aesthetically speaking
Aesthetically It! MORE ON PAGE 10
Insight News August 3 - August 9, 2015
Vol. 42 No. 31 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Arson suspected in devastating West Broadway fire By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer Minneapolis fire investigators say arson is most likely the cause of the raging blaze that displaced more than 21 residents and several businesses and changed the landscape of West Broadway Avenue. The early-morning fire of April 15 burned for hours and gutted businesses and apartment homes from 905 through 916 West Broadway Ave. The blaze that began at the Unbank at 913 W. Broadway burned quickly and spread to several neighboring
businesses and residences. Fire investigator Sean McKenna of the Minneapolis Police Department said samples taken from the point of origin from the fire were tested and confirmed to have contained a fire accelerant. “There is now the distinct possibility of an intentionally set fire,” said McKenna, who stopped short of saying the fire was definitively arson, but called on the public to come forward with any information regarding who may have set the blaze and why. The who and the why is the great mystery surrounding the fire. Housed at the location was
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Buildings destroyed in the April 15th fire on West Broadway Avenue
Batala McFarlan
The Rondo annihilation properties my father inherited from Uncle Mac Carter, who worked himself into early grave (on the railroad). I lived at 717 Rondo Ave., a towering three-story home, with steeples, balconies, a wraparound front porch with imported stain glass windows and a room to rent. Skeeter Price tried to tell me back when we were 6 and 7 years old that my house was getting torn down. My family was getting kicked off Rondo because a big ole highway was coming. Skeeter said his house was staying, but mine had to
At-Large
By Melvin Carter, II The sky was deep bluish-blue, the grass loud green. Birds flocked in radiant colors across treetops, sang and frolicked in the freshest of air. Rondo Avenue extended east/west from about Marion Street to Lexington Parkway. Our house was just one of several
Courtesy of Rondo Avenue Inc.
Rondo Avenue then and now
A hotbed of what?
Africa and Obama ‘on the move’ of the U.S. I believe that his historic trip to Kenya and to Ethiopia is indicative of Obama’s distinctive characteristic of taking strategic moves that go far beyond the traditional limitations of American politics and global outreach. This was the fourth trip of the president to Africa. As the first sitting American president to visit Kenya and Ethiopia, his timing could not have come at a better time. I guess Donald Trump and other so-called Birthers will once again raise politicallydivisive questions about whether President Obama is a real citizen of the United States. But like the other divisive issues that Trump and others are now raising about the “browning of America,” those stiff-neck far right leaders really miss the point. Like China, the United States should see that its place in the global market place will be increasingly and inextricably linked to having a productive relationship with Africa. Yes, it was good for President Obama to first reunite with his close
Black Press of America By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., President and CEO, NNPA Some people are now saying what was really obvious to me before President Barack H. Obama was re-elected to continue leading the United States of America. He is a Black man. He is an African man. As the first African American to be the president, the unprecedented hostility and threats against the president have been in too many instances racially motivated as well as based on partisan politics. Yet, President Obama continues to be strategic about how he represents his race, genealogy and his commitment to promote and sustain African freedom and empowerment. Yes, he is the president of all the people in the U.S. That is not the issue. We are not debating or taking exception to the fact that President Obama represents all the people
Leadership for Social Justice
Nobody Asked Me
Nelson Mandela and the transformative power of service
The deception: Whites as individuals, flawed
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By Teresa Clarke, CEO Africa.com KENYA - Obama’s visit to Kenya commenced in a reactionary frenzy to CNN’s pre-visit headline that Kenya is a hotbed of terrorism. Africanists chronically discuss how Western media focuses on negative stories to perpetuate a sense of Africa as a place of despair, disease and violence. But this particular headline touched a raw nerve for Kenyans, Africans, and those who understand Africa because Obama was visiting Kenya to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit — a gathering of over 1,000 entrepreneurs from around the world, convened to discuss how small business, with an emphasis on technology, will drive Africa’s economy forward. This was a meeting that
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President Barack Obama
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attracted the senior leadership of companies like IBM, Google, Microsoft, General Electric, etc. Africa is home to five of the ten fastest growing economies in the world, and Nairobi is considered the Silicon Valley of Africa. The fact that this dynamic business agenda was translated into another story of despair on the continent of Africa was a tipping point, proving to many that no matter what the reality, Western media will find a negative angle to tell the story when it relates to Africa. At the opening plenary session for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, each keynote speaker reacted to the CNN headline. President Obama, President Kenyatta, and Julie Gichuru the master of ceremonies,
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Lifestyle
Community
Worn out: Seniors caring for seniors
The Chakolis House knows State Championships!
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