The challenge

Milwaukee’s youth face a litany of challenges that echo those of young people in many cities: poor quality schools, crime, and an uneasy relationship with police. Only about 60 percent of freshmen in Milwaukee go on to graduate from high school, and the dropout rate for African Americans is among the worst in the United States. After six police-involved shootings of civilians in the last five years, tension between young people and the police has intensified, with youth accusing the police of racial profiling of African Americans. Milwaukee’s status as one of the most segregated cities in the United States adds to the isolation of ethnic groups.

Seeds of commitment

When crack cocaine infiltrated the Milwaukee housing development where Reggie Moore grew up, he saw his mother take food to friends whose parents had spent their grocery money on drugs. “I watched a woman who never looked at herself, her children, or her community as half empty,” says Moore. “That is the same approach I have applied to my life and my work, which is one and the same.”

As a teenager, Moore worked for local youth organizations and concluded that traditional agencies failed to engage young people. He watched as “teens were becoming increasingly criminalized while high-school dropout rates were increasing.” In 2000, Moore and his wife, Sharlen, founded Urban Underground with a group of teens and young adults. His plan was to create not a program, but a community “that would advance the values of personal responsibility, collective leadership, creative expression, and unconditional respect.” Urban Underground, Moore says, provides young people with tools and knowledge that can change their individual futures and the future of their community. According to Moore, “Urban Underground is a place where teens become agents of change instead of objects of it.”

Accomplishments

One measure of Urban Underground’s success is in numbers: To date, 175 youth have graduated from the Youth Empowerment Project, a yearlong leadership and community-action program; 300 are core members of Urban Underground; 2,000 have joined the Teen Action Network; and more than 5,000 young people citywide have participated in Urban Underground’s workshops and activities. Applications to the Youth Empowerment Project have increased tenfold in the five years since it began. Ninety-eight percent of Urban Underground members have graduated from high school, more than 80 percent have gone on to college, and 85 percent of eligible alumni voted in the last election.

Urban Underground’s flagship program is the Youth Empowerment Project, where youth spend a year learning life skills and engaging in community action. The most recent group split into teams: police accountability; education reform, whose members conducted an assessment of guidance-counselor support and practices in high schools; teen violence, whose members worked to raise awareness of dating/partner violence; and drug treatment, whose members work with Urban Underground’s Teens for Justice to advocate a national shift in resources from prison to treatment for drug offenders.

Urban Underground’s Student Action Center has chapters in local schools that focus on improving the school system. In 2004, the center’s young people organized a rally on the anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education to show their commitment to equal and excellent education. The rally attracted 700 students, who attended workshops and discussions. Afterwards, once-skeptical principals thanked the center for hosting the event. One result of the rally is that Urban Underground youth are collaborating on efforts to launch new, small high schools in Milwaukee.

Members of Urban Underground are active in other citywide efforts. Urban Underground youth helped draft a resolution that resulted in funding of $100,000 for a City Youth Council. In 2000, Urban Underground co-developed a program called The Other America Tour to bring inner-city young people together with rural and suburban students to discuss racial issues. The tour had an impact for participants on both sides: a young white supremacist decided to leave that group, and teen facilitators from the inner city discovered that substance abuse and sexual assault were serious issues for suburban teens as well.

Leadership style

Some call Reggie Moore a servant leader; Moore calls his leadership style “collective.” Either description gets to the heart of his leadership. Moore “considers the young people I work with as the young people I work for.” He realizes that a successful program for young people requires the active participation and leadership of the youth themselves. “Unlike younger kids, who can be forced to stay in ineffective programs, teens have the power to vote with their feet,” Moore says. “If their needs aren’t being met or their skills not being challenged, they will leave. For this reason, I demand that every employee of Urban Underground listen before they speak, learn before they teach, and follow before they lead.” As part of that philosophy, Moore develops leaders within his membership and gives them management roles. “If the products of your program aren’t equipped to run it, what have you done?” he asks. As one of those young leaders says, Moore “gives you the opportunity to take risks.”

Moore himself embraces risk. In 2003, Urban Underground, which was firmly based in the African American community, needed to relocate because its lease was up. In a bold move, the group relocated to the south side of Milwaukee, the Latino area of this segregated city. Moore encouraged his staff and members to view the move as a statement that the entire city belongs to everyone. “If we’re going to deal with the race problem, we have to make changes ourselves,” Moore explains.

The future

Moore is a young leader himself, still in his 20s, and one of his goals is to finish the college education he put on hold to co-found Urban Underground. Beyond that, Moore sees his responsibilities in Milwaukee expanding. “I believe that my role in this city is to transform the relationships of power between young people and the institutions that are supposed to serve, educate, and protect them.” As a long-term goal, Moore sees himself working to replicate the work of Urban Underground across the country.

More about Reggie Moore and Urban Underground

“The youth of Urban Underground call him “Mr. Reggie.” Behind that name is a common recognition that he is both a friend and a skilled professional: a passionate recruiter, a wise strategist, a tactful manager, and a careful listener.”
- Jason Fields, Wisconsin State Representative, District 11 in Milwaukee


“People really listen and look to him. He’s an activist — not a rabble-rouser. He’s brought a fresh and radical view, and at such a young age. He’s been successful in Milwaukee at building constituency with little money or infrastructure — and many people he’s worked with come back to help him.”
- Paul Schmitz, President and CEO, Public Allies, Milwaukee