Anti-Racism Update 8.6.25

AR QUIZ

• What tragic event in the civil rights movement was revealed this first week of August in 1964?

EDUCATION

• The ACLU of Wisconsin released a report investigating immigration enforcement in Wisconsin, showing just how closely local law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are working – and how law enforcement agencies are feeding the deportation machine to make money. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel surveyed each county’s willingness to get info about migrants and share it with ICE (although not each sheriff responded): https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/special-reports/2025/03/13/see-your-wisconsin-sheriffs-policy-on-immigration-enforcement-ice-cooperation-trump-287g-detainer/81630352007/

ACTION

• From WISDOM: Wisconsin now has some of the highest incarceration rates for Black and Indigenous people in the country. Meanwhile, investments in mental health care, food programs, and treatment alternatives—things that actually keep us safe—are being slashed. Sign this petition to call on Governor Evers, Department of Corrections Secretary Hoy and lawmakers in Wisconsin to immediately commit to the closures of these prisons and advance real safety in our communities.
  
• Support Freedom Inc’ Health Day, Saturday, August 9th at 10am, 2110 Luann Ln, Madison. This year we will be celebrating Health Day with a 5K walk. This event is also a fundraiser to support our ongoing radical direct services work for LGBTQI+ Black, SEA, and youth communities here in Madison. For more information click here
  
• Nehemiah’s 17th Annual Back to Skool Bash is a donation program to provide backpacks and other school supplies for students who need them.  Plan to make your donation by August 10.  Details of how to participate is at volunteer@nehemiah.org
  
• August 10 to 17 is the 10th Annual Madison Black Restaurant Week.  For a full list of scheduled events see https://mbrw.madisonblackchamber.com

AR QUIZ ANSWER

• August 4, 1964 was the date that the bodies of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, Civil Rights activists and voting rights advocates, were discovered buried under a small dam near Philadelphia, MS.  They had been murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan on June 21st. For more on these murders, go to Wikipedia, Murders of Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman.
  
  Bob Newbery writes: I had already returned from my voter registration work in Clarksdale, MS in June and July of that year, but part of me remained in Mississippi–and still does! One thing I learned from participation in the Mississippi Freedom Summer was that progress needs more than good intentions.