Freez: Minneapolis MC talks new album and the fight for fair wages MORE ON PAGE 10
Insight News January 12 - January 18, 2015
Vol. 42 No. 2 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Rainbow Push: Medtronic merger should include U.S. infrastructure investment incentives
Repatriating corporate capital By Al McFarlane, Editor-in-Chief Rainbow PUSH Coalition (RPC) members accompanied by the head of Minneapolis Branch NAACP (January 6) participated in shareholder consideration of the merger of Medtronic and Covidien. In a meeting Tuesday morning shareholders of Medtronic, a global medical technology company based in Minneapolis, voted to acquire an Irish-based firm, Covidien. Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak
MEDTRONIC TURN TO 5
Omar Ishrak
Janis L. Mathis
Ellis Gary
Alfred Seawright
Rev. Jerry McAfee
Mshale urges expansion of Kenya embassy services Kenya’s new ambassador to the United States, Robinson Njeru Githae, held a high level discussion with Mshale founder and publisher, Tom Gitaa, at the embassy last week. Ambassador Githae presented his letter of appointment from President Uhuru Kenyatta to US president Barack Obama last month. Gitaa was in town for meetings at the Smithsonian and Newseum. The two institutions for the first time launched an exhibit called “News for All” at the Newseum and named Mshale among “100 Most Influential Ethnic Media in America.” In reaffirming the embassy’s commitment to serving all Kenyans in the United States, Githae noted that the Embassy/ US Kenyan community relationship has deepened
Courtesy Embassy of Kenya, Washington.
Mshale founder and publisher, Tom Gitaa (left) on December 19, 2014 met with Kenya’s new ambassador to the United States, Robinson Njeru Githae, to welcome him and to discuss the Kenya Diaspora Policy Paper launched in the Summer of 2014 by the ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Race
A modern idea Notes on the struggle By Professor Mahmoud El -Kati Part II As to this point, one more time, “race” as we know it in our language and perception is a modern idea (spread wide and rapidly within the last 350 years). It begins almost imperceptively with the Columbus myth of discovering
America in 1492. “Race” is a European social invention, which passed for “science” until quite recently in human history. The idea of “race” grows out of the thinking of modern Europe, which uses skin color and a combination of other physical traits to determine the “race” and worth of human beings. It goes thusly, groups of people uniformly inherit certain traits or characteristics; physical, intellectual, spiritual and emotional according to “race.” Furthermore, such traits are transmitted by genes, which are static and
RACE TURN TO 8
following recent initiatives such as the issuing of Kenyan identity cards. “There is room for improvement and we are working hard on it,” he said. Githae is a former Finance Minister in president Mwai Kibaki’s administration. Gitaa urged the ambassador to continue building on the capacity of the embassy to serve Kenyans in a timely manner and to build ongoing relationships with them around the country. “This might need more resources than is currently allocated to the embassy,” Gitaa said, adding Githae’s predecessor Ambassador Elkanah Odembo had worked hard on the engagement aspect and it will be critical to build on it. “How best to serve the
Diaspora here in the US is very important to me and we definitely want to do what is best according to your needs,” ambassador Githae said. Jane Miano Mugweh who is the Head Chancery at the Kenya Embassy also attended the meeting. Consulates On the establishment of new consulates that has been in discussion for many years particularly in states with a high concentration of Kenyans, the ambassador reiterated president Kenyatta’s promise that this is in progress and “will happen.” The president while visiting the US during the White House USAfrica Summit in the summer
KENYA TURN TO 3
Year end review: Politics in Minnesota By Carmen Robles Associate Editor Afrodescendientes Insight News Editor-in-Chief Al McFarlane calls Senator Jeff Hayden and Senator Bobby Joe Champion the “Dynamic Duo”. They are the only two African-American senators of the 67-member Minnesota Legislature. Despite facing numerous challenges in an otherwise all-white arena, the distinguished gentlemen from districts 59 and 62 are true representatives of the communities they serve demonstrating quality and integrity in all they do. Hayden (DFL-62) has advocated and fought for progressive political change
POLITICS TURN TO 9
Senator Bobby Joe Champion
Senator Jeff Hayden
Health
Lifestyle
Commentary
Community
Making fitness a new year’s resolution
This year, resolve to get in the way
Ed Brooke doesn’t get his due
WE WIN scholars research harm caused by tobacco
PAGE 3
PAGE 5
PAGE 6
PAGE 9