Former Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to join NAACP President Derrick Johnson for a community “conversation” in Milwaukee on October 26. The event is part of the NAACP’s nationwide voter mobilization campaign ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The NAACP says its campaign is intended to educate, engage, and mobilize voters across the country.
The Heartland Post has posted about Harris’s visit. “Harris spent four years as vice president overseeing record illegal border crossings, a disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, and inflation that hit working families hardest.”
Kamala Harris in her time in office did not create any opportunity or vision that has enriched the Black community across the country. Why should we listen to her now?
Black Milwaukee continues to struggle with violent crime, reckless driving, failing schools, unaffordable housing, economic inequality, and neighborhoods that feel forgotten by the people elected to represent us. Residents hear promises during every election, but after the votes are counted, too many communities are left facing the same problems. That is why the October 26 conversation cannot become another partisan campaign rally disguised as community engagement.
The Democratic Party has abandoned us. The NAACP has abandoned us.
What have Kamala Harris, the NAACP, fast talking national politicians, or rich and famous Hollywood stars delivered for Wisconsin Blacks? They only seem to show up when it’s election time. Voters need to look beyond personalities, party labels, and political endorsements. We should examine the conditions around us and vote accordingly.
Here in Milwaukee we have a Black mayor, county executive, police chief, and sheriff. What have they delivered for us? Our condition has worsened under their leadership. We see no progress or change. We cannot afford more of the same. It is time for a change.
Ask yourself, are families safer? Are children receiving a better education? Are neighborhoods becoming more affordable? Are small businesses growing? Are city and county services improving? Are taxpayers receiving better value for their money?
The answer to these questions is unequivocally no. Elected officials should not automatically receive another term simply because they belong to a particular party or race.
Let’s start with Black Wisconsin children and education. Wisconsin’s own Department of Public Instruction said after the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress that the state’s Black-white opportunity gap remained “among the widest in the nation.”
That is a crisis that should be addressed at the October 26 event.
We can’t keep throwing money at public schools with no results. Our children deserve better. Families deserve safe classrooms, qualified teachers, transparent financial management, consistent discipline, and schools that teach children to read, write, and perform mathematics at grade level. Families should also have the freedom to select the educational environment that best meets their children’s needs.
Public safety cannot be a campaign talking point.
Black Milwaukee residents deal with public safety concerns every day. Reckless driving, car thefts, shootings, neighborhood disorder, and youth violence have damaged quality of life.
Candidates must explain how they will support effective policing, hold repeat offenders accountable, intervene with troubled young people, and restore order. Simply acknowledging crime is not a plan. Milwaukee needs policies, resources, and accountability.
The NAACP says the October 26 Milwaukee town hall will provide community voices, discussion connecting policy with people’s everyday lives, and nonpartisan voter education resources.
Let’s make sure Milwaukee’s everyday realities are actually part of that town hall. Don’t just talk about getting Black voters to the polls. Talk about what Black voters should be demanding once they get there.
This is bigger than Harris and Johnson. And it is bigger than one election. We need solutions. Kamala Harris does not respect or appreciate what our conditions are. She has done nothing to help us and now is our time to tell her and the NAACP we have had enough.
Black Milwaukee does not need another lecture about whom to support. We need results.
