(upbeat music) - Hello everyone and welcome to Black Nouveau.

I'm Earl Arms and this is our November edition.

In honor of Veterans Day, we'll profile a Milwaukee member of the 6888 Army Postal Directory Battalion, the only female, all African American units sent overseas during World War II.

Racine Heritage Museum recently held its 11th annual Sports Hall of Fame induction.

We were there and talked with some of the new inductees from Racine's Negro League team, the Racine Blues.

James Causey discusses the alarming increase in domestic violence in Milwaukee and what we can do about it with Natalie Hayden from Exposed The Podcast.

But first, a new book explores the history of slavery in southwest Wisconsin through the lives of five Black women who secured their freedom in Prairie du Chien in the 1800s.

Alexandria Mack brings us this compelling story of Wisconsin history, family, and most importantly, freedom.

(upbeat music) (melancholy music) - If people wanna to get out, take pictures, you're more than welcome.

(melancholy music) - Well, it's just wonderful to be here.

It's like going back in time.

I'm just getting, but it's just good to see and be here where my third great-grandmother once lived and my great, great grandfather.

I've always been interested in our history and I was raised by my great-grandmother.

So, I was always hanging around listening to these stories.

I became interested and so as people started passing away, I wanted to find out where did we come from.

And that's when I started digging and came across the story of my great-great-grandfather, second great-grandfather, Henry Harrison Triplet and his mother Patsey.

- One of Patsey's descendants came to Prairie du Chien researching her family history.

I'm Mary Elise Antoine and I am the author of the book "Enslaved, Indentured, Free."

This book probably destroys a few myths about Wisconsin's place in the history of slavery in the United States.

My book is about five Black women.

First of all, Marianne, Patsey, and Mariah, Courtney, and Rachel, all of whom came together at Prairie du Chien.

One woman was free, two were indentured, and two were enslaved.

And as a child, you're taught that was Wisconsin was one of the free states, that slavery did not exist in Wisconsin.

Well, it did.

And it existed in the fact that some individuals held Black people enslaved.

And the fact that US government employees held Black people enslaved in Prairie du Chien.

Prairie du Chien is at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers and north of Prairie du Chien, many rivers drain into the Mississippi.

And so the United States government, as early as 1810, realized the importance of Prairie du Chien and the fact that a fort had to be here, because whoever controlled Prairie du Chien, controlled the upper Mississippi Valley.

In the 1820s-30s when this story takes place, only about 300, 350 people lived here and the majority of the people were of French Canadian ancestry and somehow found employment in the fur trade.

So while part of the history it has to do with the fur trade, all of it has to do with the importance of Prairie du Chien economically and militarily, and that's what brought all five women to the community.

And the woman who was free was Marianne, and I really feel that she had influence on the other four women.

For Mariah signed an indenture, but she was able to acquire the money and purchase her freedom.

Patsey, again is born into slavery.

She comes into the family of Joseph Street through Street's marriage to Eliza Posey.

And again, they live in Illinois.

So she's required to sign an indenture to work for Joseph Street for 50 years.

And that indenture is enforced until both Joseph Street and his wife Eliza die.

Both Courtney and Rachel are enslaved.

Courtney was born into slavery.

Rachel was purchased by a US officer, Lieutenant Stockton, in St. Louis and brought up to Prairie du Chien.

And both of their enslavers no longer wanted their service, and so sold them.

And they sold them to individuals living in St. Louis.

But Missouri had the ability that if you could prove that you should be free, you could file a suit for freedom.

And that's what Rachel did.

Soon after she arrived in St. Louis and a couple years later when Courtney arrived in St. Louis, she also filed a suit for freedom.

Everybody that I talked to about them is amazed at the strength that they had, the fortitude they had to survive, but also to fight their status.

- My name is Tobe Melora Correal.

- My name is Debbie Furman.

- My name is April Godfrey.

- I am the great, great, great-granddaughter of Courtney.

- I am the great, great, great granddaughter to Courtney.

- I am the great, great, great granddaughter of Courtney.

For me, standing there on that piece of ground where Courtney lived and tended her family, it's been a long, long, long, long road.

It's been a long, long, long, long road.

It's not something I ever imagined would happen.

I never imagined that I would be standing on that ground.

(indistinct) And this is the first time that these branches of Courtney's descendants are together.

Courtney's descendants, through various situations, got separated from one another starting probably around the 1900, 1900 or so.

And so, we have not been together until now.

It's such a gift.

I'm so grateful.

I've had conversations with Mary Elise where, I just tell, I thank her.

It's a service to my family.

She did a service to my family, my lineage, by gathering this history and gathering this information, and putting it together so that Courtney's descendants, going down the line, can open this book, and read about her, and read about our people.

- [April Godfrey] Meeting my cousins was a joy.

They were from one of Courtney's sons who had married a white woman.

And I was from the other son, Joseph, who married a Native American woman.

- Here I thought I was this kid that grew up in, I was born in Milwaukee.

My parents moved to Fond du Lac and I grew up in a little, like, white bread town.

I find this exciting.

I find this just, if it can happen to me, I feel that people should just check into their history because it's broader and bigger than most people think.

I mean, here I, there's three of us here, all cousins, all in the same generation and we're all related because Courtney is our great great, great grandmother.

- [Estelle Bell] Going actually on the land, tears kind of came to my eyes a little bit.

It's still hurtful the conditions of what she was here 'cause she was indentured for 50 some years.

Even though she became, well, she actually was enslaved until she was almost 50 years old.

But the conditions are still hardening for me.

- Yeah.

The sense of like, I'm here, you know, I got here to this place where you, you were, you were here and now I'm here too.

And there's just something so tender and sweet for me about that, almost sort of like a homecoming.

- [Mary Elise Antoine] They are just ordinary women.

Were they any different from so many other people who lived back then who were indentured or enslaved?

Yet they had the fortitude to somehow gain their freedom.

(upbeat music) - Earlier this year, Congress awarded gold medals to the 6888 postal battalion that served in Europe during World War II for its exemplary service.

There are only a few remaining survivors and one of them lives right here in Milwaukee.

Anna Mae Wilson Robertson, who is in her late nineties.

Joanne Williams interviewed her back in 2014, when she finally got the individual medal she had earned during her service but had not yet received.

- [Joanne Williams] It's been almost 70 years since Anna Mae Wilson Robertson left the US Army.

Private Anna Wilson, that is.

The medals have probably been waiting in a drawer at the Department of Defense for almost seven decades.

Why so long, do you think?

- I don't know.

I just wonder why they just now decided to give 'em.

I didn't know whether they hadn't tried to get in touch with me or they got lost in the mail some kind of way or something.

I don't know.

I don't know what, why no one ever told me.

- [Joanne Williams] Now they have been given to their rightful owner, Anna Mae Wilson Robertson.

She was 90 years old in March of 2014.

It seemed like the Army had forgotten her.

But with help from Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Private Wilson, with her family and friends around her, was awarded her medals in April.

She was born in Arkansas and entered the Army as a very young woman.

The war was on, but she had suffered a personal family loss.

Did you enlist?

- Yes, I did.

- [Joanne Williams] Why?

- Oh, my mother died, and I had no one to take care of us.

So I decided I would go into the Army and my brother, he went into the Navy.

- [Joanne Williams] Were you concerned about having to go into the army during a war?

- [Anna Mae Wilson Robertson] No, I wasn't, because I wasn't, you know, like enlisted man, he would be on the line, but they had the shooter.

We never see any shooter, any guns.

I would never had any guns.

- [Joanne Williams] Private Wilson was assigned to the all-female, all-Black 6888, the special postal unit.

Black women were allowed to do very little in the Army.

They could be nurses or postal workers.

The Army wanted to keep morale high on the battlefield and letters from home would do the job.

(uplifting music) The mail from America was piling up in England and the 6888 was brought in to fix the problem.

Your unit, all African American women.

- [Anna Mae Wilson Robertson] Uh-huh.

- Moved the mail.

- [Anna Mae Wilson Robertson] Yeah.

- What'd you think of that assignment?

- It did all right.

They always had some way that they could manage to get the work done.

- [Joanne Williams] During those years in England and France, she got to know dozens of women.

Women from many different places and some from close to home.

You must have met women from all over the world, literally.

- I did.

I met one from Milwaukee.

- [Joanne Williams] You met one from Milwaukee?

- Yes.

(giggles) - [Joanne Williams] Did you stay in touch with her?

- Yes.

I was discharged.

I went to Detroit, Michigan and I stayed in touch with her and I came back here for her wedding.

She was getting married and I came back for her wedding and I went back to Detroit and I decided I like Milwaukee and I came back.

I never went back to Detroit.

- [Joanne Williams] She married Milwaukeean Dan Robertson, had eight kids, and, among other places, worked at the VA hospital.

From Arkansas to England, to France, to Michigan, to Milwaukee.

Anna Mae Wilson Robertson served her country.

She's also a member of the Greatest Generation that served America during World War II.

And now she has the medals to prove it.

(upbeat music) - Many of us do not know that we are in unhealthy relationships, not just with our partners, but with ourselves.

- We created a podcast as a voice for the voiceless.

And so we just wanted to be heard.

You know, when you go through a situation like domestic abuse, it's one of those things where you just think that no one understands.

You're feeling judged, you're embarrassed by it.

And then if you have gone through it and got out of it, then you're like, why talk about it at this point.

You know?

So we're saying that we gonna talk about it, we gonna educate and we're gonna prevent, we're gonna do all those things, because there's nothing to be embarrassed about.

There's no stigma attached to it.

There's no shame attached to it.

If you find yourself anything, let's figure out how to get you out of it, 'cause there is light at the end of the tunnel.

- That's a clip from last month's Exposed The Podcast hosted by Natalie Hayden and LaVerne Badger.

Domestic violence in Milwaukee County costs $113 million annually in related services.

From 2018 to 2020, domestic violence homicides increased by 400% and those numbers have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Natalie Hayden joins us now.

Thanks for coming on.

- Thank you for having me.

- So we have 29 domestic violence homicides in Milwaukee so far this year.

And we had like six within a really short time span.

What's behind all of this?

- I think what we're experiencing right now is just a cry for help.

There's many people that are feeling extreme hopelessness, and many of these cases are new cases.

They have never stepped on any doorsteps of services for domestic violence.

And so these are unassuming, unexpected cases.

- So there's a recent study by the Sojourner Truth- Sojourner Family Peace Center, I'm sorry, that says that churches need to be more involved, schools, and also just the public.

What does that look like?

- Essentially, when we're dealing with domestic violence and many of the tentacles that we, as we're learning of what domestic violence is and as it's unfolding, we're realizing that it is definitely a public health issue and concern.

So we need all public entities, all services, all hands on deck.

So this is not just a one person, a one group, a one community, a one socioeconomic class.

This is all classes.

The human race is affected by this, this huge epidemic that we're experiencing.

And right now we really need everyone to play a role, a part to use their voice in some shape, form or capacity.

- It's funny that you mentioned a domestic violence what it is.

What is domestic violence?

Is it a slap?

Is it a punch?

What exactly is it?

- You know, domestic violence is very subtle.

It is not just a slap, it's not just a punch.

It's not just spiritual abuse, financial abuse, workplace abuse.

Domestic violence, looks, feels, smells, tastes just like anything that you could think of.

It is very close to all of us and anyone can find themselves in a domestic violence.

When I say domestic violence, an unhealthy relationship, a toxic relationship.

So we wanna make sure that everyone has an understanding that domestic violence doesn't look and feel a certain type of way.

- You and your co-host, LaVerne Badger, you host an annual walk.

- [Natalie Hayden] Yes.

- Just to bring attention to it.

How is that walk received?

- The walk is, it's received and it's felt, it's appreciated.

It is, for many that have experienced domestic violence and they hear of the walk they are actually sad that there's not enough media, there's not enough attention around this walk that brings awareness to this serious issue, this growing public health concern.

And many are appreciative that there's thought put around it.

- You often hear people say, Well if he or she puts their hands on you, just leave.

Why isn't it that easy?

- Because it's not that easy.

When someone initially enters into a relationship, the monster doesn't show up the first two or three days, the first two or three months, there's a grooming process.

Oftentimes domestic violence is not just intimate partner, but it can be family, sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, any way that domestic violence can rear its ugly head.

We just don't wanna categorize or compartmentalize what domestic violence is and what it looks like.

Oftentimes, one that has experienced domestic violence, they've either experienced it or they grew up, their blueprint is evidence of what they, of this learned behavior.

- Men can be victims of domestic violence as well.

- Absolutely.

- Where can they go for help?

- You know, they can go anywhere that there is services for women, believe it or not.

Sojourner Family Peace Center has opened their doors to men.

Although it may not seem more in the years the language is not shifted towards men, know that because men are less likely to report domestic violence, there has not been services that has been provided for them.

But know that there are services available to them, just as any other place that a woman can go, a man can go.

- Now we talk about services.

What in a, in a perfect world, what would those services look like for you?

- You know, in a perfect world, services start at the root.

Services start in the schools.

Services start at home, at dinner tables.

Services start in the church.

Services start, you know, at the schools when they decide to go to college, you know, we're constantly talking about it.

What does a healthy relationship looks like?

What does it feels like?

What is it?

You know, how does it exist and how is it sustained?

You know?

So we wanna treat that just like any other public health issue or any type of cancerous, we wanna provide preventative treatment, preventative care to it.

So we wanna talk about it and bring total awareness to it.

- We have roughly 15 seconds.

If you're a victim of domestic violence, what's the very first thing you should do?

- Try again.

Seek help.

Know that there's an open door, and when you have an opportunity, let people know that you need support.

- Okay, well thanks for joining us for this very deep topic.

Appreciate it.

- Thank you.

(upbeat music) ♪ Every move I make ♪ ♪ Every single day, every time I pray ♪ ♪ I'll be missing you ♪ - [Tim Van Vooren] Racine has another team that's gonna be recognized here tonight that you may know a lot about and maybe you don't.

- I just hope they will like get together and have more stuff for the Blues.

And recognize the old Racine Blues.

- [Earl Arms] Denory Brye is the oldest member of the semiprofessional baseball team, Racine Blues, at the Racine County Sports Hall of Fame ceremony.

He's among five of the players in attendance from the all-Black squad for recognition they feel has been a long time coming.

Exact records were not kept, but the Blues' history can be traced from the late 1940s through the 1970s.

For at least 20 years, the Blues were among the ball players who barnstormed the country for competition.

A lot of them, like Tommy Jones, growing up in the process.

- I was 16 when I started with the Blues.

And to me, it was education.

Being around these guys, I learned some of the funniest stuff there is, just being around these guys.

And I'm telling you it was, it was a real experience for me.

- I played left field.

I remember the old grandstand, you remember that?

People could sit down there, but it was just enjoyable.

- I can recall as, I'm sure you guys can too, traveling in areas that had whites and Blacks only eating places and toilets and stuff like that.

And so everybody wasn't happy to see you.

You know what I mean?

And that, and even that didn't deter us.

- [Earl Arms] Jim Crow didn't stop the Blues from taking the field against some of the biggest names in baseball history.

- My claim to fame was playing against Leroy "Satchel" Paige and the Cuban Allstars and also the Indianapolis Clowns.

And this is a jersey that I have from the Indianapolis Clowns and the hat.

And Hank Aaron, the number 44 is on the back of this jersey, which was Hank Aaron's number.

- [Denory Brye] And also me and him played against Lou Brock.

- [Earl Arms] In their search for competition, the Blues even found themselves behind prison walls playing against the inmates.

- [James Bland, Jr.] When you go to Waupun, you had to, every time you took about 10 steps, you could hear a door click behind you.

Click, and you look back, you're like are we gonna ever get outta here?

'Cause it was so many doors slamming at, you know, the metal checks, they looking in your head for razor blades.

- [Earl Arms] Despite the challenges of their playing conditions, all the way to a lack of recognition, the Blues continue to laugh and joke.

But, most importantly, they remember the journey and the game that brought them together.

- You know, it should have been different, but you don't let some of what somebody else or some other organization do, you don't let that steal your joy.

- [Earl Arms] We'll have more from the Racine Blues next month on Black Nouveau.

Before we close tonight, a reminder that on Monday, November 21st at 9:00 PM, Channel 10 airs Youth Incarceration Dilemma, a special hour presentation looking at some of the challenges and possible solutions for dealing with youth in the criminal justice system.

No easy answers, but informed discussion.

And as always, we invite you to check us out on social media.

We'll have more information relating to the stories and events on this month's program and a few surprises.

For Black Nouveau, I'm Earl Arms.

Have a happy Thanksgiving.

(upbeat music)