Bertram Cambridge: Telly award winning film editor MORE ON PAGE 10
Insight News February 2 - February 8, 2015
Vol. 42 No. 5 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
The origin and purpose of Black History Month Notes on the struggle By Professor Mahmoud El -Kati So often we find ourselves involved in activities without fully understanding why, as occasionally is the case during our annual observance of Black History Month. This celebration is our most meaningful opportunity to promote cultural awareness, provide direction for our young and take pride in our collective historical accomplishments. Since 1926, there have been various ways in which Black people set aside a time of year to honor our past, appreciate our present and work toward fulfillment of the future. This concept was introduced by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, one of our most revered historians and critical thinkers. Woodson was a man who not only studied and wrote history, but made history as well. He was a brilliant scholar with a universal mind, and yet he chose to devote his life and genius to discovering the lost missing pages of history and including the facts Center logo created by Farouk Olajuwon
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PROFILE IN EXCELLENCE
Chanda Smith Baker
By Maya Beecham Contributing Writer
Years ago, across the street from Sabathani Community Center in South Minneapolis, community leaders sat around a dining room table debating
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Health
Education
Blood pressure 101
St. Peter’s AME Church sponsors annual HBCU College Fair
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Champion Town Hall looks at legislative priorities By Lydia Schwartz Contributing Writer Minnesota State Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-59) gathered local lawmakers at his Jan. 22 town hall meeting at the University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-
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PROFILE IN EXCELLENCE
Chanda Smith Baker issues of the day in the modest duplex of Gertrude Green. Her son the late Dr. Richard R. Green, the first Black superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools and first Black New York City Schools Chancellor, was in the midst holding court in this vigorous conversation. That was one of many opportunities where Chanda Smith Baker, granddaughter of Gertrude and niece of Richard, bore witness to leadership. “My impression of leadership wasn’t that leadership was about agreement; it was that leadership was about searching for bigger and better ways to influence and impact community and that you had a circle of people around you that actively disagreed with in order to either hone your thinking to move it to a new direction or to just improve upon it. That was always my impression.” Today Smith Baker, a fifthgeneration resident of North Minneapolis, is impacting
State Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-59)
Toyia Younger By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer Click on the website for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (www.mnscu. edu) and the first picture seen on its rotating banner is of a beautiful young lady of color – bright eyed with a welcoming smile. It is not by chance that the first photo is of a student of color. With 23 percent of the population of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) students of color, the system that is fifth largest in the nation with more than 435,000 students recognizes the changing demographics of its population. And with the hire of Dr. Toyia Younger, the system’s leadership is becoming more diverse as well. This past August Younger joined the leadership of MnSCU as associate vice chancellor of student affairs for the system that includes schools such as Metropolitan
Photo courtesy of Toyia Younger.
Toyia Younger, associate vice chancellor, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
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FUNdraising Good Times
Moments in Sports
How to determine nonprofit software costs
Twins Caravan kicks off the baseball year
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