aesthetically speaking
Hidden Gem… The Schubert Club MORE ON PAGE
10
Insight News February 8 - February 14, 2016
Vol. 43 No. 6 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Global leader: Honorable Judge LaJune Lange reality across the globe.
Women Leading Change
The global citizen is rooted in core values. Throughout her career, Judge LaJune Lange has demonstrated the qualities of global citizenship by serving in the community, promoting equity, and upholding the rule of law. Her work is rooted in the value of service. She began her career as a Hennepin County public defender where she advanced equal justice under the law. She sought to protect her client’s right to a fair trial and uphold due process of the law. Her commitment to service and natural leadership ability led to her appointment by the governor to the trial court in 1985. She served as a Fourth Judicial Court judge where she handled civil and criminal cases. Since her
By Dr. Artika Tyner Leaders are global citizens who recognize the reality of our shared humanity and common destiny. This realization is motivation to embark on a journey to create a more just world. On this journey, leaders seek to make a lasting impact which transcends borders and uplifts our global village. The Honorable LaJune Lange exemplifies the qualities of a global citizen and leader in her daily life. Judge Lange is on a mission to make justice a lived
Judge LaJune Lange
retirement from the bench, she has continued to serve as an advocate for justice. Judge Lange’s leadership is also deeply rooted in the value of equity. This sense of fairness and justice motivated her to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court Task Force for Gender Fairness in the Courts. She was also the CoVice Chair of the Minnesota Supreme Court Racial Bias Task Force. As a result of these efforts, significant reforms were implemented in Minnesota which improved access to justice for women lawyers and litigants, racial minorities, and persons needing interpreters. Judge Lange uplifts the rule of law through her advocacy. Lange works
LANGE TURN TO 8
Twins looking to attract bigger, more diverse crowds By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer For the past few years several seats at Target Field have gone without butts, but the club is hoping winning and community outreach efforts will attract
more fans this upcoming season. While winning tends to be the best way to attract fans, top brass within the organization has let it be known that reaching out to diverse communities is a key strategy. While a more diverse demographic is emerging in the region, the fans
inside the stadium have been overwhelmingly white. And though the team is thrilled to have those loyal fans, attracting fans of color could go a long way to filling some once empty seats. Last year’s team scored well in the win column, posting the first winning season in five
years, but the team saw its lowest attendance in 10 years, drawing 2,220,054 through the gates. That’s an average of 27,408 fans per game in a stadium that seats 39,504. As a part of the team’s diversity efforts to fill the 12,000-plus empty seats, 50 games this coming season will
be broadcast in Spanish on La Raza 1400/1470 AM. Beyond Spanish broadcasts, team president Dave St. Peter said he hopes community outreach efforts will endear a new group of fans to Twins baseball. “We’ve worked hard to build bridges in all communities – African-American, Latino,
Hmong, Native-American … Somali,” said St. Peter. “It’s about reaching out and actively inviting people to the park.” “The age and ethnicity (of people in the region) is changing and we can’t ignore
TWINS TURN TO 5
MPS still in search for superintendent By Stacey H. Taylor Contributing Writer Minneapolis Public School (MPS) board members discussed moving forward choosing a new superintendent in the wake of Interim Superintendent Michael Goar withdrawing his name for the permanent position. On Jan. 23, an email was sent to Minneapolis Public Schools subscribers from MPS Chair Jenny Arneson containing a letter from Goar officially withdrawing his name from consideration for the permanent superintendent job. In the letter Goar stated he felt he had become a “distraction” in the selection process. As recently as Jan. 21 Goar seemed determined
to move into the permanent position. Goar’s recent withdrawal came less than two weeks after the board unanimously voted not to approve the contract of top candidate Sergio Paez. Paez was the former superintendent in Holyoke, Mass. and came under fire in the wake of abuse allegations in the district. Last year MPS reportedly paid the firm of Hazard, Young, Attea & Assoc. $80,000 to search for a permanent superintendent and Paez emerged. The board is exploring how it can now recover the money from the search firm. The initial selection process began when Goar, who had been
MPS TURN TO 5
Michael Goar
Jenny Arneson
Siad Ali
Ferguson: Legally abused, socially raped Justspeak
By Irma McClaurin, PhD Culture and Education Editor The proposed agreement between the city of Ferguson, MO and the US Justice Department, as reported in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Thur, Jan 28, 2016, A3, falls short of true
Leaving the Ferguson police in charge of self-correction is akin to putting rapists in charge of their own rehabilitation.
justice. Left out of the deliberations were members of Ferguson’s Black community adversely affected by what WSJ reported as “...widespread discriminatory practices in the city.” The Justice Department’s review of the Ferguson Police department revealed an organization that “... routinely violated the civil rights of the city’s Black residents.” In light of these findings, no “civilian committee” to foster community-police dialogs, no “community-oriented policing model,” and no revamped police training or adjustments
to the “use-of-force guidelines” will erase the psychic terror perpetrated by the Ferguson police department without impunity. Also, leaving the Ferguson police in charge of self-correction is akin to putting rapists in charge of their own rehabilitation. An extreme analogy? No. The Black citizens were legally abused and socially raped. No question. Now it appears that the very Justice Department charged with upholding citizens’ civil rights at the highest level is backing off of its responsibility by making the city of Ferguson and its
police department immune to litigation. If successful, the Black citizens of Ferguson will have been violated twice-- once by the police department sworn to protect them and then again by the Justice Department charged to uphold their civil rights. Where is the justice? Left out of this report are economic reparations due for the financial abuse and harm caused to those Black citizens targeted for decades with bogus traffic and other violations that increased the revenue of a racist
FERGUSON TURN TO 8
Black History
Health
Education
Community
Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights present Future History Makers
Medical Society honors Dr. Charles Crutchfield, III
Armstrong, Cooper athletes declare college choices
Helpful steps for dealing with Minne“snow”ta
PAGE 2
PAGE 3
PAGE 7
PAGE 9