2023–present · Connect · Curate · Catalyze · Civic Power
Black Men Organizing
The Situation
Milwaukee ranked 50th of 50 large metros for African American well-being. The city was full of capable Black men leading churches, schools, businesses, and nonprofits, but they worked in silos, and no standing body brought them together to act.
What It Produced
People: 438 participants since 2023, about a dozen committee and steering leaders, and 28 men committed to committee work in September 2026. Partners: Running Rebels, MBK Milwaukee, Project IMPACT, the Greater Milwaukee Urban League, and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Projects: the MKE 5K, first-Saturday men's wellness, the intergenerational dialogue series, a prostate cancer awareness event with screenings, and youth mentorship. Procedures: a steering table that has met weekly for two years, a standing monthly gathering, and one-lane commitments for every member. Publishing: the Black Male Achievement timeline, a community asset map, blackmenorganizing.org, a June 2026 progress report, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel coverage.
The Evidence
The August 2023 founding letter (“The Call,” on the BMO website) · Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, James E. Causey, January 2024 and November 2025 · blackmenorganizing.org.
What GLUE Did
Walter Lanier sent the call on August 25, 2023: “We are not forming anything new but building on top of and connecting what already exists.” On September 23, about 50 men met in the basement of Progressive Baptist Church. The men named the issues themselves, in breakout rooms, a skills inventory, and summit surveys, and the organization's values (Brotherhood, Organizing, and Action) came from the floor. Victor Barnett and Greg Lewis now serve with him as executive leads. Connect: growth from about 50 men to a 438-person network; the Black Male Empowerment Summit at MATC (2024); an annual gathering with national leader Shawn Dove (2025); and a standing third-Saturday gathering. Curate: three committees (Youth and Education, Health and Wellness, Black Wealth and Economics), a skills and asset inventory, an engagement survey, and a Black Male Achievement timeline from 1980 to 2023. Catalyze: the MKE 5K Walk/Run, which founder Matthew Johnson passed on to Black Men Organizing; nonpartisan voter engagement, including Real Men Vote; and advocacy on housing (a September 2025 letter from GLUE and BMO's Black Wealth and Economics Committee asking WHEDA's board to examine using its surplus dividends for housing and economic development, urban and rural, with a request for the underlying budget and dividend records), poverty (a December 2024 letter signed by more than 50 organizations and leaders), and education (September 2026 testimony to the MPS Board).
The Lesson