Insight News ::: 03.28.16

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Insight News March 28 - April 3, 2016

Vol. 43 No. 13 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

#Justice4Jamar doesn’t end with #NoGrandJury

By Cristeta Boarini, Twin Cities Daily Planet Social media lit up on the morning of March 16, as Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced that his office would no longer use grand juries to investigate cases in which police use deadly force. More specifically, Freeman announced a grand jury would not be used in the case of Jamar Clark, who was shot to death during an incident with two Minneapolis Police Department officers on Nov. 15.

The announcement was hailed as a victory for all in the Twin Cities fighting for racial justice and equity. And it certainly is a step in the right direction.

Organizers and community members applied enough pressure to Freeman’s office that a major policy change happened without the use of the voting booth or the act of a legislative body.

But as one Facebook user asked in the comments of an event listing for a March 18 protest, “What’s the goal of the protest if we have no grand jury?”

“No grand jury does not equal prosecution for the police,” said Jodie Carroll, an organizer with the Twin Cities Coalition

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman

No grand jury for officer who shot Jamar Clark

By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer

Photo by Annabelle Marcovici.

Michaela Nicole Day addresses a crowd of protesters during the sixth weekly #FreemanFriday protest at the Hennepin County Government Center. for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J).

“Victory is when police are actually charged with a crime.

Police officers should be held

accountable for their actions just as the public is.”

The work that has been going on before and the work

that continues in the wake of Freeman’s announcement pushes for so much more than dropping the use of a grand jury

in the Clark case. The rallying cries of #ReleaseTheTapes,

JUSTICE TURN TO 6

Dayton proposes $100 million to reduce racial disparities demographics make investment in closing the gaps critical.

“While people of color comprise a rapidly growing share of Minnesota’s overall population, less than 10 percent of all Minnesota businesses are minority-owned,” said Dayton in a statement released last week.

“As our state’s demographics change, it’s imperative that we improve economic opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs to create good new jobs.”

As a part of the initiative to encourage entrepreneurship in communities of color the governor has proposed a $5 million investment in a revolving loan program for small

By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer In what some are calling a historic measure, Gov. Mark Dayton has proposed $100 million in state investment to address the racial disparities in Minnesota.

The announcement came last week when Dayton presented his 2016 budget to the Minnesota Legislature. The investment seeks to address disparities in education, healthcare, business ownership, jobs, housing and other areas. Minnesota is known to have some of the widest disparities in the nation when comparing whites to residents of color.

Dayton said changing

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton

DISPARITIES 5 TURN TO

Representative Rena Moran (DFL-65A)

There will be no grand jury in the police shooting death of Jamar Clark or for any other police shootings in Hennepin County.

This was the word from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

Freeman offered the edict Wednesday (March 16) during a press conference to discuss the case.

“For me, grand juries should no longer be used in police shooting cases in Hennepin County,” said Freeman in his prepared remarks to reporters.

“I will make the factual determination whether there is sufficient evidence to support a criminal charge against the police officers in the tragic death of Jamar Clark. I will make that determination with the excellent assistance of senior attorneys in our office and the fine work of law enforcement, most notably, the BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) and FBI.” Freeman said a full investigation is still underway and no decision has been made by his office as to whether or not to indict one or both Minneapolis Police Officers involved in the Nov. 15 shooting of Clark, who was unarmed at the time. Police contend Clark got control of an officer’s gun when he was shot, but multiple witnesses say Clark was completely subdued on the ground when

JURY TURN TO 7

SCIENCESpeak: Hands-on Science-STEM REACH 2020 seeks to develop the next generation of Black and Hispanic science giants Science Speak

By Irma McClaurin, PhD Culture and Education Editor How do you entice a bunch of squirming children to settle down, take turns asking questions, introduce themselves and explain how to program a robot? Engage them in hands-on science. That is precisely what took place on Friday, March 11, 2016 at Howard University as part of Black Press Week in Washington, D.C. The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)

Research suggests that introducing children to STEM early on is the only possible solution to the predicted talent gap that will occur in STEM related occupations [...]

Foundation held a groundbreaking summit “Best Practices in STEM” with a Fiber Optics inventor, two NASA Roboticists and a women’s robotics team.

Sound routine? Anything but, since every person presenting

was African American and the audience was comprised of Howard University undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff, and over 80 Black and Hispanic students from local schools

representing grades 3-6.

The NNPAF launched what it hopes to be a signature program of the Foundation (http://www.nnpafoundation. org/nnpaf-programs), in its role as the educational and capacity building arm of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, which is the trade organization for over 200 Black newspapers and publications nationally with a reach of 20 million readers weekly.

Sponsored by American Petroleum Institute (API), with the support of Microsoft, represented by Fernando Hernandez, Director of Microsoft Supplier Diversity, NNPA Foundation established ties with Howard University, the alma mater of panelist

STEM TURN TO 9

Bush Fellows

Business

Lifestyle

Community

Bush Foundation selects 24 for 2016 fellowships

What is the grant management process at your organization?

Enjoy the moment

Forging equitable communities

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Insight News • March 28 - April 3, 2016 • Page 3

Bush Foundation selects 24 for 2016 fellowships The Bush Foundation announced its 2016 Bush Fellows.

Officials with the Bush Foundation said the 24 fellows chosen for their records of achievement and their extraordinary potential to make significant contributions in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and 23 Native nations that share the same geography.

This year’s fellows are Terry Austin, Susan Marie Beaulieu, Eileen Briggs, Lisa Brunner, Carmeann Foster, Julie Ann Garreau, Betty Gronneberg, Nausheena Hussain, Mukhtar Ibrahim, Lorrie Janatopoulos, Dr. Tami Sue Jollie-Trottier, Floyd Patrick Jourdain, Jr., Tou SaiKo Lee, Nevada Littlewolf, Trista Louise Matascastillo, Dr. Yuri Rafael Nakasato, Kim Norton, Abdi Roble, Dave Smiglewski, Yuko Taniguchi, Larry Tucker, Giovanni Veliz, Hamse Warfa and Martin Wera.

Fellows receive up to $100,000 over 12 to 24 months to pursue learning experiences

Nausheena Hussain

Mukhtar Ibrahim

Larry Tucker

is focused on reducing the number of Black youth in the juvenile justice system. She recently launched a nonprofit to create and provide communitycentered rehabilitative solutions.

Hussain of Brooklyn Park founded Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE), a leadership development nonprofit, to elevate Muslim women.

When fellow, Ibrahim emigrated from East Africa to the U.S. in 2005, he spoke little English. Today, as a reporter with Minnesota Public Radio, he is the first Somali-American journalist in the state to work at

a major news outlet. He is also the founder of Sahan Journal, an independent news source for East Africans and Somalis who live in the Twin Cities metro area. With his Bush Fellowship, he will complete a master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University.

Bush Fellow, Tucker, founded Kente Circle – a mental health organization serving the community with a special emphasis on the needs of African-Americans. With his Bush Fellowship, he will train individuals in the practice of culturally competent mental health.

Over the years more than

2,200 people have been awarded the fellowship. Past fellows include former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson, Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright August Wilson and President Obama’s Special Assistant to for NativeAmerican Affairs, Karen Diver.

A total of 465 people applied for the 2016 Bush Fellowship.

The Bush Foundation will accept applications for the 2017 Bush Fellowship beginning August 30. The Bush Fellowship is open to anyone age 24 years and older who lives in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota or one of the 23 Native nations that shares the same geography.

Carmeann Foster

Terry Austin that help them develop leadership skills and attributes.

The fellowship can be used for advanced education, networking opportunities and access to leadership resources, workshops and trainings.

“The value of investing in people is apparent when you look at the accomplishments of Bush Fellows and their impact on our region over that past 50 years,” said Bush Foundation President Jennifer Ford Reedy.

“We are thrilled to support this class of fellows as they pursue the knowledge, connections and experiences that will help them be more effective leaders.”

Austin, founder of Positive Images – an organization geared toward promoting active parenting in communities of color – said with his fellowship he will pursue a master’s in public policy and continue his work in positive parenting.

“To be recognized as a Bush Fellow mean the work I’ve done for the past 10 years in the arena of promoting positive father/ child interactions hasn’t gone unnoticed,” said Austin. “This is truly a great honor.”

Austin said with the award he also plans to write a book on fatherhood.

Another fellow, Foster

Lawmakers announce Women of Color Opportunities Act A legislative package authored

by State Rep. Rena Moran (DFL-St. Paul) and several DFL state senators is targeting the elimination of racial disparities in the educational and economic status of women and girls of color in Minnesota.

According to the bill’s author, The Women of Color Opportunities Act (WOCOA) will

address the education, financial literacy, workforce development, and small business challenges facing Minnesota women and girls in communities of color.

“The Governor (Mark Dayton) has made a strong call to find ways to reduce economic and educational disparities in communities of color,” said Moran. “I strongly support those

efforts, and I want to make sure that we’re not forgetting about the disparity within the disparity while we’re doing it. Black women are leading lights of our community, but they face challenges when it comes to getting a loan, or a job, or running a business. That has to change if we’re going to create true economic equity.”

Moran said currently

Minnesota’s African-American women earn $0.62 for every dollar a white male earns. For Hispanic women that figure is even lower at $0.57 for every dollar a white male earns. At that rate a Hispanic woman working fulltime stands to lose about $854,000 over the course of her career because of the gender wage gap.

“Historically, women of many

racial backgrounds have been excluded from major financial decision-making for families and business, and that has to change,” said Sen. Patricia Torres Ray (DFL-Minneapolis). “If our girls don’t know how to set financial goals, or responsibly save to pay off debt or for retirement, then it doesn’t matter what other financial benefits we might be able to afford

them. If we arm these women with the knowledge they need to improve their own lives, we know from experience they’ll do it.”

The Women of Color Opportunities Act features five main components – academic success, financial literacy, STEM career training, nontraditional job training and small business lending.

Champion’s GED program outreach bill advances Legislation authored by Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL– Minneapolis) that provides funding for GED program outreach and support passed the Senate Education Committee.

Champion said the bill was introduced in response to the modernization of the General Education Development (GED)

examination, which is now only taken by computer and has resulted in many students having trouble passing the test.

“The GED bill I’ve authored will provide funding to the Minneapolis School District to partner with Unity Opportunity Collaborative and other community groups to cover

testing fees and to provide outreach, instruction, support, and stipends to participants,” said Champion. “A lot has changed with the GED exam in the last couple of years and we must ensure those who want to take the test don’t face barrier after barrier along the way.”

After Pearson Testing and

the American Council for Education revamped the exam in January 2014, reports indicated a dramatic increase in failure rates.

It is believed that contributing factors to this increase were the test only being offered via computer, which has posed a problem for some individuals and the scoring method was

changed. Originally, scores for each section were combined. An individual would pass once they reached a set combined score, even if they had not done well on one of the test sections. Now, individuals must reach a set score in each test section.

“The GED is meant to advance education and

employment opportunities, and the changes made to the tests in recent years have been detrimental,” said Champion.

“Support for this bill is synonymous with support and encouragement for those who want to better themselves and their communities.”

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Insight News • March 28 - April 3, 2016 • Page 5

What is the grant management process at your organization?

FUNdraising Good Times

By Mel and Pearl Shaw Grant funds are a major source of revenue for many nonprofits.

Grant awards are heralded with public fanfare. Gaining – or losing – a grant can have critical implications. Is the grant management process at your organization as proactive as it could be? Consider these two groups of questions as you review your process.

Deciding to apply.

Who decides if a funding opportunity should be pursued?

Does the chief development officer and chief executive

officer know who is submitting proposals or are they surprised after the fact? Are proposals strategically aligned with your institution’s priorities? What is the process for suggesting a grant be pursued? Is it a responsive process, or does it “take forever?” Does the availability of funding define your organization, or do your defined strategic directions drive your fundraising?

Related to this, are your nonprofit’s priorities clearly communicated to all parties?

For example, you may have a program manager with great vision, creativity, energy and connections. Should she be “allowed” to pursue funding opportunities that would grow her program area even if it is not an organizational priority?

When it comes to the work of submitting a competitive proposal, who will define the

Being able to acquire grant funding can be wonderful in terms of advancing the work of your organization. But, it can also be a “curse” [...]

scope of work, encourage partnership, create the budget, and provide the required data and research? What if there are budget gaps, or a matching funds requirement?

Who has final approval of the proposal and for resolving

related implications? How are these coordinated in a timely manner?

If you are funded. Once you receive a grant, who will ensure the program is managed according to the scope of work and budget

submitted with the grant?

Who has signatory approval on expenditure of funds? What is the communication process between those who implement a grant-funded program and those in “upper-management?”

Who is responsible for reporting on grant progress and ensuring the funds are appropriately used? There will be reports to file on time and with accurate information: is the technology infrastructure in place to meet reporting requirements?

Is there coordination across departments?

Does the organization have the resources to implement the grant?

Without proper management you could end up with unexpended funds, or with expenditures deemed ineligible under the terms of the grant.

If the grant doesn’t cover all the costs associated with the scope of work you could end

up with a liability you cannot meet. Will the grant manager be required to fundraise for additional funds?

Finally, at some point in time funding will end. Make sure your process includes identifying replacement funding.

Being able to acquire grant funding can be wonderful in terms of advancing the work of your organization.

But, it can also be a “curse” if the funds and the process are not managed correctly.

Take the time to review your process and ensure it meets your organization’s needs throughout the life of a grant.

Copyright 2016– Mel and Pearl Shaw For help growing your fundraising visit www. saadandshaw.com or call (901) 522-8727.

Artika Tyner named associate vice president of diversity and inclusion at St. Thomas University Dr. Artika Tyner has been named associate vice president of diversity and inclusion at St. Thomas University.

Tyner served as interim officer of diversity and inclusion since July 2015, when she succeeded Dr. Calvin Hill.

“It was an amazing opportunity to work with such

Mark Brown

Dr. Artika Tyner

committed students, faculty, staff and alumni in my interim role, and I look forward to building upon the partnerships made to advance our mission and goals around diversity and inclusion,” said Tyner in a statement released by the university. “This new role will be a unique opportunity for us as a university to redefine diversity and inclusion as a way

of life, of teaching, and advancing the common good.”

“I remain firmly committed to fostering a culture of greater inclusion at St. Thomas that welcomes and supports diversity,” said Julie Sullivan, president of St. Thomas. Sullivan’s remarks came from a statement released on the university’s website. “Dr. Tyner’s appointment is an important step

in this process, and I look forward to working very closely with her.”

Tyner holds three degrees from St. Thomas – a doctorate in leadership, a master’s in public policy and leadership, and a law degree. She earned a bachelor’s in English from Hamline University.

An author and motivational

speaker, Tyner is a regular columnist for Insight News.

In addition to serving as interim officer of diversity and inclusion, Tyner has held numerous non-academic roles at St. Thomas including director of diversity at the School of Law, chair of the Multicultural Affairs Committee and co-founder of the Community Justice Project.

Temporary Protected Status extended for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone for six months WASHINGTON – Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has extended the designations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for an additional six months.

Officials with the office said although there have been

significant improvements in the conditions in all three countries since their designations for TPS in November 2014, the lingering effects of the Ebola Virus outbreak and continued recovery challenges support this six-month extension.

The extended designation is

Disparities

proposal would be used to fund community-based initiatives.

The governor proposed $2 million in grants to help small community-based organizations that work with communities of color.

“We have a lot of community organizations doing a great job and this is a great opportunity for community organizations to engage at the state level,” said Moran. She said she is particularly interested in reducing disparities, as Ramsey County has the widest disparities in the state. Moran represents an area in St. Paul of Ramsey County.

In addition to investments in entrepreneurship, Dayton said $5 million would be used to provide down payments for home buyers with an additional $1 for counseling for homebuyers of color. The governor also called for $250,000 to provide guaranteed funds for landlords renting to disenfranchised renters – those with poor credit, mental illness or those experiencing homelessness.

From 1 businesses owned by people of color. However, the program would not be exclusive, offering opportunities to women, veterans and people with disabilities.

According to the governor $67 million of the proposed money would go to departments and programs already in existence with the additional $33 million to be allocated to community based initiatives.

Rep. Rena Moran (DFL65A), who is the state’s only African-American representative in the House, praised Dayton’s proposal and urged the Republican-led House to pass the governor’s budget.

“Here in the House I have not heard reducing economic disparities as a priority,” said Moran.

Moran said she is particularly encouraged by the fact that a portion of funds in Dayton’s

effective May 22 through Nov. 21.

Current TPS individuals from Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone seeking to extend their TPS must re-register during a 60-day period that runs from March 22, through May 23.

The six-month extension

allows TPS re-registrants to apply for a new Employment Authorization Document (EAD).

Eligible TPS beneficiaries who re-register during the 60-day period and request a new EAD will receive one with an expiration date of Nov. 21, 2016.

Additional information about TPS – including guidance on eligibility, the application process and where to file – is available at www. uscis.gov/tps or by calling the USCIS Forms Request Line toll-free at (800) 870-3676.

The register notices contain

further details about these TPS extensions for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, including application requirements and procedures, and the six-month auto-extension of current TPS Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone EADs. All USCIS forms are free.

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Page 6 • March 28 - April 3, 2016 • Insight News

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COMMENTARY From Mary Church Terrell to Barbara Lee: Black women in the Peace Movement Opinion

By Julianne Malveaux Some words seem rarely mentioned in this highly toxic political season. We’ve heard about bombs and walls, but very little about peace. One is almost tempted, when some of the candidates are speaking, to burst into song – give peace a chance. In this Women’s History Month, it makes sense to reflect on women and the peace movement, and especially on the African American women who have been peace activists and have played a significant role in this movement.

The Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom (WILPF) was founded in 1915 in the midst of World War I. Its first chair, Hull House’s Jane Addams, cared deeply about world disarmament. Early on, though, there were criticisms of

Justice From 1 #ProsecuteMPD, #Justice4Jamar and #BlackLivesMatter still stand, and they need the support of the larger community to start bringing real change to Minneapolis.

How we got here “The ensuing months [after Clark’s death] have given me more time to think about the grand jury. As an elected official, I also took that time to meet with more people and listen to their concerns.

I concluded that the accountability and transparency limitations of a grand jury are too high a hurdle to overcome,” Freeman stated.

WILPF and the peace movement because African American were too often invisible. In a book poignantly title, No Peace Without Freedom, Race and WILPF, Joyce Blackwell writes about tensions within the path breaking peace organization.

In a similar book, “A Band of Noble Women: Racial Politics in the Women’s Peace Movement,” Melinda Plastas writes that African American women combined the effects of race, gender and war, and “demanded a place for Black women in the international peace movement.

Mary Church Terrell was involved in WILPF almost from its outset, serving on its board for a time. The D.C. doyenne, who was one of the first African American women to earn a college degree, was involved in the civil rights and social justice movements.

A teacher by profession, she was one of the first women to serve on the Washington, D.C. Board of Education. She played founding roles in many justice organizations, including the NAACP, the International College of Women, the National

How did Freeman come to that conclusion? Did he sit and search within the goodness of his heart to find the right answer? Policies don’t often change solely because officials have genuine, altruistic changes of heart. So, let’s give credit where it’s due.

There have been concerted efforts from across Twin Cities communities to put pressure on Freeman’s office ever since he first announced he intended to send the Clark case to a grand jury back in November.

After the 18-day occupation of the Fourth Precinct, big protests like the Black Lives MatterMinneapolis (BLM) shutdown of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport on Dec. 23 and the six weekly #FreemanFriday protests by the

Black women’s history of peace activism should be lifted up this month, especially the work of Mary Church Terrell and Barbara Lee.

Association of Colored Women (NACW), and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Some of her dealings with WILPF were not smooth – she was not re-elected to serve a second term on the Board of the organization, to the chagrin of many of the White women who felt that Black women’s voices needed to be heard on peace matters.

Terrell was not the only woman who worked with WILPF during its early days.

Addie Hunton came to activism early, working as an organizer

for NACW in the early twentieth century. She worked with servicemen in France during the war. Those war experiences perhaps influenced her to work as a peace activist during the 1920s. In 1926, she wrote a report condemning US occupation of Haiti. Bertha McNeill was another of the African American women involved in WILPF. She led the Washington, D.C. chapter, and also served as a vice president of the organization for two terms.

These women – as do some

TCC4J at the Hennepin County Government Center have been the most visible actions in the fight for #Justice4Jamar.

Less visible acts, and just as important, have been the community meetings, phone calls, petitions and many organizing efforts that have kept #Justice4Jamar top of mind for state and city officials in recent months.

“When we held our first meeting, we did it because we decided that we as a community can organize. We wanted to have something for people who wanted to help, but didn’t know what to do. Folks can’t win by themselves,” said Mel Reeves, also of TCC4J. “We’ve had call-in campaigns with a hundred people

calling in to Freeman’s office.

We’ve had marches. We know we have work to do.”

NOC and TCC4J have had multiple meetings with Freeman and his staff and have also helped bring forward witness testimony from the night Clark was killed.

In addition, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC) spearheaded a petition effort to prevent a grand jury from being used in the Clark case. The petition has seen more than 2,700 participants sign on to the cause.

Another key moment in the fight was a Feb. 1 panel discussion hosted by Minneapolis City Council member Alondra Cano.

Leaders from NAACP, BLM and NOC spent the evening educating more than 300 attendees why grand juries are ineffective, how they have historically been used to keep people of color down, and what can be done to abolish the practice.

But it can hardly be called a coincidence when Freeman holds a press conference the morning after Cook County Attorney Anita Alvarez of Chicago–who covered up the Laquan McDonald case– and prosecutor for the Tamir Rice case Cuyahoga County Attorney of Cleveland Tim McGinty were both voted out of office. Freeman’s incumbency may be valid until 2019, but a five-term politician knows which way the wind blows.

“It speaks to a broader conversation in the Midwest.

The worst racial disparities are here, not just on the coasts or in the South, but here,” said Wintana Melekin, civic and political engagement director at NOC. Melekin noted that when groups organize together and push for change, the way Assata’s Daughters and Black Youth Project 100 organized within a month to oust Alvarez, it shows the power of the movement.

“We have to continue to apply pressure,” Melekin said.

Folks in the organizing community aren’t the only ones aware that the pressure has to stay high. As TCC4J organizer Mel Reeves pointed out, Freeman’s announcement wasn’t a concession of defeat.

Rather, Reeves said Freeman is “laying down the gauntlet” and challenging communities to show up in support of the cause. “[Freeman] is saying, ‘Prove to us how bad you want this prosecuted. Every justice-loving member of the community should come out. Although he said the word, he is not talking about democracy [when he made the decision]. This is not just about transparency, this is about justice,’” Reeves said.

When Freeman said, “I will make the factual determination whether there is sufficient evidence to support a criminal charge against the police officers in the tragic death of Jamar Clark,” and touted the need for transparency as one of the key factors in his decision, he simultaneously washed his hands of any blame should he decide not to prosecute. Without the shroud of a closed-door grand jury proceeding, he can claim transparency in the Clark case, and he can seemingly rack up “brownie points” for abolishing grand juries county-wide in cases where police use deadly force.

“He thinks he’s throwing us a bone. He thinks, ‘We’re giving y’all this, now shut up.’ But we’ve

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of our non-African American sisters like Media Benjamin and Arandhati Roy – come to mind in the middle of this raucous political season. Sane, calm voices are missing in these presidential debates. We are also missing a future focus that takes the futility of increasing militarism into consideration.

With the immigration crisis sparked by conflict in Syria, the violence maintained by ISIS, unrest in the Middle East, and tension with Russia, not to mention the number of US troops still in Afghanistan and Iraq, wouldn’t it be appropriate for us to hear about alternatives to militarism.

That brings me to California Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the only person who had the courage to oppose President George W. Bush’s push for military action after September 11, 2001. She appropriately asked whether our country was rushing into war. Subsequent events suggest that we did rush – “weapons of mass destruction” were never found.

Many of us are quite familiar with Barbara Lee’s peace activism, but far fewer of us

know much about Mary Church Terrell and Addie Hunton.

While African American peace activists were few in the WILPF early days, their contributions were significant and, more importantly, they paved the way for activists like Barbara Lee to advocate a peace agenda and a peace budget.

Those who profit from the military industrial complex seem so welded to the notion of war that they won’t give peace a chance. And they’ll take war however they can – at home, as police departments are increasingly militarized (do we really need tanks in city streets), or abroad, where it is easy to create an enemy. Black women’s history of peace activism should be lifted up this month, especially the work of Mary Church Terrell and Barbara Lee.

got to tell him that we don’t want a bone, we want the meat,” Carroll said.

And there are plenty more meaty demands from the community still awaiting redress.

Of the standing demands that BLM made since the Nov. 15 shooting, only the demand for involvement of federal investigators in the case has been met. Demands such as the termination of the officers involved in the shooting, Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze (who currently hold MPD desk jobs), and a public release of the security footage that are evidence in Clark’s death have been largely ignored by city officials.

And really, Freeman’s move to ban grand juries was not that revolutionary. The system has been broken for years, and critics have long been calling it out.

Freeman has been Hennepin County Attorney for 18 of the past 40 years.

“Freeman has never prosecuted the police before.

Who’s to say he’s going to start now, unless we put the pressure on him?” Reeves said It’s important to note that Freeman has not disavowed the use of grand juries. He has only stated they will not be used in Hennepin County.

“To have 23 people make a factual decision versus just the prosecutor and his team has appeal. After all, the law that applies is exactly the same whether the facts are applied to that law by a grand jury or a prosecutor,” Freeman said in his March 16 statement. “Other communities may feel the use of the grand jury in police shooting cases is appropriate.”

Even as Hennepin County has dropped the use of grand juries in cases of police using deadly force, almost every other county in the state uses grand juries as the standard. In February, a Ramsey County grand jury failed to deliver an indictment of St. Paul Police Officer Rich McGuire over the death of Phil Quinn, a Native American man who was shot in September while suffering from a mental health episode.

The morning after Freeman’s announcement on March 17, Cambodian man Map Kong was shot and killed by Burnsville police for allegedly brandishing a knife in a McDonald’s parking lot.

The case is still being investigated, but Dakota County has had a policy of using grand juries in police shootings since 1990.

“Our struggle is ignored.

When it’s a white person, and especially a police officer, on trial, the proof has to go above and beyond what it would be for a black person to prove them guilty.

Black folks are subject to a much lower standard to prove guilt,” Melekin said.

Rose M. Brewer, an African American studies professor at the University of Minnesota, said the discussions around prosecuting the police and the use of the grand jury are linked to the origins of policing. Brewer said the earliest forms of policing come from the old “posse” model, when violent groups of white men were sent out to recapture slaves or commit genocide upon Native Americans, thus building an an economic and power structure based off of exploitation. How can such a system bring a just and fair judgment when its own officers have perpetrated violence against communities of color?

“Until a deep level of social transformation happens, we’ll continue to deal with these issues,” Brewer said. “Things are different these days. Now we’re more organized. What can happen when they can’t keep things in check?”

California, in an act by its state Legislature, is the only state that has banned the use of grand juries in cases of police using deadly force. Minnesota could be the next.

NOC has put forward a similar resolution. The resolution passed numerous party precinct caucuses on March 1, and with continued support the measure could appear on Minnesota party platforms later this spring. Organizing is also being done at the Minnesota

Grand juries are ineffective So, what is a grand jury and what does it do? As Freeman stated, in Minnesota, a grand jury consists of 23 randomly selected adults who are chosen to decide whether or not there is probable cause to indict, or charge, an individual for a crime. The grand jury proceedings are closed to the public. During the proceedings, witnesses are questioned both by the prosecutor and then independently by grand jury members. The grand jury also reviews related documents and videos.

If the grand jury decides there is probable cause, it issues an indictment and the case is then prosecuted in public, by the county attorney. If the grand jury doesn’t find probable cause, the case ends, just as it did for Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice.

There is no legal requirement to call for a grand jury in cases where police use deadly force.

By law, the only time a grand jury is automatically invoked is in cases of first degree murder.

Invoking grand juries when police use deadly force is a matter of policy, decided at the county level.

The tricky part is the prosecutor is the one who educates the grand jurors through the indictment decision-making process. As FiveThirtyEight reports, bias on both the jurors’ and the prosecutor’s part plays a role in whether grand juries indict police officers.

“Perhaps prosecutors, who depend on police as they work on criminal cases, tend to present a less compelling case against officers, whether consciously or unconsciously,” wrote FiveThirtyEight’s Ben Casselman.

Grand juries are particularly problematic in Minnesota. Unlike other states, even the transcripts of grand jury proceedings are not available to the public after the grand jury delivers its decision and completes its investigation.

“Grand juries are deliberately secretive and have long been ineffective. They have been used to oppress,” said NOC executive director Anthony Newby during the Feb. 1 Café con Alondra panel.

Last December the Star Tribune reported that since 2000, 142 people had died as a result of Minnesota law enforcement using deadly force. None of those incidents resulted in a grand jury indictment. In Hennepin County, the policy for calling a grand jury when police use deadly force has been in place for 40 years.

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist based in Washington, D.C. Her latest offering, “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy,” is available for purchase at www. juliannemalveaux.com Follow her on Twitter @drjlastword.

JUSTICE TURN TO 9

insightnews.com

Insight News • March 28 - April 3, 2016 • Page 7

Burdensome medical debt may be forgiven under Senior Partners Care Program

By Deb Taylor Evelyn, 82, feels fortunate, having survived a major medical crisis that could have ended her independence. But once recovered and back home, Evelyn felt her stress level rise each time she opened the medical bills from the local hospital. The sizeable ‘balance due’ was for medical expenses not covered by her Medicare plan. This debt, which totaled thousands of dollars, was a worry because Evelyn lives modestly on a fixed income in her rural Minnesota bungalow.

Eventually, the high-pressure collection agency calls began, seeking payment. For Evelyn, who’d always paid her bills on

time, this suffocating financial burden seemed overwhelming and impossible to pay off. She’s not alone. Debt collection is one of the top complaints for older adults, with medical debt representing more than half of all collection calls, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Evelyn’s daughter soon discovered Senior Partners Care a statewide program of nonprofit Senior Community Services.

The program enables qualifying Minnesota seniors to get help bridging the burdensome financial gap between their medical bills and the partial amount covered by Medicare. Senior Community Services has partnered with hundreds of hospitals, clinics and providers statewide. These

healthcare providers have agreed to accept Medicare as full payment on Medicarecovered services, waiving any additional healthcare debt owed by qualifying seniors.

For Evelyn, the program has been a godsend, with thousands of dollars in medical debt forgiven by the hospital.

Among the more than 700,000 seniors living in Minnesota, more than half of them live in Greater Minnesota, approximately 1 in 5 seniors live in or near poverty. Most are on fixed incomes and spiraling medical costs can quickly become a major life stressor.

Who’s eligible for Senior Partners Care? The decision to waive a Medicare deductible, coinsurance or co-payment owed by a Minnesota senior is

Jury

involved shootings. This week, Chicago and Cleveland voted out county attorneys who’ve failed to deliver justice for their communities while overpolicing them. Ferguson, Mo. has accepted important changes from the Department of Justice.

Freeman’s decision not to use a grand jury in Minneapolis is the latest example of a shift in power in the Midwest.

Organizing works. Freeman’s decision is a game-changing step toward a new system of police accountability, in Hennepin County and across the country.�

Freeman’s action was also heralded by Rep. Keith Ellison, who nationally represents the district where Clark was killed. “This is a victory for transparency,� said Ellison in a statement. “Large sections of our community doubt that the grand jury system can yield a fair outcome, and their secretive nature worsens the already strained relations between police and the community they serve. Wherever the facts and law lead in this case, making the prosecution decision in the public light will increase community confidence.�

State Rep. Raymond Dehn (59B) said the shooting and death of Clark brought much needed attention to the flaws in our criminal justice system. “This is an important step forward for justice in Minnesota. Not using the grand jury system to determine charges in police shootings makes justice for Jamar, and others who are shot by police, possible,� said Dehn in a statement.

From 1

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

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he was killed. Many witnesses say Clark was handcuffed at the time of the shooting. The shooting kicked off weeks of nonstop protests outside of the Minneapolis 4th District police station, a couple of short blocks from where Clark was killed.

Freeman’s announcement came less than 24 hours after prosecutors in Chicago and Cleveland were ousted by voters who were angered in the handling of police shootings in their cities. In Chicago, Anita Alvarez fell to defeat – many say because of the mishandling in the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, who was shot 17 times by police; and in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County District Attorney Tim McGinty was voted out, presumably as a result of no charges being filed against officers who rolled up to a park and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice. Rice was playing with a BB gun and was shot without warning by police.

Whether or not politics played a role in Freeman’s decision, many are saying the unprecedented action is the direct result of community activism. “We thank County Attorney Freeman for taking this important step toward police accountability,� said Anthony Newby, executive director of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change. “In cities across the Midwest, Black-led organizing is leading a movement for more accountability for officer-

made based on a determination of the senior’s financial needs.

To qualify for Senior Partners Care, Minnesota seniors must submit an application and a $42 annual fee, receive care by participating medical providers, must have Medicare A & B, and meet these income and asset thresholds: $1,980.00 in gross income monthly for a single person and $2,670.00 monthly for a couple. Liquid assets must be under $48,600 per household; this excludes the home you live in and one car.

To speak with a staff member about Senior Partners

Care, and for more information on other services for seniors and caregivers, visit www. seniorcommunity.org or call toll-free 1-888-541-5488.

The Senior Partners Care program is a great opportunity unknown to many lowincome Minnesota seniors and caregivers. It’s one of many services designed to help lowincome seniors remain living independently in their own homes for as long as possible.

For most seniors this is a much preferred lifestyle option rather than a more costly senior care facility.

As a caring community, we have an obligation to assist seniors, the generation that has made all of us better. Now, its our turn to Reimagine Aging and assist a generation of older adults so they can live vital, engaging lives.

Deb Taylor is CEO of Senior Community Services (www. seniorcommunity.org) and its Reimagine Aging Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for Minnesota seniors and caregivers so they can maintain their independence through free or low-cost services.

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Receptionist Lue B. Lampley Contributing Writers Melvin Carter, Jr. Harry Colbert, Jr. Julie Desmond Fred Easter Timothy Houston Penny Jones-Richardson Alaina L. Lewis Darren Moore Carmen Robles Lydia Schwartz Ryan T. Scott Artika Tyner Toki Wright Photography David Bradley 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.

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Page 8 • March 28 - April 3, 2016 • Insight News

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LIFESTYLE

Enjoy the moment Man Talk

By Timothy Houston The pursuit of perfection, although an admirable ambition, sometimes gets in the way of one enjoying the moment. Life is a journey with many, many of milestones, and each one should be enjoyed on its own merit. I have learned to take pleasure in and celebrate my continuous pursuit of selfimprovement. Here a few things you can do to enjoy the moment.

First, enjoy the moment by seeking to be kind. Kindness is

in your sphere of control. You do not need a degree, special training, or help from others to be kind. When others are unkind, you can still choose kindness.

The way you get to perfection matters. Wounding others along the way takes away from your personal accomplishments. The continuous pursuit of kindness is the forerunner to success in life.

Secondly, enjoy the moment by seeking purpose. On your way through life’s journey, seek your true purpose. To do the wrong thing perfectly is not perfection.

To be perfect, you must do what you were created to do. If you know in your heart that you should be a teacher, teach. Being the best teacher that you can be is better than being a perfect engineer, and you will truly enjoy the journey.

This realization is true for all the

Contentment is the ability to forget those things that are behind and to reach forward to those things that are ahead.

dimensions of your life.

Thirdly, enjoy the moment by seeking contentment. Contentment is happiness (temporal state) coupled with peace (permanent

state). It is simply a way of accepting one’s current life state and being grateful, happy, and at peace with it. Contentment is the ability to forget those things

that are behind and to reach forward to those things that are ahead. This is the steppingstone needed for the continuous pursuit of self-improvement.

Finally, enjoy the moment by seeking balance. Balance is the even distribution of weight that enables a person to remain upright and steady. Being upright is a vertical state that deals with your relationship with others, and is predicated on things being in their proper place physically, emotionally, and spiritually. You cannot be upright and depressed at the same time. Balance brings the steady positioning needed to make contentment possible regardless of life’s milestones.

This article along with Insight News is intent on empowering the reader with “insight” needed to enjoy the

moment. There is nothing wrong with enjoying life, but enjoying life comes from oneness with self and God. The Lord’s Prayer admonishes us to refer to him as our heavenly Father. He is the only one that is perfect so he is the only one qualified to lead us to perfection. I have peace with God and family and friends who love me. I am purposed, balanced, and content. Because of this, I am truly enjoying the moment!

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

Desert living…food desert that is

By Michelle Mitchum, MPH, and HHP A food desert, (as defined by Webster’s), is an urban area in which it is particularly difficult to get fresh food. This is usually due to the lack of grocery stores and farmers markets. Living in a city like New York, or any other major metropolitan area in the world, you would think it would be a challenge to find a food

desert. The unfortunate truth is, food deserts are common in most major US cities, including: • • • • • • • •

Chicago, IL New York, NY Detroit, MI Atlanta, GA New Orleans, LA Atlanta, GA Minneapolis, MN Memphis, TN

With all of the affluence, education and resources in

the United States, issues of hunger, malnutrition, and lack of access confuse me. There are over 500 billionaires…. yes, BILLIONAIRES, in the US, and in New York City, there are over 300K millionaires.

So, HOW is it possible that issues such as this, plague this country? Why are people living in cities, where millionaires and billionaires reside, but there are communities with no access to nutritious food?

In some affluent

communities, food deserts are intentional, where privacy is a priority, and neighbors are sometimes ten miles apart.

However, in low income areas that are void of grocery stores and farmers markets, are often unusually dense in fast food restaurants, and small local markets that are laden with processed foods and unhealthy alternatives.

In these communities, there are increased cases vb of food related illnesses such as

diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol etc.

While this is an unfortunate truth, it is a reality for over 20 million Americans, with over half being low-income. So, what are some solutions for those who live in areas void of nutritional resources? Here are a few of suggestions: • Collaborate with community leaders and members to lobby to bring major food retailers to the neighborhood.

• Collaborate with community members to plant a community garden • Solicit regional farmers to participate in a local farmers market • Coordinate with community members frequent trips to the nearest major food market Even while living in a food desert, with a little work, and organizing, community members can ensure that they receive nutritious food.

Churches go green, save green, clean God’s green earth

By Avis Thomas-Lester, Urban News Service The biggest challenge at the Reverend Dr. Earl D. Trent, Jr.’s historic black church is raising enough money to do the Lord’s work.

Trent, pastor of Washington, D.C.’s Florida Avenue Baptist Church, was grappling with that very issue five years ago when he heard a presentation about how going green could reduce utility costs.

“We’ve always been somewhat socially aware,” Trent said. “So when we looked at the savings and the opportunity to do something good for the environment, we decided to give it a try.”

The pastor and his board worked with an engineer to design a program to power the 103-yearold church with clean, economical energy. They equipped the roof with solar-electric panels. They replaced the aged HVAC system with a new, energy-efficient model and installed LED lights.

“We are saving at least $600 per month on electricity,” Trent said. “For a church like this one, that’s a lot of money. It has worked out so well that we are considering adding more energyefficient features.”

As America continues to reel from an unsteady economy, many black churches have expanded from places of worship to help centers. Many now operate food pantries, drug and alcohol programs and even work-training facilities, atop traditional church services.

Yet, even as need has increased, giving has slowed.

Despite the biblical mandate that good Christians should donate 10 percent of their income to the church, many members have cut their offerings, religious leaders say.

“There are a lot of hands outstretched at church these days, but far too many of them are empty,” said one pastor. “We have to raise more and spend it wiser.”

Energy efficiency serves two purposes, church officials said. It saves money that can aid members. It also improves aging facilities.

Energy modernization can be cost-prohibitive, experts said, easily topping $50,000 for a moderately sized church.

So, many jurisdictions offer nointerest or low-interest loans and will finance projects up to 100 percent.

Several private organizations

and government agencies help churches go green. Washington, D.C.’s Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies partnered with the African Methodist Episcopal Church in a 2012 energy pilot program.

Con Edison covered $68,500 of the $178,000 cost of energysaving boiler and pipe insulation last year at Harlem’s Riverside Church, site of a 1990 speech by Nelson Mandela and the 1972 funeral of baseball legend Jackie Robinson.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star for Congregations program “certifies” churches as energy efficient. Rosemary Enobakhare, a supervisor in the EPA’s congregations office, said some pastors are taking an activist role.

“Faith leaders understand that when it comes to environmental issues like a changing climate, minority and underserved communities are suffering the most,” she said.

The Rev. Dr. Eleazar Merriweather, pastor of Detroit’s St. Paul AME Zion Church, which is on the EPA’s “certified” list, said he regularly preaches energy conservation to his 225 members. His energy forum drew 200 participants in 2013.

“We had people there to teach them how to conserve on power so that their energy costs would be lower,” said Merriweather. “That contributes to them being able to pay their bills.”

Deacon William Gentry, CFO at suburban Maryland’s First Baptist Church of Glenarden, said

energy costs there have dropped 20 to 25 percent since its energy features were updated. It also has a recycling program.

“It is a church that strives to be fiscally prudent and ecologically sound,” Gentry said.

Michael D. McAfee, a senior energy consultant with the National Utilities Refund, said his agency conducts energy audits to help churches determine how much they should spend and whether they have been overcharged on their utilities.

Energy auditors examine utility bills as far back as 48

months, identify overcharges and apply for refunds for their clients. McAfee said he has found a $15,000 overcharge at Glenarden.

Trustee Robert Trent said Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church in Northeast Washington is working with the D.C. Energy Department’s Property Assessed Clean Energy program to finance a $3-million energy upgrade.

The Trents aren’t related.

“There is a requirement by the city to go green. We are trying to be in alignment with what’s going on,” he said, adding that

his 7,000-member church will save $100,000-plus per year in energy costs.

Rev. Earl Trent said he appreciates that his church has reduced its carbon footprint and that his flock are good shepherds over the Earth, as the Bible says Christians should be.

But mostly he’s happy that he has saved his congregation upwards of $7,500 per year.

“We’re always looking at the bottom line,” Trent said. “We can use whatever we save to help people.”

Introducing HWMR a lifestyle brand whose mantra is Excellence, more specifically, Black Excellence.

HWMR was born out of the barbershop in the Camden section of North Minneapolis. It’s founder, Houston White, believes the barbershop is the mecca for black men across America.

It’s a place where black men from diverse backgrounds converge. It’s for us, by us – the music, the incense burning, and the pictures on the wall – a reflection of our greatness. The networking potential is unbelievable.

In fact, it’s the very place where H. White laid the foundation for the wildly successful H. White Custom Homes.

The HWMR brand is a reflection of our times; it borrows from the past, yet aims to propel the classic style of yesteryears into the future. It’s vintage modernism.

“It feels like the men of my generation have dropped the ball when it comes to the way we as a whole present ourselves to the world. As stated

by G. Bruce Boyer, we make decisions based on peoples appearances.”

— H. White

Photo: Rebecca Rabb

“It is both delusional and stupid to think that clothes don’t really matter and we should all wear whatever we want. Most people don’t take clothing seriously enough, but whether we should or not, clothes do talk to us and we make decisions based on peoples appearances.”

— G. Bruce Boyer

The goal of HWMR is to provide superior products with excellent service while inspiring greatness. Please join in as we realign with the awesomeness of our forefathers vision and forge the new frontier of Black Excellence.

A portion of every dollar earned by HWMR will go towards the HWMR Scholarship fund for future entrepreneurs. •

insightnews.com

Insight News • March 28 - April 3, 2016 • Page 9

COMMUNITY Forging equitable communities

By Gary L. Cunningham Editor’s note: This article is the first of a three-part series on creating new structures of opportunity. It was first published

by PRRAC in the March 2016 issue of P&R. Introduction One of my vivid childhood memories is of my mother looking out the window of our small house in one of the poorest neighborhoods in North Minneapolis. Outside, in the dead of winter, white men were standing around a backhoe digging up the street to turn off our gas main. That night my mother and her five children spent the coldest night of the year in the main room upstairs (which doubled as a bedroom I shared with my brother) under heavy blankets in front of a small electric space heater.

In that winter of 1967, there was no cold weather rule prohibiting poor families’ gas from being shut off in the winter.

If you couldn’t pay your gas bill, your heat was turned off. No questions asked, no consideration of your situation, and no regard for whether you had children in the home or not. Our water pipes would freeze and eventually we would be evicted. We would move to another poor area of town and the pattern would begin again; maybe next time the loss of our electricity or the inability to pay rent would trigger our eviction.

We clung to the bottom of the safety net; the welfare check really never pro- vided enough to support our family. We were always living on the edge. We survived with some support from my grandparents and other relatives, rummage sales for clothes and furniture, food stamps and free and reduced lunch at school.

Growing up on welfare meant that we could expect a social worker to visit our home every month to make sure that no adult men were living in the house. The

social worker would walk through our house looking in closets and in drawers; nothing was off limits from her prying eyes. The social worker would then ask my mother and us kids questions to deduce if an adult man was or had been present and living in our house.

In that poor North Minneapolis neighborhood, I was hardly alone.

All of us young African-American children lived in abject poverty isolated from opportunity.

Looking out the window that summer, I watched the police beat Black people with billy clubs. I counted the armored tanks lining the streets; I watched National Guard troops herding groups of young Black men into police vehicles. I remember being very scared that they were going to come and get my family and me. My mother told us “Don’t go outside” and “Don’t look out the window.” Once a safe and mixed race community made up of primarily of Jews and Blacks, it became a scary place for me as a nine-year-old boy. Soon thereafter, it became a segregated, exclusively Black community.

The injustice I witnessed looking out that window at the riots in 1967 left an indelible mark on me. It is no coincidence that fifty years later on the same block, almost in the exact spot, police officers shot and killed a Black man. That ignited a new set of protests on the same North Minneapolis street where I grew up. The killing, the subsequent protest and civil unrest traumatized another generation of children.

This time the protests focused on the fourth precinct police station, which was located on the site of the former community center that was built to address the unrest that boiled up 50 years ago.

Then and now, the situations may be somewhat different, but the conditions and underlying causes have remained the same.

Conditions: Poverty, inadequate housing and homelessness, significant gaps in emotional, financial, and physical wellbeing as well as gaps in justice, employment, and educational achievement.

Gary Cunningham

Dreams Deferred

have failed. The only way we can move forward is if the community keeps the pressure on Freeman’s office, county attorneys across the state, the state Legislature, Gov. Mark Dayton and even the state’s federal politicians.

TCC4J will hold a rally on March 26 at the Hennepin County Government Center to demand that Freeman’s office #ProsecuteMPD. The rally starts at noon.

In addition, our politicians

need to hear from us. Find who represents you and their contact information here. Dayton can be contacted at 651-201-3400.

No justice, no peace. Prosecute the police.

charge of ensuring that women and minority business enterprises have a fair shot at securing Microsoft vendor contracts and who sponsors initiatives like the NNPA Foundation’s STEM REACH 2020 to ensure there is a diverse future talent pool as well as the robotics team of all (Black) women from Spelman College who taught the children the basics of programming a robot named SPICE. And the beauty of it all is that the children didn’t have to sit still. Moving around, inquisitive, excited, they asked questions, participated in a programming game, learned the basics of flying a drone and saw technology parts built with Legos.

Their curiosity and energy aligns nicely with the scientific

method of inquiry, research and investigation that the presenters hope will engage them enough to follow in the footsteps of Black and Hispanic giants.

And this is just the beginning; STEM is on the horizon. A day after the NNPA Foundation STEM Reach 2020 program ended, on March 12, 2016 hundreds gathered from Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland to compete for the FIRST Robotics Competition sponsored by Northrop Grumman Corporation (https:// www.firstchesapeake.org/).

STEM is on the rise in the Black and Hispanic community; and we say, bring it on! http://nnpa.org/ http://www.edweek.org/ew/ articles/2013/03/06/23chesloff. h32.html

(Part 2: What do Mars and the Macarena have in common?)

police using deadly force before the session ends on May 23.

From 6

How you can help The Jamar Clark case has the potential to set precedence that will make lasting changes in

Minnesota’s judicial system. If Ringgenberg and Schwarze are prosecuted, and the grand jury is banned statewide in cases when police use deadly force, Minnesota has a chance to do right where other jurisdictions

will occur in STEM related occupations over the next decade if something isn’t done quickly.

JD Chesloff in his commentary on “STEM Must Start in Early Childhood” advocates getting a head start.

Why?, because the scientific approach is in alignment with young children’s developmental stage at an early age. Says Chesloff, “… Young children are natural-born scientists and engineers. Like STEM, investment in early-childhood education is a workforcepipeline issue.”

The number of Black and Hispanic children who want to or believe they can pursue careers in science, math, engineering or technology (STEM) is exceedingly small.

Why? Because they rarely

see scientists or engineers or mathematicians or technology experts who look like them.

And stereotypes among teachers and counsellors (who nationally are predominantly white, even though over 50% of school children today are non-white), may discourage them because of long-held stereotypes.

On March 11, 2016, the ground shifted and a majority Black and Hispanic audience ranging from third graders to college and graduate students got to meet an array of Black men and women giants in science.

Present was a Black man who has patents for the technology he has created, Black roboticists - experts who helped design the robots for America’s Mars expeditions, a Hispanic man in

STEM From 1 Dr. Edward Tunstel, Sr. Roboticist, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and former team leader with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, and the Washington, DC Office of Contracting and Procurement, and the Ambassador Horace G. Dawson Scholars program to ensure that STEM REACH 2020 would, in fact, reach the appropriate audiences.

And right now, research suggests that introducing children to STEM early on is the only possible solution to the predicted talent gap that

social current began flowing. Due in part to hard-fought civil rights legislation and to the riots that exploded across the low-income African American communities from 1968 through the early 1970s, a fledgling educated African American middle class emerged. Its members began moving out of low-income Black communities into more affluent urban areas.

So a once united, segregated community gave birth to two groups: A distinct, yet achingly familiar African American underclass and a new African American middle class. When coupled with the exodus of middle class whites from low-income urban areas, the departure of middle class blacks significantly increased the concentration of poverty.

The unrelieved density of that poverty converged with several other factors to negatively impact the lives of low-income urban African Americans’ communities.

Especially curtailed was the development of their social and human capital. Some of these other limiting factors include: • Keen loss of the vibrant family structure in low-income African American communities, exacerbated by the legacy of national welfare policy.

• Sharp decline of economic opportunities as the earlier generation’s manufacturing jobs disappeared.

• Continued patterns of structural discrimination in housing, access to credit, and employment opportunities.

How have African Americans come to find themselves in their current circumstances? When African Americans migrated to Minnesota from 1940-1960 to escape Jim Crow laws, the Klan and sharecropping, they did so much like the Swedes, Norwegians, Germans, and Jews before them. Their goal was to make a better life for themselves and their children. They came searching for a promised land, one that would offer them freedom, hope, and opportunity.

My grandparents migrated to Minnesota in 1946 as part of the Great Migration. Occurring between 1910 and 1970, the Great Migration tugged six million African Americans out of the rural South and into the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West.

My grandfather worked for over 20 years as a shift worker at a clothing factory located in North Minneapolis. It was one of the few places African Americans were

Causes: Cumulative impact of racialized public policies, legal injustice, cramped or non-existent opportunity structures, weakened family support systems, and racial isolation and segregation.

To leave these conditions intact and these causes enthroned guarantees not only the future misfortune of African Americans.

It also makes unbearably certain that violence against them will play out on the same streets that have born witness to such sorrow for almost three generations.

To many people, the status quo now seems entrenched, inevitable, and resistant to solutions. Yet breaking the tragic cycle is doable, provided we forge together a new path. One of the first steps on that path is gaining a fresh understanding of the relevant history and the causes, especially the policies and opportunity structures.

Justice Legislature to propose a bill abolishing grand juries in cases of

allowed to work in Minnesota. My grandmother worked part-time as a maid and cook for wealthy white families. Together they raised a family of six children and got by on less than $9,000 a year. They owned their own home and car.

They were poor, but the family unit was still very much intact at that time.

The life and marriage they knew was woven into a social structure that was about to deteriorate badly. In 1963, African Americans had one of the highest marriage rates in the country: 70 percent. Today, African American marriage rates are the lowest in the country: According to a Pew Research Center report, “The share of never married adults has gone up for all major racial and ethnic groups in the United States, but the rate of increase has been most dramatic among Blacks.

Among Black adults ages 25 and older, the share who has never been married has quadrupled over the past half century—from 9% in 1960 to 36% in 2012” (Wendy Wang, Kim Parker, 2014). In the period between 1970 and 2001, the overall marriage rate in the United States declined by 17 percent; for blacks, it fell by 34 percent. African American women are the least likely in our society to marry (Joy Jones, 2006).

Author of works such as Power Racism and Privilege (1976) and When Work Disappears (1996), renowned Harvard sociologist William Julius Wilson frames this issue as arising from the lack of marriageable African American males.

By roughly 1975, the dream of a northern promised land for African Americans had given way as America made its move from a producer to a consumer nation.

In many urban communities, the industrial jobs that African American men could work dried up in the late 60s and early 70s. From New York across to Wisconsin, what had been the robust Steel and Factory Belts turned into the job deficient Rust Belt. The service economy was in ascendance.

At the same time, a reverse

Classifieds

Phone: 612.588.1313

Fax: 612.588.2031

Gary L. Cunningham (gcunningham@media. net) is President and CEO of Metropolitan Economic Development Association, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.

He is a Metropolitan Council Member, and chairs the Community Development Committee.

Irma McClaurin, PhD is an award-winning writer and poet, an activist anthropologist, diversity consultant and educator. Passion and a deep commitment to social justice and public science inform her writing.

In 2015, the Black Press named her “Best Columnist.” She is the Insight News’ Culture and Education Editor and author of several books, articles and poetry.

Contact: www.irmamcclaurin. com/imcclaurin@gmail.com/@ mcclaurintweets © 2016 McClaurin Solutions; All Rights Reserved. Do Not Reprint without permission.

Email: info@insightnews.com

Reimbursed Senior Volunteer Positions

E. SHANELL SALON IS NOW HIRING!

Operations Generalist – Duluth

Parent Aware Quality Coach: FT

Senior Corps is seeking volunteers aged 55+ willing to help seniors as friendly visitors in their homes and for outings in the community OR to help kids in schools as mentors. Tax free stipend, travel reimbursement, and other benefits. Contact Lisa Beardsley at 651.310.9450 or lisa.beardsley@lssmn.org

South Minneapolis salon is looking for a mature and responsible Stylist and Nail Technician.

Space available for booth rent. E. SHANELL SALON, 4118 Cedar Ave S Minneapolis MN. 55407. For more information: Call 612-724-4435.

The U.S. District Court, District of MN is accepting applications for a full-time Operations Generalist in Duluth, MN. Salary range is $39,171 - $63,664.

For more information visit the court’s website, www.mnd.uscourts.gov, Employment.

Facilitator Positions (volunteer)

An Equal Opportunity Employer

Care Consultant Manager Alzheimer’s Association - Edina, MN

$14.76 - $16.24 DOQ. Some Child Development college credit; 3 yrs. Exp.; 1 yr. RBPD; driver’s license; reliable transportation; Knowledge: Child development; early learning standards; community resources; Abilities: Work independently; meet deadlines; maintain confidentiality; team environment; PC computer; home visiting; work with diverse populations; Duties: Provide TA to providers in Anoka/Washington Counties; recruit child care programs; present recruitment information sessions; Full description app at www.accap.org.

ACCAP is an Equal Opportunity Employer ACCAP is an Equal Opportunity Employer

The Care Consultant Manager is primarily responsible for managing all aspects of the care consultation program in the nine county metro area and providing technical assistance to the MN Regional offices, as needed. This position will also provide care consultation services by assessing individual/caregiver/ family, developing individualized treatment plans to address biopsychosocial needs and implementing the treatment plan accordingly. This position will fulfill requirements of related grants including documentation and tracking referrals, and additional collaborative administrative projects. This person will assist with delivery of centralized, high quality, evidence-based educational programs and outreach events for people with dementia, their families, and professionals in the community. Please apply with cover letter, references and resume to http://www.alz.org/mnnd/in_my_ community_about.asp.

Hennepin County is seeking volunteer greeters for its North Minneapolis human service center at 1001 Plymouth Avenue North to welcome and guide visitors, answer questions and assist with special projects. Reliable adults who enjoy working with people and who are available for a few hours twice a week are encouraged to apply.

Ideal candidates will be able to volunteer for a minimum of three months. Volunteers are integral to Hennepin County’s mission of enhancing the health, safety and quality of life of its residents and communities in a respectful, efficient and fiscally responsible way. Get involved by visiting http://www.hennepin.us/humanservicevolunteer and submitting a volunteer application.

Would you like to gain 140 pounds after the Empower older adults to manage their health!

Volunteer facilitator positions have opened at East Side Neighborhood Services (ESNS). ESNS, in collaboration with Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging and the Wilder Foundation, is hosting evidencedbased classes and workshops: Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance, A Matter of Balance, and Living Well with Chronic Conditions. We are seeking leaders who are comfortable and engaging in front of a small group. Experience working with diverse communities required. Facilitators must attend training (varies from two to four days depending on the class), commit to leading two entire sessions of a class or workshop (six to 12 weeks per session depending on the class), and adhere to established curriculum. We anticipate most groups will meet during the day. Classes and workshops meet either twice a week for one hour or once a week for two hours. To apply, contact Brenna Horn, Senior Health and Wellness Coordinator at ESNS: 612-787-4055 , bhorn@esns.org.

Next week: Caste System: Alive and Well in Minnesota

Volunteer Greeters

Foster Care

Volunteers of America, MN Would you like to gain 140 pounds after the Holidays? Not physically gain this weight, but weight in the sense of another person!

Volunteers of America-MN is looking for skilled, dedicated parents to provide care for at-risk youth, ages ranging from infants to teenagers. We provide foster parents with lots of friendly training, 24-hour support, and a monthly stipend.

For more information, please contact Brittani Walker at 952-945-4064 or visit our website http://www.voamnwi.org/foster-care

Page 10 • March 28 - April 3, 2016 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Mai Kou “MK” Xiong

Designer Mai Kou “MK” Xiong to showcase her line April 22 at the Muse

By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer

M

ai Kou “MK” Xiong has earned the respect of many in the Twin Cities fashion community.

While her name is known for capturing images with her camera as a sought-after photographer, ultimately she hopes her name is synonymous with high-end designer fashions.

The limited edition designer will present “Fancy Floral Fashion,” Friday, April 22 at the Muse Event Center, 107 3rd Ave. N., Minneapolis.

Xiong’s brand, MKx8 Design, will debut its exclusive line of mostly evening gowns from 8 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Xiong said her line of eveningwear will appeal to

the fashion-forward buyer.

“I’m a big fan of classy and sophisticated and my designs reflect that with a hint of sassy and sexy,” said Xiong, who has been designing since she was a teen.

The multi-talented designer and photographer said her show will be a platform for her line and other area artists, as there will be musical performances by Chirch and the Dirty Thoughts, the SRC Trio, dance by Legacy Drill Company and live painting by Iyare Oronsaye.

“I really want to showcase the talents of some of our area artists,” said Xiong.

Tickets for the event are $35 for general admission and $50 VIP. VIP includes a complimentary gift bag.

Tickets are available via Xiong’s website, www. mkx8design.com.

insightnews.com

Insight News • March 28 - April 3, 2016 • Page 11

1990 Now Dance Party Part 2 Darby’s Pub and Grill 315 5th Ave. N., Minneapolis 10 p.m. – 2 a.m.

21-plus $5 before 11 p.m., $10 after

Omie the Homie

Take a trip back in time when you wore Cross Colours, Karl Kani, Fubu, Polo and Girbaud just to name a few – but most importantly, when the music was all good. This event is dedicated to the people who are “old enough to know better” but still young enough to do their thing.

Mar. 28 - April 3

DJ Chuck Chizzle will be taking partygoers on a funky expedition spinning 1990s hip-hop and R&B.

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

Saturday, April 2 COMEDY

Sarah White

Monday, March 28 HIP-HOP/PERFORMANCE

With numerous motion picture appearances, countless television shows, sitcoms and standup specials, a talk show, three radio shows, and two books Cedric “The Entertainer,” Eddie Griffin, D.L. Hughley, George Lopez and Charlie Murphy have been bringing the laughs for decades. This is a unique chance to see five members of comedy royalty come together for “The Comedy Get Down.”

Brothers from Another First Avenue & 7th St. Entry 701 N 1st Ave., Minneapolis 7:30 p.m. $12 advance, $14 door Seattle hip-hop trio Isaiah Sneed, Cole DeLeon and Nick Beeba bring their good vibe sound to Minneapolis on Sol’s “The Headspace Tour.” Chance York is also on the bill.

Sunday, April 3

Tuesday, March 29 HIP-HOP/PERFORMANCE The Catacomb Residency Honey 205 E. Hennepin, Minneapolis 9 p.m.

Catalyst and North Star Wisdom present the third night of their March in the Catacomb Residency with performances by Omie Tha Homie, North Star Wisdom, Dis-Play, Konstant Movement, Andre Mariette and Nathan EJ.

The Comedy Get Down featuring Cedric “The Entertainer”, Eddie Griffin, D.L. Hughley, George Lopez and Charlie Murphy Target Center, 600 1st Ave., Minneapolis 8 p.m. $49.75 - $65.75

FITNESS

Fit2Praise

Wednesday, March 30 MARCH/RALLY Together, to Live Violence Free – march and rally to end violence in our communities St. Paul College 235 Marshall Ave., St. Paul 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Several Twin Cities organizations will march

Flamenco legend Omayra Amaya to be featured in work inspired by poet Federico García Lorca at Cowles Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre will present “Lorca’s Women,” an evening of flamenco dance and music, April 15-17 at Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, 528 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis.

Through sensual movement and the percussive power of flamenco dance, song and guitar, this new work will bring “Lorca’s Women” across space and time.

The show features a cast of international dancers and musicians, including Omayra Amaya – grandniece of Carmen Amaya, Jose Vallé – gypsy flamenco guitarist and singer Kina Mendez.

The show also features Deborah Elias, Colette Illarde, AJ Frenzel and other Zorongo dancers.

“Flamenco embodies the universal quest for expressing the mysteries of the soul through the forms of music, poetry and dance,” said Susana di Palma, Zorongo founder and artistic director. “In my newest work, I will explore who are these women in today’s world.”

A flamenco community fiesta takes place April 17 following the 2 p.m. matinee performance.

Workshops by all of the guest artists will also be offered at the Zorongo studio.

Tickets are $30 and can be purchased online at www.thecowlescenter.org/calendar-tickets/ zorongo-flamenco or by calling (612) 206-3600.

in efforts to end violence.

Thursday, March 31 HIP-HOP/DANCE/ PERFORMANCE

for the first time since last summer. Check out his dance heavy set tonight at 7th St. with Ness Nite and Slamdunkapher.

Friday, April 1 ECLECTIC/PERFORMANCE

Le1f First Avenue & 7th St. Entry 701 N 1st. Ave., Minneapolis $20 Le1f returns to Minneapolis

Sarah White “Laughing at Ghosts” Album Release Icehouse 2528 Nicollet Ave. S. 9:30 p.m.

21-plus $8 advance $10 door Since going solo, Sarah White has been on a roll opening for Polica and Jay Electronica.

Now she celebrates her new EP, “Laughing at Ghosts” with Lady Midnight, Dizzy Fae, DJ Andthatsbreon, and hosted

by Micamaryjane. Tickets are available at www.sarahwhite. brownpapertickets.com.

HIP-HOP/DANCE/PARTY

Fit2Praise (F2P) One year Anniversary and Launch Fundraiser International Market Square – Minneapolis Design Center 275 Market St., Minneapolis $10 Be prepared to go on a tour of what F2P has to offer, including a live showing of a high energy dance routine. There will be sample smoothies, specials on membership sign-ups, exclusive new t-shirts and more.

Page 12 • March 28 - April 3, 2016 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Roland Hawkins, Emily Madigan and Neal Hazard in “Queens”

Photos Matthew Glover for Sandbox Theatre

Theo Langason in “Queens”

Sandbox Theatre presents the world premiere of ”Queens” Sandbox Theatre is set to present the world premiere of “Queens,” an original new play created by the Sandbox ensemble and three new collaborators - cast members Neal Hazard, Emily Madigan and Roland Hawkins.

Led by Sandbox Theatre’s Matthew Glover and Theo Langason, the creation ensemble also includes longtime Sandbox company members Peter Heeringa, Heather Stone and Derek Lee Miller. “Queens” is the story of an African-American boxer fighting for his place in the world of Jim Crow.

“This is a stellar team that will be digging into this really rich subject matter, and I am so excited to tell the story of Raymond Queens, a Black man, with a cast of Black actors,” said Langason. “I’m excited for Black and Brown people to see themselves represented and reflected on a stage created by Black and Brown artists. I want to remind audiences that people of color are more than tropes and tokens; that we are a collection of individuals, unique and beautiful, and our stories, our perspectives, and our lives matter.”

“Sandbox has long unearthed and elevated stories from outside the mainstream,” said Richard Cook, Park Square artistic director. “But this is the first time they’re committing their special creative juices to exploring the tale of an AfricanAmerican protagonist in a production devised and owned by a cast and creative team dominated by artists of color.”

“Queens” will be presented in the round on the Andy Boss Thrust stage, an aspect to which scenic designer Derek Miller looks forward.

“Sandbox is the first to stretch the Boss’ aesthetic and physical flexibility by creating a full-surround experience for the audience,” said Miller. “I’m eager to see and feel the difference.”

Tickets for the show range from $5 – $60 and are available online at www.parksquaretheatre.org/box-office/ shows/2015-16/queens or by calling (651) 291-7005.

“Queens” runs from May 20 to June 4.