GCC Community Talks

Working While Black [in Germantown]

July 19, 2023 Germantown Community Coalition Season 4 Episode 26
GCC Community Talks
Working While Black [in Germantown]
Show Notes

"But that doesn't happen in our community..."
Join hosts Kim Grant and Tony Keys with Victor Dione in the guest seat for an important conversation about what it's like to be black while working in the predominantly white suburbs of Milwaukee, WI, including Germantown. Decades of some of the worst segregation in the country continues to take a toll on non-white community members. It's time to talk about it and then be about changing it because we are either part of the problem or part of the solution.

Be About It:
• GCC’s Board of Directors has sent a statement to Victor’s company asking for a plan of action to address the threats to their workers’ safety that includes investment in community education programs, improved safety procedures to prevent incidents like this from occurring, and more robust mental health services for their employees that specifically addresses the harm caused by on the job stress.
• Educate yourself and others on how to be aware of your biases before they cause someone else harm. Attend GCC’s presentation with Judge Derek Moseley on November 13th  “Unconscious Bias: Knowing What You Don’t Know.”
• Build a safe, welcoming neighborhood. Step one is meeting your neighbors. If you don’t know at least five of your neighbors please commit to introducing yourself to at least one person within the week. Next week, meet more and keep building community. Isolation and loneliness lead to more negative consequences than we could ever cover in one podcast.
• Ask the service workers dispatched to your neighborhood if they need anything like a drink or snack especially if they are working hard to help you personally. Make them feel welcomed and appreciated instead of threatened for trying to be of service and just doing their jobs. 
• Advocate for common sense gun laws to start tackling the U.S. gun violence epidemic. Three great organizations to support: Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, and Sandy Hook Promise.
• Thank you to our members who make this programming possible; you can become a member today on our website https://www.germantowncommunitycoalition.org/support-us.