Insight News ::: 01.01.18

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Insight News January 1 - January 7, 2018

Vol. 45 No. 1• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

See for Yourself Ta-coumba Aiken: There’s meaning behind what I do.

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Page 2 •January 1 - January 7, 2018 • Insight News

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Leading with Art:

Ta-coumba Aiken invites you to ‘See for Yourself’ with latest installation

By Harry Colbert, Jr. Managing Editor @HarryColbertJr Thank goodness there was no GPS back in 1970.

Make no mistake, TaCoumba Aiken would have most likely excelled in any vocation, but missing a turn to Madison, WI. may have been the best thing for Aiken … and for art connoisseurs for millenniums to come. Yes indeed, thank goodness there was no turn-byturn navigation in 1970. Had there been, Aiken may have reached his intended destination of the University of Wisconsin and enrolled with intentions on becoming an attorney. Instead, he ended up at a gas station in Eau Claire, WI. “I had to get gas, so I stopped at a station in Eau Claire and I asked the attendant how many Black people live in Eau Claire and he said, ‘colored people?’ I knew right then this wasn’t were I wanted to be,” said Aiken. “He said not many, then he said there were more ‘colored’ people in Minneapolis, so I got a map and I drove until I hit St. Paul. I saw this big city with just one tall building and I had dreamed that building years ago as a child, so I decided this is where I was meant to be.”

But Aiken’s Minnesota story of how he came to be is as jaw dropping and as colorful as his beautiful works of art.

“I get to St. Paul and I see this city with what I think are two capitols (one was the state capitol building, the other the

Ta-coumba Aiken Cathedral of St. Paul) and I start to see Black people … and Black and white people holding hands and I’m in amazement by this because in Chicago they are rioting,” said Aiken, a native of Evanston, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. “So, I got a hotel room at the Leamington Hotel (in Minneapolis) and the next morning I went walking and came across the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. I walk into the registrar’s office and this woman asked me do I have my portfolio.

I said yes, it’s in the car. She says ‘Go get it.’ I go to the car because I always kept my work on me, get some pieces and take them back to her. She then asked me where’s my transcript.”

Aiken didn’t have one on him.

See for Yourself installation at McKnight Foundation

“Why would you come without your transcript,” the woman demanded. Registration was closing soon.

Aiken asked the woman could he leave his car in the school’s lot while he retrieved his transcript. She obliged.

Remember, this is 1970.

There are no emails; no faxes.

Aiken had to physically retrieve his transcript … in Evanston.

“I got a cab to take me to the airport and I caught a flight to Chicago and got back to Evanston before my school closed and got my transcript and I got a cab driver to take me back to the airport,” said Aiken.

While telling the tale, Aiken initially left out a couple of key elements of the story. For one, Aiken was only 17-years-old at the time. And … the car he had was his father’s … and he didn’t

tell his father he was taking it.

“Evanston is a small town, and everybody knows everybody and they all knew something was going on. I get a cab back to the airport and I tried to pay the cab driver (who knew Aiken’s father) and he wouldn’t take my money,” recalled Aiken.

“He said ‘I don’t want any part of this. All I’ll say is get your daddy back his car.’”

Aiken flew back to Minneapolis, got back to the school, transcript in hand, and the woman sees him and said, “You’re not Charles, are you?”

“Well I couldn’t lie and I told her I wasn’t trying to deceive her; so when she was asking questions (initially) I was just following her direction,” said Aiken. “Then she asked what took me so long to get

back and I told her I had to fly to Chicago to get the transcript.

I asked if she was upset and she said, ‘Oh, this is going to make a great story.’”

A great story indeed, made even more remarkable by the subsequent works of Aiken.

Aiken’s works are revered worldwide, having been on display throughout the United States, Rwanda, Shanghai, China and more. An artist on the John Biggers “Celebration of Life” mural that once ran along Olson Memorial Highway in North Minneapolis, Aiken led the John Biggers Seed Project, which will unveil a new state-ofthe-art mural in the same area as the former “Celebration of Life” mural in either 2019 or 2020.

The mural is near completion, but won’t be installed until the new Bottineau rail line is

completed. The coming mural is a unique composite of steel and glass, telling the story of African people and stories of the residents of North Minneapolis.

On the cover is Aiken’s “See for Yourself,” which is on display in the lobby and gallery of the McKnight Foundation, 710 S. 2nd St., Minneapolis.

Though the art is intended as a horizontal piece, for cover purposes the art was rotated 90 degrees clockwise. To view as intended by the artist, rotate the cover 90 degrees counterclockwise.

“My work is considered abstract, but trust, anyone who knows me knows there’s nothing abstract about it,” said Aiken.

“There’s meaning behind what I do.”

2017 won’t be forgotten Donald Trump, sexual assault cases dominate 2017 headlines

By Stacy M. Brown

Love it or hate it, 2017 will be a year not soon forgotten.

Barack Obama, a constitutional law professor,

Nobel Peace Prize winner and the nation’s first Black president, graciously handed the keys to the White House to a reality TV

MNHS.ORG

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaking against war in Vietnam, St. Paul, 1967, MNHS collections.

MNHS: HISTORY FOR ALL The year 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of 1968. From the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, to the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, to civil unrest around the country, the turbulent events of 1968 left a lasting legacy. Many people of a certain age can tell you where they were when these pivotal events occurred. By re-examining them now, we can put them into historical context and use them as a benchmark for how far we have come—and how far we still need to go.

MNHS is proud to host the return of The 1968 Exhibit to the Minnesota History Center after its successful nationwide tour.

Created by MNHS, this exhibit examines the events mentioned above and dozens more that helped shape a generation. The exhibit features a new section that encourages visitors to reflect on the progress that has or has not been made over the past 50 years by highlighting events in the news today, such as police and community relationships, marches and movements, and politics.

Learn more and get tickets at mnhs.org/1968.

On January 13, the Minnesota History Center hosts MLK Saturday, an event celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Family activities designed to share the life of MLK with our youngest visitors include making your own screen-printed activism sign and joining in a service activity for the Dorothy Day Center. On January 14 at Mill City Museum, MNHS and the African American Interpretive Center will host the Hope & Healing Cabaret.

We invite you to experience spoken word, music, and theatrical readings designed to inspire the hope that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. brought to our country. Tickets available at mnhs.org/calendar.

As we enter 2018, I invite you to visit The 1968 Exhibit and join MNHS for the many programs we have planned throughout the community that encourage visitors to reflect on the past and work toward a better future for all.

MELANIE ADAMS Melanie Adams, PhD, is the senior director of Guest Experience and Educational Services at the Minnesota Historical Society. In this role she oversees MNHS programs, exhibits, and historic sites located throughout the state, which serve one million people per year.

star who has been accused of sexual assault. Shortly after his inauguration, President Donald Trump began signing dozens of executive orders that threatened to rollback much of the progress that was made during the previous eight years under the Obama Administration. And, it was the Trump Administration that not only slashed funding for advertising during the open enrollment of the Affordable Care Act, but also cut the enrollment period for signing up for coverage through the federal healthcare exchange from 90 days to 45 days. Despite those challenges, the ACA, also known as “Obamacare,” is still the law of the land and, this year, nearly 9 million people signed up for coverage through the federal healthcare exchange.

With the GOP tax reform bill, which was endorsed by Trump, the Republicans scored a win for corporations at the expense of nearly everyone else. According to CNN Money, “The final bill still leans heavily toward tax cuts for corporations and business owners.

But it also expands or restores some tax benefits for individuals relative to the earlier bills passed by the House and Senate.” The CNN Money article continued, “The individual provisions would expire by the end of 2025, but most of the corporate provisions would be permanent.”

In February, when National Security Agency chief Mike Flynn was forced to resign after lying to Vice President Mike Pence, Trump said to then-FBI Director James Comey, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy.

I hope you can let this go.” This according to sworn testimony by Comey.

As a highly-politicized investigation into whether or not Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election began to heat up, Trump fired Comey. Later, Flynn cut a deal to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election meddling. Federal prosecutors charged Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, campaign adviser Rick Gates and former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos with various crimes, including lying to the FBI and money laundering.

During “Black Press Week” in March, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), expressed a desire to draft articles of impeachment over Trump’s actions in the White House and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) called on the real estate mogul to resign.

Meanwhile, the Black Press celebrated its 190th anniversary and the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) elected a new national chairman, Dorothy Leavell, the publisher of the Crusader newspapers in Chicago and Gary, Ind. “We are suffering and with a new administration in the White House, it will take someone who isn’t afraid, someone who will raise a lot of hell,” the fiery

Wikimedia Commons

In 2017, President Donald Trump and sexual assault allegations against prominent figures in entertainment, politics and mainstream media dominated headlines.

Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA

Civil rights activist and groundbreaking comedian Dick Gregory died on Saturday, August 19. This photo was taken during a panel discussion on the protests in Ferguson following the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.

Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA

Civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., recently announced that he has Parkinson’s disease. This photo was taken during the recent 2017 Rainbow PUSH Coalition Global Automotive Summit.

Leavell said after she was elected.

In 2017, Carolyn Bryant, the woman who accused young Emmett Till of grabbing and verbally harassing her 62 years ago, finally admitted that she lied during the trial of Till’s murderers.

An all-White jury found her husband Roy Bryant and his halfbrother JW Milam not guilty of the crime.

The Guardian reported that Bryant said Till had grabbed and verbally harassed her in a grocery store.

“I was just scared to death,” she said during the trial, according to The Guardian.

“That part’s not true,” Bryant confessed to Timothy Tyson, the author of a new book, “The Blood of Emmet Till,” The Guardian said.

In June, comedian Bill Cosby went on trial for a 2004

incident involving a former Temple University employee, who claimed the star drugged and raped her. A jury failed to reach a unanimous decision and a judge, who declared a mistrial, ordered a new trial for next spring.

In October, celebrated movie producer Harvey Weinstein was exposed as a serial sexual harasser and abuser with more than 100 women – including actresses such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd – among his accusers. The firestorm around the accusations ignited a movement and scores of women and men across the world shared their harrowing stories of abuse on social media using the hashtag #MeToo. Celebrities and media

2017 4

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Insight News • January 1 - January 7, 2018 • Page 3

aesthetically speaking

Aesthetically It!: Events, concerts, venues in the Twin Cities

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Insight News January 1 - January 7, 2018

Vol. 45 No. 1• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Sam Clark to run for Minnesota Attorney General

By Abeni Hill Staff Writer The political and social atmosphere of Minnesota – and the country as a whole – has inspired Sam Clark to run for Minnesota Attorney General.

“It took a lot of soul searching to figure out why would anyone in today’s age step forward and run for office,” said Clark, speaking during a Dec. 26 interview on “Conversations with Al McFarlane,” which airs on KFAI radio (90.3 FM, www. kfai.org).

Over the holidays, Clark said he looked around his neighborhood, Rondo, and saw the effects of a government and law enforcement that didn’t seem to defend and support its citizens.

“I see a lot of people there who feel like the law is there to protect them,” said Clark.

“Honestly, going through the summer of Philando’s (Castile) killing was a spark for me as a person of color in a law enforcement position.”

Clark was appointed to St. Paul City Attorney position at 31 years of age.

“I think (being) the son of judge at an early age (I understood) the power of the law to create a level playing field for people,” said Clark. “But at the same time, growing up the son of Black man, I understood very deeply and quickly how far from that ideal we are.”

Before being appointed, Clark served as counsel to Sen. Amy Klobuchar on the Senate Judiciary Committee and then as her state director, where he led a team of staffers spread across offices in Rochester, Moorhead, Virginia and Minneapolis.

Following the Jamar Clark killing in Minneapolis Castile killing and subsequent non indictment of the officers responsible in the Jamar Clark

Sam Clark at Conversations with Al McFarlane KFAI FM 90.3 radio broadcast. incident and not guilty verdict of Jeronimo Yanez, the officer who killed Castile, Clark said he was compelled to take action.

“The crisis of conscious

came relatively quickly,” said Clark. He referenced the wave of Black Lives Matter protest erupting through the city in 2015 as a point in his career where

he felt his background and experience as a person of color were relevant.

“When those moments hit our communities, it is crucial to

have a sense of mutual trust and accountability built up,” said Clark.

CONVERSATIONS 5

TRANSFORMATION: Project planning

By Randall Bradley Architect Take a long look around you.

Use your eyes. Take a very long look around you. This time use your imagination. And know that all of the structures on this blue ball we call earth, hurtling through space at 37,000 miles per hour, were built by the hands of every ethnicity and gender of human being that inhabits this planet. Look as far back in history in any culture, in any region, in any color, and see the handiwork of human beings to get us to this moment.

Know that all you see was imagined, created, built and utilized by human beings for human beings. All of the roads, telephone poles, stop signs, switches, airplanes, buildings, dog houses, museums,

Harry Colbert, Jr.

Although snow has been falling and temperatures have been below zero, work continues even into the evening hours, at the corner of Penn and Plymouth Avenues North in Minneapolis, site of the coming Thor Companies headquarters.

hospitals, cars, boats, banks, schools, dance halls, grocery stores, courthouses, train sheds, airports, rural cabins, underground utilities, needle and thread, chain-line fence, fire hydrants, encyclopedias, fire

codes, newspapers, ceramic tile, chimney’s, chairs, frying pans and everything else were put there by a pair of human hands just like yours. Each one of these items needs attention every day – either through maintenance or

replacement – much as do our bodies. Most of the items that we use were created as either a solution to a problem or as a

TRANSFORMATION 5

Civil rights groups want Alabama’s newest senator to higher people of color

Will Alabama’s newest senator hire Blacks?

By Lauren Victoria Burke NNPA Newswire Contributor Black voters propelled Doug Jones to a historic victory in Alabama’s special election for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ vacant Senate seat.

Now, civil rights groups are calling on the senator-elect to hire Blacks and other people of color to high-level positions in his Washington, D.C. office.

In a letter to Jones, the groups recommended the senator-elect interview at least one person of color for every senior position in his office, commit to hiring

JONES 5

Civil rights groups are calling on Alabama Sen. elect Doug Jones to hire Blacks and other minorities to seniorlevel positions in his Washington, D.C. office.

Business News

Adair Mosley named Despite Unequal president and CEO Treatment, Black of Pillsbury United Women Will Rise Communities

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News 2 Health Insight

How of Don’tmuch complain, suffering activate is invisible?

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www.ice.gov

A scene such as this has been temporarily averted thanks to some University of Minnesota law students advocating on behalf of 92 Somalis currently residing in the U.S.

Effort wins temporary restraining order

University of Minnesota law students play role in lawsuit blocking deportation of 92 Somalis Students in the University of Minnesota Law School’s James H. Binger Center for New Americans and recent law school graduates played key roles in a class action litigation effort that won a court order temporarily blocking the deportation of 92 Somali men and women.

The lawsuit was filed by the Binger Center, University of Miami Law School, and other legal services organizations in U.S. District Court in Miami.

The lawsuit cites inhumane conditions and egregious abuse of the 92 Somali men and women during ICE’s failed attempt to deport them a first time on Dec. 7. During that aborted flight, ICE shackled the immigrants and forced them to stay seated for two days, including 23 hours when the plane sat on a runway in Senegal. The suit alleges ICE agents kicked, struck, choked and dragged some detainees down the aisle of the plane and

I2H Commentary

Omissions and hurts War on opioids distortions abound in sickle cell disease libraries, too patients

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put others in straitjackets. The deportees also were denied access to a working bathroom.

When the Dec. 7 flight was aborted, ICE returned the detainees to the United States, where they now are being held in detention centers in Florida. ICE had indicated it would put the detainees on a new flight to Somalia early on Dec. 20, despite fears that the detainees would be targeted for persecution by the antiAmerican, anti-Western terrorist group Al Shabaab. Many of the men and women who were on the flight have had family members killed or threatened

by Al Shabaab. U.S. asylum law forbids the removal of individuals to countries where they would face a likelihood of persecution or torture.

Law student Mary Georgevich, working with

U OF M 4

Commentary Community

Timberwolves The Chroniclesand of Lynx holiday Missmake Freedom Fighter, staff donation the Esquire: Endingtomass Twin Cities Kids in incarceration Need Resource Center

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Business

Adair Mosley named president and CEO of Pillsbury United Communities The Pillsbury United Communities Board of Directors announced that Adair Mosley has been named the president and CEO of Pillsbury United Communities.

Mosley has been acting as the interim president and CEO since the departure of Chanda Smith Baker in June. Following Smith Baker’s departure, the Pillsbury United Communities Board of Directors retained Cohen Taylor to conduct the executive search.

Mosley has been with Pillsbury United Communities for the past six years. In his time, he has acted as chief of staff, and most recently the chief innovation officer managing the Design and Innovation team at Pillsbury United and leading multiple initiates including most recently, the opening of a new social enterprise grocery store

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and wellness center in North Minneapolis, North Market.

“We are extremely happy to announce that Adair Mosley will be the next president and CEO,” said Andy Augustine, chair of the Pillsbury United Communities Board of Directors. “In this interim position Adair has demonstrated his commitment and exceptional leadership. I am confident he will lead this organization into a bright new future.”

“It is a humbling honor to be able to lead such a distinguished organization as Pillsbury United Communities, and to work alongside the most passionate and dedicated staff in dismantling inequities in our community,” said Mosley. “In this role, I look forward to continuing to strengthen old partnerships and developing new relationships.”

Investing in Black-led organizations

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FUNdraising Good Times Insight News is published weekly, every Monday by McFarlane Media Interests.

Editor-In-Chief Al McFarlane Publisher Batala-Ra McFarlane Associate Editor & Associate Publisher B.P. Ford Managing Editor Harry Colbert, Jr. Associate Editor Afrodescendientes Carmen Robles

By Mel and Pearl Shaw Are all nonprofits created equally?

Do they receive equal investment?

Have equitable access to resources and expertise?

Do we need to take a closer look at Black-led organizations to help ensure their sustainability and effectiveness? What role do these organizations play and why are they important?

In the report “Black-Led Organizations In The Bay Area: From Crisis to Change” authors Constance Walker and Jeannine Walker refer to these organizations as “BLOs” and define them as “registered nonprofit organizations with Black staff and/or Board leadership.” Their report for the Bay Area Black

Associate Editor Nigeria & West Africa Chief Folarin Ero-Phillips Associate Editor Culture and Education Dr. Irma McClaurin Director of Content & Production Patricia Weaver Content & Production Coordinator Sunny Thongthi Yang Distribution/Facilities Manager Jamal Mohamed Receptionist Lue B. Lampley Staff Writer Abeni Hill Contributing Writers Nadvia Davis Fred Easter Timothy Houston Michelle Mitchum Artika Tyner Toki Wright Photography David Bradley Uchechukwu Iroegbu Rebecca Rabb Artist Donald Walker Contact Us: Insight News, Inc. Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Ave. N. Minneapolis., MN 55411 Ph.: (612) 588-1313 Fax: (612) 588-2031 Member: Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium (MMMC), Midwest Black Publishers Coalition, Inc. (MBPCI), National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Postmaster: Send address changes to McFarlane Media Interests, Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Avenue North, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55411.

Uchechukwu Iroegbu

Adair Mosley

2017 From 2 personalities including Matt Lauer, Bill O’Reilly, Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine, Charlie Rose, comedian Louis C.K. and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons were also accused of sexual harassment or assault and have either lost their jobs or stepped down from their companies.

Politicians such as U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R-Ala.), Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) also faced allegations of sexual misconduct. Moore was renounced by the voters of Alabama in a December election and Franken and Conyers both announced plans to leave Congress.

Meanwhile, several women have emerged with claims against Trump. People magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff accused Trump of attacking her in 2005 at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all that Mr. Trump would criticize someone else’s inappropriate

U of M From 3 Alexis Dutt and Tim Sanders and supervised by Binger Center clinical professor Ben Casper

study were very interested in a “collaborative capacity building initiative” that would target BLOs. This report, written in 2015,

BLOs. Their goal is to enhance the growth, sustainability, impact and sense of community of Black-led anchor institutions in the Bay Area that provide critical programs and services to ensure the long-term vitality of the organizations and the Black communities they serve.

This initiative will include an accelerator for emerging, innovative community anchors, a three-year stabilizer program for mature community anchors and cross-cutting programs and services open to all BLOs in the service area.

We are proud to be part of this initiative and hope it will become a model for communities across the country Copyright 2017 – Mel Shaw and Pearl Shaw, CFRE Mel and Pearl Shaw are authors of four books on fundraising available on Amazon. com. For more information visit www.saadandshaw.com or call (901) 522-8727.

United Fund documents and analyzes the results of surveys and focus groups that gather information about BLOs in the San Francisco Bay Area. We share the findings – and subsequent actions and investments – as an example of one way to advance equity in the nonprofit sector.

Here are a few of the key findings, excerpted from the report.

Ninety percent of Bay Area BLOs identify themselves as community-based organizations.

Seventy-five percent are mature organizations that have operated for 11 or more years. Forty-seven percent have very small budgets of $500,000 or less while only 10 percent have budgets greater than $5,000,000. Forty-two percent have no reserves or endowment and, for those that do, it is most often insufficient. For 92 percent, the chief executive officer or executive director primarily conducts fundraising and resource development. Bay Area BLOs have limited staff support. Sixtytwo percent have staffs of 10 people or less and 84 percent have staffs of 20 people or less. For 59

percent of Bay Area BLOs at least half of their clients are Black and 30 percent serve a client-base that is at least 80 percent Black. On

average, the ethnic composition of the population served by Bay Area BLOs is 59 percent Black and 23 percent Latino.

In terms of moving forward, Walker and Walker report revenue, systems, training and leadership development will be critical to the success of BLOs and the communities they serve. They also reported that BLOs who participated in the

has become a call to action.

Since its publication five funders – The East Bay Community Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, The Kapor Center for Social Impact, The Y & H Soda Foundation and The California Endowment – have come together as the Funders’ Collaborative to invest in capacity building that will support the growth, sustainability and impact of

sexual behavior and not address his own,” Stoynoff told the magazine.

Another Trump accuser, Melinda McGillivray, told People that Trump “is a complete hypocrite.”

Many won’t soon forget the devastating hurricanes that ravaged Texas, Louisiana, Florida, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in the summer and early fall.

Critics of the federal government’s response to devastation caused by the hurricanes noted that more than 30 percent of Puerto Ricans still lack access to electricity. Some are attributing up to 1,000 Puerto Rican deaths on the devastating Hurricane Maria.

The president also took heat as he seemed to compare the actions of white supremacists to peaceful protesters after a woman was killed during a white nationalists’ rally in Charlottesville, Va. “This week it’s Robert E. Lee (whose statue was removed due to backlash of his racist legacy).

I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down,” said Trump in defending the Confederate monuments. “I wonder, is George Washington next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after that? You really do have to ask yourself, ‘Where does it stop?”

The president even found time to criticize NFL players

for silently protesting police brutality and racial injustice in predominately Black and people of color communities. Trump blasted players and said that team owners should get rid of them, even calling them derogatory names during a speech in Alabama.

Colon Kaepernick, who remains unsigned and is suing the NFL owners for colluding to keep him out of the league, has been recognized with several awards including Sports Illustrated’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, which was presented to him in December by Beyoncé.

In October, O.J. Simpson was released from prison in Nevada after serving nine years for a robbery conviction.

The NAACP named Derrick Johnson president and CEO of the oldest civil rights organization in America. Johnson told NNPA Newswire that it’s important that organization work with the National Newspaper Publishers Association to keep the Black community informed.

Congressional Black Caucus Chair Cedric Richmond (D-La.) also pledged to work closer with the Black Press in 2017 and beyond.

Civil rights icon, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, also announced that he has Parkinson’s disease.

A tumultuous 2017 also saw TV One announce the cancelation of the popular Roland Martin’s “NewsOne Now” news show in December.

In 2017, the Black Press lost two of its most devoted freedom warriors. Walter “Ball” Smith, the publisher of New York’s Beacon and the Philadelphia Observer died on Nov. 10. He was 83. One month earlier on Oct. 22, Bernal E. Smith II, the president and publisher of the Tri-State Defender and a well-known civic leader in Memphis, also passed away. Smith was 45.

Other Black icons also were mourned in 2017.

Among them were Della Reese, 86, and Earle Hyman, 91, both of whom died in November; Robert Guillaume, 89, and Fats Domino, 89, died in October; the rap star Prodigy, 42, who died in June; while singer Al Jarreau, 76, died in February; and activist Roy Innis, 82, died in January.

In December, Simeon Booker, a trail-blazing Black journalist who covered the Civil Rights Movement for the iconic African-American magazines Ebony and Jet and who was the first Black person to work as a fulltime Washington Post reporter, also died.

He was 99.

On Aug. 19, activist and comedian Dick Gregory died at the age of 84.

“During the past six decades, Dick Gregory, would periodically write essays and editorials for the Black-owned newspapers of NNPA members across the nation,” wrote NNPA president and CEO Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Jr., in a tribute to Gregory. “His pen and his voice were always on the side of the oppressed, who dared to speak up and stand up for freedom. Today, in Dick’s memory, we all are obligated to do no less. Every breath that we take, we should gain more and more strength to speak truth to power and to stand against all injustice.”

2017 also saw historic elections as St. Paul elected its first African-American mayor (Melvin Carter) and Minneapolis elected two African-American transgender members to the city council (Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham). Rep. Ilhan Omar (DFL-60B) took office in the Minnesota House, making her the first Somali-American to serve in a state legislature. She would later be featured on a cover of Time.

Sanchez and adjunct clinical professor Mirella Ceja-Orozco, spent several days during finals period creating a database to track all 92 detainees and help coordinate the work of volunteer lawyers who converged at the ICE centers in Florida to screen detainees. The Minnesota team worked closely with two recent Binger Center graduates, Andrea Crumrine and Alex DeLeon, both post-graduate fellows at Americans for Immigrant Justice in Miami – one of the organizations that joined the

litigation. Crumrine and DeLeon interviewed Somali detainees and developed declarations used in the lawsuit.

Michele Garnet McKenzie, deputy director of the Advocates for Human Rights, one of the Binger Center’s non-profit partner organizations, gathered evidence on current conditions in Somalia for the law suit and helped coordinate the team’s responses to media inquiries.

Another important figure in the effort was recent graduate John Bruning, now with Kim

Hunter Associates in St. Paul. In late November, just weeks after his admission to the bar, Bruning and Hunter filed five separate federal lawsuits in Minnesota on behalf of individual Somali clients who were slated to be on the Dec. 7 deportation flight.

Bruning helped win court orders blocking ICE from putting three of his clients on that flight; his other two clients are in the Florida detention centers but protected by the Dec. 19 temporary restraining order.

Bruning’s briefs from his five lawsuits now are being used by lawyers who will represent other Somali detainees in the next phase of the ongoing case.

“The Center’s students, alumni and partners have been key to every aspect of this remarkable litigation effort, both here and in Florida,” said Casper Sanchez. “Their passion to defend human dignity is inspiring, and the victory they helped win yesterday in collaboration with the University of Miami Law School and others demonstrates that our clinics are essential to winning the longterm struggle for immigrant justice in this country.”

“Working on this Somali deportation case was an incredible opportunity to put in practice what I have learned in

my work with the Binger Center clinics,” said Georgevich. “It was exhilarating to join forces with our former classmates and see them in action with so many other amazing lawyers on a case of this magnitude.”

The lawsuit filed on Dec. 19 asks for the court to issue an order preventing the removal of the detainees to Somalia until the plaintiffs are provided with an opportunity to determine if they are entitled to protection in light of changed circumstances created by the Dec. 7 flight and the dramatic deterioration of conditions since a massive terrorist bombing in Mogadishu on Oct. 14, known as Somalia’s “9/11”; have received adequate treatment for injuries sustained on the Dec. 7 flight; and that ICE officials have taken adequate measures to ensure that the detainees will not be abused on the next flight. A hearing is scheduled on the case for Tuesday (Jan. 2) in Miami.

Casper Sanchez says approximately one-third of the group of 92 Somali detainees has connections to Minnesota.

“There was no question we had to step into this case, and to stand with the families of these Minnesotans,” said Casper Sanchez.

In terms of moving forward, Walker and Walker report revenue, systems, training and leadership development will be critical to the success of BLOs and the communities they serve.

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Insight News • January 1 - January 7, 2018 • Page 5

USAF/Wikimedia Commons

Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. was the first African American astronaut.

NASA celebrates legacy of first Black astronaut

By Erick Johnson Chicago Crusader NNPA Member Fifty years ago, a tragic accident ended the groundbreaking career of Maj. Robert Lawrence, Jr., a Chicago native and stellar Air Force pilot who became America’s first Black astronaut.

On Dec. 8 – the 50th anniversary of his death – NASA honored his often-ignored legacy and contributions to the agency.

Earlier this year, the Chicago Crusader reported about the lack of visibility of NASA’s first Black American astronaut and helped to raise awareness about Lawrence’s incredible journey. In planning a story for its annual Black History Month edition, Chicago Crusader staffers discovered that little was being done to honor Lawrence, while NASA held memorials to mark the 50th anniversary of three, White astronauts who perished in a fire aboard the Apollo 1 space module, during a preflight test. The Crusader story lauding Lawrence’s achievements

was published in dozens of Black newspapers after the National Newspapers Publishers Association (NNPA) carried it on its newswire.

Born in 1935 to the late Gwendolyn Duncan and Robert Lawrence, Sr., the future Air Force pilot was a man ahead of his time. Long before magnet and STEM programs were part of the high school curriculum, Lawrence excelled in math and science. At 16, he graduated with honors from Englewood High School and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Bradley University. He married the late Barbara Cress from the prominent Chicago Cress family and entered the Air Force at age 21 before earning a doctorate in physical chemistry from Ohio State University, becoming the first astronaut at NASA to earn a doctorate degree.

As a United States Air Force pilot, Lawrence accumulated more than 2,500 flight hours. In June 1967, Lawrence graduated from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, in California. In that same month, he was selected

by the USAF as an astronaut for their Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) program, thus becoming the first Black astronaut.

Lawrence died while training another pilot, Maj. John Royer, to perform the “flare” maneuver – an operation that Lawrence had already mastered – in the F-104 Starfighter.

According to NBC News, “Lawrence’s memory languished in obscurity” partly due to the fact that, the Pentagon only recognized someone as an “astronaut” if they actually flew to an altitude above 50 miles.

However, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Va.) mounted a campaign that forced NASA to put Lawrence’s name on the Space Mirror Memorial in 1997 – 30 years after Lawrence’s death.

The ceremony recognizing Lawrence, earlier this month, although spirited, at times, was a somber one for the 300 guests that included decorated NASA astronauts, dignitaries, relatives, and friends, who had flown and driven miles across the country to honor Lawrence at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Erick Johnson/Chicago Crusader

Members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity join NASA in marking the 50th Anniversary of the death of Major Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on December 8.

Lawrence’s older sister, Dr. Barbara Lawrence, attended and spoke.

Members from Lawrence’s college fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, also attended to honor one of their own. On the sprawling grounds of the NASA facility, they participated in a two-and-ahalf-hour ceremony that began at the Center for Space Education and culminated with an emotional wreath-laying ceremony at the base of the national Space Mirror Memorial, a massive black granite structure where Lawrence’s name is among those of 20 astronauts who either died in flight or in training.

The ceremony brought out some of NASA’s astronauts and biggest officials. Charles Bolden, America’s first Black NASA chief administrator, and Stephanie Wilson, the second Black female astronaut, attended the service.

Another Black astronaut, Winston Scott, played the trumpet in a band that performed various jazz songs, including, “Fly Me to the Moon.” Reportedly, jazz was one of Lawrence’s favorite musical genres.

Dr. Herman White Jr., a physicist and lecturer at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., Lawrence’s alma mater, gave a presentation where a memorial scholarship and a conference room bear Lawrence’s name.

Recently, Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio renamed a dormitory in Lawrence’s honor.

Bolden, who piloted the space shuttles Columbia and Discovery, praised Lawrence for his spirit.

“He took that first step,” said Bolden. “If he had lived, he would have been flying on that space shuttle also.”

Col. Robert Cabana, who flew on four shuttle missions,

agreed.

“Maj. Robert H. Lawrence truly was a hero,” said Cabana.

“He set the stage for what was to come.”

Barbara Lawrence shared her experiences with her brother as they grew up on the South Side of Chicago. She said, when Robert Lawrence was young, he was a very disciplined student and dedicated to learning.

“I’m truly proud to have been his sister,” she shared. “He wasn’t interested in being the first Black astronaut. He was only interested in being given the opportunity to do what he wanted to do. I’m sorry he wasn’t here a little longer, but I think his job was one that was well done.”

The Chicago Crusader is a member publication of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

Black women and girls deserve more respect, visibility in the #MeToo movement

By Ed Gray North Dallas Gazette NNPA Member 2017 was a monumental year for the reaffirmation of women’s rights in the workplace and the ballot booth.

This is long overdue. The battle for the rights of women, and specifically Black women and girls, has gone on for centuries. In America, the spotlight on this fight for women’s rights shines brightly on white women, while Black women, who have often fought more vigorously for equality and justice, are largely consigned to the shadows of the movement.

TIME magazine placed “The Silence Breakers” on their cover, noting that the tenacity and courage of the women’s voices could be heard over the walls of systemic oppression.

Still, in the stories of Dajerria

Transformation From 3 vision to make our lives more comfortable.

All of the materials we use came from the earth. All of the materials we use want to return to the earth. Everything human beings have created needs maintenance by us to remain effective and usable. The lack of coating, washing, tuckpointing, caulking and repairing can lead to replacing, in part (remodeling/rehabilitation) or in whole (demolition). Choosing materials that have a long usable

Jones From 3 diverse candidates and hire at least one person of color as his legislative director, chief of staff or his communications director.

Seventeen groups signed the letter including the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Action Network, the NAACP and the National Urban League.

“As a new member of the U.S. Senate, you have

Conversations From 3 Community

activist

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anguished cries of our sisters. We must stop, look and listen.

We must reject R. Kelly for his alleged abuse of Black women and girls with the same unanimity that Black voters in Alabama rejected the alleged sexual predator Roy Moore.

We must step in the name of love and in the name of justice with respect for our Black mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. This respect must begin in the Black community. We must clean our own house, first. We must elevate our women from social media hashtags to highly-valued and respected members of the global community.

In “Keep Ya Head Up,” Tupac Shakur offers a critique on the exploitation of women in the Black community.

And since we all came from a woman Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman I wonder why we take from our women

Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?

I think it’s time to kill for our women Time to heal our women, be real to our women And if we don’t we’ll have a race of babies That will hate the ladies that make the babies And since a man can’t make one He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one So will the real men get up I know you’re fed up ladies, but keep your head up.

Black women and girls are sick and tired of being sick and tired. It’s time for us to heed Shakur’s advice and heal our women and be real to our women.

Ed Gray, the host of The Commish Radio Show airing Saturdays 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. on FBRN. net, can be reached at eegray62@ att.net. The North Dallas Gazette is a member publication of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

more positive reality than what is currently available. Economic development is a change, a transformation, a restructuring of the status quo.

Putting equal parts vision and problem solving together, we can foresee the development of these corners of Plymouth and Penn Avenues in North Minneapolis. Vision and problem solving is the cornerstone of the architectural profession. Architects, both with and without developers are trained and educated to evolve their ideas into sketches and then into schematic, design development, and finally, “working drawings,” so their ideas can stand up. Architects typically have more visions than

they can realize. We are able to draw a building, then add more and redraw it, and then change the floor plan or façade and draw it again. We can do this the same way swimmers swim or runners run. It is who we are. It is what we do.

In the future of Northside inner-city urban/retail/ commercial/residential economic development, projects in a less affiant community, (the hardest type of development that exists), there will be many discussions and meeting of knowledgeable people attempting to focus on a successful outcome of vision to be built and utilized by this community. The real estate development process is similar

in all locations. Low-income communities present challenges and obstacles that negatively impact and thwart this process.

Economic development with the expectation of creating a profit and moving up the measured scale from poverty towards wealth is harder than planning and building a rocket ship to put a man on the moon and then bringing him back to earth. We know this because this has been done. Reshaping a community that has virtually no significant amount of new development in the past 50 years is harder. Thor’s new headquarters is a major step towards the change that this community has long waited for and now deserves to have.

director, communications director, and committee staff director, were people of color.”

Jones is the first Democrat to win in Alabama in a quarter of a century.

According to a CNN exit poll on Alabama’s recent special election, 30 percent of the electorate was Black – a higher share than in the 2008 and 2012 elections, when Barack Obama was on the ballot. According to the poll 96 percent of Black voters backed Jones.

Jones crushed Moore in three particular counties – Jefferson, Madison and Mobile – where Black voters showed up at the polls in dramatic fashion with massive turnout in the “Black Belt.” Black

women backed Jones with 98 percent of their votes and 93 percent of Black men that cast ballots supported Jones. Sixtythree percent of white women voters supported alleged sexual predator Roy Moore.

In September, Moore made bizarre comments on slavery.

“I think it was great at a time when families were united, even though we had slavery, they cared for one another. People were strong in the families,” said Jones. “Our families were strong, our country had a direction, and we corrected many of the problems.”

The Democratic Party has been under heavy criticism for the perception that the party’s leaders have taken Black voters

for granted and failed to fund grassroots organizations that assist with African American outreach efforts. Jones was able to win the attention of Black voters, because of his role in prosecuting the murderers of four Black girls, who were killed in the tragic bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963.

The bombing by the Ku Klux Klan killed Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Carol Denise McNair (age 11), Carole Robertson (age 14), and Cynthia Wesley (age 14). The murders marked another critical turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.

Jones prosecuted Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr. and Bobby

Frank Cherry – two members of the Ku Klux Klan – for their roles in the 1963 murders and won convictions for Blanton in 2001 and Cherry in 2002. Jones was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997 to be U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist, political analyst, and contributing writer for the NNPA Newswire and BlackPressUSA.com. You can reach Lauren by email at LBurke007@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter at @ LVBurke.

“If we going to use our power I hope we are going to use it together,” said Flowers.

In 2016, Sam Clark partnered with researchers at the University of Minnesota to develop a data-driven process

of identifying and interrupting disparities resulting from prosecutors’ discretionary decisions. The report found significant findings.

“With the data that we were looking at, and controlling

for race as a variable, we didn’t see the disparity across race for different prosecutor’s discretionary decisions,” said Clark. “But we did see it across whether you had a public defender. We now have in place

the system track and identify the variables. This allows us to control those data points we have the most control over and where there are disparities to intervene,” said Clark.

Becton, a teenager who was violently handcuffed and thrown to the ground by an overzealous McKinney, Texas police officer and Sandra Bland, who was arrested and died in police custody in Prairie View, Texas, that oppression seems unsurmountable.

Most acts of extrajudicial violence and aggression towards Black women never become national headlines and many Black women suffer in quiet silence as their complaints of sexual harassment are ignored and discounted, regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Mainstream America labels Black women as angry Jezebels unfit for normal, social interactions. Black American pop culture hypersexualizes our young girls while condemning them for being too fast. There is a deafening silence in the Black community that is complicit in the degradation of our Black women.

White women have been applauded for coming forward to

tell their stories of sexual assault and harassment under the #MeToo flag. The movement would be much stronger and more credible, if its leaders forced mainstream media to also carry the stories of Black women on their morning

shows and popular websites.

Black men must bear some of the blame for mainstream media’s ignorance and apathy towards the plight of Black women. We band together, as brothers, ignoring the

life, low-maintenance highly weather resistant, are all a part of the material selection process used in buildings.

Virtually all of these solutions were created by people that employed processes and planning skills that have long been utilized by us through history. All of these items, products and systems evolved out of ideas, discussions, conversations and a dialogue that resulted in the world in which we now live. In this modern age, a solution or conclusion usually starts with an idea, or a vision that is quickly surrounded with, hopefully, lots of knowledge.

This knowledge, having been borne out of lots of education, training and experience. Formal

education, informal education and the experience of reality help us to process data into information. This information then becomes the basis of our knowledge which we then apply to solving problems. And there will always be problems.

Economic development is a simple phrase, two words … economics, meaning finance, money, cash, that exists in a system with specific rules and structure to achieve an expected and hoped for outcome; and development, change from what currently exists to a modified, enhanced, better, more beneficial and more useable by more people. Economic development after all of the noise, dust and vibration, wants to be a better,

an opportunity to show your constituents that not only do their voices matter, but that their experiences and skills are vital to the work that you do to represent them,” read the letter. “Ensuring racial diversity among your staff would enhance the deliberation, innovation, legitimacy, and outcomes of your office and of the Senate as a whole. Members of Congress cannot fully represent all the communities they were elected to serve without advisors that reflect the whole of America.”

According to a study conducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, “just 7.1 percent of senior Senate staffers, defined then as chief of staff, legislative

Flowers it is import to have representation in government, specifically mentioning recently elected Minneapolis City Council members Jeremiah Ellison, Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham.

Creative Commons/Pixabay.com

Ed Gray, a senior columnist with the North Dallas Gazette, says that we must elevate Black women from social media hashtags to highly-valued and respected members of the global community.

Page 6 •January 1 - January 7, 2018 • Insight News

Insight 2 Health

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Increasing physical activity improves survival in lymphoma patients, Mayo researchers say

By Joe Dangor, Dr. James Cerhan, Dr. Carrie Thompson and Melissa Larson Mayo Clinic Staff ATLANTA – An observational study by researchers at Mayo Clinic has found that increasing physical activity not only decreased the risk of death from all causes but also decreased the risk of death specifically from lymphoma.

Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, the part of the body’s germ-fighting network which includes the lymph nodes (lymph glands), spleen, thymus gland and bone marrow.

Lymphoma can affect those areas as well as other organs throughout the body. Study results were presented today at the 59th American Society of Hematology annual meeting in Atlanta

by Dr. Priyanka Pophali, a hematologist at Mayo Clinic.

“As physicians, we recommend physical activity for all cancer survivors to improve overall quality of life,” said Pophali.

“But we did not know if physical activity would have an impact on survival

in

lymphoma patients.”

Pophali and her colleagues wanted to assess how physical activity affected survival in all subtypes of lymphoma patients both before and after diagnosis.

Specifically, they wanted to know if changing the level of a lymphoma patient’s physical activity after diagnosis could affect survival.”

In order to answer these questions, researchers studied a cohort of 4,087 lymphoma patients enrolled prospectively (within nine months of diagnosis) at Mayo Clinic between 2002 and 2012.

At enrollment, participants completed questionnaires that asked about their usual physical activity before their lymphoma diagnosis.

Researchers regularly contacted patients to collect information on exposures and outcomes and contacted them for a three-year followup. Researchers used this information to calculate a Godin Leisure Score Index, a physical activity score which is a validated tool for measuring physical activity in oncology patients. Patients were also asked about their perception of any change in their level of physical activity (increase, decrease

Shutterstock

Adopting or maintaining an active lifestyle can increase chances of survival in lymphoma patients according to a new study. or no change) at three years after their diagnosis compared to baseline.

Researchers then evaluated the association of physical activity with overall and lymphoma-specific survival.

Researchers found that patients who had a higher level of usual adult physical activity prior to a lymphoma diagnosis had significantly better overall and lymphoma-

specific survival compared to those who were less physically active. They also found that patients who increased their level of physical activity after their lymphoma diagnosis (at three-year follow-up) had significantly better overall and lymphoma-specific survival compared to those who were less physically active.

Researchers found that

patients who perceived that their level of physical activity had decreased at three years after a lymphoma diagnosis had worse overall and lymphoma-specific survival compared to those who did not report a change.

“Our findings show that physical activity can have a positive impact on survival in lymphoma patients,” said Pophali. “Importantly, our

study shows a survival benefit in patients who increase their level of physical activity. Therefore, since physical activity behaviors can be modified, physicians should counsel patients and survivors on the importance of physical activity and encourage them to maintain and, if possible, increase their level of physical activity.”

How much of suffering is invisible?

By Dr. Amit Sood Mayo Clinic Staff

The planets, stars, and galaxies we can see today make up only 4 to 5 percent of the universe.

We cannot see the rest, often called dark matter (27 percent) and dark energy (68 percent). Perhaps with morerefined instruments we will have better luck seeing the totality of the universe in the future.

Our brains, despite being as awesome as they are, are also very limited instruments.

My brain can’t sense any of the Wi-Fi networks that surround me, nor can it perceive the thousands of television channels to which my receiver easily gains access. More is unknown to me than is known.

The same is true for suffering.

The greatest barrier to compassion isn’t the absence of it; it is the limitation of compassion to a select few who we believe deserve to suffer. With that attitude, you’re likely to disregard the bulk of the suffering in the world – since it’s invisible.

We see suffering in the hospital rooms, slums, famine-stricken lands, rejection letters, funerals and courtrooms. With an average of two deaths every second on our planet (about sixty million in a year, more than 10 percent of which happen in children less than five), you can guarantee that, right at this moment, tens of thousands of people are mourning a loved one. (It isn’t all that gloomy though. Four babies are born every second; for each family in mourning, two are celebrating.)

The invisible suffering is everywhere. People endure it – in silence – while driving, showering, sleeping, eating,

Dr. Amit Sood meeting, arguing, even partying. It starts the moment we wake up, accompanies us through the day, and often continues in sleep. We make valiant efforts to hide it – behind our smiling lips. But it’s difficult to fool our own minds. Deep within us is a silent counter that logs our experience of suffering and slowly hollows our brain.

Our invisible suffering

arises from feeling unworthy, powerless, hopeless and lonely. The feeling that we lack control and our life doesn’t have much meaning also causes suffering. Our tendency to compare and our vivid imaginations with a negative bias compound the suffering.

Despite all its negatives, however, of late I’m realizing that my invisible

Dr. Amit Sood says, “The greatest barrier to compassion isn’t the absence of it; it is the limitation of compassion to a select few who we believe deserve it.” suffering has tremendous value. It has opened me up to the challenges of being human. It has made me more compassionate. It has inspired me to accept, find meaning, be more resilient, and become a better human being.

In the current world, most of us need personal experience with suffering to

recognize suffering in others.

We must transform into beings who are spontaneously compassionate, so we won’t need to suffer to become sensitive to suffering in others. I believe it is then that the meaning in suffering, visible or invisible, will vanish, and we will cease to suffer.

May courage and

fortitude not leave your company through life’s narrow lanes.

Dr. Amit Sood is director of research in the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program on Mayo Clinic’s Rochester campus in Minnesota. He also chairs the Mind-Body Medicine Initiative at Mayo Clinic.

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Insight News • January 1 - January 7, 2018 • Page 7

Omissions and distortions abound in libraries, too Commentary by Sanford Berman Much recent reporting and editorializing has concerned the removal of racist public monuments, changing objectionable place names (like Lake Calhoun and Lindbergh Terminal in the Twin Cities), and the enshrinement of colonialism in galleries and museums.

Never mentioned is the alarming and pervasive fact that

libraries, too, often misrepresent, overlook and even defame marginalized, exploited, indigenous and ostracized communities.

Try searching almost any school, public or academic library catalog under the subject “Native American Holocaust” (or “Native American Genocide”). You’ll find nothing. It will seem as if the library either owns nothing on that topic or that such an event or experience never happened. Why? Because nearly all libraries rely totally on the Library of Congress (LC) to create subject headings.

And LC has thus far failed to recognize the 1492-1900 Indian tragedy by establishing a heading to denote it. If LC won’t do it, neither will anyone else. The nearest LC comes to such a descriptor is “Indians, Treatment of,” which would be a tantamount to catalog-

ing materials on the Jewish Holocaust under “Jew, Treatments of” Similarly, LC refuses to replace “Armenian Massacres” with “Armenian Genocide,” although scholars and historians overwhelmingly endorse such a change, which better reflects what some million and a half Armenians in Turkey underwent between 1915 and 1923. Likewise, Indian nations were undeniably victims of “ethnic cleansing,” but that history is euphemistically masked, hidden, under subject headings like “Choctaw Indians - Relocation” and “Cherokee Indians - Relocation,” instead of the more accurate and honest “Choctaw Indians - Forced removal” and “Cherokee Indians - Forced Removal.”

Also, resources on the World War II confinement of some 150,000 Japanese-Americans are listed in

library catalogs under “JapaneseAmericans - Evacuation and Relocation, 1942-1945,” grotesquely suggesting that what happened to them was essentially benign and charitable. A better heading would be “Japanese-Americans - Mass Internment, 1942-1945.”

Right now, despite the American Library Association having denounced the heading “Illegal Aliens” as pejorative and inaccurate, that hurtful, anachronistic, and embarrassing rubric remains alive in the library catalogs. ALA had suggested replacing it with “Undocumented Immigrants.” And both “Leprosy” and “Leprosy Patients” continue as active headings, although affected persons and the U.S. Public Health Service prefer the nonstigmatizing “Hansen’s Disease” and “Hansen’s Disease Patients.”

Finally, many bona fide themes and topics relating to disdained and oppressed peoples simply don’t appear in catalogs; again, because LC hasn’t sanctioned them. “Native American Holocaust” is one example. Here are more. “Mass Incarceration,” “White Privilege,” “Male Privilege,” “Anti-Arabism,” “Historical Trauma,” “Universal Basic Income,” “Affordable Housing,” “Wage Theft,” “Democratic Socialism,” “Genderqueers,” and “Drag Queens.”

Local librarians can correct these omissions and distortions, but lamentably won’t do so until users demand it. It would also be helpful for people who value both libraries and justice to ask LC itself to do the right thing.

The Library of Congress’ address to make such a demand is Policy

and Standards Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540-4305.

The presence of “Illegal a\ Aliens” is nearly all library catalogs. As well as the absence of a heading that represents more than 500 years of Indian subjugation and near-extinction, may not be as prominently obvious as public statues of Confederate generals, but they’re no less reprehensible … and fixable.

Sanford Berman, served as head cataloger at Hennepin County Library in Minnesota from 1973 to 1999, is a contributing editor to the Unabashed Librarian and editorial advisor for the Journal of information ethics.

His latest book is “Not in My Library!” (McFarland, 2013).

is partnering with Medtronic to fill 20-30 medical assembly positions • Med dtronic, a global medical tech hnologyy, ƐĞƌǀŝĐĞƐ ĂŶĚ ƐŽ ŽůƵƟŽŶƐ ĐĐŽŵƉĂŶLJ͕ ŝƐ ŚŝƌŝŶŐ mediccall assemb blers from North h Minneapolis and the Cedar Riverside e neighb borhoo od • ϮϬͲϯϬ ŵĞĚŝĐĂů ĂĂƐƐĞŵďůLJLJ ƉŽƐŝƟŽ ŽŶƐ ĂĂǀĂŝůĂĂďůĞ at Brookklyn Center faacility • WĞŽƉůĞ Ž ŽĨ ĨƌŝĐĂŶ Ě ĚĞƐĐĞŶƚ ĂƌĞ ĞĞŶĐŽƵƌĂŐĞĚ Ě ƚƚŽ ĂƉ ƉƉůLJ

Call 61 12-5 529-9 9267 foor details Lawrence Bryant / St. Louis American

Students from New City School in St. Louis examine the controversial Confederate Monument in St. Louis’ Forest Park. Like Confederate monuments, American libraries are too rooted in racism says Sanford Berman.

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Page 8 •January 1 - January 7, 2018 • Insight News

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Insight News • January 1 - January 7, 2018 • Page 9

Community Be healthy, be happy, and be blessed Man Talk

By Timothy Houston Columnist The beginning of every year ushers in a fresh start and inspires the idea of improvements like, “I’m going to lose 10 pounds� or “I’m going to save more money.�

We believe through hope and wishful thinking, we can accomplish every goal set on New Year’s Day. However, many of these worthy objectives get quickly lost when we return to our daily routines. Real

success comes when we set and keep our personal goals through an executed life plan. In 2018, make it your life’s mission to be healthy, be happy, and be blessed. Following are the top ďŹ ve goals we set, and the top three resolution we break.

The ďŹ ve most Common New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight, get organized, spend less/ save more, stay ďŹ t and healthy and enjoy life to the fullest.

The top 3 resolutions we break are eat healthier, lose weight and minimize stress.

What is missing from both lists is the plan. Without a plan, you are subject to the ebbs and ows of life. Your good intentions get overrun by deadlines, appointments,

emergencies and crisis management. You need a

a part of every plan.

Prioritize a nutritionally

healthy outlets for stress.

Emotional health impacts

Begin this year with a life plan. It is not only the building blocks to a healthier life; it is also the glue that cements it together

life plan. Those who fail to plan unknowingly plan to fail.

Here are a few suggestions that should be

adequate diet. We are what we eat. Maintain a consistent exercise regimen.

Make this a priority not an afterthought. Identify

all areas of our lives. Ensure your spirit is healthy.

Your spirit is the total essence of who you are, and out of it comes your choic-

es. A healthy spirit leads to healthy choices.

Begin this year with a life plan. It is not only the building blocks to a healthier life; it is also the glue that cements it together. When you have a plan, the little steps you make become a part of a bigger objective and measurements, boundaries and limitations are seen as a means to the end. Do your homework and put together the best life plan possible. A healthy life is a gift to you and to the world. Be healthy, be happy, and be blessed.

Timothy Houston is an author, minister and motivational speaker committed to guiding positive life changes in families and communities. For questions or comments go to www.tlhouston.com.

Minnesota Timbervolves

A check for $7,000 presented by Timberwolves/Lynx vice president of Human Resources, Sianneh Mulbah (left) to Twin Cities Kids in Need Recourse Center During halftime of the Wolves 128-125 overtime win against the Denver Nuggets.

Timberwolves and Lynx make holiday staff donation to the Twin Cities Kids in Need Resource Center The combined Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx sta has contributed $7,000 in individual donations to beneďŹ t the Twin Cities Kids in Need Resource Center this holiday season.

Timberwolves and Lynx vice president of Human Resources, Sianneh Mulbah presented the check during the third quarter of the Dec. 27 game against the Denver Nuggets. “I’m so proud of our sta for rallying together to raise money for

this great organization,� said Timberwolves and Lynx CEO Ethan Casson. “This is what the holiday season is all about and what our organization is all about – giving back to the community that supports us.�

The money raised will beneďŹ t the Resource Center, which works with schools facing high poverty rates by providing school supplies to students, making it possible for them to fully participate in classroom learning. In Janu-

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ary 2018, Timberwolves and Lynx sta members will visit the Kids in Need Foundation to pack backpacks with school supplies for students.

This donation is part of the organization’s annual sta holiday giving initiative that beneďŹ ts a Twin Cities organization. Last December, the Timberwolves and Lynx sta contributed to the Minneapolis Public Schools to help oset various Minneapolis school’s lunch bills.

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Twin Cities military spotlight St. Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vanessa Cortes stationed aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Charles D. Gaddis IV/Released

BREMERTON, Wash. (Dec. 19) Personnel Specialist Seaman Vanessa Cortes, left, from St. Paul, wraps a present for decoration aboard USS John C. Stennis.

The USS John C. Stennis is in port conducting routine training as it continues preparing for its next scheduled deployment.

The USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) is the seventh Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier in the United States Navy, named for Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi.

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Email: info@insightnews.com RENTAL PROPERTIES INH Properties manages Section 8, Section 42 and Rural Development projects in the following MN cities:

Anoka â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bridge Square, 763-421-6772 Big Lake â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Autumn Winds, 320-258-6000 Brainerd â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mississippi Terrace, 218-829-0274 Cold Spring â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Cottage Court, 320-685-3888 Coon Rapids â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Coon Creek, 763-767-7755 Eden Valley â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Hillside, 320-453-5968 Fergus Falls â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Kaddatz, 218-205-0644 Glenwood â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Glenview, 320-634-3188 Hawley â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Northside Terrace, 218-483-4524 Hutchinson â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Clinton House, 320-587-5458 Isle â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Isle View, 320-676-8624 Isle â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mille Lacs Manor, 320-676-8624 Mankato â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Dublin Road, 507-345-3351 Minneapolis â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Holmes Park, 612-378-8817 Morris â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Crystal Lake, 320-589-3662 Onamia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Oakwood, 320-532-4321 Onamia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Onamia Shores, 320-532-4321 Pierz â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Kamnic Lane, 320-468-2581 Rice â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Benton Place, 320-630-1201 St. Michael â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Countryside Cottages, 763-497-4901 St. Paul â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Parkway Gardens, 651-771-0835 Virginia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Alice Nettell, 218-741-3650 Residents must meet income guidelines.

Rent based on income at some locations.

INH Properties is an equal opportunity housing company

Got A Passion For Environmental Justice?

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is hiring an outreach coordinator! You can help us achieve our mission to ensure fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all Minnesotans in our environmental work.

Apply by 1/11/18.

For more information or to apply, visit http://www.mn.gov/careers.

Search Pollution Control Agency Job ID #18346.

Page 10 •January 1 - January 7, 2018 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Boosie

Monday, Jan. 1

Travis Gorman.

CLUB

Thursday, Jan. 4

Industry Nights at Conga Conga Latin Bistro 501 E Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis 10 p.m.

21-plus No cover

OPEN MIC

Enjoy this weekly dance night at a Latin music cornerstone, Conga, just outside of downtown Minneapolis.

Tuesday, Jan. 2 Jan. 1 Jan. 14, 2018

Aesthetically It! is a list of picks from the editors of Aesthetically Speaking. Aesthetically It! features venues, events, outings and more that are worthy of “It” status.

If you have a venue, event or outing that you feel is “It” worthy, email us at aestheticallyit@ insightnews.com

Fifth Element Open Mic Fifth Element 2411 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis 5 p.m. – 8 p.m.

All ages No cover Emcees take a chance to get in the spotlight at the Rhymesayers’ headquarters, Fifth Element.

HIP-HOP

Friday, Jan. 5

Meta›s JAMuary Nomad World Pub 501 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis 8 p.m.

21-plus $10

HIP-HOP

Metasota starts his month-long residency with The Nomad.

The show also features Andre Mariette, Reed Benjamin and Khari.

Hood legend Boosie is a fan favorite. Catch him in his return to downtown Minneapolis.

Wednesday, Jan. 3 HIP-HOP GainesFM First Avenue 701 N. 1st Ave., Minneapolis 8 p.m.

18-plus $8 Up and coming hip-hop artist, GainesFM, performs at First Avenue with UJU, Baby Shel, Velvo, Pilot Jonny and DJ

Boosie Privé Minneapolis 315 1st Ave. N., Minneapolis 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 6 SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT Wrestlepalooza XI First Avenue 701 N. 1st Ave., Minneapolis 7 p.m.

18-plus $25 advance, $35 door Check out some of the top independent wrestlers in Minnesota at this popular event inside of the First Avenue

Mainroom.

Sunday, Jan. 7 TALK/LECTURE/ PHOTOGRAPHY The Creation of “30 Lives” with Kimberly Vrudny Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church 511 Groveland Ave., Minneapolis 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

All ages The public is invited to this post-service talk with Kimberly Vrudny, the photographer that traveled the globe to document the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Monday, Jan. 8 ROCK We Can Be Heroes, David Bowie Tribute Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant 1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis 7 p.m. $30-$40 Celebrate the music of the late David Bowie with Julius Collins, Jeremy Ylvisaker, Ryan Smith, Steve Price, Cory Eischen, Katie Gearty and Rachel Holder under the music direction of Prince’s bandmate and drummer, Michael Bland.

Tuesday, Jan. 9 COOKING

Kindred Kitchen 1206 W. Broadway Ave., Minneapolis 10 p.m.

Appetite for Change invites you to tour the kitchen at Kindred Kitchen once a week. Learn all the behind the scenes details on how to run a commercial kitchen.

Wednesday, Jan. 10 HIP-HOP/ROCK Flobots with Tropidelic Turf Club 1601 University Ave. W., St. Paul 8 p.m. – 11 p.m.

21-plus $15 advance, $18 door Flobots found mainstream success with their 2007 album “Fight with Tools.” They return to St. Paul opening for Tropidelic.

Thursday, Jan. 11 HIP-HOP We Are the Sota Azul Nightclub 400 N 3rd Ave., Minneapolis 8 p.m.

21-plus $10 Catch a night of hip-hop with Scale Gang, CTB Rico, Chad Hall, Kold Gang, Flaw’Lyss, Benji-MN and Lakeem Johnson.

New Member Weekly Kitchen Tour

Friday, Jan. 12 HIP-HOP Lil Scrappy Pyrmd 418 3rd Ave. N., Minneapolis 10 p.m.

21-plus $40-$60 Lil Jon collaborator and reality television star, Lil Scrappy, “puts his paws” on Minneapolis at Pyramd.

Saturday, Jan. 13 HIP-HOP Bone Thugs N Harmony Skyway Theatre 711 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis 8 p.m.

18-plus $25-$45 Straight out of Cleveland, see one of the most successful hiphop acts of all time.

Sunday, Jan. 14 HIP-HOP KPW’s LP Release Party First Avenue 701 N. 1st Ave., Minneapolis 8 p.m.

18-plus $8 advance, $10 door Hip-hop artist KPW releases his new project at First Avenue.

His past collaborations include music with Your Old Droog.

Nutmeg: 16th century wonder spice The Un-Bougie Foodie

By Wesley Wright

www.facebook.com/ theunbougiefoodie Found on the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, a tropical fruit from the myristica fragrans tree produces two wonderful spices.

Uniquely this fruit, when it ripened or matured, would split open displaying a seed that was also encased in a bright red extra seed-covering or aril. The aril is remove from the seed, flattened out, and then set aside to dry producing golden colored “blades” known as the spice mace. The seed however, is set out in the sun to dry for up to eight weeks, until the kernel or nut on the inside rattles. When that shell is cracked, the kernel on the inside is the spice we commonly known as nutmeg.

These spices became extremely popular during the 16th and 17th centuries. So much so that nations such as the Dutch, French and English aggressively fought to gain control and monopolize the native trees of the “Spices Islands.” Howev-

er, what made these spices such a hot commodity?

One reason was these evergreen trees, when mature, could produce up to 2,000 nutmegs per year from a single tree.

There wasn’t a specific harvest season because the fruit from the trees ripened all year round, so harvesters had a steady income.

Specifically, what made the spice mace so precious was It was used as a meat preservative, but also thought to be a cure for the plague at that time. Nutmeg also had its medicinal purposes; from aiding persons suffering from digestive issues, vomiting and nausea, improving appetite and reducing flatulence. Go figure.

Modern day familiarity with nutmeg is it is ground, and then added to sweet or spicy dishes resulting in a fragrant, and at times, pungent aroma.

But chefs and culinary authors alike are suggesting a variety of other uses for nutmeg. Some of these include combining it with cheeses and sauces, or to flavor sausages or lamb dishes. Mace, on the other hand offers a much lighter flavor, especially if you feel that nutmeg may be a bit overwhelming. Whether using the blades, or ground mace, it’s perfect for stews, curries, or similar Indian cuisine dishes. Just

Common spices and nuts from “Spice Island.” remember to remove the blades, as they are not edible.

Every holiday season, my favorite thing I’ve learned to make from my Belizean parents is homemade eggnog that’s called Rum PoPo. Try the recipe,

and toast to the new year.

Belize eggnog (Rum PoPo) 2 cans evaporated milk 3/4 can of condensed milk 1/2 of a fifth of rum (dark or

light) 2 tsp. nutmeg 1 Tbsp. vanilla 5 eggs Combine all ingredients and blend well.

Wesley Wright is the creator host of “The Un-Bougie Foodie,” which airs Saturdays at 10 a.m. on 104.7 FM (WEQY-LP).

insightnews.com

Insight News • January 1 - January 7, 2018 • Page 11

5 for ’18 – Minnesota’s best new hip-hop artists It’s that time of year again to celebrate Minnesota’s best and brightest upcoming hip-hop artists.

There are a lot of people who could have made the list this year, but here are some musicians who showed a lot of promise over the past 365 days.

These artists had a high output of work and made a big impression on our readers.

GainesFM Head of the Free Minds Entertainment brand, GainesFM has had quite the productive 2017. He kicked off the year with the “Smile” EP in late January.

To date the nine-song project has racked up more than 38,000 online listens with production from past “5 for” winner Finding Novyon. Gaines also released some impressive visuals with “Smile’s” video release in August (20,000-plus YouTube views) and “Blame” racking up more than 14,000 YouTube views in a little over a month.

On the live performance side of

N9ne. He played the packed out Rock the Garden concert with the Walker Art Center and opened for Machine Gun Kelly at Myth.

A true fan favorite, Dwynell Roland is set for an even bigger year in 2018.

style. Her rapid-fire, yet laid back, flow fits right in the pocket of current day music, while also showcasing community consciousness. Jayso has got what it takes and is one the way to make some real noise in 2018.

By Toki Wright

GainesFM

Illism

things, he’s been packing out shows and giving crowd-pleasing performances. GainesFM is definitely poised to make a big impact nationally in 2018.

value and throwback appeal. In September they won night two of Paisley Park’s “Musicology” 2017 contest. Their “Love & Loyalty” album has been in heavy rotation.

Jayso Creative

Jayso Creative Northside wordsmith, Jayso Creative, has been on a noteworthy run over the past two years. In 2017 her catalog included some powerful singles including, “Single,” produced

by TreyV and “P.A.W.S.” The official video for “P.A.W.S.” hasn’t done massive numbers yet, but showcases a Jayso’s playful

Illism The dynamic duo of Envy and Fancy absolutely crushed it in 2017. With the incorporation of a strong band for their live show, they’ve received critical acclaim.

Combining hip-hop and R&B, their sound has a lot of replay

DJ Mickey Breeze

Dwynell Roland

Dwynell Roland

DJ Mickey Breeze

Jamari “Dwynell” Roland had nothing short of an amazing year 2017. In March he was the official opening act for Sims on a seven-city tour that went from Los Angeles to Vancouver.

Performing at the Zombie Pub Crawl saw Roland opening for the likes of T-Pain and Tech

There is a lot that can be said about St. Paul’s Mickey Breeze, but two words come to mind immediately – pure talent. The 16-year old DJ and producer already has years of work under his belt. In February he was featured as an official performer

with Illa J for Dilla Day Twin Cities.

Breeze became the official DJ for “Candy Fresh,” the variety show on SPNN television. Competing in several beat battles and competitions, Breeze won the Slam Academy competition in October. Though dealing with some publicized health complications (sickle cell anemia), Mickey Breeze brought his gear with him to the hospital and made beats for his doctors.

As a result, he was asked to make official music for the hospital.

His trap, wavy and hip-hop beats will be highly sought after in the coming years. Artists better get one now before the prices go up.

First Thursday Films showing this Thursday at 7 p.m.

‘Bronx Gothic’ shows at the Capri

The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul and the Capri Theater present Andrew Rossi’s “Bronx Gothic,” a portrait of writer and performer Okwui Okpokwasili, as she stages a final tour for her onewoman show of the same name.

The film will be followed by a discussion led by playwright, actor and spoken word artist Shá Cage. The screening begins at 7 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 4) at the Capri Theater, 2027 W. Broadway, Minneapolis. Tickets to First Thursday Films are $5 and can be purchased in advance

at www.mspfilm.org or at the door the night of the show.

Although not strictly a work of autobiography, “Bronx Gothic” springs from memories of Okpokwasili’s childhood growing up in the Bronx. When she finally returns to the church of her youth to conclude her tour with a final performance, she is overwhelmed.

Providing a space for audiences to engage with the “political terrain” of her “brown body,” Okpokwasili’s show features a multidisciplinary display of dance, singing, drama, and comedy, all

LRJ

Sha Cage

Okwui Okpokwasili

of which find their way into the film. With intimate vérité access to Okpokwasili and her audiences off the stage, the film also probes her creative process, providing a forum for discussion of the complex social issues and personal trauma embodied in her work.

Each First Thursday Films screening at the Capri is followed by a discussion of the movie. For “Bronx Gothic” Cage will facilitate. Cage has written two solo plays, six collaborative plays, and has traveled widely to areas such as Canada, England,

Africa, New York, Bosnia, France and more, teaching and performing her work that largely centers around topics of identity, class and home. Most recently, she completed a sold-out run of her play, “Khephra: A Hip Hop Holiday Story” at Open Eye Theater. Cage also starred in and co-produced the short film “New Neighbors,” which was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.

Snowmobiling – like a sledding hill that just goes on and on

By Harland Hiemstra DNR Information Officer If you’ve ever enjoyed the rush of sledding down a steep, snowy hill only to wish the slope went on forever and you didn’t have to walk back up to do it again, you might want to look into snowmobiling – one of Minnesota’s most popular outdoor winter activities.

“It’s a great way to get out in nature and see a lot of beautiful areas you might not otherwise be able to see,” said Andrew Korsberg, snowmobile program consultant for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “It’s also just a great way to spend time with family and friends.”

Minnesota has the most extensive snowmobile trail system in the country, with about 22,000 miles of groomed trails. That’s more than the miles of state and federal highways in the state.

In a year with plenty of snow, a rider could, theoretically, ride a snowmobile from Iowa to the Canadian border.

The extent of Minnesotans’ enthusiasm for snowmobiling is reflected in the fact that 21,300 miles of those snowmobile trails are largely managed and maintained by volunteers affiliated with more than 200 local snowmobiling clubs all across the state. The DNR oversees a grant program that provides much of the funding for their maintenance and grooming work, and it offers technical assistance and other support. The remaining 700 miles are state trails maintained and groomed by the DNR. That trail system provides the backbone for much of the winter tourism in the state.

According to the Minnesota United Snowmobile Association, the total economic impact of snowmobiling in Minnesota is an estimated $1 billion each year.

Two of the four major snowmobile manufacturers, Polaris and Arctic Cat, started in Minnesota and remain based in the state.

Getting started in snowmobiling can involve some upfront investment, with the cost of a new sled running about $10,000 to 15,000. But used sleds can be found for as little as $2,000.

If you want to try before you buy, a quick online search will turn up a number of rental opportunities spread around the state. In addition to the machine itself, you’ll need proper cold-weather gear – well insulated snow pants and coat, mittens or gloves and warm boots.

A helmet is not required, but it’s a good idea for safety and, with the addition of a balaclava worn inside the helmet, is a smart way to keep your head from getting cold.

Staying warm is a critical factor in having any kind of outdoors fun

during a Minnesota winter.

As important as having the right equipment is, you also need to know how to use it safely and legally. Minnesota law requires anyone born after Dec. 31, 1976, to complete a snowmobile safety course, online or in-person (youth ages 11 to 15 must complete at least part of their training in-person). Go the DNR’s website at www.mndnr.gov and search for “snowmobile safety” to get more details.

Capt. Jason Peterson, a regional enforcement supervisor for the DNR, stresses the importance of using common sense to remain safe while having fun on a snowmobile. His advice – don’t go too fast, especially at night. Be cautious when riding on frozen waters; there should be at least seven inches of clear ice – and no ice is ever 100 percent safe. Don’t drink while riding – it’s not only dangerous, it can lead to the same legal consequences as a DWI. Peterson also emphasizes that all snowmobiles operated in Minnesota must be registered.

Registration fees provide funding for the trails system, he notes, so it’s not only the law, it’s a matter of pitching in to help pay for the opportunity to ride all around the state.

Some of the most scenic riding opportunities in Minnesota are in the northeast part of the state. The North Shore State Trail, for instance, runs 146 miles from Duluth to Grand Marais, winding its way through forests on the ridgeline overlooking Lake Superior. The Taconoite Trail, running from Grand Rapids to Ely, is another favorite. And many people enjoy riding the trails in the Brainerd lakes area, as well as around Lake Mille Lacs.

Since adequate snow is critical to good snowmobiling, it’s smart to check local conditions for your planned destination before loading up and heading out. The DNR website includes an interactive map that provides information on snow depths around the state; it’s updated weekly on Thursdays.

DNR’s website also features trail maps that can be downloaded to a GPS device, so that you can keep track of where you are and where you’re going.

A GPS device also is useful for making sure one stays on designated trails. That’s important because much of the statewide trail system crosses private land, and it’s critical to maintain good relations with landowners if they’re to continue allowing access.

So, if the prospect of another two or three months of cold and snow has you feeling down, consider getting in winter’s face on the back of a snowmobile.

It might just provide you with a new way to spell fun.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Whether coming or going, snowmobiling is a great winter activity to enjoy in Minnesota.

JAZZ TRUMPET MARVEL

ROY HARGROVE ERIC GALES QUINTET ALBUM RELEASE INCENDIARY BLUES GUITAR

JANUARY 16 & 17 • 7 & 9 PM

JANUARY 27 • 7 PM

Page 12 •January 1 - January 7, 2018 • Insight News

The Feels – a monthly live entertainment event curated

by Toki Wright and Brittany “Ms. Brit” Lynch – is as much about mental healing as it is about providing quality urban entertainment.

On one of the coldest

days of this winter, the Icehouse in Minneapolis was packed with people out to have a night of enjoyment. The Feels has turned into a much-needed night of self-care for those suffering from the winter blues and blahs. It’s a weekday (and

insightnews.com

we need more weekday events) release from life’s day-to-day stressors.

Insight News was at the most recent installment of The Feels and captured a bit of the feel-good vibe.

Harry Colbert, Jr.

Sheila Crabbe (left) and Lashawn Perkins taking in The Feels.

(Left to right) K. Robinson, Lisa Brimmer, Sai Kilp and Liz Lassiter feeling the vibe.

(Left to right) Friends, Traneicia Sylvester, Jasmine Boudah and Kamisha Johnson at The Feels.

(Left to right) Allie Kuram, Tameka Williams, Jamal James and Marlee Dorsey are all smiles.

Toki Wright zoomed in on his target.

Nkimdilim Okolue

Drummer and singer, Jess Pierce

Comedian Ashli Henderson