Racism is deeply rooted in the U.S., perpetuating disparities across systems including widespread poverty and segregation. Milwaukee is the most segregated city in the country with one of the worst report cards in the country when it comes to poverty, test scores, employment opportunities, and life expectancy. 

Meanwhile, there is growing support in Milwaukee for racial justice as more and more people are waking up to systemic and everyday racism. This support must be encouraged for exponential growth and channeled toward action for change. However, supporters are not necessarily connected with each other or with the larger movement at all; and organizations are often not aware of similar organizations with whom they could work to multiply their efforts. RID believes that by creating coalitions amongst racial justice groups, and by bringing allies into various areas of racial justice in Milwaukee, we can exponentially grow the movement. 

Our approach is two pronged: We provide education on racism in general as well as racism’s impacts specifically in Milwaukee; and we connect change agents with each other (ally to ally, ally to organization, organization to organization). Some of our work is listed below.

Information on our website about the history of racism in general and racism’s impacts on various aspects of life specifically in Milwaukee

• Maintaining a local community calendar of racial justice related events 

• Programming such as book clubs and speaker events

• Providing a searchable database of local organizations related to anti-racism and racial justice work

• Creating partnerships and coalitions between Milwaukee organizations

• Serving as a clearinghouse for allies looking for a way to join the movement 

• Facebook posts about current events in racial justice and discrimination in general

• Monthly e-newsletters surrounding specific themes

• Serving as a resource for those who need advisors on dealing with discriminatory incidents