For every Mike McGee Sr., there is a Marvin Pratt

Legendary Milwaukee alderman Mike McGee Sr. was an unmistakable force who often wore military fatigues around town, but there was also another Black council member that preferred a nice tailored suit.

Marvin Pratt, the first Black man to serve as both acting mayor and interim county executive, was a Milwaukee alderman alongside McGee starting in the late 1980s.

“We had different approaches, but his worked for him,” the 82-year-old Pratt said of his former colleague.

The Milwaukee Courier dedicated 2026 Juneteenth to McGee and his service to his people and his country. The 76-year-old Vietnam War veteran and former Black Panther leader is dealing with a terminal cancer diagnosis and agreed to help document his influence on the city. (To read McGee’s story visit here.)

In 1988, there were only two Black aldermen on the Milwaukee Common Council — McGee and Pratt — who had a rollercoaster relationship but remained publicly loyal to each other for the betterment of their constituents. And in historically segregated Milwaukee, that was typically the defense of Black residents at City Hall.

“There was always a strong racial divide that you were pushing against,” Pratt said. “That’s when all the reverse migration happened too — people moving back to the South. It was a struggle. It’s always been tough for African American folks in Milwaukee.”

Unlike McGee, who moved to North Carolina in 2016, Pratt still resides at his home on Milwaukee’s north side. He sat down for an interview with the Courier to discuss McGee and more.

In interviews with sources involved in this time period, there is still a certain bravado and defense of territory and ownership on who gets credit for this Black history.

“(McGee) did a number of good things but always wanted a soft touch on it. He low keyed it,” Pratt said. “He was on the right side of issues. He had a popularity or high standing in the community after finding justice for Ernie Lacy. He was well received in the Black community. A hero type of guy.”

When McGee threatened an armed resistance against the white establishment in Milwaukee in the late 1980s, causing international attention, Pratt had to be the one to try and work within the system to try and get something passed. He started a committee to address ongoing problems in the city which was mainly focused on the Black community.

“We acknowledged there were some things that need to be fixed in the city of Milwaukee and let’s see if we can do it in a way that’s non-violent,” Pratt said. “But the horse had left the barn and they wanted to get the alderman out of office.”

According to several Black public officials from that time, former Mayor John Norquist, a one-time ally of McGee’s, orchestrated the end of McGee’s time in public office by laying the heavy hand over the Council to strategically redraw McGee’s district following the 1990 census.

McGee and Dr. Howard Fuller worked hard to get Norquist elected by increasing his Black support, but Norquist seemed to pick favorites after winning and pushed McGee to the fringes.

“With McGee having such a high positive rating in the Black community, and with (Fuller) having a positing rating in the Black community, they switched a number of Black people who hadn’t voted from (Martin) Schreiber to Norquist,” Pratt said.

But the partnership quickly spoiled when Norquist appointed some of Fuller’s suggestions but none of McGee’s. Norquist also continued to avoid McGee’s legislative agenda.

“That really pissed him off,” Pratt said. “And rightly so.”

“To Norquist’s credit, he did open city government where you had Black folks in certain positions where they had never been,” Pratt said. “So I thought he did well in that regard. Norquist was forward thinking in a lot of ways, but (McGee) was a force. You couldn’t take him lightly.”

Pratt acknowledges that it wasn’t always peaceful with McGee around.

“He was so unpredictable you would sit there and say, I wonder what Mike is gonna do today,” Pratt said. “I’m sure he thought I was too suit and tie kind of guy. I got that from some of his supporters but not from him directly. He and I generally got along well.

“He was always focused on his people and upward mobility but I thought his anger, based on what he thought wasn’t happening, could at times get the best of him. It’s easy to say he could have taken a different approach, but he took the approach he was comfortable with.”

Pratt said McGee once told him that he wants the Frank Sinatra classic “My Way” played at his funeral.

Marvin Pratt served as the first of many in Milwaukee

The two elders still talk to each other every couple weeks to discuss family, life, their time in leadership and health. Pratt has health issues of his own, like declining vision.

He also served during the Vietnam War, like McGee, but he was in the Air Force and was stationed in the Libyan desert. After his service, he took on a life of politics starting as an intern for former Mayor Henry Maier.

Prior to the war, Pratt was born in Dallas, Texas but moved to Milwaukee and graduated from North Division High School.

After McGee’s years in office, Pratt remained on the Council and eventually became president of the Council. When Norquist resigned at the end of 2003 to take a job in Chicago, Pratt ascended to acting mayor, becoming the first Black man to hold the position.

“I was mayor the same number of days that Kamala Harris ran for president — 107 days,” Pratt said. “I also served as interim county executive for 107 days.”

Milwaukee Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt with presidential hopeful Howard Dean in 2004. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Pratt was appointed interim county executive in 2011 after Lee Holloway decided not to appoint himself following Scott Walker’s election victory for governor.

Pratt ran against Tom Barrett for the permanent mayoral job in 2004, a race that still frustrates Pratt due to racial overtones that were used.

“Jack Johnson used to fight and certain white boxers would be called the great white hope. That election that I had with Barrett was probably one of the last elections in which … I’m not saying it won’t happen … but you won’t have a white mayor for quite some time,” Pratt said.

Pratt said he also was at odds with the police department.

“The Milwaukee Police Association didn’t give a damn about the city of Milwaukee when they had basically all white officers,” Pratt said. “Then they gave people $10,000 to live here and join and were then open to diversity. But back then, MPA weren’t equal employment folks. There’s always been some racism in that organization I believe.”

Pratt wants to see more from his successors at the top of city government. He has his favorites but also way more officials he views as useless.

“We need to get back to a quality of life that is better when people don’t mind paying taxes if everything is nice and being taken care of,” he said.

“You always have to advocate for your people, the people at the lower rung of the socio-econ scale. I have to bring more people into the system and it has to do with jobs and education. (Malcolm X) says, ‘Education is our passport to the future. For tomorrow is promised to those of us who prepare for it today.’”

Pratt is most proud of his success as a family man and father. He touts his five grandchildren — a nurse, Howard University law grad, librarian, and two students at historically Black HBCUs.

In his later years he taught a course at the University of the Wisconsin — Milwaukee and often gets reminded that he was once at the helm of the city.

“Someone said, ‘You know they still have a picture of you at City Hall?’ I said, ‘Yeah, they probably should. If they’ve got the rest of those acting sons of guns down there, shit, I should be down there too,’” Pratt said.

Share

Marvin Pratt served as the first of many in Milwaukee

Related stories:

106.5 FM - 860 AM