There are many voices in the Sherman Park neighborhood with a vested interest in finding a path forward after the violence.
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Charles Benson talked with Dr. Howard Fuller about what's next. The police shooting and unrest nearly two weeks ago - literally hit close to home.
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Dr. Fuller has lived in Sherman Park for nearly 30 years. He's just a few doors down from where Sylville Smith was killed by police.
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"I've had a lot more conversations with my neighbors in the last week than in the last three or four years," he said.
- SPECIAL SECTION: Sherman Park Healing
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Fuller has been part of the local and national conversation for decades. He's probably best known his leadership on education reform. Fuller's not surprised by violent reaction to the police shooting.
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"I think what happened has been building up for a long period of time," he said
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Fuller say the issues are deep and difficult but the root problems are familiar: poverty, race, education and jobs.
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"To say we need to radically rethink this, that's an easy statement in a college classroom, very, very difficult to do in human terms," he said.
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He believes finding solutions rest in reaching out to groups who have legitimate concerns and grievances before they become completely disconnected.
Fuller: I don't think you can do that without political will and resources.Benson: Is the political will there?Fuller: No - I don't think we have the political will. I don't think at any level in this country at this time do we have the political will to address the gravity of the problems that we've created.
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That doesn't mean he's giving up. Fuller has been meeting privately and talking with lots of community leaders about solutions - short term and long.
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Fuller: There's something in so called conservative ideology - there's something in so called liberal ideology that has to come together to find solutions to the problems we have.Benson: If there's' no political will - that's sound like its hopeless?Fuller: Well let me just say, I'm not optimistic in the short term.
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Long ago Fuller was in the trenches as a community organizer fighting poverty in North Carolina. Here he is leading a demonstration the day after Martin Luther King was killed.
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Years later he was back in Milwaukee fighting for justice after Ernest Lacy - a black man died while in police van in 1981.
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The issues may seem the same, but Fuller believes this is a different time for a new generation of leaders. He partially quotes philosopher Frantz Fanon to talk about defining that mission.
"I think people are struggling to define that mission, once you define it, then the question is what are your going to do about it. Are you going to fulfill it? Are you going to betray it?"
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At age 75, Fuller's not slowing down but he's not looking to take the center stage on this issue.
Benson: Do you wish you were 50 years younger?Fuller: No, no. No I don't.Benson: You've got the wisdom now.Fuller: Yeah, but I made all these mistakes along the way. All I want to be able to do frankly is do what I can personally and then to help younger people in anyway that I can without getting in the way.
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Fuller named the Urban Underground in Milwaukee as a new generation of leaders and one group that is trying to make a difference in the community
Healing in Sherman Park: More Stories
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- Calls For Sheriff To Keep Sherman Park Open Later Than 6 p.m. Fall On Deaf Ears
- Century City Business Park Could Bring Thousands Of Jobs To The North Side
- Funeral Held for Sylville Smith
- Group Works To Bring Jobs Back to Sherman Park
- Local Leader Sees Path Forward After Violence
- Mayor Tom Barrett Looks Back On Weekend Of Violence In Sherman Park
- Milwaukee Historians Call Sherman Park One Of Last Melting Pots In The City
- Realtor Says She's Seen Little Impact On Sherman Park Listings
- Sherman Park's Washington High School Has History That Reaches 100 Years
- Skepticism And Support For Police In Wake Of Sherman Park Violence
- Suburban Family Lays Down Roots In Sherman Park
