Laurie ThurmanBio - Laurie Henderson Thurman
Laurie Henderson Thurman is a local restaurant owner from the north side of Milwaukee. Born and raised in the “inner city,” Ms. Thurman grew up in a family home and lived with her parents and grandparents who came to Milwaukee from Arkansas in search of better opportunities. Ms. Thurman speaks of her past with nostalgia. She describes her childhood neighborhood as a safe, close-knit community, where residents experienced less crime and neighbors knew each other and had friendly relations. She believes that her community thrived because they had everything in the neighborhood; “we went to neighborhood schools, we went to neighborhood stores, and we went to neighborhood restaurants…teachers lived in the neighborhood and so our parents knew who to call.” She laments a reduced sense of community and lists many challenges in the neighborhood today, “frequent sirens, fighting and gunshots that makes you lose sleep and sometimes makes you think of packing and leaving.” However, she is determined to stay put and to keep their business firmly rooted in the community. She believes that good things will happen again in the Washington Park neighborhood. She hopes to be able to have friendly relations and engage with her neighbors without any hesitation or confrontation. The urge to keep her business in the community also stems from what it means to be rooted. Her coffee shop, Coffee Makes you Black, located on 2803 N. Teutonia Avenue, has become a major gathering place. She and her husband, Bradley Thurman, started this business in 2001. It is a place where people from different backgrounds assemble. According to a report in Urban Milwaukee, “Located in a former bank building, the shop’s light-filled space features African art and images of black musicians and sports heroes. It has served as host for political leaders like Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Eric Holder and Tom Perez, as well as the late Public Broadcasting Service news anchor Gwen Ifill.” Ms. Thurman is proud that her restaurant is able to attract people from within the community and from outside Milwaukee. Occasionally, it attracts reputed people into the community. These people would probably not come to the community for any other reasons. Ms. Thurman sees hope and opportunity in the community and she believes in rebuilding her block together, “brick by brick and step by step.” She believes that changes in a community can be achieved through dedication and hard work. Her parents inculcated an ethic of hard work in her. They were both factory workers. Her grandmother had a hair salon. Ms. Thurman hopes that her story of choosing to stay and to run a business in this community, that is often held in disdain by outsiders, will be a source of inspiration to others to move back into the community. She hopes to inspire people to invest in her community—to invest with time, resources, and attention. Some changes that Laurie would like to see in her community include rapid response to safety and health issues from the city authorities. Learning from her mother and grandmother, Ms. Thurman maintains a beautiful yard with flowers and food-bearing plants. She cares for the environment by “picking the paper on the streets and sidewalks” and by showing up at community clean up exercises. Laurie Thurman, interviewed by Bernard Apeku $ Yuchen Zhao, July 2021. |
Laurie Thurman talks about her childhood and the community she grew up in.
Laurie Thurman highlights the decline in the rate of ownership as the main determinant for the downward trend in her community.
Laurie Thurman talks about her garden and what influenced her family's decision to plant flowers and food crops in their yards.
Laurie Thurman talks about her daily activities and her business in the community.
Laurie Thurman describes the neighborhood as she sees and experiences it.
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