Reckless Driving in MKE-Interview with MariahDaWeatherBookie

Transcript

0:00

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Chris: 0:38

Welcome to pulse check, Wisconsin.

1:20

Good morning. Good evening. Good afternoon. This is Dr. Ford with PulseJet Wisconsin. We got a good episode here for you today. We have Mariah Johnson, also known as Mariah, the weather who will be discussing with us some of the initiatives that she's got going on, here in Milwaukee. You may have seen her on billboards throughout the city of Milwaukee. Uh, you may have seen her on banners on the side of buses. She is working with the city of Milwaukee and the speeding campaign and safe driving campaigns as well. So that being said, feel free to sit back and enjoy this interview. This episode, we are very fortunate to have one of our local celebrities here in the city of Milwaukee. Uh, you know, you may have seen her on billboards. I was just driving to the hospital over on the north side recently, saw you up on the billboard, saw you on the bus. I was like, man, I got to get her on and talk to her, man. This is what needs to happen. So again, you know, we're very fortunate to have with us Miss Mariah Johnson. Mariah, thank you so much for being with us.

Mariah: 2:32

Thank you so much for having me. Um, I appreciate it It's kind of funny when people call me like a local celebrity. It's kind of weird, People definitely recognize me. I'm like checking out at a grocery store and they're like, are you on billboards? And i'll just be like, yeah, that's me

2:47

Yep Yeah, you know, I, I saw you, I think the first time I came across you was on Instagram. I saw some of your videos from kind of like the local reporting from the community. And I like, you know, the way that you come at it, right. It's so like, you know, we'll get into some of the advocacy that you do more so for the safe driving campaign and some of the work that you're doing with the city as well and using your platform. But, you know, some of the reports call to some of the audacity to some of the stuff that's going on in the community. Right. And the way that you present it. It's not only in a way that, you know, kind of gives us a little bit of a chuckle in a lighthearted way, but also you, you, you get to the heart of some of the issues and in some of the hits that your videos are getting, and in some of the campaigns that you're doing here, it shows.

Mariah: 3:27

Thank you, and Honestly, like, I've been TikToking for about four years now, I started in like, during COVID, obviously I feel like when COVID happened, TikTok was big. So, I was out there, you know, just making the stupid videos, um, I had one video go viral in, like, during COVID time. Then I took some time off and then I just started picking it up and I was just doing it for fun. It was just like, I didn't really find, like, my niche yet, if that's like, you know, people always talk about that and you don't really know, like, your handle or what you're supposed to do. And then, yeah, just one day I had dropped a reporting live video and I started reporting live on, like, the, the weather and reporting live on, like, events and I just kind of have taken off since there. Then, But I appreciate that because that's really like the main thing When I'm doing TikToks and all of that kind of stuff, I really try my hardest to like, make it funny because it's like, at the end of the day, that's really who I am as a person. Like if anybody out here is watching this and they know me personally, like they know, like, all I do is joke. All I do is play around. But like you said, like there is some really major issues going on in the city. And I do try and like bring light to that. And I feel like when I do my. My community work when I, I'm trying to be this advocate for Milwaukee, I always want to meet people where they're at, and it's like, sometimes. They don't want to hear from the politicians. They don't want to hear from the police. They don't want to hear from like people like that because it's just seems so structured, but it's like coming from me I'm like, bro. What are we doing? Why are we doing this? Like

5:08

why does bird just get run over cuz like what? The bird bro, I'll link that to it cuz I was dying at the hospital I was like what is happening right now, you know I even got the bird out here.

Mariah: 5:21

And that's the thing like I try so hard to just like Milwaukee is an amazing place. You know what I'm saying? There is beautiful parts about Milwaukee. There's beautiful people in Milwaukee. There's amazing organizations in Milwaukee. We do have our problems though. And I feel like that's just what a city like ours is. But if, if we come together as a community. We can grow this community into a better space in a safer space, not only for ourselves, but for the next generations, our kids and all of that.

5:53

And it's got to come from within, like you said, right? It's got to come from the people. It's got to come from the communities too, and community advocates like yourself. And it kind of getting into that, tell me where you're from. You're from Milwaukee, born and raised. There you

Mariah: 6:03

414 for life. If, if I had to rep a street, I would have to rep Hampton, Hampstead for sure. I think it's really fun. Yeah, not funny, but I think it's ironic that my brother died on Hampton Avenue. So that's definitely that full circle, but yeah, born and raised in Milwaukee. I am an MPS graduate. I went to Milwaukee. Shout out MPS. Period. Went to Milwaukee School of Languages. So habla espanol. Aww. Yeah. But yeah, I really, I've lived here my whole, my whole life. Um, that's really, this is really all I know. I mean, I have definitely traveled, but every time I travel, I promise you, I just want to see these green street signs again, and I need to hit a pothole. And I just feel like, okay, I'm back home. I need, I'm good. Yeah. Um, but yeah, so I just, my whole life, I was like a really, Big personality person. Like I'm, that's who I've always been as a kid in high school. High school, I was like the type of kid that was on student senate and, and like doing, playing sports and doing all, being at school before school, after school. Like, I was a very, like, I always wanted to plan something. Like, I always wanted to be involved. Then after high school, you know, I had kids. I had my first baby at 20 years old. She actually just turned 10 last week and just kind of like, Started life, I got a career, I had a career, I got a, um, Diploma in medical field and I was working at the VA hospital and, you know, thought that was my calling. Then, my brother died and I was literally, I was working at a hearing aid clinic in Waukesha and I remember like week or two before then, I'm like, man, I'm a manager over a clinic, like, I finally made it in my medical career, like, I'm really making it, I'm moving up the chain. Like, But I also had that feeling where I'm like, is this what I'm really supposed to do? Like, is this really my, is this really my calling? And then he died on August 7th of 2021 and that like shook my whole entire world. And then, you know, I'm a big Broadway fan. So, there's this one song and he says in there, he goes, I'm like, I'm on my knees asking God, what's my purpose? And I've never felt a lyric so hard in my life because I'm just like, what, what am I doing? Like you, you've always been this big personality. You have this platform. Cause at this point I had about like 19, 000 followers on TikTok. So I'm like, you know, you got a little bit of a platform. People think you kind of funny, like. And I'm just like, I just always knew that like me sitting behind a desk, typing all day was like, not for

8:56

me. I get it. Yeah.

Mariah: 8:58

It's not, I'm not that type. I went to camp as a kid. I was like doing all this stuff. So I'm like, I know that that's not my calling. And he died and I, my life was shooken upside down. Honestly, like it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life to go through in my entire life. And I come from a very small family. It's me, my mom, my sister, and my brother. My mom raised us as a single mother. My brother, I was born in 94. He was born in 99 and then my sister was born in 2000. So they're a year and two weeks apart. So they were raised like, like twins pretty much. And I'm the older sister. So by the time I'm 13, I'm taking care of these kids. Like I'm, you know, I'm the older sister. My mom's a, you know what I'm saying? My mom's a single mom. And I know there's so many, I'm hoping that there's going to be so many people that listen to this because I know there's so many, like when I, there's so many people that were the older sibling that had to raise their siblings.

Chris: 9:57

Uh huh.

Mariah: 9:59

And my brother, you know, he got into trouble as a teenager. Like that's one thing I will never deny. My brother was not perfect. Like my brother was a Kia boy before Kia boys were Kia boys. And he, you know, we, that's how we were raised, but full circle. He gets out of jail, May of 2021. And then August of 2021, he was taken from us. Um, I, nobody talks. I feel like, you know, people talk about like the, the loss of like parents and the loss of like family members and grandparents and all of that, but I feel like you don't talk about the loss of siblings because it doesn't normally happen at such a young age.

10:45

Yeah, exactly. My

Mariah: 10:46

brother was 22 when he died. 22. Like he had barely experienced anything, you know, like let alone, you know, Fulfilled his life at all, especially because three out of his adult years, he spent behind bars, but yeah, the, that day was a Saturday afternoon. We had two, I was actually making tacos at my house. My little cousin was over at this moment. My sister was living, her and her boyfriend were living with me. And my mom lived across the street from me, so like, I could stand on my front porch and see my mom, like, have conversations from across the street, and my brother was living with my mom at the time, and I had just seen him, he was like, I'm about to run to the gas station sis, and I'm like, okay, he left, and at 4. 41 p. m. that day, he was hit, uh, there's two cars racing down Hampton Avenue at 120 miles an hour, And he was hit and killed on impact at a hun they clocked it at like 109, I believe. And he, the guy who hit him, he was like in critical condition, pretty much at that point, both his legs were broken. So he was like unable to move or anything. And then the other car, he was banged up, but his girlfriend who was in the passenger seat was just, he was, she was banged up more. But we were not notified till almost six o'clock that night. So my mom had received a knock on the door and it was somebody like one of our neighbors, like frantically, like, there's been an accident. I believe your son was involved and I don't think he made it. And my mom's like, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Back it up. Back it up. So she called. Yeah. Like we, what do you mean? Like it was just here an hour and a half ago. Like, uh, so she calls me and I. Sprint upstairs, I bust in my sister's room and I'm like, something's wrong. Mom just called me like, there's something happened. She's like, I'll drive. Let's go. So me, my mom and her hop in the car and they told us that it happened on 60th and Capitol. So we drive over to 60th and Capitol, we get there and there's nothing. And we're like, but in my mind and in my body, in my soul, in something in me, I'm like, no, like. Drive, drive a little bit further. Drive 60th and let's just, let's just take 60th home and make sure. Yeah. That it felt like I could feel it and we pull up and we get to like. I don't know if, if you're familiar, are you, you familiar with Milwaukee? So I'm, I'm going towards Hampton, like we're driving towards Hampton on 60th. And you know, like that little bridge area right there, like right before you hit the gas station, we get there and it's packed. Caution tape, the whole entire intersection is cautioned off. Like my sister didn't even stop the car. I opened the door, I jump out, I run to the middle and I just, I saw the car and I knew, like I knew I'm like, I'm like, One, I know it's his car. There's no ifs, ands, or buts. Two, I know he's gone. I could just feel it, like, I felt dead inside. Like, I felt like a light had been flicked off inside of my body, because that's my blood. That's my, when, and it's like, I don't know, obviously you've seen the billboards. Like, me and my brother are like twins. Like, he's the boy version of me, for sure. And it was just like, instant, and my sister and my mom make it to me, and the car was just destroyed. It was just, in pieces. He was gone, his body had already been taken from the scene. Which, that's something, honestly, I'm very thankful for. Yeah. I don't think that, I don't know how I would have, Like I wouldn't say recover because I feel like you never recover and that's one thing I I definitely I feel like we we all need To speak about that. You never recover, but I don't think I would have been able to Collect myself because what also people don't understand in that very moment There's over a hundred people standing around this caution tape. There's 30 40 police officers there's People are recording. I got so sick to my stomach. I needed water. I go into the gas station. People are approaching me like, I tried to help him. You want to see the video? Sorry.

15:42

Yeah, you can go for it. No, no. Like, fuck no. Get out of my face. Are

Mariah: 15:45

you kidding me? Like, are you fucking kidding me? You want to see a video of my brother dead? Are you kidding me? It was just one of those moments where like, you don't feel like it's real, like your life, and I'm just like, I'm standing there, my husband's at home with my kids. So I call him and I'm just like, Gerald's gone. And he's like, what do you mean? Mind you, me and my husband have been together since 2013. We got together in 2013. So my brother was 11. Yeah. Like 11, 12. Damn. He's known, you know what I'm saying? Like, he's known my siblings for half, practically half of their lives.

16:29

It's like his little brother.

Mariah: 16:30

So it was like his little brother, and it was just, and he, he was like, I am on my way. Like, uh, Eliana's here. That's my little cousin. I'm gonna leave the girls with Aliana. So he comes, he meets me, him and my sister's boyfriend comes. But I'm just like, I, I needed, you know how you sometimes need somebody else? Mm-Hmm. Mm-Hmm. And I needed my best friend and I called Angel. And this is, I think, one of the hardest parts for me and her to even wrap up, is that I call her, and I'm just like, Gerald gone. And she's like, What do you mean? And I don't know why that's the first thing that I can say, but like, that's all that could really like, leave my mouth. And I'm like, Gerald gone. And she's like, I'm putting my shoes on. I'm on my way. Where are you? I'm like, I'm on 60th and Hampton. And she goes, Wait, on 60th and Hampton? And I said, Yeah. She looked up at her husband and her husband was watching Gerald's video on Facebook, watching my brother laid out in front of the church on the grass, watching his best friend who died in the accident as well, hanging out of the back of the car with no clothes on. And it's people talking about, check on your people, check on people, showing my brother's license plate number and. I'll never forget, like, she'd obviously didn't in that moment, she didn't tell me that, that she told me that later and like, later down the road. After

18:15

you had time to process it. Exactly.

Mariah: 18:18

But, I mean, she came to me, me and my best friend, we are not, I love her to death. I have her, I have a tattoo tattooed for her. That's my right hand. That's my go to. But we are not lovey. We do not hug. But I remember that is the one hug that I will never forget after Gerald died. She got there. And just, I melted, I melted in her arms, like, and you don't, people don't talk about it, people don't talk about that aftermath of how to actually process, I mean, I had to go home and tell my kids, my brother was dead, that's not even funny, but you know what I, like, how do you, but like, how, how do you, how do you even start that? And then just the, the week after, I remember just, there was really bad storms that week that's like Milwaukee had damn near like flooded. There was trees knocked down. Like it was like this big, big, big people were out without power. Everything. I had no idea. I had no idea

Chris: 19:29

this was going on. I

Mariah: 19:31

wasn't, I wasn't even physically on earth at that point. I, I was. in a whole nother, in a whole nother area. So then, I mean, I had to pick myself together, I had to plan the funeral, I had to help my mom with the arrangements to get him cremated, I had to make sure everything was together, because I had to be the one pulling it together. Through all of the process of me having to plan all of this, I stumbled upon A event going on in Milwaukee surrounding reckless driving. And it was through an organization called Safe and Sound. And you know, at this point I'm still healing. I'm still just trying to find out like what my purpose is. And I'm like, why did I stumble across something like this? Like, I feel like because I stumbled across something like this, I should go. I'm affected by this. I should come in. One thing led to another. And next thing I know, come November, a Was a community organizer for safe and sound and I started community work and you know, I slowly but surely I worked in district five. So the way safe and sound works, it's like based off of the police district. So I was doing a little bit of work in district five with community, uh, as a community organizer. And that was like primarily with like working with adults and organizations and planning events. And I just like. Wasn't something just wasn't clicking for me. It just wasn't really working for me. And I, every idea that I had that I was bringing to my team, it had to do with reckless driving and it had to do with you. So about three months in, I switch over and I start working in district seven as a youth organizer. And the reason I bring up this is because that transition. Is why I am sitting on this podcast right now, not me going to safe and sound, not me deciding to go join the community work. Me moving into district seven as a youth organizer is the reason why I sit here today and I am where I am. I started doing youth police dialogues, talking about reckless driving. There was a whole project that safe and sound had put together called the project nine four three. And 943 is the statute of limitation of stealing a car and operating a vehicle that is not yours. So we would go in, we would do this whole talk, I'd have my officers with me, and there is a way that I took this, and we're talking about stealing cars, which was huge at that moment, ramping up and then just getting rolling. But then I also. Took my story and explained how reckless driving affects families because what they don't, what they didn't understand was they still clashed, even though the guy that killed my brother was 43 years old, he was reckless driving and the Kia boys are reckless driving. Y'all think that it's fun to drive 60, 70, 80, 90 miles an hour down streets and it's not. So, I was able to just start it, and it got to a point where I'm going into schools weekly. I'm going into different organizations doing this. I was working at WellPoint with their state mandated school with girls that were Kia girls. I'm coming in having that open dialogue. Telling them my story. And I'll never forget this. I, at this point, I had built a good relationship with these girls. I had come in a good amount of time. But, one day I got really vulnerable and I told the story fully. You know, you kinda have to build it up. I can't just jump in and throw it in your face. This is it.

23:38

Scare straight.

Mariah: 23:40

Exactly. Like not easy. Oh, no, no. Like, but I was like, I looked at my officers and I'm gonna call them my officers because I'm gonna say this right now, shout out to officer Alicia Walker and shout out to Mr. Dominic Thompson. Those are my people. I love them down with everything in me. They have not only been support, but they have been mentors. They have absolutely given me platforms in a way that I have never, and I love them down. Love them down. And that is one thing I would have to say. We have really good officers in our city. So do not think that all officers are bad anyways. So I told the whole story. I got really vulnerable. I cried in front of them and you know, I'm a cry baby. I've been a cry baby my whole life. I was picked on in middle school and high school for being cry baby. But my best friend once told me, Angel, that I needed to get to a point in my life to realize that my emotions. Actually my superpower. And she said that a lot of people can't tap into emotions the way that you can. And you tap into emotions and you show vulnerability to people. So that feels that you allow people to feel vulnerable with you. And in that moment, I remembered that and I'm like, just go for it. Tell these kids. And at the end of the day, what the worst thing they can do is laugh and move on. But I had one girl raise her hand and she said, you know, Mariah, she said. I want to tell you one, thank you so much for telling your story, but two, I really want to tell you how proud I am of you for telling your story, because I know that's really hard. And she goes, but three, I want you to know that it really made me sit back and think about my choices because I would never want my older brother to have to bury me. Uh

Chris: 25:32

huh. Uh huh.

Mariah: 25:36

And, you know, people always have like that moment where you're like, that was my moment. I had to take off for the rest of the day after that, because the amount of emotion that came through my body was like, I'm not only keeping my brother's name alive, not only am I using my platform to really like make a difference, but I'm also connecting with our future of our city. And that's what. We need every everybody talks about all of the, you know, all of the adults and the, we're the new adults and we need to do this and we need to do that like, Oh, we need to pour into these kids because guess what in 10 years, they're going to be adults now. And if we don't pour into them, what are we doing? What, how are they going to be the next adults? And I feel like, I don't know how old you are, but my generation, I'm 30 years old. So my generation has. Seen it all, in my opinion, we, we remember the dial phones. We remember the dial up internet. We remember all of that, like all, all leading up. And I feel like we're very, very, very well rounded generation. And. We have the power and the tools and the ability to pour into the younger generation because of who we are. And that's why I do what I do. I show up authentic. I never try and not be who I am. And guess what? I might not be for everybody. Not everybody might think I'm cool. Not everybody might think I'm funny and they might, and that's okay. One thing when I meet people in person and they're like, Oh, I know you from social media. Ha ha ha. Like, and I feel awkward. I do. So if you see this, just know I do feel awkward when it happens. I do. So if I act weird, it's just cause I'm like, okay. But one thing I always say is like, who you see online, I promise is who you, who, like who I am right now, like standing in front of you. And like, I actually went somewhere. I went to a little get together last night and one of my friends, um, Family members is like a fan like huge fan like she was like, I guess when we, me and my, my friend were out one day and she had taken a picture and her, her cousin like slid up and was like, no, you don't know Mariah the wetter boogie. And like, my friend is like, Mariah, like, yeah, like. That's my girl and she's just like oh my god, like no you don't like oh my god She's real like I'm such a real person like but it's like one of those Moments where all like everything I do. I just it feels full circle I I've been going through a lot of emotions the last couple days and I feel like This podcast is very healing for me right now. We just had this huge event on Saturday, um, that I was able to sit in on the coalition and help plan. I was able to help use my job's building to provide space for this event, but it was for the World Day of Remembrance for victims I struggled because we did a press conference on Friday about it, then we had the entire event on Saturday, and then I was like, Hang, now Monday, I gotta go do this again. And I'm like, I'm just, it's pouring out of me. And I hope, I hope that this is gonna, this is what you wanted, because I feel like I'm just talking.

29:26

No. Absolutely. I'm a

Mariah: 29:27

certified yapper. So I love it.

29:30

So, so the reason why I wanted you on was just, you know, to talk to some of the things that you talked about, right? So like your superpower of having that emotional intelligence to be able to convey that message to the younger generation and it shows, right? It shows in the visibility of your work, it shows in the visibility of the effect that you've already had throughout the city that the city even tapped in and wanted to say, you know, Hey, how can we use you? How can we use your platform? To work with initiatives like you've been doing, to work with the Slow Your Roll Initiative, Safe Driving, MKE Coalition as well, so I wholeheartedly appreciate you sharing your story, as well as, you know, appreciate you sharing that with our listeners too, so we can continue to get that message out, because you, especially after this last election season, right, you hear All this stuff about Milwaukee, right? Everybody's stepping on Milwaukee. Everybody's kicking Milwaukee saying that, you know, those kids are lost, right? Those streets are lost and all that. Well, that's the opposite of what we need, right? That's just the opposite of what we need to do is just to wash our hands with, you know, some of the situations that we get going on in the city and some of the families that are there that are trying to make a difference like you and like your family as well.

Mariah: 30:34

I appreciate it. I mean, and when you reached out to me, I'm just like, let's do it. Let's do it. And then I'm not going to lie to you. I looked you up. And I was like, let's do it. We're here for show like let's do it. Um, but it's just been amazing and I appreciate the platform. I appreciate the support that people give me. And that's the one thing that sometimes I, I don't know how to like express. And, and, but then in times like this, I get to express where I have some of my like main followers on TikTok that like, I know their names. I know they're going to comment. They're going to like my stuff. They are going to share my stuff. Like I'm like, I have that. And I'm so grateful. For the people that have been riding with me this whole time, because they, they, because when I win, I promise you, they're going to win too. And I just actually got off the phone with my girlfriend and she was like, I hope you know the type of person you are because you're just going to continue to get blessings on blessings on blessings. And I'm like hearing stuff like that freaks me out, you know, like in because it's like, I don't want to come off cocky. But I'm really that bitch. Like, I really, I'm really that, like, I'm really it. I am. And I'm just so thankful to, like, have the platform that I do. And I just hope that, like, people hear my story. I hope people see what I do. And I hope that it just makes them think. You know, like, I would be, my brother would be blown away. About what I'm doing right now. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Like, he would be like, Sis, that's crazy. Like, one, he would have talked about me for working with the cops. That's how it is.

32:32

That's how it is. He'd be like, Sis, you are hot. You know how we do.

Mariah: 32:36

You are hot for sure, sis. You are hot for sure. Working with 12. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, but he would absolutely think this is the coolest thing ever and it would have been so cool to have him, like, in videos with me, like, he would have just loved the platform that I had and just ate it up, and it's like, I feel like he does love it, you know what I'm saying? Like, he knows, like, and I'm, every, every move that I make, like, it's like, It's, I just am reminded, and I keep, and I'm a Rod Wave person, I don't know if you're a Rod Wave person, but like, this Last Laugh album, for me, has been a little bit of closure, when it comes to like, how I'm feeling about my brother, and, how like, because, people don't talk about survivor's grief. And like, and yes, like there's different levels of survivor's grief, like there's the level of like, you were in that tragedy with them and you survived, but then there's also that like, why him and not me?

33:39

Right, exactly, exactly.

Mariah: 33:40

And because I'm like, I got to live my life. You know, I had children, I got married, I got to do that kind of stuff. My brother didn't get to do any of that. And so it's like, we don't talk about that. Bye. In his, in this last lap album, his, the song last lap, he talks about how, like, you just have to keep going because that's what they would want you to do. And like, it's like, I've had that feeling recently where I'm like, it's okay to sit in your feelings. It is, it is. And you, and you need to, like, I, you need to have a breakdown here and there. Like you need to feel those feelings. You're processing,

34:20

you're processing. Absolutely.

Mariah: 34:22

But like, keep going. Yeah.

34:24

Yeah. And I feel like, especially in our communities too, right? Like we, we, there's so much tragedy that everyone has been through. It's like day to day stuff, right? Like growing up, you know, in our neighborhoods, going to school where we went to it, you know, the level of cortisol, that level of stress that you're, that you're under is so big that your brain compartmentalizes it, right? And so you just get through it, right? But when you actually have a chance to sit back with it and allow yourself to feel those feelings, allow yourself to feel that grief, you'll be surprised at the things that you can do in order to make a positive out of, like, the things that you're doing. Like, you know, the safe driving, walking coalitions efforts, teaming up with the city, things of that nature. Those are the positives that come out of identifying that, those stresses and identifying that grief and saying, What can I do next? How can I help the next person?

Mariah: 35:10

And that's like one of the main things. So shout out to Jessica Weinberg as well. She is actually the director over the speeding. We can live without campaign. She's the director over that with the city of Milwaukee. And I'm so blessed to have met her and her be able to give me the opportunity to be a part of the campaign. But her and I have been talking and I think one of the biggest things that I right now want to tap into. Is I want to tap into this like the community and I want to use my platform and ask people what do you guys need from the city? What do you guys need as a community? Because I know there's a lack of resources in this city. I was raised in this city. I was, I was raised one of those kids. I was a 40 cent kid, 40 cent lunch kid. You know what I'm saying? I was the kid that had the check bounce when I wanted to play sports. So, and I'm not saying that every kid is like that in Milwaukee, but let's be honest, like a good, probably 60 percent of Milwaukee is going through that. And I, I was just having this discussion lately where I'm like. I was in, in 2008 during that recession.

Chris: 36:27

Mm-Hmm.

Mariah: 36:27

I was in the eighth grade. Yes. I was a child, but I was also a child in a single mother home who was treated like a second parent. Right. So I knew what was going on. Right. Because at, at, at the, in the eighth grade, I'm on Craigslist helping my mom find rental properties for us to move. Mm-Hmm. Mm-Hmm. So I knew what was going on. I'm seeing the inflation. I was understanding that. Yeah. And that's where we are right now in 2024. We are literally re going through the same cycle. And now that's why I'm like us who were kids at that point, we are adults at this point. Y'all know what we need to do. We have to come together. We have to come together. Everybody's going through the same thing. Everybody's struggling. We need to stop trying to outdo each other and do this and do that. We need to come together as a community. The lack of resources when it comes to good food in this city is insane. The food deserts that we have is insane, and people just kind of turn a blind eye. And it's like, no, we don't need to turn a blind eye. Because, It's just going to be revolving doors of the same exact thing. Kids are growing up on hot Cheetos and Ramen noodles still. And they, our generation, we know what that looks like.

37:41

We all feeling it now. We're all,

Mariah: 37:43

we're all feeling it. Half of us got IBS and half of us can barely, are eating Tums every night at the age of 30. Because we burnt our insides out and at 6th through 8th grade, 9th grade and all that. And now these kids are doing it, but they're doing it even younger. And then it sucks because we're being the, what's being provided is getting worse, like Takis and Prime and all of that kind of stuff. But that's all that is being provided to these kids because of the food deserts. All

38:13

that's available, all that's available.

Mariah: 38:16

I was, I overheard my daughter that she was on the phone with a friend from school, and they were talking about what they had for dinner. And my daughter said, Oh, like my mama made chicken, broccoli, and rice. And she was like, Do you eat vegetables every night? And like, my daughter's like, yeah, like any, like when my mom cooks, my mom always cooks a vegetable. Like, my kids will eat zucchini. My kids eat mushrooms. My kids, we, we eat actual like vegetables. Cause you start that young. So then it follows them into their adult. And the girl was like, I don't remember the last time I ate a vegetable. And I'm like, and I'm not judging, you know what I'm saying? I'm not judging. But it's like, at the same time, there's a reason. And it's like, that's just one lack of resource in Milwaukee. We're not talking about the mental health issue that we have. Yep.

39:03

The medical deserts, the Walgreens that are pulling out, right? Like all the, yeah.

Mariah: 39:07

Left and right. Left and right pulling out. And it's insane to me. It's insane to me. People are not able to get what they need anymore. And then the cost of health insurance is going up. So then people don't have health insurance. So they're not going to the doctor. And it's just, it's a, it's a constant issue. And then. To wrap it all in whole, our city's full of violence, which causes what?

39:32

Exactly.

Mariah: 39:33

Mental health issues. So it's just like, it's a full, and it's like, what do we do?

39:38

Yeah.

Mariah: 39:38

When we know all of this stuff. So we need people like you, like me, like everybody who has the platform to talk about it.

39:47

Exactly. What are some of the challenges that you face, like, you know, in the initiatives that you're doing? Because, you know, like you said, I, I, I see the hits that you're getting. The city sees the hits that you're getting. What are some of the challenges that you're, that you're seeing that, and how are you working to overcome them when it comes to providing that message?

Mariah: 40:06

Okay. I'm going to start. Personal challenges. It's very hard to have a full time job. Mm hmm. And be a full time influencer advocate. So like being able to combine that, but I'm very blessed to work for an organization that really supports my initiative. So they, I feel like I have a pretty healthy balance. So I would say that's one challenge. My other challenge I would have to say is messaging. I feel like I'm gonna just throw it out there. There's people in the city that have kind of taken my. What I do, the reporting live and started doing it themselves, which is cool. I'm not, you know what I'm saying? I ain't patent. I didn't patent reporting live yet.

40:55

Right.

Mariah: 40:56

Right.

40:57

So yeah, but,

Mariah: 41:00

but it's a different type of level. Cause one thing when I do like my reporting live and I made this message on my tick tock before is I'm not going to report live on tragedy. You know, like I might pick up a bumper and talk about that. I might talk about a dead bird in the middle of the street. I might talk about that kind of stuff, but I'm never going to pull up to a live accident where the firefighters are still sweeping stuff and people are getting into ambulances, like. I just don't find that funny because I've been on the other side of

41:29

that. I said, unfortunately you had to be there. Unfortunately you had to go through that.

Mariah: 41:32

And so like the messaging, I feel like it has come, it's, it's crossed paths a couple of times where like some of my followers are tagging me in, in their video and vice versa, that's funny. You know, like that's hee hee ha ha. You're at an accident in the middle of the night and somebody is messed up. So. The views are going to go up. So, you know, it's just like the messaging behind it, like finding, like making sure that I'm staying true to myself, staying true to how, like how I feel about things, um, and the trolls, like trolls are real, like in, I got 52, 000 followers on TikTok and I mean, some of my videos get 100, 000 views or higher and you know, some of them are lower where I'm only hitting 30, 000 or some of them are only like 5, 000, but those heavy hitters. They do, you know, they're trolls and they're, they're gonna, they're gonna attract the people, they're gonna attract the negative Nancys, they're gonna attract the bots, and I've just come to a point where like, I don't really let it bother me. Like, I've had it, I've had a couple videos that have like, gotten to me a little bit, but I had to remind myself, like, girl, you know who you are. Uh huh. You're real fans, you're true followers, know who you are.

42:45

Mm

Mariah: 42:46

hmm. So don't let these little people determine you.

42:50

And that's a good point because you know when you get to that point when you're attracting that type of energy that you're actually doing something, right? Because like, they're not gonna talk about you if you don't have an effect. They're not gonna say these things that are out of pocket about a city that a lot of them trolls have never been to. They don't live here, they don't have no interest in going here unless it's a convention or something like that going on down the road. But then they're going to talk about it, right? And so, that's how you know your reach is getting to where it needs to get and we're getting to the heart of the issues. And that's how we go through and that's how we pick it up and that's how we make change.

Mariah: 43:24

Yeah, like one of the videos, it was, I reported live down on Water Street, and I will say this, full disclosure, I, I have had a couple drinks, you know what I'm saying, but I'm 30 years old, I've grown, it was a Friday night, I do a lot of work, I work very hard. Mm hmm. I, you know what I'm saying? Yep. So sometimes, I need to let loose, and I'm gonna show that side of me too, because at the end of the day, that's a part of who I am too. So I reported live, it was the end of the night on Water Street, and if you're familiar, it can get hectic down there. But it gets hectic, not because of the adults who can actually be down there, because there's been a lot of issues with teenagers being down there. So MPD has definitely had to like, take stuff into their own hands, and I feel like That's what officers are here for. They're not out here frisking people and you know, rubber bulleting people, but they're doing sirens. They're telling y'all to go home, like get off the sidewalk type of thing. So I thought it was funny. I reported live. I said, we live baby. And if you're from Milwaukee, that's very Milwaukee. What up, brother folks? We live, baby! Like, my day, that's what it is. So, and that's all the video was. The video was no more than 15 seconds. They ate me alive. This trash, this is exactly why we hate Milwaukee. This is why I don't come to that ghetto. You, uh, no wonder why you don't have a job. And I'm thinking to myself, like, I don't have a job, it's funny, I love that for you, I love that for you, because I have about 17 jobs if I really want to break it down. But, it was one of those moments where I had already hit that point in my career, where it didn't even bother me, it made me laugh, like, I'm just like, y'all don't know who I am, my real followers know who I am, they know this is a joke, they know this is just for fun, and you move on.

Chris: 45:33

Uh huh.

Mariah: 45:34

But then the, the true Milwaukeeans, like, this is so Milwaukee. I love this. I love this type of reporting. Like, it's just like bringing light to who Milwaukee is. I tell people all the time, like, one of my favorite things about Milwaukee is the attitude. And when I elaborate on it, I just say that I feel like if you're truly from Milwaukee, like you were bred and born here, you have this just like attitude to you. Like, and you just

46:01

got to, you've got to,

Mariah: 46:02

like, you just gotta, you gotta,

46:04

You got to get through it, man.

Mariah: 46:05

Yeah. Like you got to thug it out. Like, and I feel like you can pick out of a room, somebody that tries to claim they're from Milwaukee that isn't. Because you growing up in Tulsa is not growing up in Milwaukee. You're not, you're not growing up in Milwaukee. Like, so, I don't know. It's just, uh, it's an, it's an amazing place. It has its problems, but I feel like stuff like this is what we need. People need to sit down and have that conversation. People need to sit down and reflect on themselves. Like, that was one of the things I said in my speech this weekend was like, I hope when you see my videos, I hope when you hear me speak and tell my story, I hope that that sparks a conversation with your family, with yourself, with anybody. Like, it's just like, it's a, it's an epidemic for sure. Like, and one thing that like my mom said in 2021, the bucks, bucks and six. Mm hmm. Won the play, you know, won the championship. Everybody rallied. Everybody was together. Everybody was It was such Won Milwaukee.

47:12

Yeah,

Chris: 47:12

yeah. Won

Mariah: 47:13

Milwaukee! We love Milwaukee! Like, this is great! But it's like, But what about when we're having We're adding families after family after family to the roster. Of the same type of death. And that's, and that's kind of when I had, so I said earlier, I've been struggling lately is, I think it's like, I was so used to doing this reckless driving alone for a while. I was really one of the, like, bigger ones in the city doing a lot of this talk. You were the

47:43

only name that I saw. Yeah, and

Mariah: 47:45

that's the thing, it's so weird, I'm Google able now, like, so like, but it's like, I, now I go to this press conference on Friday, and I got five, six families behind me, since my brother. That are going through the same thing and I'm just like I I talked to them and I'm like I would love to tap in With all you guys like I want to kind of only one I can want to start my own podcast Where I like talk about different stuff like I feel like I I'm a certified yapper and I feel like I'd be great at it But I wanted I want to use my platform to like give other like give these victims and their families A platform to talk about it because we need to talk about it.

48:24

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, definitely let me know. I'll definitely, uh, coach you through that process a bit. Yes, I would love it. But you

Mariah: 48:32

definitely need,

48:32

you need to get this message out and the way that you, you know, tap in with people and the way that you connect with people at that level, especially having not only lived it, but being from Milwaukee. That's how we get it through, right? That's how we get to a place where we truly get to that net zero of incidents in the city, because again, like you said, talking from a policy standpoint, that's only, I'll get you so far. And as people know who you are, and you know, some people are playing these games out here politically and we're just trying to get it done. We're trying to do what's better for our communities. So with that being said, how can the public get involved with your efforts? How can, you know, someone help you in your efforts, not only through your Safe Driving Milwaukee Coalition endeavor, but in any other way that you're working and reaching out in the community?

Mariah: 49:13

Honestly, like One, slow down, I guess that's the one, slow, slow the hell down, like, that's one of the biggest ones, I think, like, it's about to get cold, like, I'm, PSA real quick, it's about to get cold, friends, most of us have driven in Milwaukee most of our lives, okay, let's act like we know how to do this, and then let's also Take into consideration the amount of roundabouts, speed bumps, and new things that have been added to our structures in the city.

49:50

Through, through these, through these endeavors.

Mariah: 49:52

Through these endeavors, which is needed, because our streets were. Insane. You could do whatever you wanted. Baselining was so easy. And it's sad that we had to go out and do all this extra stuff, but it was needed. It was needed because it was an issue. But, Milwaukee, remember, when it gets cold, it brings snow. And snow brings ice. And then it gets icy. So let's just slow down. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Because could you imagine, I don't know if you know, but that speed bump on center, That was put in.

50:29

Mm hmm.

Mariah: 50:29

That thing's gonna be very icy, Milwaukee. Yeah. Slow down.

50:32

Yeah.

Mariah: 50:33

Slow down.

50:34

I will, I will echo that as someone who will be taking care of you in the emergency department. Please slow Please slow down.

Mariah: 50:41

Slow down. And that's like the thing, too. And I feel like I over talked you, and I'm so sorry. No, no, honey, no. We might need to run this back into a part two. Because I I feel like we don't talk about the first responders as well, but we do, but we don't talk about, we talk about the first responders, such as like the police and the fire department and all of that, because yeah, they're first on scene, they see all that kind of stuff, but also, they don't talk about the doctors who have, are taking the, the mangled bodies and taking and having to be pronounced these, Okay. Baby's dead in the hospitals. And I mean, like I, I worked in the ER at the VA hospital. I know that is nowhere near Frederick hospital. I know that for a fact, I know that for a fact, I know that, that has, that's nowhere near St. Joe's, you know, like it's, that is, but what some of the stuff I seen in just the VA hospital ER, I could only imagine what you like go through. And. You guys don't get your flowers enough because I know you probably, there's probably been times you've gone home and had to sit in your car in silence for 10 minutes because you, before you walked in the house, because you're in the head, having to tell the, tell families.

52:02

Yep. And especially, you know, like you said, when you come from these communities and it ain't many of us, let me tell you that come from it, that are sitting on that side of the coin. Right. And so, you know, seeing it over and over and over again, and that's why I connected with you because I know, you know, that you're doing the work in the community and I know that, you know, us talking to folks in a certain way, say, Hey, man. This is how it's going to end up in the emergency department, this is how it's going to end up in, you know, the O. R., et cetera, et cetera, and we're tired, man, I'm tired of pronouncing babies dead, I'm tired of pronouncing members of a whole generation, two or three generations in one accident, right, and so, like, we, we gotta do better, and we gotta continue to push forward, and we gotta make sure that we're doing outreach like this in order to try to see if we can get To talk into that teenager that you said that you had a breakthrough with, right? Like we have to continue to make those breakthroughs and we have to do it in a way that's palatable for folks. And we got to do it in a way that folks, you know, they'll feel it. They can see themselves in that situation, in that situation that you, your family went through, right?

Mariah: 53:02

That's the biggest thing, but I would have to say, follow me on social media. I was going to say, how can, how can

53:07

people follow you?

Mariah: 53:09

So I'm on Tik TOK Mariah, the wetter bookie. If you just honestly, if you type in reporting live from Milwaukee in your search engine, it's you'll see all my videos, but. I am officially, so I have like my, my regular Instagram, obviously, but I feel like since I've just been kind of up and coming, I'm actually going to be making like a Mariah DaWetter Boogie Instagram and Facebook in the next couple, so that'll be rolling out in the next couple weeks. And also, this has been kind of low key news just because I've been trying to figure out when and how I'm going to do it. There we go,

53:44

exclusive, there we

Mariah: 53:45

go. Yeah, exclusive. I am actually going to be dropping my first t shirt. It's going to be like a reporting live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I'm super excited. I completely made the logo myself. I'm actually looking for a Milwaukee. Print shop or anybody that does like anybody that's Milwaukee. I'm I really want to get the t shirts locally printed I'm not really I don't want like I want to put my people on I feel like that's a big thing in Milwaukee There's so much talent here. There's so many people doing this that in the other So if you know anybody or we are listening to this and you're for Yeah, I got some folks.

54:25

I'm gonna get you. We good. We'll go

Mariah: 54:27

good. But yeah, like I would say that's really the only way that you can Continue to support. I mean if you see my videos if you see me like talking about stuff just share my stuff You know start a conversation with a neighbor start a conversation with a co worker with a friend if you hear this like just I don't know. I think we need to come together and I, I'm willing to do as many podcasts, as many interviews, as many, anything. I'm like, shit, if somebody wants to make a documentary, let's do it.

54:59

I,

Mariah: 55:01

I just feel like I would, I, this is my purpose. This is exactly what I'm supposed to do. And it's really only up from here. So I'm just blessed. Bless, you know, like you don't know that feeling until you sit on something like this. Exactly.

55:16

Exactly. Well, Mariah, I want to thank you for coming out and joining us here today. Thank you for sharing your story. I'm going to post everything that we talked about here in this episode to the website, definitely, uh, we'll, we'll hook up about those t shirts. Cause I definitely want to make sure we get that message out there.

Mariah: 55:32

Yes.

55:33

Don't be a stranger. We'll love to have you back on again. We can talk more. We got to get more into this.

Mariah: 55:39

Absolutely. Well, I appreciate y'all and stay golden, 414. I promise you.

55:45

Let's get it.

Mariah: 55:46

But, yes.

Chris: 55:48

Alright, my friend.

Mariah: 55:49

Bye.

55:51

I want to thank you for taking the time and listening to today again, slowing down, controlling the reckless driving that we have in the city of Milwaukee is going to be paramount for all of our communities, to decrease the number of accidents that we see in the emergency departments. And on the whole, it's going to help us protect our families, protect the kids in the neighborhood. So everybody just slow down, man. There's no reason to be driving that fast lives on the line lives are at stake. And just by not driving that way is going to go a long way in terms of making sure that everyone has a happy holiday, making sure that everyone lives to do amazing things in this city lives to see their families thrive and prosper and will reduce the number of fatalities that we have and that we see day in and day out in the emergency department. With that being said, I want to thank Mariah for coming out and speaking with us. Hopefully we will get her on to discuss other things that she's got going on as well. Looking forward to seeing all the good things that she's going to be doing in the future. Feel free to join us during our next episode and until then, as always take care of yourselves, take care of each other. And if you need me. Come and see me.