Milwaukee, WI – On October 23, nearly 100 community members, activists and local politicians gathered at Berrien Park for the public unveiling of the Milwaukee County Parks sign with the new name. The campaign was initiated when the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression learned about the origins of the name for Lindbergh Park and Charles Lindbergh’s proximity to the Nazis.

After months of canvassing efforts led by the Alliance that saw members going door-to-door in the predominantly Black community surrounding the park, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors in late June voted unanimously in favor of the proposition to rename the park after Lucille Berrien. Saturday’s celebration culminated the Milwaukee Alliance’s campaign to rename the park, which began in March of this year. The celebration included various speakers who commemorated Berrien’s legacy as a freedom fighter in Milwaukee.

Omar Flores, co-chair of the Milwaukee Alliance, emphasized the importance of bottom-up organizing for this campaign, and remarked how the Alliance is presently “fighting many of the same fights that were being fought in 1973, when Lucille helped found the Milwaukee Alliance.”

For many decades, Berrien actively organized in Milwaukee around campaigns for fair housing, welfare rights, women’s rights, justice for victims of police crimes, better public education, anti-war efforts and much more. Flores and other speakers linked Berrien’s history of community organizing to the importance of proper community funding.

Jacob Flom, vice president of AFSCME Local 526, represented the Milwaukee Area Labor Council and stated, “We need the funds used by the Sheriff’s Department overtime budget to be used for funding good union jobs in the community.”

Brian Verdin, member of the Milwaukee Alliance who has known Berrien for over 50 years and also an original Alliance member, recalled how “growing up in the community, everybody’s mom and dad had a job. When the corporations move jobs away, we need the city and county to step up and create good jobs and stop privatizing them.”

The October 23 celebration of Berrien Park served as a reminder of Berrien’s legacy and of the importance of the alliance between oppressed nationalities and organized labor. Berrien Park is located in the 53206 zip code, which boasts some of the highest incarceration rates of Black males in the nation and highest unemployment rates in the city. This alliance will be crucial for carrying forward Lucille Berrien’s legacy and leading the struggles against racist inequality and capitalism in Milwaukee.

#MilwaukeeWI #LucilleBerrien #LucilleBerrienPark

On the afternoon of June 24th, the Milwaukee County Board voted unanimously in favor of changing Lindbergh Park to Lucille Berrien Park.

Renaming the park to Lucille Berrien Park was a grassroots demand that residents of the surrounding area communicated with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR). From the beginning of the campaign, we received significant support from County Board Supervisors Priscilla Coggs-Jones and Ryan Clancy. Additionally, AFSCME Wisconsin Council 32 and Teamsters 200 Black Caucus endorsed the demand to rename the park.

MAARPR canvassed the neighborhood surrounding Lucille Berrien Park for several months and collected over 200 signatures in support of changing the park’s name. While canvassing, we frequently spoke with residents about Lucille Berrien’s legacy, and various residents offered personal anecdotes about Berrien. Furthermore, we asked residents what they would like to see from the Milwaukee County Board, and many expressed further demands for the county to open the door for good paying union jobs, provide better park maintenance, reduce police presence and harassment, and much more.

Now that the park has been renamed after Berrien, who better represents the neighborhood, the Milwaukee Alliance plans on participating in Milwaukee County budget discussions to ensure the county budget reflects the interests of the people of Milwaukee. A demand frequently expressed by the residents was that the community needs opportunities, not more policing. Fund Community, Not Cops!

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #Antiracism #LindberghPark #LucilleBerrienPark

Lindbergh Park is named after Charles Lindbergh, who was recognized at the time as a famous pilot. A few years after the park was named, Lindbergh became a prominent figure in the fascist America First movement in the U.S. He had received recognition for his work in the U.S. from Hermann Goering on behalf of Adolf Hitler. Lindbergh Park is located in the 53206 ZIP Code, which has the highest rate of incarcerated Black men in the country.

Lucille Berrien is a lifelong freedom fighter who helped lead the fight for fair housing in Milwaukee. She was a part of the Black Panther Party for a time, as well as the founder of the original Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression in 1973. Berrien has fostered hundreds of children in the Milwaukee area and is the first Black woman to run for mayor in Milwaukee. Her ties to the community surrounding Lindbergh Park are strong to this day, as she used to live right across the street from the park.

Newly-elected 10th District County Supervisor Priscilla Coggs-Jones spoke to the importance of figures like Lucille Berrien, who had a profound impact on Coggs-Jones’ work. County Supervisor Coggs-Jones stated, “We are here today in representation of everything you stand for – from the enthusiasm, to your compassion, to taking back our community.”

Most notably, at 93 years old, Lucille Berrien came out to join the press conference in support of the effort to rename the park and fund the renaming by taking money from the sheriffs.

Lindbergh Park was created to take money out of the police budget and put it into the community. The need for this is still alive today. MAARPR reported that after several months of canvassing, it has become clear that the community unanimously does not want to see the sheriff’s department funded more. Instead, community members have expressed that having well-maintained parks and access to jobs and opportunities is preferable to the over-policing that is so rampant in this area.

Follow the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression Facebook page for more updates on the campaign.

#MilwaukeeWI #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #MilwaukeeAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression #LindberghPark #LucilleBerrienPark