Legislative Black Caucus wants schools to observe Vel Phillips' birthday
The Legislative Black Caucus proposed Tuesday that Wisconsin make Vel Phillips' birthday — Feb. 18 — a special day of observance in Wisconsin schools.
Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde (D-Milwaukee), a bill coauthor, recognized Phillips' lengthy list of 'firsts' at a press conference Tuesday morning, saying that 'far too few' Wisconsinites know about her legacy.
Phillips was Wisconsin's first Black statewide elected official, serving as secretary of state from 1979 to 1983. She also served as Wisconsin's first Black judge and the first woman judge in Milwaukee County and was the first Black woman to graduate from University of Wisconsin Law School.
Phillips was the first African American and the first woman to be elected as a Milwaukee Common Council alder. She was an activist who advocated fair and affordable housing in Milwaukee, including introducing the Phillips Housing Ordinance in 1962, which would have outlawed racial discrimination among landlords and real estate agents in Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Common Council finally adopted an open housing ordinance in April 1968 after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and the U.S. Congress passed the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Phillips passed away on April 17, 2018. Her 101st birthday was Tuesday.
'Her life and work has impacted countless Wisconsinites, so much so that all Wisconsin students should know about and recognize her,' Moore Omokunde said.
Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) said at a press conference that Phillips 'wasn't just a leader. She was a force of nature. She refused to accept the limits placed on her as an African American woman and as a woman in general, and she made sure that no one coming after her had to suffer those barriers,' Johnson said. 'Milwaukee is the city that it is today in part due to Vel Phillips.
'She wasn't just making history. She was paving the way for the rest of us — for Black women in Wisconsin who still face barriers, for girls who need to see what's possible and for every person who has ever been told to wait their turn,' Johnson said. 'That's what this bill is about — ensuring Vel Phillips' story is told for generations to come. Making Feb. 18 a special observance day isn't just about remembering Vel Phillips. It's about teaching our kids what she stood for, making sure her name, her fight, her legacy lives on.'
There are 21 special observance days in Wisconsin's school calendar, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Susan B. Anthony's birthday, Environmental Awareness Day, Bullying Awareness Day, September 11 Observance Day, Veterans Day and Robert La Follette Sr. Day.
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) states on its website that observance days can 'teach the elements of tradition that preserve U.S. society and foster an awareness of our cultural heritage' and 'can be part of a rich social studies curriculum that gives these individuals and events proper emphasis, both in the context of Wisconsin and U.S. history and in relation to their effect on or improvement of our political, economic and social institutions.'
Mikki Maddox, a teacher at Necedah Area High School, is part of the reason the caucus brought the legislation forward. She said she started doing announcements for the school and marking the observance days in her calendar.
'I noticed that there are quite a few gaps,' Maddox said, adding that she contacted DPI and wrote to Senate and Assembly members about observance days.
'I knew this was a person that needed to be recognized all over the state for her courage and for her willingness to stand up,' Maddox said.
Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski honored her predecessor at the press conference, recalling that she learned about Phillips in school only after taking her own initiative to look for women important to Wisconsin history and coming across her in a textbook.
'As Wisconsin's secretary of state I stand on Vel's shoulders. … She is a trailblazer and Wisconsin is better because of Vel's leadership,' Godlewski said. 'Too many students [are] just like the one that I was sitting in the classroom flipping through my history books and not seeing that full picture of who actually shaped our state.'
The bill, Godlewski said, would ensure 'every student learns about her, not just as an afterthought, but as a fundamental part of our state history.'
The bill, which is currently being circulated for co-sponsorship, will need bipartisan support to pass in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Moore Omokunde said he doesn't think recent hostility towards diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts from Republicans will hinder it, adding that many observances of Phillips already exist throughout Wisconsin. An outdoor statue of Phillips was installed outside the Wisconsin State Capitol in September 2024 — an action that received bipartisan approval in 2021. Phillips also had a Madison high school renamed for her in 2021 and a road in Milwaukee is named after her.
'We already have the statue. Vel Phillips has a street in Milwaukee… it's really a no-brainer,' Moore Omokunde said.
The bill is a continuation of lawmakers' work to recognize and celebrate Black Wisconsinites during Black History Month. Early this month, lawmakers re-introduced a resolution to proclaim February as Black History Month.
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