACHES. Complementary (also called integrative) medicine is when a non-mainstream practice is used in conjunction with conventional medicine. Alternative medicine uses non-mainstream practices in place of conventional medicine. They’re often referred

to together as Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and have a similar objective: to find and treat the underlying causes of health problems rather than to just address symptoms.

CAM practitioners use holistic and preventive approaches to relieve and cure ailments ranging from the common cold to inflammatory conditions like arthritis. CAM treatments include herbs, whole foods nutrition and preventive lifestyle habits to support health, such as exercise, avoiding processed foods and smoking, stress management and light or no alcohol use.

CAM also includes chiropractic, yoga, Illustration by VectorMine/Getty Images

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meditation, vitamins, minerals and natural anti-inflammatories and antioxidants, as well as ancient healing approaches such as acupuncture.

CAM TREATMENTS INCLUDE HERBS, WHOLE FOODS NUTRITION AND PREVENTIVE LIFESTYLE HABITS TO SUPPORT HEALTH, SUCH AS EXERCISE, AVOIDING PROCESSED FOODS AND SMOKING, STRESS MANAGEMENT AND LIGHT OR NO ALCOHOL USE. Carol Brown is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. She had worked in conventional medicine as a primary care physician

before training in integrative methods.

Sixteen years ago, she formed her own integrative practice in Oak Creek, Wis., CMB Health Specialties (formerly known as the Center for Integrative Health Care). Brown uses holistic approaches such as nutritional support, specialty lab testing to detect food allergies-sensitivities and hormonal imbalances, as well as intravenous nutrition therapy. She uses conventional medicine as appropriate and may refer patients to practitioners of alternative services, such as acupuncture or massage, or to conventional medicine physicians.

“Integrative medicine gets back to physiology; how does the body work, and what do we need to do to make it work?” Brown says. “It’s about nutrition, supplying what the body needs and looking for underlying causes. If someone has a headache, there are pills for headaches, but we look to find out why they have a headache. It could be

gluten intolerance, not enough sleep or any number of underlying issues.”

Brown notes there is a population of people that are not helped by everyday medicine and are driven to seek care outside of conventional approaches. “They’re looking for some other way to help themselves. There’s also a population of older patients who know how medicine used to be, where there was more time to get to the bottom of one’s health. Younger people are suspicious, because everyday medicine has become so commercialized. A lot of people are afraid to take a drug, and they want to get better without meds if that is possible,” she says.

NATUROPATHIC APPROACHES AND LICENSING-OVERSIGHT Sarah Axtell is a naturopathic doctor and founder of Lakeside Natural Medicine in Shorewood, Wis. A licensed naturopathic

Photo by Shaiith/Getty Images Illustration by Andrii-Oliinyk/Getty Images

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SPECIAL HEALTH

Photo by manusapon kasosod/Getty Images

ACUPUNCTURE

doctor is a primary care physician who is trained to diagnose and prescribe, as opposed to “traditional” naturopath who can do neither.

She also sees a growing demand for CAM approaches. “With a shortage of primary care doctors, exponentially escalating health care costs, epidemics of lifestyle-related chronic disease and obesity and increasing dissatisfaction with conventional medicine, naturopathic doctors are a valuable solution in light of these critical shortages,” she says.

Naturopathic approaches emphasize direct care, prevention, wellness and health promotion. Axtell has a doctorate in naturopathic medicine from the National University of Natural Medicine and is board certified by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners. She’s currently licensed as a primary care physician in the state of Oregon—one of 22 states that has licensing or registration laws for naturopathic doctors.

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BROWN: “IT’S ABOUT NUTRITION, SUPPLYING WHAT THE BODY NEEDS AND LOOKING FOR UNDERLYING CAUSES. IF SOMEONE HAS A HEADACHE, THERE ARE PILLS FOR HEADACHES, BUT WE LOOK TO FIND OUT WHY THEY HAVE A HEADACHE." Axtell notes that a licensed naturopathic doctor attends a four-year, in-residence, graduate-level naturopathic medical school; studies conventional, holistic and nontoxic approaches to therapy; is educated in the identical basic sciences as an M.D. or D.O. (Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine); has three years supervised clinical training as part of medical school; and takes rigorous, national, professional board exams.

She’s one of many licensed naturopathic doctors in the state advocating for naturopathic licensure in Wisconsin.

“We are gaining momentum here in Wisconsin and hope to gain licensure in the near future,” Axtell says. “The Wisconsin Naturopathic Doctors Association has generated great support from both Democrats and Republicans in both houses of the legislature. They have worked hard to educate legislators on the importance of licensure for NDs. When legislators fully grasp the positive impact naturopathic medicine has on the health of Wisconsinites, legislators in turn support licensure, which will increase access to and ensure safe delivery care by highly trained natural medical providers.” The Association hopes to see a licensure bill introduced in the 2021 session.

The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services is the state agency that licenses medical professionals, including M.D.s, D.O.s, nurse practitioners and dieticians. They also license professionals practicing alternative medicine modalities such as chiropractic, acupuncture and massage. There’s currently

no state licensing required to practice alternative therapies like aromatherapy, biofeedback, herbalism or nutrition counseling-coaching. Training in those methods often range from self-study to certification through trade organizations or associations that offer online distance learning to in-person classes and workshops that issue certification.

RESEARCH AND INSURANCE COVERAGE It’s easy to get lost on the internet when researching the efficacy of CAM therapies, and like any topic, there are articles that both support and criticize it. The NCCIH was established with a focus to conduct and support research and provide information about complementary health products and practices. Brown likes to refer people to PubMed, a comprehensive database of scientific and medical journals documenting peer-reviewed studies, many of which have researched CAM topics.

“There’s actually a ton of research out there,” Brown says, and she points to the Cleveland Clinic’s Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine Department as an example of a big hospital system that has implemented CAM approaches. She notes that countries such as Germany, Sweden, Italy and Japan have done advanced research on CAM therapies, but here in the U.S., drug companies have the deep pockets to fund a myriad of large-scale studies that dwarf non-profitable natural approaches. But some of the strongest proof that CAM therapies work has come from its users. “The evidence of getting better is proof enough,” Brown affirms.

Most major health insurance plans don’t cover CAM therapies and are quick to deem them as “experimental” or not “medically necessary.” Some cover CAM therapies such as chiropractic care with restrictions or co-pays or include CAM in flex spending accounts (people are advised to first check with their insurance companies to find out what services are covered). Most practices offering inteDoctor Illustration by widoko bagoes/Getty Images Peppermint Illustration by Alhontess/Getty Images

grative or naturopathic care—or services considered “alternative,” like acupuncture, massage or nutrition counseling—do not accept insurance and are private pay, which can be a prohibitive cost for some people.

But some alternative medicine providers are striving to make their services more affordable. Milwaukee Community Acupuncture is a 501(c)(3)

“Previously, I had a private practice, and people responded really well, but because they were paying out of pocket, they couldn’t afford to keep coming in,” she says. Acupuncture works best when a patient receives a series of treatments.

Because one doesn’t have to disrobe while receiving an acupuncture treatment, Milwaukee Community Acupuncture’s professionals can see more than one person per hour in a group setting, making their community model cost-effective. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced them to alter their business to see fewer patients in the treatment room at one time; check the website for COVID-19 safety precuations (milwaukeecommunityacupuncture.org).

Severinsen believes most insurance companies don’t cover alternative therapies such as acupuncture because stronger studies are needed to support its effectiveness. “Once they see those results, I think they will offer to cover more,” she says. “I also think it’s difficult to plug acupuncture into the system of coding and diagnosis, because it’s a different way of diagnosing people and looking at the body.”

non-profit offering acupuncture on a paywhat-you-can model, with a sliding scale from $20 to $50 per visit. Amy Severinsen is a licensed acupuncturist who co-founded Milwaukee Community Acupuncture with Oliva Crane. Severinsen realized the need for affordable acupuncture after she visited China and toured acupuncture clinics and saw how affordable it was for people there, so people came in more frequently.

Sheila Julson is a freelance writer who enjoys capturing the stories behind Milwaukee’s happening food, beverage and urban farming scenes. She also pens articles about holistic health, green living, sustainability and human-interest features.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

CITY CONFIDENTIAL

ART GALLERY (NON-MUSEUM) ART MUSEUM ART & CRAFT FAIR/MAKERS MARKET CHORAL GROUP CHURCH FESTIVAL CLASSICAL MUSIC ENSEMBLE COMEDIAN DANCE COMPANY LOCAL RADIO PERSONALITY LOCAL TV PERSONALITY MILWAUKEE AUTHOR MOVIE THEATER MUSEUM (NON-ART) MUSIC EDUCATION OUTDOOR FESTIVAL RADIO STATION STAGE ACTOR STAGE ACTRESS THEATER COMPANY

BEST ORGANIZATION SUPPORTING VETERANS LOCAL ACTIVIST LOCAL CHARACTER LOCAL ENTREPRENEUR MILWAUKEE ALDERPERSON MILWAUKEE COUNTY SUPERVISOR MILWAUKEEAN OF THE YEAR MOST BELOVED POLITICIAN MOST DESPISED POLITICIAN MOST TRUSTED PUBLIC OFFICIAL NON-PROFIT/HUMAN SERVICES ORGANIZATION PHILANTHROPIST PLACE TO PICK UP THE SHEPHERD EXPRESS PLACE TO WORK FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE PLACE TO WORK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE RISING STAR IN POLITICS STATE LEGISLATOR

BODY, MIND & SPIRIT ACUPUNCTURIST ALTERNATIVE MEDICAL CLINIC BOUTIQUE FITNESS CROSSFIT-STYLE GYM GYM MASSAGE THERAPIST PERSONAL TRAINER PILATES STUDIO REIKI STUDIO SPA YOGA STUDIO

BOUGHT & SOLD ADULT RETAIL STORE ANTIQUE STORE AUTO DEALERSHIP - DOMESTIC AUTO DEALERSHIP - IMPORT AUTO DEALERSHIP - PREOWNED BIKE SHOP BOOKSTORE BOUTIQUE CLOTHING CAMPING EQUIPMENT CARPET/FINE RUGS CBD RETAIL SHOP CLOTHING - CHILDREN'S CLOTHING - MEN'S CLOTHING - WOMEN'S COMIC BOOK STORE EYEWEAR FASHION ACCESSORIES FINE JEWELRY STORE FLORIST FURNITURE - NEW FURNITURE - RESTORED GARDEN CENTER GIFT SHOP HARDWARE STORE HEAD SHOP LIGHTING SHOWROOM MATTRESS STORE MOTORCYCLE DEALERSHIP MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STORE NEW RETAIL STORE (OPENED IN (2020) PET RETAIL STORE RECORD STORE SHOE STORE TOBACCO SHOP VAPE SHOP VINTAGE/THRIFT STORE

DINING OUT AFRICAN RESTAURANT BAR FOOD BARBECUE BREAKFAST BREW PUB BRUNCH BUFFET BURGERS BURRITO CARIBBEAN RESTAURANT CENTRAL/SOUTH AMERICAN RESTAURANT CHEAP EATS CHEF CHICKEN WINGS CHINESE RESTAURANT COFFEE SHOP DONUTS FAMILY FRIENDLY RESTAURANT FARM-TO-TABLE RESTAURANT FISH FRY FRENCH RESTAURANT FRIED CHEESE CURDS FROZEN YOGURT SHOP GELATO SHOP GERMAN RESTAURANT GLUTEN-FREE/FRIENDLY RESTAURANT GOURMET RESTAURANT GREEK RESTAURANT HOT DOG HOTEL RESTAURANT ICE CREAM/FROZEN CUSTARD STAND INDIAN/PAKISTANI RESTAURANT IRISH RESTAURANT ITALIAN RESTAURANT JAPANESE RESTAURANT JEWISH/KOSHER-STYLE RESTAURANT KITCHEN OPEN AFTER 10 P.M. KOREAN RESTAURANT LOUISIANA/SOUTHERN RESTAURANT MEDITERRANEAN RESTAURANT MEXICAN RESTAURANT MIDDLE EASTERN RESTAURANT NEW RESTAURANT (OPENED IN 2020) OUTDOOR DINING PIZZERIA - DEEP DISH PIZZERIA - THIN CRUST PIZZERIA - WOOD-FIRED OVEN PLACE TO EAT ALONE

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SPECIAL BEST OF MILWAUKEE

RAMEN RESTAURANT OPEN ON CHRISTMAS DAY RESTAURANT SERVICE RESTAURANT WITH A VIEW RIBS ROMANTIC RESTAURANT SANDWICH SEAFOOD RESTAURANT SOUL FOOD SOUPS STEAKHOUSE STREET FOOD VENDOR SUB SANDWICH SUPPER CLUB SUSHI TACO TAKEOUT/CURBSIDE PICKUP TAPAS (SMALL PLATES) THAI RESTAURANT VEGAN-FRIENDLY RESTAURANT VEGETARIAN-FRIENDLY RESTAURANT VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT WINE LIST

HOME IMPROVEMENT ARCHITECT BASEMENT/REC ROOM REMODELER BATHROOM REMODELER CLOSET DESIGN ELECTRICIAN HOME BUILDER HOME REMODELING KITCHEN REMODELER LANDSCAPER/LAWN MAINTENANCE PLUMBER ROOFER WINDOW & SIDING

LGBTQ DRAG SHOW LGBTQ ADVOCATE LGBTQ EVENT LGBTQ-FRIENDLY BUSINESS

LOCALLY-OWNED RETAIL FOOD & DRINK BAKERY BEER SELECTION BUTCHER SHOP CHEESE SELECTION CHOCOLATIER FARMERS MARKET GROCERY - ALL PURPOSE GROCERY - ETHNIC GROCERY - GOURMET GROCERY - ORGANIC LIQUOR STORE MEAT SELECTION SAUSAGE SHOP TAKE-OUT DELI WINE SELECTION

MEDICAL AESTHETICIAN ALCOHOL & DRUG REHAB CENTER CHIROPRACTOR COSMETIC DENTIST COSMETIC SURGEON DENTIST EYE DOCTOR HOME MEDICAL CARE HOSPITAL

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LASIK SURGEON ORTHODONTIST PERIODONTIST PHYSICAL THERAPIST PSYCHIATRIST / PSYCHOLOGIST TELEMEDICINE PROVIDER WOMEN'S MEDICAL SERVICES

MILWAUKEE MUSIC ACOUSTIC MUSICIAN ALT COUNTRY BLUEGRASS BAND BLUES BAND CLUB DJ COVER/TRIBUTE BAND ELECTRONIC ARTIST FOLK BAND JAZZ COMBO METAL BAND MUSIC PRODUCER POLKA BAND RAP/HIP-HOP ARTIST ROCK BAND VOCALIST - FEMALE VOCALIST – MALE

MILWAUKEE FOOD & BEVERAGES ARTISANAL CHEESE BACON BRATWURST CHEESE CURDS CRAFT BEER CUPCAKES DISTILLED SPIRITS FROZEN PIZZA GOURMET POPCORN HARD CIDER SAUSAGE SODA TEA

OUT & ABOUT ALL-AGES VENUE ARCADE/GAMING ART STUDIO/CLASSES (NON-BAR) ATTRACTION FOR OUT-OF-TOWN GUESTS AXE THROWING BAR BAR FOR QUIET CONVERSATION BAR ON A BUDGET BAR TO BE SEEN IN BAR TO WATCH SOCCER BAR WITH A PATIO BEER GARDEN BLOODY MARY BREWERY TOUR COCKTAIL LOUNGE COCKTAIL KIT CRAFT BEER SELECTION AT A BAR DANCE CLUB ESCAPE ROOM HAPPY HOUR HOOKAH LOUNGE HOTEL LOUNGE IMPORT BEER SELECTION AT A BAR IRISH PUB JAZZ CLUB KARAOKE BAR LIVE MUSIC VENUE MARGARITA MARTINI MICROBREWERY/TAPROOM MILWAUKEE TOUR

NEW BAR (OPENED IN 2020) PAINT & WINE BAR PET-FRIENDLY ESTABLISHMENT PLACE FOR FAMILY FUN ROCK CLUB ROMANTIC BAR SPORTS BAR STRIP CLUB TRIVIA NIGHT VIDEO ARCADE WHISKEY SELECTION AT A BAR

REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE AGENCY REAL ESTATE AGENT/BROKER RENTAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT GROUP

SERVICES RENDERED ACCOUNTANT/TAX ADVISER ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATION AUTO BODY SHOP AUTO DETAILER AUTO SERVICE & REPAIR BANK BED AND BREAKFAST BODY PIERCING STUDIO BOUTIQUE HOTEL CATERER COLLEGE / UNIVERSITY CREDIT UNION DOGGY DAY CARE/BOARDING FINANCIAL INSTITUTION FOR GETTING A BUSINESS LOAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION FOR GETTING A HOME MORTGAGE FINANCIAL INSTITUTION FOR OPENING A CHECKING ACCOUNT FINANCIAL INSTITUTION PROVIDING BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE FINANCIAL PLANNER/STOCK BROKER GREEN BUSINESS HAIR REMOVAL HAIR SALON - MEN'S HAIR SALON - WOMEN'S HOTEL ROOMS LAW FIRM - BANKRUPTCY LAW FIRM - BUSINESS LAW FIRM - CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAW FIRM - DIVORCE LAW FIRM - ESTATE PLANNING LAW FIRM - FAMILY LAW LAW FIRM - FULL SERVICE LAW FIRM - PERSONAL INJURY PET GROOMING/SERVICES PHOTOGRAPHER NAIL SALON RIDE SERVICE TATTOO PARLOR VETERINARIAN WEDDING VENUE

SPORTS & RECREATION BOWLING ALLEY ENDURANCE EVENT FAVORITE BREWERS PLAYER FAVORITE BUCKS PLAYER FAVORITE PACKERS PLAYER GOLF COURSE MINI GOLF COURSE PADDLESPORTS - RENT OR BUY ROCK CLIMBING VENUE

CULTURE | SPONSORED BY THE MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM

SOMETHING FUNNY HAPPENED IN WISCONSIN

MOWA’S DOWNTOWN EXHIBIT FOCUSES ON MILWAUKEE’S ROLE IN ALTERNATIVE, POLITICAL COMIC STRIPS IN THE ’60S AND ’70S

By David Luhrssen

I

can still remember saving my school lunch money to buy copies of Milwaukee’s underground newspaper, the Bugle American. For a quarter a week, the paper gave me a window onto new worlds of possibility—a truly alternative take on news and culture in the mid-’70s. Among the elements of the paper that stood out were the covers. The boring ones were usually photographed. The best ones were drawn by a crew of underground “comix” artists that called Milwaukee home.

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Did I ever suspect that those covers would one day be exhibited as art? There is a lot of the Bugle American in the current Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) exhibition, “Wisconsin Funnies: Fifty Years of Comics” in West Bend. The Bugle is also prominent in the scaled down version on display at MOWA/DTN in Saint Kate— The Art’s Hotel through November 22.

The message at MOWA’s satellite gallery in Saint Kate is decidedly political. “When we developed the idea for the exhibit in

2019, the world was a different place,” says J. Tyler Friedman, MOWA’s associate curator of contemporary art. “The DNC was coming to town and I thought the Downtown exhibit called for some lightly subversive material to provoke, reflect and give lie to the idea that comics are all adolescent superhero fantasies.”

Friedman co-curated “Wisconsin Funnies” with Wisconsin historian James P. Danky, Madison graphic novelist Paul Buhle and one of the artists whose work is prominent in the show, Denis Kitchen.

THE KITCHEN SINK AND MORE Kitchen was one of the Bugle’s cofounders in 1970 and became an internationally prominent exponent of “underground comix.” His Krupp Syndicate circulated the nascent comix genre across many of America’s underground papers, and his Kitchen Sink Press published work by contemporaries from around the U.S., as well as classics in book form, including editions of Will Eisner’s innovative cartoon series, “The Spirit.”

in locally owned record stores and head shops. Finding a copy was, as they used to say, a trip. Kitchen brought color to the Bugle and influenced the visual direction of alternative media elsewhere. “I was also the official wrangler for the four or five other cartoonists who, with me, created weekly strips (Jim Mitchell, Bruce Walthers, Wendel Pugh, Don Glassford and sometimes Pete Loft),” Kitchen continues. “The Bugle was [at first] the only underground, alternative paper with a comics section, and before long, our hastily formed Krupp Syndicate distributed them to 50 or so other weekly underground papers and some college papers.”

In 1973, Kitchen moved to Princeton, Wis., and continued to contribute covers to the Bugle after founding the Fox River Patriot, an unlikely underground paper for a small-town, rural audience. Patriot covers are also displayed at MOWA/DTN.

“My initial role at the Bugle was to ‘art direct’ in general and to draw covers regularly and illustrate ads as an inducement for advertisers—who were few,” Kitchen says. Unlike the Shepherd Express, which achieved mainstream distribution by the late ’90s in grocery chains and high-traffic venues, readers had to seek out the Bugle

During childhood, Kitchen’s weekly allowance of 50 cents allowed him to purchase five comic books a week from the spinner rack at a South Milwaukee drugstore. But many of his major influences were delivered to his house, hurled at his doorstep seven days a week. “I avidly consumed everything in the Milwaukee Journal’s Green Sheet,” he says of the evening paper’s comic strips, from Nancy and Sluggo to Beetle Bailey, printed in black and white on green newsprint. No doubt he also spent many hours with the full color funnies in the Sunday paper.

Kitchen’s cartoons were countercultural in content but often deliberately retro in form with money bag-clutching tycoons, busty seductresses and stolid farmers amidst the motorcars and machinery of post-World War II Midwest America.

TWEAKING POWER Kitchen had already begun his career as an artist by the time the Milwaukee Journal hired Bill Sanders as its editorial cartoonist. The Journal was a reliably center-liberal paper from 1967-1991 when Sanders drew for its op-ed pages, but the cartoonist was always pushing against the boundary of mainstream commentary.

He relentlessly poked fun at the city’s belligerent mayor, Henry Maier, and was suspended for an especially virulent cartoon attacking a local judge. And yet, management was tolerant of Sanders, even allowing him to freelance and publish his work in Kitchen’s comic books.

Several panels by Sanders are included at MOWA/DTN, including his “Alice in Watergateland” (1974), telling the story of the contemporary political scandal with Richard Nixon as the disingenuous monarch of a realm where truth is hard to find.

The protagonist, Alice, looks thoroughly exasperated by the time she reaches the final frame. Sanders had a gift of caricature, finding the distinctive physical features of the public figures he tweaked and exaggerating them to comical ends.

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CULTURE | SPONSORED BY THE MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM

“Wisconsin Funnies” at MOWA West Bend is more expansive, displaying more than 200 works by 31 artists with ties to Wisconsin, including 21st-century cartoonists such as Madison-based, MacArthur Grant recipient Lynda Barry.

It’s no surprise that the counterculture hub of San Francisco, home to Robert Crumb, took a leading role in underground

comix in the late ’60s and early ’70s, but Milwaukee? All these years later, the Cream City’s outsized contribution to comix remains puzzling. “I wish I had some insight on this, but in truth, I really have no idea why Milwaukee was a center for active cartoonists in the 1970s,” says the Bugle’s Dan Burr, whose work is on view at MOWA/DTN.

to work in the Marvel office, but I had no desire to live in NYC or to work for a big company,” he says. “I wanted to be in control of my own destiny. The West Coast beckoned for other reasons: San Francisco was hippie Mecca. But for stubborn reasons, I stayed in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.

I took a certain perverse regional pride in doing what I did from the Midwest.”

“From my perspective, there did seem to be a lot of comic book readers and collectors here, but there may have been just as many or more in Cincinnati than Milwaukee, so that probably explains nothing. If someone comes up with a plausible theory.

I’d love to hear it. Cosmic coincidence is the best I got.” Kitchen is also stumped: “It must have been something in the water,

“I finally left Wisconsin in 1994 for the opportunity to merge my company with another publishing company in western Massachusetts, founded by the co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was also an opportunity to ‘cash out’ a bit after toiling for years without much remuneration with an underground press. The experiment out east ultimately fizzled by the end of the ’90s, but I’m in a great geographic location, deep in the woods, with a stream and pond guarded by a seven-foot Big Boy statue, and here I’ll probably stay. But I get back to the ‘homeland’ at every opportunity!”

Dave. Or the cheese. It’s true that the area nurtured a disproportionate number of cartoonists.”

Many have remained in the area. Burr continues to work as an illustrator in Milwaukee. Kitchen finally moved to Massachusetts after refusing a call from Marvel Comics, whose empire includes “Spider-Man” and “The X-Men.” “I did turn down Stan Lee’s offers several times

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David Luhrssen is Managing Editor of the Shepherd Express. He began his career in journalism, at age 16, at the Bugle American.

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CULTURE | SPONSORED BY THE MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM

BROADCASTING THEIR MUSIC—

MILWAUKEEANS FIND OPPORTUNITIES IN TV, FILM AND OTHER MEDIA

BY JOSHUA MILLER

Illustration by Ali Bachmann

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M

ilwaukee-area musicians have a history of contributing to film and TV, going all the way back to Liberace. Four decades later, ex-Violent Femmes drummer and current Nineteen Thirteen member Victor DeLorenzo teamed with John Wesley Harding (aka Wes Stace) to write music for the 1992 film The Paint Job. Recently, multi-talented musician Josh Schmidt undertook writing music for seven films. Some musicians, such as Milwaukee expatriate John Wong, an in-demand film and TV composer now in Los Angeles, credits the Brew City for a solid foundation to build from.

Others have had the luxury of having their song placed in film and TV. Recently, Trapper Schoepp had his song used in a trailer for HBO’s reboot of “Perry Mason.” In 1994, Mike Hoffmann’s band, the Carnival Strippers, placed a song in the film Speed.

Around the same time, The Yell Leaders had songs in TV shows such as “Dawson’s Creek,” and The BoDeans’ “Closer to Free” became the theme song for “Party of Five.”

These are just a few examples.

For locals trying to make their way in a COVID-19 world, finding a way to express oneself and pay the bills has never been more important. Without the luxury of concerts, musicians have had to get creative in how they connect musically with the outside world. For many, writing music for TV and film have unlocked new possibilities. It’s a form of music that’s been hospitable to all walks of life.

between the training I received in college and what the world of music for TV and film demands of a media composer,” he says. “Whereas art music is about innovation and compositional technique, media music focuses on groove, emotion and scene-setting.”

FOR MANY, WRITING MUSIC FOR TV AND FILM HAVE UNLOCKED NEW POSSIBILITIES. IT’S A FORM OF MUSIC THAT’S BEEN HOSPITABLE TO ALL WALKS OF LIFE. Ecoff feels there’s a misconception that film and TV music needs to be hummable or epic. However, most work goes by unnoticed and barely heard. “If the music in a production is well constructed, it sets the emotional scene for the viewer without drawing a lot of attention to itself,” he says. “The music tells you the moment you’re watching is especially triumphant, poignant, or heartfelt. If I’ve done my job as a composer well, you’ll never stop to think about the music behind the images you are seeing. You’ll feel the emotion of the moment without stopping to consider if there was even music playing.”

He uses session musicians and exotic instruments to further breathe life into his collection of sounds. “At the end of the

day, I’m just a guy sitting at a computer in a corner of my basement, but when you hear music I’ve written, hopefully you hear something more than that,” he says.

Ecoff was once asked on the spot to fill in for another composer without time to prepare. He brainstormed six pieces. “I recall walking away, wondering if anything I just did would be even marginally useful,” he says. “Those six pieces have since appeared over and over again, in film trailers, hundreds of TV shows and all over YouTube. I guess the moral of the story is to be prepared, since your moment might come at any time.”

JUSTIN KROL AND QUINN SCHARBER Justin Krol and Quinn Scharber have spent the better part of the past decade touring and recording in various bands. However, finding their ability to tour limited due to their growing families, they wanted a new way to challenge themselves. After getting songs on network TV, they decided to start writing for TV and film.

The biggest challenge at first was on the technical side, figuring on how to time code and composing directly to picture versus just free form recording like they were used to. However, it quickly became second nature. “It took us a minute at the very beginning to find our niche—and trust me, we’re still always working on it—but I think that we've developed a certain aesthetic that comes through, no matter what the genre is,” says Krol. “We’re always looking for a tonality and feel that aligns

Several local musicians—a mix of veterans and newcomers—spoke about why that music has limitless appeal.

SAM ECOFF When he’s not teaching at the Waukesha County Conservatory of Music, Sam Ecoff is busy composing music for television, film and other media. His compositions have appeared on a variety of shows, including “The Today Show,” “American Ninja Warrior,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “American Idol,” “ CSI,” “The West Wing” and “The Teen Choice Awards.”

It’s a far cry from his classical and music theory-trained background. “I quickly discovered there was a real disconnect Drum Illustration by Ali Bachmann Watercolor Spot by Katflare/Getty Images

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CULTURE | SPONSORED BY THE MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM

with the picture. It can be as simple as a single piano note or a complex combination of elements to create a certain pad to put a melody over.”

So far, they’ve written over 100 songs ranging from film shorts to commercials.

Their work includes music for well-known brands such as Coach, Ford, Nobull, Chase Bank and Yeti. One of their Coach ads, which came as a result of connection to a music license agency, features Jennifer Lopez. “The J-Lo deal was part of a post-Super Bowl spring campaign for Coach,” Krol says. “There were four or five spots that they used one of our songs for.”

They’ve also scored two documentaries— Let This Be Therapy, out later this year, and 2019’s Who I've Always Been. Scharber says they’ll “enthusiastically try anything at this point,” and they pride themselves in “being reliable and delivering good, consistent work.” Versatility is most important as is knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses. “If I can explore all sorts of not just genres but sound in general, I’m the happiest I can be in terms of creativity,” he says.

“It's been super fun for us to be able to constantly switch mindsets within any given day,” says Krol. “Every day is completely unpredictable in the best way possible… You’re free to experiment in every genre, and you should. Some of our best

stuff has come out of playing with genres that were completely uncharted territory for us.”

JORDAN DAVIS Jordan Davis is constantly looking for new ways to express himself musically. In addition to fronting his Milwaukee-based band, Space Raft, and creating chiptune music for video game developers, Davis has found exciting new challenges writing for TV and film. So far, he’s worked on two indie films, Brian Perkins’ Speed of Sound and Cris Siqueira’s documentary Ape Girl.

“Both were films directed by friends of mine and were able to coach me through what was needed for the project,” says Davis.

Speed of Sound was work culled from another film project of Perkins that he had writ-

ZACH PIETRINI Milwaukee songwriter Zach Pietrini hopes to release his new album sometime next year. In the process of working on it, he stumbled into another use for his music. Engineer Kyle White, who runs Cave Studios in Pewaukee and specializes in licensing for film and TV, suggested writing music in that format. With his help, Pietrini wrote several collections of songs that dabble in Americana, rock, experimental music and country. One set of songs sounds like The Black Keys, he said.

“We have been making these collections of about 10 songs and shopping them to different agencies,” says Pietrini. “Right now, they have all found a home with Atomica in Texas and BMG in Nashville. BMG is one of the biggest licensing agencies in the United States, so we're pretty pumped about that. Now, it’s a waiting game.”

The biggest challenge so far is adjusting to the fast pace that comes with writing for TV and film. “It’s a challenge to have to come to the studio with an idea and finish with a song in one sixhour session,” says Pietrini.

While it’s a new form of music, he hopes others get the same authenticity they get from his past work. “I hope my music embodies this accessible, very human, very open posture,” he says. “That’s what I try to bring in all of the projects that I work on.”

Joshua Miller is a music writer and frequent contributor to the Shepherd Express.

ten music for called You Poor Thing. “The initial film project was abandoned, but it resulted in songs that I used for the first Space Raft LP and set up a working relationship between Brian and myself,” says Davis.

“Cris was aware that I was working on this project for Brian and asked if I would be interested in also writing the main theme to her film about a Brazilian sideshow attraction that migrated to US carnivals… I wrote a ballad with lyrics called ‘Lowland Gorilla.’ I recorded several versions of the song on different instruments to give varying moods for different applications.”

These experiences have given him a chance to expand his musical skills. When he’s writing for his band, he envisions what would be “gripping for an audience member, and then creating interesting parts for the musicians to play to provide that experience.” With film, there’s “much clearer directive to reinforce the narrative and not get into the way.”

“I found it very liberating to rid myself of the expectations of how a piece of music would sound on stage, or how a drummer would react to it,” he says. “That left me free to try more adventurous rhythms or break traditional harmonic rules and use dissonance for mood. Film music doesn’t have to pretend to make sense for the stage, it can just exist as music without a performer’s need to assemble for presentation. It simply exists in the ether, a place that I am very happy to reside in.”

Watercolor Spot by Katflare/Getty Images

NOVEMBER 3 For voting information, visit www.myvote.wi.gov/

Illustration by Scott Radke

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THIS MONTH IN MILWAUKEE

17 THINGS TO DO FROM OCTOBER 7 THROUGH NOVEMBER 4

By Harry Cherkinian, Jean-Gabriel Fernandez, Allen Halas, Tea Krulos, David Luhrssen and Shane McAdams pers, Dan Schneck and Friends, as well as the Andrew Trim Group. It starts at 7 p.m. on Facebook.

STREAMING WEDNESDAYS

GOTHIC MILWAUKEE WALKING TOUR It seems like every old building in Milwaukee has some kind of ghost story to it. One of the local ghost lore experts who has studied them is Anna Lardinois, who runs a tour company called Gothic Milwaukee and is the author of Milwaukee Ghosts and Legends. Lardinois leads walking ghost tours that explore the Downtown area, and another that voyages into the Yankee Hill area. Things are a little different because of the pandemic. Lardinois is leading limited, private tours with a maximum of eight people, a good option if you want to have a family adventure. “I want to do a full reopening in October, but I’m not sure if it’ll be possible,” Lardinois explains. Check out gothicmilwaukee.com for updated info.

STREAMING SUNDAYS, WEDNESDAYS AND FRIDAYS

DJ Bizzon Soul Sunday Brunch, Wayback When-Day and The QuaranTURNUP One of Milwaukee’s hardest working DJs isn’t letting a lack of local club nights deter him, as DJ Bizzon has turned his regularly scheduled events digital, broadcasting via Twitch and launching a Patreon with exclusive content. With a different theme every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday night, join him for a variety of dance parties from the comfort of home. You can stream his sets at twitch.tv/djbizzon. Sundays 12 p.m. to 2 p.m, Wednesdays 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Fridays 8 p.m. to 10 p.m on Twitch.

STREAMING TUESDAYS

ACA Music & Entertainment’s Tuesday Night Jazz Missing Jazz in the Park this year? Emanating from the North Coast Center for the Arts performance space, ACA Music & Entertainment have been producing regular weekly live streams to keep jazz artists playing during the pandemic. All the proceeds from the shows benefit the artists, and their October lineup includes Cosmic Endeavors Collective, Doorstop-

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Non-Pop! Non-Pop!, the combination of live artwork and DJ sets cultivated by local artist Moses and his associates, had recently moved to club Site 1A before quarantine shut things down locally. Fortunately, the group has been able to turn that weekly club night into a streaming experience, blending music and art into something unique, emanating from several Milwaukee locations and featuring some of the city’s top DJs and visual artists. Non-Pop! can be streamed at twitch.tv/yononpop at 5 p.m. on Twitch.

history—the Solomon in question is Solomon Juneau, one of Milwaukee’s founders.

Each episode will feature a different young performer, as well as a number of clues for audiences to put together. John Gurda consulted on the history.

STREAMING SATURDAYS

Cactus Club’s Digital Dream A longtime hub for local music, Cactus Club has shifted programming online (on Vimeo) in addition to regular carryout orders from their Bay View location. Digital Dream is an online streaming series, encompassing not only live performances, but also DJ sets, film screenings and more.

October will feature a MKE Live: Groove Edition show from Isharai Artist Management, as well as weekly DJ sets from local acts entitled “REACHout Radio.” You can get the full schedule of digital programming at cactusclubmilwaukee.com.

STREAMING SATURDAYS

The Cooperage’s Covid Couch Series The Cooperage had become one of Milwaukee’s biggest live music destinations within the last few years, hosting a variety of notable local and touring acts in their Walker’s Point location. The venue’s Covid Couch Series is a weekly concert via Instagram Live, bringing a high-quality show to your phone with the intimacy of an at-home performance. The streams can be found on The Cooperage’s Instagram page: @cooperagemke.

STREAMING SEPTEMBER 20 -NOVEMBER 1

First Stage, The Quest for Solomon’s Treasure With the help of their playwrights-in-residence and taking advantage of the online platform, the children’s theater company has devised an uncommon season starting with John Maclay’s The Quest for Solomon’s Treasure. Rather than resorting to filmed theater, the company chose to explore new opportunities given by the virtual medium. The piece will be a seven-episode web series focusing on local

THROUGH OCTOBER 31

Inspiration Studios, “Vacation Vibes” West Allis painter Ronni Shmauz has been described as a “folk artist,” but self-taught—beyond the bounds of the academy—is probably a better way of understanding her work. In the past, she has painted mannequins, gourds, windows and deer skulls, as well as canvases. “I love to find the beautiful diversity in nature and in people; to see the beauty in our uniqueness and to respect our Earth and all of its beauty,” Shmauz once explained. Her current exhibition is at Inspiration Studios, a community-oriented gallery and performance space, 1500 S. 73rd St., West Allis.

THROUGH NOVEMBER 28

Racine Art Museum, “Wisconsin Photography 2020” After a six-month hiatus, the Racine Art Museum opens to the public again with one of its mainstay exhibitions. “Photography 2020” features 83 works by 29 artists, selected from 103 individual submissions.

The juried exhibition began in 1979, and over the past 40-plus years, it has offered opportunities to local photographers and for the museum to fortify its permanent collection. With the assistance of this year’s juror, Lisa Volpe of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, RAM acquired works by Michael Knapstein, Elizabeth Kazda, Azure Bielefeldt, Dean Segal and Timothy Abler. This diverse array of photographic viewpoints includes majestic cornfields, explorations of individual identity and abstract configurations of household objects.

online conference is free,” says organizer Tea Krulos. “We’ll have a couple of guests who might have found it challenging to get to Milwaukee, but we are able to work with them to have an online appearance.”

Other dimensional visitors? We’ll see.

For more, visit milwaukeeparacon2020. heysummit.com.

OCTOBER 9-11

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9

The Mod Violets live streaming from Linneman’s Riverwest Inn With yearning harmonies and minor keys, Milwaukee’s Mod Violets are known for sharp, guitar-driven melodies and reflective lyrics veiled in an aura of psychedelia. But the first song recorded for the next album, “Get For Gone,” sounds more like the happy side of the British Invasion. “It’s the poppiest, most optimistic thing I’ve ever written,” says guitarist-vocalist Mark Lonteen. He penned the lines (“love is there for those who gave it”) after the pandemic began. “I didn’t want to write anything despairing,” he says. The show begins at 7:30 p.m.

STREAMING OCTOBER 9-10

Milwaukee Paranormal Conferenc Somehow, it seems entirely natural when a paranormal event goes virtual. This year’s Milwaukee Paranormal Conference is a showcase of things that are fleeting and furtive, not really there but there anyway.

The program for Friday, Oct. 9, features ghost stories around the digital campfire, trivia and online concerts by Wisconsin alt-rock-pop band Sunspot and other performers. On Saturday, Oct. 10, speakers and panels will take up UFOs, ghosts, cryptozoology and similar topics. “Though we miss the in-person interaction this year, an advantage of this set-up is that the

Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour No reservations, no tickets—just watch for the red arrows and flags in this self-guided tour of art studios on Ozaukee County. The Cedarburg Artist Guild invites the public to a day in the country to meet artists (and yes, maybe purchase their work). The studio spaces are as varied as the art and include a restored 19th-century barn and stone house, a spare bedroom in a suburban ranch home, an industrial garage, a 1850s stone woolen mill, a walk-out basement—maybe even a tent. All creative spaces where sculpture, jewelry, photography, woodworking, pottery, weaving, leatherworks, stained glass, encaustics, collage, prints, fiber arts and paintings are produced. For more information visit cedarburgartistsguild.com.

STREAMING OCTOBER 15-29

Milwaukee Film Festival “Thankfully, we still have some time to answer this question,” executive director Jonathan Jackson told the Shepherd Express in May when asked if this year’s festival will be live or virtual. The answer is virtual, but with virtually little change in the caliber and diversity of offerings. The schedule will be announced on October 5, and films can be accessed on demand, including through Amazon Fire, Android TV, Apple TV and ROKU. As their website states, “Screenings will be a little less crowded this year, and your seat might not have a cupholder.”

STREAMING OCTOBER 16-NOVEMBER 12 Skylight Music Theatre, Being Earnest One likes to think that Oscar Wilde would have had a grand time in the ’60s. Not so much for the politics—he might have satirized pretensions on all sides—but the Carnaby Street colors and euphoria over new possibilities that emerged from the counterculture. Skylight brings this sensibility to the fore with its online musical version of Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. His witty-catty dialogue rings true amidst the production’s mod setting and music inspired by the bands of Swinging London.

STREAMING FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16

Milwaukee Rep’s Curtain Call Ball The Rep moves its biggest fundraiser online with its virtual Curtain Call Ball.

The fundraiser will provide much-needed funds, as well as celebrate the 10th anniversary of artistic director Mark Clements.

“While we can’t gather in person, if there is one thing I know, it’s that Milwaukee Rep can put on a show, be it in person or online,” says executive director Chad

Bauman. “I’m looking forward to gathering virtually with friends and supporters of a theater that we all hold dear and that needs support now more than ever before.” Beloved Milwaukee Actor James Pickering will emcee the livestreamed event featuring performances by national and local thespians including Michael Doherty (The Nerd), Kelley Faulkner (Always… Patsy Cline), Gavin Gregory (Ragtime), Zonya Love (The Color Purple) and more. For information on Curtain Call Ball, the Rep’s other virtual programming and its “2020/21 Season Reset,” visit milwaukeerep.com.

STREAMING SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24

Battle of the Culture Presents Battle of the Performances Local podcast Battle of the Culture has created a platform for local hip-hop artists to showcase their lyrical abilities.

On Saturday, Oct. 24, they’ll be launching the first installment of their Battle of the Performances live stream. The show will include performances, as well as interviews and music videos from Milwaukee hip-hop acts and artists from throughout the Midwest. Head to battleoftheculturepodcast.com for more information.

STREAMING OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 4 Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival The 23rd annual event has gone virtual this year with the year’s five selections hailing from Israel, Germany, Italy and Norway. As usual, Jewish characters are shown in situations that touch the human spirit and address matters of universal concern. The Crossing concerns Norwegian resistance during World War II, Aulcie is a biography of basketball legend Aulcie Perry, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit is a children’s story, Thou Shalt Not Hate is a moral drama and The Electrifiers is a rock musical. Each will be followed by a Zoom talkback. All films will be available for a 72-hour period on Eventive and wrap-up with an exclusive talkback program on Zoom on its last day. Films open at 12:01 a.m. on their opening day and close at 11:59 p.m. on their closing day. For more information, visit jccmilwaukee.org.

LIFESTYLE OUT OF MY MIND

HOW TO READ THE POLITICAL MIND

BY PHILIP CHARD

A

common lament among political animals of both conservative and liberal stripes is that their counterparts are ill-informed fools led around like sheep by ideologues, zealots and wingnuts. Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, described their respective mindsets this way: “Conservatives are a bunch of Hummer-driving, meat-eating, gun-toting, hard-drinking, Bible-thumping, black-and-white-thinking, fist-pounding, shoe-stomping, morally hypocritical blowhards. Liberals are a bunch of hybrid-driving, tofu-eating, tree-hugging,

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whale-saving, sandal-wearing, bottled-water-drinking, ACLU-supporting, flip-flopping, wishy-washy, namby-pamby bed wetters.”

MARK TWAIN WARNED US ABOUT THIS WILLFUL BLINDNESS WHEN HE SAID: “IT AIN’T WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW THAT GETS YOU INTO TROUBLE; IT’S WHAT YOU KNOW FOR SURE THAT JUST AIN’T SO.”

Either way, these stereotypes are so pervasive and seemingly immutable that neuropsychologists investigated their origins.

They discovered that conservatives and liberals demonstrate stark differences in personality, moral values, cognitive processes and even brain structures. Basically, they don’t perceive the same reality.

Research indicates liberals care more about compassion, fairness and equality, while conservatives exhibit a stronger affinity for order, tradition and stable social norms. What’s more, liberals rank high in a personality trait called “openness,” while

conservatives show a strong affinity for a trait called “orderliness.”

Translation? Liberals are comfortable altering society if they feel doing so will result in a more equitable, compassionate and just culture, even if the process proves messy and ambiguous. In contrast, conservatives place greater importance on maintaining cultural traditions, and will tolerate some inequalities and injustices provided order and customs are maintained.

COMMON GROUND? Where liberals and conservatives share common ground is in their susceptibility to “confirmation bias.” This occurs when someone embraces information supporting their already existing political beliefs, while simultaneously ignoring evidence that contradicts those beliefs. The term “fake news” is a classic example. When facts in the media threaten one’s bias, they are labeled “fake.” Mark Twain warned us about this willful blindness when he said: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble; it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

The neurological process that makes confirmation bias so powerful involves the pleasure center of the brain. It works like this: We embrace a particular belief.

This belief gets challenged by others or contradictory information, which lights up the threat center in the brain, making us anxious.

To manage this anxiety, the mind responds by embracing information consistent with its already existing worldview while simultaneously rejecting contradictory information (confirmation bias).

Once this mental conflict resolves, the pleasure center in the brain lights up, which feels good, further reinforcing the pre-existing bias. When you try to change someone’s political opinion, it’s your arguments up against the pleasure center in their brain. Guess who wins?

RATIONAL DECISIONS? Our republic rests on the belief that citizens will make considered, rational decisions when casting their ballots. We don’t.

In a study in Switzerland, children as young as five years old were highly accurate in predicting which candidates would win in parliamentary elections. How did they do it? By looking at their photos. When the mind is deluged with conflicting information, it often takes a mental shortcut, streamlining the decision-making process. Usually, this involves relying on some subconscious variable—a sound bite, a candidate’s appearance, the endorsement of a trusted source, parallels between the candidate’s background and one’s own, or peer pressure from one’s social group.

Worse yet, these points of influence are usually subconscious. We don’t realize they are shaping our views. The bottom line is that many voters make an irrational choice based on subconscious cues that they later rationalize as a thoughtful decision.

Most elections end up being more about character than policy, and this one will amplify that trend. If enough of us vote (and please do), this exercise of the collective franchise will say a great deal about the character of our nation.

Not that you asked, but for me, this election is about morality. Consider clarifying those values you hold most dear, and which candidates best align with your moral compass. For yours truly, these values are kindness, mutual respect, fairness, honesty, strength mixed with humility and empathy. To me, the rest—campaign promises, ideology, party—are just details and, too often, distractions.

This isn’t just an election about Biden or Trump, Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative. It’s about who we are going to be. It’s a referendum on us.

For more visit philipchard.com.

Philip Chard is a psychotherapist and author with a focus on lasting behavior change, emotional healing and adaptation to health challenges.

LIFESTYLE PERSONAL FINANCE

SHOULD I BUY A HOUSE/CONDO

OR RENT AND INVEST MY MONEY ELSEWHERE?

BY LOUIS FORTIS

The chair of the Federal Reserve wants to see the inflation rate at 2%, but if it inches higher, he is not particularly concerned if the economy is growing and creating jobs.

But with savings account interest rates lower than inflation, you are losing money every day in terms of purchasing power.

The stock market has been very attractive in some industries, but many wise investors are being careful, bracing for a serious recession even after a vaccine is distributed.

So, one question some people are asking is: Should I buy a home or continue to rent?

Americans have always felt that part of the American Dream was being a homeowner, having a real stake in the community. Most Americans built a big share of their net worth through the appreciation of their home. Homeownership was promoted in various ways by the government including institutions that purchase mortgages from financial institutions. This secondary market for mortgages lowers the risk for these institutions making 15 or 30-year loans at relatively low interest rates and freeing up money so these lenders could continue to make housing loans.

Then, the great financial recession of 2008 hit, and people watched friends or family members lose their homes when they couldn’t continue to pay their mortgages.

Property values dropped, and many people were underwater on their home, meaning that they owed more to the bank than the property was worth. Homeownership began to lose its luster for some people.

Now that we are 10 years past the great recession, some people continue to debate whether it’s a smart investment to buy a home. Bank or credit union savings accounts that are not locked in for multiple years are paying less that 1% interest. Stocks are selectively doing well, but the uncertainty in the market is very real. So, it comes back to the question, should I buy a house or condo,

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or should I continue to rent? Assuming you have the money for a down payment, usually 20%, does it make sense to invest that money in homeownership?

The following will provide you with arguments for purchasing a home followed by arguments for continuing to rent. It’s your money, so you decide. There is no right answer.

REASONS TO CONSIDER BUYING A HOME

• First, a home purchase is more than just an investment. It provides you with a place to live where you have some control over your life. For many people, it makes them feel more integrated in their community and gives them a greater sense of well-being.

• Historically, if you purchase your house in a community where most people own their homes and where they properly maintain them, you will probably have solid appreciation over the long term.

• Your mortgage is usually a fixed-rate 15- or 30-year loan. If you have no prepayment penalty on your loan, you can refinance your property if interest rates fall significantly and lock in at a low rate for the next 15 or 30 years. With a fixed-rate mortgage, your monthly principal and interest will not change, whereas with rent, it continues to increase over the long term. After 10 years, your monthly mortgage will be the same amount as it was when you borrowed the money, whereas your rent may have doubled depending on the inflation rate and the relative demand for apartments in your area. Unlike rent, your mortgage is eventually paid off.

• You build equity in your house as it appreciates in value and as you pay down the principal on your mortgage, enabling you to borrow against that equity at a relatively low interest rate to cover unplanned medical bills or college tuition.

• You can leverage your money.

Most lenders require a 20% down payment and will lend you 80% at a fixed rate. Let’s assume you purchase a $200,000 home with a $40,000 down payment. Now, assume that inflation is running at 2% per year. After one year, if you had your money in an investment instrument where you earned 6% return, your $40,000 is now $42,400. Assuming you bought a home and it increased in value just equal to the 2% inflation rate, the value of your home is now worth $204,000. Without including the amount that you paid down on your mortgage, your net worth went up $4,000 in nominal terms, whereas with your 6% return on investment, your net worth went up only $2,400. You essentially used your lender’s money to benefit from inflation.

• You can remodel and expand your living quarters to suit changes in your life or lifestyle and increase the value of your home. You can also spend your free time making your basement into a recreation area and again increasing the value of your home.

• Finally, if you pay your mortgage and your taxes, no landlord can evict you so their brother-in-law can rent your apartment.

illustration by Topp_Yimgrimm-Getty Images

I

nterest rates are approaching record lows, which begs the question: What should you do with your savings?

REASONS TO CONSIDER RENTING RATHER THAN BUYING

• You can shed off responsibility: There is a landlord or management company that takes care of the repairs and the upkeep on the property. You don’t need a lawnmower or snow shovel.

• You are safe from unexpected major financial hits such as a roof replacement or the need to purchase a new furnace or air conditioning system.

• You can enjoy a high level of mobility, especially if you have a month-to-month lease to accommodate your future life plans. If you are uncertain about your employment, you are considering going back to school or you met your true love online who lives in a different city, when your lease expires, you can start packing. Because of the various costs associated with purchasing and selling a home, it seldom makes sense to buy unless you plan to live there for at least three years.

• You believe you can make more money by investing in something else, whatever that might be.

Again, there is no right or wrong choice. The best choice is the one that fits your needs at this time.

Louis Fortis is a development economist by training and has taught graduate courses in Community Economic Development at UW-Milwaukee.

LIFESTYLE

CBD BAKERY

PURPLE REIGN

INFUSES CAKES AND BROWNIES WITH LONG-LASTING PAIN RELIEF

A

fter tearing an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), local baker Serenity Ramirez turned to cannabidiol (CBD) cream for pain relief. She was able to avoid surgery, and since then, she’s been on a journey to educate herself and others about CBD. She also tried tinctures but found the taste and texture unpleasant, which led her to edibles. She also discovered that CBD consumed in edible form, while not as fast-acting, is longer-lasting and stays in the bloodstream longer.

“I wanted a way to integrate the benefits of CBD into a fun play on edibles, creating something that still tastes good yet provides all the health and human benefits of CBD,” she says. Bakery was her answer. Through Purple Reign, the CBD bakery she started with her business partner, Martez Cunningham, she offers grab-and-go and custom-made CBD-infused cupcakes, brownies, crispy rice treats, cheesecakes and more.

Ramirez grew up baking with her grandmother and had formerly owned Spoons Ice Cream, in West Allis. She crafts baked goods for Purple Reign in a commercial kitchen. Their grab-and-go brownies, cookies and crispy rice treats are currently available at six locations throughout the Milwaukee area: Milwaukee Vapor (7508 W. Oklahoma Ave.) and Milwaukee Vapor East (3470 N. Oakland Ave.); MKE Vape (1017 E. Brady St. and 7213 W Greenfield Ave.); Smokin’ Deals tobacco shop (5656 S. Packard Ave.); and Mary Jane’s CBD dispensary (335 W. Main St., Waukesha). Mary Jane’s also carries Purple Reign’s ice cream sandwiches.

For about a year, Purple Reign had a retail location on Brady Street, but they moved from that space and are currently looking for another brick-and-mortar shop.

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Popular items include their pink lemonade cupcake, which is a strawberry cake with whipped lemon frosting. Their fudgy brownies move quickly, as does the Oreo cheesecake, a traditional cheesecake with an Oreo cookie crust. In addition, they offer cookies with flavors such as chocolate chip or pink red velvet, as well as fancifully decorated cupcakes and different flavors of cheesecake. To get the CBD into the product, Ramirez says she infuses CBD flower into the butter or coconut oil. The coconut oil allows her to make vegan desserts, and she also makes gluten-free bakery.

Purple Reign’s additional CBD items include a cold and flu kit, which consists of CBD-infused elderberry tea, CBD-infused lip balm and CBD and honey cough drops. Ramirez notes that there’s been an increased demand for the kits during the COVID pandemic. They also have CBD teas, creams, muscle recovery products, protein bars and water-soluble CBD that

athletes can mix into their water. They also have traditional flower in different strands.

Ramirez says they make some items themselves and partner with suppliers to white-label Purple Reign products.

Purple Reign’s motto is “a healthy high,” where one can experience a body high while feeling good. Ramirez strives to provide hemp education and break stigmas about cannabis. “A lot of people associate cannabis with the stoners you see in movies, but there’s a lot of benefits to this plant—it’s high in protein and fiber, and the plant is versatile,” she says, adding that she hopes Wisconsin pushes toward legalization of medical cannabis.

For more information, visit facebook.com/ purplereignwi.

Sheila Julson writes about cannabis and food for the Shepherd Express.

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LIFESTYLE DOMICILE

TRANSFORM YOUR HOME WITH

NATURE-INSPIRED FLAIR EXPLORE A STYLE THAT STRIKES A CHORD BETWEEN IMPRESSIVE SOPHISTICATION AND SERENE COMFORT.

BY MARK HAGEN

T

he moment I walked into Inspired, a furnishing and design store in the Third Ward, I was amazed by the shop’s utter elegance combined with an overall feeling of calm and serenity. Not only was I instantly taken with the comfy couches, textured pillows and whimsical accents, but I quickly realized I was surrounded by one of the hottest trends in home décor… enhancing spaces with nature-inspired elements.

“It’s easy to find inspiration in the beauty, creativity and balance of nature,” says Terry Peterson, owner of Inspired. “Every design project integrates some element of nature to infuse every space with life. Casual, sophisticated spaces always include the calming forces of nature.”

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Fall is an ideal time to imbed your space with natural elements. “In Wisconsin, we are beginning a season of ‘hibernation,’ therefore we need all the signs of life we can get to keep us sane,” laughs Peterson.

Whether adding warmth to a downtown condo or embellishing a cabin up north, Wisconsin homeowners are bringing the outdoors inside. From botanical prints to furnishings with striking wood detail, decorating with nature-infused elements is as easy and rewarding as it is impressive and stylish.

GETTING STARTED Just how quickly can you transform a room to reflect Mother Nature’s touch? Instantly, according to Peterson: “Simply take a walk

outside and bring in some elements that inspire you,” she says. “In any given season, you’ll find an interesting piece of driftwood on my entry table. Dried hydrangeas in a vase, pinecones in a bowl, sand in a candle holder or fresh boxwood cut from the backyard… nature is always right!”

This style might explain the recent interest in home terrariums. “For years, we sold live terrariums, created in apothecary or other jars that include plants and various natural materials,” Peterson explains. “We add things like driftwood from the shores of Lake Michigan, feathers from a recent hike or other interesting organic finds.” Best of all, terrariums quickly spruce up small spaces, need little light and don’t require much maintenance.

Illustrations by Nata Slavetskaya/Getty Images Photo by CreativeStudio/Getty Images

Sounds easy, but the key to starting a makeover is not to feel intimidated. “I tell clients that well-thought out design are like getting dressed,” Peterson says. “First, we have to put on our top, pants or dress— that’s the sofa and chairs. Then, add shoes or the rug. Next, accessorize the outfit. That’s like brining in lamps, side tables, wall art and decor pieces. This makes the process feel less overwhelming.”

“Any color in nature provides the best backdrop to create a timeless, classic design,” says Peterson. “This allows you to layer in many different colors and easily adapt a room to the seasons or current trends.”

some emotion. I’m also a sucker for anything that helps create warmth and peace.

We all yearn for the wonderful feeling we get when surrounded by things that inspire us, comfort us and where we see beauty.”

Stay clear of paint colors not commonly found outside. “Elements with this type of color are better suited for accents, throws and trendy pieces,” she adds.

PATTERN, TEXTURE AND COLOR

KEEP IT SIMPLE YET SOPHISTICATED

As Wisconsin winds turn cooler, feel inspired to bring some natural elements indoors. You’ll be amazed at quickly and easily these heartwarming touches make a house a home.

When dressing up a room with natural elements, the key is balancing texture, pattern and color. “Layering patterns, textures and materials is the best way to add visual interest and depth to a space,” says Peterson. “Nature-inspired pillows, prints and decor add layers of life to any area.” Aim for a visual harmony by subtly repeating a few elements. “Whether in materials or color, strive for a collected feel,” she suggests.

When it comes to painting walls, the designer recommends neutrals found outdoors.

The designer believes that overdoing things in any genre can be a slippery slope.

“We suggest customers to do a little style editing before bringing in new things,” she notes. “When in doubt, less is more. Take your time and don’t be too impulsive.”

When adding natural elements to a room, from a wooden coffee table to a decorative mantelpiece, be sure the items leave you with a feeling of serenity. “I buy things that move me or that make me think or laugh,” Peterson notes. “It has to trigger

Visit Inspired (Furnishing and Design) at 239 E. Chicago St. in Milwaukee’s Third Ward. Open every day of the week (Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m.5:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4 p.m.). Design services are also available. Follow Inspired on Instagram @Inspiredmke.

Mark Hagen is an award-winning gardener, former caterer and Milwaukee lover. His work has appeared in Fresh Home, Birds & Blooms and Your Family magazines.

HEAR ME OUT | SPONSORED BY UW CREDIT UNION

DEAR RUTHIE DATING IN THE AGE OF COVID

Dear Ruthie, Dating during a pandemic sucks. Dating was the furthest thing from my mind, but now that it appears as though things aren’t going to change, I’ve turned my thoughts to finding Mr. Right again. Is that even possible? How can someone date safely during the COVID age?

Let Me Know, Desperately Seeking Someone (Anyone!) connections with your current social group or contact a therapist.

If you’re still ready to meet someone new, create a dating strategy for yourself. Think about what sort of date you’d be comfortable with. For instance, decide that you’ll only visit restaurants with outdoor options. Determining what your dates “look like” will help you single out people who feel the same about dating in today’s environment.

READY, SET, DATE

Dear Someone, The recipe for dating can be confusing and aggravating as is. Mix in COVID-related stress, and many Cream City singles aren’t sure what to feel or where to begin. In other words, you’re not alone, sugar!

Start by taking a serious look at your desire to date. In this era of social distancing, is meeting up with a stranger really what you want? Consider your emotional state right now. If you’re feeling lonely or depressed, dating isn’t necessarily the cure. Seek out

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When you’re ready to start swiping left and right again, get to know your new paramour via a series of phone calls and FaceTiming.

Not only will this keep everyone healthy, but regularly scheduled “phone dates” help ensure that the person on the other end of the line is one you feel comfortable meeting in person.

When you both decide you’re ready for faceto-face time, stick to the dating strategy you created early on (only meeting in large, openair areas, for instance). Stick to your comfort level. This is not a time to compromise. You should also keep dates between the two of you. There’ll be plenty of time to meet one another’s friends and family later.

Speaking of focusing on one another, let’s talk about physical contact. As attraction builds, it’s going to be hard to keep your hands off each other. If and when things heat up, have an honest discussion with your new partner about holding hands, hugging and kissing. I don’t have to tell you that these signs of affection carry additional COVID risks, so talk about them openly with one another.

This is not the time for a one-nighter with a stranger! It’s impossible to social distance when you’re bumping nasties in a waterbed.

(Not that I’m speaking from experience, mind you.) Sex in the age of COVID is a magazine article all its own, but I suggest avoiding the sheets until you feel you know and trust this person. When you’re both ready to take things to the next level, discuss how you feel about sex in the age of COVID. In the meantime, stay safe, take care and make good decisions!

DEAR RUTHIE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

RUTHIE’S SOCIAL CALENDAR OCTOBER 9 Big Night Out Virtual Gala and Auction (hosted by Milwaukee LGBT Community Center): This annual event has gone digital! Tune into the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center’s Facebook or YouTube Live event and celebrate National Coming Out Day like never before.

I’m so excited to host this 6-9 p.m. evening that celebrates our history while raising money for the center. Enjoy local entertainers, speakers, auction items and so much more.

OCTOBER 16 Milwaukee Ghost Walks: The Bloody Third Ward (at various locations): See the popular Third Ward area in a whole new light with a 90-minute outdoor walking tour. Discover the area’s haunted history, learn about its paranormal activity and understand the circumstances behind its macabre moniker, The Bloody Third Ward. Tours start at 7:30 p.m. and run throughout October. (Masks are required.) See americanghostwalks.com for more, including $25 tickets.

OCTOBER 24 Organized Grime with Nina Flowers at LaCage Niteclub (801 S. Second St.): Get ready to party your ass off with this 9 p.m. bash. RuPaul darling Nina Flowers hosts the night of club-kid extravaganza with special appearances by “Drag Race” friends Dida Ritz and Monica Beverly Hillz. They’ll share the spotlight with porn stars, go-go boys, guest DJs and others. Nab your tickets at organizedpride.com.

OCTOBER 29 Rocky Horror Trixie Show at This Is It! (418 E. Wells St.): Milwaukee’s longest running gay bar adds a few stars to the October skies with a visit from local girl gone big, Trixie Mattel!

Join Trixie with a bevy of local beauties for a 10 p.m. show, costume contest, drink specials and more. The show is free but nab tickets for Trixie’s meet and greet via the This Is It! Facebook page.

OCTOBER 30 ‘Ruthie’s Halloween Hell House’ at Hamburger Mary’s (730 S. Fifth St.): The community center is a gem in the city’s LGBTQ tiara, and the team just added a valuable stone with this new support group. Created for those 18 years and older, this friendly group meets the second Monday of every month from 6-7 p.m.

Contact nzanoni@mkelgbt.org to learn more about this free and confidential group.

HEAR ME OUT | SPONSORED BY UW CREDIT UNION

LGBT HISTORY MONTH AND MORE

MAKE OCTOBER A CROWDED PAGE ON THE CALENDAR

By Paul Masterson

O

ctober is full of high holidays for the LGBTQ community. Aside from being LGBT History Month, October includes Halloween on October 31 (this year, it falls on a Saturday!), Intersex Awareness Day on Monday, Oct. 26, and National Coming Out Day, celebrated on Sunday, Oct. 11. The latter marks an important rite of passage among LGBTQ folks, the official recognition of one’s identity. For some, it can be a matter-of-fact moment with life going on unchanged; for others, it can be a dramatic one with nothing remaining the same thereafter.

Appropriately enough, National Coming Out Day is also the occasion for the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center’s annual Big Night Out Gala fundraising event, which will be held Friday, Oct. 9. Over the years, it has become a major source of the

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theme of “Celebrate Our History,” the gala will be live streamed on Facebook and YouTube Live with a lineup of high-quality entertainment, educational videos and an online auction.

As always, the funds raised will be dedicated to the Center’s spectrum of services that include programs for seniors, youth, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, as well as food and clothing banks among others. Additionally, the Center’s planned move in 2021 will certainly be an additional financial cost for the upcoming fiscal year.

Center’s income. Last year’s event, held at Discovery World with 600 in attendance, raised $137,000, or 19% of 2019’s total revenue. However, like most traditionally public gatherings nowadays, the upcoming Big Night Out will be held virtually. With a

LONG-AWAITED MOVE Announced during the Center’s virtual annual meeting in late June, the long-awaited relocation is in the offing with the selection of the new locale projected for

the end of the summer with sights set on March 2021 for the actual move. It will be the Center’s fourth move in its 22-year history. A virtual town hall meeting is to be held to garner community input on potential new locations.

on the Eastside would be accomplished by a Riverwest location. The Fifth Ward is still something of a Gayborhood, but its gentrification in recent years may put it beyond the financial constraints implied by the lower rent criterion.

The new site is intended to alleviate the current problems of low visibility, limited parking and poor bus line accessibility.

The current location’s original footprint having been reduced by two-thirds a decade ago when the Center’s lease agreement underwent a major restructuring, there is also a dire need for more space. The move raises the inevitable questions: Where will the new LGBT Community Center be and what will it look like?

Although details offered at the annual meeting were sparse, it appears that the new digs will be in a more affordable part of the city. One can speculate where that could be. Proximity to UW-Milwaukee and the LGBTQ populations downtown and

As for its look, it has been suggested that a new concept could be implemented, namely that the future Center would consist of a central hub with satellite facilities in other locations.

Time will tell. Perhaps the gala event will offer the opportunity for an update.

Information about the LGBT Community Center’s Big Night Out Gala may be found at mkelgbt.org.

Paul Masterson is an LGBTQ activist and writer and has served on the boards of the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, Milwaukee Pride, GAMMA and other organizations.

NOVEMBER 3 For voting information, visit www.myvote.wi.gov/

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ART FOR ART'S SAKE

FROM THE CITY

THAT ALWAYS SWEEPS

By Art Kumbalek

I

’m Art Kumbalek and man oh manischewitz what a world, ain’a? So listen, right now I’m, still on hold with the unemployment-compensation crowd. It’s been at least about a couple, three months and a focking half by now, and the hell if I’m going to put the phone down and lose my wellearned place in line; so I’ll have to peck away at this essay one-handed. Could take some time, not to mention that the repetitive “hold music” is making me more than a bit queasy.

I wonder if they ever tried this tactic with the terrorists down by Guantanamo. Cripes, at this point, I’ll confess to anything just to bring this ordeal to a close, what the fock.

So I hear there’s a presidential election coming up like a bad burrito and that there’s ongoing wonderment over whether or not those pesky Red Commie Russians are trying to gum up the works, again, so that their orange-haired boy lands a second term as commander-of-grief.

Now, from a historical perspective, this is what I can tell you about that, which is to remind you’s about how the other year I stumbled upon a re-broadcast of the old

The Dick Cavett Show. One of the guests was the great political satirist Mort Sahl (still with us at age 93). And here’s a quote by Mort from March 3, 1972, a few days after Dick Nixon’s return from his China jaunt: “The only way a Republican can be elected in this country, in my opinion, when the people are in their right minds, is if the Communists select him. The Republicans should be very glad that there are Communists around the world who will elect Republicans by embracing them.” Shazam!

And for those Republicans who think President Orange Circus Peanut is the greatest thing since President Orange Hair, Mort could tell you this: “Washington couldn’t tell a lie, Nixon couldn’t tell the truth, and Reagan couldn’t tell the difference.” Ba-ding!

So, as we approach our Nov. 3 destination for what I’ll bet you a buck two eighty will surely be a goddamn hard landing, I am sure that our cheerless leader, Donald J(ackass) Trumpel-thinskin, will ramp up his claims-for-credit for things he had abso-focking-lutely nothing to do with. He’s done it umpteen times in the past, such as “his” successful college SAT score when he actually had someone else mark up the test for him. And his claim from a couple, three weeks or more when he came to Kenosha

(“Gateway to Raymond”), Wis., and said, “If I didn’t INSIST on having the National Guard activate and go into Kenosha, there would be no Kenosha right now… ” Okey-dokey Pinocchio, except it was the governor and the Emergency Management Assistance Compact that were responsible for the National Guard’s turn on the stage, not you, Mr. Pants-on-Fire.

I can already imagine the bullshit accomplishments that the Orange Circus Peanut will claim as his own during this final month of the campaign: • Signing the Magna Carta: “Many people are saying the greatest Carta ever, many people” • Managing the Washington Nationals to be World Series champions in 2019 • Building the Great Wall of China • Orchestrating Pamela Anderson’s boob job • Winning a gold medal at the Olympics for something, whenever and wherever that was • Discovering the Northwest Passage: “Very big passage, very big, lot of people don’t know that” But I do know of a couple accomplishments that Humpty Dumbty will not claim: • Strangulation of American democracy • People in the streets protesting the strangulation of American democracy Additional Fact: It’s my job to speak the unspeakable, think the unthinkable, make up the unmakeable and lege the illegible, not yours—and don’t forget to VOTE— ’cause I’m Art Kumbalek and I told you so.