GLUE | MBK × Black Men Organizing – Leadership Series
What does radical transformation look like?
For Ed Hennings it started with a 20-year prison sentence—and turned into an entrepreneurial journey that now spans books, trucks, barbershops, boots, and bold community vision.
📍 Milwaukee native
📦 Founder, Go Time Trucking
👢 Creator of the only Black-owned work boot company in America
📚 Author of The Answers and The Comeback
🎤 National speaker on systems, purpose, and economic transformation
Ed shares insights not just about surviving adversity, but about building freedom infrastructures:
“I was in prison long before my body got there.”
“Our stories don’t belong to us. They belong to someone else who needs to hear them.”
“I’m not in the hustle business—I’m in the inspiration business.”
He speaks truth about poverty, Black masculinity, economic scarcity, and what it takes to rebel against broken systems with strategy, grit, and vision.
Interviewed by Community Engagement Specialist, Ms. Dorothea A. Macon, this conversation is part of GLUE’s MBK/BMO commitment to:
Amplify Black/Brown male leadership
Counter destructive narratives
Build collective power rooted in purpose
We don’t need more permission.
We need more platforms.
This is one of them.
What happens when you stop waiting for change—and start building it yourself? That’s what Hassiem Babatu is doing—every day—on Milwaukee’s North Avenue.
Rooted in the strength of his family, shaped by his Navy service, and built over a 33-year career at AT&T, Hassiem now leads two frontline programs addressing Milwaukee’s most urgent neighborhood challenges.
🔊 Voices of the Elders. A prevention-first mentorship program for boys aged 10–15, grounded in relationship, accountability, and respect. Young men receive:
* Paid leadership opportunities
* Scholarships
* Character development through storytelling and elder guidance
* Exposure to real role models—not celebrities, but neighbors
“We need more prevention, because if we did more prevention, there’s no need for intervention.”
“A real role model is someone you can eat with at the table, every day.”
He’s also piloting the Blueprint for Life enrichment camp—a trauma-informed model that centers healing and growth.
🛣️ North Avenue Community Ambassadors. This boots-on-the-ground initiative links residents with resources in: Housing, Mental health, Food access, Senior care, Community, transportation advocacy
The program hosts monthly town halls, block cleanups, food distributions, and connects with local businesses to reinvest in the neighborhoods they serve.
“Everybody wants to have a voice. We may disagree—but if we come to the table, we can move forward.”
“United we stand, divided we fall. That’s our biggest problem—we’re not united.”
Hassiem is more than a messenger—he’s a strategist, builder, and bridge. He leads with empathy and urgency. His leadership models what we call “calling in” power—engaging those at risk through trust, not shame.
“Nobody grows from being humiliated. People grow when they’re invited into something real.”
📍 At GLUE, we’re proud to amplify Hassiem Babatu’s leadership.
🎤 “If the youth in Milwaukee knew they were loved, it would be a completely different place.”
– JaQai Ali
This powerful reflection from JaQai Ali isn’t just a quote—it’s a vision. Rooted in spiritual clarity and community love, JaQai’s work as a community organizer with WestCare and his collaborations with the Credible Messenger movement and Juneteenth Teen Zone show us what it means to lead with purpose and presence.
Through our GLUE interview series—where Great Lakes Urban Empowerment (GLUE) serves as backbone to both Black Men Organizing (BMO) and My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Milwaukee—we’ve met some extraordinary voices. JaQai is one of them.
💡 He calls youth “big kids” forced to be adults—traumatized, overlooked, yet still capable of joy and transformation.
🔧 He believes in love as duty—not words, but consistent action.
🌱 And he’s helping build ecosystems of young adults to reshape Milwaukee from the inside out.
At GLUE, we believe in amplifying grassroots wisdom like JaQai’s—and connecting it across institutions so that the left hand knows what the right hand is doing.