Our City of Nations (OCON)

In December 2015, a call went out to all those who cared about the well-being of our newest neighbors, “Come, let us work together for the betterment of our neighborhoods, cities, and region”. Thus, began our collective journey together through the Our City of Nations (OCON) experience.

“City of Nations” is a term given to Milwaukee in the late 1880s when the city was known for its myriad (mostly European) of immigrant populations. We also acknowledge that in Milwaukee we live and work on traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk and Menominee homeland along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnickinnic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, HoChunk, Menominee, Oneida and Mohican nations remain present. With Milwaukee’s indigenous roots, its historical immigrant settlements, and its continual refugee resettlement, it has always been a “City of Nations.”