This morning a friend, a former clergy person, and I went to the library at St. Francis Seminary of the Archdiocese to do some research for an essay I am writing about the presence of the Catholic Church in what I call the central north side of Milwaukee. According to the 2010 Census this area is the most segregated area in the most segregated city in the USA and the poorest area in the fourth poorest city in the USA. In 1962 there were 20 Catholic Churches in the area and now there are three. The last Catholic Church to close in this area was in 2011, the one we belonged to. This is the same area where the civil rights marches for open housing began in the 60’s at what was the oldest Catholic Church in the area dating back to 1888.

This afternoon my wife and I made home visits for our St. Vincent De Paul Conference to people in need in this very same area. We visited with people with no appliances, no beds for the children, who needed food and clothing or furniture in the home. We gave them vouchers for some basic items and their gratitude filled our hearts with warmth. The home visits were experience of the poverty and segregation I had researched in the morning.

From the sadness and experiences of what happened to this area tonight we attended a performance of We are the Drum at a high school in this north central area. The performance, which I encourage everyone to see, was outstanding. Each year the performance of song and dance starts in Africa where the beat of the drum was central to the people. As they become slaves and taken to USA the drum is taken from them but the beat of the drum lived on inside the people. The focus this year was the beat of the drum of Wisconsin Movement, highlighted by the 200 nights of marches for open housing in 1967–1968. The discipline of dancing and the sound of the voices of the youth demonstrated the results of hard work and gave hope to all of us that there is something deeply spiritual and beautiful in the people of this area that will rise up once more.

The people and the area have been abandoned by the Catholic Church and, stuck in poverty and segregation, yet the beat of the drum lives on. They truly say: We are the Drum.

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