Addressing state lawmakers and a crowded audience under a tent in Kenosha on Sunday, Jacob Blake's uncle called on supporters to understand his nephew's shooting by Kenosha police as part of a lengthy history of racism and to be prepared for a long road.
"This is more about our community correcting some injustices that have gone on for 50 to 100 years," Justin Blake said. "Jake was the match to the wood left behind the shed that wasn’t tended to."
The event was co-sponsored by Wisconsin's Legislative Black Caucus and offered the opportunity for the Blake family and Kenosha community members to directly address lawmakers.
Justin Blake said he wanted to see more people taking off "leadership hats" and engaging in direct community service. Jacob Blake had volunteered serving meals at his uncle's Chicago-based organization, Black Underground Recycling.
"You wanna get down with the Blake family, get out here and serve," Blake said. "Get out and feed the people."
Nathan Upham, a 23-year-old from Kenosha who has been working to feed people in the Uptown neighborhood where he grew up, also talked about the importance of direct service. The area, where much of the protests and property damage has occurred, was already a food desert, he said.
"At the end of the day, it is going to fall on our shoulders to do this because these people aren't going to do this," Upham told the crowd, speaking in front of the panel of lawmakers.
Upham has raised more than $15,000 via GoFundMe with the goal of assisting small businesses feeding the community.
The public officials in attendance were asked to mainly listen rather than speak. State Sen. Lena Taylor, a Milwaukee Democrat, introduced the event and said her own son was recently pulled over by police and she felt her heart drop. She conversed with mothers whose children were killed by police.
"Keep going to the solutions, so that we don't have to have more mothers like the mothers I met today, the ones whose sons didn't make it," Taylor said to the audience.
Taylor was joined on stage by other members of the Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus, state lawmakers from Kenosha and local public officials. There was an empty chair on stage for Jacob Blake.
Several people advocated for restoring voting rights sooner to people convicted of felonies. As state law stands, voting rights are not restored until after probation and parole is complete. Other states restore rights upon release from prison, and some allow people to vote while still incarcerated.
“I’m a felon on parole right now,” said La-Ron Franklin, an advocate with Wisconsin Justice. “You can work in this country, you gotta pay taxes in this country as a felon, but you ain’t got the right to vote.”
State Rep. Tod Ohnstad, D-Kenosha, said he wants to change the law.
“The felony rules are intended to keep Black people from voting,” Ohnstad said. “It’s part of a pattern of voter suppression that has been going on ever since I was born in this country, and I’m an old guy.”
Justin Blake spoke after several family members of other victims of police shootings, including Stevante Clark from California. A law named for his brother, Stephon Clark, requires that law enforcement only use deadly force when "necessary" rather than "reasonable."
Monique West, whose son Ty' Rese was killed by a Mount Pleasant police officer, also spoke. She recalled learning about Jacob Blake.
"I felt that pain because it happened to me, it happened to my son," West said. "If they keep justifying us Black people getting killed, they gonna keep on killing us."
Justin Blake said he has become close in recent weeks with several families whose loved ones were killed by police. He called on those in the audience to love themselves and each other as they work against institutional racism "in every place in this nation, every corner."
"We need you, family, like never before, all around the world," Justin Blake said. "This ain't no short-term thing, it ain't no 40-yard dash. It’s more like a marathon."
Rory Linnane reports on public health and works to make information accessible so readers can improve their lives and hold officials accountable. Contact Rory at (414) 801-1525 or rory.linnane@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @RoryLinnane.
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Blake family speaks to Wisconsin lawmakers: 'Get out here and serve' - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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