Uniquely Milwaukee

Mercado Magic is a space for the South Side's minority-owned businesses

This community engagement-based research project explores how art and discussion can support healthy lifestyles for young men of color who have a Spinal Cord Injury as a result of gun violence. The project gathered five individuals for weekly programming consisting of open discussions and physical and arts activities.

Last week, Cream City Conservation hosted its second annual Youth Green Jobs Summit at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society Museum on Milwaukee’s North Side. The event hosts local youth from the inner city and several local environmental organizations for a green job fair.

On March 30, True Skool hosted its third Youth Fighting 4 Justice Action Day. True Skool invites its youth, local activists, and students from neighboring organizations to learn about what it means to organize and be active in social justice.

Aaliyah Milledge's journey is a miracle. After a mysterious lung condition put her life in danger, a double lung transplant from an organ donor saved her life. Today, she breathes life into new lungs and shares her story to advocate for more organ donors of color for National Donate Life Month.

March 20 is Disability Advocacy Day, a day where hundreds of people around Wisconsin make their way to Madison to meet with state representatives to advocate on behalf of people living with disabilities.

Bernard Henry leads a sort of double life. He's a teaching assistant for MPS during the day, mentoring students with special needs. But at night, he's hard at work building a sci-fi comic franchise. He doesn't call himself a hero, but his students just might. Listen to our audio story below as we go behind the scenes.

Milwaukee Visionaries Project is an after-school program teaching Milwaukee-area middle schoolers and high schoolers the art of storytelling through filmmaking.

For the ninth year in a row, middle school and high school aged girls convened at City Hall for a day of leadership designed just for them. Hear from the Milwaukee alderwomen behind "Girls Day," plus some of the inspiring young women who attended.

88Nine's video producers Laura Dyan Kezman & Vianca Fuster talk about their recent experience at Women's Entrepreneurship Week, including their introduction to "Boss Ladies MKE." Listen to their conversation and watch the video: https://youtu.be/bRWJR9uWH-s

He lost his arms and legs to meningitis as a toddler, but that hasn't stopped him from getting married, having kids and working full time. And he's got another talent -- he's a heck of a dancer Hear how quadruple amputee Joe Reed teamed up with Milwaukee musician Ben Wagner for a recent music video...and how it went viral.

The Milwaukee Justice Center is teaming up with the Milwaukee Bar Association and Marquette University Law to get the wheels of justice turning in local communities - literally. Their mobile clinic takes volunteer attorneys and law students Milwaukee neighborhoods to provide free legal assistance to community members in need.

A first of its kind organization will soon open in Milwaukee offering support and shelter to homeless LGBTQ youth. Take a tour with Operations Director Marcus Wise, and learn how the nonprofit plans to transform the lives of Milwaukee kids.

Video producers Vianca Fuster and Laura Kezman discuss Browns Crew, a rising hip hop group in Milwaukee and the focus of this week's video Community Story. The musical duo fuses Latin American sounds with hip-hop drums and cadences to deliver stories of immigration and life as Latinos from the South Side of Milwaukee.Watch the video on 88Nine's Youtube: https://youtu.be/XezAQJon7hc

It was buried for more than 50 years and contained perfectly preserved documents, newspapers, photos and books. Milwaukee V.A. Spokesperson Gary Kunich tells us how a 1963 time capsule was saved from the landfill.

Fawn Weaver is the CEO and Chief Historian of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey. She was invited to Milwaukee's Stella Van Buren to share her research on the story of Nearest Green, also known as Uncle Nearest, America's first African-American master distiller.

Max Zuleta is the owner of Art Below Zero, a company specializing in ice sculptures. He found his love for ice sculpting growing up in Venezuela, and followed his dream up north to Wisconsin where he opened moved his ice art studio.

Kathy's House is a non-profit organization providing a temporary home for adult patients traveling to Milwaukee for advanced medical care. Patients are referred to the house by their hospital and they have access to lodging and much more at Kathy's House.

Milwaukee native and prolific musical artist Harvey Scales passed away on Feb. 11, 2019. He had a decades-long career, won a grammy, co-wrote the first platinum selling song, and even had his work sampled by the Beastie Boys. Listen to excerpts from his conversation with 88Nine's Dori Zori in 2015.

The grammy winning R&B artist -- and Milwaukee native -- Harvey Scales passed away on Feb. 11, 2019. Today, we revisit a conversation he had with 88Nine's Dori Zori back in 2015.

Black Lens expands it programming to a year-round format, beginning this February during Black History Month. Milwaukee Film's Dr. Donte McFadden talks about the month's offerings, including a special Valentine's Day short film program.

Papyrus & Charms is one of many Black-owned businesses showcasing its work at the Bronzeville Collective. Lean how one artist is paying homage to her heritage through unique, handmade jewelry.

This February 1 to February 8 is the inaugural Gun Violence Survivors Week, and survivors across the United States are sharing their stories in a trending movement called #momentsthatsurvive.

Get to know the teenage rockstars of Negative/Positive in this episode of Community Stories.

The 6th annual Guitar Festival at the United Community Center invites internationally-recognized guitarists to work with young Latino guitarists in Milwaukee, and other guitar students from around the Midwest.

Golda Meir School cut the ribbon on its new maker space back in November. Since then, middle school students have had access to cutting edge technology, including robotics, laser engraving and 3D printing. Learn how a crucial partnership with Eaton Corporation made it possible.

The Milwaukee VA Medical Center serves 24,000 veterans, a quarter of which, come to the VA for mental health crises. “This is their medical home, most of them have been coming here a long time,” said Ben Thelen, a former EMT and combat medic in Iraq, who now works for the VA. He’s behind a new program that is training EMTs to identifying and handling mental health crisis situations when responding to veterans’ 911 calls.

April Harris organized Milwaukee's first ever "Peace Through Pie" event, which celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy of peace with pie, conversation, and charity.

Hedda Sharapan, producer and close personal friend of Fred Rogers, is heading to Milwaukee on Feb. 6 for a talk at the Jewish Community Center. Hear her thoughts on today's divisive political climate and how befriending the TV icon changed her life.

Hours Against Hate replaces hateful rhetoric by teaching tolerance

A vacant building was slated to become a massive liquor store at 21st and Hamptom. Hear how a Muslim owned and operated Milwaukee organization worked with city government to bring STEM education there instead.

After her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, Carla Echeveste was inspired to change the course of her life. She turned down an accounting job at her dream financial firm, and went back to school to study medicine. Today, she researches and advocates for equity on behalf of Milwaukee's Latino community.

Free AIRA service for the blind and low vision was made accessible at Milwaukee's airport a couple months ago. Now, the free service is expanding to include a number of Milwaukee County buildings.

The Benedict Center's SIsters Program conducts in-the-street outreach, case management and skill building for women who are in the sex-based trade. Their winter initiative, the warming room, is an overnight shelter where women who are on the streets can have access to a meal and a warm place to sleep at night.

When art programs began getting slashed across schools in Milwaukee, two hometown brothers decided to found a program for the many inner-city youth who were losing access to arts education. In 2012, Darren and Vedale Hill founded Jazale’s Art Studio.

For the last four years, a group of multitalented group of black Milwaukee artists have presented the musical 'Black Nativity' at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Director Malkia Stampley talks about how she adapted her production for a Milwaukee audience, and why she wants to be in the audience.

The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center (MYAC) is home to two legendary arts education programs - First Stage Children’s Theater and Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO). MYAC was built in 2002 so these two organizations could have access to professional rehearsal spaces. Together, they’ve both served the Milwaukee arts community for decades.

In this piece, we walk through the doors of Bloom Center for Art and Integrated Therapy in Bay View. Bloom teaches healing through art therapy.

The Latino Strings program has been a pillar of music and Latino culture at the United Community Center since it was founded in 2002 by musician Dinorah Marquez. In this community story, we hear from two of Dinorah's former students who started playing strings instruments in the second grade. Now at 21, they have returned as instructors for Latino youth.

This holiday season, we're tipping our hats to some of the great local organizations helping youth connect to the arts. In this story, we head to Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and meet 17 year old jazz guitarist Kwasi Stampley, aka KStamp.

Grace Weber’s Music Lab has hosted locally and nationally-known music acts like WebsterX and Jamila Woods for an immersive music education experience. Once a month, high school students from the Greater Milwaukee area are invited to Radio Milwaukee’s performance space to participate after school for free.

A partnership between Kohl’s Cares and the Milwaukee Art Museum is bringing families into the art museum five Sundays a year for interactive and educational art activities.

Since 2012, a Milwaukee nonprofit has been helping students on the autism spectrum develop social and language skills, using a unique blend of art and technology. Listen how Islands of Brilliance co-founders Margaret and Mark Fairbanks launched the nonprofit and how they're changing lives.

Natalie Doherty is one of 10 Milwaukee artists selected by the Salvation Army to redecorate their red donation kettles for the winter holidays.

Liv Partenfelder is a sophomore at Pathways High School - a new school near downtown Milwaukee. During her freshman year, Liv took an entrepreneurship class where she started a non-profit charitable business.

Two years before her tragic shooting death, Milwaukee teenager Sandra Parks, 13, penned an award winning anti-violence essay. Listen local poet Dasha Kelly to read her piece -- Our Truth -- with a recording of Parks woven in.

Green Card Voices is telling immigrant stories the right way – with authenticity and allowing people to be in control of their stories. The organization visited Pulaski High School last week to document the stories of 15 immigrant students. The interviews were done on-camera and will be published online and in book format, where students will then become published authors.Listen to the audio piece to learn more about Green Card Voices’ trip to Pulaski High School.

Milwaukee is getting a new creative hub called the Saint Kate Arts Hotel. The hotel will serve as a place for people to spend the night in the city while also being exposed to Milwaukee's diverse art scene.

Thousands of children in Milwaukee are living below the poverty line, which means many will go without a proper coat this winter. But two Milwaukee organizations -- Operation Warm and Milwaukee Fire Department -- have teamed up to meet the need for 30,000 local families.

COA, an after school education organization, was recently awarded with a grant from Kohls to bring STEM education to students from low-income backgrounds.