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It's Time For Faith Leaders 'To Stand And To Speak Louder,' Says Pastor Kenneth Lock

Azure Mahara Photography
Pastor Kenneth Lock (third from the right) leading a group of protesters.

The faith community played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. And that legacy continues today. In Milwaukee, a number of faith groups have led and joined in the ongoing protests over racial justice. One of those leaders is Pastor Kenneth Lock.

He's with Evolve Church, a non-denominational church that's active in supporting the community. Lock is also a barber and the head chaplain for the Milwaukee Bucks.

He joined the first protest not as a pastor or barber but as a grieving community member. His own family has had to mourn the loss of his cousin, Christopher Davis, who was killed by a police officer in Walworth County in 2016.

In June, during his third day of protesting, officers deployed tear gas on the crowd at 6th Street and McKinley Avenue. A member of his group was arrested, and while asking the police why this person was being arrested, Lock was maced. He says he lost his vision for 30 minutes. But this didn't quell his desire to make his voice heard. 

Credit Azure Mahara Photography
Pastor Kenneth Lock receiving treatment after being maced by a police officer during a protest in early June.
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Listen to full conversation WUWM's Maayan Silver had with Pastor Kenneth Lock.

"For me, it only gave me more of a burden to fight. I think they thought by macing us, we were going to stop, but I've actually gone every day since," he says. "It's made me go harder because it made me realize I'm willing to fight so my son doesn't have to fight for the same thing 40 years from now."

Lock says the city needs real structural change. When it comes to policing, says Lock, that means divestment from the police and reinvestment into other community programs, banning chokeholds by police officers, and hiring police officers who understand the Black and brown communities they serve. 

Going back to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the faith community has been central to the movement. Lock says in the '60s, churches were some of the few Black-owned institutions and provided a safe haven and a place to organize. Today, he says the faith community is here to provide hope.

"This is not the moment for those in the faith community to hide. This is for us to stand and to speak louder," he says. 

Maayan is a WUWM news reporter.
From 2020 to 2021, Jack was WUWM's digital intern and then digital producer.