Sherman Park Forum Includes Calls For Investment, Commitment

A Milwaukee Common Council member representing the city’s Sherman Park neighborhood is urging businesses to re-invest in the area one year after violent protests broke out there following a police shooting.

The protests came after a Milwaukee police officer fatally shot Sylville Smith, an African-American man who fled while carrying a gun. The ensuing violence included physical damage to some area businesses.

One example, said Milwaukee Alderman Khalif Rainey, is a bank that was heavily damaged but kept open a small office and recently announced it will build a bigger branch in the neighborhood. Rainey told a Milwaukee Press Club forum Wednesday that others in the private sector shouldn’t be afraid to come forward.

“We’re all Milwaukeeans. If there’s any part of the city that’s not healthy, all of us are unhealthy,” Rainey said.

An African-American Milwaukee developer, JoAnne Sabir, said after renovation of the former bank building, 12 small businesses owned by African-Americans have agreed to lease space. The city of Milwaukee is proposing about $300,000 in financial assistance.

Also at the forum, a white resident of Sherman Park urged people around the state to visit and help the area. Laura Richard said her neighborhood needs equal opportunity after years of housing and transportation policies helped white residents leave for the suburbs.

“We don’t need white people to feel bad. But we do need white people to own their responsibility and engage,” Richard said. “It’s hard. It’s going to make us feel uncomfortable, and it’s going to face us with some pretty ugly truths in the mirror that’s being held up to us.”