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To mid mornings on Civic Media, my name is Greg Bach.
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I have for you.
I don't, I, we, between Tucker, between Calvin, Calvin's on the board doing the ones and twos.
Good morning, Calvin.
How are you today, by the way?
I'm doing pretty well, Greg.
It's glad it's Thursday.
We're almost to the end of the week.
Yeah.
But we're going to get punished for it being the end of the week because it's going to be dangerously cold.
That's right, folks.
Be on the lookout.
A deep extreme winter warning is coming our way tomorrow.
Starting tomorrow, I believe at noon, going through Saturday and then from on through Saturday.
No, sorry.
I'm wrong.
I'm wrong.
I was listening to Dan Hanning this morning, starting midnight tonight.
That's what starts the winter.
cold warning and then on Saturday we go into a watch so please be safe bundle up make sure you are keeping all the things that you need to stay warm hats gloves scarves second gloves if you need them but just stay warm be aware and
Keep it locked here at Civic Media for all your weather updates that you need.
We have a fantastic show for you today.
It's kind of an oops, all guests show today.
Didn't plan it, but here we are, and I'm happy about it.
After the 930 news, we've got Angela Lang, who is the founder and executive director of Black Leaders Organizing Communities here to talk about.
News coming out of Milwaukee where there was a, there was a decision from MPS on their SROs and defining their roles within the schools.
We'll talk about that.
We're also going to talk about a proposed amendment that was passed through the Senate regarding DEI that has been a hot button issue for the GOP for the past few years, discussing what that amendment will mean for Wisconsinites and just DEI in general and the classic misclassification of what DEI actually is and who benefits from those.
types of programs.
And then after the 10 o'clock news, it is Jim Santel.
He is the host of amicus, a law review.
He is going to be here talking about all the news coming out of the world, the law, including some Supreme court.
happenings yesterday.
Jesus, it's the morning.
Russian a lot here.
So yesterday there was testimony, there was opening statements in the Supreme Court.
We're going to talk about that.
Talk about some news out of the Trump administration regarding the dismissal of a very, very controversial figure and anything else that he would like to discuss because when he comes here, it's like a mini law class.
every single week.
And if you want to catch more from that, he does host amicus, a law review, nine AM to 11 AM every Saturday on civic media.
If you can't catch it live, you can always go to civicmedia.us slash shows, catch up.
You can listen to all the episodes.
I believe he's on episode 183 this week.
That's according to Jean from Eau Claire, but also, yeah, it's going to be great.
And then 10 35 Paul Noonan from the Acme packing company, stopping by to talk all things sports, big breaking news with the brewers.
The Packers still not going to Super Bowl this year and people might be really happy that the better is lost, but we'll be talking about that news coming out of the Packers organization.
And if we have time to talk about the bucks, we could talk about the bucks, but I don't know if you want to talk about the bucks right now.
Lots of great stuff still ahead, but I said it was oops, all guests and you're probably thinking yourself, but Greg, there's no guest here right now.
Well, that's not true.
Not true at all.
I do have a guest.
Our guest is civic media's political editor.
and founder of the Recombobulation Area, Mr. Dan Schaefer is here this morning as a big surprise, surprise everybody.
Good morning, Dan.
Good morning, Mr. Greg Bach.
How are you today?
I'm doing quite peachily keen, trying to stay warm.
Even in my flannel, I'm chilly, but we want to, yeah, please, please, please, please, please stay warm in the next few days, because it's going to get deep, deep cold in this January winter in Wisconsin.
Um, you know, just, I figured you were stopping by to say hi, talk about life, the news, whatever, what, you know, what's going on friend.
Well, uh, we had a big event last night, Greg.
Did you hear about this one?
I did hear about this one.
It took place in, let me get to see if I got this right.
It took place in Milwaukee at the Coopridge and you were the moderator of the main street candidates forum.
That's right.
That's right.
We had seven top Democrats running for governor on stage together for the first time last night in Milwaukee at the Coopridge.
I had the honor of being the moderator for the event that was hosted by our friends at Main Street Action.
It was, you know, I was just absolutely fascinated to see how everything would go.
You know, being a moderator, juggling a lot of things from being on stage there, figuring out this for time and this for people getting on and off the stage and all of that.
But I think we had a terrific event.
The turnout was incredible.
It was absolutely packed at the Cooperage.
I think we had more than 300 people there.
Oh
my goodness.
All of the campaigns had setups around there.
You know, civic media had a setup there.
We were live streaming the event so if in case you did miss it You can go to the civic media YouTube channel after this show of course And go check that out But it was a terrific discussion and I'm talking about so many of the issues that I think are going to be really important ones for Wisconsin for the next year and you know, we have had
I know on this show and others, Sean Fetaplace from Main Street Action has been on here and talking about issues like ones that matter to the Main Street economy, issues that matter to small business owners.
Wisconsin is a small business state, and as I was doing some research and prep for the event last night, it came across some statistics that show that more than 99% of...
businesses in Wisconsin are small businesses, and nearly half of the people in this state are employed at a small business.
So Wisconsin is a small business state.
When Main Street does well, Wisconsin does well,
and it was
great to have this conversation with those seven candidates together on stage for the first time.
And if I'm not mistaken, this is kind of the big first event of the campaign season.
You know, we've seen announcements.
We've seen videos.
We've, there have been a lot of singular interviews.
I know Chad Holmes up in both falls has done a lot of great sit down talks with individual candidates, but this is really the first one with a multiple, multitude of individuals running for the office.
Correct?
Yeah, that's right.
I mean this is this is the democratic field You know
last
week we were looking at those fundraising numbers to see you know kind of who would be in the mix if if you know the many people who announced You know in the fall and early winter there are going to be you know viable candidates and they all raised enough to be that and now we got to see them on stage together and Talking about these issues.
So just to run through the list of candidates quickly here.
It was a lieutenant governor Sarah Rodriguez
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, State Representative Francesca Hong, State Senator Kelda Royce, former WEDC CEO, Missy Hughes, former DOA Secretary Joel Brennan, and former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes.
And so we had all of them up last night.
We had questions from a group of panelists from Main Street Action.
They asked a number of questions about childcare, health care, access to capital.
issues that Main Street Action is all so very involved in and had some other audience questions that we were able to get to as well.
And for me, it was also just as interesting to see this group of candidates kind of interact with each other a little bit on stage too and where everybody was sitting and how people were talking before and after the event and coming together and delivering these messages.
not just in a, you know, one-on-one interview or at a campaign stop or whatever, but with all of these candidates assembled together.
So a lot of takeaways.
I'm still processing a lot of what happened last night, but it was a, it was a really terrific event.
If you're just joining us on mid mornings on civic media, we're talking to Dan Schaefer, the founder of the recombobulation area, civic media's political editor, as well as the host and moderator of last night's candidate form, a sponsor by or put on by.
main street action and at the Cooperage in Milwaukee.
And what was the general energy and tenor of the questions coming from the audience?
What was the thing that was really working them up that they wanted to find out more about these individuals who want the job of governor?
Yeah, I mean, so we had, we had so many people register for the event and most of them had submitted the questions when registering.
It was one of the options that you had there.
And
I think before the event even started, we had nearly 100 questions that were submitted.
So there was a lot of interest in, you know, certainly the topics that
that Main Street Action involved with a lot of questions about health care.
Not a huge surprise there, considering all that has happened at the federal level and, you know, kind of what can be done at the state level as well.
Affordability was a big thing.
Childcare was a big thing.
And, you know, we had a lot.
I mean, we were only able to ask one question about it by the end of the night, but there were a lot of questions about ICE activity in Minneapolis, about the federal overreach there, about how, you know, this can play out.
in a campaign setting.
And so we had it set up so that half the panel was answering one question, and then the other half of the panel was answering the next.
And we did give the whole panel an opportunity to answer that question about Minneapolis, too.
You know, again, these are all Democrats, so they're not going to have, like, huge swings from one candidate to the next about what their approach is going to be and so many of these issues.
You know, I think there's going to be plenty of opportunities for a lot of these candidates to distinguish themselves over the next, you know, eight months, because I do think this is going to be a competitive primary all the way until August.
And so, but I think, you know, it also just showed I think a lot of these kind of kitchen table bread and butter issues.
that people always say, Oh, Democrats need to get back to focusing on the economy, focusing on what matters to regular people.
And I think these are those types of issues, you know, these healthcare, childcare, paid leave, starting a business, you know, all of that is, is something that matters to people around their kitchen table.
And you're right.
It's this is we are on like the first steps of a very long road.
And I know that there was, you know, there was a donation.
Information released recently last week, they were talking about who's made the most money, who's making money where, and you know, you know, one candidate can say like, I've made a lot of money off of small donations.
So another, you know, and this isn't even just the, this isn't the Democrats with the GOP, people making a lot of money off of maybe three donor, but we still have a long ways to go.
And there's still a lot of work to do.
And while some people have made more money than others, I think there is still time for folks to make headway, get out there knocking on doors, going to events, going to town halls.
And really, I think if anything we've seen is that you may have five or six people who can give you tons of money, but we still see folks giving five, $10.
And that's also what matters too, because that means the message is getting out there in the streets.
Yeah, absolutely, you know that that was really fascinating.
So last week we had the campaign finance reports this week We have this first forums and now this this primary is often running And I think you know the seven candidates that we had on stage last night I think you know they're all going to be we're all going to be hearing a lot more from them in the coming weeks and months here in Wisconsin and I you know one of the things that I always think is True is that there's always going to be a Wisconsin race that previews what happens
happens nationally.
And there's so much talk about where the Democratic Party goes from here.
Maybe we find that answer in this primary.
Maybe we find out whoever emerges from this, what their message is going to be.
Maybe that can be a message that the Democrats can listen to and take nationally as well.
And I want to talk about that on the other side of the break really quick about this year and I feel like this year for Wisconsin, the amount of elections we have and what they determine are going to be a big factor in what will lead us possibly to 12.
that's going to be more with Dan Schaefer on the other side.
Go grab some snacks, grab some hydration, keep warm, get a get a hand warmer if you need it.
But we'll be talking more with Dan Schaefer.
He is the founder of the Reconpopulation Area and Civic Media's political editor right here on mid mornings on Civic Media.
My name is Greg Bach.
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Welcome, welcome back to mid mornings on civic media.
My name is Greg Bach.
I'm your buddy, your pal, your friend and all things politics and information.
You can be part of the conversation by calling or texting.
The number is the same 855-752-4842-855-75 civic.
Leave a comment on that live stream.
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We still call Twitter still ahead.
After the 9 30 news, we have Angela Lang was the executive director and founder of block black leaders, organizing communities, talking
about news out of Milwaukee, including SRO announcements from M MPS and a proposed amendment from the Wisconsin state house on DEI, which will be no surprise to anyone when we talk about that.
And Jim Santel in the second hour talking to all things law, all things sports with Paul Noonan, but now
It's all things politics.
It's oops, all guests today.
That's what I'm talking about here on Thursday on mid mornings with Dan Schaefer, founder of the recombobulation area and civic media's political editor discussing last night's event at the Coop Ridge, which was the Main Street candidates forum and the first big forum of the 2026 gubernatorial race here in Wisconsin.
And I don't know, like, let me ask you a question, Dan.
Was there, I'm sorry.
Is there an election you can think of?
in Wisconsin that is so as you put it before.
both telling and important because we're looking at the ballot here and it is going to be state Senate, state assembly for the possibility of the Democrats controlling it for the first time in, in 15 years.
We're talking about candidates making a real run for the first congressional district here in Wisconsin, Rebecca Cook against, uh, Derek, well, not just Rebecca Cook, but like Derek Van Orton going up against possibly Rebecca Cook and others in the primary.
And then the governors, what does that determine for Wisconsin?
And then how does it
frame the election for 2028 I
mean I think there's so much there just for for 2026 this is again the first real opportunity for Democrats to win a trifecta in Wisconsin in more than 15 years and I think the
You know, I wrote a column about this a few weeks ago.
I think there's a very good, very realistic chance for Democrats to flip the Senate.
I think the Assembly is going to be a little bit tougher.
We saw some fundraising numbers on that come in last week.
The Republican Assembly Committee outraised the Democratic Committee based on pretty much just donations from Liz Uline and Diane Hendricks.
The fact that this trifecta is on the line, that there is the first open race for governor in the state of Wisconsin since 2010, I think this is just going to be a landmark year for Wisconsin politics.
And I think we're seeing kind of the right side of the aisle.
The gubernatorial primary there isn't quite as spicy, I don't think.
It just seems like it's Tom Tiffany being
pretty far out in front and Josh Showman still running, I guess.
He's always
mad about something.
We don't need to get into Josh right now.
But you know what, I think there's been a lot of people who've talked about this democratic field, and I think some of my friends on the right have not had some particularly kind things to say about this field.
couldn't disagree with that more.
I think this is a really strong bench that Democrats have.
And I think last night's event showed that.
I think all of the seven candidates are there.
We're on stage had really compelling things to say.
And I
think
they all had they all have certainly qualified for the role.
And I think
you're going to see, um, you know, some of these, I think kind of micro primaries within this primary because that's such a large field.
Like, is there a progressive lane to go after?
Is there, uh, is there another, you know, um, more moderate and who's going to grab that?
Who's going to, you know, be the candidate from, you know, the southeastern Wisconsin where there's so many voters from who's going to be the candidate that's going to speak to the Madison voters, who's going to, you know, have a little bit more reach statewide.
I think this is going to be really, you know, interesting to see those types of conversations within the primary.
too.
But again, big pictures, zooming out, 30,000 foot view, all of the cliches, right?
This is this is a opportunity that we have not seen for Democrats in Wisconsin in a generation.
And I think there's two main points from that I want to take away.
One, I think when you talk about the usual suspects of the U lines and the Hendricks or Hendricks and
that big money coming through.
We saw that last year with Elon Musk and Wisconsin didn't like that.
And I think we shouldn't just equate big money coming from the big billionaire.
We should look at it from our local billionaires as well.
And Elon Musk has made it clear that he wants to get back into local politics again.
So I think when we talk about that, we should say, do we want these individuals determining our destinies?
Do we want these individuals giving their money to a few candidates to say, well, that's my guy and that's going to be the one right now that we are
the people.
And it means that we can give five, ten, fifteen dollars.
That money makes a difference.
Ask Francesca Hong about small donations from many people.
Ask Barack Obama in 2008.
Small donations from many people.
And, you know, I think the other thing too that we'll have to be reckoned with is that with a deep bench from the Democrats, there needs to be some consolidation too.
It's got to be
It can't be, well, I don't like that person cause they don't say exactly what I don't, what I like.
So I'm not going to vote for them.
It can't, it can't, we can't do that.
They can't
do that.
It cannot be protest votes or sitting it out because so-and-so isn't the person I like.
If you don't like what's going on right now, you have to consolidate, come together, compromise, move forward together and work together.
That's the only way it gets done.
Yep.
Yep.
And I think focusing on the issues that we talked about at the forum last night, talking about the Main Street economy issues, talking about small business owners, talking about what really matters to family's pocketbooks when
it
comes to affordability and all that.
I think that those are the types of issues that I think are going to matter.
You know, Mandela Barnes even unveiled one, you know, kind of policy proposal in as part of the forum last night and saying that wanted to give some assistance to grocery
stores that might be closing.
We've had a run of grocery stores closing in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Milwaukee.
So I think focusing on just real world problems and trying to address the needs of Main Street, that's what we wanted to focus on in that form last night.
That's, I think, can be a guide for these folks for the rest of the primary too.
Absolutely.
And we've got a long road ahead and we'll be covering that throughout 2026.
Dan Schaefer is the founder of the recombobulation area, as well as civic media's political editor.
If you want to catch a replay of that form, you can go to civicmedia.us.
It'll be right there.
You can watch the replay, but we'll be talking more about this in the future.
Thank you so much, Dan, for stopping by this morning.
Thanks, Greg.
Good to see you, buddy.
All right.
We'll talk to you sooner than later.
After the break, we have Angela Lang from black leaders, organizing communities block here to talk about all the news coming out of Milwaukee.
Don't go anywhere.
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I know you're not forgetting right now if you live in Wisconsin or in the surrounding areas.
It is
It's going to be very cold and starting tonight through Friday there through Friday afternoon.
There will be an extreme.
cold warning happening.
And then from Friday through Saturday, there will be an extreme cold watch, but we're talking, we're talking zero below zero temperatures, very, very, very, very cold wind chills coming through as well.
Right now we're sitting at about 12 degrees here at radio park.
It's going to get colder.
So please take care, be safe, bundle up.
Might want to pack some stuff extra in your car, blankets, whatnot, in case you've hopefully not
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The next few days next, actually next week is going to be very, very cold, but the next two days are going to be incredibly bad.
So just take care of yourself and take warning.
So if you need anything else from that, go to civicmedia.us.
You can find out all that weather information.
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I'm just putting it out there right now.
Remember, after the 10 o'clock news in the second hour, we're talking to Jim Santel.
He is the host of Amicus, a law review talking about all of the big
stories coming out of the world of law, including opening statements in the Supreme Court yesterday regarding the president's power to fire federal workers and some other things going on, including the letting go slash firing of a very controversial figure from the Trump White House.
More about that in the second hour, Paul Noonan with sports at 1030.
And then today we're going to end the show with a little piece of advice from Greg.
We'll find some music later, but a little piece of advice, a little
heads up on a scam that's running through Wisconsin for those who might be looking at weight loss drugs.
But right now, we've got her on the phone to talk about all things coming out of the world in Milwaukee.
She is the executive director of Black Leaders Organizing Community.
She's the founder of the group as well.
My friend, consistent and constant awesome person in my life, Angela Lang.
Angela, good morning.
How are you today?
I'm good.
Hey friend.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Good morning.
So when I want to talk to you, I want to like, I kind of want to just like leave it up to you and we're discussing stuff because there's so much coming out of the world of Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin.
And I want you to, you know, get it all out there because.
I feel like there are aspects of the world that you work with on a daily basis that a lot of people don't know about, but still affect us.
And one thing I wanted to kick off, you talked about news coming out of the MPS school board and an approval on a new policy.
Can you talk more about that regarding SROs?
Yeah, so the other night, the Milwaukee school board actually had a committee meeting where one of the school board directors, the chair of this committee,
put forth a resolution to have more parameters and have more boundaries and accountability for school resource officers.
And for folks that may not have SROs or school resource officers in their schools, this was a product of Act 12.
And so when we have the shared revenue debate, one of the conditions is that we have to put basically cops back in schools.
Unfortunately, what that had to do with increasing the sales tax, nothing, but these are some of the poison pills that Republicans
put in there.
I think it's also worth noting that in 2020, due to the leadership of the students, especially after the George Floyd murder and protest, they were able to get the school board to sever ties with the Milwaukee police department.
So that passed overwhelmingly.
The school board and their authority said we're going to
several times Milwaukee Public Schools, but unfortunately Act 12 changed that and overrode their democratic process and said you have to put cops back in schools.
and up until then we have seen that there has been reports the journal sentinel came out with a report the other day saying that the bulk of the interactions with school resource officers are to black students and for things that you necessarily don't need to call the cops
on
and we see that this is only a pathway for the school to prison and the school to deportation
Pipeline we've seen how our students when they're speaking out there at risk of whether it's things like ice or cops in schools Now is not the time to let officers in our schools and basically have free reign
and that's something I want to make clear too because you know
During the during the break we were talking about that not everybody has experiences with SROs and not real and everyone knows we see videos of varying degrees We'll see videos that are put out by organizations whether it's schools or whomever saying the officer is a friendly person and they're waving and patting and patting backs and high-fiving and playing basketball and that's great And I think to a certain extent that's what they should they should be connecting with the students But a lot of times that's not the case and essentially SROs essentially as is a police officer
officer in school.
It's a, I feel like it's a fancy title for a police officer in the school.
Correct?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And one of the topics that actually came up as well is that these are full armed, um, fully uniformed police officers.
This is not somebody wearing a polo that says Milwaukee public school, school resource officer with maybe pepper spray and a baton, which we wouldn't even want anyways, but this is something where you walk into the school.
These are literal cops.
Right?
And what does that mean for especially black and brown kids that are going to school and feel like they're already walking into a jail or a prison when they're supposed to be learning, understanding that we have lead in our water.
If we really want to connect everything, we have lead in our water.
There's a lot of our kids and our young people that have been exposed to lead in the drinking water, which leads to behavioral issues, which leads to, you know, students may be acting out.
Is that something that the police need to be called on and putting these kids on
a path to the school to prison or deportation pipeline.
I don't think
so.
It also sounds like a need for investment from the state and maybe funding our schools through our biennium budgets, but that's a whole other conversation for
another time.
You mentioned, you mentioned, you know, I'm sure our listeners are aware of at least the terms of school to prison pipeline, but you said school to.
deportation pipeline.
Angela, can you speak more on that and how everything has changed maybe in the past couple of years with regard to, as you said, protesting and young people who face consequences of being deported?
Absolutely.
I mean, I said this and I testified in front of the school board the other night.
I am a proud product of Milwaukee Public
Schools.
We didn't have school resource officers.
We had maybe twice a year where they brought in a metal detector and they made us sit in the cafeteria so everyone went through it, right?
But now, what does it look like knowing that young folks are afraid to go to school?
Parents, especially folks that are immigrants, whether they're undocumented or not, are afraid to bring their students to school for fear of ICE just
indiscriminately picking people up whether they're citizens or not.
We've heard many reports of even college students that had nothing to do with anything, haven't done anything wrong, but are being deported for no other reason.
We've also seen a large, and this has happened over every generation of the student movement that I've seen, whether it's back in my day or in the civil rights movement, we see a concerted repression around students that are speaking out that often tend to be targeted as well.
And especially under this Trump administration,
being able to even speak out can be criminal offense these days.
If you're just joining us on mid mornings on civic media, we're speaking with Angela Lang, who is the executive director and founder of block black leaders, organizing communities.
We're talking about the news from the MPS school board about the redefinition of SROs and the schools and the def and what the SROs are as far as what kids see and how the
recent activities in the past, well, not recent, the past couple of years have affected the school life for children, especially those who could face deportations.
Now, I'll just get right to the heart of it then, you know, with regard to Minneapolis, to Minnesota, everything that's happening right next door to us, what is the tenor in, in the schools and in Milwaukee and in what you are seeing, what you are doing with, in the work you're doing with block?
Yeah, I mean, I think a big thing is that folks are kind of bracing for in case this happens to us, you know We've seen threats of the National Guard and ice in Chicago.
We've seen what happened in Minneapolis.
We're not far from either one of those places So I think that there is one some fear, but I also think folks are bracing and organizing about what will happen if and when Something like this happens in Milwaukee.
And so I'm encouraged that folks are coming together And it's weird because I'm 36
I don't feel old, but I feel old when I'm next to these young people.
They have organized, they are standing up for themselves.
I am so proud of them.
Before a lot of them testified at the school board meeting the other night, a lot of high schools actually walked out in protest of ICE as well.
And so seeing more and more young people stand up and say, this is not what I want my future or my education to look like, I think is very inspiring.
But I'd be lying if I didn't say that folks weren't a little bit nervous.
wondering if something like this is going to happen in Milwaukee and are we actually ready and prepared?
Well, and that's the other thing too is I believe that if I'm not mistaken, Cavalier Johnson, the mayor of Milwaukee came down and said, they don't have a specific plan right now.
And we are seeing more and more sheriff's office making the decision whether or not they're going to work with ice.
And there was a bill that came that's up for proposal, I believe that says that sheriff's work with ice or DHS,
or counties lose shared revenue by 15%.
And when we were talking about that earlier last week, it's not a matter of the police departments will lose 15%.
The counties will lose 15%.
And when a county lose 15%, they have to make cuts and sacrifices.
And it's not usually the salaries of the higher ups or the cops.
It's the social programs that help the people of the community that get cut the first.
So they're right there are like long-term problems with this.
And the fact that
It's sort of like a bracing and waiting something that we did this week.
We spoke to Emilio de Torre from the Milwaukee turners about the fact and I'm sure this is something you talk about every single day is just about knowing your rights Knowing what you can do what you can say recording Asking for warrants being prepared if confronted knowing what you can do in that situation because that is so very important because I feel like a lot of times these
These agents, not cops, are counting on you not knowing your rights.
Therefore, they can take control of the situation and do what they want.
Absolutely.
And I'll say one shout out to Emilio, good friend, mentor of mine.
I first got involved in some of this work due to legal observing trainings back in 2007.
And so the work that Emilio and the turners are doing to make sure that folks know their rights is incredibly important.
Emilio actually a couple of months ago did a Know Your Rights training at one of our community meetings.
And we're looking to get even more kind of tailored know your rights trainings to kind of meet this moment as well.
And I'll just say too, there's a lot of black folks that have been having to have these trainings for years and decades because black folks have been disproportionately stopped by the police.
And so we kind of seen how this has evolved, right?
Black folks, a lot of people are like, we've been here.
Unfortunately, we recognize this terror and the state sanctioned violence that happened in Minneapolis and all across the country.
But we also see that it's getting evolved and it's getting a little bit more sophisticated.
And I think all of our communities need to keep up as well.
I think that's one of the major things that I heard coming from the black community after the tragic killing of Renee Nicole Good, which was, yeah, it's been happening.
Welcome to the terrible party.
So we're going to talk more with Angela after the break.
If you want to be part of the conversation, eight, five, five, seven, five, two, four, eight, four, two, eight, five, five, seven, five civics still to come.
Jim Santel, we got sports with Paul Noonan.
And when we come back, we're going to talk about a proposed amendment on the
Wisconsin State Constitution that just passed the Senate will be on the ballot this year and I want to start talking about it now because I think it's important to discuss.
It is the attack on DEI hiring practices here in Wisconsin.
More to come with Angela Lange.
Don't go far.
Stay tuned.
Stay
warm.
Stay close on Civic Media.
Welcome, welcome back to mid mornings on civic media.
My name is Greg Bach.
I'm your buddy, your pal, your seeker and co-conspirator injustice.
And you are here today and we are happy to have you here today.
And we have a fantastic show still ahead, including Mr. Jim Santel in the second hour talking about all things law.
He is the host of amicus, a law review, which is on Saturday mornings, nine AM to 11 AM every week here on civic media, as well as sports with Paul Nunez.
And then a little piece of advice from Greg.
at the end of the show.
Right now, we are talking to Angela Lang, who is the executive director and founder of Block, Black Leaders Organizing Communities.
We're talking about news coming out of Milwaukee of all sorts, including news from MPS, what the schools are doing to prepare for, what the, actually the schools and the city and groups are trying to do to prepare themselves for possible ice.
I guess you'd say invasions.
That would be the word I would want to use.
Before we get back to Angela or quick, Jenny on the live stream says regarding plans on what could happen if ICE does come here.
David Crowley has announced at last night's governor's forum that Milwaukee County plans to release a website instructing residents on what they legally can and cannot do to ICE.
presence in our communities.
And if you want to find out more about what he and other candidates said, you can go to civicmedia.us and watch the replay of the candidates forum that was presented by Main Street action, moderated by our dear friend, Dan Schaefer, to find out about what the candidates are speaking about in this election year in 2026.
But we welcome back to the show, Angela Lang talking about not the big news, but the important news coming out of Milwaukee when it comes to things like
What do we do in the face of an ICE invasion?
What do we do in the face of cops in our schools?
But now I want to talk about something I think that has a lot to do with not just Milwaukee, but Wisconsin in general, which is a proposed amendment to the Wisconsin state constitution, because when the Republicans can't get it done in the legally, they do it and the constitution, that's how they do it.
This one would basically stop.
I want to read it.
entirely by word by word here.
It says that it's going to, it's going to, this is what's going to do.
The proposed amendment on DEI would prohibit governmental entities in the state from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any individuals or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public.
employment, public education, public contracting, or public administration.
Now, Angela, I know that how it's presented, it's supposed to sound amazing, like let's all hold hands in a Benetton ad and racism is over, but how they're spinning it isn't the real deal.
Tell me your thoughts on this, please.
And feel
free to
take a huge deep sigh of side-eye.
Yeah, because when and I'm really, really glad that you read the language because this is my first thought is that on its face, if you were someone that is like, kind of paying attention to politics, but you work multiple jobs, you take care of your kids and parents or what have you, it sounds like, oh yeah, absolutely, we shouldn't be discriminating against people based off of these things.
But, you know, the phrase, the devil is in the details, right?
And you look at who proposed it.
Yes.
And I don't, I could be wrong.
But in my, when I officially saw it, this could have changed.
So don't hold me to it.
But it was a bunch of white men putting this forward.
And I say that laughing because it's like, these are not ally white men.
These are Republican white men that feel that DEI is a threat to their own existence.
And so by saying, yes, we don't want to discriminate against this, it's basically and what we've kind of talked about is like, you can't discriminate against white people.
is what this amendment is about, right?
And we could talk about the history of this country.
We can talk about, you know, affirmative action and all of these things.
And I think that there is something to be said about the history of this country and why things like affirmative action needed to exist to level the playing field.
And I'm just gonna say it, mediocre white men, they're not doing well these days.
I think people are seeing them for who they are, and this is their last ditch effort to try and make sure that they remain in power and that they dominate these institutions and these structures that quite frankly continue to oppress people of
color.
It's also their last ditch efforts in case they lose power in the state house too.
They're trying to leave their mark.
And when they can't do something on, in bills and legislation, they put it into the state constitution.
And I think that's a bigger problem than we, that we talk about, that we don't talk about.
But I think the thing too, you know, as, as a, as a, as a white male who I would like to say that I am a progressively mediocre moving away from mediocre.
But I think the thing that we need to talk about too is, is, and they sort of gave themselves up in the
conversation because DEI, which, by the way, was referred to by Robin Voss as, quote, cancerous, that was his word, is not just something that it helps so many people.
If I am a white male veteran, DEI helps me.
If I am a white male who is confined to a wheelchair, otherwise disabled in some way, DEI helps me.
And the greatest recipients of DEI and or affirmative action are white women.
So this does not really working well in their favor when it comes down to it.
And the other thing too is I read through some of the testimony and they were talking about the fact that amongst the discriminated against are white and Asian people.
And I'm like, I'm pretty sure
Asian people consider themselves people of color too.
So the conversation gets muddled in the fact that one, this is not good.
And two, they don't know what DEI actually is.
Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that.
Because we, and I think of when the first couple weeks, you know, roughly about this time last year, the first couple weeks into the new Trump administration, and unfortunately planes were just falling out of the sky.
And the Trump administration was like, it's because of DEI.
And
I'm like, wait, what?
And this is a conversation.
Angela, I want to have you back.
Unfortunately, we have to go to break.
But I want to have you back to talk about this because I think it's a whole bigger discussion point.
And I'll have you back sooner than later to talk about it because this has just been proposed.
It's been passed.
But I want people to know about it now.
So when they read that language, they understand what's going to happen.
Angela Lang is the executive director of Block, founder of Block Black Leaders Organizing Communities.
She will be back.
Thank you so much for being here for today, my friend.
Hey, friend.
All right.
When we come back, it's going to be time spent with Jim Santel talking all things law.
He's the host of Amicus, a law review.
Don't go anywhere.
Stay tuned.
Stay informed.
Stay close.
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