Milwaukee Protest Group Has Marched for 50 Days Straight. They Won’t Stop.

Milwaukee protesters 100 days

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By Jonathon Sadowski

July 17, 2020

The People’s Revolution calls for justice wherever it needs to in the Milwaukee area.

The People’s Revolution has been just about everywhere in the greater Milwaukee area — Milwaukee, West Allis, Port Washington, and Wauwatosa. They’ve attended municipal meetings, marched down busy streets, and had close calls with police.

Yet the people of The People’s Revolution, an offshoot of the Milwaukee Black Lives Matter movement, show no signs of stopping after 50 consecutive days of activism within southeastern Wisconsin.

In fact, the group plans to march for 150 more.

“Whatever agenda we need, anything we see wrong and we can tackle as a family, that’s what we go after,” said Dashod Crutchfield, a 23-year-old organizer with the group. 

About 65 gathered on Milwaukee’s north side on Friday to celebrate the 50-day mark, then caravanned to the south side Bay View neighborhood for a march to Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chilsom’s house.

Organizers say The People’s Revolution holds the distinction of demonstrating for the most consecutive days in the country in the wake of the murder of unarmed Black man George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Milwaukee Protest Group Has Marched for 50 Days Straight. They Won’t Stop.
Khalil Coleman a top organier with The Peoples Revolution speaks before a march Friday Photo by Jonathon Sadowski

“We started on the agenda of justice and maintained that agenda for the entire 50 days focusing on one issue at a time,” said 22-year-old organizer Darius Hayes, who stressed that the group has been peaceful, even when two of their own were attacked by an off-duty Milwaukee police officer. “If you get justice, everything else comes with justice.”

Already, the group has helped enact change in the area. Its members were among the many voices calling for action against the Wauwatosa police officer who has killed three people in the last five years. On Wednesday, the Milwaukee suburb’s Police and Fire Commission suspended the officer and may fire him after an investigation.

WDJT reported Friday that there is “a decent chance” Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales will be fired Monday after two years on the job. Morales has come under fire recently for his department’s use of rubber bullets and tear gas on protesters and failure to build relationships with Milwaukee’s communities of color. 

Rep. Jonathan Brostoff, D-Milwaukee, commended the young activists and credited them for the increased scrutiny on Morales. Brostoff and Rep. David Bowen, D-Milwaukee, spoke at the pre-march celebration Friday. They have marched with the group almost every day.

Milwaukee Protest Group Has Marched for 50 Days Straight. They Won’t Stop.
Rep David Bowen D Milwaukee addresses members of The Peoples Revolution at a celebration for 50 days of consecutive protest after the death of George Floyd Photo by Jonathon Sadowski

“Things are changing,” Bowen said. “We gon’ get this done. We gon’ keep marching.”

Mariah Smith, 28, one of the organizers, said the group is invigorated and has the will to make it to 200 consecutive days. 

“Usually what happens is a hashtag,” Smith said. “You get maybe some shirts, you maybe get some donations, and then it’s done. So the fact that we are here at day 50, and we have not let up — we’re actually getting stronger. We’re actually getting demands met, we’re getting change.”

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CATEGORIES: Social Justice

Politics

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