Member-only story
Cultivate the talent of brag
Tell the Milwaukee story, and tell it again.
Milwaukee is a great place, and we all must stand tall and boast our pride when and however we can. This is our collective and civic responsibility.
In 1872, a Milwaukee banking executive named John Johnson offered a statement regarding local attitudes that still echoes today. Johnson decried that we don’t have the “necessary blow and brag” for this “the handsomest and healthiest and happiest city in the West.”
Johnson’s full words are below, but before you read and share them, check your own Milwaukee pride. Especially on this 414Day. And, if you don’t live in Milwaukee — gut check your civic pride for the city you live in.
While there’s no doubt that massive progress has been made in Milwaukee in the past 10–15 years, we all must become better and more passionate ambassadors and evangelists for Milwaukee. A new Mayor, new energy and new hopes will help fuel the future.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it thousands of times: A city is only as good as the stories it tells. And we as Milwaukeeans must embrace the responsibility to tell the Milwaukee story. Find the good in greater Milwaukee, tell your neighbors, your…
