Milwaukee leaders launch this summer's Promise Zones initiative to promote safety

We gonna clean up what we messed up, and start all over again.

That was a key part of the message Martha "Mama" Freeman had for the crowd gathered Friday at Garden Homes Square Park to celebrate the launch of this summer's Milwaukee Promise Zones initiative.

"I just thought I was a nobody telling everybody what to do with their lives," said Freeman, who now officially has a street lining the park named after her.

Freeman, a beloved longtime anti-violence activist, was praised as one of the inspirations for the city's efforts to keep neighborhoods safe by recruiting residents.

"We have to do this together. It's not the Police Department, it's not the city," said Cheryl Blue, executive director of The Corridor. "We cannot continue to have violent summers in the city."

The Promise Zones initiative is led by Milwaukee Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton, who launched the effort to improve public safety and revitalize struggling neighborhoods. Organizers working with the city's Promise Zones initiative will be doing outreach in the community, especially in Milwaukee's most struggling neighborhoods. Participants include Running Rebels, WestCare Wisconsin, Kingdom Faith/All Things in Common Church and others.

"Not only do we want to hire the youth from this community, and train the people that live here and give them an opportunity to create a better life for themselves," Hamilton said. "We want to make them invest in these communities."

Hamilton was joined at the launch by a crowd of fellow council members, community activists, police officers and Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn. Both Hamilton and Flynn talked about the importance of building trust between the community and police through  efforts like increased foot and bike patrols.

"If we're going to be effective doing our part of the job — and the community — if we're going to be effective having safe public spaces, we've got to have trust," Flynn said. "We are painfully aware of the fact that that trust is undermined by every critical police incident here and anywhere in the country."