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October 19 - October 25, 2009 • MN Metro Vol. 35 No. 42 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • www.insightnews.com
Mayor Coleman: Doing the right thing St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman last week affirmed the city’s commitment to do right by communities of color, small businesses, women-owned businesses and other disadvantaged businesses through restructuring city government to create new ways to do business with the City of St. Paul. Coleman addressed neighborhood business leaders and ethnic media at a taping of the “Conversations with Al McFarlane Public Policy Forum broadcast. The program will be broadcast 11am Tuesday, October 27 on KFAI FM 90.3 and 106.7FM in St. Paul. The special broadcast originated at the Centennial Showboat at Harriet Island and featured live music by Wain McFarlane & Jahz, and networking before the show. Riverfront Economic Development Association (REDA), the powerful business support and promotion organization that serves St. Paul’s West Side community, and the Minority Business Development and Retention division of St. Paul’s new Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity (HREEO) Department, and Twin Cities Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) co-sponsored the forum broadcast. The first of its kind broadcast program also reflected the emergence of a unique multi ethnic and multi-media platform for examining and promoting business and economic development in
New program showcase work of promising young musicians, performers
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Suluki Fardan
Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium leaders and St. Paul mayor Chris Coleman at broadcast from Centennial Showboat. L-R: Tom Gitta, publisher, Mshale Newspaper; David Glass, president, American Indian Economic Development Fund; St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman; Nghi Huynh, publisher, Asian American Press and president of MN Multicultural Media Consortium; Al McFarlane, Editor–In–Chief, Insight News and host of Conversations with Al McFarlane; Aldolpho Cardona, publisher, Latino Midwest. communities of color. Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium (MMMC) editors and American Indian business development executives joined broadcast host Al McFarlane in meet-the-press style interviews of city department heads,
community development strategists and banking industry leaders. Coleman welcomed the nearly 100-member audience and gave particular thanks to Christopher Romano, Executive Director of REDA. “It’s always good to have
Debates clarify Calling it “a night to remember” Kenya McKnight, leading challenger to 5th Ward incumbent Don Samuels, said the League of Women Voters’ 5th Ward debate last Tuesday gave voters a clearer picture of the need for change in North Minneapolis. From her point of view, she said, candidate Lenny Chism was particularly effective in criticizing Samuels record while she and former 5th Ward Councilmember, Natalie Johnson Lee, focused on their visions for serving and building the community. She said all five candidates including Samuels and Roger Smithrud, were present and each candidate spoke well to their own area of interests. Natalie Johnson Lee agreed that the debate was useful and said
Dr. David Hilden (above), Mike Harristhal(below) McKnight
Chism
Johnson Lee
voters asked good questions, but she was surprised by what did not get addressed. She said she thought there would have been more
Smithrud
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Cain’tcha don’tcha… Black hair trauma drama By B.P. Ford Associate Editor From the first breath we are labeled. Light, bright, damned near white… Good hair, bad h a i r . . . C a i n ’ t c h a don’tcha…cain’t straighten it…don’tcha try! It’s a hard life. What a challenge! And so if you had a choice, which would you choose? Studies of young children, when given a choice of playing with a white doll or Black doll, routinely chose the white doll as the “cutest.” Asked which hair was prettier,
www.awkwordsilence.com
Chris Rock’s movie “Good Hair” opens nationwide October 23rd.
they chose white hair over natural Black hair. The pressure begins at an early age. It is pressure on
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Teen pregnancy major concern for teens in Minnesota
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Get flu shot; Suluki Fardan
Samuels
Coleman said the emphasis should be on the “season of opportunity” now at hand in St. Paul. “Everyone knows about the $1 billion of investment that will occur along the
H1N1 prevention:
options in 5th ward By Al McFarlane Editor-in-Chief
neighborhood economic development partners at the table because they really know what is going on in the community,” he said. While it is appropriate to discuss how businesses navigate challenging economic times,
Sick? Stay home Dr. David Hilden is an internist at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota. He says good health is a matter of science and of art. Good health requires paying attention to the mind as well as the body, he says. Mike Harristhal is vicepresident for public policy, communications and marketing for HCMC. He joined Dr. Hilden at
KFAI studios for a “Conversations With Al McFarlane” interview on the HIN1 virus threat to public health, and to African and African American residents, in particular. Hilden said people are generally aware about the dangers of the flu virus and that most people are taking the threat seriously. “The message I would like to get out to people is that the prevention is what we need.
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to hold pink ribbon-pinning ceremonies as a tribute to women and families affected by breast cancer, with pins indicating commitment to get screenings. To bring national attention to this initiative, and to celebrate National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, ACCESS CEO Donna Thompson and ACCESS, in conjunction with lead sponsor the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, will hold a Pin-ASister™/Examinate Comadre™ pink ribbon-pinning ceremony Wednesday, October 28, in the Gold Room of the Rayburn House Office Building, from 8:30 a.m. until 10 a.m. The caucus was organized by Congresswomen Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Mary Fallin (R-OK). It is co-sponsored by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the House Cancer Caucus. According to the most recent study by the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force, of which
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Thompson is a co-chair, mortality rates for Hispanic women are considered to be similarly high. Many factors work against women of color when they are confronted with health care decisions. Many don’t receive mammograms because of financial issues or their dedication to their families prevent them from looking out for themselves; many receive inferior mammograms; and some don’t have access to quality care, even if they are diagnosed with breast cancer. Also a major factor is family support: it’s hard to concentrate on fighting breast cancer if you don’t have anyone in your corner to provide support. “There hasn’t been much change in the breast cancer mortality rate for underserved women since 1980. While there have been many advances in mammography screening, which leads to early detection, a large segment of African American and
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The Breast Cancer Initiative goes national (NNPA) - A recent report released by the American Cancer Society reveals that death rates from breast cancer across the United States have been falling, but African American women are still 38 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than their white counterparts. This is true, even though white women are diagnosed with the disease at a higher rate. This is why a growing campaign to call attention to this disparity is so significant. For more than three years, Chicago-based Access Community Health Network has addressed racial disparities around both breast and cervical cancer with its Pin-ASister™/Examinate Comadre™ campaign. The initiative works to educate women about breast and cervical health, and provide free mammograms and Pap smears for underinsured and low-income women across the state of Illinois This initiative has now gone national. Many states are on board
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working for?
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NBA Season Preview
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