8 Events Across Four Milwaukee-Area College Campuses

We can’t change our past, but we can help build towards a better future. The Community has been providing resources, information, and a platform for justice-impacted individuals in Milwaukee and around Wisconsin to share their voices. The nonprofit started as a newsletter created by Founder Shannon Ross while he was serving a 17-year prison sentence.

According to a press release, The Community addresses the effects of the criminal legal system through two initiatives: pre-entry and Correcting the Narrative. The pre-entry leverages The Community Newsletter and multiple community partners to help justice-impacted individuals “return to society as successfully as possible”.

Its Correcting the Narrative campaign highlights “the successes, humanity, and agency of people with criminal records to counteract fear, pity, and spectacle narratives“.

A part of that campaign is the Annual Correcting the Narrative Celebration, which honors unrecognized success stories from justice-impacted individuals.

The 5th Annual Correcting the Narrative Celebration will be held on November 6, 2025, and will feature justice-impacted chefs, entrepreneurs, and musicians.

For the first time, the Correcting the Narrative Celebration will be accompanied by a week of events across four Milwaukee-area college campuses, starting today, November 3, 2025. Aside from the main celebration, all events are free and open to the public.

“This is a really good experience to learn about the issues,” said Ross.

Through the events, Ross said he was looking for ways to expand the organization’s impact and what they do. The events are also a way of highlighting legislation and organizations working towards the same goal, along with how to be a part of the work.

“Find a way you could be a part of the solution,” said Ross.

Ross said The Community is committed to its work and hopes to keep reaching more people.

“We want people to open up doors to talk about the issues,” said Ross. “Access…is always the best thing.”

Schedule of Events

• November 3: Prison Birth Simulation at Alverno College from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. CST
• November 4: Prison Birth Simulation at Mount Mary from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. CST
• November 4: Carroll University Criminal Legal System Simulation from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. CST
• November 5: Solitary Cell Experience from 2 pm. to 5 p.m.
• November 5: Reels and Reflections Screening and Panel Discussion from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. CST
• November 6: UW-Milwaukee Criminal Legal System Simulation from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. CST
• November 6: Correcting the Narrative Celebration from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. CST