Insight News ::: 07.16.18

W I N N E R : 2 017 N N PA M E R I T AW A R D S : 2 N D P L A C E B E S T S P E C I A L E D I T I O N

Insight News July 16 - July 22, 2018

Vol. 45 No. 29• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Cutline

Remembering Junior Blevins Uchechukwu Iroegbu

Page 2 •July July 16 - July 22, 2018 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Remembering Junior Blevins

By Harry Colbert, Jr. Managing Editor @HarryColbertJr

To most of the world, the man shot and killed by Minneapolis police officers on June 23 was Thurman Blevins. To his family he was Junior.

And the family is asking that Minneapolis Police Officers Ryan Kelly and Justin Schmidt – the two officers who shot at, and ultimately killed Blevins – be held accountable for “Junior’s” death. To date there has been no public word as to the fate of Kelly and Schmidt.

The shooting is under the investigation of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). Both officers were wearing body cameras that recorded footage of the shooting. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said that footage would be released to the public once the family had a chance to review the recording.

“We haven’t looked at the footage. We’re told we can’t see it during the investigation,” said Janette Blevins, Thurman Blevins’ aunt.

But despite not being able to yet view the footage – based on eyewitness accounts – Janette Blevins believes Kelly and Schmidt were unjustified in killing her nephew, who she describes as a “fine young man with

Uchechukwu Iroegbu

Junior Blevins’ aunt, Janette Blevins shared Insight News 2001 feature coverage of her nephew’s work with the Peace Gardens project. a wonderful heart and smile.”

“I remember him as a baby

… in grade school,” said Janette Blevins. “He was really soft spo-

ken and always willing to help out his brothers and sisters and cousins.”

It is Thurman Blevins’ softspoken nature – among other things – that has Janette Blevins so perplexed as to the circumstances surrounding his killing. Though police insist Thurman Blevins was in possession of a handgun at the time of his killing, according to multiple eyewitnesses the 31-year-old Thurman Blevins was not in the possession of a gun; and equally troubling, he was in the company of a woman – his girlfriend – and a baby in a stroller when police first pointed their guns at him. Police encountered the three following a call for a man with a gun in the area of Camden

and 48th Avenues North, which is where Thurman Blevins was at the time of the fatal encounter.

In remembering her nephew, Janette Blevins holds dear to her an Aug. 1, 2001 edition of Insight News that featured a younger Thurman Blevins. He was on the front page planting a plant – ironically for in what was known as a “peaceful garden” with the plants as a symbol of growth and hope for peace and an end to area violence. Sadly, for the Blevins family, it was a violent act that took the life of Thurman Blevins. And now the family and community want a transparent account of the circumstances that led to such a violent end of a human life.

Young African Leaders, Minnesota Orchestra collaborate for Mandela Day of Service A Minnesota Orchestra string quartet will perform, and 25 Young African Leaders will volunteer on Mandela Day of Service beginning at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday (July 18) at the Books for Africa (BFA) warehouse, 635 Prior Ave. N. in St. Paul.

The 25 people from all over Africa are part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. They are attending a six-week institute at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Integrative Leadership, located at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Wednesday’s activities are in conjunction with the Nelson Mandela International Day, named for the late South African leader and dedicated to service in his honor. The Young Leaders will help sort books from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Books for Africa is partnering with the Minnesota Orchestra and its “Music for Mandela”

activities this summer, including a tour of South Africa in August in honor of Nelson Mandela’s centenary. BFA will be sending two containers of books to South African schools (about 42,000 books) in partnership with the orchestra and with financial support provided in part by Medtronic and Rotary International. Medtronic volunteers will help sort books this coming Wednesday.

The orchestra is holding a series of “Music for Mandela” Sommerfest events and concerts July 13-Aug. 1, including a free, 12-hour music marathon beginning at noon July 21 that features performances of many musical genres on multiple stages for audiences of all ages at Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall. Audiences are invited to bring books to donate to any Orchestra Hall this summer.

“Books for Africa has been a terrific partner in our ‘Music for Mandela’ project,” said

President Barack Obama launch the Young African Leaders program in 2010.

Minnesota Orchestra President and CEO Kevin Smith. “It is collaborations like the one with BFA that have given our project its resonance. We hope audiences will bring an abundance of books to Orchestra Hall this month, and we look forward to working with BFA both in St. Paul and in South Africa.”

The Young African Leaders are part of a group of 700 young African leaders who come to the U.S. each year under the program begun by former President Obama in 2010. The leaders in Minnesota are from 18 sub-Saharan African countries.

The goal is to build and sustain a prestigious network of

African leaders across critical sectors, cementing stronger ties with the United States, and offering leadership opportunities in Africa. Fellows participate in team engagement, site visits, workshops, experiential learning activities and have local government interaction. The program provides an opportunity to learn and work in the local Minneapolis/St. Paul community while examining questions of leadership, cultural diversity and public management.

“For the past several summers we have partnered with Books for Africa to deepen the connection between the Young African Leaders who are here in residence with us and our Minnesota community,” said Dean Laura Bloomberg, of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. “I’m grateful for the lasting friendships and enriching connections this has created for all of us.”

Merrie Benasutti, coordinator of Community Partnerships

in the Office of Public Engagement at the University of Minnesota noted that “one of our current Mandela fellows, who works with rural communities in South Africa, will be receiving some of these books to distribute to young women and girls later this summer. Our partnership allows the fellows to learn first-hand about the connection and collaboration needed for leadership in our communities.”

“We are happy to be working with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Young African Leaders Program at the University to educate the community about Africa and how important a role education and books play in its future,” said Patrick Plonski, executive director of Books for Africa. “We’re very excited to have the quartet from the Orchestra play at our warehouse and to host the Young African Leaders.”

Back to the Future Catch a Movie Under the Stars!

Wednesday, August 1, 2018 CHS Field, 360 Broadway, St. Paul Gates open at 5:30 p.m. | Movie starts at 7:00 p.m.

Join AARP Twin Cities for a special screening of Back to the Future.

See this time travelling classic in a way you never have before, outdoors under the stars! Sit in the stands or bring a blanket and watch from the outfield. Concession stands open for refreshments.

No chairs allowed.

The movie is free of charge and open to the public.

Sign up today at https://aarp.cvent.com/CHSMovie18

© Universal

insightnews.com

Insight News • July 16 - July 22, 2018 • Page 3

aesthetically speaking

Aesthetically It!: Events, concerts, venues in the Twin Cities

MORE ON PAGE 10

W I N N E R : 2 017 N N PA M E R I T AWA R D S : 2 N D P L AC E B E S T S P E C I A L E D I T I O N

Insight News July 16 - July 22, 2018

Vol. 45 No. 29• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Bernie Sanders endorses Keith Ellison for Attorney General Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorsed Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) for Minnesota Attorney General, citing Ellison’s strong record of Congressional leadership on worker and consumer rights and as a civil rights lawyer.

In endorsing Ellison for attorney general, Sanders hosted two rallies for Ellison’s campaign – in Minneapolis and Duluth – July 13.

“I enthusiastically endorse my friend Keith Ellison for Minnesota Attorney General,” said Sanders. “Not only has Keith been a fierce ally of working people in Congress – fighting for the $15 minimum wage, for Medicare for All, to protect consumers, and against wage theft – he was also a former civil rights lawyer representing low-income clients. With Keith as their Attorney General, Minnesotans would have a fighter for working people, the discriminated against, and the economically oppressed.”

GIN

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia is welcomed by his Eritrean counterpart, Isaias Afwerki.

Enemies for two decades end feud with an embrace Global Information Network (GIN) – “And into ploughshares beat their swords. Nations shall learn war no more.”

With those words of Isaiah, Ethiopia and Eritrea announced the end of a futile war and agreed to normalize ties, drawing the curtain on a 20-year military standoff on the Horn of Africa that cost more than 70,000 lives.

During the first weekend

Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

Sen. Bernie Sanders (at podium) with Rep. Keith Ellison during Sanders’ run for president.

The Minneapolis event took place at the iconic First

Avenue, downtown. The two then traveled to Duluth to rally

with supporters at Denfeld High School.

in July, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia traveled to Eritrea to sign a Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship at the state house in Asmara, the Eritrean capital. He was welcomed at the airport in Asmara with a firm brotherly embrace by his Eritrean counterpart, Isaias Afwerki.

FEUD 9

DNC grant ramps up voter engagement, turnout for November elections in Minnesota communities of color The Democratic National Committee announced a nearly $88,000 grant to the Minnesota DFL to boost engagement in African-American, Latino and Hmong communities in Minneapolis-St. Paul ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

Combining traditional boots-on-the-ground organizing with digital and technological tools, these investments will support the DNC’s IWillVote initiative, which aims to reach 50 million voters by Election Day. This new investment is in addition to the $100,000 already awarded

to the Minnesota DFL through the State Party Innovation Fund.

Most recently, the DNC announced a multimillion-dollar investment, which includes a nationwide cell-phone acquisition, a complete overhaul of the party’s data for voter-registration targeting and further data investments for the party’s voter-protection efforts.

As part of the DNC’s IWillVote program, the DNC plans to launch a six-figure digital ad buy across the country to encourage Americans – with a focus on sporadic voters,

Huffington Post

Tom Perez especially those who dropped off in 2014 from 2012 – to

commit to vote this November.

“The new DNC has been working tirelessly to support our state parties, motivate voters to get to the polls, and organize around issues that matter for country’s future,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez.

“We are investing in our base communities and putting organizers on the ground across the country because we know that’s the only way we’ll win.

This investment will help ensure that Democrats are talking to voters in every community, and make sure that activists and candidates have the new tools and resources they

need to succeed. The DNC is proud to partner with our state parties to expand our engagement in all communities and support Democratic candidates running up and down the ticket.”

“Minnesota DFLers are committed to fighting for working families and building a better Minnesota for all Minnesotans,” said Minnesota DFL Chair Ken Martin.

“We know that it’s not enough to just show up and ask for votes on Election Day – we

DNC 9

In conjunction with Essence Festival

Awards celebrate pride, heritage and achievement NEW ORLEANS — Several notable celebrities, community leaders and entertainers descended on New Orleans to attend the 15th Annual McDonald’s 365Black Awards, held at the Ritz Carlton.

They were joined by attendees from across that nation who converged to recognize this year’s recipients of the awards, including popular political commentator Symone Sanders, actress and activist Sheryl Lee Ralph, Black Girls CODE CEO Kimberly Bryant and McDonald’s owner/operator Monique VannBrown. Additionally, college

philanthropist Tishauna Wilson was recognized.

McDonald’s 365Black Awards honor individuals committed to making positive contributions that strengthen the African-American community. The program launched in 2003 as an extension of the company’s 365Black platform, created to celebrate the pride, heritage and achievements of African-Americans year-round. Held in conjunction with Essence Festival, the event was hosted by actress Essence Atkins.

Presenters included actor

365BLACK AWARDS 9

Business

Marla’s Caribbean Cuisine: Looking back and looking ahead

PAGE 4

McDonald’s

Essence Communications President Michelle Ebanks attends the 15th Annual McDonald’s 365Black Awards Luncheon on July 8, 2018 in New Orleans.

Insight 2 Health I2H Fitness Challenge: Losing sleep, gaining life

PAGE 6

McDonald’s

[L to R] Kimberly Bryant, founder and CEO of Black Girls CODE; McDonald’s Owner / Operator, Monique Vann-Brown; Entrepreneur and Television Personality Cynthia Bailey; Actress and activist, Sheryl Lee Ralph; HBCU Forward Scholarship award recipient, Tishauna Wilson; Symone Sanders, Political Commentator; attend the 15th Annual McDonald’s 365Black Awards Luncheon on July 8, 2018 in New Orleans.

Lifestyle

Jumping the broom – Tim and Cantrice style

PAGE 8

Snapshots

Royal Wedding in North Minneapolis

PAGE 11

Page 4 •July July 16 - July 22, 2018 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Business

Thirteen years of spicing up Minnesota, Marla Jadoonanan is planning a new location and a new outlook

Marla’s Caribbean Cuisine: Looking back and looking ahead

By Mecca Bos Marla Jadoonanan’s daughter Marissa Jadoonanan wants to be a dentist.

“I’ve been obsessed with people’s teeth ever since I was little.

I love when people smile, and I think a lot of people don’t because they don’t like how they look when they smile.”

She would know. Marissa and her brother Joey Jadoonanan have been working at their mom’s eponymous Caribbean restaurant, Marla’s Caribbean Cuisine, 3761 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis, since they were adolescent. And during

that time, she’s seen a whole lot of smiles.

Marla Jadoonanan is in the smile business too. In the making people feel better business.

And up until she was 40, she was officially in the healthcare business. As a hospice nurse, she saw a lot of people die young, and she decided that since there are no guarantees in life, she needed to live out her dream of having a restaurant of her own – a place where she could still take care of people, and make them feel better, and make them smile; but this time with food.

Jadoonanan was born in tiny Princes Town, Trinidad. In the old days, as she tells it, her

entire extended family lived on adjacent plots of land, and you could see one brother’s house from the other’s. Her father had 19 siblings, “so we had loads of cousins.” Her voice softens as she describes the sugarcane fields, orchards and ponds where the family would harvest their own fish. But Trinidad isn’t like that anymore, she says.

It’s become Westernized and plagued by crime, so she’s not really nostalgic for home anymore. And anyway, Minnesota is home.

“If I had to leave Minnesota, I would be very sad. This is where my heart is,” said Jadoonanan.

But when she arrived in coldest Minnesota in late September 1980 at 15 years old to join her brothers who had already immigrated, she remembers a dark, cold, wet Minnesota.

“I didn’t know how to use an escalator. I broke down crying when I saw Harry (Singh, her brother, a known Trinidadian

chef and restaurateur in his own right) at the airport.”

In spite of her homesickness, and having to wear “those hard denim jeans,” and being offered just breakfast cereal as if that were a proper meal, she dug right into Minnesota culture and quickly made many friends.

She brought soccer to her high school, and by the time she went into nursing, she was cooking island food for her colleagues.

This garnered her some marriage interest from doctors, as one might imagine.

When she was just eight, Jadoonanan’s mother died suddenly of a cranial aneurysm, leaving her dad to care for seven children on his own. Having no idea what to do with the two girls, he brought them into town each day to cook with the women of the village. It was there that she began develop-

CUISINE 9

Marla Jadoonanan

Twin Cities small businesses raise money for families separated at the border in Arizona Twenty- five Twin Cities small businesses donated a percentage of sales to raise money for the Florence Project.

The campaign, called Restaurants Rising, supported an organization working on the ground along the Arizona border to provide direct support to immigrants experiencing the brunt of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies of separating children from parents.

“We are standing up together as restaurants because we are a part of our community. Immigrant issues are our issues,” said Danny Schwartzman, owner

of Common Roots Cafe, who helped coordinate the fundraiser.

We stand up for our community, for our customers, for our employees, and because we all need to stand up together to the crazy injustices coming from the Trump administration to support bringing families back together and to do a small part to help immigrants and refugee with basic services including legal support.”

“I immigrated here from Colombia with my family almost three decades ago. I have been able to bring my culture to this place through my food because

of the opportunities this country has provided me. I do not believe that the atrocity happening at our borders represents who we are as a people. Seeking a better life for oneself and family should be something we help provide - not criminalize” said Luis Patino, owner of Cafe Racer.

“As a white-owned community-based business we believe it our responsibility to use our privilege and our platform to speak out and raise awareness on issues that impact our entire community. Immigrant rights are human rights and we believe

all families belong together.” said Tracy Singleton, owner of Birchwood Cafe. “Restaurants Rising is one way our community can resist the president’s racist and inhuman immigration policies and provide direct relief, respect and representation for those seeking asylum at our border.”

The Florence Project provides free legal and social services to detained men, women and children under threat of deportation. On any given day, the Florence Project serves over 4,500 people of which approximately 2,000 are children.

MORE ORGANIC. MORE LOCAL. Your neighborhood choice for fresh, natural foods. msmarket.coop

insightnews.com

Insight News • July 16 - July 22, 2018 • Page 5

America will be Commentary

By Marian Wright Edelman In 1935, the brilliant Black poet Langston Hughes wrote the poem, “Let America Be America Again.”

Hughes wasn’t looking back to a nostalgic, idealized fantasy of America’s past. As he says in the refrain, “America never was America to me.”

Instead, the poem is about the dream so many people of all colors, backgrounds, faiths and nationalities have always had of what America should be – the “dream it used to be” of love, opportunity, equality and freedom for all.

That was the “dream so strong, so brave, so true” it drew generations of poor and working-class immigrants here from “dark Ireland’s shore, and Poland’s plain and England’s grassy lea” to join the farmers, laborers and factory workers – and slaves and Native-Americans – on whose backs America was built. His poem draws a stark contrast between the dream and the reality of America’s long history of economic

and racial oppression and exploitation that left it “almost dead.” But it says that American dream must live on.

O, let America be America again The land that never has been yet And yet must be the land where every man is free.

The land that’s mine – the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, Me Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again …

O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath America will be.

America will be.

My late beloved theologian friend Dr. Vincent Harding, close adviser of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., quoted this verse as a challenge to all of us. “We can always stop there and complain and complain and complain – ‘you’ve never been America to me.’ But remember, Langston did not stop there. ‘America, you’ve never been America to me.

But I swear this oath – you will be.’ I want you, those who are not afraid to swear oaths, to swear that oath for yourself, for your children …You will be, America. You will be what you could be.

You will be what you should be, and I am going to give my

seem bent on turning the clock backwards and transforming the dream into a nightmare – closing its doors to those seeking freedom, justice, safety and equal opportunity.

America is not America right now to many millions within and without our borders as

struggle as hard as necessary to live up to the creed enunciated in the Declaration of Independence but not yet a reality for millions of excluded and marginalized children, women and men – especially those of color – still fighting to access America’s promise

O, let America be America again...

life to working for that.” And so must we all in these times.

The last weeks and months have given many of us pause about the viability of America’s dream as every day brings new assaults within and without government on American ideals and the hardearned progress made but still not complete. Many in power

we cruelly separate children and parents seeking a safe haven from repression and violence in their countries and let 13.2 million children live in poverty. So we must speak up and vote massively and demand leaders who will keep moving us towards America’s true promise.

America must continue to

of equal opportunity and build a safe and just America for themselves and their children and grandchildren.

Deep-seated cultural, racial, economic, and gender impediments to a just union challenge us mightily still and must be fought with all our strength. We must remain ever vigilant and never tire of

fighting every attempt to turn back the clock of racial and economic progress or allow political and economic selfinterest to sully our national dream. We must stand up and fight every new unjust policy that excludes rather than includes all those left behind because they are women, poor, disabled, immigrants seeking a better life in our nation of fellow immigrants, or others seen as without power. It is simply un-American.

Our voices must get louder and our struggle must accelerate and grow into a mighty sustained roar until our political and economic leaders realize that America is not just for the privileged few but for all and that these core values of freedom and justice are under assault. Celebrating another July 4th is hollow if we do not join together to affirm Langston Hughes’s dream and build a nation we are proud of because of our human decency.

America will be – if you and I stand up, speak up and vote to make America’s light shine bright rather than spread darkness across our world.

Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children’s Defense Fund. For more information go to www. childrensdefense.org.

New report says corruption could destroy Sierra Leone Global Information Network (GIN) - Corruption is a national security issue that can destroy a nation.

That was the view of President Julius Maada Bio at the launch of the “Governance Transition Team Report,” which reportedly reveals massive levels of corruption by ministers and officials of the former government led by expresident Ernest Bai Koroma.

Corruption in Sierra Leone is at a level that can

GIN

President Julius Maada Bio

destroy the nation, the president said, “if we do not fight and win.”

The current president had ordered a team of academics, experienced former civil servants and professionals from different backgrounds, two days after being sworn into office on April 4, to interface with the outgoing All Peoples Congress (APC) government, conduct an immediate assessment of the country’s state of affairs and to submit a report on its findings.

Addressing the

audience of journalists, government officials, former government functionaries and members of the consular and diplomatic corps, the transition team chair said they uncovered evidence of egregious infractions by the former government.

The report accuses the former president of presiding over a tribal and regionally biased regime, which plundered the West African country under a “criminally

masterminded” scheme.

Awarding of fake and inflated contracts and the illegal sale of government assets were identified as the hallmark of the Koroma regime. Koroma is also blamed for the failure of the economy as manifested in the huge debt he left and a failing local currency. As a consequence, the prior government was unable to close the fiscal gap and adhere to agreed actions under the Extended

Credit Facility, leading to the suspension of disbursement of both budgetary and balance of payment support by the IMF to Sierra Leone in 2017.

Responding to the publication of the report, the opposition flatly denied the charges and accused the Bio administration of a witch hunt.

It says that it will be studying the report closely with a view to publishing its full response soon.

Two crusading journalists win their freedom in Angola Global Information Network (GIN) – A judge in the Angolan capital, Luanda, has thrown out the case against Angola’s most well-known journalist, Rafael Marques de Morais, and editor, Mariano Bras Lourenço.

The two faced three years in prison for reporting on a former attorney general who is said to have “bought” three acres of beachfront property free of charge to build a luxury condo. He changed his mind but evicted the poor residents from the land anyway without paying compensation.

Marques describes his website – www.makaangola.org/ en – as an initiative dedicated to the struggle against corruption and the defense of democracy in Angola, funded and directed by the journalist himself. Maka is a noun in Kimbundu, one of the indigenous languages of Angola, referring to a delicate, complex or serious problem.

“Angola is endowed with immeasurable natural wealth and the last decade has seen impressive economic growth but most of the population still lives in poverty,” said

GIN

Rafael Marques de Morais

Marques. “This is the Maka.”

Reading the almost three-hour long verdict, Judge Josina Ferreira Falcão said the article fulfilled the journalistic duty to inform the public and expose alleged wrongdoing.

“This court believes that we would be doing very bad as a society that wants to progress, if we punished the messengers of bad news,” said Ferreira Falcão. “This court therefore decides to send them back to their families at liberty and peace.”

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journal-

ists welcomed the surprise ruling in a country that keeps the media has been on a tight leash.

Among Marques awards are the Percy Qoboza Award for Outstanding Courage from the National Association of Black Journalists, the Civil Courage Prize, from the Train Foundation for his human rights activities and the World Press Freedom Award from the International Press Institute for his investigative reporting.

Marques is currently a board member of the Goree Institute in Senegal.

Page 6 •July July 16 - July 22, 2018 • Insight News

Insight 2 Health

insightnews.com

I2H Fitness Challenge: Losing sleep, gaining life

By Aleathea McWilliams

I joined the Insight 2 Health Fitness Challenge because I was in pain all of the time.

I had both knees replaced but that didn’t alleviate the pain. I also have fibromyalgia and sciatic nerve damage.

I’d been to physical therapy four times and taken numerous different kinds of prescriptions and overthe-counter pain pills.

I was also treated by a chiropractor and received acupuncture.

I was at NorthPoint Dental Clinic and while there I ran into nutritionist Karen Blanchard. She asked me if I would be interested in doing a 10-week challenge

ErinE Eskuri, Peggy Moore, Ogi Carter, Aleathea McWilliams, Carmen Robles and Alicia Cervantes

consisting of exercising at 6 a.m. I ask her if she was kidding and I told her “no way.” A week later I saw Peggy (a participant of the challenge) and she told me about the challenge because she knew about my pain. She said that she was going to join, so I thought what do I have to loose except weight and a little sleep, while at the same time gaining

strengthen and toning my body.

During the first challenge I did most of my exercises using a chair because of my knees. I wanted to get strong enough to do my exercises without using the chair. I also liked the results I made doing the previous challenge round.

I am originally from Alabama, I still have

family there. I moved to Minnesota in 1986 I lived over South for about three years. The rest of my time I’ve lived on the Northside and I’m loving it. And loving the Insight 2 Health Fitness Challenge.

NEW ROUTINES ANOTHER REASON Y.

Keep your mind, body and spirit nourished with an affordable membership and programs designed to help you live a healthy lifestyle. Scholarships available.

5-DAY TRIAL PASS Welcome to the Y.

Get started today with a 5-day* free membership.

Bring this coupon in to receive your pass. * 5 consecutive days. Must be 18+ to activate.

Photo I.D. required. Check out class schedules and programs at ymcamn.org

Valid through 8.15.18

YMCA at Cora McCorvey Center

Aleathea McWilliams 18-BM47

1015 4th Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55405 (P) 612 230 3987 (W) ymcamn.org/mccorvey

insightnews.com

Insight News • July 16 - July 22, 2018 • Page 7

They don’t want us here

By Makeiyen Thompson Jarriya Warren Wisdom Kowouto Jovan Worthington Royaire Holliday Marquez Sherman In this commentary, the interns of the Office of Black Male Student Achievement of the Minneapolis Public Schools will be explaining the meaning of gentrification and touching base on events such as the “Rondo Case,” that occurred in Minnesota.

The definition of gentrification is “the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste.”

Throughout Minnesota, Black people make up 6 percent of the population, with 75 percent of that residing in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area. The Northside of Minneapolis is where the majority of

Black folks reside. The city has made the decision to put a train through North Minneapolis.

Why is this a problem for our Black community?

Due to this, they will be forcing folks out by increasing the worth of the neighborhood property, increasing rental costs and making the community into a mostly middleclass area. The Black people that live in the area that are not able to afford the living wages and costs of middle-class, will sadly be forced to leave the homes and community that they have lived in for many years. Gentrification impacts the entire Black community and has deep roots in our local communities.

History Most of the original Rondo Avenue and Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul were destroyed when the Interstate 94 Project was developed. The street and area was named for a settler, by the name of Joseph Rondeau.

Part of the original street is now the frontage road near the Best Western Kelly Inn. The neighborhoods north and south of Rondo Avenue, extending south into today’s Summit-University neighborhood and north to University Avenue, were always mixed with different ethnicities. By the 1950s about 85 percent of St. Paul’s African-American population lived in the neighborhoods. The old neighborhood was divided into different sections including Oatmeal Hill and Cornmeal Valley. The more affluent residents lived in the western part of the community.

The freeway location was chosen in 1965 along St. Anthony Avenue and its development took out the Rondo neighborhood as well. More than 600 African-American families lost their homes. Numerous Black-owned businesses and institutions were also lost. The legacy of this important neighborhood is

celebrated every July during Rondo Days.

Impact After gentrification takes place there are fewer minorities and specifically Blacks, in that gentrified area. Gentrification is currently taking place in Minneapolis via building and extensions of bus lines, and the purchase of once Black owned homes. The rent for homes and apartments near the new train will increase and subsequently, drag many minimum wage workers out the area. Gentrification allows the whites who live in the suburbs to get closer to downtown where the high paying jobs are located.

We know from the installment of the Green Line (light rail) in St. Paul back in 2016, that wherever this new train will go in Minneapolis, the property tax and rent of nearby homes, apartments, etc., will begin to rise. Back in 2009 a person stated that during the installment of the bus line the rent of

his apartment nearby increased by about $100 per month, so he moved and acquired a steady full-time job and a part-time job. When he later tried to move back to his past location he was met with rental prices that had increased exponentially. About 60 percent of Minneapolis homeowners could see a higher property tax due to the construction and installation of the train line.

Conclusion As you’ve heard our voices, it is our hope that you may comprehend the words we speak.

We need help; not medicated help but more importantly, moral support. We need to know what is next? We’ve exhausted so many methods in order to just be heard. We could use advice and opinions.

We have to figure out our next course of action and it has to be fool proof. It shouldn’t be off of a hunch or a hope; it should look militant, with the community all on the same page, for one thing. What we want us to consider is a message … every action has a reaction.

There is something in this system that we need to do … two words … get educated.

Along with that comes the spreading of that knowledge. In order for the young people of today to act, we will need the help of the elders in the community. Somewhere in our history we as a people became numb to the fact that education was/is our only key to attain true freedom. It’s our turn to stand up, be aware and change our community for the better.

Lisa Neal-Delgado runs for 59B seat Lisa Neal-Delgado is running for the Minnesota House in district 59B – a seat currently held by Rep. Raymond Dehn.

In June, Neal-Delgado began her campaign for the seat, stating “North Minneapolis, North Loop, Bryn Mawr and Loring Park deserves strong, community-driven leadership. I would look North and see that the 4th Ward continued to thrive along with the rest of the city but in my community, all the stores and businesses continued to close. Benign neglect and just plain mismanagement at all levels of government will do that to a community.”

Neal-Delgado, who served in the Army for almost 23 years, joined the coalition to keep North Community High School open. The coalition’s efforts also resulted in the reopening of Franklin Middle School with a pre-STEM curriculum that now serves as a feeder school for North. She also co-chaired a Department of Justice sponsored Minneapolis Police and Community Engagement committee, which resulted in outside agencies investigating officer involved shootings.

The DFL primary is Aug. 14.

Lisa Neal-Delgado

fresh • local • organic Your neighborhood source for local and organic foods and wellness products

2823 E. Franklin Ave. | Minneapolis & 317 E. 38th St. | Minneapolis w w w.seward. coop

Page 8 •July July 16 - July 22, 2018 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Lifestyle

Jumping the broom – Tim and Cantrice style

By Timothy Houston On July 28 my fiancé Cantrice Freeman and I will be joined in holy matrimony.

For us, this has been a long time coming and we both look forward to the day we “jump the broom.” Although I have heard and used the term jumping the broom as a synonym for getting married, I never truly gave much thought to where the term originated. Because we are including this African tradition in our ceremony, I would like to share a little history about jumping the broom.

Jumping the broom goes all the way back to 18th century Ghana. The ceremony is a part of African culture that has survived for hundreds of years.

During the period of slavery in the United States, AfricanAmericans were not allowed a traditional European-style

INSIGHT NEWS www.insightnews.com

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

Editor-In-Chief Al McFarlane Publisher Batala-Ra McFarlane Associate Editor & Associate Publisher B.P. Ford Managing Editor Harry Colbert, Jr. Associate Editor Afrodescendientes Carmen Robles Associate Editor Nigeria & West Africa Chief Folarin Ero-Phillips Associate Editor Culture and Education Dr. Irma McClaurin Director of Content & Production Patricia Weaver Content & Production Coordinator Sunny Thongthi Yang Distribution/Facilities Manager Jamal Mohamed Receptionist Lue B. Lampley Staff Writer Abeni Hill Contributing Writers Nadvia Davis Fred Easter Timothy Houston Michelle Mitchum Latisha Townsend Artika Tyner Toki Wright Photography David Bradley V. Rivera Garcia Uchechukwu Iroegbu Rebecca Rabb Artist Donald Walker 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.

wedding and continued on with the tradition of jumping the broom to symbolize marriage. Once slavery was abolished and African-Americans could marry legally, the tradition all but disappeared. It resurfaced in the 1980s when the book “Roots,” by Alex Haley, and the subsequent 1977 television mini-series brought about an increased interest in Black history and traditions.

The term jumping the broom has also been linked to other cultures and time periods, and it has meant different things to different people depending on the culture. To those who came through slavery, the custom was believed to determine who ran the household. It was said that whoever jumped highest over the broom was the decision maker of the household, or whoever landed on the ground first after jumping the broom was believed to be the decision maker in the

Tim and Cantrice Houston

marriage.

Not all Blacks interpreted the term jumping the broom the same way. African-Americans in the South who were not a part of the Atlantic slave trade had a different view. To them, it was believed to represent the wife’s commitment or willingness to clean the courtyard of the new home she had joined. Other sources have stepping over a broom as a test of chastity, and still others believed that putting a broom out was a sign that the housewife’s place was vacant.

It today’s terms, the phase jumping the broom has evolved to symbolize sweeping the past behind you and starting fresh in a new life together. Today, the couple that jumps the broom has moved beyond the actions of the past to a step or more importantly, a leap in the right directions.

This imaginary barrier serves as a reminder to the marrying

couple that forward is the only direction possible.

Cantrice and I are excited about including this African tradition in our wedding ceremony. We will be physically and spiritually jumping forward into our new life together.

When we jump, we will leap high, and land firmly into our newness. As we cross this new barrier, we will let the peace and the knowledge of God, wisdom of our parents and ancestors, and the love that is in our hearts be our guide to a wonderful and prosperous life together.

Timothy Houston is an author, minister and motivational speaker committed to guiding positive life changes in families and communities. For questions, comments or more information, go to www.tlhouston.com or email at tim@ tlhouston.com.

insightnews.com

Insight News • July 16 - July 22, 2018 • Page 9

My Essence Festival experience Contributing Writer

By Latisha Townsend Columnist Lately I have been in desperate need of change.

Being in the middle of a life transition can be frustrating and confusing. I found myself just waiting for something life altering and ground shaking to happen. While I do believe sometimes we do have to wait for our miracles, I don’t see anything wrong with meeting God (or the universe) halfway. As I wait for a shift in my professional life, and when I am not working on my professional goals, I have started working on my bucket list goals. Last year I went and saw the movie “Girls Trip� alone.

Yes, I love going to the movies alone because I can be emotionally vulnerable without anyone complaining about my tears making the popcorn extra salty.

I told myself then that I was going to make it to Essence Festival one year. I always believe when it is time for something to happen, even if it seems like a largely unattainable goal, ev-

Cuisine From 4 ing her cooking chops, assisting with every wedding, funeral and celebration in the town. She immediately loved the work – the

Feud From 3 The two leaders smiled and laughed as they strode past a uniformed band and honor guard.

365Black Awards From 3 and comedian Lil Rel Howery, actor Larenz Tate, actress Bresha Webb, media personality Tai Beauchamp and McDonald’s owner/operator Tanya Holliday. Award-winning gospel artists Fred Hammond and JJ Hair-

boy and some of the popular restaurants on Bourbon Street.

I think I grew a pants size in the four days I have been here and that is just ďŹ ne with me.

Walking down Bourbon Street, I heard a lot of jazz music and also some Louisiana music. There were kids tap dancing and drumming on buckets for tips and tourists throwing beads o of the balconies.

This trip was everything I hoped it would be and more because I received spiritual and professional clarity for which I didn’t even know I was looking. I’m convinced that I came to Essence in the perfect year.

From this I can say that when obstacles shift to make room for you, there is no reason or excuse to put things o for a later date. Essence Festival will deďŹ nitely be on my bucket list for next summer. If you would like to hear more details about my trip, you can read about it on my website, www.The-Intentional-Woman.weebly.com.

Latisha Townsend is an alumna of Minnesota State University, Mankato with a bachelor’s in Communications. She is the former president of the student organization, Black Motivated Women. She can be contacted at Townsendlatisha796@yahoo. com.

ery obstacle will move out of the way for you to achieve that goal. I packed up my bag, got my shifts covered at both of my jobs, and booked my hotel. I did all of this in about three days.

I bought my ticket and within seven days my sister and I were on a ight to New Orleans, or as the natives like to call it, NOLA. Essence Festival is an annual weekend long event presented by Essence Magazine.

It is a celebration of all things Black. There were free hair and makeup expos, street style fashion shows, workshops and interviews with celebrity guests held at the convention center every day during the festival. As crazy as it sounds, I could not believe that there were even that many Black people in America. This was all that I have ever wanted in an HBCU experience, so to get it while on vacation instead of in addition to textbooks and essays is a feeling of fulďŹ llment that I can’t begin to describe. At any moment one could see large groups of people joining improv dance breaks to the song “Before I let goâ€? by Frankie Beverly, or girls and moms double dutching right in the middle of the room on the plush pink carpet.

I was fortunate to meet celebrities such as Vivica Fox and Iyanla Vanzant as well as watch live interviews with the

cast of “Power,� Regina Hall, and the cast of “Insecure.�

It wouldn’t be Essence Festival without a surprise appearance from KoďŹ Siriboe, who starred in “Girls Trip.â€? He looks even better in person, y’all. On the last day of the festival, gospel

veterans such as Marvin Sapp, Smokie Norful and Tasha Cobb performed in Essence’s 10th annual gospel tribute. This year Dottie Peoples was honored, which resulted in large crowds to watch her in appreciation.

The best part of

the

communal nature of it, the togetherness, the joy. “Everybody liked each other,� she recalls, and in that settingshe learned the curried channa and potatoes, the jackfruit, dahl, dal puri. “Pretty much everything that’s on my menu now,� said the restaurateur.

When dining at Marla’s, it’s easy to taste the history. In all of the dishes previously mention, as well as the jerk and the doubles, the stew oxtails, in all of it, diners taste something timeless.

But also, the newness. At that early age of eight, as soon as she got some tutelage, Marla was in charge of cooking at home for

the family. And she started putting her own stamp on things. “The neighbors would be coming around, because I’d be caramelizing the goat.�

The recipes aren’t written, and though she’s passed some know-how on to her kids, remember that Marissa Jadoonanan wants to be a dentist. Joey

Jadoonanan works in a downtown law ďŹ rm. Like lots of restaurant kids, they’re not interested in the family business. “When I die, Marla’s dies with me,â€? said Marla Jadoonanan.

A fact that makes dining at Marla’s all the more extraordinary.

Like many extraordinary things, for the past 13 years, we’ve been able to take Marla’s relatively for granted. Almost without fail (except for those occasions when she’s closed the tiny Bloomington Avenue restaurant to accommodate her

The men were shown several times on Eritrean state television smiling together before announcing at an evening banquet that relations will be normalized. “Love is greater than modern weapons like tanks and missiles,� said Abiy, who has frequently preached about love and unity in his speeches. “Love can win

hearts, and we have seen a great deal of it today here in Asmara.�

Eritrea was once part of Ethiopia and fought for decades for its independence, which it ďŹ nally achieved in 1991. Initially, it had close ties with Ethiopia’s rebel-formed government.

In 1998, however, a dispute over a nondescript border

town turned into a year-anda-half-long war that claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides. Peace eluded the neighboring countries despite an accord in 2000 and international arbitration.

Two decades of hostile stalemate with periodic clashes followed, most recently in 2016

when hundreds were killed.

Since coming to power as prime minister in April, the 42-year-old Ahmed has electriďŹ ed Ethiopia with his informal style, charisma and energy, earning comparisons to Nelson Mandela, Justin Trudeau, Barack Obama and Mikhail Gorbachev.

He has reshued his cabi-

net, reached out to hostile neighbors and rivals, lifted bans on websites and other media, freed thousands of political prisoners, ordered the partial privatization of state-owned companies and ended a state of emergency imposed to quell widespread unrest.

ston also made appearances.

TV personality and model Cynthia Bailey brought her large social media following along to the event, posting live from the ceremony. Other attendees included actor Lance Gross, talk show host, Loni Love and R&B singer Raheem DeVaughn, among others. “It was a privilege to witness and take part in the celebration of our outstanding female

honorees. Their accomplishments reect the tenets of our 365Black platform,â€? said Kenny Mitchell, McDonald’s U.S. vice president of Brand Marketing and Content. “Our 15 year-long partnership with Essence and continuation of the 365Black Awards aďŹƒrms our commitment to celebrating everyday people who are doing extraordinary things to positively move Black forward.â€?

work around issues impacting their families and their communities, like investments in our public schools, ensuring accessible health care, and building opportunities for our local economies. We’re lucky to have a champion like Chair Perez and the collaborative help of the DNC and ASDC, which share our commitment to engaging voters in all parts

of Minnesota and electing DFLers up and down the ticket in November.�

To date, the DNC has awarded 41 states and territories with grants through the State Party Innovation Fund. This is in addition to the $10,000-a-month investment that state parties receive through our Every ZIP Code Counts program.

ClassiÀeds

Janet Jackson performing at the 2018 Essence Festival

Phone: 612.588.1313

-RE &ODVV 6WDWH 3URJUDP $GPLQLVWUDWRU 6XSHUYLVRU 6HQLRU :RUNLQJ 7LWOH 5HFRUGV 0DQDJHPHQW &RRUGLQDWRU :KR 0D\ $SSO\ 2SHQ WR DOO TXDOLÂż HG MRE VHHNHUV /RFDWLRQ $QRND 'DWH 3RVW HG 7%' 'D\V &ORVLQJ 'DWH 7%' +LULQJ $JHQF\ 6HQLRULW\ 8QLW 'HSDUW PHQW RI +XPDQ 6HUYLFHV 'LYLVLRQ 8QLW 'LUHFW &DUH 7UHDWPHQW 6XSSRUW 6HU YLFHV :RUN 6KLIW :RUN +RXUV 'D\V :RUN +RXUV D P WR S P 'D\V RI :RUN 0RQGD\ )ULGD\ 7UDYHO 5HTXLUHG <HV VRPH WUDYHO WR '&7 SURJUDPV -RE &ODVV 2SWLRQ 1RQH &ODVVLÂż HG 6WDWXV &ODVVLÂż HG &RQQHFW 3URJUDP (OLJLEOH <HV -RE 6XPPDU\ 7KH 5HFRUGV 0DQDJHPHQW &RRUGLQDWRU H[LVWV WR VXSHUYLVH PDQDJH DQG SURYLGH OHDGHUVKLS RI WKH UHFRUGV PDQDJHPHQW IXQFWLRQ ZLWKLQ 'LUHFW &DUH 7UHDWPHQW 6HUYLFHV -RE UHVSRQVLELOLWLHV LQFOXGH Â&#x2021; &UHDWLRQ DQG PDQDJHPHQW RI D SURJUDP SODQ WKDW LQFOXGHV WKH PDQDJHPHQW RI PHGLFDO KHDOWK UHFRUGV ORFDWLRQ PDLQWHQDQFH DQG UHWHQWLRQ RI WKDW LQIRUPDWLRQ Â&#x2021; 2YHUVLJKW RI WKH UHFRUGV PDQDJHPHQW SURFHVV ZLOO LQFOXGH WKH WUDQVLWLRQ RI GRFX PHQWDWLRQ PDQDJHG FXUUHQWO\ RQ SDSHU WR HOHFWURQLF Â&#x2021; 0DQDJHPHQW RI PHGLFDO UHFRUG Âż OH URRPV ZRUNLQJ LQ FRRUGLQDWLRQ ZLWK +HDWK ,QIRUPDWLRQ 0DQDJHPHQW 6HUYLFHV +,06 6XSHUYLVRUV Â&#x2021; (OHFWURQLF +HDOWK 5HFRUG (+5 LPSOHPHQWDWLRQ DQG HQVXULQJ LQIRUPDWLRQ LV DFFHVVLEOH DV QHHGHG WR SURYLGH FDUH WUHDWPHQW WR LQGLYLGXDOV VHUYHG DQG WR UHVSRQG WR UHTXHVWV Â&#x2021; 'LUHFW DQG VXSHUYLVH VWDá&#x201A;&#x2021; LQ LGHQWLÂż HG DUHDV RI WKH V\VWHP WR FRPSOHWH KHDOWK LQIRUPDWLRQ PDQDJHPHQW GXWLHV UHODWHG WR UHFRUGV PDQDJHPHQW 7KLV LQFOXGHV GDWD SULYDF\ DQG VHFXULW\ UHFRUG UHWHQWLRQ DQG VWRUDJH (+5 LPSOHPHQWDWLRQ DQG PDLQWHQDQFH DQG FRPSOLDQFH ZLWK UHJXODWRU\ DQG OLFHQVLQJ DJHQFLHV 0LQLPXP 4XDOLÂż FDWLRQV 3OHDVH HQVXUH \RXU UHVXPH UHĂ&#x20AC; HFWV \RXU H[SHULHQFH LQ WKH DUHDV EHORZ &HUWLÂż FDWLRQ 5+,$ 5HJLVWHUHG +HDOWK ,QIRUPDWLRQ $GPLQLVWUDWRU ZLWK WKH $PHULFDQ +HDOWK ,QIRUPDWLRQ 0DQDJHPHQW $1' 7ZR \HDUV RI H[SHUL HQFH DV D &HUWLÂż HG 5HJLVWHUHG +HDOWK ,QIRUPDWLRQ $GPLQLVWUDWRU 3UHIHUUHG 4XDOLÂż FDWLRQV Â&#x2021; ([SHULHQFH ZLWK PHGLFDO UHFRUG DQG KHDOWK LQIRUPDWLRQ PDQDJHPHQW SULQFLSOHV DQG SUDFWLFHV DQG WKHLU DSSOLFDWLRQ WR KHDOWK FDUH IDFLOLWLHV UHFRUG PDQDJHPHQW DQG LQIRUPDWLRQ V\VWHPV Â&#x2021; ([SHULHQFH ZLWK 6WDWH )HGHUDO ODZV UXOHV DQG UHJXODWLRQV DQG DFFUHGLWDWLRQ DQG OLFHQVLQJ UHTXLUHPHQWV UHODWLYH WR UHFRUG DQG KHDOWK LQIRUPDWLRQ PDQDJHPHQW FRXUW RUGHUV DQG GDWD SULYDF\ DFFHVV DQG UHOHDVH RI LQIRUPDWLRQ Â&#x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Âł$SSO\´ DW WKH ERWWRP RI WKLV SDJH ,I \RX DUH XQDEOH WR DSSO\ RQOLQH SOHDVH FRQWDFW WKH MRE LQIRUPDWLRQ OLQH DW )RU DGGLWLRQDO LQIRUPDWLRQ DERXW WKH DSSOLFDWLRQ SURFHVV JR WR KWWS ZZZ PQ JRY FDUHHUV &RQWDFW ,I \RX KDYH TXHVWLRQV DERXW WKH SRVLWLRQ FRQWDFW 6RQGUD -RKQVRQ DW VRQGUD MRKQVRQ#VWDWH PQ XV ,I \RX DUH D &RQQHFW DSSOLFDQW SOHDVH HPDLO \RXU FHUWLÂż FDWH DORQJ ZLWK WKH -RE ,' 7%' WR $\R -RQHV DW D\R \ MRQHV#VWDWH PQ XV E\ WKH SRVLWLRQ FORVH GDWH ,I \RX DUH DQ LQGLYLGXDO ZLWK D GLVDELOLW\ DQG QHHG DQ $'$ DFFRPPRGDWLRQ IRU DQ LQWHUYLHZ \RX PD\ FRQWDFW WKH 'HSDUWPHQW RI +XPDQ 6HUYLFHVÂś $'$ &RRUGLQDWRU DW IRU DVVLVWDQFH

3OHDVDQW 3ODFH -RKQ 0LOOHVV 'ULYH 5RJHUV 01

127,&( 23(1,1* 7+( %('5220 :$,7 /,67

DNC From 3 need to engage our young voters and communities of color year-round to ensure that their voices and concerns are heard at the polls. This grant will help expand our

Fax: 612.588.2031

$SSOLFDWLRQV PD\ EH GRZQORDGHG DW ZZZ FRPPRQERQG RUJ VWDUWLQJ DW DP -XO\ RU SLFNHG XS LQ WKH PDQDJHPHQW Rá&#x201A;&#x2C6; FH RQ )ULGD\ÂśV DP SP

$SSOLFDWLRQV PD\ EH GRZQORDGHG DW ZZZ FRPPRQERQG RUJ EHJLQQLQJ DW $0 -XO\ XQWLO 30 6HSWHP EHU 25 SLFNHG XS LQ WKH 0DQ DJHPHQW 2á&#x201A;&#x2C6; FH GXULQJ Rá&#x201A;&#x2C6; FH KRXUV

&RPSOHWHG DSSOLFDWLRQV PD\ EH UHFHLYHG E\ PDLO RU KDQG GHOLYHUHG WR WKH Rá&#x201A;&#x2C6; FH GXULQJ EXVLQHVV KRXUV $OO TXDOLÂż HG $SSOLFDQWV ZLOO EH SODFHG RQ WKH :DLWLQJ /LVW LQ WKH RUGHU WKH\ DUH UHFHLYHG

&RPSOHWHG DSSOLFDWLRQV PXVW EH UHFHLYHG E\ PDLO RU KDQG GHOLYHUHG RQ RU EHIRUH 6HSWHPEHU $OO TXDOLÂż HG $SSOLFDQWV ZLOO EH SODFHG RQ WKH ZDLWLQJ OLVW LQ WKH RUGHU WKH\ DUH UHFHLYHG

&RPPRQ%RQG &RPPXQLWLHV (TXDO +RXVLQJ 2SSRUWXQLW\

&RPPRQ%RQG &RPPXQLWLHV (TXDO +RXVLQJ 2SSRUWXQLW\

/,/Âś6 $1*(/6 0(025< /266 6833257 *5283

7KH GUDIW ZLOO EH DYDLODEOH IRU UHYLHZ DQG FRPPHQW RQ RU EHIRUH -XO\ DW 03+$2QOLQH RUJ DQG DW 03+$ÂśV DGPLQLVWUDWLYH Rá&#x201A;&#x2C6; FHV :DVKLQJWRQ $YHQXH 1RUWK 0LQQH DSROLV 0²) D P WR S P

$ SXEOLF KHDULQJ RQ WKH GUDIW 07: 3ODQ ZLOO EH KHOG :HGQHVGD\ $XJXVW DW S P DW WKH 03+$ DGPLQLVWUDWLYH Rá&#x201A;&#x2C6; FHV :ULWWHQ FRP PHQWV VKRXOG EH VXEPLWWHG E\ $X JXVW WR 07:#0SOV3+$ RUJ RU PDLOHG WR 03+$ 07: &RPPHQWV 5RRP :DVKLQJWRQ $YH 1 0LQQHDSROLV 01

Email: info@insightnews.com

127,&( 23(1,1* %('5220 :$,7 /,67 +8' 6HFWLRQ $GXOWV DQG ROGHU RU QRQ HOGHUO\ DQG GLVDEOHG DV GHÂż QHG E\ +8' 5HQW EDVHG RQ LQFRPH IRU TXDOLÂż HG DSSOLFDQWV

7KH 0LQQHDSROLV 3XEOLF +RXVLQJ $XWKRULW\ 03+$ KDV GHYHORSHG LWV GUDIW 0RYLQJ WR :RUN 07:

$QQXDO 3ODQ LQ WKH IRUPDW SUH VFULEHG E\ WKH 8 6 'HSDUWPHQW RI +RXVLQJ DQG 8UEDQ 'HYHORSPHQW

CUISINE 10

5HG 5RFN 0DQRU WK $YHQXH 6RXWK 1HZSRUW 01

3URMHFW %DVHG 6HFWLRQ $GXOWV DQG ROGHU RU TXDOLÂż HG LQGLYLGXDOV ZLWK SK\VLFDO GLVDELOLWLHV ZKR DUH \HDUV RU ROGHU 5HQW EDVHG RQ LQFRPH IRU TXDOLÂż HG DSSOLFDQWV

1RWLFH RI 3XEOLF +HDULQJ

trip was the food.

My sister and I pigged out on basically everything we could get our hands on. I was not going to leave New Orleans without experiencing Louisiana gumbo, a creole stuďŹ&#x20AC;ed pepper, jambalaya, a lobster po-

1RUWKHDVW 0LQQHDSROLV 0RQ URH 9LOODJH &HQWUDO $YH 1( 0LQQHDSROLV 0HHWV WKH QG :HGQHVGD\ RI HDFK PRQWK IURP WR S P 6RXWK 0LQQHDSROLV /XQGV %\HUO\ÂśV *URFHU\ :HVW /DNH 6W 0LQQHDSROLV 0HHWV WKH QG )ULGD\ RI HDFK PRQWK IURP WR S P %URRNO\Q &HQWHU -HKRYDK -LUHK &KXUFK ;HU[HV $YH 1 %URRNO\Q &HQWHU 0HHWV WKH QG :HGQHVGD\ RI HDFK PRQWK IURP WR S P 7R 5693 RU IRU TXHVWLRQV SOHDVH FDOO 'RURWKHD +DUULV DW

9ROXQWHHUV RI $PHULFD 0,11(627$ $1' :,6&216,1

&DVH $GPLQLVWUDWRU

7KH 8 6 'LVWULFW &RXUW 'LVWULFW RI 01 LV DFFHSWLQJ DSSOLFDWLRQV IRU D IXOO WLPH &DVH $GPLQLVWUDWRU LQ 6W 3DXO 01 6DODU\ UDQJH LV )RU PRUH LQIRUPDWLRQ YLVLW WKH FRXUWÂśV ZHEVLWH ZZZ PQG XV FRXUWV JRY (PSOR\PHQW $Q (TXDO 2SSRUWXQLW\ (PSOR\HU

$8',7,216

5RFNLQ VHQLRU FLWL]HQ PXVLF JURXS ORRNLQJ IRU WDOHQWHG VLQJHUV 0XVW EH \HDUV RI DJH DEOH WR PHPRUL]H O\ULFV *URXS SHUIRUPV DURXQG WKH PHWUR WLPHV SHU PRQWK 5HKHDUV DO HDFK 0RQGD\ PRUQLQJ $XJXVW 0D\ LQ 1 0SOV DW &RUD 0F&RUYH\ &HQWHU DW +HULWDJH 3DUN 2SHQ $XGLWLRQV $XJXVW IURP DP SP WK $YH 1 0LQQHDSROLV 01 0RUH LQIR PLFKDHO#$OLYHDQG.LFNLQ01 RUJ

9ROXQWHHU &XVWRPHU 6HUYLFH $VVLVWDQWV +HQQHSLQ &RXQW\ LV VHHNLQJ YROXQWHHU JUHHWHUV IRU LWV 1RUWK 0LQQHDSROLV KXPDQ VHUYLFH FHQWHU DW 3O\PRXWK $YHQXH 1RUWK WR ZHOFRPH DQG JXLGH YLVLWRUV DQVZHU TXHVWLRQV DQG DVVLVW ZLWK VSHFLDO SURMHFWV 5HOLDEOH DGXOWV ZKR HQMR\ ZRUNLQJ ZLWK SHRSOH DQG ZKR DUH DYDLODEOH IRU D IHZ KRXUV WZLFH D ZHHN DUH HQFRXUDJHG WR DSSO\ ,GHDO FDQGLGDWHV ZLOO EH DEOH WR YROXQWHHU IRU D PLQLPXP RI WKUHH PRQWKV 9ROXQWHHUV DUH LQWHJUDO WR +HQQHSLQ &RXQW\ÂśV PLVVLRQ RI HQKDQFLQJ WKH KHDOWK VDIHW\ DQG TXDOLW\ RI OLIH RI LWV UHVLGHQWV DQG FRPPXQLWLHV LQ D UHVSHFWIXO Há&#x201A;&#x2C6; FLHQW DQG Âż VFDOO\ UHVSRQVLEOH ZD\ *HW LQYROYHG E\ YLVLWLQJ KWWS ZZZ KHQQHSLQ XV KXPDQVHUYLFHYROXQWHHU DQG VXEPLWWLQJ D YROXQWHHU DSSOLFDWLRQ

Page 10 •July July 16 - July 22, 2018 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Tyler Craig

Thomasina Petrus

Funk and fun with soul/ R&B/funk cover band, Dr. Mambo’s Combo.

Tuesday, July 17 HIP-HOP

July 16 July 29 2018 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

Monday, July 16

FUNK/R&B

Dr. Mambo’s Combo Bunker’s Music Bar 761 N. Washington Ave., Minneapolis 9:30 p.m. – 1 a.m.

21-plus $7

Cuisine From 9 many catering events and special requests) we know she’ll be in the kitchen, hair net affixed tightly, stirring an enormous pot of something knee-buckling fragrant. Regulars know to walk straight to the kitchen, where she’ll chat them up as she methodically works. If you’re a really good regular, she’ll take a break and slide into the booth and listen to a worry or a heartbreak. This, and a plate of callaloo can be a remarkably effective salve.

But lately, it’s Marla herself who is in need of some assistance. A dispute with her landlord has left her grappling with the worry of losing her location, and what the future holds in store for the mom-and-pop that she’s single-handedly turned into an institution.

In an unfortunate turn of events, her store was recently vandalized, with the name of the restaurant sliced from her signature red awning, as well as the air conditioning unit stolen, rendering her unable to do business during a June heat wave.

“I feel like my home was violated,” she said. “This is where I spend all of my time.”

These events, along with the almost double spike in rent the new landlord is demanding, has her hunting for a new space, a new neighborhood, and a new moment for Marla’s.

Over the years, she’s cultivated clientele who dine with

U-God Nomad Pub 501 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis 7 p.m.

21-plus $15-$18 The Wu is coming through when Wu-Tang member U-God hits the Nomad stage.

Wednesday, July 18 COMEDY Shed G Comedy Series feat.

Tyler Craig Rick Brunson’s House of Comedy Mall of America, Bloomington 7:30 p.m.

21-plus $15 advance, $20 door From HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” BET’s “Comic View,” Jamie Foxx’s “LAFFAPALOOZA!,” “and Martin Lawrence’s “First Amendment,” comic veteran Tyler Craig headlines this monthly comedy event.

Thursday, July 19 JAZZ Thomasina Petrus Sings Lady Day – The Best of Billie and Me Dakota Jazz Club

her not just weekly, but sometimes daily. As she works the endlessly busy stoves, groaning with bubbling and steaming pots and pans, the phone continually rings. So-and-so needs a roti, another such-and-such needs three doubles. Even when the front doors are shuttered, clientele knock on the back for their foil-wrapped packages.

Marla’s cooking is not just a want for many. It’s a need. And for this reason, she’s reluctant to change, and therefore, she worries.

“I feel like a mother whose kids are going to be left behind,” said Jadoonanan.

She says she’s not worried about herself, or how she’ll make it in a new location.

“I am who I am, so I’ll make it work,” said Jadoonanan.

She thinks she may have identified the perfect turnkey location, but she can’t disclose it yet, since things aren’t final.

She did hint that it’s in a neighborhood that “needs her,” just as Bloomington and 37th once did. Those in the know credit Marla’s for turning that neighborhood around, the way a good restaurant surely can.

“If I were to die today I would die happy,” she concludes. “I’ve acquired what I wanted to do 13 years ago, and that’s just seeing my customer’s happy faces.

She hinted that the new spot might have a buffet for faster lunch services, and possibly some counter-service options.

But most importantly, her signature Caribbean scratch cooking will not be compromised.

And that’s something to smile about.

1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis’ 7 p.m. $25-$30

community when it was built.

After sold-out performances and an extended run at Jungle Theater, Thomasina Petrus brings the songs from Lady Day to the Dakota for an evening of tribute to Billie Holiday.

Youth Talk presented by SafeMN North Market 4414 Humboldt Ave. N, Minneapolis 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.

All ages No cover

Friday, July 20 SOUL/R&B Raphael Saadiq First Avenue 701 First Ave., Minneapolis 8 p.m.

18-plus $35 The soulful voice belonging to former Tony Toni Tone front man and R&B hitmaker, Raphael Saadiq comes to First Avenue.

Saadiq is joined by Tribe Called Quest DJ, Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

Saturday, July 21 Rondo Days Festival Martin Luther King Recreation Center and Park 271 N. Mackubin St., St. Paul 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

All ages No cost Rondo Days, the annual festival celebrating St. Paul’s historically Black Rondo neighborhood takes place off of Dale Avenue and Interstate-94 – the highway that decimated the

Sunday, July 22

The monthly youth and families motivational discussions speaker series is designed with curriculum that focuses on issues affecting the Black community. In this session the discussion will be the role of boys and men in the household and in their community and growing up in a single parent home.

Monday, July 23 SOUL Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant 1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis 7 p.m. $30-$35 Hometown soul and gospel legends, Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele bring a special night of music to downtown Minneapolis.

Tuesday, July 24 MUSICAL “Carmen”

Mill City Museum 704 South 2nd St., Minneapolis 7:30 p.m. $50-$125 Among the most famous and performed of all operas, Carmen is a riveting story of love, lust, betrayal, jealousy and murder.

Wednesday, July 25 HIP-HOP Scarface The Cabooze 917 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis 8 p.m.

18-plus $40 One of the best to ever touch the mic and one-third of the Geto Boys, Mr. Scarface returns to Minneapolis at The Cabooze.

Thursday, July 26 WEALTH African American Leadership Forum 2018 Annual Dinner African American Leadership Forum 222 South 9th St., Minneapolis 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. $150 Keynote speaker Carla Harris, vice chair of Global Wealth at Morgan Stanley joins this year’s annual dinner.

Friday, July 27

BLUES Wee Willie Walker Crooners Lounge and Supper Club 6161 Highway 65 N.E., Minneapolis 7:30 p.m.

21-plus $10 Blues icon Wee Willie Walker hits the stage at intimate concert venue, Crooners.

Saturday, July 28 ART FLOW: Northside Arts Crawl West Broadway Avenue, Minneapolis 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

All ages No cover FLOW is an annual event showcasing some of the best visual and performance art North Minneapolis has to offer.

Sunday, July 29 R&B/COMEDY Flynt Flossy and Turquoise Jeep 7th Street Entry 701 N 1st Ave, Minneapolis 7:30 p.m.

18-plus $15 advance, $17 door Viral video sensations Flynt Flossy and Turquoise Jeep hit the 7th Street for a special blend of music and comedy.

New book seeks to teach children legacy of Medgar Evers “Crawling leads to walking, but to walk one must stand.”

Those words are attributed to civil rights icon, Medgar Evers.

Now in paperback, “Medgar Evers: He Taught His Children to Crawl So We Could Stand” looks at moments in time – our history, racial past, even our current state of politics.

It’s a story, told in kid-friendly language, that explores how power and superiority corrupts everyone … those new to it and those resisting its loss.

In “Medgar Evers: He Taught His Children to Crawl So We Could Stand,” author Katina Rankin teaches children that history’s mistakes can linger if we aren’t willing to stand up and tell the truth — that there will always be abuses of power, unless we jointly take a knee to prove a point, and that the arc of the universe doesn’t bend toward justice unless we’re willing to do the work even if it includes crawling to get the pendulum of justice to swing toward honesty.

Each page filled with words of its era, pictures and quotes intertwined into the conversational setting of a family’s home. The author supplies an in-depth analysis of civil rights through a family’s dialogue of various aspects of the movement often glossed over in classroom school text books.

The book also teaches kids now is always the time to do what’s right. And it seeks to give children hope teaching them justice delayed is not justice denied.

“I am awed by how Ms. Rankin transformed a complex subject matter into a story of hope, equality, and justice that will awaken the interest of students to want to know more about the life that Medgar lived,” said Pamela D. C. Junior, director, Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

insightnews.com

Insight News • July 16 - July 22, 2018 • Page 11

Aesthetically Speaking ‘Hotel Transylvania 3’ a summer hit Film review by Kam Williams

The first two installments the popular animated franchise “Hotel Transylvania” were set at a hotel dedicated to creating a safe space for monsters to unwind, but what about when the resort owners themselves need a break?

That’s the question posed at the outset of “Hotel

charmed by the ship’s seductive captain (Kathryn Hahn).

What Drac doesn’t know is that she is the great-granddaughter of his archenemy, the legendary monster hunter, Abraham Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan).

In fact, Count is already under her spell by the time Mavis and her hubby (Andy Samberg) finally figure out that the attractive captain’s up to no good. Can the hopelesslysmitten Count be saved from

Sony Pictures Animation

Johnny (Andy Samberg), Vlad (Mel Brooks), Mavis (Selena Gomez), Drac (Adam Sandler), Griffin (David Spade), Crystal (Chrissy Teigen), Frank (Kevin James) and Eunice (Fran Drescher) in Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.

Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation,” an entertaining adventure revolving around proprietor Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) and company’s getaway on a luxury cruise for ghouls. At the point of departure, we find Drac’s daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) making reservations for the family aboard the Legacy, a boat headed for the infamous Bermuda Triangle in search of the mythical island of Atlantis.

En route, however, the plot thickens when the widowed Count finds himself being

the temptress’ plan to spike his guacamole with garlic oil?

Or might her mind be changed about the need to subdue the reformed, blood-sucking vampire.

Thus, unfolds “Hotel Transylvania 3,” a kid-friendly comedy directed by Genndy Tartakovsky who also helmed the previous two “Hotel Transylvania” movies. The principal cast members all reprise their roles, including Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Mel Brooks, Fran Drescher, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon and David Spade.

While the humordriven cartoon is laced with lots of side-splitting slapstick and sight gags that are fun for

SWEET BAYOU SOUL

WILLIE WEST SOUL SURVIVOR JULY 31 • 7pm

Eat. Drink. Listen.

1010 NIC OL L E T M A L L , MINNE A P OL I S

You’ll ABBA-solutely LOVE this show!

A N O R D WAY O R I G I N A L

NOW- AUG 5 Sponsored by

Generous support for Mamma Mia! is provided

by Marcia L. Morris

the whole family, what really makes this blockbuster morality play memorable is its timely universal message about toler-

Broadway Series sponsored by

Photo by Rich Ryan | Left to right: Erin Schwab, Christine Sherrill, Ann Michels

ance. Hey, it’s okay to be different, and please pass the popcorn.

“Hotel Transylvania 3” Excellent (4 stars)

Rated PG for action and rude humor Running time: 97 minutes

Page 12 •July July 16 - July 22, 2018 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Royal Wedding in North Minneapolis Solomon Fallah and Jemimatu Sawyer became Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Fallah in an Royal Wedding Ceremony held July 7 in the community room at the Cora McCorvey Health & Wellness Center, 1015 4th Avenue North.

The wedding was produced by Moyostic Party Rental, a company founded in 2016 by Moyosola Momah. Momah said she created the business to provide party rental supplies to Black and African communities in Twin Cities. The business soon grew to include a variety of related services, including event coordination and design, and custom centerpieces. For the Solomon Fallah wedding the design included throne chairs, creating a traditional African theme.

Photos courtesy Elizabeth Moore.

TU Dance

Insingizi

F RE E E EVE EVE EN NT International Day of Music Sat Jul 21 Noon to Midnight Inside and Outside Orchestra Hall 18 artists / 12 hours / 3 stages Complete schedule and FREE public transit pass available online: minnesotaorchestra.org/dayofmusic Heart & Soul Drum Academy

612-371-5656 / minnesotaorchestra.org / Orchestra Hall Music for Mandela Corporate Consortium Sponsors:

Simple is better.

In any language. <RXȇYH JRW KHDOWK SODQ TXHVWLRQV :HȇYH JRW KHDOWK SODQ DQVZHUV ΖQ PRUH WKDQ ODQJXDJHV )LQG D SODQ IRU \RX DW ucare.org.

0HGLFDUHɅΖQGLYLGXDO )DPLO\Ʌ0HGLFDLG