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Vol. 39 • No. 21 • Thurs., May 21, 2020 - Wed., May 27, 2020 • An NCON Publication Serving The Milwaukee Area • 75¢
This Memorial Day we should remember the African Americans who have fought on the frontlines, including in the war against COVID-19 By William S. Gooden Memorial Day commemorates the men and women who died while in the military service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle. In other words, the purpose of Memorial Day is to pay tribute to veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. We spend time remembering those who lost their lives and could not come home, reflecting on their service and why we have the luxury and freedom that we enjoy today. Traditionally, this holiday is reserved for those who fought for our country in foreign wars. However, this year I think we could add a new type of soldier to honor. It is the soldier who is fighting a war currently, right here on our own home soil, the COVID-19 front line worker. The COVID-19 virus is a foreign invader that has ravaged multiple countries causing death by the thousands wherever it goes. Here in the U.S., it has hit many African American communities the hardest, with many of the fatalities coming in urban areas. Milwaukee is
Wisconsin’s largest city, with about 600,000 people, and is home to the state’s largest minority population. As of 2018, black people accounted for about 38 percent of the city’s population, with about 35 percent white and 20 percent Hispanic. About half of Wisconsin’s deaths and total cases were in Milwaukee. About 28 percent of those who have died from the coronavirus in Milwaukee County were black. Many of those deaths came from the inner city, as the black community started looking for treatment and testing and have turned to the local community health clinics. Many of the nurses, lab technicians and doctors who are currently on the front lines also are people of color.
for us so that we can return to our carefree lives and enjoy the things that we are use to once more. Many are still going to their jobs at our community clinics and are still providing much-needed medical services in our comunity, including pharmacy and dental services as well as COVID-19 testing.
While soldiers who fought in wars donned camouflage, bullet-proof vests, and fought with guns, our doctors and nurses have donned smocks and masks, and fought the virus with medical skill and human kindness. Like soldiers going off to war, they have separated themselves from their families to protect them and serve their loved ones and others whom they have never met. They are fighting
If you know nurses, doctors, orderlies, and technicians of color, or know of families of care workers who have lost their lives and who live in your neighborhood, think about doing something for them. Bake them a dish, post signs in your front yard thanking them, organize Outreach Community Health Centers, 210 W. Capitol a motorcade through the Dr., are also providing COVID-19 testing. neighborhood, or just give them a call and lend them an ear.
Sadly, there are those black nurses, techs, and doctors who have served on the frontlines against this virus Milwaukee Health Services, Inc., 2555 N. MLK Dr., is and have lost their lives. This Memorial Day we should re- providing COVID-19 testing and other select services flect and honor those men during this time. and women of color who selflessly sacrificed for us, to protect us from this war fought in our hospitals and clinics, along with those who fought in foreign wars.
St. Ann Center helps Milwaukee Mask-Up!
St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care-Bucyrus Campus, 2450 W. North Ave., doubled as a mini mask-making factory on Wednesday, May 13, 2020. Staff members joined forces to make 700 masks, addressing the urgent need to stem the spread of COVID-19. Staffers volunteered as part of the MaskUpMke challenge to create 3.5 million homemade non-surgical masks for healthcare providers and other essential
service providers in Southeastern Wisconsin. St. Ann Center, an all-ages day care that serves children, frail elders and adults with disabilities, is temporarily closed as a precautionary measure prompted by the novel coronavirus pandemic. The center’s teachers, nursing assistants and administrators spread out in two large adult day care rooms. “We see this as an important way we can give back to our community and the entire Great-
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er Milwaukee Community,” said Chief Operating Officer Diane Beckley. The Bucyrus Campus’ north side neighborhood was particularly hard hit by the virus. St. Ann Center partnered in this effort with United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County and other nonprofits, businesses and foundations. Others include the Milwaukee Bucks, Medical College of Wisconsin, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Zilber Family Foundation, Ignite Change, Fiserv Forum, Habitat for Humanity and Saukville manufacturer Rebel Converting. After learning of the shortage of masks nationwide and how it was affecting Milwaukee, Thaddeus Kryshak, a recent graduate in engineering and physics, spoke to his father Mike, owner of Rebel Converting about how they might be able to make face masks using the materials they were already using to produce hospital-grade
Staff Photos
Progressive Community Health Centers, 3522 W. Lisbon Ave., are still providing emergency dental care for the community. disinfectant wipes. Thaddeus then developed a way to convert the same material used to manufacture hospital-grade disinfectant wipes into face masks that volunteers could easily assemble. Initially, the mask kits were designed to be taken home and assembled by individual families. “I convinced United Way that St. Ann Center is a family,” Beckley said. “We have plenty of space for social distancing—so each of our volunteers had an entire table as a work station.”
After a 72-hour quarantine period, the face coverings will be distributed to the community under the guidance of the Medical College of Milwaukee. Beckley is also a member of Milwaukee’s Stronger Together Collective, a group formed to get information about the pandemic out to the African American community. “The mask-making project dovetails perfectly with this effort,” Beckley said.
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