Running Rebels Community Organization

02/07/2023

We wanted to share a few more pictures of Rebel staff & youth participating in National Wear Red Day last week to raise awareness for heart disease.

02/04/2023

Today our staff participated in National Wear Red Day in honor of heart disease awareness and in memory of our beloved Ms. Cozy. ❤

02/03/2023

We are sad to see Whitney go, but excited that she will be fulfilling her dream of becoming a Doula; even training other women of color how to provide guidance and support to pregnant women during labor. Whitney, your energy, smile and spirit will be missed at Running Rebels. Thank you for your many years of service and commitment to the youth and families in our care. It is impossible to count the number of young lives you have positively impacted. We appreciate you and wish you joy and success on your new path!

02/03/2023

What is Be the Change?

Be the Change was founded on the principles of leadership, education, cultural awareness, self-respect, and brotherhood.

Darren, one of the main facilitators of this program, says, "We're a brotherhood, a fatherhood. You gotta have that 'hood' at the end, because we're a collective of men, young and old. We're teaching life skills, bouncing ideas off of each other . . . The young people tell us about the present, then we talk about our past experiences."

02/02/2023

Our youth wearing their new Rebel volleyball tees … tonight all young people were on the court with some members of the Team Milotso volleyball team, who came to our gym for a few hours to host a volleyball clinic.

02/01/2023

Rebel staff member Tyson with his community basketball team, helping one of our youth celebrate a birthday at Dave and Buster’s! 🥳🎈

01/28/2023

This is Dawn, our Co-Executive Director, running a mentor training session over last Saturday's lunch hour. Providing ongoing training is important to ensure we're staying in tune with young people and bringing the best of ourselves to the work.

01/27/2023

We have so many moments to share with you. Here's one from this week:

Rebel alumni Danya Kingsby was back in Milwaukee to provide special training to a youth community basketball team, coached regularly by Rell Carter and Danya's uncle Tyson Kingsby (Tyson is also a Rebel alumni and now a Rebel staff member).

In his college years Danya played ball for Bradley University and now plays professionally in Europe. Danya, we love that you took the time to support our youth while you were home.

This is the dynamic: the momentum of our work creating a self-sustaining cycle of giving, both to each other and to the larger community.

01/26/2023

We'd like to congratulate Naomi, a North Division senior who participates in our VFZ program, for her acceptance into her top choice - Jackson State University!

Running Rebels has a long-standing connection with Jackson State, an HBCU that we've seen many of our youth attend over the years.

CONGRATS Naomi!! We're so proud of you!

01/25/2023

Many of our young people are highly creative souls who sing, rap, dance, act, or play an instrument.

Recently our Splash & AV programming has been focused on giving youth a chance to practice for some upcoming events, including our celebration of Black History Month on February 24.

01/25/2023

The January award for Photo of the Month goes to City Dreams!

If you're a young person who would like to submit a photo for consideration at any point, please email it to [email protected].

Congratulations to our January Winner
Photographer

01/24/2023

Before arts or rec programming, the first stop of the day for all Rebel youth is our Education Lab, where they have access to tutoring, homework help, and computers on a daily basis.

01/23/2023

We talk about basketball a lot around here, but we also have many young people who love to play volleyball as part of our rec programming!

01/21/2023

Happy Friday from Rebel youth!

You're looking at our second-floor lounge area at our East location. A few years ago, Desmond Mason, former Milwaukee Bucks player, and Vedale Hill, local artist and Rebel alumni, helped paint that mural with Rebel youth.

01/18/2023

Rebel staff & youth celebrated the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King this week at the Milwaukee Public Library! We saw some amazing performances and heard words of encouragement from Mayor Cavalier Johnson, County Executive David Crowley, and Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs.

01/18/2023

Thank you Montreal Cain for sharing your wisdom with our youth at yesterday’s 2023 Kingfest event, a celebration of Martin Luther King’s life & legacy.

Montréal Cain speaks at the via zoom to the youth join in now www.tinyurl.com/kingfest2023

01/13/2023

Tasha's body art booth at this week's AV workshop was magnetic. She had our youth gathered around her the entire evening, up until the very last minute.

Tasha is a local artist who has been doing great work with us for a while, leading art workshops with our youth and helping to create many of the art pieces displayed at our Central location. She has brought joy, creativity, and confidence to our youth and we're grateful for her presence here.

01/12/2023

Skyy Tatum, a participant in our VFZ program at Obama, sung the national anthem at the Obama vs Marshall basketball game this week! Great job Skyy!!

01/11/2023

Every Monday is Ladies Night at Running Rebels! Join us for leadership building, crafts, games, field trips, hair tutorials, and more from 5-7pm at our Central location.

01/10/2023

A few days ago, after cancelling the original event back in December because of rough weather, we finally got to host our annual holiday party for Rebel youth.

This event has been a much-loved Running Rebels tradition for over 20 years and isn't something we could skip. We feasted on an amazing homemade meal together and gave our youth the chance to pick out gifts for themselves. It was so fun to show our young people some extra love during the holiday season!

01/06/2023

This week Rebel youth took a special trip to Torrence's House of Threads to get fitted for the 500 Black Tuxedos event happening next Saturday, January 14. Congratulations Andre Lee Ellis!!

01/06/2023

Rebel youth & mentors connecting during Thursday night youth rec programming!

01/05/2023

We would like to thank Mentor Greater Milwaukee, Gee's Clippers Barber and Beauty Salon, and the Milwaukee Bucks for allowing our youth the opportunity to connect personally with Bobby Portis and hear his powerful story.

01/03/2023

Rebel alumni Kevon Looney at it again!! 🔥

12/30/2022

Happy New Year, Running Rebels community!!

We wanted to share one of our favorite photos from this past year, a snapshot from our block party & anniversary celebration this summer with youth and community members. We’re so grateful for you all!

12/30/2022

Winter is the perfect time to settle into a Running Rebels studio for the hour. Our studios are open to all youth ages 12-18, no experience required.

12/29/2022

Behind the mic✨ Sierra, a Rebel youth since the age of 11 and now a Rebel staff member, discovered over the course of her time here that she loves public speaking and communicating with an audience about topics that matter to her. She's consistent about putting in the work during our Splash training sessions to keep her skills fresh ⭐️☺️

12/27/2022

Congratulations to our December winner for

Congratulations to Winner for

12/27/2022

Longtime Rebels alumni Tony Whitley & his wife came to support the Unity MKE holiday giveaway last weekend. Back in the day Tony played ball for both Running Rebels and Marshall High School.

12/26/2022

Running Rebels has always had a good relationship with Marshall High School, whose basketball team came to help out with the Unity MKE giveaway last weekend.

12/25/2022

Happy Holidays, Running Rebels community!

12/24/2022

More holiday fun from this past weekend's Unity MKE toy giveaway.

12/23/2022

Taking a moment before the Unity MKE holiday giveaway this past weekend to rally the team & connect with youth.

12/22/2022

This past Saturday the Unity MKE community gathered at the Rebels gym to host a holiday toy giveaway!

Many wore their apparel for 300 Strong, a group of local nonprofits and businesses dedicated to creating more unity across the city of Milwaukee.

12/22/2022

Our staff engaging in some hands-on AV training. Something fun to know: every person in this picture has been part of the Rebels community since their youth and are now continuing this good work as adults.

12/20/2022

Until next time, Kevon Looney!

12/19/2022

As adults, many Rebel youth return to (or remain in) this community to give back what they received as a young person. We call this "coming full circle." Our logo was designed with this phrase in mind.

Earlier this month in the Running Rebels gym, youth basketball teams from North Division and the Milwaukee School of Excellence faced off against each other.

ND's head coach is Kalombo Kadima, Rebel alumni. MSoE's head coach is Branden Joseph, Rebel alumni.

The referee for this game was Tyson Kingsby, Rebel alumni and current staff member. In attendance was Dell Williams, Rebel alumni and the current Vice Chair of our board.

This is a powerful representation of what it means to come full circle. These alumni have remained connected to the community that helped shape them as young people. On a consistent basis, they offer their leadership, guidance, knowledge, and positive presence back to us.

Kalombo, Branden, Tyson & Dell: you are so valued by this community. We're so proud to call you Rebels for Life!

12/18/2022

We shared so many great moments with Rebel alumni Kevon Looney this week. Here's a few more of Rebel youth enjoying their time at the Warriors vs Bucks game this past Tuesday night.

12/16/2022

We're always cheering on Rebel alumni Donte Jackson, Head Coach of the basketball team for Grambling State University. In his youth Donte played for the Running Rebels AAU team and made a name for himself as one of Milwaukee's top athletes. In college he played Division I basketball and went on to become head coach at GSU, whose team has seen a lot of success during his time there.

Go Donte!

📖 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 📖

Grambling State men’s basketball has claimed two victories over Power 5 opponents in the same season for the first time in school history‼️

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12/16/2022

In his youth, NBA player Kevon Looney was a regular attendee of Running Rebels programming. Now, he plays for the Golden State Warriors. This week his team returned to Wisconsin soil to face off against the Bucks, and he didn't miss the opportunity to come spend some time with our young people. Kevon, we always appreciate how intentional you are about making time to come see us when you're in town and supporting us no matter what part of the country you're in.