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Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu on February 4 celebrated the recovery of its historic mausoleums, destroyed during an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and rebuilt thanks to UN cultural agency UNESCO.
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Milwaukee Archives

Milwaukee is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin and the home of America's Black Holocaust Museum. Originally settled by German immigrants, Milwaukee became more of a melting pot during subquest immigration waves. Milwaukee's Bronzeville neighborhood, of which ABHM is a part, was originally settled by Germans before becoming the African American Center of the city. The city was well known for manufacturing materials and beer, and local sports teams such as the Brewers still pay homage to those roots.

Currently, Milwaukee has 1.18 more Black or African American residents than any other race. However, racism is often prevalent and is also known as the most segregated city in the country. The economic disparities are especially dire, with Black Milwaukeeans experiencing poverty at five times the rate of their white counterparts. Milwaukee was important in conversations about race during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Milwaukee is more politically liberal than much of Wisconsin, perhaps due to the demographics of its residents. Due to this, some politicians have attempted to influence politics by closing polling places in the city, much like they attempt to control elections by changing polling maps.

Nevertheless, the Black community and culture survive and even thrive in Milwaukee. The city welcomes speakers, organizations, and events that recognize and celebrate Black culture, including an annual weekly celebration of the Bronzeville neighborhood.  Mayor Cavalier Johnson is the city's first Black mayor, while the city recently inducted its first Black woman as deputy fire chief.

Milwaukee Bucks Black History Month Tip-Off

February 3, 2023

In celebration of Black History Month, the Milwaukee Bucks will be highlighting Milwaukee’s Historic Bronzeville neighborhood and ABHM during the game on February 4th! ABHM staff will be on site to share about our founder, Dr. James Cameron, and the important work of the museum. Please come visit us outside of section 110 throughout the game!

Starting Saturday, you can purchase the Bucks’ special Black History Month t-shirt and support America’s Black Holocaust Museum.

WhatsApp commissions first entertainment project, a film featuring Nigerian NBA star

September 14, 2022

By Todd Spangler, Variety

Titled “Naija Odyssey,” the 12-minute film tells the origin story of Milwaukee Bucks NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Giannis Antetokounmpo looks on during a FIBA EuroBasket game in Milan on Sept. 8, 2022. (Mattia Ozbot / Getty Images file)

WhatsApp, the popular messaging app owned by tech giant Meta, is bowing its first original entertainment project later this month — a short film featuring NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo, born in Greece to Nigerian parents, was named the 2021 NBA All-Star MVP and led the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA Finals title that year. In the 12-minute film, titled “Naija Odyssey,” the pro basketballer “tells his origin story of many origins as he reconciles his roots, birthplace and sense of belonging between cross-cultural worlds,” according to WhatsApp’s description. The athlete inked an endorsement deal with WhatsApp in February of this year.

Narrated by Antetokounmpo and his mother, Veronica, “Naija Odyssey” is loosely based on the classic Greek epic poem “The Odyssey,” depicting different moments in his life. “In Greece, my teachers told stories of travelers battling the sea, fighting to find their way home — to find themselves,” Antetokounmpo says in the voiceover for the film’s trailer (watch below). “I was on that same journey.”

“Naija Odyssey” is directed by filmmakers Nono Ayuso and Rodrigo Inada and edited by Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, who won the 2021 Oscar for film editing for Amazon Studios’ “Sound of Metal.” WhatsApp will release the film on Sept. 21 on its social media channels, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video.

Find out why WhatsApp decided to commission this project.

Antetokounmpo has previously made the news for buying stake in the Brewers and joining BLM protests.

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Biden commends Milwaukee Bucks for protesting Jacob Blake shooting

November 9, 2021

By Brenda Alexander, The grio

The president says the team got others engaged in the political process as a result of taking a stand.

…During an NBA championship visit to The White House on Monday, which makes them the first NBA team to visit since 2016, President Biden praised the team for taking a stand amid uproar over Jacob Blake’s shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year…

“That’s the power of a team and not just winning a title,” President Biden told the Bucks, Mediaitereports. “Last year as a team, you took a stand for justice and peace in the wake of Jacob Blake’s shooting in Kenosha, WI. And you’ve gotten people engaged. It really mattered. I remember calling your coach [and praising that].”…

Referees stand on an empty court before the start of a scheduled game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Orlando Magic for Game Five of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The Bucks boycotted Game 5 of their first-round playoff series in support of Blake and to protest the police shooting. Other NBA teams followed suit, sparking additional boycotts throughout the league. 

Read the full article here.

Read another article about the Bucks’ protests here.

More Breaking News here.

Giannis Antetokounmpo buys stake in Milwaukee Brewers

August 21, 2021

By Matthew Allen, thegrio.com

Fresh off his MVP performance in the 2021 NBA Finals, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is investing in a local business — the city’s professional baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers.

The baseball club announced that the NBA all-star has purchased a stake in the MLB team during a press conference on Friday, according to ESPN.

“Man, this is unbelievable,” Antetokounmpo said. “This is a dream come true for a kid from Sepolia, Athens, Greece, born from immigrant parents. I could have never imagined I would be in this position.”

This is just the latest example of a professional athlete investing in a team in the city they play in but in a different sport. In July 2020, Kansas City Chief quarterback Patrick Mahomes bought a stake in the Kansas City Royals, as reported by Sports Illustrated.

Giannis Antetokounmpo at the Milwaukee Brewers Media Event. Photo credit: Giannis Antetokounmpo Twitter

Mahomes, who led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory in 2020, expressed that the process took over a year, but he’s happy that to “be part of something that’s going to be long-term” that will “be in Kansas City for a long time.”

Antetokounmpo also is firmly putting his roots down in the city he plays in. Last December, the then two-time reigning NBA MVP signed a five-year supermax contract extension with the Bucks, worth $228 million, as reported by the New York Times.

Learn more about Giannis’ work against racial injustice HERE

ABHM is located near the Milwaukee Bucks Arena in Milwaukee, to learn more about us and our mission in Milwaukee and the world HERE

Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – Milwaukee Bucks Lead Strike In Pro Leagues To Protest Racial Injustice

August 26, 2020

Introduction To This Series:

This post is one installment in an ongoing news series: a “living history” of the current national and international uprising for justice.

Today’s movement descends directly from the many earlier civil rights struggles against repeated injustices and race-based violence, including the killing of unarmed Black people. The posts in this series serve as a timeline of the uprising that began on May 26, 2020, the day after a Minneapolis police officer killed an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, by kneeling on his neck. The viral video of Floyd’s torturous suffocation brought unprecedented national awareness to the ongoing demand to truly make Black Lives Matter in this country.

The posts in this series focus on stories of the particular killings that have spurred the current uprising and on the protests taking place around the USA and across the globe. Sadly, thousands of people have lost their lives to systemic racial, gender, sexuality, judicial, and economic injustice. The few whose names are listed here represent the countless others lost before and since. Likewise, we can report but a few of the countless demonstrations for justice now taking place in our major cities, small towns, and suburbs.

To view the entire series of Rising Up for Justice! posts, insert “rising up” in the search bar above.

Milwaukee Bucks Lead Strike In Pro Leagues To Protest Racial Injustice

‘Tired Of The Killings’: Pro Athletes Refuse To Play To Protest Racial Injustice

By Tom Goldman, NPR

August 26, 2020

Bucks protest recent killings
Officials stand beside an empty court at the scheduled start of an NBA basketball first round playoff game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Orlando Magic, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Milwaukee Bucks didn’t take the floor in protest against racial injustice and the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, Pool)

Professional sports teams in several leagues have taken their most dramatic steps yet in an effort to raise awareness about social justice issues.

On Wednesday, the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play their playoff game against the Orlando Magic to protest Sunday’s police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Wisconsin. Following the Bucks’ decision, the NBA announced all three playoff games scheduled for Wednesday were postponed.

According to the league, those three games, including the Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trailblazers, will be rescheduled.

After the NBA’s announcement, the dominoes started to fall.

In Major League Baseball, three games were postponed. Another Wisconsin team led the way — the Milwaukee Brewers called off their home game against the Cincinnati Reds.

“We need to pause and reflect on the events that are causing such pain and hardship to our local community and country,” the Brewers said in a statement. “The entire organization is committed to putting the spotlight on racial injustice, inequality, and the necessity for change.”

The Seattle Mariners, a team reportedly with the most black players in the majors, decided not to play San Diego on Wednesday, saying the team stands “with our players as they speak out with their words and actions against social injustice.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants also postponed their game.

The WNBA postponed its three-game schedule Wednesday night. Major League Soccer called off five games.

Tired and demanding change 

It all started with the Bucks. The top team in the Eastern Conference was scheduled to play Orlando in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. The Bucks lead 3-1. Orlando took the court to warm up, but the Bucks didn’t. Soon it became apparent the Milwaukee players weren’t going to come out. The basketballs were put away. The referees left the court.

Guard George Hill told Marc Spears of ESPN’s The Undefeated, the Bucks weren’t playing in light of the shooting of Jacob Blake on Sunday. Blake survived, but his family says he was paralyzed after being repeatedly shot in the back while trying to climb into the driver’s side of a vehicle.

“We’re tired of the killings and the injustice,” Hill said.

The NBA’s most prominent player, LeBron James, was scheduled to play Wednesday with his Los Angeles Lakers hoping to clinch their first-round series against Portland.

James, with 47 million Twitter followers, spoke for many athletes when he tweeted an expletive, and then this: “WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT.”

The day after Blake was shot by police, the Bucks’ Hill echoed another growing sentiment felt by some players — frustration about living in the NBA’s pandemic-protected environment, referred to as the bubble, near Orlando, Fla.

“We can’t do anything,” Hill said in an interview. “First of all, we shouldn’t even came to this damn place, to be honest. I think coming here just took all the focal points off of what the issues are.”

That was a concern of some players before they arrived in Florida in early July. Those who’d taken part in nationwide demonstrations against police violence and social inequality following the death of George Floyd, or who’d spoken out on those issues, felt the strength of their messages might be lost as games started and connections to the outside world shrank.

In the aftermath of Blake’s shooting, the frustration grew.

The bubble has been filled with reminders of social injustice — Black Lives Matter is written on the basketball courts. Most players and coaches are kneeling in protest during the playing of the national anthem and are wearing jerseys and shirts with messages like I Am A Man, Education and How Many More?

Toronto Raptors guard Norman Powell was one of those questioning these well-intentioned displays.

“Taking a knee for the anthem, that’s not getting the job done,” Powell said. “That’s getting washed out. Something has to happen where you’re forcing these people who can make the change to do something.”

The Bucks followed their decision with a statement aimed at forcing that change.

Hill and teammate Sterling Brown read it to reporters.

“The past four months have shed a light on the ongoing racial injustices facing our African American communities. Citizens around the country have used their voices and platforms to speak out against these wrongdoings. Over the last few days, in our home state of Wisconsin, we’ve seen the horrendous video of Jacob Blake being shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha and the additional shooting of protesters. Despite the overwhelming plea for change, there has been no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball.

Read the full article here.

ABHM: A Key to Revitalization of MKE’s Historic Bronzeville

December 16, 2017

A Catalyst for the Revitalization of Arts and Culture

Maures Development Group, LLC, the only female and minority-owned development business in Wisconsin, is redeveloping almost an entire block of abandoned buildings. The $17.4 million project will transform the site into a vibrant mixed-use campus as a catalyst for the reestablishment of the historically black Bronzeville neighborhood’s culture and entertainment district.

The Bronzeville community was once a thriving African American economic and cultural hub. In the 1960s, however, hundreds of homes and businesses were demolished for the proposed Park West Freeway, which was never built. Subsequently, the once-thriving commercial corridor deteriorated, as property values plummeted and buildings fell into disrepair.

Development Planned in Two Phases

The historic former Garfield school building will be redeveloped for 30 units of high-quality, mixed-income housing.

In Phase I, the schoolbuilding will be reborn as the Historic Garfield Redevelopment Project, comprised of 30 units of high-quality, mixed-income housing. In Phase II, the adjoining vacant properties will be demolished and developed as the The Griot, a newly constructed building with 41 residential units and 8,000 square feet of commercial space.

The commercial space will house America’s Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM), one of Milwaukee’s most revered cultural institutions, which shares the African American story as part of U.S. history and supports racial repair and reconciliation. The museum will re-open its doors in Summer 2018, and is projected to bring over 10,000 visitors annually into the Bronzeville neighborhood.

“The Garfield project and the re-emergence of the America’s Black Holocaust Museum are certain to be catalytic for the Bronzeville Cultural, Arts and Entertainment District,” stated Alderwoman Milele Coggs. The City of Milwaukee first identified the Garfield Project in its 2005 Bronzeville Cultural & Entertainment District Plan.

Alderwoman Milele Coggs (L) and Maures Development Group’s Melissa Goins proudly announced the historic redevelopment project in May 2016.

Located just a mile from major downtown investments, including the new Bucks Arena, the Historic Garfield redevelopment will help connect downtown’s growth to the Bronzeville neighborhood. The project is forecasted to create over 115 jobs through construction, property management and the museum. In addition, 40 city residents will receive on-the-job training through an innovative partnership with Employ Milwaukee and the Northcott Neighborhood House.

Maures Development Group, LLC, is a commercial real estate firm that has developed a reputation for innovative projects focused on historically neglected neighborhoods. From the onset, the company’s holistic strategies of combining new construction, sustainable features and social partnerships with neighborhood organizations have delivered Maures a multitude of praises for community impact.


*America’s Black Holocaust Museum’s new facility is a project of the nonprofit Dr. James Cameron Legacy Foundation.