Several celebrations are underway or being planned to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Vel Phillips. The Milwaukee civil rights activist died in 2018 after a trailblazing career as a lawyer, and in statewide, county and city public offices.
Milwaukee County officials honored Phillips’ legacy on Feb. 16 and on Feb. 18, it was City of Milwaukee’s turn, kicking off The Year of Vel Phiilips at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Her son, Michael Phillips told a story about his mother having a life-size cardboard cutout of President Barack Obama in the alcove outside her hallway door in her condominium complex.
“At night, they would dim the hallway lights. So, essentially, there was a six-foot two-inch brother standing in the shadows of my mom’s door. We used to laugh about that a little bit, and to be honest, it feels like a lifetime ago. Because between now and then there have been some changes, and it feels like we’ve taken a step back or two," Michael Phillips says.
But Phillips says he is looking forward to more honors for his mother’s work. Vel Philips Plaza in downtown Milwaukee will be dedicated later this year with an artwork honoring Phillips, and a statue of her will be put up outside the State Capitol in Madison. Later this week, the Wisconsin Historical Society will preview local markers designed to commemorate the work of Phillips—and others—to pass a Fair Housing Law in Milwaukee.
Art Museum curator of community Dialogue Kantara Souffrant says she never met Phillips, only moving to the city when Philips was very frail and not interacting with many people. But Souffrant says she feels Phillips’s indelible mark on Milwaukee.
“I think, especially for me as a person of African descent, whose parents were immigrants and were really forced to live in certain areas when they came to the country, I’m able to have the freedom and right to live where I want to live because of Vel Phillips. So even if I didn’t know her name until later in life, I pass by murals in my neighborhood where I see her. I pass by streets where I learn her name," Souffrant says.
And, Souffrant says, learn of Vel Phillips’ long pursuit of trying to make Milwaukee better.
