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June 21 - June 27, 2010 • MN Metro Vol. 36 No. 28 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • www.insightnews.com
Suluki Fardan
Erick Goodlow, Nathan Johnson, and James Garrett, Jr.
Architects balance urban design, theory By Maya Beecham Contributing Writer Members of the architecture industry and consumers of architecture and design use these descriptors when referring to the work of 4RM+ULA, a Blackowned full service architectural design firm established in 2002. 4RM+ULA, a phonetic acronym
that stands for form + urban landscape articulation, is linked to high profile projects such as the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit, Minnesota African American Museum and Cultural Center, Selby Area CDC, and Juxtaposition Arts Center Textile Lab. James Garrett, Jr., Nathan Johnson, and Erick Goodlow, are friends and partners of
4RM+ULA who balance design, technical expertise, theory, and urban planning. The three men have known each other since youth when architecture and business ventures were a dream. After pursuing years of education at prestigious post secondary institutions on the East Coast, West Coast and Midwest, they have joined forces to bring their expertise back to the Twin Cities
and are expanding globally. Now the dream is realized. Garrett , who serves as managing partner and resident visual artist, graduated from University of California, Berkeley with an Environmental Design degree from the School of Architecture, and received a graduate degree from Parsons The New School for Design in New York. He breaks down the
firm’s approach to projects into three categories; technology, environmental sustainability, and art. “We are very big on technology, and utilizing the newest technology; whether it is different types of computer aided drafting programs to draw things and create things, or different visualization modeling techniques. We are always looking for new products and
new equipment to design into buildings to make them more energy efficient, to make them function better. We are constantly looking for opportunities to make our buildings and our designs as green as possible, to have the lowest carbon foot print possible, and [not] use the toxic chemicals and paints as such.
4RM+ULA TURN TO 11
Kim Kanowitz: Creating a haven of hope By Anika Robbins Kim’s story is one of struggle, self-discovery and finding peace and contentment. It’s about carving out a piece of the dream...by any means necessary. I met Kim back in the day when I first started singing. He was something of an anomaly to me. He loved Black music, Black women, Black culture and Elijah Muhammed, who, to me, he somewhat eerily resembled --especially when he’d don his kufi and smart suits with turtlenecks reminiscent of FOI (The Nation of Islam’s ‘Fruit of Islam). But...he was Asian American. Kimyhono Kanowitz was adopted at the tender age of one from Korea by a white, catholic, middle-class family “out to save the world” he says. “It was the thing to do in the 70s,” he quips referencing a post-Vietnam era mass
Courtesy of Anika Robbins
Kim Kanowitz adoption of Asian orphans by Americans. Kanowitz grew-up in East St. Paul, practically the only Asian in the neighborhood at the time. He said he was called chink, gook, and other racial epitaphs. Being subjected to classic catholic school education, he fared no better. ‘They said I had too much to say at the wrong time!” he laughs. “The teachers thought, ‘he’s either really smart...or a smart ass!’”
His home setting didn’t offer much relief from the taunts. His father didn’t understand who or what he was. His mother wasn’t particularly understanding of Asian cultures either. Always the black sheep, Kanowitz said he was drawn to other cultures who were “outcasts“. The burgeoning underground hip-hop scene interwoven with Islamic ideals, provided the brotherhood and guidance he desperately craved. Kanowitz produced and managed artists, including groups like Vanguard, Phull Surkle...and a dawning diva, me. His career path gradually led him more into the corporate production and project management end of things. Today, he produces large shows and conventions with one of the top production companies in the midwest for clients such as General Mills, Delta Airlines and scores of non-profit agencies.
Since then, he also became a father of four Boys. Kanowitz dated, fell in love and became a stepfather, father figure and mentor within a year. His wife came into the relationship with two children from previous relationships. The couple eventually had two more boys together. “When my son Julian was born, I thought to myself, ‘Wow! I did that, we did that! No blanks here, baby!” says Kanowitz. He said holding his newborn son in his hands mad him feel grateful and humbled. Their won was born premature; Kanowitz recalls just being happy his son was alive and in his hands. Kanowitz admits to being in shock when his son was born and unprepared for fatherhood. “My stepfather wasn’t really around after my parents divorced, so I didn’t understand the complexities
KANOWITZ TURN TO 4
America’s racial temperature rising By Hazel Trice Edney NNPA Editor-in-Chief WASHINGTON (NNPA) - U. S. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) was headed for the Capitol to vote on President Obama’s health care bill in March when he was pelted with racial epithets when passing near a group of conservative Tea
Party protestors. Days later, reports of attacks on Democrats around the country included bricks smashing through windows and a potentially lethal gas pipe cutting at a home thought to be owned by Virginia Democratic Congressman Tom Perriello. According to reports, the FBI announced the agency would investigate Tea Partiers and a
Sound Strategy:
Manage whatever money you have
PAGE 3
race hate group as potential suspects. The madness continued into the spring as former Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, and others accused the Obama administration of trying to kill the elderly with death panels in the health care bill. He has also been called a Marxist, a Socialist and a Nazi by Tea Partiers and associated radical conservatives.
Meanwhile, also, in March, Virginia’s Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell is roundly criticized by the state’s NAACP after he declares a Confederate History Month while neglecting to mention the cruelty and inhumanity of slavery – a deed for which he apologized. Among more recent racial
Kam’s film review:
Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan star in martial arts remake
PAGE 5
RACE TURN TO 2
File Photo
Remember Brian Cole By Carol Batsell-Benner, Tracy Batsell, and The Brian Cole Scholarship Committee Time passes some things change and others remain the same. Brian Cole is still not home with his family. Brian
Cole still resides in the cemetery with visitors throughout the year and especially on Juneteenth. A place to go remember, leave flowers and think of what was and what could have been. His family, friends and others still remember and tell stories when they see each other of the
COLE TURN TO 7
Despite murder, film signals game change By Al McFarlane and B.P. Ford, The Editors Two events last week made indelible impressions on our perception of our neighborhood and our people. One was the tragic murder of a young man, who according to published reports, was a gentle fellow, whose presence enriched the lives of all who knew him. The other event was viewing the new Karate Kid movie starring Jaden
Get tested Knowing is greater than doubt
PAGE 6
Smith and Jackie Chan, a coming of age tale produced by Jaden’s parents, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. The June 11 murder, the city’s 22nd homicide of the year, was brazen and senseless. A shooter hid between two houses on Thomas Avenue in North Minneapolis and fired into a crowd of young men in the alley across the street. The alley, between Plymouth Avenue
MURDER TURN TO 11
Things Fall Apart:
We must do more about the BP oil spill
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