4 years after Kenosha unrest, community still rebuilding

In August of 2020, Abel Alejo received a phone call from Yolanda Hernandez.

His business, La Estrella Supermarket, was on fire.

“When I got to Kenosha, everything was chaos. There was big flames,” Alejo said. “The fires just went from one business, to the next, to the next.”

The damage to those businesses came in the wake of the Kenosha police shooting of Jacob Blake.

The shooting — which occurred on Aug. 23, 2020 — ignited protests and unrest in the city of 98,000. Throughout Kenosha, including in the Uptown neighborhood, several buildings and properties were burned to the ground.

That included Hernandez’ business, the family-owned Uptown Restaurant.

Four years after his business was destroyed, Alejo said he as no ill will toward the community.

“I don’t think there is a reason to be angry,” Alejo said. “We also understand that there are situations where we have, as a society, fallen behind, especially when it comes to civil rights. And I think it’s important to understand where people come from and sometimes how angry they can get at a personal level.” 

Both businesses are set to open new locations inside a new mixed-use development in the heart of the city’s Uptown neighborhood. The Uptown Lofts includes 71 affordable apartments as well as a new children’s library, which opened in July.

The development is on the site of a string of businesses that were burned down during the unrest.

“Now, it’s kind of like we are rising from the ashes, basically,” said Kahlil Griffin, the branch manager for Kenosha Public Library Kids @Uptown Lofts.

Some community leaders say more work needs to be done to rebuild and heal the community. But pastor and community leader Lawrence Kirby said the new development is a step in the right direction.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s on the heels of unrest and fires and people losing businesses and livelihoods,” Kirby said. “But about the best you can do from a tragic situation, is rebound and build better.” 

Kirby also mentioned the Kenosha Innovation Neighborhood, located on the site of the former Chrysler Engine Plant. That project will focus on “fostering neighborhood opportunities in education, workforce training, entrepreneurial development and job placement,” according to a press release from the city.

“When I look at those developments and I look at the community investment, I’m hopeful,” Kirby said. 

Kyle Johnson, an organizer with Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, lives in the Uptown neighborhood. He said residents face several challenges, like food deserts and a lack of affordable housing.

But Johnson also said the new development, especially the children’s library, is a sign of hope for the community.

“The fact that we opened a children’s library — investing millions of dollars into that — is beautiful,” Johnson said. 

Even so, Johnson said more needs to be done to support Uptown’s residents.

“We need to take that objective look and see where are we failing people. Where are we failing each other as community members … if I’m an elected official, where am I failing my constituents?” Johnson said.

New development sparks hope

Alejo is hopeful his new grocery store inside the development will open soon so he can bring healthy food to the area.

“This is an area that needs the services we are trying to bring and that’s the reason we are here,” Alejo said. 

Hernandez has since reopened her restaurant at another location about 2 miles from her original business. She’s also looking forward to relocating into the new development.

“It is not easy. It has been very hard. Four years is a long time, but we still have hope,” Hernandez said. 

Hernandez didn’t want to move out of Kenosha. She credits the community and her customers for supporting her in the wake of the tragedy. 

“I believe we learn from the past already and we are trying to be better and we stick together to make a better Kenosha,” Hernandez said. 

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, several children could be seen reading and playing inside the new library. Brandi Cummings, the interim director of the Kenosha Public Library, said the opening of the new children’s library brings a “promise of possibility.”

“What better place than in the heart of the city and a very walkable neighborhood and a place where we can make the most impact,” Cummings said.

Cummings said the idea for a new children’s library started around eight years ago. But the ball didn’t get rolling until after the protests.

Cummings said it’s been rewarding to revamp “a place that was a site of tragedy in the 2020 unrest, but also a place that had long been disconnected, and bring in a community hub, bring in a center where we invite people in, regardless of their background or economic standing, there’s no barriers to joining us in this library.”

Leaders say more work needs to be done

The shooting ignited calls for changes to policing in the city. Kirby said he believes community and police relations are improving, and he said the police have been more ingrained in the community following the incident.

However, Kirby also said there’s a growing political divide that has built since the shooting and unrest that followed.

“There’s a growing sense of this side or that side and where do you stand on all of these issues,” Kirby said. 

“I think that has grown worse over the last four years, unfortunately,” he added.

Johnson, with Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, said he wants to see more action from the city to address concerns from residents. He wants to see more investment in public transportation and more resources for children.

Staff for newly-elected Kenosha mayor David Bogdala said he wasn’t available for an interview for this story.

Meanwhile, local and national politicians have come to Kenosha for campaign stops in the years since the shooting.

In 2022, that included Tim Michels, Wisconsin’s Republican gubernatorial candidate at the time. Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance was in Kenosha on Tuesday.

Johnson accused Vance of trying to “score some political points” during the stop.

“The folks here that live in Kenosha — whether they’re Republican or Democrat, conservative or progressive, doesn’t matter our religion — we know what happened in Kenosha,” Johnson said. “We know it wasn’t a Donald Trump or a Joe Biden … that saved our community.”