RPKC News

Don’t wait, vote early & bank your vote for the August 11, 2026 Partisan Primary Election! The Partisan Primary Election on August 11, 2026 will shape several important races moving into the Fall. It’s vital that each of us vote as if our children’s future were at stake—because it is! The key is to actually show up & vote. Make Your Plan to Vote for the August 11th 2026 Partisan Primary Election Now! When & Where To Vote In-Person Absentee Voting (early voting) begins on July

Highlighting Juneteenth In honor of the 250th birthday of our great country, the Republican Party of Kenosha County is pleased to kick off the festivities by honoring outstanding Americans who helped make our nation great. Each of the people in our “Voices of Freedom” series has an individual news post full of additional information ready for you to explore. Robert S. Abbott (1870-1940) Lawyer, Editor, Publisher Marian Anderson (1897-1993) Musician George Washington Carver (1

Highlighting Juneteenth Robert S. Abbott (1870-1940) Lawyer, Editor, Publisher “No greater glory, no greater honor, is the lot of man departing than a feeling deep in his heart that the world is a better place for his having lived.” Robert Sengstacke Abbott was born in Georgia, to parents who were Gulla-speaking freedmen from the Georgia Sea Islands. His father died when he was an infant, and he was raised by his mother, Flora, and his step-father, John Sengstacke, a mixed-ra

Highlighting Juneteenth Marian Anderson (1897-1993) Musician “The minute a person whose word means a great deal dares to take the open-hearted and courageous way, many others follow.” Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia. Her father, John Anderson, was a retailer; her mother, Annie Rucker Anderson, a former schoolteacher. Along with her parents and her two younger sisters, Marian attended Union Baptist Church in Philadelphia, where, from the age of six, she sang: first in

Highlighting Juneteenth George Washington Carver (1864-1943) Agronomist, Botanist “Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Missouri. The exact year of his birth is not known. His father died before he was born. After slavery was abolished, George and his brother James were raised by his family’s former “masters”, Moses and Susan Carver, as their own children. The Carvers taught George to read and encouraged

Highlighting Juneteenth Martin Delaney (1812-1885) Physician, Abolitionist, Soldier “Every people should be the originators of their own destiny, the projectors of their own schemes, and creators of the events that lead to their destiny -- the consummation of their own desires.” Martin Delaney was born in Charles Town, Virginia (now Charles Town, West Virginia), the son of Samuel and Pati Delaney. His father was enslaved but his mother was free, and Delaney inherited his moth

Highlighting Juneteenth Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) Abolitionist, Writer, Orator, Ambassador “Right is of no sex. Truth is of no color.” Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland around the year 1818. He never knew for certain who his father was, and as a child was separated from his mother. Like most enslaved persons at that time, he was of racially mixed descent. At the age of eight, he was sent to serve a white woman in Baltimore, Sophia Auld. At first, she t

Highlighting Juneteenth W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) Philosopher, Writer “I believe that all men, black and brown, and white, are brothers, varying, through Time and Opportunity, in form and gift and feature, but differing in no essential particular, and alike in soul and in the possibility of infinite development.” William Edward Burghardt (W. E. B.) Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. His mother’s family were land-owning freemen of Dutch, English, and Afric

Highlighting Juneteenth Condoleezza Rice (b. 1954) Scholar, Secretary of State “If you’re always in the company of people who agree with you, you're going to think of people who don't agree with you as venal or stupid. ... That is the source of illiberalism, when you are unable to listen to someone who thinks differently. That’s when democracies are in trouble.” Condoleezza Rice was born in Montgomery, Alabama, the daughter of John Wesley and Angelena Ray Rice. Her mother tau

Highlighting Juneteenth Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) Pastor, Orator, Leader “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta to Michael and Alberta Williams King. His father, the son of sharecroppers, was the pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. In 1934, after having visited Germany to attend the

Highlighting Juneteenth Victor Glover (b. 1976) Pilot, Astronaut “You don't pass up a ride to space.” Victor Glover was born in Pomona, California. His mother, Cynthia, is a bookkeeper and his father a police officer. Glover graduated from high school in 1994, where he was an outstanding athlete in both football and track. He attended California Polytechnic State University on a wrestling scholarship, graduating with a degree in general engineering in 1999. In the first decad

Highlighting Juneteenth Jackie Robinson (1919-1972) Athlete, Writer “I do not believe that every person, in every walk of life, can succeed in spite of any handicap. That would be perfection. But I do believe that what I was able to attain came to be because we put behind us (no matter how slowly) the dogmas of the past: to discover the truth of today; and perhaps the greatness of tomorrow.” Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia, the son of Jerry and Mal

Highlighting Juneteenth Thomas Sowell (b. 1930) Economist “Doing the right thing is fun. If nothing else, it surprises people.” Thomas Sowell was born into poverty in North Carolina. His father died when he was an infant, and his mother died when he was a toddler. Thomas was adopted by a great-aunt, and spent his early years in extreme poverty. When he was nine, the family moved to Harlem. There, his home life was chaotic, with frequent quarrels that forced Thomas to room wit

Highlighting Juneteenth Clarence Thomas (b. 1948) Lawyer, Justice “Today, now, it is time to move forward, a time to look for what is good in others, what is good in our country. It is time to see what we have in common, what we have to share as human beings and citizens.” Clarence Thomas was born in Georgia, the child of M. C. and Leola Thomas. His father divorced his mother when when Thomas was three. Thomas was raised by his maternal grandfather, Myers Anderson, in a Gulla

Highlighting Juneteenth Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919) Businesswoman “I am not satisfied in making money for myself. I endeavor to provide employment to hundreds of women of my race.” Madam C. J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove in Delta, Louisiana, the daughter of Owen and Minerva Anderson Breedlove. She was the first in her family to have been born free. Her parents both died before she turned seven, and she was raised in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by her older sister, Louvenia

Highlighting Juneteenth Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) Educator, Writer “You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him.” Booker Taliaferro Washington was born into slavery in Hales’ Ford, Virginia. His mother was named Jane; his father was said to have been a white man who lived in the area. In 1865, he and his mother were freed by Union troops, and joined Jane’s husband, Washington Ferguson, in West Virginia. There, Booker went to school for the first time. When

Highlighting Juneteenth Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) Historian, Journalist “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” Ida Bell Wells-Barnett was born near Holly Springs, Mississippi, one of eight children of James Madison and Elizabeth Warrenton Wells. Born into slavery, she and her family were liberated in 1865. Her father was a carpenter who ran a successful business and was committed to the Republican Party. However, in 1878, her parents and a brother d

Highlighting Juneteenth Walter E. Williams (1936-2020) Economist, Teacher, Commentator “Prior to capitalism, the way people amassed great wealth was by looting, plundering and enslaving their fellow man. Capitalism made it possible to become wealthy by serving your fellow man.” Walter Edward Williams was born in Philadelphia. Along with his sister, he was raised by his mother, and grew up in a Philadelphia housing project. After graduating from high school, he attended UCLA f

Founded solely to end slavery, the Republican Party remains true to its values to this day. Fisk University Jubilee Singers, Nashville, TN, 1870s The Story of Juneteenth On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, in which he declared that all “persons held as slaves” in any area “in rebellion against the United States” would be “thenceforward, and forever free.” Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation came into force as Union armies adv

The February 17, 2026 Spring Primary Election & the April 7, 2026 Spring Election are much more important than you may think, & here’s why: What is This “School Board?” The KUSD school board oversees the operation of the schools in the Kenosha United School District. These are the public schools in Kenosha, Somers, and Pleasant Prairie. It has seven members, one of whom chairs the board, and is non-partisan (in theory, at any rate). What Does the School Board Do? The board re