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WNPJ’s 2025 Virtual Spring Assembly, March 24-28, 2025

March 24th-28th, 2025

Each evening from 7-8:00 pm WNPJ brought you the voices of Wisconsin activists as we have championed our diversity and our unity. 

Thanks to all who attended WNPJ’s Virtual Spring Assembly. We had over 35 member groups represented on the zoom calls March 24 – 28!

Monday, Mar 24: Coalitions and Community 

https://youtu.be/KuQ Belk bac?si=MT0FgULMzT0yKDkJ&t=3

Tuesday March 25 –   Immigration & Palestine; the Connection 

https://youtu.be/nvFe7W-nWl8?si=p6bkQ-GzKgk5uSLV&t=27

Wednesday March 26 –  Protecting All Our Rights 

https://youtu.be/PWUjxIu1nnQ?si=zl0Lgdmhl6fCEld9&t=3

Thursday March 27 –  Environmental Justice 

https://youtu.be/A8LDwvKztEc

Friday, Mar 28 Anti-war / Anti-militarism / Abolition 

https://youtu.be/P1eq5VyFhFg

There’s a LOT of important information here as we learn about what our WNPJ groups and allies are doing across Wisconsin! Thanks to all the panelists and viewers. We have a lot to do – together!

Monday, March 24

Panelists

Monday, March 24

Tuesday, March 25

Moderator: John Peck, Family Farm Defenders and Madison Infoshop and WNPJ Board member 

Panelists:

Wednesday March 26 –  Protecting All Our Rights

Moderator: Tynnetta Jackson, SOULS and WNPJ Board member/Chair

Panelists

Thursday March 27 –  Environmental Justice 

Moderator: Dena Eakles  

Friday, Mar 28 Anti-war / Anti-militarism / Abolition

Moderators John Peck and Dena Eakles

Panelists

Other resources on PEACE and ABOLITION: 

“NonViolence and NonCooperation” is the theme of this WDRT Conversation with author and nonviolence activist Rivera Sun and Dena Eakles. This hour is packed with historical facts and an enthusiastic call to action as we reclaim our humanity.

It was suggested we watch the documentary film  “13th” by Ava DuVernay. It explores the history of race and the criminal justice system in the United States, arguing that mass incarceration is a continuation of slavery through the loophole in the 13th Amendment that allows for involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. Available on Netflix. 

If You’re New to Abolition: Study Group Guide

If You’re New to Abolition: Study Group Guide

BIOS: alphabetical

Anahkwet (Guy Reiter) is a traditional Menominee who resides on the Menominee Reservation. He’s the executive Director of a Menominee Indian community organization called Menikahnaehkem. He’s also a Community organizer, activist, author, amateur archaeologist and lecturer. Anahkwet has organized a lot of events that have uplifted the human condition and demonstrated how enriching the Menominee culture is. He’s lectured at universities on the connection Menominee Indians have to the Menominee River. He’s also written articles for Environmental Health News and others. When Anahkwet isn’t working you’ll find him enjoying time with his partner and their children. Anahkwet is an advocate for indigenous people everywhere.

Erika Bach, WNPJ Board Secretary. Erika joined the WNPJ board in 2020, in the midst of the global uprising and calls for an end to state sanctioned violence. She is compelled to action in collaboration with people who support the need for justice in the interconnected criminal legal carceral systems and our educational, environmental and economic infrastructures. Erika strives to build community in solidarity with lifelong learners and facilitators of social, racial and disability justice, accessible community well-being, human rights advocacy and peace education.

Mary Kay Baum – a lifetime of advocacy.

After some years as a Catholic nun, Mary Kay went on to the UW Madison for a degree in Hebrew studies. She advocated against the Vietnam War. And as a Junior in college, she ran for and was elected the downtown district of the Dane County Board. Social justice work that drove her to go to UW Law School and served terms on the Madison Metro School Board. Her first job out of law school was Corrections Legal Services. 

Mary Kay volunteered to help the National Lawyer Association monitor safety of the Menominee Warrior Society who took over the Alexian Brother Novitiate on January 1st, 1975. 10 trips to war torn El Salvador around 1986-90 showed her the rebuilding and re-loss of democracy – relevant to today.

She later became an ordained Lutheran minister. Mary Kay next realized that nature and rural life provided antidotes for her health. She discovered the Pine Relict State Natural Area and added it to her list of passions. The Wisconsin DNR named Mary Kay the state Volunteer of the Year in 2019. 

She remains active as a Board member of WNPJ, a strong advocate of the environment as well as Native rights and prison reform

Rob Danielson lives in La Farge, Wisconsin. He is Secretary of S.O.U.L. of Wisconsin (Save Our Unique Lands) assigned with its mission to, “to promote efficient and responsible management of electrical power for the public good, while protecting the natural, social and economic environments and citizens of Wisconsin.” S.O.U.L. is a member of WNPJ

Paul DeMain, also known by his Ojibwe name Skabewis is a citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and of Ojibwe descent currently residing on the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe reservation. The retired editor of News From Indian Country for 33 years, DeMain has been involved in environmental and treaty related issues most of his life.

DeMain currently assists the Chequamegon Bay area organization Communities United by Water and sits on the Board of Directors for Superior Biodiversity, a proponent of public land stewardship. 

Dena Eakles, WNPJ Board member

Dena is a writer, farmer, and activist who loves life. Board Member of the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice,  past member of WCJP executive committee  ,and president of Echo Valley Hope; Dena also writes a weekly blog LetKindnessWin. Author of The Peace Warrior, you can find radio and podcast interviews and conversations at Echo Valley Hope.org as well as links to TPRF’s Peace Education Program.

Debra Gillispie, WNPJ Board member

Debra, a Milwaukee native, is a dedicated wife and mother who believes that faith calls for action. As the founder of Mothers Against Gun Violence (MAGV), she advocates for media equity and actively works to amplify the voices of gun violence survivors through media and the arts.

Tynnetta Jackson, Chair of WNPJ. Ty is also the Co-Director of Solomons Outreach and Urban Learning Sessions, Board member of Pastor’s United, a member of NAACP, Building Unity,  National Council of Negro Women, Community Organizer/Advocate, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer a on Air Radio Personality of her show “Tea Time With Ty”, and a Milwaukee Bucks Grand Dancer.

Forest Jahnke

Forest was born in a barn and grew up on Dancing Waters Permaculture Co-op at the headwaters of the West Fork of Knapps Creek, Crawford County, instilling in him a lifelong love for this land as well as a passion for community. He sees things at a systems level, plays well with others, and is eager to share what he has learned and keep learning.After graduating from North Crawford High School, he went on to Eckerd College in Florida where he graduated with a degree in Communications, minoring in International Studies and Global Affairs, and Spanish, He has a second life in Oaxaca, Mexico, rounding out his education. He is dedicated to helping folks protect the values and rights of our communities and ecosystems. He hopes to inspire a deeper sense of our collective responsibility to protect these rights. Forest keeps busy on a wide range of projects involving grassroots networking and cross-organizational coordination, research and education, public speaking and community organizing, and more. He is inspired by the massive outpourings of community support CSP has been able to prompt over the years, the data our citizen scientists have generated, the 15 independent organizations catalyzed, and the enduring relationships that have built our grassroots networks on a host of issues. Forest can be found planting, harvesting, cooking and eating food, playing with livestock, cutting firewood, or paddling on the water, the backwaters of the Lower Wisconsin River or the Pacific Ocean.

Anita Johnson is the Outreach and Education Manager for Souls To The Polls MKE, She also spearheaded election protection and the election administration program at Citizen Action. Previously, she worked for VoteRiders as Wisconsin ID State Coalition Coordinator, People For American Way as Wisconsin Election Protection State Coordinator, recruiting and training volunteers to work the polls on election day as well as educating the public about voter rights. Anita has served on the Wisconsin Election Administration Council for the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, the state agency that manages elections. She also worked for many years for AFSCME District Council 48 and is a member of The Coalition of Black Trade Unionist CBTU. Anita has served  on the boards of the Labor Historical Society and the Wisconsin State Retirees, BLOC, Citizen Action of Wisconsin and the African American Round Table . She has received a number of awards, she is very proud to be a recipient of the Robert H. Friebert Social Justice Award, she recently received the Black Excellence Award.   Having attended Milwaukee Area Technical College, Anita is also a graduate of Future Milwaukee, Center For Progressive Leadership and the Midwest Academy Organizing program, as well as a graduate of Milwaukee Business Training Institute.

John Peck, WNPJ Board member

John grows vegetables and flowers with his partner on a 20 acre farm near Brooklyn, WI, he taught Economics part-time at Madison College, and is also the executive director of Family Farm Defenders, a national grassroots organization with a mission of promoting food sovereignty, agroecology, and socioeconomic justice.  John is also a longtime volunteer of other WNPJ member groups, such as the Madison Infoshop and WI Books to Prisoners.

Britnie Remer is based in Wausau and is 350 Wisconsin’s Fossil Fuel Resistance Organizer. The main focus of her work is organizing to shut down Line 5, but also includes utility and energy justice aspects, and fighting methane gas expansion for a fossil-free future. Her passion for, and dedication to, movement work comes from her experience with the Poor People’s Campaign, where she has been organizing for several years. Britnie has particular interest in the effects of the climate crisis and fossil fuel industry on poor and low-income individuals and communities. In her personal life, she loves hiking, kayaking, birding, camping with her partner, and spoiling their three cats, and she is training to become a yoga teacher

David Ortiz Whittingham is the Construction Organizer at Worker Justice Wisconsin. A near-lifelong Wisconsinite, he has been an active member of the labor movement for several years, and in his current position he supports Dane County construction workers with wage theft, safety, misclassification, and other issues.