(gentle music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Hello, everyone, and welcome to "Black Nouveau".

I'm Earl Arms, and this is our May edition.

This month brings Memorial Day, a time to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by our citizens who served in the US military.

We'll talk with the Milwaukeean who's working to provide much needed support for our veterans who are still with us.

Educator, actress, and director Sheri Williams Pannell joins us for a thoughtful Mother's Day poem.

We'll look at the lineup for PrideFest, which is happening at the Summerfest grounds, June 5th through 7th, and talk with an LGBTQ advocate working to collect and preserve Milwaukee's gay Black history.

But we begin with an issue that still plagues Milwaukee, lead paint.

James Causey has more.

- Lead paint has recently made headlines in Milwaukee.

Most notably, three Milwaukee public schools have closed because of lead paint concerns, and hundreds of children throughout the city have undergone lead testing.

No amount of lead in the body is safe.

Katie Doss, Lead Program Coordinator at MacCanon Brown Sanctuary, joins us to discuss the lead crisis.

Katie, thanks for joining us.

- Thank you for having me.

- So, this is a serious topic.

- Yes, it is.

- Why is lead such a problem in NPS right now?

- Well, unfortunately, right now, because of the land, the buildings, most of the buildings was built before 1978, and with that being said, with the heat, the moisture, and different things going on in an environment, and your building outside, that actually affects, sometimes, the paint.

And the paint underneath, before 1978, had lead-based paint in it.

So if a building was built before 1978, a lot of times, you may have a problem with the lead that's in it from the dust, and if it's not properly taken care of, and that means that you have to thoroughly see and check for chip and dust, as well as chipping of the paint.

- So, typically, how does a school clean up the lead paint?

Do they paint over it?

How do you clean it up?

- Well, you have to have lead abatement experts to go in to actually remove the lead that's in the paint.

Lead paint chips, the dust, all of that is very toxic, so it's very important that it's done properly.

If it's not, then you can actually track some of it with your shoes, it's on the bottom of your feet, and you can track that inside of your own home, you can take that home with you.

You can actually track it and then with the dust on your clothes.

So it's very important that it's done professionally.

And with that being said, they have to make sure that they dispose of it properly as well.

So, the best thing for the Milwaukee public schools to do is to close the school to get rid of all the lead before they reopen it, so the children will not be affected by the lead paint.

- Now, we know lead can cause all kinds of health concerns.

- Yes.

- It affects the brain, it can affect the kidneys in a child.

How widespread is this issue?

How do we address it?

- Well, the only way to address it right now, with that being said, with all of these schools that's discovered lead, is to get your child tested, is to get your child tested to make sure that your child have not been exposed to that lead.

And when you get tested, it's very important to test your child every year, because the thing is that every person is determined different how their blood cell go.

So that may actually detect within three months, some, it may take six months.

Some exposed to the lead can take even longer.

So it's very important to get yourself tested.

And then once you find out, if you do have it, or just to make sure that you don't, and to make sure that you use the proper nutrition in your body daily.

Because when you dispose of it through the water, and that's another issue, that you have to make sure that you have clean water that you're drinking.

Because that water can also be contaminated with lead.

- Now, it's interesting that you mention the water, because we know MPS is not where the only place lead could be a, a kid could be exposed to lead.

They're exposed to it in their communities, in their homes, and places like that.

When we talk about lead and all the ways you could get it, can you talk about that a little bit?

- Sure.

Lead, right now in Milwaukee, we have 65,000 lead laterals that needs to be replaced.

And so all those lead laterals that are replaced, you have something of being exposed to some of the lead through the water as well.

You can get exposed through the lead, as we spoke earlier, with lead in the paint, that comes from the dust or the chipping, and as well as lead is in the soil.

Before fuel injection cars, you had the exhaust system.

In order for it to get to the carburetor, they needed lead in gasoline.

And with that fuel injection now, most of the cars are all fuel injection, but unfortunately, the soil have absorbed some of that lead from the exhaust system, and then that's also in our environment.

Lead is in products.

Lead is in quite a few different areas.

So it's easy to be exposed to lead.

But with the children in the Milwaukee public schools, most of our buildings are old, so by most of the buildings being old, it's very easy to be exposed to some of that lead through the dust and through the water.

So it's very important that the lead laterals, the 65,000 lead laterals are replaced, but until they're replaced, it's very important that you have a filter on your faucet.

And the only filter that gets out lead is the NSF 53 filter.

So, it doesn't matter if you get a filtration system, or opposed, if you just get just the filter just for the water, whether if it's the complete system for the same building or it's just for the water, but if it's just for the water for the lead, than that just goes to show you that you need the NSF 53 filter.

And if you're getting it for your home, you can use the pitcher, or you can use the one that goes on your faucet.

And if you use the one that goes on your faucet, again, that NSF 53 filter.

At MacCanon Brown Homeless Sanctuary, we actually give out the Elite filter.

That is one that's equipped with the NSF 42, NSF 53, and NSF 401.

And NSF 42, that gets out the chlorine from the smell and the taste in the water, but the NSF 53 is the only one that gets out lead.

And the 401 is basically for medicine that's disposed of, and that, it gets into your water, and that is also the purpose of having the Elite filter.

- Now, you mentioned testing and how you get tested and stuff, but what does testing consist of?

What do you have to do?

- Well, first, the child comes in and gets tested, and they are tested with the capsular joint.

That's a little poke in their finger, and then that is actually entered into a machine, and those results come back right away.

If it's above 3.5, then they ask the parent if you wanna get a venous drawing.

If they say yes, we are able to do a venous drawing, which comes from the vein.

The phlebotomists actually do that testing, and that goes into the lab, that goes to the lab.

They come and pick up our lab work at 2:30.

Then that comes back within two business days.

But we doing testing on Saturdays.

You'll get those results by Tuesday, no later than Wednesday.

And then that is actually given back to your primary doctor, as well as you.

And if it's higher, depending on the results of it, will determine what needs to be done, because it can get as high as...

I've seen a child as high as 67, and that child had to actually be hospitalized.

And like I say, you can't look at a person and tell that that person has lead in their blood.

The only way that you can determine if that person have it is to get tested.

And right now, since it's been actually in the schools, is very important that all Milwaukee public school children get tested.

- Okay, well, thank you, that's news we need to live by.

- Thank you for having me.

- Thank you, appreciate it.

- God bless.

(dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) (dramatic music continues) (dramatic music continues) (dramatic music continues) - May 26th is Memorial Day, a time to pay tribute to our troops who gave their lives that our democracy might prosper.

Now, while it is important to do that, there's also an obligation to ensure our veterans are not overlooked when they come home.

Shan LaBrew Owens is commander of LaBrew Trooper Veteran Services, and he's here to tell about an event in early June for Milwaukee Veterans.

LaBrew, thank you for being here, and thank you for your service.

You served in the Army, right?

- Yes, and thank you for having me here.

- Absolutely.

So, first off, talk about your organization and what it does for veterans.

- Okay, I'm commander of LaBrew Troopers Veteran Services.

We coordinate different veteran events.

Last year, we coordinated the first Juneteenth Day at the VA hospital here in Milwaukee.

And we're coordinating an event this year, which will be the VetFest, the first ever VetFest, held at Washington Park at the Band Shell, June 7th.

- Okay.

- From two to six.

- So yeah, talk about why it was important for you not only to create this VetFest, but also to create this organization.

- Well, there was a need for the organization... Actually, the organization was created in 1998.

We formed the first military school here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

And we are focusing on veterans now.

The need was we saw that Milwaukee's veterans were being underserved.

There are a lot of great veteran organizations that serve 'em, but they serve 'em nationally and they focus in on them nationally.

We're focusing in on the community here in Milwaukee, the local community, the underserved veterans.

Homeless veterans, veterans fighting for housing, veterans with trouble with doing suicide prevention and so forth.

- So, talk about VetFest some more, right?

It's happening in early June, just what are some of the details about the event?

- Yes, it's going to be a very exciting event.

VetFest, June 7th, we'll have entertainment.

V Funk will be headlining.

We'll have the African Oju and African dancers and drummers.

It's MC'd by Telly Hughes.

And we'll also have food trucks, vendors.

The VA will be there and telling veterans how to file for their claims.

Whole Health.

We'll have the war memorial there, also with the different veteran organizations that come with the war memorial.

So, it'll be really great.

- So you're not only doing VetFest, you're also gonna be at Juneteenth.

Talk about what you're gonna be doing there.

- Yes, I'm also the co-chair of the Veterans Zone at Juneteenth.

At Juneteenth, will be a great celebration there.

We'll do the parade with the veterans, the Homeless Veterans Initiative, VetNet, the UWM College Fund for Veterans, Wisconsin GI Bill, and others.

So we'll do a parade, and then we'll have a veterans zone for Juneteenth, where veterans can come find out about different issues that they may have or help with different things that they need.

- So if people wanna learn more about what you're gonna be doing at Juneteenth, if they wanna learn more about VetFest, or more about the org, where do they go?

Where can we find more information?

- I'm glad you asked.

They can go to Northcott Neighborhood House to find out more about Juneteenth.

We are also looking for volunteers for Juneteenth.

And they can contact us for LaBrew Troopers Veteran Services at 414-745-4139.

- All right, so while we have a little bit of time, talk about the importance of supporting veterans, especially with your org and from your perspective as a veteran.

- Yes, we just did something to save dozens of veterans from eviction.

The city of Milwaukee didn't get the funding for veteran, or CVI, for a veteran organization.

So we promoted and helped get those veterans into housing.

So that's kind of what we do at LaBrew Trooper Veteran Services.

We don't wanna see the veterans get displaced in any form or fashion in Milwaukee.

- All right, anything else you wanna share?

- Just come on out to VetFest, June 7th from 2:00 to 6:00.

Like I said, V Funk is headlining.

Come out, we'll have food, we'll have vendors there.

It'll be exciting time and a great place for veterans to heal and show some comradeship.

- All right, LaBrew, thank you so much for being here on "Black Nouveau".

- And I thank you.

(upbeat music) - Oh, by the way, y'all can tell I'm not straight, right?

(audience laughing) Okay, I don't like how loudly you laughed at that.

(audience laughing) Yes, yes, yes.

It's not all fun and games.

A few weeks ago, I did have to deal with something that was both racist and homophobic.

And by that, I mean I did not get my way.

Now it's... (audience laughing) - [James] Comedian Jay Jurden and season six "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks are among the headliners for Milwaukee's PrideFest, being held on the Summerfest grounds, June 5th through to 7th.

♪ I, I, I ♪ ♪ I, I, I ♪ ♪ You-hoo-hoo-hoo ♪ ♪ Sometimes I feel weak ♪ ♪ Sometimes I'm exhausted ♪ - Ricardo Wynn from the Milwaukee County Office of Equity joins us now to talk about PrideFest and the need to preserve Black gay history.

Welcome to "Black Nouveau".

- Thank you, thank you for having me.

- So, let's talk about PrideFest.

It's happening the first weekend in June.

Basic question, why is PrideFest still important?

- PrideFest is still important because it's important for us to share and preserve and celebrate our history across the board.

And with me being a part of the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project, one of our initiatives this year is to actually celebrate and amplify Black and QPOC voices through our initiatives, not just during Pride, but throughout the year.

- Why are the issues facing African Americans the same as gender loving people?

- Because we are people, right?

And while I am Black first, being same gender loving is an intersection of who I am, and it's a part of my life, and that is the same for others.

And so while I am Black, we have our same issues, right?

But being part of the LGBTQ community, there's a need for space for us to be celebrated in that capacity too.

Just as if you were a husband, right?

You're still a man, so you may go to baseball on Sundays, you may go play football on Tuesdays.

Those are spaces for you to be affirmed and to learn from people who look like you and who share the same common values as you as well.

- Let's talk about the History Project.

What is that about?

- So, the History Project has been around for a long time.

We have done a lot of work.

And in the last five years, along with Our Lives magazine as well, which is a statewide magazine for LGBTQ individuals, we have made a commitment to not only address social justice issues, but anti-racism.

And while it is our job to preserve and amplify and celebrate LGBTQ history, we are making voice that also recognizing that LGBTQ is not always Black, so therefore we have to actually get those narratives.

And we started with Josie Carter, who was a Black trans woman.

We got a historical landmark downtown to celebrate this woman who was pivotal in the community, who created space for not just Black people, but all people, at a time where it was not popular to do so.

So now in today's world, we're seeing the need of not only celebrating that, but giving voice to people like Josie Carter and other people in our current community who are doing work.

And we're gonna be actually celebrating Montell Infiniti Ross, who is an entertainer, community advocate at our community, celebrating the fifth year of him and Elle Halo creating the Walk for Black Pride, to advocate and amplify not just Black voices, but brown voices and QPOC individuals, in partner with Our Lives magazine.

We're gonna be doing an article where he gets to really reflect on not just that experience, but, like, what's happened since then, right?

And so as we see, there are very few spaces for Black LGBTQ people to convene, brown people, for people of color, and so it's important for us to actually highlight that and give voice to those areas.

- It's important that you mentioned history, A lot has happened under this new administration in the first 100 days.

Does that concern you as a person of color and a person of the LGBTQ plus community?

- I think that there are some barriers that are gonna happen and there are some challenges, but that's what we're used to, right?

Like, the change of the climate doesn't keep us from doing the work, because our ancestors have been doing that, and we've been doing so for 100 years.

What we're challenged with now is how systemically do we navigate, right?

But far as a community, we're gonna always support each other.

We're always gonna have the big mamas of the community regardless.

We're always gonna have the abuelas and abuelos who are gonna be there to support us.

We have each other.

And so I feel like we're gonna actually have to hone in on that more, but we're gonna continue to navigate and do the best we can, and now is the time to really, really, really express the need for collaboration, right?

And so at the History Project, we are doing that in our everyday work with people like myself.

We are doing that, seeing ways to collaborate, and how we can continue to do the work that we need to do.

- Are businesses, are you facing a hard time being able to collaborate more now because of all the things going on, or how are you navigating that?

- Yeah, so for me, how I define collaboration is not just about being able to do the work, but the interpersonal relationships that you build.

I believe that people collaborate.

Organizations and systems don't.

Things happen by who you know and how you are trusted and how you build unity amongst each other.

And so that has to happen first before we can do anything.

And so while we have continued to do that work, we're gonna do the best that we can.

It will look different.

The money isn't always there anymore.

And so it will look different, but we just have to be open to navigating that and sticking to the mission and vision of the organizations that are in collaboration.

So, I know at the Milwaukee LGBTQ Center, we are having conversations.

The History Project, we're constantly having conversations.

I met with the owner of Our Lives magazine, Patrick, last week, to talk and to really figure out, how do we navigate this and how do we actually continue to build unity?

- Okay, well, thanks a lot for coming.

- Thank you.

- We gotta have you back.

- Yes, thank you.

- [James] Awesome.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] "I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes, but I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong.

Tomorrow, I'll be at the table when company comes, and nobody'll dare say to me, 'Eat in the kitchen,' then.

Besides, they'll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed.

I, too, am America."

- Langston Hughes has long been regarded as one of America's best poets and playwrights.

At the beginning of this year, his collected body of works moved into the public domain.

Here to explain exactly what that means for performers is educator, actress, and director Sheri Williams Pannell.

Miss Sheri, thank you so much for being here on "Black Nouveau".

- Thank you for the invitation.

I'm glad to be here.

- Absolutely.

So, first off, yeah, let's talk about copyright law, and now that his works is moving into the public domain, I think it's, what, 95 years, right?

- Yes, yes.

- So, going back to 1930?

- Yes.

- But you were explaining to me some of the works even afterward are now in the public domain, so explain how that works.

- So, when we have the work of a playwright, a poet, intellectual property, it is protected once it's copywritten.

But after 95, 100 years, it becomes available for free use by artists or whomever might be interested in celebrating, I'm gonna say celebrating that artist.

It's really important to theater artists, because finally, finally, some of those plays and some of those works that really have exorbitant fees attached to them now become available to us.

It releases a treasure trove of beautiful material and an opportunity to celebrate Langston Hughes in a new way.

Yeah, I think you're going to see, all of a sudden, new plays or biographical presentations, including some of his most famous work.

You know, think about "Harlem", you know, "What happens to a dream deferred?"

It was quoted in the title of Lorraine Hansberry's beautiful "A Raisin in the Sun", or "The Negro Speaks of Rivers".

Who knows what may happen with these wonderful words of prose from someone I consider our poet laureate, not only just of the Harlem Renaissance, but of the nation.

- Oh, man, "A Raisin in the Sun," you just reminded me one of the first movies I watched at my grandmother's house, wow.

But yeah, talk about why it's so important for us now to, you know, think about these works, and now that it's in the public domain, to look back at this.

- It's important from a historical viewpoint, because after all, Langston Hughes, in his writing, recorded our history, talking about African American history.

He was able to speak in the language of, they say the common person, the everyday person, with his simple stories, the stories of Jesse B. Semple, those wonderful works that were published in the newspaper that became a collection that entertained people and helped, I'll say, share a little bit of mother wit, because Jesse B. Semple always had some philosophy to pass along.

It opens up an an opportunity for the artists to create new work around the life of Langston Hughes.

He is one who was so eloquent.

I'll say he could speak in the most simple language and sometimes take it to a high level of expression.

But he was always, he was a soul man, a heart man, as they used to say, a race man, because he spoke of the truth that was happening in our communities across the nation at a time when some were afraid to speak out.

And we're almost at that point again in our history where artists are not being encouraged to speak truth.

And so it takes courage to do that, and Langton Hughes had that courage during the time of civil rights, during the time of Jim Crow, during the time of persecution of Black people, and seems like we've always, since we arrived in 1619.

But he was courageous and eloquent in the way he expressed himself and shared our history.

- All right.

- He was our first, if you wanna say, kind of jazz, spoken word artist as well.

He recorded with jazz musicians.

So, he was very versatile in his writing and his expression.

- All right, we have a few more seconds.

Just any other pieces of significance, especially nowadays, you kind of alluded to it, but anything else you wanna share?

- I would say to those theater companies, I have my own Bronzeville Arts Ensemble, let us create and tell our truth.

Be forthcoming, be courageous, just as Langston Hughes was.

- Sheri Williams Pannell, thank you so much for being here on "Black Nouveau".

- Thank you for having me.

- And that's our program for this month.

Next month we'll have our regular June program and a special Juneteenth edition at 9:00 PM.

On Juneteenth, we'll be at the festival and waiting to talk to you.

In the meantime, be sure to check us out on all our social media platforms, and for the entire "Black Nouveau" family, thanks for watching.

And here's a special Mother's Day treat.

(gentle music) - "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes.

"Well, son, I'll tell you, life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

It's had tacks in it, and splinters, and boards torn up, and places with no carpet on the floor, bare.

But all the time, I'se been a-climbin' on, and reachin' landin's and turnin' corners, and sometimes goin' in the dark, where there ain't been no light.

So, boy, don't you turn back.

Don't you sit down on the steps 'cause you finds it's kinda hard.

Don't you fall now, for I'se still goin', honey.

I'se still climbin'.

And life for me ain't been no crystal stair."

(gentle music continues)