53206 Cast: Recent Episodes
Meg and Alex Bruzan
53206, located in the inner city of Milwaukee, is the poorest zip code in the state of Wisconsin. 99.2% of residents are non-white and the median household income is $24,000. Meg and Alex talk about what they have learned over the last 15 years from living in a place that is very different than the suburbs they grew up in. Each episode typically covers thoughts on education, social justice, and the normalization of inequities they see on a daily basis.
Join Meg & Alex as we rethink our inner cities together
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the subtle difference between feeling like you need to be the change and aligning yourself with the change that you are currently seeing around you.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about being blacklisted from the bank and governmental approval ratings.
This week, Meg and Alex recap the first Saturday of We Got This for the 2026 growing season.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about some of the anomalies around common public services found in the inner city.
This week, Meg and Alex give some updates on the status of the neighborhood pertaining to gentrification.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the curious relationship between comfort and meaning and how value can be found when we live outside of our comfort zones.
This week, Meg and Alex reflect on the seasons changing and the natural benchmarks of the year that provide snapshots for progress in the neighborhood.
The inner city has an underground economy of individuals canabalizing the buildings to sustain themselves. This week, Meg and Alex talk about that economy and discuss how they think about the negative impacts of this group of individuals.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about how some of the physical spaces within the neighborhood have arrived at their current condition.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the value of choosing a lane and sticking with it when it comes to social justice work.
This week, Meg and Alex discuss a couple of instances where two potentially conflicting things can be true at the same time.
This week, Meg and Alex discuss the value found in investing in our young people within the community.
This week, Meg and Alex discuss what comes next in our evolution toward a more socially just world.
This week, Meg and Alex discuss the question, who is responsible for raising up the next generation and whose to blaim when it doesn't go well.
Outrage seems to be everywhere today. This week, Meg and Alex talk about our propensity for outrage and what we can do about it.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about corporate landlords and ask the question, why is renting from one of them someone's best option.
This week, Meg and Alex are joined by Amos Malone, a PHD student from the community. The three talk about the criminal justice system and Amos' pathway from struggling student to PHD candidate.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about silos in social justice work and the offer some adivce on how to navigate long term humanitarian work when new social inequities arise.
The concept of a food desert isn't new. Traditional models for food distribution struggle in areas with high concentrations of poverty. This week, Meg and Alex talk about the third grocery store to close nearby and talk about what might work in the community.
No one ever gets it right one hundred percent of the time. This week, Meg and Alex talk about what to do when you get something wrong and give some advice on how to develop the habbit of constant improvement.
This week Meg and Alex talk about the benefits and challenges of living in a meritocracy, speficically as it pertains to areas of concentrated poverty.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about scarcity around the holidays and the annual gift shop at We Got This.
All of us have routines and patterns that create bubbles for us. This week, Meg and Alex talk about that value in reaching outside of our bubbles and share how that can benefit us personally and benefit the world around us.
Why does anyone do what they do? For most of us, we choose to do whatever seems like a good idea at the time. This week, Meg and Alex talk about how living in the inner city seemed like a good idea 20 years ago and how it still does today.
This week Meg and Alex continue their conversation on SNAP and give a little insight on what it might be like to be reliant on a safety net like SNAP.
Every few years, we get moments in time where the call to do something becomes louder while simultaneously, the questioning on why we should care becomes more targeted. The suspension of SNAP benefits may have been one of those times. This week, Meg and Alex talk about SNAP benefits and our societies preference that programs like SNAP to not exist.
This week, Meg and Alex dream a little bit about how the current and future advancements in artificial intelligence could promote progress in inner city neighborhoods.
For years the perception of our neighborhood has been one of the biggest things holding it back. This week we talk about neighborhood perception and talk about reasons someone would want to stay here.
Vacant properties are abundant in the inncer city. Sometimes they are rehabbed and become useful housing stock again and sometimes they end their lives vacant and are torn down. This week Meg and Alex talk about how a house gets torn down and give some insights on how the community is impacted.
The unexpected happens more often in the inner city. This week, Meg and Alex talk about an unexpected guest at the White House On The Corner and give some insight into the mental health challenges that face areas of concentrated poverty.
What does a tenant do when their landlord is unresponsive to emergencies or refuses to offer a basic level of quality in their building? This week Meg and Alex talk about a house on their block and one tenants experience living there.
This week, Meg and Alex recap the final week of the summer garden program at We Got This. The two reflect on the teams accomplishments and share some of the progress toward achieving the goals set for the summer.
This week, Meg and Alex recap week 11 at We Got This and talk about the importance of marketable skills.
This week, Meg and Alex recap week 10 at We Got This and talk about teaching the kids the concept of being kind to your future self.
This week Meg and Alex talk about why food deserts exist and how you can impact an area to lessen the likelihood of it becoming a food desert.
We are 3/4 of the way through the 2025 We Got This summer program. This week Meg and Alex give a recap of the week and talk about changing mindsets and the team's evolution.
The 53206 Cast is 200 episodes old. This week, Meg and Alex reflect on the last 5 years of podcasting and give some advice on how to organize your life in a way that allows you to make the changes you hope to see in the world.
We Got This has hit the half way mark for the summer. This week, Meg and Alex recap a rainy Saturday at the garden and discuss some of the ins and outs of running a non-profit.
Signs of change are everywhere if you know what to look for. This week, Meg and Alex talk about changes in the neighborhood and the recent influx of rabbits in the neighborhood.
This week, Meg and Alex recap week 6 at We Got This. With over 160 coming out to the garden to work this week, it was a busy one. Food was produced and given away for the first time this season and the kids had plenty of opportunities to learn life lessons and practice working.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the heat, leadership, winning at work, and week 5 at We Got This.
This week, Meg and Alex discuss the idea that someone or something can be all good or all bad and the traps that this line of thinking can lead to.
This week, Meg and Alex recap week 4 at We Got This. The two talk about reaching capacity early in the morning and some of the lessons taught and hopefully learned in the garden.
This week Meg and Alex recap week 3 at the garden. This week there were a lot of opportunities to work through adversity and reframe thinking around work and doing hard things.
Protests aren't new but have been in the news lately. Typically protests take one form. This week Meg and Alex talk about expanding the definition, or at least broadening what activities we consider to be a protest.
This week, Meg and Alex give a week 2 recap of what happened at the garden and the two talk through some highlights including the exciting opportunity to resolve conflict in the community.
When doing any kind of advocacy work, it is easy to assume that everything will work in your favor or anyone with a similar set of values will see your vision and support the actions you take to make your vision a reality. However, that rarely happens. This week, Meg and Alex talk about unexpected adversity and how to think about instances when people you assume are on your side push back on what you are doing.
It's garden season. This week, Meg and Alex recap week 1 at We Got This and talk about the muscle known as responsibility and how kids at We Got This get to grow that muscle throughout the summer.
Correcting societal inequities is point of social justice work. One of the major inequities found in the inner city is the lack of financial capacity found here. This week, Meg and Alex talk about one pathway to building financial capacity in the neighborhood.
The economic opportunities for the poor are few and far between. This week, Meg and Alex talk about one of those opportunities and talk about some of the factors that lead up to someone choosing to take advantage of that opportunity.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the power that perspective has when trying to understand what we see in the world around us.
Solving complex problems requires a nuianced understanding of the problem. This week Meg and Alex talk about the psycology of the dumper and give a quick We Got This update.
Sometimes in life, the opportunity to do good in the world stems from aggrivation around a circumstance. This week, Meg and Alex talk about how to spot opportunities to be the change hidden within circumstances you may not love.
This week, Meg and Alex discuss differing viewpoints on solving the cities litter problem.
This week, Meg and Alex give an update on what has been going on in the neighborhood. Specifically, the two talk about house fires and another recent instance of someone losing their home to a house fire.
In life, things either get better or they get worse, but they rarely stay the same. This week, Meg and Alex talk about some of the new things happening at We Got This for the 2025 growing season.
Dumping has been in the news a lot lately here in Milwaukee. This week, Meg and Alex talk about what someones option are when their property is dumped on and give some insights on the current response system that exists.
What does it say about a neighborhood when it's treated like a garbage dump? This week, Meg and Alex discuss this and share on the topic of dumping, which is a common practice in inner city neighborhoods.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the mechanics and give a little history lesson around the purchase of their latest property. The two share about housing inequities and the injustice that exists in their neighborhood around housing values as well as what can happen when an out of state landlord buys a property they cannot manage.
This week Meg and Alex talk about the transferring of problems in the tenant/landlord relationship and fixing broken furnaces.
For those of us that are socially justice minded, it can be challenging sometimes to take that inclination and turn it into action. This week, Meg and Alex give some tips for going from calling to action.
The news can be unsettling, unnerving, or even aggrivating. This week, Meg and Alex talk about a different way to think about calls to serving a community, state, or even a nation with the hope of funneling discomfort toward action.
This week, Meg and Alex share an excerpt from the book Bad Neighborhoods. If you like the 53206 Cast, Bad Neighborhoods is similar in concept, but is more of a deep dive into the issues facing areas of concentrated poverty. The audio version of the book can be found on the Bad Neighborhoods podcast feed or by using this link:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2U5tj17PnVr8uV52pDsDjB
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the added responsibility put onto residents in areas of concentrated poverty to keep the standard of living within their community at a baseline level.
Interested in checking out the book Bad Neighborhoods? Bad Neighborhood can be found anywhere you listen to podcasts or by clicking the link here:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2U5tj17PnVr8uV52pDsDjB
In this episode of The 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex reflect on the complexities of making a positive impact in the community. They share their thoughts on a recent early morning hit-and-run accident that hit close to home, and how it underscores the nuiances within collective and individual responsibility.
They also highlight an event at the We Got This Community Garden, where kids chose gifts for their parents or guardians—an effort to reward kids for their hard work in the summer.
Join Meg and Alex as they explore how the path to transforming the world often weaves together moments of joy and difficulty.
Memory updated The 53206 Cast: A Conversation with Andre Lee Ellis
In this episode of The 53206 Cast, we’re excited to welcome Andre Lee Ellis, founder of We Got This and the visionary leader of The Cage, a transformative initiative making a profound impact in the heart of Milwaukee.
Andre shares his powerful journey of mentoring youth, building community, and addressing systemic inequities. Through his leadership of The Cage, he has created a space for empowerment, growth, and hope, offering life-changing opportunities to those most affected by societal challenges.
Join us as we explore the vital work happening within 53206, the importance of local activism, and how we can all contribute to creating a more just and equitable world.
Tune in for this inspiring conversation and learn more about the incredible stories and initiatives shaping 53206’s future.
While being motivated by fear can by helpful sometimes, when we make everyday decisions about how we interact with the world, fear is one of the least useful tools we have. This week, Meg and Alex discuss how fear has impacted their neighborhood and offer some alternatives to a fear based approach.
This week, Meg and Alex sit down with Jamie DeJesus. Jamie is a leader in the community helping facilitate the re-entry process for justice involved individuals through career training. You can find out more around the work Jamie does at www.iesinstitute.org.
Legacies are something we leave whether or not we do so intentionally or not. For a lot of us, we want to leave the world better than we wound it. This week on the podcast, Meg and Alex talk about legacies and give some thoughts on building the legacy you want to leave.
This week Meg and Alex discuss the philosophy that everything is an opportunity to make the world the way you want it to be.
Meg is out of town this week and we couldn't get a podcast in before she left so it seemed like a good opportunity to share a chapter of the book Bad Neighborhoods.
For over 10 years we have been trick or treating in the same neighborhood outside of ours. Each year, we leave the inner city along with 300 or so of our neighbors and drive roughly 3 miles to an affluent neighborhood just outside of the city. This week we discuss the changing climate of the city as it pertains to inclusiveness and the changes we have seen over the last decade.
This week Meg an Alex share the first chapter of the book, Bad Neighborhoods, which is available to listen to for free on the Bad Neighborhoods podcast feed.
This week Meg and Alex talk about a pretty cool opportuntiy Meg received from a well known flower farm and speak about the shifts in cultural awareness around how we view areas of concentrated poverty.
This week Meg and Alex talk about what's been going on in the neighborhood and share a couple of stories of opportunities to be empathetic.
It's easy to miss opportunities in life to help someone else on their journey. This week Meg and Alex talk about that dynamic and give an update on the book, Bad Neighborhoods.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the interconnectedness of life and it's implications on how we interact with tragedy.
Each of us has the capacity to make a contribution to the world. This week Meg and Alex share some thoughts on how to figure out what your contibution could be.
This week Meg and Alex talk through three things that help a school or an organization get the best out of the kids from their neighborhood.
August 24th was the last Saturday at We Got This for the summer. Meg and Alex talk about the We Got This season finale and share some of the highlights from the summer.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about diversity and the choice to intentionally add to the diversity of a space. The two also give a We Got This update and talk about the organizations two biggest limiting factors.
This week Meg and Alex talk about some of the basics around We Got This and some of the good problems happening in the organization.
In areas of concentrated poverty, conflict is unavoidable and opportunities to be a positive contributor to the neighborhood are hard to find. This week, Meg and Alex talk about those things and give a mid summer We Got This update.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about a counter intuitive dynamic that exists in the inner city. While bad things happen sometimes, the good far outweighs the bad.
This week, Meg and Alex give a We Got This update and talk about neighborhood revitalization.
This week Meg and Alex break down week three at the garden and talk about how that work attempts to give kids something positive and productive to do which, in theory, keeps young people from making bad decisions.
Instances of violence are found more commonly in areas of concenrated poverty. This can be hard to understand for those of us unfamiliar with those spaces. This week, Meg and Alex talk about violence and how to position yourself to be a positive participant in change instead of removing or distancing yourself.
It's Heal The Hood season in Milwaukee. This week Ajamou Butler joins the podcast to talk about the 12th annual Heal The Hood Event on May 25th.
How do you know if you are doing more harm than good or if you are unintentionally participating in something that damages a community. This week Meg and Alex talk about that and give a quick update on We Got This.
Advancement can come in multiple forms. One way to approach advancement of a space is to commit to raising the floor, the base level or lowest form of a necessity. This week Meg and Alex talk about raising the floor on housing and share a story to better explain what the floor currently looks like.
This week, Meg and Alex talk through a recent break-in at one of the rental properties. While break-ins are never fun, this one in particular had some interesting components and variables to it that are a great reminder that people are people too.
This week, Bruce Kruger joins the podcast to discuss affordable housing and the journey that Whitefish Bay, a near northern suburb of Milwaukee is handling its desire to add affordable housing units to its housing stock.
Any time we assume there is a one size fits all in advacy work, we leave ourselves open to the possibility that we will do more harm than good. This week Meg and Alex talk about how to use the design thinking principals to be a better advocate.
This week, Joanna Brooks, the founder of Embody Yoga joins the podcast to talk about her journey as a small business owner running the highly successful yoga studio, Embody Yoga. Embody Yoga is on a mission to share the practice of yoga with people of color and is a leader in the health and wellness space in the city of Milwaukee. Friend of the podcast and avid yoga enthusiest, Jessica Butler joins the conversation as well and gives an update on what Heal The Hood has coming up this summer.
We haven't yet arrived at a socially just world, which means injustice exists. When you stumble across a situation which you percieve to be unjust, it's easy to get angry. This week Meg and Alex talk about that dynamic and offer an approach to help turn the world into what you would like it to be.
Meg and Alex are back giving a recap of the Homes MKE podcast and giving some updates on projects they're working on.
This week, Meg and Alex sit down with Milwaukee's Commissioner of City Development, Lafayette Crump and Homes MKE Community Outreach Liaison, Jeremy Mitchell to discuss the Homes MKE initiative. Lafayette and Jeremy talk logistics, the philosophies behind the program, and its impact on the community.
If you have questions or want more information about the program or available properties, be sure to reach out at jermitc@milwaukee.gov.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about what they were thinking about when they decided to buy their house. The two take a walk down memory lane and discuss the thought process that went into their decision to dedicate a part of their lives to making their neighborhood better.
Houses in 53206 are five times more likely to catch fire than in the surrounding zip codes. This week, Alex and Meg talk about house fires and the impact that has on the neighborhood.
The gap and the gain philosophy, introduced by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy is a framework for viewing your progress toward acheiving long term goals. This week, Meg and Alex explain that philosophy and show how you can use it to stay motivated on your socical justice pursuits.
Meg and Alex are back for the first episode of the 53206 Cast in 2024. This week, the two talk about how to overcome the fear of being labled a white savior.
This week, Meg and Alex are back with another episode on access. The inner city can be an isolating space and the more we can provide access to everything the world has to offer, the more a young person can envision themselves beyond their own circumstances and the more the world opens up to them.
Traumatic events seem to happen more reguarly in the inner city and the inward affects of that trauma is often hidden from outside world. This week, Meg and Alex talk about truama in the inner city and how that trauma affects day to day life.
This week Meg and Alex are joined by longtime friend of the podcast Jamie DeJesus and Adelle Quick, a junior at Marquette University. The group talks about the value of the EPP program at Marquette which is designed to provide educational opportunities for those affected by the criminal justice system and Adelle gives some insight on what she learned from taking a class at a correctional institution.
This week Meg and Alex give an update on the white house on the corner and discuss the transformative power of tulip bulbs.
Interested in helping kids transform their neighborhood by giving to We Got This?
Check out www.wegotthismke.com.
This week, Jamie DeJesus returns to give his annual Thanksgiving update. Jamie is a long time advocate for the justice involved and helps manage the Innovative Educational Solutions Institute which provides CNC and manufactoring skills training programming. You can find out more about IES at https://iesinstitute.org/.
This week Meg and Alex discuss the trick or treat habits of their neighborhood and give some advice on how to expidite the process of deconcentrating of areas of poverty.
Things happen in areas of concentrated poverty that can make someone unfamiliar with those spaces uncomfortable, but does that mean we should avoid them? This week Meg and Alex talk about being ok with being uncomfortable and the surprise benefits of intentionally leaning in to uncomfortable situations.
This week Meg and Alex welcome special guests Jodi Delfosse, Lynn Charnitz, and Claudia Morris also known as the lunch ladies from We Got This. The group talks about their experience and gives some insight on how to serve well.
A lot of people ask if we live in a violent neighborhood. Some violence is obvious and makes news headlines, but some goes quietly unnoticed. This week Meg and Alex talk about violence and what might be the disrupter of violence in a space with a long history of violence.
Spaces hold memories, both good and bad. This week Meg and Alex talk about this dynamic and pose the question what must it be like to live near spaces that are marred with trauma.
This week Meg and Alex talk about the final Saturday in the We Got This summer program. The two talk ownership and purpose as it relates to We Got This and inner city spaces in general.
Here's a couple of quick stats from the summer.
Over 3200 hours served in the community by We Got This participants
175 different kids came out to work over the summer
Over $16,000 was paid out to kids for working to make their neighborhood a better place to grow up in.
It's easy to forget the impact something as simple as two gallons of milk can have on a person. This week Meg and Alex talk about the change two gallons of milk can have on a person. Then the two give an update on year end festivities at We Got This.
For 12 weeks each summer, dozens of kids come out to the We Got This garden to learn how to garden and make their neighborhood a better place. This week, Meg and Alex recap the first half of the summer program and give some highlights on what's been going on at We Got This.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the recent supreme court ruling striking down affirmative action college admissions programs.
The inner city is a complex space with comlex issues. This week, Meg and Alex talk about trying to understand just a little bit more. Then the two give some updates around We Got This and a couple of other things happening in the neighborhood.
A $1,500 car can be nothing to somebody or it can be everything to somebody. The difference is in the margin that car creates. This week Meg and Alex talk about margins and how margins look different in their neighborhood.
Join Richard Rothstein (Color of Law) on the 53206 Cast podcast discussing his and his daughter Leah’s new book Just Action. Richard and Leah Rothstein will also be coming to Milwaukee tomorrow, June 2nd along with Milwaukee-based researcher at the Redress Movement Reggie Jackson as they talk Just Action! https://actionnetwork.org/events/just-action-book-release-discussion?source=direct_link&&link_id=1&can_id=ef6cdd58c91dfc5b25ce7f477311978f&email_referrer=&email_subject=just-action-book-release-discussion-event
This week Meg and Alex discuss the rise in the number of white people within the neighborhood, something that was pretty rare a year ago. Then the two talk about Meg's newfound interest in the home shopping channel and give a quick We Got This update.
Nearly all of us will grapple with what it means to have privilege. Whether you have a lot or you have a little, our status in life is can be tied back to where we started or ways in which we have had an excess of good fortune. That discomfort can be a tool we use to remind ourselves to pursue equality and justice in the world.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about that discomfort and how to channel it into something positive and productive.
When you have a neighbor that isn't all that neighborhly it's easy to get stuck in the rut of hopelessness or to feel powerless. This week Meg and Alex talk about that feeling and how it's compounded in inner city spaces.
The 11th annual Heal the Hood event is just over one month away. This week, Meg and Alex welcome back the founder of Heal the Hood Ajamou Butler along with this years emcees Jamila Riley and Jamila Carney. Ajamou is a well known poet, motivational speaker, and author. Jamila Riley is the owner of J. Riley, a crochet accessories and apparel boutique located in the Sherman Phoenix in Milwaukee's Sherman Park neighborhood. Jamila Carney operates Agape Yogestry and is a sought after yoga instructor.
Be sure to check out the 11th annual Heal the Hood event on May 27th located on Burleigh St. between 8th and 12th streets in Milwaukee's Borchert Feild neighborhood.
Dynasty Ceasar from the Redress Movement joins the podcast this week. The Redress Movement, birthed out of the book The Color of Law, works to remedy and repair the wrongs associated with housing segregation in cities like Milwaukee across the country.
Jamie DeJesus is back, this time sharing some insights on how he approaches opportunities to do advocacy work. He shares some of his upcoming projects and talks about how we can be more aware of ways to enact change.
This week, Meg and Alex welcome back Jamie De Jesus to talk with Wylbur Holloway from Employ Milwaukee about the upcoming reentry simulation event. The group speaks about the importance of the event and gives some context around why someone might want to participate in a reentry simulation.
If interested, here is the link for the event:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/justdane-reentry-simulation-tickets-551653659947
This week Meg and Alex chat about the state of housing in 53206 and discuss some recent interactions with property wholesalers attempting to buy their house.
Milwaukee Historian Reggie Jackson returns to the podcast to discuss how Milwaukee became one of the most segregated major metropolitan areas in the country.
This week, Meg and Alex give an update on We Got This and dream a little about what could be coming down the road.
Areas dominated by poverty are significantly more likely to experience gun violence. This week Meg and Alex talk about an instance of gun violence that took place at the white house on the corner and make a case that the poor are the last ones that should have to deal with the effects of gun violence.
This week Meg and Alex talk to early childhood education expert, Ashley Harrell. Ashley gives context to the importance of early childhood education and helps to redefine what school for our youngest learners should be and could be.
The impact of one house's story shouldn't matter much, but when that same story plays out across a neighborhood or even a zip code, the effects can be devastating. This week, Meg and Alex provide some humanizing context to what happens when an inner city home is bought by an out of state investor and the effect it has on the neighborhood.
One house doesn't make a neighborhood, right? But what if that house used to be good for the block and now brings harm to the block. This podcast is a story of one house, that used be a blessing to the neighborhood but is now a liability.
This week's episode of the 53206 Cast is all about running. Chris Ponteri, who has run every street in the city of Milwaukee, Brian Hutchinson who is currently on a 9 year running streak and creator on instagram @mkejogwalker, along with Ashley Frahm, the Rufus King runner, join the podcast to talk about the surprising benefits of running in the city of Milwaukee.
Noel Kegel, president of Wheel and Sprocket, joins the show this week to talk about the impact bikes can have on a community. Meg and Alex interview Noel and offer a different take on what it means to be an advocate.
This week Meg and Alex sit down with long time Borchert Field resident and current real estate agent Tyesha Shareef to talk about the promotion of home ownership within the Black community.
This week, Alex and Meg talk about a couple of ways in which we can grow in our own understanding of what it might be like to be a justice involved individual trying make their way in the world.
This week Jamie is back for part 2 of his interview with Meg and Alex. Jamie talks about good things happening in the justice involved community and gives some insights on what the non-justice involved can do to better understand the unique circumstances of those who have been incarcerated.
This week Meg and Alex are joined by Jamie De Jesus. Jamie is the CEO of Innovative Solutions 2 Consulting and a Manufacturing Skills Standard Council Instructor. The three talk about cinnamon rolls, the criminal justice system, and good things happening in the justice involved community.
This week Meg and Alex give an update on some things going on at We Got This and talk about the progress at Charlie's house.
This week, Meg and Alex are joined by the team at Bay Bridge Wisconsin. In 2019, Anne O’Connor, Kathy Wurzer, and Jennifer Koop Olsta founded Bay Bridge as a mechanism to address racial inequalities within their community. The group discusses the past, present, and future of Bay Bridge and how the organizations like Bay Bridge can be used to enact social change.
It's easy to look at someone with a strong track record of community advocacy and think that we can never contribute in the say way as that individual. This week on The 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex talk about using your own talents, skills, and resources to enact change within your spaces.
Andre Lee Ellis is the founder of the Andre Lee Ellis Theater Company, We Got This Community Garden, and his latest endeavor, The Cage.
Meg and Alex sit down with Andre and discuss urban agriculture, theater production, and a vision for what our inner city spaces could be.
Meg and Alex are back to talking about libraries, specifically their neighborhood library and the possibility that it may be shut down. The two discuss this and pose the question, who should get the best or even who should we want the best for.
Meg and Alex are back one more time to recap the summer with We Got This. The two talk about what they learned from their first summer working with the program and throw out some ideas around what might be coming next.
The summer is coming to end which means that We Got This wrapped up its final week. Meg and Alex breakdown an exciting season finale for We Got This and talk about projecting ourselves outside of our current circumstances.
Meg and Alex are back and pose the question, are we doing a good job of taking care of the poor. Then the two discuss the concept of being neighborly and how challenging that can be in spaces where poverty is the dominant narrative. Afterward, the two talk about the Borchert Field Market event and Week 10 at We Got This.
This week Meg and Alex give a garden update for week 8 at We Got This and talk about how inequities are perpetuated when we fail to create environments where everyone is afforded similar opportunities regardless of socio-economic status.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. - MLK
On this week's episode of the 53206 Cast Meg and Alex throw out the idea that some of the conditions facing 53206 and inner city spaces across the country have a much greater impact to the surrounding areas than maybe we think. Then the two give an update on week 8 of the We Got This summer program.
Giving someone a little margin in their budget can make a world of difference to someone living in poverty. The challenge is finding ways to create that margin with whatever resources are already in your possession and in a way that is natural and easy. This week, Meg and Alex talk about ways to orient yourself to find those opportunities more regularly. Then the two give an update o week 6 at We Got This.
Margin is luxury not all of us have. When faced with a major life change, like moving, not having something many of us take for granted, like a vehicle, can cause a family to fall further behind. This week Alex and Meg talk about moving without a car and give an update on week 5 at We Got This.
Can what happens to one house drastically impact a neighborhood? What if the same thing happens to another house and then another? This week on the 53206 Cast Meg and Alex discuss what happened to Tiffany, how she ended up giving away her house, and what the net result has been for the neighborhood years later. Then the two give an update on week 4 at We Got This.
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the cultural narrative around dumping trash in alleys and how when we assume a place is one way, our collective actions tend to perpetuate or maintain the status quo. Then the two recap the third week of the We Got This Summer Program and share some exciting updates in the neighborhood.
On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex give an update from We Got This and talk about illegal dumping in the city.
The summer program at We Got This has officially kicked off and Meg and Alex give an update on how the first week went. Then the two talk about little league baseball and recovering from small traumatic events.
Meg and Alex are back on the pod talking about small people hugs, 2 am alarms, and privilege when it comes to margin.
The two also share some exciting news about We Got This and talk about some ways that listeners can help get involved with instilling change in 53206.
Milwaukee historian Reggie Jackson from Nurturing Diversity Partners joins the 53206 Cast to share his wealth of knowledge about the history of some of the dynamics at play within Milwaukee's central city. The group discusses how segregation is measured, some of the history behind highway locations, and the ever present and looming topic of gentrification.
Dismissing someones lived experiences and feeling a sense resignation around our circumstances never evolving are two of the topics discussed on this week's 53206 Cast. Meg and Alex breakdown how those dynamics can play out when re-thinking our inner city spaces and share a practical way to enact small change specifically in Milwaukee.
Referenced on this episode are two books, the first is by Majora Carter: Reclaiming Your Community. The second is by Rob Bell: Handling Your Fire.
This week Alex and Meg are joined by Ajamou Butler and Jessica Butler from Heal The Hood to talk about their upcoming event on May 28th in Milwaukee. The group discusses the origination of Heal The Hood and talk about ways to join in the movement around healing our inner city spaces.
Meg and Alex are back in the studio sharing their most controversial take to date. The two discuss the idea that it's harder to grow up in 53206 than it is where they are from. While that might be a bit of a stretch to think of that as controversial today, that hasn't always been the case and how recognizing and acknowledging the challenges young people face in 53206 is a step in the right for long term social change.
The thing about the inner city is that most people don't want it to stay how it is. People living in the suburbs don't love the negative outcomes they see on the news and those living here would prefer a decrease in acts of violence or crime in general. Luckily the solution is the same for both groups - be the change they want to see in the world. On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex dive into what it would look like to be the change and encourage listeners to take action within their own spheres of influence.
A curious part of living in the inner city is how close together hope and despair can be. A beautifully maintained house can be situated between two run-down abandoned buildings. Something exciting can be quickly interrupted by an act of violence and positive change can be overshadowed in an instant. On this weeks episode of the 53206 Cast Meg and Alex dive into that phenomenon and give some thoughts on how we can push for hope rather than despair.
The future of the inner city is many times siloed into going down two potential paths, continued denigration or gentrification. While a third option might not be readily available, Meg and Alex try to give shape to what that might look like as they think about the future of 53206.
When a person has little to no frame of reference around how someone else might experience life, it can be difficult to empathize. That difficulty shouldn't be a reason to not engage in that work. Meg and Alex tackle this topic and more on the latest episode of the 53206 Cast.
The 53206 Cast welcomes back Ashley Frahm to the podcast. Ashley talks about a recent shooting that took place outside of Rufus King High School within eyesight of her house. She shares how she approached processing the event with her children and gives some insight on some of the trickle down effects of gun violence.
On this special episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex welcome their 11 year old daughter Mae to the show. An avid consumer of podcasts herself, Mae shares insights on what it's like growing up in the inner city.
Meg and Alex are back to talk about the curious tendency we have to diminish the severity of tragedy based on our pre-conceptions of the inner city. The two discuss a recent mass shooting and give some practical advice on how we can re-think horrific events that take place across our inner cities.
On this week's episode of the 531206 Cast, we cover pre-teen slumber parties, flat tires, and our unfortunate tendency to judge what we don't understand.
Sometimes it's hard to be an advocate because the problems are so massive and the entry points aren't clearly defined. On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex talk about the adjacent possible and how anyone can shift their habits toward rewriting the narrative around inner cities by making small tweaks to their thoughts and actions.
A home is a lot more than just a roof over our heads. A home in great condition is blessing. A home in disrepair is a curse. On this episode we talk about the process of re-renovating the first rental property and what has changed on the block since we bought this house in 2016.
If cities or even neighborhoods have self esteem, what would the self esteem of the inner city be? On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex dive into the topic of macro self esteem and give some practical advice to helping create a greater level of self esteem within our poorest and most marginalized places.
Meg and Alex are excited to have on their first guests ever to the 53206 Cast. Not only are Phil and Ashley Frahm family, they are former residents of 53206 and currently live in the inner city of Milwaukee too. The four talk about perceptions around living in an inner city neighborhood and talk about how they arrived at the decision to live in a place very different than where they were from.
One of the best ways to work against systemic inequity is to pay attention for situations where one group is left out more predictably than your own. Meg and Alex tackle how this impacts the inner city and give some practical advice on how you can work toward creating a more equitable society on this episode of the 53206 Cast.
Like in many inner cities, the neighborhoods in 53206 experience traumatic events at a predictably higher rate than other places outside of our cities. On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex sit down and talk trauma and how traumatic events can impact children's ability to be successful in school.
In part 2 of Meg and Alex's conversation around their house being broken into, Meg processes through the feeling of being a bad mother for putting her children in a situation where they were more likely to be the victim of a crime.
On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex process through their house being broken into. The two spend some time talking about the differences in living in an area with high concentrations of poverty and the correlation with assuming you'll be the victim of a crime simply because you live in the inner city.
Need is everywhere. In 53206 the needs are pervasive, but meeting those needs in the moment they prevent themselves can be the challenge. On this week's episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex share an example of attempting to meet a need, a need which highlights the disparity in resources found in our inner cities.
On this episode of the 53206 cast, the two continue the conversation around poverty and give some context around debunking the idea that living in poor neighborhood is a bad thing. Meg and Alex also share some exciting news about the 53206 podcasting community - www.podmke.com.
Meg and Alex use the design thinking process to lay out what they think are three themes for social change and offer suggestions for how to engage with that change.
There's a ton of pain and tragedy in the inner city, but part of rethinking these spaces is seeing the positives of life here. On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex talk through one positive aspect of living in the poorest zip code in Wisconsin.
When a child commits a crime, it's easy to blame the kid. It's easy to blame the parent. But that doesn't lead anywhere productive, because nothing ever changes. On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex give a different take in an attempt to create actual change.
Meg and Alex are back for season 2 of the 53206 Cast. On this episode, the duo breaks down some wild events they witnessed during their son's little league baseball game. From drug use to car crashes, the inner city never fails to provide interesting interesting life experiences.
Meg and Alex are back in the sitting room talking about a practical application of empathy and how you can harness the power of empathy to better understand the inner city.
Meg and Alex are back in the sitting room finishing up their two part series on poverty and the idea that someone can or cannot be ok with poverty existing in our inner cities. The two talk through their own growth in understanding the effects of poverty and talk through some of the various levels of understanding around poverty.
On this episode of the 53206 Cast Meg and Alex talk about different levels of understanding when it comes to processing through the effects of poverty on an individual. We can understand that poverty is bad (surface). We can internalize the what the effects of poverty have on an individual to the point that our mindsets are changed (deep) and we can allow this understanding to move us to change (transfer).
For 15 years Alex and Meg have lived in the 53206 zip code - the poorest zip code in Wisconsin. Naively, the thought they were moving in to change the world. Predictably, that didn't happen, but the desire to create lasting change in their neighborhood never left the two. On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex share what they they have learned about creating social change and offer three areas to focus on.
On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex get a little controversial and talk about white saviors or, more specifically, how they interpret and interact with the idea that someone could be a white savior.
Meg and Alex are back in the sitting room talking about creating change through system disruptions and how that might actually play out.
School, everyone has to go, but not everyone has the same results when they are done. On this episode of the 53206 Cast Alex and Meg talk about education, specifically whats working, what isn't, and what the point of all of it is.
On this episode of the 53206 Cast Meg and Alex talk about passing our girl scout cookies and how something simple in one area becomes complicated in the inner city. Then the two make the correlation between decreasing personal comfort and increasing purpose and share how that can be done in an intentional way to increase diversity in inner city spaces.
On a Sunday morning while trying to avoid a pile of leftover work tasks from the week, Alex stumbled upon an argument on Facebook. The argument more or less divided people into two camps: personal responsibility and communal responsibility. On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Alex and Meg talk about a third approach, one that integrates the other to and creates plans for actual change.
On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex share some of their thoughts on whose responsibility it is for some of the injustices happening in their neighborhood.
A lot of crazy things happen in the inner city. On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex share some of the recent oddities they have come across in their neighborhood.
Meg and Alex are back talking about a couple of quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and some of the parallels from the early 1960's and life in a poor almost all black neighborhood today. While a lot has changed in the last almost 60 years, there are still steps needed to put things back to how they should be.
Meg and Alex sit down and share a big announcement on this episode of the 53206 Cast. Plus the duo talk through an interesting multi-generational drug deal and how the cycle of poverty is many times perpetuated through educational structures.
On this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex talk about a couple of observations from the recent holiday gift drive at the community garden.
Meg and Alex spend some time talking about one of the unintended consequences of living in the inner city, anxiety. A low grade anxiety tends to hover around the their neighborhood and the two try to put some words around what they and a lot of other residents of their neighborhood regularly feel.
Meg and Alex are back in the sitting room talking about the flow of money in and out of a neighborhood and how small business investment, both by business owners and patrons from outside of the immediate area can make tangible positive changes in a community.
On this episode of the 53206 Cast Meg and Alex continue talking through Reddit comments around the question - what is the public perception around 53206 or inner cities in general? The duo tackles the concept of avoiding certain areas and the cyclically detrimental effects that can have on a neighborhood.
Meg and Alex continue their series around public perceptions of their neighborhood. On this episode, they respond to the idea that drug houses exist and the struggle around getting help removing them.
Meg and Alex are back starting a new series around how perceptions about the inner city rarely match reality. In this episode the duo takes in the idea that 53206 and inner cities in general are violent, crime ridden places.
Meg and Alex are back in the sitting room reflecting on the recent passing of Lucille Bridges. 60 years ago Lucille brought her daughter Ruby to school. While that is normal for us today, it was anything but that in Louisiana in 1960.
In this episode of the 53206 cast, Meg asks Alex what the most surprising thing about living in the inner city is.
Meg and Alex talk shop, whatever that means, around education, specifically inequities in educational outcomes. The couple dives into some of the causes of a student not graduating high school to give a little insight on one of the more alarming statistics around education - the fact that the graduation rate in Wisconsin for African American students in the last year was 71% while white students graduated much more predictably, to the tune of 94%.
In this episode of the 53206 Cast, Meg and Alex talk housing and the weird dynamic in the inner city where you might live next to a house that can't be given away, yet there is always someone trying to buy your house.
Meg and Alex continue their Sunday morning conversation and talk politics, well sort of. The two discuss some fears they have about the upcoming election, but attempt to do so as neutrally as possible to not take away from the the larger narrative around racial reconciliation.
Meg and Alex are back in the sitting room to talk about a powerful experience they had recently at the We Got This garden. A semi truck dropped off 1,000 boxes of food which was given out to families in need in about 3 hours. The two talk about what happened and how seeing so much need makes them rethink how much is really enough.
Meg and Alex sit down to talk about a startling realization that in the course of 9 blocks, one could walk or drive from the location of a recent murder, past two other murder scenes, past their own house and arrive at the location of the fourth murder all of which took place over the last 6 months.
Hearing gunshots in the 53206 zip code isn't something all that uncommon. Hearing 50 of them at 8 o'clock on a Wednesday night is. Meg and Alex sit down in the sitting room to talk about hearing that many gunshots on an otherwise beautiful night.
Meg and Alex answer a listener question about what happens when they return home to the inner city. Then Meg tells a crazy story about police chases and watching someone get before the duo starts to explain the statistics behind Milwaukee being considered one of, if not, the most segregated city in America.
Cited content:
http://www.censusscope.org/us/m5080/chart_exposure.html
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2018/12/17/black-white-segregation-edges-downward-since-2000-census-shows/
Meg and Alex pick up where the conversation in episode 21 left off around suspension rates in Wisconsin schools. The two give some thoughts around whether this is an individual problem, a school problem, or a system problem.
Statistics mentioned in this episode:
Wisconsin school enrollment:
White: 588,000
Black: 77,000
Economically Disadvantaged: 362,000
Not Economically Disadvantaged: 493,000
Number of suspensions:
White: 24,000
Black: 32,000
Economically Disadvantaged: 57,000
Not Economically Disadvantaged: 16,000
Article talking about the wealth gap between white and black families:
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/02/27/examining-the-black-white-wealth-gap/
Meg and Alex answer a couple of listener questions regarding Meg's business. Then the duo talk about what has changed in the 53206 zip code since George Floyd's murder and talk through one of the symptoms of systemic racism.
Meg and Alex finish up their Sunday Morning conversation around two quotes:
- Equity is about reducing the predictability of who succeeds and who fails.
and
- The neighborhood gave up on me so I gave up on myself.
The We Got This Garden was mentioned a couple of times and is linked here.
Meg and Alex are back in the sitting room to talk about the design thinking process and how to take all of the information learned while empathizing with our neighbors and use it to begin to define one of many problems that exist in 53206 - educational outcomes.
Show Notes:
Measuring Success - Riding from North Division to Fox Point
Interviewing 1000 Failures
6 Anti-Karen Attitudes for The Next Time You Want to Get a Pizza
Meg and Alex are back and talking about some of positive aspects of living in a place that can be highly unpredictable.
Meg and Alex talk about the eye opening and heart breaking experience of walking through their first rental property.
Meg and Alex are back in the sitting room talking about the only negative pushback they have ever gotten about living in the inner city. Gentrification is a big concern in urban planning circles and the duo has some thoughts about the potential for gentrifying the 53206 zip code.
Meg and Alex share some big news about Ms. Maggie's house and give another example of why life is more exciting if you have an alley.
Meg and Alex finish up their three part series on potential responses to the notion that they live in a bad neighborhood. In the conclusion the two talk about "bad" as wrong or not right and that maybe the bad actually means injustice is being perpetuated.
Historically, 53206 has gotten a bit of a bad rap. In part 1, Meg and Alex talked about how their neighborhood not only isn't that bad, but actually really great. That was the first of three rebuttals the two have to offer when someone thinks of where they live as a bad neighborhood. In part 2, the duo gives the second rebuttal - maybe bad actually means something different.
Meg and Alex talk about about the first of three rebuttals to someone thinking their neighborhood is "bad" - defending it. 53206 doesn't have a lot of cheerleaders and the two have a conversation around what they have seen and why their neighborhood not only isn't bad, but is actually really good.
When we are around someone doing something wild or dangerous, a typical response is to be angry or afraid. Meg and Alex talk about crazy driving in the inner city of Milwaukee and offer another way of looking it - as a cry for help.
Meg and Alex talk about some of the conversations they have had with their 7 and 9 year old children.
Disclaimer: This isn't a how to talk to your kids about police brutality podcast. It's more of a what did we talk to our kids about police brutality podcast.
A rather unfortunate automotive predicament leads Alex and Meg into a discussion on how the same situation can be an inconvenience for one person and a life changing event for another.
Over spring break in 2006 Meg and Alex went on a trip with 30 of their closest friends to Mississippi to gut houses and learn about what life is like in the inner city of Jackson. Little did they know that would be the catalyst for their decision to move into the 53206 zip code in the inner city of Milwaukee.
Meg and Alex give an update on how virtual school is going for their kids in Milwaukee Public Schools and talk about how/why some of the people from the neighborhood won't be able to engage with learning in at the same level as their own kids.
Meg and Alex talk about what they remember from spending a week in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and discuss what would happen if a natural disaster of a similar scale hit their neighborhood. Plus the two talk about a couple of signs of change in the right direction.
Meg asks Alex, an experienced educator, about some things parents can do to ensure their child receives a high quality education during virtual learning and how virtual learning can inadvertently create further inequities in education.
Plus the two share some signs of change - positive things from our inner city neighborhood.
Meg and Alex talk about a people sleeping in cars in their neighborhood and give an update on Ms. Maggie.
Meg and Alex talk about how the effects of predatory lending during the early 2000's are still being felt in Milwaukee's inner city neighborhoods.