Henny Treeze.Producer/Engineer/Songwriter/Artist

I was raised in the Southside/West end squalor of Racine, WI - an old industrial, diverse town in close proximity of Milwaukee and Chicago (Racine is often nicknamed “Baby" or "lil" Chicago) that is struggling to reinvent itself. Though, the downtown area may be on the verge of Harlem Renaissance movement, in general, Racine is viewed as the left armpit of Wisconsin and feared by locals in other close cities. With a hardcore inner city, there is a lot of crime for such a small town (80,000+) and not much going on for it economically (10.8 unemployment rate in July 2009, higher than the national average and even greater than a number of big cities). No matter where you are in Racine you are never far from a bad neighborhood. I hear the stereotypes made about the Dairy Land, as if New York, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan, Louisiana, California etc. are the only states that have poverty and gang activity. Outsiders find it difficult to believe that Wisconsin has black people, 86% of Wisconsin’s African-American population resides in 5 cities with Milwaukee and Racine headlining. In the Great Lakes region, only Detroit and Cleveland have a higher percentage of African Americans. But to suggest that someone hasn’t faced struggle based on the state they live in is disrespectful in my eyes and the most utterly ridiculous statement I’ve ever heard. Milwaukee is among the 10 major U.S. cities with the most African-Americans per capita and was in the top 25 most dangerous cities in America (courtesy of the book - City Crime Rankings 2008-2009 by Kathleen O'Leary). Basically, Racine and Milwaukee are the New York (highest population of Blacks) and Mississippi (highest percentage of Blacks) of Wisconsin.