It's time to elect new Milwaukee ACLU Chapter board members for the 2013-2015 leadership term! Please read through our candidates' statements and find the online ballot link at the bottom of the page. You can vote for a maximum of 13 candidates and ballots must be submitted by December 14. Your ballot will be anonymous. Responses must be submitted by 3pm on December 17, 2012.
Mandela Barnes
I am Mandela Barnes, first elected to the Milwaukee ACLU Chapter board in 2010. I am running for reelection to continue to build the organization. We are in a unique position to expand, bring about new ideas, and form partnerships to greater benefit the Milwaukee area. Much to our dismay as residents, but also our cause as an organization, we live in an area with no shortage of civil liberty infringements. I have worked as an interfaith community organizer, and was most recently elected to the state legislature. I hope to continue to work with the board.
David Crowley
I have volunteered with the ACLU since 2002, have been a board member since 2010, and currently serve as its Vice-Chair. I am a Legislative Assistant to County Supervisor/Senator-Elect Nikiya Q. Harris. I have a general interest in local, state and federal politics, organizing, youth engagement and the well-being of civil rights and civil liberties in America. I’ve engaged in many political roles on a state and local level, including serving as Statewide African American Organizer for U.S. Senator Russ Feingold’s Senate Campaign Committee (2010). I served as Community Justice Coordinator for a youth organizing organization, Urban Underground, where I facilitated workshops on “Knowing Your Rights,” “The Prison Industrial Complex,” “Organizing 101,” and others. I created “Copwatch” to teach community members how to “police the police” and report incidents of racial profiling and abuse of police powers.
Rose Daitsman
I believe I bring to the Milwaukee ACLU Chapter board a historical perspective with regard to racism and gender discrimination in the context of the struggles to achieve a measure of success in these arenas. More recently I was a volunteer consultant to the Mayor’s office on the revitalization of the Equal Rights Commission in Milwaukee (2008). I am in contact with the national ACLU about programs to increase public understanding of the responsibility of the United States in fulfilling its obligations under United Nations human rights treaties. My professional background includes work in air pollution control, engineering education and training in occupational health. I earned the degree of Bachelor of Chemical Engineering in 1946 and an M.A. in Educational Research in 1968.
Inshirah Farhoud
I am a Pediatric Nurse practitioner working for the Medical College of Wisconsin and I have cared for children with Developmental Delays and Psychiatric disorders for the last 12 years. My undergraduate degree is from Alverno College, graduate degree from Marquette University and post-graduate degree from UW Madison. I have served on the Board of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee for over 15 years and the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition for 17 years. I also serve on the Department of Health and Human Services Minority Health Council. I have a passion for advocating for the less fortunate in the community. My public health nurse experience of 12 years propelled me to advocate for those less fortunate in the community through patient advocacy and collaboration with community-based agencies. I believe my past experience working with the underserved population in the Milwaukee area and working with the interfaith community will help me work toward fulfilling the ACLU mission.
David Flowers
I’ve witnessed, on many recent occasions, how the ACLU provides profound and significant services to our city. The Milwaukee ACLU’s commitment to justice, freedom and the civil liberties shared by everyone in oru community is an important, hopeful sign in these turbulent times. I’m semi-retired, have completed a career in manufacturing, teach, facilitate, do a lot of singing, and recently completed a Masters at Marquette. I continue working with their Project for Community Transformation. I would bring some practical experience and skills to the board but am more interested in getting to know people, listening and figuring out how we, as the ACLU, in collaboration with other individuals and organizations that share our vision, can affect positive change in Milwaukee and SE Wisconsin. I would appreciate your vote.
Charles Fox
Involved in ACLU activities since the early 1990s. Chapter Board member since winter 2009. Chapter Chair 2010-11. Current Nominating Committee Chair. ACLU Wisconsin Board member 2009-11 – Chair, Leadership Development Committee – Chair, Chapter Dev’t Comm. If re-elected to the Milwaukee ACLU Chapter board, I intend to continue to utilize my 501(c)3 consulting experience with non-profit educational, environmental, health, social service and progressive political organizations to help the Chapter continue its work as a dynamic and effective voice for civil rights and civil liberties in the Milwaukee area. That must include ongoing efforts to communicate – and activate Chapter membership and the public RE our mission and achievements, outreach to Milwaukee’s diverse ethnic and distinct cultural groups, and be as pro-active as possible in addressing police department issues such as racial profiling. Also promoting Chapter fundraising to support these activities.
Jacob Glicklich
I believe that expanding individual autonomy and strengthening communal structures is a moral imperative. In my time in Milwaukee, I have promoted this as a teacher, an activist and labor organizer. I hope to continue that work within the ACLU, to expand the legal protections for people and to bring increased knowledge about how these guarantees are violated. In the current situation, what’s most urgent is to increase popular awareness on how political suppression can be resisted, that increasing police brutality, militarization and political suppression are not inevitable. I hope to apply the skills I’ve gained over the last four years to assist people in disempowered circumstances, and through doing this to expand the spaces available for social renewal. An egalitarian society is only possible if people fight for social justice. I intend to be part of that fight.
Ava Hernandez
In my first term on the Milwaukee ACLU Chapter board, I served as chair of the Milwaukee chapter board’s Racial Profiling Committee and worked with ACLU of Wisconsin staffer Emilio De Torre to engage young people in civil liberties and social justice work with the Youth Social Justice Forum. My activism is focused on racial and economic justice. I am active in my community and work to support initiatives that improve the lives of Milwaukee’s Latina women and girls, improve climate issues for students and families in my child’s school district, and lead social justice workshops for educators and community members, develop leadership programs, fundraising initiatives, and communications work. I’m in touch with crucial allies in social justice struggles and with the social and political needs of Milwaukee’s most vulnerable groups and would like to assist in the ACLU’s outreach to the Latino community.
Donelle Johnson
Community activist and retired MPS teach. My current and past work should continue to be an asset to the Board. Current: Milwaukee ACLU Chapter board secretary/public education advocate; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Writing Contest founder/coordinator; King Celebration Committee member/Student Contest Facilitator; social justice advocate and presenter; Voter Registration/Education Events; Sherman Park Association member; Friends of the White River Association, Inc. founder/past secretary; MTEA, WEAC, NEA member; strong ties to education and youth. Past: Milwaukee Graduation Project; Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools; Coalition to Stop the Takeover of MPS; Anti-bias, anti-racist curriculum developer and facilitator; WEAC Human Relations Committee chairperson; MTEA Executive Board; Living Wage; Sustainable Milwaukee; Justice for Janitors; Neshkoro School Committee.
Eric D. Lowenberg
I am a practicing attorney, and a 13-year Milwaukee resident. I went to law school mostly because I wanted to work in government, specifically in public policy with elected officials. I felt that this would empower me to have more of a widespread impact in shaping the community that I live in. I took a different course entirely by hanging a shingle and starting my own law practice. I now have the great pleasure of being able to represent individuals and protect their civil rights. To me, the protection of these rights, whether it be freedom from police misconduct to freedom from voter suppression, combined with my professional experiences, make me a good candidate to serve on the board, and I would b honored to have the opportunity.
Chez Ordoñez
As an extremely active member of multiple communities in regards to the Hispanic community, LGBT, progressives and Milwaukee as a whole, I believe I would be a great candidate for the board of the Milwaukee ACLU Chapter. Most recently I ran for Alderman in the City of Milwaukee’s Southside against incumbent Bob Donovan, who has been known to be extremely bigoted and divisive in Milwaukee, especially towards minority groups and women. Currently I am an Equal Rights Commissioner for the City of Milwaukee, hearing cases of discrimination, equal housing, equal pay and overseeing processes that are in place by the city administration to ensure equality and fairness is delivered to all employees. I am also a board member of Equality WI to ensure fairness to all. I have vast experience as a journalist in Milwaukee doing freelance writing and community radio. I am also an experienced Communications and Public Relations director by working in the state Senate in Wisconsin and several local companies.
Paul Shinkle
I am a teaching philosopher (with interests in ethics of education, Paulo Freire, and contemporary American Buddhist philosophy and practice) and a student at the Midwest College of Oriental Medicine. My compassion-centric life practice is an expression of my deep commitment to working toward an enlightened society. As a former Firefighter/Paramedic – the only social justice agency with red lights and sirens – I learned that smart, direct action in service to real human needs can make all the difference. As an ACLU Legal Observer, I’ve seen how ACLU activism prevents attacks on civil rights. If elected to the board, I will support expanding direct action participation programs and training, support efforts to develop new constituencies, encourage continued humanistic and humanizing groundwork, and help to shoulder the load of protecting civil rights in America.
Athan Theoharis
Retired professor of history, Marquette University; research interest in FBI; author or co-author of 21 books (10 of which are on the FBI); served as consultant to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities; testified before Congress on wiretapping, FBI charter and FOIA legislation. I am currently President of the ACLU of Wisconsin statewide board, and served many years as Treasurer of the Milwaukee ACLU Chapter board. I have been a member of the Milwaukee ACLU Chapter board since the 1970s and a member of the ACLU of Wisconsin board since the 1980s. I am interested in, and would work to promote: 1. Public forums on civil liberties issues (primarily local but also national); 2. Outreach with other public interest groups in the Milwaukee area on shared civil liberties interests; 3. Promote events to engage Milwaukee area ACLU members.
Nichole Yunk Todd
I will bring the perspective of a busy young professional whose focuses are family, career, and social justice to the Milwaukee ACLU Chapter of the ACLU of Wisconsin. I worked at the ACLU of Wisconsin from August 2000 to August 2005 as the Youth and Civil Liberties Council Coordinator, during which time I created and developed programs that impacted thousands of Wisconsin youth, including Youth Government Day, The Other America Tour, and the Milwaukee Teen Tribunal. To this day, I run into people from all over the state who participated in these programs and remark about the lasting impression they made. As a National Field Organizer for the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, I worked primarily on the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 as well as the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). As Director of Policy & Research for Wisconsin Community Services, I interact regularly with federal, state and local elected and other top-level officials to advocate for persons who are involved with the justice system. I find it a privilege to be part of large-scale awareness and system change. I would be honored to contribute my time and efforts to expanding interest in, and support for, the ACLU in Milwaukee County.