Our mission is to be a catalyst for a more inclusive and engaged Milwaukee. And Milwaukee cannot be inclusive or fully engaged until the systems of racism that have been built up for centuries are torn down and rebuilt equitably. Milwaukee is known for its historic exclusion of the Black community and was named one of the “worst cities for Black Americans.” For many in Milwaukee, opportunities are lacking while disparities abound.
To double down on our commitment to making a more inclusive Milwaukee, Radio Milwaukee created “By Every Measure”, a six-part podcast exploring systemic racism in various sectors of Milwaukee; host Tarik Moody teamed up with Reggie Jackson, an award-winning data expert and research journalist, for a thorough examination of these disparities. The series explains how certain systems, propelled by racism, laid the foundation for the inequity still seen today.
The premiere episode covered the topic of systemic racism, providing baseline knowledge for listeners and a lens by which to inspect subsequent topics. The remaining five episodes examined: the criminal justice system; housing; the wealth gap; education; and health. Episodes were released weekly and broadcast on 88.9FM. The full-length episodes are also available on all common podcast platforms (Apple, Spotify, NPR, etc.).
Along with each episode, discussion guides and reflection prompts were provided at www.radiomilwaukee.org/measure. These guides encouraged listeners to have both internal and external dialogues, utilizing these conversations as part of their personal action plans for creating a more just and equitable Milwaukee. Based on the reception of and engagement with the podcast, we also hosted two six-week series of conversation clubs that allowed for small-group discussion, utilizing the content of these guides and episodes.
While we hope that “By Every Measure” will inspire immediate action and discussion with listeners, we also supported that work through a series of culminating community events that built on the topics covered in each episode and facilitated dialogue with attendees. We worked with five partners on this event series including the Sentencing Project, the Brookings Institution, the Institute for Policy Studies/Inequality.org, Rush University, and West Side United.
“By Every Measure” recently received the gold medal for Best Podcast from the Milwaukee Press Club. Season two of “By Every Measure” is in production and will be released in early 2022.