By Ta’Leah Van Sistine, Community Reporter
After completing a walk of nearly 400 miles from Kenosha to Minneapolis in support of Black Lives Matter and voter registration, Jared Choate reflected on a run across the country he did 10 years earlier.
He said both journeys shared two truths: there are great people everywhere in the United States, and there is a lack of accountability everywhere as well.
“Many people in America refuse to believe that they are in any way part of any problems, that they should, in any way, be held accountable for their actions,” he said in a recent phone interview with the CVPost.
Husband and wife Jared and Kelly Choate — who live in San Francisco, but are natives of northwestern Wisconsin and UW-Eau Claire alumni — made the journey across Wisconsin from Sept. 1-13.
Jared walked 30 miles a day on average and Kelly would work remotely from a car throughout the day, occasionally meeting up with him to provide food and water and sometimes parking ahead, so she could go back and walk with him. Each night, they stayed with friends or camped.
Jared said the anniversary of his five-month run in 2010 from Surf City, NJ to Santa Monica, CA was merely “a catalyst” for the walk last month. This journey, he said, was more about directly supporting the African-American community.
Learning along the way
One of the most powerful takeaways from this trip was the importance of listening to and hearing what people have to say, Kelly said.
“That’s missing sometimes from the conversation,” she said, “and oftentimes it’s what will create this opportunity for us all to have empathy.”
Kelly and Jared tried to engage in conversations with people they met on the street to ask them how they felt about America’s current state.
They also met with several progressive candidates for Wisconsin state office. Kelly said this helped them understand how these individuals are connecting with voters and finding commonalities with people who don’t share the same beliefs as they do.
“We’re quite politically active and we’re in communication with a variety of activists and representatives around the state,” Jared said. “Part of the desire was to speak with people who we respect so highly and to kind of ask for their thoughts on the current state of affairs and possible solutions moving forward.”
Walking through Milwaukee
Emily Siegrist, the District 24 Democratic candidate for the Wisconsin State Assembly, was invited to walk with Jared in Milwaukee.
Siegrist said she, her partner and their friend walked about five or six miles with Jared and talked about their backgrounds and what brought them to this point that they were marching alongside him.
“For me, everyone has their own role in this instrumental (time) in history right now,” Siegrist said. “Everyone’s got a role that they feel they’re filling. For me, I’m running for office. For Jared, it was him marching.”
As a candidate running for office, Siegrist said it was important to her to walk with Jared in support of “black brothers and sisters” because she plans to represent them.
The George Floyd Memorial
Kenosha and Minneapolis are cities associated with grief and pain, after the shooting of Jacob Blake and killing of George Floyd this past summer. On the last day of their journey, Kelly and Jared walked together to the George Floyd Memorial.
“There’s a heaviness when you go and you visit something like this,” Kelly said. “You see the grief that this community is feeling and you see how people are coming together to honor a life that passed.”
The Choates said the George Floyd Memorial had flowers, art and music, completely transforming the area into something “so beautiful.”
“As soon as we left, like many others I’m sure, our minds go to how can we (transform) this awareness into direct action,” Jared said, “and make sure this stops and make sure we don’t have a country embedded with systemic racism such that police are brutalizing the black community without accountability.”
‘. . . best weapon against discrimination’
Open ears will be the best weapon against discrimination, he said.
Kelly said if people want to inspire change, small things, such as having conversations with family members, calling representatives and sharing one’s thoughts, can all add up.
In regard to any future journeys, the Choates said right now they are focused on processing what they learned from the walk across Wisconsin and forming a plan of action to continue their momentum. “I think our feet will take a little time off,” Jared said, “but to be sure, the work has only begun.”
NOTE: the home page photo shows a Kenosha street scene photographed by Jared Choate before he left on his walk to Minneapolis. (Contributed photo)
If you liked this story, please remember there were costs involved in producing it. The CVPost has no paywall, and we rely on our readers to help us meet the costs of reporting community news and information you often won’t find elsewhere.
Annual CVPost membership is $50, but contributions of any amount also matter. Please consider helping community supported journalism survive by clicking the Donate button below.