Insight News ::: 1.3.11

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Happy New Year! With gratitude and appreciation, the Insight News family thanks its loyal readers for the continued support. We look forward to providing you with 52 more weeks of information, inspiration and instruction in 2011.

INSIGHT NEWS January 3 - January 9, 2011 • MN Metro Vol. 37 No. 1 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • www.insightnews.com

The NOH8 Campaign is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska (http:// www.bouska.net) and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8. Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths, symbolizing their voices being silenced by Prop 8 and similar legislation around the world, with “NOH8” painted on one cheek in protest.

Michael Cole Smith and Jamil Smith Cole

Hate By Alaina L. Lewis Contributing Writer “Watches? Check. Sunglasses? Check. Ipad fully charged? Check. Flight booked? Check. Fabulousness? Always.” The rehearsal of packing mayhem occurs every week for Michael Cole Smith and Jamil Smith Cole, who live two very distinctly different lives as residents of both Minneapolis, MN and Atlanta, GA. If you’re a friend or a client of the famed hairstylists/power couple, then every week, you mentally go on a journey with them, from one region of the United States to the other; a dual life that came unexpected in their master plan, but one that offers adventure and limitless promise, like only these two famed

celebrities could handle. Smith and Cole, harnessed the world’s attention last year, when their celebration of love and independence blossomed into what could be considered one of the greatest weddings of the century- an elaborate engagement with all the trimmings of a heterosexual ceremony, yet instead of a man and woman at the alter, two grooms adjoined their hearts in front of a hall full of friends and family. Insight News paid homage to the event by showcasing their story on the front page of the paper, yielding to its magic, meaning, and the promise it has given to a world of GLBT members who have found strength and inspiration in Smith and Cole’s journey,

SMITH & COLE 9 TURN TO

The President and the General By Yussuf J. Simmonds Special to the NNPA from the Los Angeles Sentinel

Liz Ratcliff

A Ride for Healing and Unity a 330 mile ride that began Dec. 10th in Lower Brule, SD finished up in Mankato MN on Dec. 26th.

The Dakota Conflict & Reconciliation Ride By Mary Treacy Many years ago I had the privilege of working for a decade in a lovely college library situated on a Mankato hilltop overlooking the usually tranquil valley of the Minnesota River. Each day I thought about the view, the beauty and the fact that this was the site from which locals had once observed the travesty in which 38 Dakota Indians were hanged. If my memory lapsed all I had to do was go to the Blue Earth County Historical Museum to ponder

the thoroughly disgusting depiction of this dark moment in Minnesota history. Though I thought about the horror every day, what I did not do was delve into the stories and the pain, probably because I didn’t want to deal with the reality of history. Times and I have changed. This year’s Dakota Reconciliation Ride has created a thirst to know more. At the same time, the parallel documentary, Dakota 38, inspires me to explore the story that has eluded me at the same time it has remained

Education

Empowerment in Kenya

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so painfully real to the Dakota people for nearly 150 years. Recognition of reality inevitably leads to research. A simple google search disclosed the official updated site for the Dakota 38 Memorial Ride. The site does an excellent job recalling the Ride for Healing and Unity and offers a powerful incentive to explore both the tragedy and the powerful efforts to heal the wounds that have afflicted the Dakota people for generations. Local media have covered the ride with some diligence – though South Dakota seems to be far

Aesthetics

The real cost of abandoning the arts

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more attuned to the event and to the history of the Dakota War itself. One challenge faced by the media, historians and anyone who studies the topic is the political correctness surrounding the naming of the conflict – it is known at times as the Sioux Massacre, or the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Conflict, the Sioux Rebellion, the U.S.-Dakota Conflict of 1862, or the Dakota War. Today a commonly used term is “Reconciliation”. In her thoughtful post on the subject,

DAKOTA TURN TO 2

In 2008, when candidate Barack Obama (a Democrat) was running for president, former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell (a Republican) openly supported him, saying on national television, “I have especially watched over the last six or seven weeks as both of them (Obama and candidate John McCain) have really taken a final exam with respect to this economic crisis that we are in and coming out of conventions. And I must say that I’ve gotten a good measure of both.” Powell then went on to endorse candidate Obama. That was a bold move. Now, after almost two years in office, President Obama has recently reached out to Powell. They met at the White House and the President issued the following statement after the meeting: “I want to thank General Colin Powell for being here with me today. He is not only a great statesman and a great public servant, but also a great friend and a great counselor. And, periodically I check in with him, and I know my entire team, including the Vice President, checks in with him, because he continues to

Commentary Quiet times

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Charles Haynes

Former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell

have an unparalleled sense of our national security needs, and I think really that he taps into the best impulses of the American people.” The force of Powell’s endorsement crossing over party lines was a powerful signal for many who were still “on the fence” relative to the neophyte senator’s candidacy.

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Lifestyle

The secrets of the skinny

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