Uncategorized


BUILDING UNITY IN NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN

  The Building Unity Tour is coming to your area!   The Building Unity Tour is shared by many groups throughout Wisconsin working for peace, justice, sustainability and democracy.   Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we need creative ways to build excitement for justice, voter engagement and safety for our communities.   The Building Unity Tour is partnering with groups all over Wisconsin and sharing the “Votemobile” as a backdrop for social media campaigns and events. This 34-foot mobile billboard is helping us build our ...

Read More


AGING IN RURAL WISCONSIN

  Growing old is an inevitable part of life. When it comes to aging, we can’t help but wonder where we’ll live when we retire, the quality of life we’ll have and how we’ll stay healthy. While most of us want to remain in our homes for as long as possible, aging in place is almost a must for farmers in rural Wisconsin.   Last week, I participated in a webinar about aging on the farm in rural Wisconsin. We learned about the unique challenges farmers face when it comes to aging, compared to older adults in other areas of the state.   Fa...

Read More


GET BIG MONEY OUT OF POLITICS

  On May 19, the Lafayette County Board unanimously approved a resolution saying that it is in favor of amending the U.S. Constitution to overturn Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United that have given corporations an enormous sway over our political life.   In doing so, Lafayette County became the 164th community in Wisconsin to approve such a sentiment.   The Lafayette County Board resolution concluded:   “BE IT RESOLVED, that ‘We the People’ of the County of LaFayette, State of Wisconsin, seek to prevent and reduce the ...

Read More


CIVIC HEALTH IN WISCONSIN

  The UW-Madison Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies joins a coalition of nonpartisan Wisconsin-based organizations, in partnership with the National Conference on Citizenship, to release the first-ever report on Wisconsin’s civic health. With the publication of this report, “Civic Health in Wisconsin: Connectedness in Context,” Wisconsin joins 30 other U.S. states in measuring civic health, laying the groundwork for tracking changes and improvements. WIPPS is proud to be among the coalition members involved in this initiative, which includes these ...

Read More


JUNETEENTH IS THE REAL INDEPENDENCE DAY

  (Artwork is by Jennifer Dolan)   I see Juneteenth as the real Independence Day, but the promise of freedom from when emancipation was declared has not been kept. We need to do something to honor that promise. This is an opportunity to do that.   I went on a cross country train trip in 2015. My significant other and I had breakfast with two fascinating older men; one black, one white, and both very progressive. The black gentleman talked about how his daughter was organizing the first Juneteenth celebration in the small town where she lived. ...

Read More


NO EXCUSE FOR POLICE VIOLENCE

  “I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand — one that all of us should be able to get behind.”  General James Mattis, former Trump administration Secretary of Defense   Once again, the country is in turmoil because excessive force by police killed a Black man, George Floyd. Once again people are angry and taking their demands for ...

Read More


HISTORY OF JUNETEENTH DAY

  Juneteenth is short for June 19. It is the commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States.   It was on June 19, 1865 that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free.  Many slaveowners had moved there with their slaves.   President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, but the Civil War continued until May 9,1865. Texas was the most remote territory and the last to receive the news of freedom for black ...

Read More


A TALE OF TWO PROTESTS

  These are frightening times to live in. We have more than one pandemic spreading across these United States. There is coronavirus, but then there is the misinformation, conspiracy theories, and quackery that also pose a great risk to the lives of Americans. There is police brutality leading to the deaths of black people, but then there is the misuse of law enforcement by elected officials trying on the emperor’s new clothes to see if dictatorship is in fashion this year, and the small business owners who have not been able to count on law enforcement to protect ...

Read More


EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

   1862 Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit: "That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive ...

Read More


THINGS WE ARE LEARNING

  “The question today is whether we can learn something from coronavirus that might not only help us mitigate the harm of this pandemic, but build a new infrastructure of care that allows us to better protect the most vulnerable — and us all.” Gregg Gonsalves, Yale epidemiology professor and Amy Kapczynski, Yale Law School professor.   We are learning – or should be learning – some important lessons from the pandemic sweeping the country. This tragedy shows how fragile and vulnerable we are as a society. We are finding out that many of our ...

Read More