INSIGHT NEWS February 20 - February 26, 2012 • MN Metro Vol. 38 No. 8 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • www.insightnews.com
Anatomy of the
Whitney Houston tragedy
Artspeak
By Irma McClaurin, PhD Culture and Education Editor At 2AM EST, my girlfriend Kesho from Iowa called and informed me that Whitney Houston, R&B music icon had died. Alone and without any apparent foul play, Whitney Houston, whose voice gave us airwaves magic with song like “I’ll Always Love You,” “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “I’m Every Woman,” “How Will I Know,” and “The Greatest Love of All,” is no more.
When angels fall from grace, we always want to know why? What happened to WH? When did her downward spiral begin? Most of us will remember scratching our heads at her marriage to Bad Boy Bobby Brown. Loved his music as a member of the The New Edition group and his solo venture in My Prerogative, but couldn’t figure out what Whitney saw in him. Love is blind like that. Theirs was a tragic love affair played out very publicly (on reality TV) with Whitney wearing black eyes and seemingly in a constant drug-induced stupor. In her 2002 book, Saving Our Last Nerve: The Black Woman’s Path to Mental Health, Dr. Marilyn Martin, M.D., M.P.H writes that “mentally healthy Black American women are comfortable
HOUSTON TURN TO 2 Whitney Houston
Black Americans and the U.S. Constitution: Part II By Professor Mahmoud El-Kati Author’s note: The people in America of African descent have a unique and contradictory relationship to the Constitution of the United States. Their connection to this document is like no other group, including the Native populations. The original Constitution was a slave holding document up until the Civil War. Following the Civil War, three great amendments were passed by The Republicanled U.S. Congress. These are called The Civil War Amendments. This legislation
was passed to: 1) Free Africans from legal enslavement, 2) grant the right to citizenship, and 3) grant the right to vote to Black Men, not black people, which would include Black Women. It was not until the Civil War Amendment that the word “slave” was ever mentioned. (Excerpts from key articles and amendments) “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Amendment XIII (1865), Section 1
President Barack Obama
1940 / Unknown
George Washington presiding the Philadelphia Convention Commentary: This Amendment, in effect, legally liberated Black people from
bondage. The Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln did not accomplish
this fact. It took an amendment to the “law of the land”, the U.S. Constitution, to determine the legal, if not actual, release of Black people from fetters. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” AMENDMENT XIV
(1868), Section 1 Commentary: This addition to the Constitution conferred the right of citizenship on Black people in the U.S. The “citizenship clause” and the “due process clause” are the key. Black people were made legally first class citizens in 1868, but remained absolutely second class citizens until the movement of the sixties. “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right
CONSTITUTION 2 TURN TO
White House photo
President Obama didn’t get it right on the birth control compromise By Irma McClaurin, PhD, Culture and Education Editor This time I think President Obama got it wrong. I understand why he made the compromise he did—to avoid a religious-inflamed political battle. But I wished he hadn’t taken the road of compromise. In doing so, he’s done a disservice to women’s right to choose what happens to our
bodies. Right now, it feels like 1972 before the advent of Roe v. Wade. This ruling by the Supreme Court overturned a Texas interpretation of abortion law and made abortions legal for women. But at the heart of Roe v. Wade was women’s right to choose what happens to their bodies as backed by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits government from enacting
Education
Johnson names Harris-Berry North High School principal
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laws that infringe upon a person’s right to the pursuit of life, liberty and property. “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
Minnesota apartheid February 21 at 6 pm at Zion Baptist Church (intersection of James and Olson Memorial Highway) HIRE Minnesota will
launch its Worst to First campaign. In the Twin Cities metro area, the Black unemployment rate is three and a half times that of
Almost to Freedom
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HIRE TURN TO 6 Suluki Fardan
OBAMA TURN TO 13
Aesthetics
the white unemployment rate. This means that the Twin Cities metro area
HIRE Minnesota rally at the state capitol (2009)
Full Circle
Man vs. Woman: Ending the war of emotions
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Health
How green is the state of our union?
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New video showcases Minnesota Department of Revenue BETA website Minnesota Department of Revenue wants to make it easier for Minnesotans to file and pay their taxes. The department this week launched a test (BETA) version of its new website and new video that showcases the features of the website. View the video at http://bit.ly/
DORWebVideo. “An updated, easy-tonavigate website is one way we are enhancing customer service and improving how state government works,” Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans said. The final version of the new website debuts in May. It will
feature updated information, improved search options and a fresh look and feel. Taxpayer feedback, as well as surveys, studies and test runs by real users were instrumental in upgrading the website and will be ongoing until the final site launches in May. The BETA site will stay up
for public evaluation through April, and the department will roll out improvements throughout that time. There will be periodic updates, and the site might be down for short periods, the agency said. Scheduled updates are posted at http://beta.revenue.state. mn.us. The site is best viewed
by supported browsers and may not work on all mobile devices at this time. View the system requirements page for more information. Access the BETA site directly at http://beta.revenue. state.mn.us or from the current home page, www.taxes. state.mn.us. The department
encourages feedback at dorweb.comm@state.mn.us or by clicking “Rate this Page” on the bottom right of every page. Follow the latest news and updates from the Minnesota Department of Revenue on Twitter.
Constitution
proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.” Amendment XIV, Section 2 Commentary: This inclusion nullified “the 3/5 clause” of Article 1, in the Constitution. This part of the amendment allows Black people to be whole persons in a legal sense. If you will note, Indians were still excluded and did not become citizens until 1924. It is also a fact that neither Black females nor white females were included in this amendment. This was strictly as male affair. “The validity of the public
debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.” Amendment XIV, Section 4 Commentary: This is the only place in the Constitution where the word “slave” is
used. James Madison and Gouverneur Morris, the major authors of the Constitution, avoided the term, another example of the sophism of Madison and others in their writings. Sophism is a specious way of presenting your case, an ingenious and deceitful way of writing or speaking. In short, don’t tell a lie, just avoid the truth. “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Amendment XV (1870), Section 1
Commentary: This amendment gave the franchise (the vote) to Black people, stating that one’s race, or the face one was once a slave could not prevent one from participating in politics, the democratic process. The fact is, the right of Black people to vote was not settled until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Blacks still do not unconditionally have the right to vote. There have been two extensions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The right of Black people to vote has been contested by the Reagan administration. AMENDMENT XXIV (1964), Section 1.
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.” Amendment XXIV (1964), Section 1. Commentary: This amendment eliminates the poll tax, a not too subtle device that was used to prevent the poor whites along with Black people from exercising the franchise.
clear about the course of direction one must take. I remain in strong communications with a small group of trusted friends/advisors/ consultants. They comprise my Cassandra circle—Cassandra was the “truthsayer” in Greek mythology “doomed to tell the truth, but never to be believed.” Understanding this paradox, my Cassandra Circle consists of people (men and women) whose judgment and knowledge I value, and who will tell me directly what I may not want to hear, but what I need to know. “Am I overreacting?” My Cassandra Circle will tell me yes or no, or give me a different way to look at the problem or issue at hand. And I believe them and listen. It is important when facing adversity to have those who will provide you with honest assessments, even when it hurts your feelings or points to you as the cause of the problem. We are taught in today’s counseling culture that we grow emotionally through confronting pain and experiences, while a nearby church sign reminds me
as I walk past—“Every failure is a success when you learn from it.” And perhaps my greatest defense against adversity or the unanticipated changes I’ve encountered in my life has been twofold—(1) I try not to keep looking back. When people look back, they get stuck. Imagine a tape recorder in which you keep pressing the rewind button. Over time what you hear gets distorted because you’ve replayed the same thing repeatedly, and the quality of the tape deteriorates with each play. And, most significantly, you never reach the end of the tape. By avoiding the end, you may miss subtle points along the way. We get stuck in the pain, and miss the lessons along the way. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t ignore history. There is much to be learned from the past; but it should be viewed as constructive flow of information—guide posts along the way, but not as the formula for what happens next. By pressing forward, keeping focused on what lies ahead (both challenges and opportunities), I try to live life in the moment
and remain ever hopeful about the future. My mantra is often “…And this too shall pass.” My second defense is (2) “letting go” of anger, revenge and especially pain and hurt. I believe that there is symmetry in the universe, and that eventually balance must be maintained. Every act of ill will and revenge must be matched by an act of kindness and generosity of spirit. I refuse to become anyone’s door mat, but I also don’t have to participate in their negative behavior. I don’t have to respond to ill will with my own negativity. What is the value in that, and just like being exposed to a deadly disease, I am convinced that joining in negative behavior is harmful to your mental health. I’ve learned to accept responsibility for my own “stuff” and discern when it’s someone else’s stuff. And, let it go. What this translates into is my profound belief in divine justice and in “karma.” In the ancient East Indian language of Sanskrit, karma “…is understood as the consequence of thought and behavior, thus providing
causal continuity from moment to moment and lifetime to lifetime.” For me the translation is simple: actions have consequences, as do reactions. If you do evil, it will eventually catch up with you. But, if you show compassion and can be of service, goodness will find you no matter the circumstances. Mind you, the positive does not always appear when you want it—we do not control the timing, but goodness and kindness will come into your life if you have cleared the path. In borrowing from Eli’s Theory of Exclusion in physics that two objects cannot occupy the same space simultaneous, I am suggesting my own theory of exclusion—that if you have pain and anger in your heart, there is no room for peace and forgiveness. I wish Whitney Houston had let go of her demons a lot sooner, and not sunk into the drugs and negative coping behavior. I can only hope that in her brief life she had some opportunities to experience joy and pleasure and that she gave and received kindness; I hope/pray that the
memories of these reside with her even in death. I wish for her (and for those surviving members of her family) a divine peace, for the gift of song she gave us with her voice. She left us a clear message to live by (even if she didn’t follow it) when she sang: “I found the greatest love of all/ Inside of me/The greatest love of all/Is easy to achieve/Learning to love yourself/It is the greatest love of all.” © 2012 McClaurin Solutions Irma McClaurin, PhD is the Culture and Education Editor for Insight News of Minneapolis. She is an anthropologist and writer living in Raleigh, NC and a former university president. (www.irmamcclaurin.com) (@ mcclaurintweets) For More Information: http://www.lyrics007.com/ Whitney%20Houston%20Lyrics/ Greatest%20Love%20Of%20 All%20Lyrics.html h t t p : / / w w w. n y t i m e s . com/2012/02/13/arts/music/ whitney-houstons-voice-oftriumph-and-pain.html?hp
From 1 to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the
Houston From 1 experiencing the rewards of life. They know how to enjoy the moments when things work out.” We also have to hone “… the ability to tell the difference between what is and what is not under our control.” Whitney didn’t have this book by her bedside. Clearly she was a woman in pain, not comfortable, not experiencing the rewards of her life, desperate to change and not knowing how. And, now she’s gone at the extremely young age of 48. I have often been asked by friends how I have survived adversities in life. At 50+, friends and mentees consider me the “bounce back queen” or something like the pink ever ready bunny—I seem to keep going and going and going…. One strategy I have adopted is to acknowledge my fears and pains. Facing what is uncomfortable is not easy, but it is a way to be
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EDUCATION Johnson names Harris-Berry North High School principal Dr. Shawn Harris-Berry, principal at Whittier International Elementary School and former north side principal, recently accepted the principal position for North High School and will be transitioning into this role before March 1, announced Dr. Bernadeia Johnson, Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS). Collaboration with the North Advisory Committee helped to identify a highperforming principal who will lead the Institute for Student Achievement’s educational model at North High School. “The selection of Dr. Harris-Berry is a key milestone in our determination to make North High a quality school for students,” said Johnson. “She
is an exceptional principal with an unwavering commitment to student achievement and has a reputation as a strong transformational and instructional leader.” Of her new position, HarrisBerry said, “I am beyond determined to lead North High School on the path to success. I am fully committed to initiating effective student recruitment strategies, hiring qualified staff, and collaborating with parents, businesses and community partners to further North’s mission to prepare every student for college and career.” Since 2007, HarrisBerry has served as principal at Whittier International Elementary School. For nearly 10 years prior, she worked as
MPS
Dr. Shawn Harris-Berry
an assistant principal serving the school communities of Anwatin Middle, Northeast Middle, Ramsey K-8, and Folwell Elementary. She also held an administrative intern position at Northeast from 1995 to 1996 and began her career at MPS in 1987 as a business teacher at Sanford Middle School. Dr. Johnson also announced that Vernon Rowe, assistant principal for Sanford Middle School, will join the North High leadership team as assistant principal and begin serving before March 1. Rowe has been employed at MPS since 1994 as a teacher, youth coordinator and assistant principal at Anwatin, Olson, and Anthony and Sanford middle schools. Rowe is
known for building a strong student culture and seeking community partnerships that support critical aspects of student success. Principal Peter Christensen came out of retirement to serve the North community beginning in the spring of 2011. He will remain at North High alongside Dr. Harris-Berry during the phase-out of the current North program, due to be completed in the spring of 2015. We thank him for his continued commitment to North. Johnson’s announcement also included that the current North High assistant principal Carly Jarva accepted an assistant principal position at Edison High School, to begin before March 1.
Black students drive positive change in public schools African American students are driving positive academic change in some public schools nationwide, says Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, national education consultant and author of the newly released There Is Nothing Wrong With Black Students. In fact, Black students in more than 3,000 schools are performing well above the national average. There are eight million African American students nationwide: 7.5 million attend public schools, 400,000 attend private schools, and 100,000 are homeschooled. Of the 7.5 million public school students, 90 percent (6.75 million) attend regular schools, and ten percent attend accelerated magnet schools. Kunjufu spotlights the great strides being made in some regular public schools because he says, “This marginalized population has been the most neglected.
Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu
Photo by JAKE
I want all children to succeed, but I focus on the 6.75 million African American children in regular public schools because they lack both choice and a voice.” Kunjufu, who logs several days a week working with schools in some of the most underserved communities nationwide, says educators at the forefront of change are modeling innovative approaches, including: • Culturally relevant curriculum design and Africentric charter schools • Single gender classrooms and schools • Improved teacher quality • Pedagogy adapted to the learning styles of students • Strong academic leadership from principals • Block scheduling and attention to time on task. Illustrating
the
goal
of
academic parity, Kunjufu says there is virtually no racial gap between Black and White homeschooled students. In grades K-12, both groups scored, on average, in the 87th percentile in reading. In math, Whites scored in the 82nd percentile while Blacks scored in the 77th percentile. Two of the great turnaround stories in African American male education have occurred in single gender schools. Kunjufu says Eagles Academy (New York) and Urban Prep (Chicago) are outstanding schools that bring out the full potential of this population. Eagles students consistently outperform their peers in statewide exams. Urban Prep has the distinction of all of their graduates being accepted into four-year colleges. African American charter schools, notable for their use of Africentric curricula,
have produced a 1.5 percent or greater annual increase in academic achievement. An 80 percent or higher graduation rate is the norm at these schools. “When they have the same access to a quality education as their peers in private schools, home schools, and wealthy public schools, Black students are well able to overcome any challenge,” says Kunjufu. There Is Nothing Wrong offers educational models of excellence, resources, best practices, and hope for educators who are dedicated to improving academic outcomes for Black students. For additional information, contact 1-800-552-1991, Fax# (708) 672-0466. P.O. Box 1799, Chicago Heights, IL 60412. Website: http:// www.africanamericanimages. com, Email: customersvc@ africanamericanimages.com.
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Obama Administration launches teacher-led national conversation The Obama Administration’s 2013 proposed budget includes a new $5 billion competitive program to challenge states and districts to work with teachers, unions, colleges of education and other stakeholders to comprehensively reform the field of teaching. The proposal touches on every phase of teaching from training and tenure to compensation and career opportunities. Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan held a town hall meeting with teachers to launch the RESPECT Project, a national conversation led by active classroom teachers working temporarily for the Department to help inform the administration’s proposal and the broader effort to reform teaching. RESPECT is an acronym that stands for Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching. “Our goal is to work with teachers and principals in rebuilding their profession and to elevate the teacher voice in federal, state and local education policy. Our larger goal is to make teaching not only America’s most important profession, but also America’s most respected profession,” Duncan said. The administration’s proposal builds on the President’s State of
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Insight News is published weekly, every Monday by McFarlane Media Interests. Editor-In-Chief Al McFarlane CFO Adrianne Hamilton-Butler Publisher Batala-Ra McFarlane Associate Editor & Associate Publisher B.P. Ford Vice President of Sales & Marketing Selene White Culture and Education Editor Irma McClaurin Director of Content & Production Patricia Weaver Sr. Content & Production Coordinator Ben Williams Production Andrew Notsch Distribution/Facilities Manager Jamal Mohamed Facilities Support / Assistant Producer, Conversations with Al McFarlane Bobby Rankin Receptionist Lue B. Lampley Staff Writer Ivan B. Phifer Contributing Writers Cordie Aziz Maya Beecham Harry Colbert, Jr. Brenda Colston Julie Desmond Fred Easter S. Himie Oshana Himot Timothy Houston Marcia Humphrey Alaina L. Lewis Lydia Schwartz Stacey Taylor Photography Suluki Fardan Tobechi Tobechukwu 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.
the Union speech when he said: “Give schools the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn. That’s a bargain worth making.” Details of the program will be developed through budget negotiations with Congress and
the competition process itself, the Administration said, but the proposal considers a broad range of reforms including: • Reforming teacher colleges and making them more selective. • Creating new career ladders for teachers. • Linking earnings more closely to performance rather than simply longevity or credentials.
• Compensating teachers for working in challenging learning environments. • Making teacher salaries more competitive with other professions. • Improving professional development and providing time for collaboration. • Providing teachers with greater autonomy in exchange for greater accountability. • Building evaluation systems
based on multiple measures, not just test scores. • Reforming tenure to raise the bar, protect good teachers, and promote accountability. “This effort will require the entire educational sector -- states, districts, unions, principals, schools of education -- to change, and teachers have to lead the change,” Duncan said. “We need to change society’s views of teaching – from the
factory model of yesterday to the professional model of tomorrow – where teachers are revered as thinkers, leaders and nationbuilders. No other profession carries a greater burden for securing our economic future. No other profession holds out more promise of opportunity to children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. And no other profession deserves more respect,” he said.
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AESTHETICS
Almost to Freedom By Alaina L. Lewis Contributing Writer Almost to Freedom, Steppingstone Theater’s latest stage production is a period piece, charting the heroic journey of three siblings planning their escape to the Underground Railroad. After having watched their parents and older siblings get sold off to other plantations, their desire to escape begins with a need to stay together as a family – something that seems impossible for every slave during this horrific era. At a closer angle on Freedom, we venture into the life of the youngest of the three siblings— a sweet girl, who dotes upon a rag doll given to her by her older sister- a doll, that comes to life in this young girls world to serve as a friend, a confident and an eternal witness to the tragedies going on around them. The play was written by Kim Hines, and is based on the book by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, and if my opinion means anything, it is one of the best productions I’ve seen in a while.
HIRE From PB has the worst disparity in unemployment in the US. According to the latest Labor Department Statistics white unemployment is less than 7 percent while Black unemployment is over 22 percent. HIRE Minnesota is calling this economic apartheid and will present the Minnesota version of the Sullivan Principles. In
Liliana Felton Freedom, which is comprised entirely of some of the Twin
1977 Reverend Leon Sullivan developed a set of principles that were to be adopted by US corporations operating in then apartheid ruled South Africa to guarantee that Black workers in that country would be treated fairly. HIRE Minnesota will present its own version of these principles to be applied to government institutions and private business in an effort to get their commitment to ending this gross disparity. For more information call 651-249-3859.
Soleil Nelson
Cities most exceptional youth actors, includes in its production
a young up and coming multitalented actress named Liliana Felton. Felton plays an ensemble role in the production as a member of the choir. She does so with a finesse and ease proving to be an incomparable puzzle piece in the productions circle of life. Felton’s ability to act, dance and sing seem to come pretty easy for the F.A.I.R. School student, who has a family history of creativity pouring out their bootstraps. At 11, Felton, daughter of Soleil Nelson, and Damien Felton, has a promising road ahead of her, but her role in this production didn’t come at ease. She attended a few auditions, where she got to experience the anxious world surrounding the arts and was able to land a part in the production, which she told Insight News gives her an opportunity to submerge herself into a time and era that she’s only read about in books and seen on film. She especially enjoys the part of the doll, who she feels has a tough role in the production as the ‘witness who cannot die,’ as Margaret Atwood has put it. “I like the storytelling part
because it’s not sad, it’s funny, but it makes me feel sad when the doll sings a sad song and we know that all of them could be caught by the slave catchers when they’re trying to escape to freedom.” Felton told Insight News, “I think what the audience will take away from the play is that so many people who went through the underground railroad and if things hadn’t changed, it could’ve have happened to us. We are lucky it’s not like that anymore.” For someone still in grade school, Felton has a very responsible and mature way of looking at the plight Almost to Freedom illustrates, and has a desire for more productions to mirror the same important message this production tells. “I think they should make more educational shows, just like this one that is about history. More plays should teach an important lesson to learn or live by, not just be for fun,” Felton shares. Felton plans to audition for more productions in the future, and truly enjoys being apart of a cast because she enjoys the creativity and being involved in a
A poet’s tribute By Lue Bratton-Lampley There is a place in the universe Diversity space for all of us A time to live, A time to die Celebrate the memories We leave behind A peace dove sits on Heaven’s gates She bows her head as she waits For you to rest in peace
team-like environment. She’s not picky about what role she plays in a production, but does enjoy playing in the chorus because of the unique angle you get out of it. “I like ensemble parts because in a way you get to do more. You’re not by yourself. I want to dance and not so much do musicals but plays with more dancing in them,” Felton offers, “I love acting, but one of the hardest things is remembering the line— more so the order that they go in. It’s also hard sometimes to articulate and project your voice and not shout at the audience and make expressions at the same time.” Learning to get through these challenges, and still enjoying the journey is what will set Felton apart from many others. Liliana Felton is on a winning journey through the arts and definitely has a picture-esque future ahead of her. It’s going to be a fun for us to follow along. “Almost to Freedom”, runs now through February 26, 2012. For more information or to buy tickets to this incredible production, please visit: http:// www.steppingstonetheatre.org/
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Black comedy comes to the Twin Cities comedy competition here in Minneapolis and was tapped to record a feature on Comic View. Following his BET performance, Glover reached rarified air for AfricanAmerican comedians when his stand-up was aired on the Comedy Central network as a part of the Russell Simmons Presents comedy series. Admission for Wednesday’s show is $15.
Damon Williams
Brandon “Hot Sauce” Glover
By Harry Colbert Jr. Contributing Writer With an abundance of comedy clubs, theaters and workshops operating in the Twin Cities, one might think it would be relatively easy to find a place to see black (or urban as some call it) comedy. Unfortunately, for area fans of black comedy, with the rare exceptions of a couple of
large-scale tours, seeing urban comedians live has become a daunting task. But with the launch of the Northern Exposure Comedy Series, finding such shows should become a lot easier. The series, which kicks off on Wednesday, Feb. 22nd at the Fine Line Music Café, 318 First Ave. N, is bringing two headlining comedians, Damon Williams and Brandon “Hot Sauce” Glover.
Williams, who has been performing for nearly 20 years, first gained national exposure on the long-running BET series, Comic View. Following Comic View, Williams was then tapped to showcase his act on the groundbreaking, criticallyacclaimed HBO series, Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam. A Chicago native, Williams has continued to be one of the most sought-after comics
Photos courtesy of the artists
and has been featured on P. Diddy’s Bad Boys of Comedy and the Starz Network series, Martin Lawrence Presents 1st Amendment Stand Up. Williams is now a regular on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show. Glover, or “Hot Sauce” as he is more commonly known, is one of the newer, bright stars of comedy. A native of St. Louis, Glover gained national prominence after he won a
Spirit and Soul: Art by Donald Walker at The Basilica of Saint Mary An exhibit of work by Donald Walker runs through February 26 in the Pope John XXIII gallery at The Basilica of Saint Mary, 88 North 17th Street in Minneapolis. Gallery hours are: Sundays 7:30 AM - 8:00 PM, Saturdays 10:00 am - 6:30 PM, and other times by appointment. Much of Walker’s work is bright, bold and colorful, drawing people to it. Nationally known artist Donald Walker began his distinguished career as the first African-American artist to work at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Walker has had the honor of
painting portraits for Vidal Sassoon, Bill Cosby, the late Sammy Davis Jr., Sugar Ray Leonard, Dave Winfield, musician Prince, and Dennis Green. His work has been sold or auctioned to raise significant amounts of money for organizations such as Vidal Sassoon’s Esquire Boys Club, Bill Cosby’s Home Run for Kids, the March of Dimes, the Washington Easter Seals, the American Medical Association, Trent Tucker Foundation and the Minnesota Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Donald Walker
“The Spirit Within Us” Acrylic/Mixed Media
Doors at the Fine Line open at 8 p.m. According to event promoters, additional seating is being added to the venue’s normal set-up but they suggest early arrival as there are no presale tickets. Following the show, there will be a meet and greet with the performers next door at Elixir nightclub. That event is free with paid admission to the comedy show.
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BUSINESS Low ball offer: Negotiating to get what you’re worth Plan Your Career By Julie Desmond julie@insightnews.com Newly engaged, and with her fiancé stationed halfway across the country in the Army, Sola wanted nothing more than to get out of Minnesota and get her life’s next chapter underway. She consulted me for some resume help and my strongest message fell on deaf ears: Don’t quit your job yet, I told her. She sent out her resume, interviewed twice and promptly gave two weeks’ notice to quit her job. You’ve shot yourself in the foot, I told her. She gave notice on her apartment and started packing. Sometimes people make mistakes. Sometimes, so do I. Sola was confident. She knew there was a demand for her
skills and she knew where she wanted to be. My experience says that finding a job is easier when you have a job, and negotiating a better salary is easier when you have a salary. Sola didn’t follow my direction, but she didn’t let me down, either. Sola’s specialized computer skills made her a prime candidate for certain positions. Within her two week notice period she received two job offers (results not typical). One was an offer she wanted. The company knew it. They also knew she was eager to relocate and that she had given notice on her current position. The ball was in their court and they knew that, too. They offered a salary 10 percent less than Sola’s current pay, plus a higher price for medical insurance and no help relocating. When she told me this, all I could think was, You didn’t? She said, I did. But not right away. Sola handled the lowball with class. She thanked the manager for the offer. She exuded all the
excitement she was feeling for the opportunity. And then she asked if she could get back to them by the end of the week. No problem, they said, underestimating my confident friend. She got back to them in less than a week, thanked them again, let them know she wanted the position but then she brought out her true colors, which are very true, as it happens. She said, I just can’t get past the pay. It’s so much less than I’m making now (a true statement, as she was still within her last two weeks). She explained that as much as she wanted to take the position, the salary had become an obstacle. She kept the conversation professional, friendly and honest, negotiating the way she might with a co-worker, seeking a win-win solution. By the end of the week, she had a slightly higher salary, stock options and bonus potential. It was not equal to her current salary, but it was much closer and enough to justify the move. Would you do it differently next time, I asked? She smiled, Next time, I might not be so quick to quit my job. Julie Desmond is Talent Manager for Express Employment Professionals. Write to julie. desmond@expresspros.com.
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Insight News • February 20 - February 26, 2012 • Page 9
COMMUNITY
Black History Month calendar “More than a Month”Feb. 21, 7pm Filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman sets off on a crosscountry campaign to end Black History Month. His tonguein-cheek journey explores the complexity and contradictions of relegating an entire group’s history to one month in a so-called post-racial America. A discussion will follow the film. Merriam Park Library, 1831 Marshall Ave.
The African American & African Studies department at the University of Minnesota is sponsoring a screening of the film “The Help”. The screening will be followed by a critical discussion of the film with Professor Duchess Harris (Macalester College) and storyteller Rose McGee, with moderator Rose Brewer, professor of African American studies at the U of M. Tue., Feb. 28, 6pm @ Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 301 19th Ave S, University of Minnesota west bank. FFI: 612-624-9847.
Highland Park Book Club Feb. 22, 6:45pm Join the Highland Park Book Club for a discussion of Walter Mosley’s book, “Known to Evil.” Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Parkway “Walking in the Footsteps of Gordon Parks: Preserving His Legacy” February 24, 11:30am1pm (Program 12 to 1pm, Lunch from 11:30am to 12pm) • Robin Hickman “Walking in the Footsteps of Gordon Parks: Preserving His Legacy” • Niece of Gordon Parks, Robin Hickman is the CEO
Insurance Agent Looking for people with a strong entrepreneurial mindset to own their own insurance agency. The average agent earns over $120,000 a year, with some earning over $500,000. If you desire financial independence, call 651-2043131 to set up an appointment.
Items from “Who am I… Who is We? A Portrait of TAWU”
Maintenance Coordinator Job Summary: Provide cleaning, general maintenance and security for the Church facility and surrounding Church properties. Supervise maintenance staff. Primary Responsibilities: Regularly monitoring boiler and recording in maintenance log. Maintain Church vehicles and retain records of maintenance and general upkeep/ cleanliness. Insure the facility is secure for Church functions. Education and /or experience: High School Diploma or general education degree (GED) or; One to three years related experience and /or training or; Equivalent combination of education and experience. Class 1 Boilers License Contact: jedwards@pilgrimbaptistchurch.org for complete job description and application.
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and Executive Producer of SoulTouch Productions, a television and film production, youth mentorship and media consulting company, with a mission to make meaningful media and produce powerful social impact experiences. Opening Remarks by Mayor Chris Coleman. Proclamations by Mayor Chris Coleman, Council President Kathy Lantry, and Ramsey County Commission Chair Rafael Ortega. Master of Ceremonies: Deputy Mayor Paul Williams. Lunch will be catered by Abundant Catering. The cost of lunch is $10 and is served on a first-come, first-serve from 11:30 to
12:00 (February 24th only). @ City Hall/Courthouse - 15 W Kellogg Blvd, Saint Paul, MN (Lower Level - Room 40 A& B Book Discussion - Feb. 25, 2pm Continue the discussion of Walter Mosley’s work with a conversation about his recent nonfiction title: “Twelve Steps toward Political Revelation.” Arlington Hills Library, 1105 Greenbrier Street Bareedina/Beauty - Feb 25&26 Celebrating the strength of Oromo women of Ethiopia through art. This photography exhibition and cultural presentation showcases Oromo women from the Horn of Africa. It is a testament to the ways these women cultivate
beauty despite great challenges in their lives. Open house: 1-4pm/ Program 2-3pm Feb. 25&26 @ Augsburg College Foss Center 625 22nd Ave S Mpls. Donation is encouraged to help develop a film documentary on the outstanding resiliency of these women. Lou and Sarah Bellamy – Feb. 26, 2pm Join Lou Bellamy, artistic director of Penumbra Theater, and Sarah Bellamy, Education Director, for a page-to-stage discussion of the upcoming production “The Amen Corner,” by James Baldwin. Also, actors from the company will present brief excerpts. Central Library. 90 W. Fourth St. “The Help” Screening, With Critical Dialogue - Feb 28
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‘Who am I…Who is We? A Portrait of TAWU’ - Thru. Feb. 28 This exhibit by the Obsidian Arts group The Artist Within Us (TAWU) reflects the inner visions and perspectives via self-portraits of artists of color. The display includes paintings, illustrations, photography, textiles, sculpture and jewelry. Obsidian Arts invites the public to join in an opening reception on Friday, Feb. 10, 6–8pm at the Hennepin Gallery. Free and open to the public Mon.-Fri., 7:30am–6pm, at the Hennepin County Government Center, A Level, 300 S. 6th St., Mpls.
Page 10 • February 20 - February 26, 2012 • Insight News
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FULL CIRCLE Man vs. woman: Ending the war of the emotions Man Talk
By Timothy Houston Men and women battle emotionally. Although they were created for each other, why do they so often war with one another? Where do these emotional battles begin? All emotional battles begin from within and the internal conflicts create external disagreement. Because of this, understanding the inner workings of man and woman helps to make sense of the outer struggle and end the war of the emotions. Understanding the creative purpose for man helps us to understand him better. Man came from the earth and was an empty shell before God breathed life into him. Because of this, man has within him the ability to suppress his emotions which makes it possible for him to deal dispassionately with the consequences of his actions. This emptiness is a part of his emotional makeup, and it gives him the capacity to wage war and still return home to love his wife and family. A man has emotions, but he generally expresses them through his actions. Unlike man, woman is an emotional being full of emotions. She was created with the ability to bring forth life within her.
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Able as she is to sense the subtle changes of a child growing in her womb, she has physical and emotional connections to the child that supersede that of a man. Because this is a part of her physical design, it allows her to nurture and care for her children and others. It is her nature to express her love and care through her emotions. The way a man and a woman express their emotions is different
and visible to all. When I look at relationships today, a man’s emotional capacity appears limited while a woman’s appears limitless. Relatively speaking, if a man has five emotional strings, then a woman appears to have five thousand, an imbalance that makes conflict inevitable. Many battles begin because man is uncomfortable with his emotions so he avoids confrontations that might involve them. The battle
usually ends terribly when the man ends the situation in such a way that he is no longer called on to feel. The woman is then left alone to deal with her emotions. There is pressing need to end this war of the emotions. Struggles involving emotional battles damage relationships. When some men find themselves losing the battle emotionally, they may try to make it a battle of words which can be harsh and
damaging. And if he continues to lose, he may shutdown completely which, in turn, causes him more internal conflict. Because man is an empty shell emotionally, he is able to put his silent treatment behavior into that temporary storage place leaving the woman alone again to deal with her feelings. Relationships are visibly damaged by these types of emotional battles and the fallout
of the emotional warfare is frequently devastating, leaving men emotionally numb and women emotionally scarred, creating a void in communication and destroying intimacy. The hidden danger is that they may also result in a desire in both men and women to seek love and peace in all the wrong places, with the unfortunate result that they often go on to wound others in the same ways they have been hurt. This often becomes a pattern of behavior through out our community, with the same basic outcomes. However, the loss of a single battle does mean the war is lost. Wars are ended with treaties. When a man and woman come together at the negotiation table, the lines are communications are opened, and the ability to resolve the issue becomes possible. There is no force more powerful in this world than a man and woman working together. Their union creases families and the whole world pauses to take notice. They then are no longer two but one spiritually and emotionally. This oneness makes for better relationships, neighborhoods, and communities. When this union takes place, the war of the emotions is ended, and we are all better because of it. Timothy Houston is an author, minister, and motivational speaker who is committed to guiding positive life changes in families and communities. For questions, comments or more information, go to www. tlhouston.com.
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Insight News • February 20 - February 26, 2012 • Page 11
Still hungry in America Child Watch
By Marian Wright Edelman “There were some times where, you know, we wouldn’t have that much food, and I would tell my mom, ‘I’m not hungry, don’t worry about it,’ and I lost a lot of weight. I remember I used to be a size five, and I went from a size five to a size zero,” a New York high school senior said in December.
In 1967, as a young civil rights lawyer in Mississippi, I was asked to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Employment, Manpower, and Poverty in Washington about how the anti-poverty program in Mississippi was working. The Head Start program was under attack by the powerful Mississippi segregationist delegation because it was operated by church, civil rights, and Black community groups after the state turned it down. After defending the Head Start program, I told the committee I had become increasingly concerned about the growing hunger in the Mississippi Delta. The convergence of efforts
to register Black citizens to vote, Black parents’ challenges to segregated schools, the development of chemical weed killers and farm mechanization, and recent passage of a minimum wage law covering agriculture workers on large farms had resulted in many Black sharecroppers being pushed off their near feudal plantations which no longer needed their cheap labor. Many displaced sharecroppers were illiterate and had no skills. Free federal food commodities like cheese, powdered milk, flour, and peanut butter were all that stood between them and starvation. I invited the Senators to come to Mississippi and hear directly from local people about the positive impact the antipoverty program was making. They did. I testified again with local community leaders in their subsequent hearing in Jackson— again sharing the desperate plight of hungry people and urged the Senators to visit the Mississippi Delta with me to experience for themselves the hungry poor in our very rich nation, to visit the shacks and look into the deadened eyes of hungry children with bloated bellies—a level of hunger many people did not believe could exist in America. “They are starving and someone has to help them,” I said. Senator Robert Kennedy responded as did Senator Joseph Clark and Republican Senator George Murphy. So in April 1967 they visited homes in Cleveland, Mississippi, asking respectfully of each dweller what they had had for breakfast, lunch, or dinner the night before.
Robert Kennedy opened their empty ice boxes and cupboards after asking permission. I watched him hover, visibly moved, on a dirt floor in a dirty dark shack out of televisioncamera range over a listless baby with bloated belly from whom he tried in vain to get a response. He lightly touched the cheeks, shoulders, and hands of the children clad in ragged clothes outside who responded to his question “What did you have for breakfast?” saying “We haven’t had breakfast yet,” although it
income who could not afford to pay $2 for food stamps and sent his own staff back with Peter Edelman, Robert Kennedy’s legislative assistant, to retrace the Senators’ trip. A series of reports in ensuing months funded by the Field Foundation and visits by doctors, including Robert Coles, to examine poor children in Mississippi and other southern states documented that hunger was widespread not just in Mississippi but throughout the south and elsewhere in America. But as more months passed
“Hunger in America is real and widespread and pretending hungry children do not exist or that families should be ashamed of their needs is shameful.” was nearly noon. And he tried to offer words of encouragement to their hopeless mothers. He kept his word to try to help Mississippi’s hungry children and went immediately to see Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman the next day and urged him to get some food down there and to eliminate any charges for food stamps for people who had no income. Robert Kennedy’s pushing, passion, and visibility helped set in motion a chain of events including a 60 Minutes documentary on “Hunger in America” that led to reforms. But change was slow and incremental. Secretary Freeman did not believe there were people in Mississippi with no
without enough federal response, I complained in frustration during a visit with Senator Kennedy in Washington. When I told him I was stopping in Atlanta to see Dr. King, he urged me to tell Dr. King to bring the poor people to Washington to make hunger and poverty visible since the country’s attention had turned to the Vietnam War and put poverty and hunger on the back burner. Dr. King responded positively and immediately and began planning for the campaign. After Dr. King’s assassination, the Poor People’s Campaign was carried on by his staff and I moved to Washington to help as Counsel and federal policy liaison. It was
a watershed coming together of White, Black, Native American, and Latino poor seeking jobs and adequate income and an end to hunger. Many have pronounced it a failure but I differ and believe it made hunger a national issue and set into motion a number of positive follow on steps that led to major expansions of the federal food safety net programs so many depend on today. After Robert Kennedy’s assassination, the bipartisan McGovern committee continued hearings around the country, a range of hunger activists kept pushing the Nixon administration and Congress to improve the nutrition safety net, and President Nixon appointed a task force headed by Pat Moynihan, his Domestic Policy Advisor, which affirmed hunger was a major problem. President Nixon gave a speech saying hunger had no place our rich land. A prod towards these steps was a second quiet Poor People’s Campaign delegation which came to Washington in 1969 and met with President Nixon and his Cabinet in the White House. In that meeting, Rev. Ralph Abernathy and other leaders urged action to end hunger and President Nixon kept responding by saying he was seeking peace in Vietnam. A contentious press conference followed and a series of Congressional visits criticizing the President’s weak response helped catalyze a series of steps including a White House conference on nutrition and incremental expansions of child and family nutrition
HUNGER TURN TO 13
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HEALTH How green is the state of our union? By EarthTalk® E - The Environmental Magazine Dear EarthTalk: What are the environmental implications of the road ahead as laid out by President Obama in his recent State of the Union? -- Marilyn Pike, Bethesda, MD The economy dominated President Obama’s recent State of the Union address, but his discussion about energy and the environment took up almost seven minutes—or nine percent—of the hourplus address. And while much of what Mr. Obama said was
comforting to environmentalists, his statements about expanding natural gas production—albeit “without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk”— and opening up more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources did not sit well. Even so, natural gas is cleaner burning than oil or coal, and reducing our reliance on foreign oil is a good thing overall. “Right now American oil production is the highest that it’s been in eight years,” Mr. Obama said, adding that “…last year we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past 16 years.” Michelle Wilson Berger of the National Audubon Society points out that when George W.
Pete Souza / White House photo
Obama’s State of the Union address was, in the words of one prominent green leader, “a strong defense of the importance of clean energy to America’s long-term economic prosperity.” Bush told us in his 2006 State of the Union that the U.S. was addicted to foreign oil, some 60 percent was coming from foreign sources. “Now it’s just less than half,” Berger says, adding: “The trend is going to continue in that positive direction and within a couple decades, it’s going to be even less, say something like 36 percent.” Nonetheless, environmental advocates were hoping for less bullish talk from Obama on expanding fossil fuel development of any kind, given the dire climate predictions we are facing. But Obama isn’t giving up his commitment to renewables, despite the recent bankruptcy of solar panel maker Solyndra after it had received upwards of $500 million in loan guarantees. “Some technologies
don’t pan out; some companies fail,” stated Obama in the speech. “But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.” Obama also called on Congress to pass a new standard aimed at boosting wind, solar, geothermal and other renewables, and to extend related tax credits to help diversify and green the country’s energy mix, adding that he wants to end tax subsidies for oil companies. In underscoring that Americans don’t have to choose between the economy and the environment, he cited the case of the revival of the American auto industry thanks in part to automakers’ willingness to innovate to meet aggressive fuel economy standards. Fred Krupp of the Environmental Defense Fund considers Obama’s State of
the Union “a strong defense of the importance of clean energy to America’s longterm economic prosperity.” Speeches aside, 2011 wasn’t a bad year for Obama on the environment. He proposed raising the average fuel efficiency standard for new cars to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025—this alone, says Natural Resources Defense Council’s Frances Beinecke, “will save drivers more than $80 billion a year at the pump and cut our annual oil use by more than the amount we imported from Saudi Arabia and Iraq in 2010.” Obama’s recent rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline project— which would have transported dirty Alberta tar sands oil across U.S. soil—was another triumph, as were establishing the first national standards to limit
mercury and other air toxins from power plants, proposing a visionary national oceans policy, protecting the Grand Canyon from uranium mining, and supporting clean energy investments at record levels. CONTACTS: White House State of the Union 2012, www. whitehouse.gov/state-of-theunion-2012. EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine ( www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@ emagazine.com. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www. emagazine.com/trial.
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Obama From 1 protection of the laws.” Since the presidency of George W. Bush, and the introduction of his “faithbased” approach to leadership, government decisions and politics increasingly have been informed by politicians’ religious beliefs. That is not to say that government should not be concerned with rule of law, ethics and justice—and even morality, especially when it comes to their personal conduct, but it should do so from a secular perspective, as provided for by the First Amendment. But some of the faith-based beliefs that seem to be informing today’s politics are the same ones that considered slavery to be a good thing and supported the idea
Hunger From 11 programs that made a huge difference for millions until they came under attack from Reagan Administration budget assaults and attempts to eliminate a range of federal safety net programs. Today, crucial programs like food stamps, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program, and school lunch, breakfast and summer feeding programs continue working to combat child and family hunger. Their implementation could be significantly improved but in the current recession, they have proved to be indispensable lifelines for the millions of jobless families with no cash income in our rich nation—about six million or one in 50 Americans, the New York Times reported in 2010—for whom food stamps are the only defense against the wolves of hunger. Last
Insight News • February 20 - February 26, 2012 • Page 13 that a woman’s place was in the home and standing behind her man. In short, women were regarded as property and their bodies considered an object that others controlled and made decisions about. During this period, women resorted to underground procedures that killed many of them, if they wished to terminate a pregnancy; and, of course, birth control was prohibited. Eight years ago, 2004 to be exact, Catholic online columnist Matt Abbott advocated for people to vote against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry; his reason was that Kerry was a Catholic who was also pro-abortion and believed in women’s choice. Abbott wrote “…Voting for a proabortion candidate because of his or her support of abortion ‘rights’ would, according to assenting Catholic theologians,
constitute a mortal sin.” Well, the “mortal sin” tenor of Abbott’s critique of Kerry is currently reflected in the Republicans’ criticisms of President Obama’s original policy to have employers (including religious ones who employ people not of their faith) include birth control in their insurance plan. No one thinks it unreasonable that blood transfusions are paid for despite the fact that there are people such as Jehovah Witnesses who don’t believe in them. No one is calling for this medical service to be deleted from insurance plans on the basis of religious freedom. No, something else is happening in our country today. We are currently in a political climate in which there is a real push to return to a former state of existence. It is one in which Blacks knew their place
(generally behind Whites and politically and economically disenfranchised). And women had few choices, and understood that their bodies belonged to the church and the men in their families. National and international studies on the status of women provide concrete data to confirm that education and regulation of births are two factors that will improve the quality of life for women globally. Denying women birth control, or making it less accessible, is an infringement upon women’s right to choose what happens to their bodies. And, it is not up to the church or politicians to decide what is good for us as women. In the past, when these institutions and segments of the society had the opportunity to do so, they blew it and the impacts of their decisions on women were often disastrous—we were
economically, politically and sexually disenfranchised. If more men would stand up for the rights of women and their right to choose, our country would be safer and stronger. I understand why you did it President Obama, but I urge you not to compromise on any future policies that potentially erode the gains that women have achieved in the last three decades. Today, it is an infringement on women’s right to choose what happens to our bodies, tomorrow it will be Blacks and all immigrants told to stand at the back of the bus. The clock is ticking. Everyone has a right to their faith. But they do not have a right to shove their religious beliefs down my throat. It may be time for feminists and those who believe in choice to rally around Wall Street, but with a more focused
agenda—to prevent the erosion of women’s rights, especially those pertaining to our bodies. For sure, this woman’s body will be voting in the forthcoming election and looking for the candidate who truly understands why the original drafters of the Constitution’s committed themselves to the need for a separation of church and state, and who also believes in a woman’s right to choose, regardless of her religious orientation. © 2012 McClaurin Solutions
year more Americans relied on food stamps to eat than at any time since the program began in 1939—46 million. Yet once again some voices are starting to wonder whether we really need robust anti-hunger programs in America, and whether there are really so many children out there who might otherwise go hungry. A recent skeptical Wall Street Journal article was titled “The Myth of Starving Americans.” The safety net has indeed made it harder to find starving children with bloated bellies like those Senator Kennedy met in Mississippi in 1967— thank God. But the quiet pangs of hunger and the documented signs of chronic malnutrition are still here, from rural Mississippi to inner cities to middle class suburbs where families have fallen on hard times. Hungry boys and girls are not imaginary figures like the fictional Dick and Jane but very real children like Jane Soliternik, a New York City high school senior and the recent recipient of a Children’s
Defense Fund’s Beat the Odds® scholarship award. Jane has overcome many odds in her young life, including cardiac surgery, her father’s death, and poverty—especially after her widowed mother was laid off from her job as a medical assistant during the Great Recession and couldn’t find another job for more than two years. When unemployment benefits were exhausted, Jane and her mother lived on the Social Security payments Jane received following the death of her father. Jane was already facing multiple challenges, and then hunger was added to the list: “There were some times where, you know, we wouldn’t have that much food, and I would tell my mom, ‘I’m not hungry, don’t worry about it,’ and I lost a lot of weight. I remember I used to be a size
five, and I went from a size five to a size zero. So, you know, I try to not eat too much. I try to eat in school. They give me free lunch in school.” This makes Jane just one of 14 million children who participate in free or reduced price school lunch programs during the year and are often “at nutritional risk” and go hungry when those meals aren’t provided. Without this vital safety net, we might return to the scenes Senator Kennedy witnessed. Hunger in America is real and widespread and pretending hungry children do not exist or that families should be ashamed of their needs is shameful. Unemployed parents unable to find a job when jobs are scarce should not be blamed for their inability to put food on the table. Robert Kennedy always understood that in addressing
the hunger emergency the real culprit was poverty, and lack of jobs, wages, training, and education to provide hope for restless youths trapped into failure and jail rather than given opportunities. The same is true now. Until we solve that crisis, we will still have jobless parents, poor families, and hungry children in America. For now, when more than 16 million American children, one of every four children, are not sure where the next meal will come from, we have urgent work to do. The Food Research and Action Council (FRAC) did release one small piece of good news in January: a new poll showing American voters overwhelmingly oppose cutting food stamp assistance as a way to reduce government spending. “What this poll tells us is that, despite rhetoric and
false claims about the program, Americans across the country see food stamps as a program that works and that is making a real difference for people,” said FRAC President Jim Weill. “American voters won’t tolerate hunger in our midst, and across party lines they support this valuable program.” You and I need to make sure our leaders hear this message loudly and clearly.
Irma McClaurin, PhD is the Culture and Education Editor for Insight News of Minneapolis. She is an anthropologist and writer living in Raleigh, NC and a former university president. (www.irmamcclaurin.com) (@ mcclaurintweets)
Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more information go to www. childrensdefense.org.
Page 14 • February 20 - February 26, 2012 • Insight News
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Preserving priceless resources The Minnesota Historical Society announces recipients of mid-size and large historical and cultural heritage grants The Minnesota African American Museum (MAAM), created by businesswoman Roxanne Givens, celebrates the contributions made by African Americans in Minnesota and the Midwest. According to the MAAM website, MAAM educates and ensures that future generations will have the knowledge, skills and information to compete and succeed for many years to come. MAAM is dedicated to researching, presenting, acquiring and preserving the history of African Americans in Minnesota. The Minnesota African American Museum & Cultural Center, which is located at the Amos B. Coe House at 317 3rd Av. S., was recently awarded $155,250 by the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS). On January 30 MHS announced
more than $3.8 million for historical and cultural grants to 59 organizations in 39 counties. The grant announcement followed news of the Minnesota Historical Society’s latest report to the governor and legislature detailing all expenditures for 2012 legacy history projects and programs. In addition, the Minnesota Historical Society announced four partnerships for historyfocused organizations outside of the Society to come together to enhance access to Minnesota history and cultural heritage. Partnership funds were awarded to: Carleton College and Veblen Farmstead, Hay Barn Stabilization and Preservation, Old Highland Neighborhood Association and Preserve Minneapolis, Homeowner Restoration Workshops,
Roxanne Givens
Courtesy of MAAM
Macalester College, and Public Art Saint Paul and the City of Saint Paul, Johann Friedrich von Schiller Sculpture: Restoration and Preservation. “This latest group of awards really begins to reach out across disciplines and funding lines to collaborate with arts, library and other groups as the legislature had encouraged. The Historic Resources Advisory Committee that reviews grant proposals keeps such encouragements in mind,” said David Grabitske, manager of outreach services for the Minnesota Historical Society. MAAM partners with local schools to host field trips, educational workshops and performances. The historic building serves as community space in which diverse organizations can promote crosscultural understanding.
Other Hennepin County recipients included: Heart of the Earth, Inc., American Indian Movement Interpretive Center Collections Development, Friends of the Immigration History Research Center, Houses of Worship, The Mosaic of Religion and Ethnicity in the Twin Cities, MIGIZI Communications, and The Minneapolis American Indian Community. “In this round of recipients, awards address a great many ways that history makes life in Minnesota so rich, deep and vibrant, from the preservation of historic spaces for arts and lowincome housing, to preserving modern experiences that will become history, and fostering films with solid historical content,” said Grabitske.
Your voting rights are under seige Nobody Asked Me
By Fred Easter Republicans have carefully analyzed where the votes that elected President Obama came from. They are systematically working to prevent that from happening again.
The only significant voter fraud perpetuated in the U.S, in recent memory, was carried out by the Governor of Florida when his brother George W was first selected President. Despite this, republicans all over the country, including here in Minnesota-nice, are working to change laws, state constitutions and voter registration drive regulations in an effort to drive down participation in the voting process by the folks who turned out in huge numbers in 2008. This is class warfare. Limit the voting impact of the masses,
and, from a distance, it can still look like a democracy. Sadly, this particular battle in the war started over 30 years ago with the War On Drugs. Michelle Alexander, in her book The New Jim Crow talks about mass incarceration. Her theory, in brief, is that The Civil Rights Act had the effect of “demoting” poor and working class whites. Rich folk, those we call the 1% now, had nothing to fear from a more level playing field. They still had their private schools, private golf & country clubs,
gated communities and hedge funds. The poor and working classes, many of whose jobs depended on the discriminatory exclusion of people of color, soon learned that we hadn’t been excluded because we were inferior. They found out we had game. Republicans have solidified “The Old South” as their own stronghold by associating Blacks with crime and welfare fraud, and promising to get tough on “them.” The War on Drugs is a thinly
veiled farce. It is simply the current evolution of slavery. It is how industry and jobs are brought to small, white towns. Watching young, Black men rot in prison is not a job that can be shipped to China. Creating millions of young, Black men who have to check the box on the job application that asks “Have you ever been convicted of a crime” re-un-levels the playing field for millions of young, white men and women who don’t have their Daddy’s hedge fund to fall back on. Alexander’s research has
found that: if this country returned to the numbers of inmates in prison before the War On Drugs began; 80% of current prisoners would be released and 1 million Americans would lose their jobs. Since 1980, 1 trillion dollars has been spent on this war. Google what it cost us to find no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? I saw a bumper sticker the other day that read: “It is no measure of good health to be well adjusted in a sick society”.
A tribute to Black leaders in the food and hospitality industry In celebration of Black History Month, The Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance (MFHA) released its 4th Annual Tribute to Black Leadership in Hospitality, which honors high ranking
Black leaders in the restaurant, lodging, and food manufacturing industries. Each year, MFHA profiles the top Black Leaders in the industry as a way to celebrate their accomplishments while
demonstrating for Black youth that great opportunities exist for them in the food and hospitality industry. In keeping with this year’s Black History Month theme, the MFHA Tribute features
eight women executives from companies that are leaders in creating multicultural opportunities. In addition two of the profiled Black leaders, Clarence Otis of Darden and Steve Davis of Bob Evans
Farms, are Chief Executive Officers. One of the profiled executives, Don Thompson, is President and Chief Operating Officer of the largest restaurant company in the world, McDonald’s Corporation. The
Tribute encourages students and young professionals to follow the footsteps of the highlighted leaders toward pursuing a successful career in the food and hospitality industry.
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Insight News • February 20 - February 26, 2012 • Page 15
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Insight News • February 20 - February 26, 2012 • Page 16