Artrepreneur Kevin Kaoz Moore MORE ON PAGE
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Photo courtesy of the artist
April 29 - May 5, 2013
Vol. 40 No. 18 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Johns leaves mark on SBA By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief
Scott Gray
More Blacks must become entrepreneurs;
WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Marie Johns, the retired president of Washington Verizon, was busy managing a consulting firm when she received an unexpected call three years ago from the White House.
MUL chief takes area corporations to task
Despite Minnesota supreme court ruling Dunning fights to get custody of her grandchildren
By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer
Harry Colbert, Jr.
Dorothy Dunning (center) is consoled by Willie Mae Demmings (left) as Hattie Bond addresses Dunning’s supporters during a rally at the Hennepin County Courthouse. Dunning is fighting to get her grandchildren out of the state’s foster care system.
By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer NNPA
Marie Johns took care of business at the Small Business Administration.
“I got a call one day from White House personnel to come in and talk about a position with the administration,” she recounted. “Of course, given the historic nature of President Obama’s ascendancy to the presidency, I was honored to answer that call.” That call was to become Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration, a federal agency that provides small businesses with access to capital, federal contracting as well as training and counseling. The Senate unanimously confirmed her for the post on June 22, 2010. At the end of May, Johns plans to return to her consulting firm, proud of the record she is leaving behind. “Coming to the SBA was a natural for me,” she said during a recent interview at her office in Southwest Washington, D.C. “I had been focusing on small business for many years.” She had been around small businesses all of her life. “During the 1950’s my grandfather started a small landscaping company in our hometown of Indianapolis,” she said in a Feb.7 note to the SBA staff notifying employees of her intention to return to the private sector. “It went on to become one of the first African American-owned businesses to win a state contract in
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Even though the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled against her, Dorothy Dunning is fighting on in her quest to gain custody of her
granddaughters. Dunning has been in a nearly three-year battle to get her granddaughters, Princess Knox, 3, and Dorothy Knox, 2, out of the foster care system and away from their foster parents, Steven and Liv Grosser. The Knox girls were placed in the Hennepin County foster care system when their parents – both battling
substance abuse at the time – relinquished their parental rights. Dunning, the girls’ paternal grandmother, has been certified fit to care for her two grandchildren. The children are African-American. The foster family,
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Harry Colbert, Jr.
Sisters and daughters of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Naomi Tutu (left) and Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe were in north Minneapolis to discuss maintaining faith during troubling times.
Faith and hope in the wake of tragedy By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu is revered a symbol of strength and courage during a time of great strife and
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upheaval. During one of the ugliest periods of human history – South African apartheid – guided by his faith, Tutu stood firm against the oppressive rule by white South Africans. Tutu’s nonviolent resistance is credited
Business
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with bringing the cause of Black South Africans to the world stage, and during that time of great oppression, Tutu’s faith seemingly never wavered. Tutu’s daughters, Naomi Tutu and Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe, faiths were also tested during
the struggle for freedom. But both claim it was their faith in a higher power and a greater calling that helped them get through such horrid times.
TUTU TURN TO
Full Circle
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Economic empowerment is the next phase of the civil rights movement. That is the message Minneapolis Urban League President Scott Gray is trying to convey to the area’s AfricanAmerican community. Gray, who came to Minneapolis from Milwaukee, said he is accustom to seeing a plethora of African-American owned businesses in other major metropolitan cities and thinks it’s past time that Minneapolis and the surrounding areas produce more AfricanAmerican entrepreneurs. “There’s a lack of ownership in this area when you look at financial services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment; you see very few people of color, specifically AfricanAmericans owning businesses of sizable scale that employ more than themselves,” said Gray. “I grew up in Milwaukee and in my neighborhood there was a Black dry cleaner, a Black grocery store; you could feel a sense of ownership.” Gray said the AfricanAmerican business void actually presents unique opportunities for enterprising individuals willing to strike out on their own. “The question is, as the Urban League, what role do we play in this. We should have a role in economic development and fostering business growth. Maybe at some point the Urban League is a business investor or partner in creating some of these businesses,” said Gray. “That’s certainly a way to create jobs. We can’t rely solely on others to employ us. There’s a lot of opportunity, but a lot of work to be done.” Gray speculates that one of the reasons that so few AfricanAmericans own businesses in this area is because the landscape is dominated by
MUL TURN TO
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Health
Awareness is key to diagnosing rare diseases
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