MILWAUKEE — Every year, Milwaukee communities commemorate Juneteenth Day, the date federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to announce the end of the Civil War and enforce the end of slavery. Last week marked Milwaukee’s 43rd annual Juneteenth Day celebration.
Community members celebrated with a parade and festival on the city’s North Side, where they enjoyed a visit by gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke.
Burke, currently tied with Scott Walker in the race for Governor of Wisconsin, met with community members celebrating Juneteenth in Milwaukee last Thursday and in Madison on Saturday.
Burke called the celebration “an opportunity to renew our commitment toward a stronger and more united Wisconsin.”
Mary Burke has made strengthening Milwaukee a key priority in her campaign for governor and a central part of her vision to turn the state into a top-ten thriving economy.
Mary knows Milwaukee is full of resources and institutions that can help get Wisconsinites back to work.
Recently, the Anne E. Casey Foundation issued a report exposing Wisconsin as one of the worst states in the nation for African- American children.
For Burke, such outcomes are unacceptable. She believes that every person should have the resources and opportunity to succeed.
As Scott Walker fended off rumors of being involved in a “criminal scheme” to skirt campaign finance laws, Burke’s visit made a notable impression on festival goers who have felt left behind by those in power in the state’s Capitol.
In contrast to Walker, her brand of politics doesn’t take communities or their issues for granted.
Wisconsin can and must do better when it comes to providing opportunities to everyone – whether it’s access to higher education or bringing family sustaining jobs to hard working families all across the state.
Burke knows in order to get ahead we have to make Milwaukee a real priority again – and provide opportunities to people who need them.
Nearly four years after taking office Walker’s draconian budget cuts, rejection of federal dollars, jobs failure, and attacks on local control have left him out of touch with the real struggles everyday Milwaukeeans face as they simply to try to move up and get ahead.
As the governor fights for his political life, in both the race for governor and the legal wrangling of the federal John Doe investigation, voters in Milwaukee are getting very familiar with a leader committed to fighting for them, a leader named Mary Burke.
