At an embattled Milwaukee public housing development, a padlocked patio becomes a battleground for some of America’s most talked-about voters.
the tenants began yelling over one another, grasping for the opportunity to tell251-unit College Court Apartments. Its two Brutalist towers“Y’all got to calm down. We can’t all talk at once,” said Charlene Bell, 55, from the back of the room.
Instead of a response, the residents had awoken a few days later to find a padlock on the gate to the building’s patio, limiting access to the only outdoor space where tenants could gather in the evenings to grill or visit with friends. Building management later said the lock was needed to keep out trespassers.
In the winter of 2024, life at the College Court apartments might have been a story of diminishing ambitions for tenants. The bedbugs, the violence, the public spillover of mental illness, the backlogged maintenance issues, all seemingly intractable to over the past year. Thanks in part to local news coverage, Common Ground had managed to get heat fixed in some units, get a disliked manager transferred from one public housing property to another, and prevent a few tenants from being evicted over accounting mistakes made by the housing authority.Today, it was another reminder of the gap between elected officials and the people they represented.
Now, the March meeting had been canceled altogether, and Biden was in town and would be holding a public event. Kevin wondered if the housing authority’s leaders would be there. supported Hines, a former city council president. There was an unspoken racial dynamic, too. While public housing tenants were predominantly Black, several of Common Ground’s organizers were White.
“Poor people of color is the constituency they take for granted, and it is the constituency that really has the power to shape this election,” Jennifer said. But “are people going to be ready and willing to call out Joe Biden during an election year?” Now, the day after the president’s visit, several tenants gathered around Kevin at College Court to tell him that the housing authority’s property manager, Greg Anderson, had walked through the building — with a security person who some tenants thought might be a HUD representative. Peaches tried to talk to the
Part of Kevin’s end goal was to identify leaders within public housing properties who could build a tenant-led movement, and Peaches was a natural. She and Kevin shared a disdain for bullies. Gathering at the College Court patio was a way for Peaches and other residents to escape the problems within the building.
But Peaches had not given up on the idea that life could be better for her and her neighbors and across Milwaukee’s public housing developments. She admired that there was a method to how Kevin and Common Ground went about organizing for change, escalating their protest tactics over time. It was an approach that resonated with her instinctively.
Kevin saw the situation in a more straightforward way: It was not about Black and White, it was about Haves and Have-nots. “They said, ‘Don’t talk to Kevin because he doesn’t do anything for you,’” Rickey told the room now with mirth, which the housing authority later denied in a statement to The Post.Kevin took a breath and let out a sigh.
Taking the padlock off the gate was about more than just the patio itself for Peaches and the other tenants. It was about dignity and respect.Anderson was the vice president in charge of property management. Nicole, another resident Kevin was cultivating as an organizer, volunteered to make the call. Peaches and Kevin watched as Nicole dialed the number and put the phone on speaker.
“Director Hines and public officials -- We are extremely disappointed that not only have you NOT responded, but also things have gotten worse,” the email said. “This is our building, too!”Everyone raised their hands, and several people followed up with him on their way out of the room to make sure Kevin had spelled their names correctly.“What if they bring the police?” someone asked from the back of the room.
The manager motioned to Peaches and told her to join them in the front office. Peaches took halting steps, face scrunched with irritation. Kevin looked calm at first but now he sprinted after her.“We just want to talk to Charlene in private, that’s all,” the manager said. Outside the window now were two Milwaukee police officers. Peaches watched them while picking at her nails. They were there to follow up on a report of slashed tires in the area, but for a moment people in the room wondered if they would be called in next.“You’re told things are getting better. Do you believe that?” Kevin asked.“They refuse to treat us with dignity and respect, like adults,” Peaches said.
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