Can we shift the focus from youth criticism to those showing up daily for our neighbors’ children?

Can we shift the focus from youth criticism to those showing up daily for our neighbors’ children?

Every day in Milwaukee, we hear what’s wrong with our youth. They are labeled distracted, disrespectful, unmotivated or worse. The narrative is loud, repetitive and easy. What we do not hear nearly enough about is what they are carrying and who is showing up to help them carry it. Our young people are navigating layered realities. Not isolated incidents or surface-level behavior, but deeply layered experiences. Poverty, community violence, grie…