Black Nouveau

(gentle music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Hello, everyone, and welcome to "Black Nouveau."

I'm your host, Earl Arms, and this is our July edition.

As promised, I'll have a full report on the Obama Presidential Center, which opened in Chicago this past Juneteenth.

Last month, Milwaukee's Midtown Neighborhood Alliance celebrated the legacy of Wisconsin's first state licensed, non-profit African American-owned hospital.

Our Uzezi Okwata attended the ceremony.

We'll introduce you to a new artist who's now performing in the Milwaukee PBS "Rhythm Cafe" Digital Series.

But we begin with Diner en Blanc, a truly unique composite of fashion, food, and fun.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) - Diner en Blanc is returning to Milwaukee on August 15th for a second year.

The international event is held in more than 120 cities across 40 countries, and brings together thousands of people, all dressed in white, for an elegant outdoor dining experience.

Guests bring their own tables, chairs, and picnic baskets.

And perhaps the biggest surprise is that the location remains a secret until shortly before the event begins.

Joining us to talk about Diner en Blanc, Milwaukee, is author and media personality, Vivian King.

Vivian, welcome back to "Black Nouveau."

- Thank you for having me.

It's always a pleasure to be here with you.

(laughs) - You attended Diner en Blanc last year.

What was that experience like?

Tell us about it.

- You talked about kind of the mystery, right?

And that was the most fun part.

I knew about it because I have some friends in Chicago who have been several years.

I have a friend in Atlanta who had gone to the one in Paris, where it started.

And it started years ago in Paris, and it has become a movement.

There's one in Atlanta, there's one in Savannah, Georgia.

As you said, 120 cities all over the world.

And so, my friend, I had a table leader who said, "Okay, we're going to get tables and chairs.

You just need to bring a dish."

And she already had it kind of laid out like, "Okay, Vivian, you bring some fruit."

"Okay."

And other people were bringing different things.

And so it was just so much fun.

There were probably about 20 of us at our table and we just had the time of our lives.

It's like how can you not have fun, like, at a mystery event because you just don't know what's gonna happen next.

- How was Milwaukee able to get this event here?

- That's a great question.

And it's really because of a hometown hero, if you will, Demetra Morgan.

Lives in Atlanta, but she's from Milwaukee.

And she said, "You know what?

We need to bring this to Milwaukee."

So she got together with Trennettie Pitts and Cecily Keys-Kelly, and at the time, Michelle Johnson.

And this year those three, Michelle is not one of the hosts, but Trennettie and Cecily and Demetra are hosts.

And then they just announced just recently that Gaulien Smith of Gee's Clippers is going to be a host as well.

So those four are going to try to galvanize and get the city all excited about this elegant event outside.

- How does this event tell a different story about Milwaukee?

- You know, it brings together people from all corners of the city.

If you look at, you know, who's there, you know, there are Blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians.

There are younger folks.

There are older folks.

And everybody likes to kind of dress up.

And who doesn't wanna go to an elegant event at some point, right?

You can wear whatever you want that's white.

You saw longer dresses, as I have on a longer skirt.

You saw short dresses.

You saw people in pants.

And so people can really feel comfortable with, you know, what they wear because they can pick out what they wear.

It's just that everything has to be white.

Everything.

I mean, if you are bringing your tables, the tables need to be white.

The tablecloths need to be white.

If you're pulling a wagon, even if that wagon is red, you need to cover that in a white sheet so that you are not destroying the palette and the colors of the white scene that you're seeing.

So it's really a sight to behold, if you will.

- For someone who's never attended, myself included, what's the biggest surprise that you can expect to see at the event?

- So I am doing some publicity for them, but they hold a lot of secrets for this.

And so I don't know, of course, where it is.

They don't even tell me that.

I don't know what's going to happen.

What I can tell you is last year we had a dancer who was doing some acrobatic kind of dancing.

And then after she did that, she walked around and danced with different people at the tables.

They have the napkin wave.

And so the napkin wave is the thing that kind of signals that it is time for Dine en Blanc to start.

And so you wave your wet napkins and then you can start eating.

You just, it's just, if you like French culture, and I took French in high school and a little bit in college, and so I love this.

And so if you like French culture, if you like Bastille Days, right?

- Yes.

- Then, you know, you're gonna like this.

This is a little more elegant because everybody is dressed in white and everybody is sitting down to dinner.

And so, you know, it's just a fun, fun event.

- [James] The significance of white is what?

- I think just the original group.

That's what they call, they met in the park and said, "We wanna wear white."

And they were just friends, and they just started to do that.

And then people started, their crowd started to grow.

And then other cities wanted to do it.

And so it started in Paris, but now it is all over the world.

And so the white just is because Diner en Blanc means dinner in white, that's why you have to wear white and that's why everything really has to be white.

- Well, tell us how we can find out more information about it and sign up.

- So I have this Save the Date fan.

It's got a QR code on there, and that QR code takes you to the website.

And the website is milwaukee.dinerenblanc, which is dinerenblanc.com.

And that'll take you... All you need to do is sign up to become a fan.

Get on our fan list, because we're trying to grow our fan list so that more and more people know about it.

This year's theme, that's one thing that I can say, this year's theme is (speaking in French), which means a Parisian dinner, a Parisian evening, the beautiful era.

So it really talks about and leans into the beautiful era in Paris that was characterized by artists, architecture, fashion.

And so you really take that theme and kind of live into that and lean into that theme.

You know, people just need to come on, find a fan, find the, become a fan.

It'll have all of the information there.

And you can always just Google it as well and you can see some the Diner en Blancs around the world.

- Well, fantastic.

Thanks a lot for joining us.

- Thanks for having me.

I wish you could come, but next year.

- Next year.

Thank you.

- 'Cause this is going to be an annual event.

(chuckles) - Thank you.

(upbeat music) - I am from the great State of Wisconsin.

I grew up in a half Black, half Mexican household.

Music was always around.

It wasn't until middle school when Dustin Talman actually came to school with his own guitar and I realized that kids can have guitars and play guitar.

So I was fortunate to have older adults and musicians that kind of looked out for me and kind of let me experiment on my weirdness.

(gentle music) (Brandon singing in Spanish) - My musical style has been, it's been a long journey to get to where we're at now.

Started off by singing classical music in choir and gospel music and choir in church briefly as a kid.

And then the music that my folks listened to from, you know, Corridos and, you know, soul and folk music and I got into, like, alternative rock way back in the '90s.

And when it all kinda came together is when I started putting all that together.

(artists vocalizing) - When I started discovering, you know, the sounds of shoegaze and the sounds of Latin alternative music, folks that were mixing Cumbias with rock and roll and electronic music, and I didn't have to bifurcate who I was as a human being like, oh, I'm Latino or I'm Black.

I'm both and I can be fully both at the same time, and it's actually a lot more interesting and cooler.

I know you got your gut up But if you really trust me You'll know there's no reason to lie (Russell speaking in foreign language) - Which means we pay homage to all of our ancestors.

We give strength and power to our ancestors, and they do that through us.

We continue on the great work that they did today.

And we use water because all of y'all agree on water if you don't agree on nothing else.

So I'm glad we're unveiling this so that everybody can see the beauty that I got to see when I was a young lad walking up and down these streets in Midtown.

Thank you all.

(crowd applauding and cheering) - [Uzezi] This is Alderman Russell Stamper pouring libation at a ceremony commemorating Milwaukee's Misericordia Hospital, the first and only Black-owned hospital in Wisconsin.

Lynden Hill is a historic park in green space in the Midtown neighborhood of Milwaukee.

And the Lynden Hill Historic Landmark Ceremony was a tribute to an acknowledgement of a story that most people don't know.

- 60 years ago, this was the site of Wisconsin's first and only Black-owned hospital, Misericordia Community Hospital.

An opportunity for Black patients, Black staff, Black doctors to interact with one another, for patients, for residents to get care that they may not have received in other places, as well as for people to work when in a lot of other hospitals still at that time there was discrimination, segregation.

They may not have been able to get jobs.

And so what an opportunity for people to be able to practice medicine, practice their skills and support their community.

- [Uzezi] It's a story that might have been lost in history had it not been for Jim Olmsted, an author and community historian, pursuing his PhD at UW Milwaukee.

One of his professors took his class on a walking history tour of the neighborhood.

- I need to start by praising Dr.

Sen for being an inspiring professor who dares to go out into communities and put boots on the ground practicing public history, not just reading about it.

And that's how I got here.

Dr.

Sen's local historical methods class did a community walk in Midtown with Megan and Haynie Smith in September of '23.

And when we visited Lynden Hill Park, I immediately wanted to know more about its history, where the old hospital was located, how big it was.

The site combined my interest in place-based histories with my interest in landscapes.

- [Uzezi] That started a three-year process in collaboration that resulted in a William G. Pomeroy Grant for underrepresented communities.

- So right behind me, there used to be a huge hospital.

I mean, a big seven-story, 260-bed hospital with multiple side wings that took most of the block.

And there's a plaque on the boulder that summarizes the history of Lynden Hill, and it doesn't mention anything about Misericordia Community Hospital or that it was a Black hospital from 1969 to 1977.

How can it be the former site of the first and only African-American-owned and operated hospital in Wisconsin in a predominantly African-American neighborhood, in a historic neighborhood where the civil rights movement played out through the 1960s was forgotten?

Right here, civil rights leaders led marches, Lloyd Barbee, Vel Phillips, Father Groppi, thousands of people and youth marching for equality and fair housing for 200 consecutive nights in 1967 and 1968.

And then three African-American doctors bought this hospital in 1969, and there's no history of it anywhere until now.

- [Uzezi] The hospital was originally founded by the Sisters of Misericordia, a Catholic group of nuns whose mission was to provide compassionate medical and spiritual care to unwed mothers, vulnerable women and children.

The hospital opened in Milwaukee, 1908, on land owned by Bishop Sebastian Messmer.

- By the 1920s, the sisters had to expand the hospital.

More additions were done in the 1930s, and finally, a huge seven-story edition was built in 1952, by which time the hospital complex and mansion took up most of the block.

As the hospital expanded over the years, it continued to evolve as a place of social justice as it transitioned to a general hospital and then a non-sectarian hospital.

And finally, by the 1950s, it became one of Milwaukee's first integrated hospitals because it hired African-American nurses.

However, this history has also revealed that just because the hospital was integrated doesn't mean the nurses were treated well.

In 1969, the sisters closed Misericordia and relocated to the suburbs, reopening as Elmbrook Hospital in Brookfield, which is now Ascension Healthcare.

- [Uzezi] In 1969, after the sisters of Misericordia relocated, Black physicians, Dr.

Louis T. Maxey Sr., Dr.

John Terry and Dr.

John Bryant purchased the original Milwaukee facility.

They reopened it as Misericordia Community Hospital, marketed as Wisconsin's first state licensed nonprofit general hospital, owned and operated by African Americans.

- The doctors that, honestly, they didn't even have to do this.

Like, they had their own private practices.

They had their own credentials.

They got together because they saw that there was a need in the community.

And they got together and they provided services for this community so they can uplift us.

- [Uzezi] Anita Baker was a nurse at the hospital from 1971 to 1973.

- Whenever I asked someone did they know anything about Misericordia Hospital, I was really upset because many of the people that I asked did they know anything about Misericordia Hospital, they didn't know there was such a hospital.

And I was totally upset because I worked there.

I worked third shift.

I worked with Dr.

Terry.

I worked with Dr.

Atkinson.

I worked with Dr.

Maxwell.

We were family.

We were actually real family.

- [Uzezi] What's important about being taken care of by a doctor that looks like you?

- Because he understands.

He won't just say, okay, you'll feel better in the morning.

He will actually look into it and say, well, what did you eat today?

I mean, he'll actually try to get into it and see what's going on.

- One, two, three.

Misericordia.

(crowd cheering) - This historical marker is gonna outlive us.

And I'm just a messenger, you know?

I grew up, I was born in 1984.

The hospital was already demolished by the time I was born.

So I wasn't in that lifetime.

But for me to, personally, for me to be able to connect with like-minded people that wanted to unearth this rich history, this rich African-American history and this urban community it's very, very, very powerful and I'm very thankful for it.

(upbeat music) (gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - [Earl] On Chicago's South Side, just 90 minutes south of Milwaukee, a new landmark is opening its doors, but its purpose reaches far beyond preserving history.

The Obama Presidential Center is designed to inspire the next generation of leaders while reflecting on a journey that changed America.

Its opening on Juneteenth makes the story even more powerful.

- What really makes the Obama Presidential Center unique is its presentation.

It's not just a collection of artifacts, but it's actually interactive elements to the Presidential Center where people are able to tell their stories and be able to see how their stories connect to other people who have visited and connect to the stories of President and Mrs.

Obama.

The fact that this is a Presidential Center campus that not only includes a museum, but it also includes a meeting room space, an auditorium where over 291 seats are available.

We have meeting room spaces for obviously the Obama Foundation programs, but it is also meeting room space for community.

We have a brand new Chicago Public Library.

The newest branch here in the City of Chicago, that includes a presidential reading room of over 3,000 titles that were curated by President and Mrs.

Obama.

We have a fruit and vegetable garden modeled after Mrs.

Obama's fruit and vegetable initiative at the White House.

We have a two-acre playground, which is one of the largest playgrounds on the south side of Chicago.

We have a Great Lawn that has a sledding hill incorporated as part of it.

And then we have an NBA caliber gymnasium and a fitness room.

So this is more than just coming to the Obama Presidential Center to hear about all the great things that happened during his administration.

- [Earl] The Center isn't designed to be experienced quickly.

It invites visitors to slow down, to participate and to see their own stories reflected alongside the history of the nation.

- I think that really what makes this unique is that it contains all of the elements that President Obama, when he was an organizer, and what Mrs.

Obama believes are the things that are necessary in order for communities to be viable and sustainable.

And that's what this Presidential Center campus really represents.

- Are you fired up?

- Fired up!

- [Host] Are you ready to go?

- [Crowd] Ready to go!

- [Host] Let's go change the world.

- [Earl] The experience begins with America's founding ideals and the long journey to make them a reality for everyone.

From the founding documents to the civil rights movement.

The exhibits build toward the story of two people who many once thought could never become President and First Lady.

- The very first level of the museum starts with the founding documents and it starts with exhibits that point to some of the most critical things that have happened in the history of our country.

It then leads to the telling of the story of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, two the most unlikely people from a historical context to become President and First Lady.

It shows people that it's possible.

It's not just aspirational.

It has actually happened.

- [Earl] The People's House offers something different.

It shows not only how the Obamas lived in the White House, but why they chose to open its doors to more people than ever before.

- The presentation that is there is the intentionality behind Mrs.

Obama making the White House accessible in a way that it had never been accessible to people before.

The diversity of the art, the diversity of the programming that happened there, the Easter Egg Roll that occurred on the lawn.

The science presentations, the STEM presentations that happened at the White House.

All of that was intentional.

So it's more than just about dresses.

Even though people love, people love seeing the dresses.

What it speaks to is Mrs.

Obama's intentionality around wanting to make sure that there was diversity, to ensuring that there were a variety of different experiences and lived experiences and people who would be seen, who would be heard, who would be valued and respected.

- [Earl] The upper floors explore the challenges of the presidency, the decisions that shape the nation, and the responsibility that comes with leadership.

But the story doesn't end when visitors leave the museum.

It continues outside.

- I love this project.

- Do you?

- Yeah.

- It's gonna be able to kep you occupied?

You're gonna have stuff to do?

- Yeah.

- All right.

- And I need to give you a high five.

- All right.

Come on.

That's a high ten right there.

- [Earl] Accessibility may be the Center's most notable feature: a library filled with thousands of books, a community garden inspired by Michelle Obama's health initiatives, public art, play spaces, athletic facilities, all designed to serve the community long after the ribbon cutting.

- The only parts of the campus that you have to pay admission to get into are the four floors of the museum.

Every other part of the campus is free.

We have 28 pieces of commissioned art, world-class art that you can come to the Obama Presidential campus to see and explore and engage with for free, because the President didn't want art to be held back from being accessible to our young people.

The fact that you can come to the campus and you can go to the fruit and vegetable garden where we have a test kitchen that will teach people how to use the fruits and vegetables that we're growing in the garden in order to create healthy meals so that we are focused on health and wellness.

We have a Chicago Public Library because the President believes that having access to books is one of the key elements necessary in order to educate the mind and to prepare our young people for leadership and to prepare for the challenges that life is gonna present.

This entire campus is open and available for any and everyone.

So I am excited and I'm looking forward to kids from Milwaukee being able to travel down and come down the Kennedy Expressway to come here to the Obama Presidential Center to learn so much and to be able to explore and to be able to be engaged.

And then to be able to go back to Milwaukee and understand that they are gonna be our future leaders.

- [Earl] It might have been easy to build a traditional presidential library, a place people visit once, check off their lists, then leave.

Instead, the Obama Presidential Center was designed to become part of the daily life of this community.

A place where history is meant to inspire action.

- We hope to be a place that inspires, to be a place that empowers, and to be a place that connects people from all over the world, from all very lived experiences to be change makers.

This is a place where people can come and get that inspiration and get the tools that they need.

- [Earl] And on a day that commemorates freedom, the Center is not a monument to what has already been achieved.

It's about what each new generation can build next and the continuing pursuit of freedom.

- Juneteenth represents enslaved people hearing that they have been freed.

The Obama Presidential Center represents that aspiration that you can be a change maker.

What better way to inspire people than to celebrate it on a day that is so significant and is so related to who we are as a country and what we have the ability to be going forward?

- Before we close this month, a bit of housekeeping.

Next month, because of membership, we will air on August 20th at 7:30 PM, with a special edition that will focus on the importance of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the US Constitution and why they're so important now.

It's a conversation you don't wanna miss.

And as always, be sure to check us out across all of our digital platforms.

For the "Black Nouveau" team, I'm Earl Arms.

Have a great evening.

(upbeat music)