Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Adam Carr from the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service has joined Lake Effect to talk about community events in Milwaukee. The list includes a wide array of things to enjoy, both virtually and in-person, this March.
This month every event is based around learning more about the Milwaukee community.
1. UWM Virtual Presentation: The Rise and Fall of Black Milwaukee’s Middle Class
The webinar is on Friday, March 5 and features Sheila Cochran and Dr. Michael Rosen in a discussion about the rise and fall of Black Milwaukee’s blue collar middle class.
At one point Black Milwaukee’s blue collar middle class was among the strongest and most prosperous in the nation but has since dwindled.
“The two presenters come from this labor background, so they’re not just speaking about the theory or in a way that’s detached or removed, that they’re folks that live in that world of labor today,” says Carr.
2. Jones Island Water Reclamation Plant Virtual Tour
For Milwaukeeans curious about what happens after they flush, this tour explains how wastewater is taken around the region to reclaim it. The virtual tour is Monday, March 8 from 1 to 2 p.m.
“It’s really fascinating, I’ve had a chance to have that tour in-person and ... some of those questions, especially when we’re all couped up during the pandemic, like you might start wondering who deals with it when I flush the toilet and this is the answer to it,” he says.
3. Canciones Del Alma Virtual Concert
The concert will premiere online on Thursday, March 11 at 5 p.m.
Held by Latino Arts Inc., the concert will celebrate a range of diverse Latinx performing artists, especially highlighting female artists for Women’s History Month.
“People who are local, people from around the world, and it’s a showcase really focused on the power of women in the arts,” he says.
4. Natural and Human History Hike at Three Bridges Park
At one of Milwaukee’s newer parks on Saturday, March 20 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., this hike will explore what the land the Menomonee River Valley park sits on has witnessed over the last millennia.
“So not just in the recent history of the humans, either the European history or the Indigenous history, it’s also been — it has a really deep history that could go back millions of years,” he says.
5. César E. Chávez Birthday Celebration
On Wednesday, March 31 at 1 p.m., the celebration held by the Marcus Center has gone virtual for a second year in a row.
Similar to the Marcus Center’s MLK Jr. Day celebration, there will be cultural performances, along with speeches, essays and artwork from local youth.
“I think especially during these moments where we’re trapped in our own worlds a little much, it’s just a little bit too much, it’s a great opportunity to see young voices that are out in the world and see them shine,” he says.
