MILWAUKEE — After Milwaukee County’s proposal for a publicly funded memorial for Sade Robinson was withdrawn, the community stepped up to ensure her family could honor her memory.
Robinson was the 19-year-old woman killed and dismembered last April.
Watch: Community gathers for Sade Robinson memorial fundraiser:
“I met her in 2016 and I would go Pizza Shuttle on an almost daily basis,” Barb Hull, a friend, said.
“She’d come and sit with me and chat. She was the most beautiful young lady that I ever met.”
Those fond memories drew dozens of people on Sunday to Third Street Market Hall for a fundraiser in her name.
Robinson’s mother, Sheena Scarbrough, had been working to establish a memorial but did not want her daughter’s name associated with controversy over tax dollars.
"I was initially raising on my own," Scarbrough said. "We don’t have all her remains still. We don’t have a memorial, a headstone, or a cemetery to visit her."
During a Milwaukee County Committee on Parks and Culture meeting in January, the committee voted to end a proposal that would allocate $7,000 for a memorial. The family offered to pay after hearing there was community backlash.
County Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez described emails he received about the proposal as racist.
Recognizing the family's need, Milwaukee residents and local businesses quickly mobilized to help.
Omar Shaikh, co-owner of Carnevor and Third Street Market Hall, organized a fundraiser to support the memorial effort.
"This is the real Milwaukee," Shaikh said. "Not the emails and racist emails—this is the real Milwaukee, showing love and support."
At the end of January, a GoFundMe campaign for the memorial had roughly $3,000. Within weeks, community donations helped push that number to nearly $33,000, with additional contributions of $5,000 to $6,000 coming through other channels.
Beyond funding the memorial, donations will support scholarships, the first annual Sade's Voice Community Artist Gala Fundraiser event, and self-defense classes in Robinson’s honor.
"All these individuals have good energy," Scarbrough said. "We are very thankful and have a lot of respect for how the community has shown up beyond the negativity from a few weeks ago."
Sade's Voice is a nonprofit founded in 2024 dedicated to advocating for and providing support to the families of missing black women and girls.
Scarbrough also emphasized the ongoing pursuit of justice for her daughter.
"Justice for Sade, all day, every day," she said.
Shaikh urged continued support, saying, "Donations today are important, but they shouldn’t stop today."
That fundraiser is live on this GoFundMe link.
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