Planting A Legacy for Za’layia

Episode #079

“Each year we want [the garden] just to grow, and grow and grow.... Her little body can’t grow anymore so this is her body, and I want people to realize that. This is her...

Preparing for a Career in Law Enforcement

Episode #073

“Wherever I’m policing all I know is I’m responsible for that community and their problems are our problems now.”Police Aides Sergio Rivera and Jada Greer grew up...

A sentencing hearing

Episode #071

“It just seems like I’ve worked so hard to get nowhere.”On August 1, 2015 Glendale Police Officer Eric Guse was at an event at the pet store that had raised money for...

Unwavering love in the Sherman Park community

Episode #070

“I always think that the city wears its issues on its sleeve. And in the suburbs, it's harder to know people sometimes. I feel like there's more transparency in proximity,...

#069 Precious Lives: Changing the system from within

Episode #069

“I know technically we couch the work that youth workers do as youth development but I call it purpose finding work ­ in terms of helping people understand who they are,...

A Portal to Answers

Episode #068

“What is the point?...of you know, you going out and doing something so illegal and so pathetic to actually send people through pain that's unnecessary. You know? Like why?...

Teacher uses bulletin board to link oppression and gun violence

Episode #066

“It’s really been very sad for me to kind of see that history. But love having conversations about it because it informs us as to how we got to where we are. We...

Through writing students learn that they have the right to dream

Episode #065

“Even at 29 you know to walk down a block in my neighborhood there’s still the thought of any moment my life can be taken. But at 29 I at least now... I have had an...

A classroom tool for healing empowers students to help others

Episode #064

“I think one of the things that is really critical is always to ask people what they need. And sometimes what’s needed most is just to be sad, be angry, to feel and just...

Young leaders propose restorative justice to tackle gun violence

Episode #062

“There are places in Milwaukee where this doesn’t directly affect people and that’s one of the biggest problems. You can’t turn a blind eye, just because you don’t...

Firefighter copes with trauma of gun violence, compartmentalization is key

Episode #061

“You’re there to do it and there’s no one else. You have to get it done so, with our job we’re there we’re in and we’re out and we just kind of disassociate.”...

Robbery Trauma Leads Young Milwaukee Prosecutor to Leave Job to Heal

Episode #059

“After I was robbed it made me a lot better talking to victims and questioning victims. I knew just from being robbed it never goes back to being to be the same. And you...

When you’re vulnerable to family you’ll do anything for family

Episode #058

“You have a young man and he says he’s this, OK let him be that. You don’t have to change a person’s belief system. Because the gang culture teaches you,...

My son doesn’t have that street knowledge

Episode #056

“I understand that in this society, in this society, you got to know your child. He’s a follower, you know? I got to not let him be led by the wrong people. Because when...

Seeking stories behind the numbers

Episode #055

“Here’s where I always struggle, I struggle because we have so many good things in Milwaukee and we have a persistent problem. If we’re looking at Milwaukee in 2015 and...

A teenage girl’s gun violence survival guide

Episode #054

“My house right here! They down the street, like three houses down, hiding they gun. Somebody down there dead. I know who it is. What if they wasn’t done? What if they...

Mayor remarks on plan for youth violence prevention

Episode #053

“Well it’s pretty straightforward there’s going to be a jobs component, there’s going to be an engagement component. Those are all different components of how you...

He’s more than a mentor, he’s my pops.

Episode #052

“And everything run in the family. Your family drug dealers and thugs, that’s all that’s going to run in the family. I ain’t saying nothing against they families,...

Giovonnie Cameron

Episode #051

“My son never was allowed to play with guns. He never got it for Christmas, anyone bought him a gun I gave it back. But if I would've allowed him to, then he would've know...

OUR COMPOSER'S YEAR END SONIC EXPERIENCE REVIEW

Episode #050

"I survived Milwaukee." Remixing the sounds and voices of our first year of Precious Lives episodes, our composer Kiran Vee has created an immersive sonic experience. Travel...

Before He Pulled the Trigger

Episode #049

“He had told his mom the day of this incident that he didn’t want to live any more. Nobody knows that he had just a big blow up with his mom that he didn’t want to live...

Kids who fight in school need the most care

Episode #047

“Well, I mean that's so much a part of us, where we live, who we're around our environment. When you don't have that support system. It’s so important. When you don't...

Promoting Peace, Not Youth Violence Prevention

Episode #045

This episode originally aired as Episode 33.When we first aired this story Fidel Verdin had a vision for a park, on MLK Dr. and Ring St. One that promotes peace. Since then,...

Should Guns Be Allowed Inside Campus Buildings?

Episode #043

“Kremer pointed out that UWM is not a safe place… because it is in Milwaukee... is what the implication was. If you’re going to make a case about UWM being unsafe we...

Hiring for Youth Violence Prevention

Episode #042

“But I just want to say this, this current budget proposal with this two positions for the youth violence… I don’t want anyone listening to be mistaken that this in...

Foundation for a Turnaround

Episode #038

“At the risk of sounding too simplistic, I don’t think this is something we can’t get our hands around very quickly. I do believe that we have a number of groups across...

The Price of Doing the Right Thing

Episode #037

“I feel that I did do the right thing, I did the only thing. I had a choice to make and I made the right decision, just like my son had a choice to make. He made the right...

Prosecutor Works with Landlords to Stabilize Neighborhoods

Episode #035

“We can’t solve a crime problem by arresting and prosecuting everyone that's just not going to work.” Plot incidents of crime on a map - homicides, shootings,...

Milwaukee’s Leaders Respond to Minneapolis Blueprint

Episode #030

The airing of a Precious Lives story about the success of Minneapolis’ youth violence prevention program has had Milwaukee leaders talking.  Precious Lives Executive...

Can a Haircut Prevent Youth Violence?

Episode #029

Last week Precious Lives traveled to Minneapolis. We learned about the City’s Blueprint for Action to Prevent Youth Violence. You might remember the former Minneapolis...

Minneapolis Has a Plan to Keep Young People Safe

Episode #028

This week Precious Lives travels to Minneapolis to see how they’ve achieved a dramatic reduction in the number of kids killed and hurt by gun violence. A decade ago the...

Few Places Left Where Milwaukee Teens Feel Safe

Episode #027

As Milwaukee mourns ten individuals lost to gun violence in seven days, family members Shateria and Dearia Wiley, Nasiera Cloyd and Timasia Mack describe the scene on Lake...

The Shooting at the Vigil

Episode #023

Vigils are meant to offer solidarity and comfort to grieving people, a pause from the chaos of murder. But in May as a group gathered for 18 year old Kendrai Walker’s...

Common Council Invests in Neighbors to Interrupt Violence

Episode #022

When you think of the word Hood.. What comes to mind? Poverty? Drugs? Violence? For those who live in the Garden Homes neighborhood, it means something else. Some have even...

What Makes People Prioritize Gun Violence Reduction?

Episode #021

State Assembly Representative Jonathan Brostoff and Milwaukee Alderman Ashanti Hamilton both grew up on the east side of Milwaukee. Each had a completely different...

The Trauma of Shooting a Teen in Self-Defense

Episode #020

Concealed carry holder and nurse, Victoria Davison-Adams shot a 15 year old in self-defense. She’s learning how to cope with the trauma. Victoria Davison-Adams, a...

How do you measure the loss of a 5 year old girl? Revisited

Episode #018

Originally aired the week of 1/12/15 The first Precious Lives story remembered five year old Laylah Petersen. Six months have passed since Laylah was shot and killed while...

New Discoveries Years After a Mother’s Suicide

Episode #016

Khary Penebaker volunteers with Everytown for Gun Safety and Mom’s Demand Action: groups that advocate for laws intended to prevent gun violence. Recently he started...

Provide Love Now to Avoid Lock-Up Later

Episode #013

The first half of 2015 has been an exciting time for leaders at Milwaukee’s Sojourner Family Peace Center.  The organization announced recently that it has exceeded its...

The Thao Family’s Immigration Story

Episode #010

Somboon Thao and his family escaped a repressive life in Laos to start better one in the United States. But then the worst thing imaginable happened. Somboon Thao’s...

Getting a House Back to a Home

Episode #009

Latoshia Stewart tries to feel whole again after the murder of her daughter. In December 2010, 18 year old Markus Evans took 17 year old Jonoshia Alexander’s life on her...

Like Father, Like Son

Episode #008

Each time Rev. Fuller helps to restore a family, he feels that just maybe his own sons did not die in vain. Over a 9 year period Reverend Fuller lost all three of his sons...

Breaking Ground to Break the Cycle of Violence

Episode #007

Will a new center for domestic violence victims reduce the likelihood that a kid or teen will pick up a gun? This past October, Milwaukee broke ground on what will be the...

But I Couldn’t Fix Him…

Episode #004

As a pediatric nurse Lisa heals people all of the time, but twenty years ago she couldn’t heal the one she wanted to the most… her son. Nine year old Marcus DeBack was...

More Than a Teacher

Episode #003

An art teacher changes her lesson plan to personalized guns after many of her students mourn the death of 17 year old Precise Martin. Trace Matabele was teaching art in...

History Repeating Itself

Episode #002

The recent shooting of 5 year old Laylah Petersen snapped Betzy Torres back to the day she was shot 22 years ago in 1993. Betzy was five when she was shot in her home on...

How Do You Measure the Loss of a Five-Year-Old Girl?

Episode #001

Laylah Petersen’s mother, Ashley Fogl, and close family friend, Amanda Legler, express their questions, thoughts and feelings after the tragedy of the 5-year-old’s...