Threads Dance Project presents ‘Warriors of Light’ MORE ON PAGE 10
aesthetically speaking
Insight News October 12 - October 18, 2015
Vol. 42 No. 41 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Prodigal parent documentary chronicles Grammy-winning rapper’s reunion with dad By Kam Williams Che “Rhymefest” Smith is among the handful of rappers who have actually managed to make it in the music industry. What’s even more remarkable is the fact that the Grammy Award-winning artist also overcame a challenging childhood, having been raised on the rough South Side of Chicago by a single-mom who’d given birth to him while still in her early teens. Despite his phenomenal success in the music business, one thing that nagged at Rhymefest was why he’d been abandoned by his father, Brian, a man he’d only seen a few times in his entire life, and not
at all over the past two decades. He wondered whether his dad ever cared or thought about him? Or might he be dead? Rhymefest’s curiosity was probably piqued because of the guilt he himself felt about having three out-of-wedlock offspring with women he’d never committed to. He wanted to understand why he’d perpetuated the cycle of parental neglect, especially since fatherless children represent 60% of youth suicides, 71% of juvenile incarcerations and 90% of homeless children. That is the tension that tugs at your heart while watching “In My Father’s House,” a Prodigal Dad documentary
Che ‘Rhymefest’ Smith (right) and his father Brian Tillman
DOC TURN TO 5
Break Thru Films
James “Mudcat” Grant: Determined to succeed allowed to eat at restaurants where his white teammates ate or not being able to stay in the same hotel due to exclusionary “whites only” policies. Grant’s animated character led him to embark on a nightclub act where he would sing, dance and entertain. His favorite cohort was Maya Angelou and he fondly recounted their time together. The two wrote a poem, which adorns his cherished picture with President John F. Kennedy. Grant wrote a book in 2005, “12 Black Aces,” which detailed the 12 African-American pitchers in major league history who had won 20 games in a season. “This book tells the story of those men and a few of their predecessors, the obstacles they faced, and the determination they showed to succeed,” said Grant. “But it is a story about so much more than just baseball. Against the backdrop of their grit and determination, it reflects the story of all African-American baseball players through the creation of the Negro Leagues, the evolution of the game, and the parallel integration of baseball and America.”
By Carmen Robles A dozen or so community guests gathered at the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center in Minneapolis for a luncheon with baseball legend, musician and author, James “Mudcat” Grant. The intimate gathering was hosted by the Minnesota Twins and was attended by special guests including Elder Atum Azzahir, executive director and founder of Cultural Wellness Center; recipient of the 2015 Minnesota Twins Roberto Clemente Legacy Award. Grant is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who had a lengthy career including a 20-win season pitching for the Twins. Grant was named to the 1963 and 1965 American League All-Star teams. In 1965 he helped lead the Twins to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Grant’s home run in the sixth game was only the second by an American League pitcher during a World Series game. In addition to performing on the field, Grant had to deal with the adversity of being an African-American and not being
James “Mudcat” Grant
Embarrassing, shameful By Steven L. Belton, Interim President, Minneapolis Urban League and Jeffrey A. Hassan, Executive Director, African American Leadership Forum and Gary Cunningham, CEO & President, Metropolitan Economic Development Association
Paraphrasing the commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 lunar mission, “Minnesota, we have a problem,”—an embarrassing, shameful blot on our carefully crafted and maintained image of forward thinking government, progressive corporate leadership, generous philanthropic partnerships and active civic engagement on matters of equity, fairness and quality of life. The problem is the existence of an African American shadow state within the State of Minnesota, an
Business Resources and mindfulness in the life of nonprofits
PAGE 5
alternative reality where black citizens live below the poverty line at a rate three times greater than that of white citizens. In shadow Minnesota, African American citizens experience the worst income, housing, education and poverty disparities in the entire country, ranking dead last 51st - among the states and the District of Columbia when combining household income, home ownership, poverty and educational attainment, this, despite the fact that African
Insight 2 Health Detox salad recipe for weight loss and energy!
PAGE 6
American Minnesotans pay an estimated $500 million dollars annually in taxes. A September 18, 2015 article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press put a spot light on shadow Minnesota, summarizing the findings of 2014 U.S. Census Bureau data that showed African American income in Minnesota dropping 14% between 2013 and 2014. Median income for whites in Minnesota was $64,281 compared to $27,026 for African Americans. In
other words, median white income was 138% higher than African American income. African Americans are the only racial group in Minnesota to experience a decline in income between 2013 and 2014 and with that sharp decline the median income of African Americans in Minnesota is lower than that of African Americans in Mississippi, a state perennially at the bottom of the fifty-state ranking of socio-economic indicators. St. Paul and Minneapolis
had the highest black-white unemployment disparity of the 19 largest cities in the United States. Nationwide, African American income declined 1.4% (to $35,398), compared to Minnesota’s 14% slide - 10 times higher than the national average. It is clear that Minnesota government, private and philanthropic sectors and African-American communities fell asleep at
MINNESOTA TURN TO 3
Education
Community
Robbinsdale Cooper High School grads earn International Baccalaureate Diplomas
Seven fall fire prevention tips
PAGE 7
PAGE 9