By Milwaukee Courier Staff

A group of Milwaukee’s foremost business and religious leaders gathered together on April 12, to celebrate the outstanding leadership of Mayor Cavalier Johnson and County Executive David Crowley. The Mayor and the County Executive provided proclamations recognizing the occasion as a “Day of Community Prayer” and the time to outline their respective visions for sustaining the remarkable growth and empowerment experienced during their tenures. Safeguarding access to resources and advancement across the quality of life spectrum was the central theme of their collective message.

“Healthcare, employment, education, technology, every field, every occupation, every opportunity must be available to our community” said Milwaukee native, Bay View High School, and UW-Madison graduate Mayor Johnson. “Self-empowerment and self-reliance often stem from enacting the principles of generosity and compassion – giving back. We are all biblically compelled to reach back and move forward with a spirit of cooperation and collective mindset of service to others. These invested leaders protect our future.”

David Crowley, Milwaukee County Executive

The ecumenical breakfast, the first of its kind in Milwaukee, gave corporate and civic leaders an opportunity to express a personal commitment to continuing efforts to engage all citizens and all neighborhoods. Understanding the critical importance of a united community bound together by purposeful commitment, the prayer breakfast concept and call to action were eagerly embraced by the Mayor and the County Executive. “The opportunity to serve the citizens of Milwaukee brings challenge and purpose,” noted Crowley, also a Bay View and UWM alum, the first African American to serve as the county’s top official and the youngest. “The rising tide of community empowerment is lifting every segment of the population toward improvement. As we reassert Milwaukee County’s commitment to that objective, I am thrilled to work with these outstanding leaders in that quest. I am equally humbled.”

One of Wisconsin’s most well-respected business leaders, Gerard Randall, remarked, “Assembling Milwaukee’s key executives is a major demonstration of unity in the shared obligation to protect families and empower communities. The state’s future prosperity runs through Milwaukee and what the Mayor and the County Executive have already accomplished in such a short time has changed the trajectory of diversity and inclusion.”

“The courageous leadership we’ve been so desperately in need of, is game-changing,” commented Attorney Walter J. Lanier, President of the African American Leadership Alliance of Milwaukee, University of Michigan alum, and Senior Pastor of Progressive Baptist Church. “Communities are only as strong as the families we support. Mayor Johnson and County Executive Crowley are at the forefront in the battle for equity. As they represent all of us, we salute, commend, and support their efforts.”

“Because I grew up in this community, what resonates with me, is what I know is possible.” Crowley added. “We are going to unleash possibilities for this entire community in health and education and continue to generate economic opportunities for everyone.”

The event was held at the Institute for the Preservation of African American Music and Arts (IPAMA), a nationally acclaimed repository and multipurpose conference center on Milwaukee’s north side, which houses hundreds of artifacts and Black artworks replicated nowhere else in Wisconsin. Business hosts for the event included Attorney John W. Daniels, Jr., Valerie Daniels-Carter, Cory Nettles, Mike Barber, Jackie Herd-Barber, Greg Wesley, John Tribble, Daniel Jackson, Charles Harvey, and a notable array of corporate and civic leaders.