Soul sensation George Tandy, Jr. coming to the Cabooze March 26 along with MPLS MORE ON PAGE 10
Insight News March 23 - March 29, 2015
Vol. 42 No. 12 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Community explores impact of $1.9 billion state budget surplus
L-R: Senator Bobby Champion, District 59, Senator Jeff Hayden, District 62, Al McFarlane, Commissioner Myron Frans, Department of Management and Budget, and Representative Rena Moran, District 65A
Far too often, said Insight EditorIn-Chief, Al McFarlane, Black community voices are not heard, and Black interests go disregarded at the tables of decision. Our community is asked to wait, till the current crisis du jour wanes, to be patient while pressing matters of business and state get the attention due them. That must change, McFarlane said. Our community, our voice must be loud and clear in articulating our interests and needs to ourselves and to the world. That is why we have created this first ever unique and powerful collaboration between Insight News, KMOJ 89.9 FM, and BMA Networks Cable to elevate and illuminate our community’s
priorities as Minnesota determines what to do with the projected $1.9 billion budget surplus in the upcoming biennium, and the projected nearly $4 billion surplus the following biennium. While it is important to look at the budget surplus, Champion said, we should be talking about having our fingerprints all over the state’s $60 billion budget, not just the surplus. Hayden said what matters most is that our community is fully engage, writing, calling legislative leaders and commissioners, and show up when issues are being discussed and decisions are being made.
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#BlackShoppersMatter: Racially profiled at Eagan outlet mall By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer A viral video that shows four African-American shoppers being accused of theft at the
Twin Cities Premium Outlets in Eagan has caused anger and outrage and sparked accusations of racism of mall personnel and of Eagan police. It’s not clear what led up to the point when the four
shoppers at the mall were surrounded by police and mall security, but the feeling of the four is clear – they say it is an obvious case of racial profiling. The video, which was posted on March 11 to social
media by one of the accused, Art Haggins – just hours after the stop happened – shows police questioning the shoppers in the mall courtyard about possible stolen items. According to Haggins, the
group was accused of stealing $11 worth of makeup from the Makeup Outlet. Police said they were called by an employee in the mall who accused the group of shoplifting. The group was searched and showed receipts
for all of their purchases and even at one point in the video it shows the contents of a purse scattered on the ground. Haggins said the contents
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“Beam me up, Scotty” Managing, leading Millennials in a post-Star Trek age Analysis
By Irma McClaurin, PhD Culture and Education Editor Part 2 of a 3 part series Trek Age For those brave Millennial souls who do venture into federal service, they may find themselves encountering organizational cultures unable and unwilling to accommodate or adapt to their learning and work styles; such
places often are not just resistant, but sometimes frustrated and even hostile to the Millennial vision of work. On the flip side, to Gen Ys who are hired into federal agencies with layers of bureaucracy, regulations and policies and success measured through levels of competencies, it may seem to them as if they were beamed into a time warp. One IT federal executive described providing a new Gen Y employee with what he viewed as the agency’s state of the art computer equipment. He was caught off guard by the Gen Y’s response of incredulity: “This is what we used in elementary school.”
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Insight 2 Health What’s eating you?
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Harry Colbert, Jr.
Barbara Milon (far left), executive director of the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center and Miguel Ramos (far right), director of diversity marketing for the Minnesota Twins pose with student achievers who were recently recognized by the Twins for there efforts in the classroom and beyond.
Twins honor student achievers at Phyllis Wheatley Community Center The Minnesota Twins are making more and more efforts to diversify its fan base and broaden what it calls “Twins Territory.” As a part of the organization’s efforts, the Twins honored several north Minneapolis students who
Business That’s what friends are for!
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participate in learning programs at the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, 1301 10th Ave. N. The students, who range from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, are participants in either the center’s Academic Achievement Program, Dream, Explore Connect! or be@
school program. Students were honored for either success in the classroom, entrepreneurial endeavors or perfect school attendance. “This is not about the Twins, this is about the kids,” said Miguel Ramos, director of diversity marketing for the
Women Leading Change Leadership profile: Marian Wright Edelman
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Minnesota Twins, speaking to a group of about 50 at the center. “This is about the community … we want success.” Ramos said what is good for the community is good for the Twins and said diversity
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Community West Broadway Education and Career Center to begin construction this summer
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