A tour through the community...

Johnsons Park Neighborhood Association
Photo Essay
By: Frank Barrie

Image found at http://sub.resilientcities.org/content/CreatingResilience/MilwaukeesGreaterJohnsonsPark/tabid/85/Default.aspx

Johnsons Park, in addition to Alice’s Garden, is part of a 13-acre piece of land off Fond Du Lac Avenue. The park is named after C.L. Johnson and his wife Cleopatra, long time residents of the community and founders of “The Ideal Tailoring Shop” and the “Community Contributions” employment agency.

The vast size of the park allows for many types of recreational activities. There is space for a neighborhood game of baseball, as well as a community pavilion and playground for young families and their children to enjoy. A nearby resident explained that people from all over frequent the park during the summer seasons.

As part of the Lindsay Heights Initiative vacant lots in the Johnsons Park community were once selling for $1. This was part of a much larger incentive to bring home buyers back into the city. 1925 North 17th Street is not only home to Ms. Goodwin, but doubles as “A Step Above The Rest – Child Care Academy,” her private daycare facility.

A cheerful bunch of kids from “A Step Above The Rest-Child Care Academy” pose for a picture while on an afternoon tour around Johnsons Park.

Located at 1930 West Walnut Street is The Christ Presbyterian Church. Every Sunday at 10:45 AM Reverend Dr. Michael Miller and Reverend Ernest Glenn conduct service. Youth groups and the church choir meet here on a weekly basis. The church also serves as a distribution point for SHARE, “a nonprofit food buying club that offers nutritious products at reduced cost through a volunteer-run, community-based distribution system .” (THE SHARE TIMES Vol.24)

Just down the block is The Christ Presbyterian Church Annex, the J.O.Y. CENTER (Just Outstanding Youth). This non-profit organization is a fully operational school and community center directed by Candase Franklin and Herman Orr. The center is in partnership with and serves as a meeting point for the Johnsons Park Neighborhood Association. Its mission is to set “Measurable goals for preparing young minds for a successful transition from youth to adulthood.”

Artist Statement

Despite the eight picture maximum, my Photo Essay includes ten. This was necessary to most accurately tell the story of my photo tour of the Johnsons Park Neighborhood. Going into the assignment and tour I had in mind that my essay should reflect on and promote what this community really has to offer its residents. In doing so I was quickly convinced of the opposite, it is not what community offers it’s residents but rather what the residents offer to the community.

My first trip to the neighborhood was early spring break with a couple group members for the final project. We parked across the street from the entrance of Johnsons Park, and on the opposite corner, Alice’s Garden. I was surprised at the size of both the park and the garden. The park needed a little spring cleaning but all in all was in fair condition and equipped with a batting cage, field, pavilion, and playground. As we passed through the park we ran into a group of kids being pushed around in carts by their daycare instructors. The daycare founder was extremely nice and invited us on a tour of her house, which doubles as her private daycare facility. She was knowledgeable of JPNA and described associated summer events at the park. We also spoke with an elderly man enjoying the weather on his back porch. Both homes sit on once vacant lots purchased for only $1 under the Lindsay Heights Initiative. The residents we encountered were all very kind.

Later that evening I attended a JPNA meeting at The Christ Presbyterian Church Annex, The J.O.Y. Center. Herman Orr is a co-director of the center which is in partnership with the neighborhood association. The center also serves a school and community center for kids. Tony Gibson, an association spokesperson, conducted the meeting and provided food and refreshments, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Topics on the meeting agenda included updates on The Lindsay Heights Zilber Initiative, an introduction of the UWM Service Learner – Neighborhood Video Project, rental property updates, information from a recent special crime meeting, and spring activity plans for the neighborhood. The collection of residents seemed very professional and concerned. To say the least, they were all very much involved in discussion. I quickly realized that they people at this meeting were the same people responsible for much of the community’s success. It is this volunteer commitment that makes the community what it is, and that sets it apart from neighborhoods just blocks in either direction.

On my most recent trip to the neighborhood I paid a visit to The Christ Presbyterian Church itself, just down the block. As I was standing out front and taking pictures of the building, Reverend Dr. Michael Miller and his associate came to the door and invited me in. They welcomed me to take pictures of the church and provided programs and pamphlets to be used in conjunction with my photo essay. The building was in excellent condition and was well decorated. The reverend explained that in addition to Sunday services, youth groups and the choir meet weekly. The church is also a distribution point for SHARE, a community based food buying club. Touring the community and interacting with its residents was very enlightening and expressed a different side of inter-city Milwaukee. I had fun.

Final Project Description

For my final project I plan to conduct research and develop a media archive surrounding the history of Johnsons Park and the Neighborhood Association. Initially the project will focus on the association's beginning and the reason for its' introduction into the community. I will also concentrate on the specific demographics within the communities served. This will include statistics and feedback regarding the levels of education, income, employment, and crime that exist in these areas. The project will include an overview of all JPNA programs currently underway and describe any recent successes or failures that have resulted from these efforts. As a major part of the project I will discuss the long term initiatives and goals of Johnsons Park and the Neighborhood Association. In order to most accurately document and present the history of this organization I will review newspaper articles, look through JPNA archives, participate in community meetings, and interview important members. Included below is an article out of Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel that really inspired me to document the history of this association for my final project.

Johnsons Park is growing into its own
Cultural center would be latest part of redevelopment of area

By FELICIA THOMAS-LYNNfthomas-lynn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Oct. 9, 2004

As the sound of saws and hammers signal the flurry of more homes being built throughout the Johnsons Park community, a new plan is being crafted to build a cultural center that complements the area's changing landscape.

Once a sea of boarded-up homes and vacant lots, the central city community is enjoying new prosperity as more people relocate there, bringing with them higher incomes and lower tolerance for the criminal element that, at one time, ruled the neighborhood.

"You have a whole new class of people of color coming in who are voters, who keep up with local and national politics, and who have views on how positive they want their neighborhood to be," said Tony Gibson, who heads the Johnson Park Neighborhood Association.

What they didn't want to see, Gibson said, was vast acres of the local park, at N. 17th St. and W. Fond du Lac Ave., which anchors the community, "gobbled up" by the proposed African American World Cultural Center.

No problem, according to organizers of the plan, which had called for a 45,000-square-foot facility that has been scaled down to 10,000 square feet. The performing arts facility and computer center and library have been cut from the plan.

"We had to re-approach the whole project," said Tyrone Dumas, chairman of the center's board.

"What we've done is taken into account the community and the new housing in the area. It really signals a new beginning. We're excited."

Dumas said the price for the facility drops considerably from $10 million to $2 million, a much more palatable figure that brings more partners to the table.

The center, which has county and city approval, has been in the planning stages since 1996. Because of difficulty in raising funds, the plan has stalled, Dumas said, adding that the goal is now to break ground next summer.

The revised plan breaths new life into the project, organizers say, and County Executive Scott Walker has placed $100,000 in the proposed county budget for the project.

Residents in the community - which is part of the Lindsay Heights housing development that is bounded by N. 12th St. on the east, N. 20th St. on the west, W. Walnut St. on the south, and W. Locust on the north - have worked hard to improve the area's image.
The shift began about two years ago when Gibson created the neighborhood association shortly after he moved into the area.

The group's first meeting was at his home, and "at the time there were five open and active crack houses across the street," Gibson said.

"The drug dealers were lined up across the street trying to intimidate the people coming to the meeting," he said. "It was very challenging."

But residents in the area didn't back down.

In addition to the monthly association meetings, residents use e-mail and phone tree lists to keep in touch with each other concerning any suspicious activity in the community.

When there were construction thefts at some of the work sites, the group - which now has 70 members - hired a private security firm to patrol the area.

"We're learning that with the right kind of neighborhood organizing, good elements can win out over bad elements," said Gibson, adding that the fight to reclaim the neighborhood is an ongoing battle.

Earlier this year, a 14-year-old boy was beaten by up to 20 people following an argument that erupted into a shoving match that ultimately moved to nearby Johnsons Park, only a few blocks from where Charlie Young Jr. was beaten to death by a group of children and young adults nearly two years ago.

Residents and organizers of the cultural center believe it will go a long way toward revitalizing the area.

To this end, the center will build upon the community's efforts to improve the neighborhood and highlight the area's history, said Rick Norris, a project leader.

He said the center's mission is to provide a positive image for African-American culture and help develop a greater public appreciation for cultural diversity.

Along with offering meeting and banquet space, the center will also have a cafe patio and outdoor stage for jazz concerts. The facility will also have a visitors center and exhibit hall where people can learn more about the site's history as part of the original route of the Underground Railroad.

From the Oct. 10, 2004, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel