Insight News ::: 12.22.14

Dobet Gnahoré Grammy Award-winning vocalist comes to the Ordway stage for a onenight-only performance MORE ON PAGE 10

Insight News December 22 - December 28, 2014

Vol. 41 No. 53 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Ferguson; politically … what’s now, what’s next

By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer

Dr. Bernadeia Johnson

Johnson resigns

By Al McFarlane Editor-in-Chief Dr. Bernadeia Johnson Wednesday announced her resignation as Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) superintendent, effective January 31, 2015. She said she planned to help with the transition to new leadership through June 30, 2015.

Johnson’s resignation letter to the School Board said she had “very mixed feelings” about her announcement. The Board accepted the resignation in a previously scheduled meeting Wednesday evening.

JOHNSON TURN TO 3

A few days before Thanksgiving much of Ferguson, Mo. went up in flames, but the match that lit the torch was struck years before.

Even before the Aug. 9 slaying of 18-year-old, college-bound Michael Brown – the unarmed teen killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson – there was the toxic stench of systematic racism that permeated not only in Ferguson, but in most of north St. Louis County – an area with more than 20 separate municipalities.

And for each municipality there is a police force that earns its city millions of dollars in revenue by stopping motorists (particularly Black motorists) at will. And the curiosity of most of these municipalities is while the residents are majority Black, the elected officials and police departments are overwhelmingly white.

Ferguson Democratic Committeewoman Patricia Bynes is working to change that.

Bynes, who has been active in the protests since the beginning, has focused much of her efforts on changing the political landscape in St. Louis County. The committeewoman feels one of the best ways to affect change is through the ballot box. This coming April

Protesters in Ferguson, Missouri will be the proving ground as many seats in St. Louis County are up for grabs.

“We just had the first day of filing (to run for office) and I’m excited to see change. Holding

public office is the next step for real social change,” said Bynes during a phone interview with

Thousands of people marched from Freedom Plaza to the United States Capitol on Saturday, December 12, 2014 in the National “Justice For All” March. The event was sponsored by the National Action Network (NAN) to highlight police brutality and criminal justice reform in the United States.

By Jazelle Hunt NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – On Saturday Dec. 13, thousands of Americans across the country registered their objection to police officers not being

Penny JonesRichardson

Afrodescendientes

Inspiring women with “Nobody Told Me I Was a Queen”

Re-membering the African family

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FERGUSON TURN TO 7

Bringing the model minority mutiny home

Milbert O. Brown, Jr./NNPA

Americans take to the street to protest police killings

Loavesofbread (Creative Commons)

By Scot Nakagawa

held accountable after killing unarmed citizens, many of them Blacks, by mounting massive demonstrations and rallies, the main one held here in the nation’s capital.

Organized by major civil rights organizations, the goal

This fall, in the wake of the shooting death of Michael Brown, and in the face of the mounting Black body count at the hands of law enforcement, ChangeLabput out a call for a Model Minority Mutiny. We called

PROTESTS TURN TO 3

on Asian Americans to stand up against the model minority myth as an act of self-liberation from a humiliating, trivializing, and dehumanizing stereotype that has, for too long, been used as ajustification for labeling Black communities

MODEL TURN TO 5

Lifestyle

Sports

Three creative ideas for holiday party themes and décor

Gopher players and coach rack up awards

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Page 2 • December 22 - December 28, 2014 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Insight News columnist releases second novel

Penny Jones-Richardson hopes to inspire women with “Nobody Told Me I Was a Queen”

By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer Penny Jones-Richardson has a message for any woman willing to receive it.

Her message is simple, but still hard for some to properly receive.

Jones-Richardson simply wants women to know that they are queens.

For Jones-Richardson, a resident of Brooklyn-Park, the title of her latest novel explains why she is trying so hard to reach other women, because in her words, “Nobody Told Me I Was a Queen.” Now JonesRichardson has embraced her “queenliness” and is using her book and its three main characters to hopefully inspire others while also entertaining them.

“The reader is going to understand what it means to value yourself and what it means to have self-respect and demand respect from others,” said JonesRichardson during her recent book signing held at Seven Steak and Sushi. “The book is based on fictional characters but some of my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from other people helped to tell the story.

It took a long time for me to understand that I’m a queen and I should be treated with respect.”

“Nobody Told Me I Was a Queen” is the first in a series of three novels that follows the lives of three main female characters who deal with various issues of physical, mental and self abuse. Jones-Richardson said the first in the series ends with a cliffhanger that leads into the next book, which is currently being written.

And though the novel that took Jones-Richardson two and a half years to write serves as a tool to empower women, the author, who is also an employee with the Minneapolis Public Schools said her creation is not about male bashing.

“There are some really

Harry Colbert, Jr.

Author and Insight News columnist, Penny Jones-Richardson signs a copy of her latest novel, “Nobody Told Me I Was a Queen” for fan, Brenda Lynn.

positive male figures in the book, but the keys for the characters is to be able to identify who the good ones are and not be afraid when the good one shows up,”

said Jones-Richardson.

Published by Author House, “Nobody Told Me I Was a Queen” is available at www. authorhouse.com and on www. amazon.com. “Nobody Told Me I Was a Queen” retails for $19.

For Jones-Richardson, “Nobody Told Me I Was a Queen” is her second published novel. Her first, “Red Flags” is also available online. In addition to being a novelist, Jones-Richardson, who is a self-esteem life coach with a degree in psychology, is a columnist with Insight News, offering readers inspiration with her “Motivational Moments” column.

For more information on Jones-Richardson, visit her website at www. thequeensproject.com.

insightnews.com

Insight News • December 22 - December 28, 2014 • Page 3

HEALTH Tech innovators help bring health care to hard-to-reach consumers

By Benjamin Todd Jealous Sometimes the very consumers who need health care the most are the least likely to enroll. This has been one of the challenges faced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the federal agency responsible for administering the Affordable Care Act. To meet this challenge, the agency is looking to Silicon Valley for help. This week, HHS announced an innovative collaboration efforts with tech firms PayNearMe, Monster. com, and Peers.org, to bring important Open Enrollment information low-income and

Ben Jealous other traditionally hard-toreach communities.

Monster.com, for example, is already the country’s largest online platform for job seekers, counting more than 200 million registered users.

The job site reaches a vast amount of unemployed and under-employed Americans -- precisely the audience that is likely to be uninsured.

Through partnership with HHS , Monster.com will provide tips and advice on open enrollment through the company’s blog.

Similarly, Peers.org has agreed to post information about Healthcare.gov on their website, and will host a live video chat with HHS officials to answer questions from the Peers community.

Perhaps the most interesting partnership involves the electronic cash transaction company PayNearMe. PayNearMe’s customer base is made up of individuals who

operate in the cash economy.

This includes low-income consumers and those who have limited or no access to a bank account. Almost half of this segment are people of color.

The company allows the cash-preferring people to pay their monthly bills-rent, electricity, water, etc.-in cash at their local 7-Eleven and Family Dollar stores, without the high fees that generally accompany pre-paid debit cards and money orders, and with the convenience of same-day payment.

Between November 15th and February 15th, the 2015 open enrollment deadline, all PayNearMe receipts printed at 7,800 7-Eleven stores

Johnson

Protests From 1 of the protest was to demand federal intervention in state prosecutorial systems that have failed to indict anyone in the police killings of victims such as Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, and Pearlie Golden.

“We must have this nation deal with the fact that just like 50 years ago, the states have taken a position to rob the human rights and civil rights of citizens with states rights-protected laws,” said Al Sharpton, the rally’s chief organizer.

The demands by Sharpton included: expanding the powers for the Justice Department to investigate state prosecution procedures; national legislation to lower the threshold for grand jury indictments of police officers; and independent special prosecutors to examine potential cases of police brutality or misconduct.

The march drew a multiracial, intergenerational sea of sign-toting citizens from all over the nation.

Wanda Sharif, from Beaumont, Texas, had already been in Washington to help care for her grandchild, but extended her visit to attend the march. The grandmother of seven recalled marching with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at 11 years old, and attending all-White schools until enrolling at Spelman College in Atlanta.

“I’ve been doing this for three generations. I have to be here to document for my grandchildren, so they know I was here,” she says. “It’s important that everybody sees – not just America, but the whole world should see that we have not made all the progress and accomplished all that we thought we did. More and more eyes are opening. We’re still fighting for the same things we were fighting for in the ‘60s.”

Washington D.C. residents Albert and Andrea Elliott brought their 12-year-old grandson, Jeremiah, to use the march as a teachable moment.

“I brought my grandson to his first march so he understands that what he is doing is right.

We’re teaching him solidarity… and that he can speak up and be nonviolent without being afraid,” she says. “We as a people have to stick together and be more involved…. We have to

in quality, affordable care through the Health Insurance Marketplace.” It’s a great idea.

The government sector sometimes gets a bad reputation for lacking imagination and innovation. It’s refreshing to see HHS step outside of Washington, D.C. to take advantage of the tech community to extend their reach and better communicate with their underserved constituents.

the past 15 years, since first joining the staff here as a principal,” said Mammen. “Her leadership has brought clear vision for the path ahead and her team has established aggressive goals to move us toward that vision. This is a job bigger than any one individual, and the role of the superintendent to drive collaboration among all the school district’s stakeholders is extraordinarily challenging. We are grateful for her service and we appreciate that she has built a strong leadership team to succeed her and manage the transition we now face.”

The Board appointed Chief Executive Officer Michael Goar interim superintendent effective Feb. 1, subject to his acquiring either a superintendent’s license or a variance from the state Board of School Administrators. Goar has 20 years of professional experience as a leader in urban school districts including Boston, Memphis and Minneapolis, the press release said.

The school board will determine the process for filling the role on a full-time basis in the months ahead, according to the press release.

march, Rep. Green, Madison, and Sharpton addressed the discord between youth and grassroots actions, and those organized by civil rights leaders.

“We who are a little older, a little grayer, are proud of the young people speaking out,” said Madison, referring to youth protesters as young John Lewises and Fannie Lou Hamer, two civil rights legends.

Green echoed similar statements, adding that elders were not here to lead, but to “get out of the way.”

Sharpton added, “We don’t all agree with each other. We don’t all have the same tactics.

But we all have the same goal, and that is equal protection

North and South Minneapolis.

The white part of the district posts admirable achievements for its students” he said, while Black and Latino students languish in underresourced, under-valued schools.

Orfield said the perfect storm of the housing mortgage crisis and defacto housing segregation, plus the emergence of charter schools which have siphoned off over 27% of revenues away from public schools without producing

improvements in learning outcomes, sets up a dynamic which means the best schools in the state are the white schools in Southwest Minneapolis, guaranteeing college and career opportunity for these students. In contrast, he said, Black and Latino schools are distinguished by the number of students on track for failure, joblessness and prison.

In her letter of resignation, Johnson said, “I am proud to

have served as superintendent of MPS. It has been simultaneously the most challenging and the most rewarding experience of my professional life. Having been part of MPS’ leadership since 2006, I am keenly aware that we have significant challenges, particularly in the area of disparities in student outcomes. I am also keenly aware of the importance our families, our staff and our community place on public education.”

Johnson said she leaves in place a structure for change that “will require focus and collaboration, as well as the willingness of key stakeholders to be open to changes that will benefit all of our children.

We have organized this change work under the banner of Shift – a shift in attitude, a shift in practice and a shift in outcomes, all of which demonstrate our commitment to all students,” she said.

Johnson said commitments to family, specifically assisting elderly grandparents, required that she put her family first. “This has been a difficult decision because it has compelled me to choose between the immediate needs of my family and the critical work of the school district. Without question, the work of educating our children must move forward; at this time, I must put my family first,” she said.

In a press release Wednesday night School Board Chair Richard Mammen expressed the school board’s appreciation for the superintendent’s dedicated service.

“Dr. Johnson has been committed to the students of Minneapolis Public Schools for

go to the source, where the laws are made, to put our foot on their necks.”

As they planned their attendance, Jeremiah asked about previous civil rights demonstrations, police violence, and tear gas.

“It’s not fair to kill Black people because you have the power and authority to do stuff like this that we can’t,” he says of his personal reasons for attending. “I don’t think it’s fair to kill Black people for no reason.”

University of Maryland students and Divine Nine fraternity members Marcus Davis, Justin Ferguson, and Akiel Pyant carried a “Black Lives Matter” banner.

“I’m here because I’m concerned about the future. If our grandparents went through this, and we’re going through this, Lord only knows what my grandchildren will go through,” says Davis, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

The light police presence blocked traffic and generally stayed out of the way as the loud but peaceful processional traveled six blocks to the main stage at the foot of the Capitol’s front lawn. Both national and international media

were present, as well as union organizations, Black Greek letter organizations, civic and grassroots organizations, student groups, and families. Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ and ‘What’s Happening Brother’ met the marchers as they arrived at the main stage, where media trucks, government Suburbans, and a stilted press box overflowing with photographers flanked the crowds.

With the Capitol as a backdrop, the main stage featured a lineup of speakers including Representative Al Green (D-Texas), Newark, N.J. Mayor, Ras Baraka, Howard University Student Association President, Leighton Watson, and more. Activist and radio host, Joe “The Black Eagle” Madison served as master of ceremonies.

The lineup also featured the unexpected addition of a young contingent of Ferguson, Mo. protesters. At the gathering point before the march, where a different set of speakers addressed the crowd, about 15 members of the ad-hoc D.C. Ferguson group occupied the stage area, using chants and bullhorns to call attention to the fact that Ferguson protesters had not been invited as partners.

The group has been

demonstrating since August, and was responsible for shutting down I-395 in protest last month.

Two DC Ferguson members and one Ferguson native and protester bypassed security and took to the stage. Security attempted to remove them without force. As the NAN speaker at the podium tried to speak over the commotion with calls for “respect for one another” and unity, Erika Totten, one of the D.C. Ferguson members onstage, used a bullhorn to say, “They have been out there for more than 100 days.”

After several minutes of heated exchange onstage between the contingent and several National Action Network organizers, the organizers allowed Totten to speak at the

podium. She spoke very briefly then passed the microphone to St. Louis native and Ferguson protester, Johnetta Elzie.

“I’ve been in Ferguson for 127 days. I got shot one time with a rubber bullet standing on my neighborhood street. I’ve been tear gassed nine times in a neighborhood where I pay taxes, because I decided to exercise my First Amendment rights and go protest for the death of Mike Brown,” Elzie said. “This movement was started by the young people. We started this. It should be young people all over this stage.”

Afterward, an NAN representative approached the group and spoke to Totten about building an alliance.

At the main stage after the

From 1 Johnson’s departure is likely to generate mixed feelings in the community as well, as it may be seen by some as confirmation that the current trend toward resegregation and failure of Black and Latino students is an anomaly that hangs like an albatross around the school district’s neck.

Myron Orfield, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and one of the country’s foremost authorities on metropolitan governance, directs the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity. He says the district’s problem in part is rooted in the flight of the Black and Latino middle class from the city in search of opportunity in the suburbs.

“The Minneapolis School District dropped from 50,000 students to 30,000 students. The district’s response was to, in effect, create two districts, one for white families in Southwest Minneapolis, and the other for Black and Latino students in

nationwide will include information about upcoming enrollment deadlines and encouragement to explore tax benefits and new plans at HealthCare.gov.

PayNearMe receipt reminders serve as an innovative way to literally place coverage information into the hands of traditionally hard to reach consumers because the receipts serve as proof of payment of important expenditures, and are therefore carefully scrutinized and held onto by the customers.

As HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell put it, “These innovative companies help us to reach our consumers where they are with the information they need to sign up and reenroll

Michael Goar

Richard Mammen

Benjamin Todd Jealous is a Partner at Kapor Capital and former President & CEO of the NAACP. Kapor Capital is an investor in PayNearMe, and he serves as Board Observer for the company.

PROTESTS TURN TO 9

We can’tnot afford v to have health insurance.

Everyone deserves insurance they can afford. MNsure can help you get it. MNsure is a free service where you can compare health plans to find the best plan for you, often at a surprisingly affordable price. In fact, most people qualify for financial help.

Free in-person or phone assistance is available.

Call 1-855-3MNSURE or visit mnsure.org Text ENROLL to 30644 for information

Page 4 • December 22 - December 28, 2014 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Re-membering the African family

By Carmen Robles Associate Editor, Afrodescendientes Al McFarlane has become quite proficient in ancestral research and is reaching out to DNA distant relatives through DNA programs to learn more of his lineage.

On the Dec. 2 “Conversations with Al McFarlane,” KFAI (90.3 FM in Minneapolis and 106.7 FM in St. Paul), McFarlane featured phone interviews with Demetrius Hunter and Anita Woodley from Raleigh, N.C. 23andMe Ancestry (www.23andme.com) and African Ancestry (www.africanancestry. com) are DNA analysis services providing information and giving tools to learn about and explore DNA. Both offer the opportunity to learn what percent of a person’s DNA is from populations around the world; helps contact DNA relatives across continents or across the street and helps build

Carol Jackson

Zelb Hunter (center) started Grocers on Wheels. His son Demetrius runs it now, with Anita Woodley. family trees. Both are giving McFarlane different approaches to understanding his genealogy.

Through 23andMe, McFarlane discovered that he and Hunter are

most likely third or fourth cousins.

On www.Ancestery.com Hunter learned his paternal grandmother was 100 percent Cameroon. He went on to

research his DNA through 23andMe, adding valuable details to his more than 10 years of data collection. Hunter and Woodley met on the Cameroon maternal

CNN. Her DNA journey began at a family reunion celebrating her great grandmother’s 100th birthday. When a male and female from the family revealed they had taken a DNA test and learned they were Tikar Cameroon people, Woodley was hooked. She took the test and raised $7,000 through her one woman performances where she brings her ancestors to life. Within two months she found herself on a plane headed to the Bush. People can follow her story on www.tikarcameroon.blogspot. com.

“We were dismembered” said McFarlane. “I tell people the work at hand is to remember, and not just remember in thought but to actually think dismember, remember, reconnect. Put the body back together. I think that’s what we’re going to do is put together again the African family, and that will be the world family so I’m excited about DNA … that’s what I love about it.”

link and while not sure if they are DNA relatives, they’ve become business partners in the grocery arena.

Their business, Grocers on Wheels is built on a model that was started during the great depression

by Hunter’s father a World War II veteran who took fresh foods from his farms to Johnson County, N.C. and Wade County, N.C. for about 85 years. This area is considered a food desert – a one mile radius in southeast Raleigh where there is no access to grocery stores.

Hunter follows the route his father started, carrying on his legacy.

Grocers on Wheels celebrated one year in November with plans to expand to another city and to schools delivering breakfast and lunch and teaching nutrition. Their goal is to teach healthy nutrition.

“It’s all connected ... genealogy plus history, bringing new awareness to food,” said Woodley.

Woodley is a performance artist and journalist, formerly with National Public Radio and

Under high pressure, Minneapolis City Council reverses #Lattelevy vote Activists deemed that $2.50 fiscal gain “latte levy,” or the cost of a single latte, which they say some homeowners could give up in order to keep affordable housing, clean energy and racial equity programs for all. Some activists even brought paper coffee cups as props during their testimony.

“There are many ways to balance a budget but saving $2.50 for homeowners in some of the wealthiest areas of the city will be in lieu of developing leadership in your community,” said one of the over 60 community members who testified during Wednesday’s meeting.

“This is not a lot of money,” said Zoe Holloman during the public comment portion. “It’s kind of sad that we have to beg

By Katie Nelson, TC Daily Planet

Katie G. Nelson

coordinated the headlinemaking I-35W rally that reduced a portion of the Minneapolis interstate to a standstill earlier this month, flooded Wednesday’s meeting to call fault to pending budget cuts targeting the One Minneapolis Fund and the Clean Energy Partnership.

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That difference of about $620,000 would have — on average — decreased property taxes by about $2.50 per resident according to activists. That said, property taxes can shift in either direction depending on changes in the value of a property or neighborhood.

’S CY

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AN EX TR

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In turn, they voted to cut $174,000 allocated to two new communication positions for the city.

Hundreds of activists, including some of whom

PLUS, TAKE

Local activists obtained a rare victory Wednesday evening after the Minneapolis City Council voted to reverse their decision to cut $225,000 from a racial equity program and a clean energy initiative — a cut deemed #Lattelevy.

But the contentious and oftentimes emotional city council meeting highlighted a fundamental and ongoing fray between city leadership and local activists, both of whom displayed intense frustration throughout the five-hour meeting.

On Dec. 10, Minneapolis City Council members voted to restore funding to the One Minneapolis Fund and the Clean Energy Partnership as

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insightnews.com

Insight News • December 22 - December 28, 2014 • Page 5

LIFESTYLE ENTERTAINING

Three creative ideas for holiday party themes and décor StatePoint) The look of your holiday party can be just as important as its other elements.

So go above and beyond a plain table setting. Set the mood for your party and provide a striking visual to accompany the feast by creating a thematic holiday “tablescape.”

The experts at Bed Bath & Beyond are offering three ideas for elevating your entertaining décor: Rustic Living A warm, woodsy vibe invites lingering conversation. Skip the tablecloth and add a burlap runner and rattan placemats in rich neutral hues to create a foundation of textures. Bring in some warmth using soft green moss centerpieces and

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 Assistant to the Publisher Shumira Cunningham Associate Editor & Associate Publisher B.P. Ford Culture and Education Editor Irma McClaurin Director of Content & Production Patricia Weaver Sr. Content & Production Coordinator Ben Williams Production Intern Sunny Thongthi Distribution/Facilities Manager Jamal Mohamed Receptionist Lue B. Lampley Contributing Writers Harry Colbert, Jr. Julie Desmond Fred Easter Timothy Houston Penny Jones-Richardson Alaina L. Lewis Darren Moore Carmen Robles Lydia Schwartz Ryan T. Scott Toki Wright Photography Michele Spaise David Bradley 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.

the sleek glitter of champagne flutes.

Mix shapes to give the table a casual, welcoming feel.

For example, for a rectangular table, use round placemats with square plates. Likewise, use centerpieces of varied heights, such as glass candle holders of different sizes accented with rope and filled with moss. Add tall branches to the moss for a dramatic touch.

Consider Lenox Park City flatware and china. The porcelain plates are decorated with delicate bare branches and the flatware’s design mimics tree bark.

Remember, little details go a long way. Add sprigs of rosemary to Champagne for an evergreen feel and flavor.

Glamorous Gold To create an opulent look, think rich colors, vivid patterns and one of the hottest tabletop trends this season—gold.

When opting for a formal setting, avoid mixing shapes and limit your color palette.

From placemats to china, repeat soft curves for an overall unified effect. Use a show-stopping place setting that creates richness and visual depth, such as Wedgwood’s Renaissance Gold, which pairs

gold with cobalt blue. Mirror these colors with your other table accessories.

Use soft touches to keep the look from feeling cold, such

as lush roses in full bloom or ferns spray painted gold for a pretty finishing touch.

A Modern Classic

From retro-sweetness to sleek modernity, get the best of both festive worlds in one beautiful setting.

For a dark wood table, skip

tablecloth and placements and instead use clear chargers with gold beaded rims under the place settings.

Tall white taper candles, set in white porcelain candleholders, are a timeless touch that cast a warm glow for a welcoming ambiance. For the centerpiece, use a crystal bowl and crystal vases, filled with a bubbly mix of red ornaments.

Swap a traditional runner for artfully strewn ribbons to add funky personality.

Use white cotton napkins topped with elegant gold-edged flatware and gold-rimmed drinking glasses for a look with enduring appeal. While gold is on-trend, such ornate accents have an undeniably traditional feel.

Top each place setting with a colorful ornament. A trick? Leave room in the bowl centerpieces so guests can drop in the bulbs from their place settings when dinner is served.

More ideas, decorating tips, recipes, printable décor, gift ideas, playlists and holiday inspiration can be found at the “Above & Beyond” blog at Blog.bedbathandbeyond.com.

This holiday, wow your guests and set the mood for your feast with tablescapes that please the eye.

Staying positive will make your journey full of joy Motivational Moments

By Penny JonesRichardson Have you ever felt like all of your dreams and goals were about to become true? Do you ever feel like everything you’ve worked so hard on is on its way to becoming

#Lattelevy From 4 for it.”

The One Minneapolis Fund, which develops diverse local leadership and supports community engagement, was facing a $150,000 cut while the Clean Energy Partnership faced $75,000 in reductions.

Full disclosure, the Twin Cities Daily Planet received a One Minneapolis grant this year.

“I’d like to remind a lot of councilmembers that you were voted in on a platform of racial equality and this is where you step up and act for it,” said public commenter Lena Gardner. “We need more money for racial equality, not less. So if you’re looking for somewhere to cut it, I’d encourage you to

Model From 1 as “problem” minorities, and excluding and criminalizing Black people.

Many Asian Americans were already part of the mobilization.

Many more are answering the call.

But while young Asian Americans take to the streets to make the dual case, “we’re not your model minority,” and “Black Lives Matter” to the public, many are finding it difficult to bring the Model Minority Mutiny home. Our families, among whom many are refugees of war and of the devastation being wrought on vulnerable communities in the global economy, are struggling with the call to mutiny against the stereotype. Some, understanding how vulnerable they are here, as residents of a country in which they are often viewed as unwelcome guests (or even pests) view the model minority myth as a shield against violence and discrimination. Others have internalized the myth, and along with it, negative stereotypes about Black people, making the case through their experiences that the model minority myth is the flip side of anti-blackness.

ChangeLab wants to provide resources to those

a reality? If so, this means that you are in a positive state of mind and positive energy is all around you.

This feeling just means that you are looking at life differently and that you are looking forward to new things and the great adventures that are going to happen to you and for you. I can remember having that feeling during the week of my first book signing. Everything was so wonderful and I felt nothing but positive energy around me which made the whole

experience one that I will never forget. The individuals who were there shared in my joy and their positive energy overflowed throughout the place. For this I am eternally grateful.

There can also be times when negative energy can steal your joy. Have you ever been so excited about something then someone says something or does something to change your mood completely? Is this their fault or yours? By allowing someone to steal your joy is your fault for letting your emotions

get in the way. Remember your joy belongs to you and you can’t get mad if not everyone is in your corner cheering for you. Sometimes people just don’t know how to be happy for someone else when there have been many disappointments in their own lives. Don’t expect positive emotions from someone who is negative most of the time.

This is a lesson I had to learn and one that I have never forgotten.

Remember your journey belongs to you and you must be encouraged and know that

staying positive is what will make this journey full of joy. Jump up and down and rejoice with every goal you reach! Never stop being your biggest fan no matter what happens!

And as always, stay focused, stay determined, and keep striving for greatness.

think about cutting it from the police because we need better solutions.”

Councilmembers Kevin Reich, Jacob Frey, Barb Johnson, Blong Yang, Abdi Warsame, Lisa Goodman and Linea Palmisano were specifically targeted during the public testimony segment as they voted in support of the cuts drafted on Dec. 1, 2014.

Councilmembers recessed after public testimony to the voices of activists chanting “No equity, no peace!” in the hallway.

Soon, activists descended back into the chambers.

“You vote now, we vote in 2017!” activists yelled. The City Council’s next elections are slatted for November 7, 2017.

Despite the recess, tempers remained high between the crowd and the councilmembers, and between some councilmembers themselves.

Warsame, who previously voted in favor of the cuts to One Minneapolis Fund and the Clean Energy Program, called the recent criticism toward him “insulting” and “unacceptable.”

“In the heat of the moment it is easy to point fingers, to blame and to label people as being against equity, to being against myself,” Warsame said to the crowd. “It’s insulting that you say you are more black than I am, that you care more about black lives than I do.”

Hisses and yells echoed from the crowd in response.

“You turned your back on us!” one man yelled from the back of the room.

Some councilmembers proposed an alternative to the budget by cutting two new communication positions created to work with non-native English speakers. Another

motion urged the council to keep those positions and fund them with cash for the Minneapolis Convention Center. But the councilmembers did decide to take the cuts from those positions.

Hodges, who remained relatively reserved throughout

Wednesday’s meeting said in a statement, “Overall, this is a great budget. The investments that we are making in so many areas are significant steps forward for equity and growth in Minneapolis.”

who are involved in what is often the most difficult battle.

The struggle to reconcile our values and beliefs with those of our parents. We know how much they’ve been through; how much they struggle still to make rich and fulfilling lives for themselves and their children in a country that they find strange, and in which they are often treated as strangers.

If you have stories to share, we’d like to use them (with or without attribution) to produce resources including: • analysis of the reasons so many of our families internalize model minority v. problem minority

racism from many, diverse perspectives • discussion guides • talking points • stories that help to illustrate the urgent need to overcome model minority stereotyping • helpful resources, including workshop templates and modules you’ve found useful ChangeLab will compile the greatest hits and create a Model Minority Mutiny action kit that we will post on our website.

Your privacy will be protected.

You can participate by posting in the comments thread below, or email your stories and contact information to info@ changelabinfo.com.

Penny Jones-Richardson is a published author and life coach.

She can be reached via her website at www.thequeensproject. com or email at penny@ thequeensproject.com.

© 2014 Katie G. Nelson

Page 6 • December 22 - December 28, 2014 • Insight News

insightnews.com

COMMENTARY

Unfinished business

By Ed Felien, Southside Pride The public attack on Mayor Hodges by John Delmonico of the Minneapolis Police Federation, in crudely trying to associate her with gang members in what became known as Pointergate, has backfired big time. It quickly became a national joke, but it laid bare the antagonism between the mayor and the many reactionary elements in the MPD. Just prior to that, Chief Harteau refused to go to a community meeting in South Minneapolis because she feared for her safety. The community in South Minneapolis was outraged.

So, in less than 30 days Hodges and Harteau managed to draw fire from both sides in the ongoing conflict between the minority community and the police. To their credit, it seems both have put their heads down, focused on their work and ignored the noise.

The mayor has acknowledged that a problem exists between her and her department, and Harteau has scheduled monthly meetings with the community.

But much more needs to be done to assert civilian control over the police. Just as the U.S. Constitution wisely puts control of the military in the hands of Congress (only Congress

can declare war and no appropriation for the military is to be for more than two years) so, too, the Minneapolis Charter says, “The mayor shall be vested with all the powers of said city connected with and incident to the establishment, maintenance, appointment, removal, discipline, control and supervision of its police force.” She’s the boss, and she is responsible for the discipline and removal of Minneapolis police officers. There is some unfinished business that could settle the matter in her favor.

She and the police chief need to seriously study the police and medical examiner’s report on the Terrance Franklin shooting.

Here is Sgt. Stender’s police report: “Nash [his police dog] pulled the suspect out of his hiding spot, the suspect stood up and he then kicked at Nash.

I then told the suspect that I needed to see his hands. Both of his hands were behind his back in the area of the small of his back. I could see that Nash had a hold of his sweatshirt causing his elbows to be pulled down and back [probably making it impossible for Franklin to show his hands]. The suspect just stared at me. I then said, “Show me your f**king hands,” and again the suspect just stared at me. Again I told him to show me his hands, and this time he twisted a little bit from side to side. Thinking that he

[Mayor Hodges] and the police chief [Harteau] need to seriously study the police and medical examiner’s report on the Terrance Franklin shooting.

might have a gun in his hand, I went farther into the room and punched him in the face as hard as I could. The suspect just stood there and looked at me with a vacant deep stare and did not respond to my commands.

I was especially concerned because I had punched him very hard in the face and received no reaction from him. I then took my flashlight and struck him over his right eye as hard as I could. Once again the suspect just stood and stared at me with a deep vacant stare.

“I went deeper into the closet, grabbed the suspect by the head, and started to pull him out with a headlock while Nash was still on the suspect. I started to get him out of the closet as he continued to resist and attempt to pull away from me.” Sgt.

Stender then left.

Officer Meath then tried to help get Franklin out of the cubby hole where he had been hiding: “I immediately grabbed the suspect around his upper shoulders and attempted to pull his body towards my location and out of the cubby hole area.

Once I grabbed a hold of the suspect he immediately started thrashing his upper body left to right using his elbows in an attempt to strike me. While I was holding him by his upper shoulders I attempted to deliver 2 to 3 knee strikes with my right knee into his stomach and chest area. On my last knee strike the suspect used my pulling momentum against me and exploded forward, pushing me backwards to the point where I lost a hold of his shoulders.”

When Terrance Franklin

“exploded” out of the cubbyhole he ran directly into Officer Durand who was holding a machine gun pistol in a sling over his head and under his left shoulder. According to Officer Durand, Terrance Franklin ran at him, pushed him back against the dryer in the laundry room, grabbed his gun (while still attached to the sling), turned around and fired at two other officers, hitting them both in their legs. That would have been an amazing feat for someone with no training in firing an MP 5 and shooting in almost total darkness, and it would have been physically impossible for him to take the gun off Durand and fire it without being stopped. A more likely scenario is that Durand was pushed back against the dryer and fired off two rounds while still in command of his MP 5 and that Terrance Franklin then pressed his body against Durand to keep the gun from being pointed at him.

Officers Heath and Muro were both hit by bullets fired from Durand’s MP 5. Officer Peterson then moved in to kill Franklin. His statement in the police report: “Q. Knowing that two officers had been shot, what did you do next? “A. The suspect was going to continue to shoot at us so I collapsed into the submachine gun. I did this because my brain told me to trap the barrel of the gun with my

bulletproof vest. I instinctively knew I would survive gunshot rounds to my vest and I also knew that by doing this it would prevent officers behind me from taking additional gunshots. I used myself and vest essentially as a body bunker for the officers behind me and to prevent the suspect from shooting me in the head. “I believe I shot two to four times.”

According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Report, Terrance Franklin was shot seven times in the head, all the bullets entering from the right side. Assuming Peterson held Franklin’s head in his left hand and shot him with his right hand, then Franklin had to be facing away from him and facing Durand. So Franklin could not have been firing the MP 5 at Muro and Heath. It seems more likely Durand fired the two rounds and hit Muro and Heath accidentally, and that Franklin then tried to deflect the gun’s aim away from him.

There are clear uses of excessive force by the officers involved in this incident and clear violations of police procedures. There should have been a thorough investigation of this homicide at the time, but there is no statute of limitations on capital crimes, so the mayor and the police chief should undertake a new reading of the

FRANKLIN TURN TO 7

Response commentary on Peterson’s suspension Nobody Asked Me

By Fred Easter

In my view, yours (writer of a letter to the editor in response to an earlier commentary on Adrian Peterson) and most white writers’ comments on AP’s “crime and punishment” miss the point entirely.

I do not slavishly support AP … the running back or the man.

I support the culture in which

we both were reared. Why is it when folks from other cultures achieve noticeable success and notoriety, they are required to act in all ways as if they were born and bred in Wayzata?

Black children have been whipped, spanked, harshly disciplined etc. ever since they began appearing at the end of

ropes. We were not spanked in anger, we were spanked lovingly, in hope that we would reach adulthood. Black parents rarely had time for 11 “timeouts” to have the desired effect.

AP’s son was spanked for bullying a younger sibling. He survived, apparently, without

shedding a tear. If the child takes the media and league outcry to mean that he is free to do as he pleases, he may well bleed out on a Texas street at the hands of some jackbooted “peace officer.”

The majority culture misinterprets the 2nd Amendment and slavishly protects the right

to bear arms while standing over dozens of dead first graders.

Ours tries every way we know how to keep our progeny alive, in a vicious, racist, hypocritical country. AP is neither a coward nor a poor parent. He is a realist and a Black man in America.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Navell Gordon: Victim of racial stereotyping If Officer Darren Wilson or George Zimmerman were color blind, would they have made the same choices (in killing unarmed Black teens)?

Stereotypes that police and others make affect more than a person’s pride, these stereotypes

are taking peoples lives and livelihoods.

One victim of racial stereotyping is Navell Gordon who was at the center of what was dubbed the Pointergate controversy. In early November KSTP ran a story accusing the

mayor of Minneapolis of flashing gang signs. She was in a picture with a young man and the person in the photo was later identified as Navell Gordon. Gordon was actually with the mayor and the (Minneapolis) chief of police going door to door encouraging

people to get out and vote.

Even though what KSTP reported was false, Gordon still has to live with this gang label. Gordon was discriminated against by KSTP who has yet to clarify the fact he is not a gang member but a paid employee,

a canvasser with the non-profit organization, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC).

NOC now has to pull Gordon from door knocking, worried that someone who watched the KSTP story might still assume that he’s affiliated with a gang. How did

someone go from door knocking – trying to help his community – to being labeled a gang member?

Moving forward into the New Year let’s realize the power these stereotypes have. Let’s try to see more change and less color.

Sofia Gronquist, Mpls. MN

insightnews.com

Insight News • December 22 - December 28, 2014 • Page 7

SPORTS Gopher players and coach rack up awards Moments in Sports

By Ryan T. Scott ryan@insightnews.com In the movie Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi told protagonist Daniel to seek balance as a solution to instability in life. Balanced football teams perform better.

Even when the offense let’s you down, defense and special teams units can score points and compromise the opponent.

Not a lot of value is placed on a team’s punter, at least until the punter kicks a ball that lands on the opponents’ one yard line, which can easily turn the tide of a game.

Gopher punter Peter Mortell was voted to the Big Ten 1st Team All-Conference along with four other teammates, which suggests the team possesses about twenty percent of the best starters in the fourteen team Big Ten conference.

The recent success of the

Ferguson From 1 Insight News. “There’s a seat open in every ward in Ferguson.

As a committeewoman I want to help get good people in office.”

While the nation’s focus

Franklin From 6 police and medical examiner’s reports, issue a public statement about their findings and

football program suggests Gopher Head Coach Jerry Kill is a positive community leader for the program. Concretely Kill racked up his first Big Ten Coach of the Year award, as well as a second consecutive Coach of the Year award from sports media service Athlon Sports.

With conference opponent Ohio State earning a berth in the first ever College Football Playoff (also including Florida State, Oregon, and Alabama), arguments have been made that their highly accomplished coach Urban Meyer deserved the award over Kill. Perhaps a valid argument, but the power of a college sports conference, comes from its’ diversity of success. Michigan State Head Coach Mike Dantoni was the 2013 conference Coach of the Year. Across the conference Meyer is the most accomplished career coach, and may simply be suffering from the expectation that he will be an annually valid candidate for the award.

Like Meyer, coach Kill is succeeding by producing well balanced teams. The critical advantage for Meyer over Kill, to this point, is the success in

in some of the most impactful moments of the season. And though quarterback Leidner struggled throwing the ball much of the season, his tight end Maxx Williams was the impact equivalent of BoddyCalhoun for the defense. Seniors Wilson and Olson have served as the anchors on defense and offense respectively, with Olson blocking the way for a potential team rushing record by fellow senior, running back David Cobb.

The future is also now, or rather January 1, 2015, as the Gophers face the Missouri Tigers in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The Gophers lost their 2013 bowl game versus Syracuse. Highly televised New Year’s Day games are the type that can that influence brilliant high school quarterbacks to embrace Minnesota climate, for the opportunity to lead a football program on the rise.

A New Year’s Day victory is a great opportunity for the Gopher football program, but the type of season the team has accomplished to this point is award winning, and laudable.

recruiting a bevy of brilliant college quarterbacks. While Gopher quarterback Mitch Leidner (So.) didn’t fit the full bill for a team seeking a Big Ten Championship, he did show growth in his game, to give Gopher fans hope for the future.

The future is now with the talented Gophers voted to the conference First Team: Briean Boddy-Calhoun (Jr.), defensive back; Damien Wilson (Sr.), Linebacker; Tommy Olson (Sr.), Offensive Line; and Maxx Williams (So.), Tight End.

Wilson also earned 2nd Team AllAmerican honors.

Boddy-Calhoun has the third most interceptions in the conference this season – with one game to go – and attentive Gopher fans know that those statistics were earned

has shifted to New York with the Staten Island Grand Jury’s decision not to indict the officer who killed Eric Garner with a banned chokehold – captured on video – Bynes said the movement has not lessened in St. Louis.

“This (the protests following the killing of Brown) was a wake-up call; a lot of

the powers that be thought this would blow over. This is for real … this is not going to stop and people are not going to stop until we get some real change,” said Bynes, who cannot hold an office higher than committeewoman because she lives in an unincorporated area of north St. Louis County.

While anger turned to

aggression with the burning of many businesses in Ferguson (some contend the burning of many businesses was not the work of protesters, but outside forces), Bynes is calling on protesters to remain vigilant and at the same time civil. She also is hopeful that those who support the actions of Wilson are celebrating too soon as she

hopes federal charges will be brought in the matter.

But for now Bynes is putting her efforts into getting as many capable African-Americans into office as possible come April.

With Ferguson as an example, 65 percent of the residents of the city of more than 21,000 are African-

American, yet the mayor, police chief, more than 90 percent of the police force and five of the six city councilmembers are white. Similar statistics reign true throughout north St. Louis County. As of now it’s unclear as to who or how many African-Americans will seek elected office in the coming April election.

discipline or discharge the officers involved.

Another unfinished item of business unfortunately does have a statute of limitations.

According to Myron Orfield’s report on lending practices of mortgage companies in the Twin

Cities metropolitan area, Wells Fargo and others were guilty of systematically overcharging minority lenders and people who lived in minority communities.

The evidence for this is incontrovertible. Wells Fargo says there were other factors

than race in determining those loans, but they have refused to provide that information. The statute of limitations on crimes of this nature is six years. The most serious crimes committed against minority borrowers

occurred in 2008. By 2015, prosecutors will only be able to go back to 2009. Every day that the city refuses to act, the crimes against these foreclosed homeowners will never see justice.

These are two items of unfinished business that, if the city is serious about restoring equity and justice to civil relations, the city must seriously consider as New Year’s resolutions.

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Page 8 • December 22 - December 28, 2014 • Insight News

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Social change and nonprofits: More than fundraising FUNdraising Good Times

By Mel and Pearl Shaw Ferguson, MO and Staten Island, NY. Cleveland, OH. Michael Brown. Eric Garner.

Tamir Rice. These cities and the deaths of these African American males – men and boys – are in the headlines. So are people’s responses. These incidents are a catalyst for social change on many levels.

Changes in policing, the use of the grand jury system, the role of the prosecutor. Changes in how we view and value the lives and

bodies of black men and boys.

Right now people can’t get past the double standards, and across the country – in ways big and small – people are demanding change.

There is a role for everyone to play, especially grassroots organizations.

Regardless of your size you can make a difference. You are a catalyst whether reaching one person, 100 people or 1,000 people at a time. Change comes in many ways. It comes in the way you treat young people in afterschool programs, how you coach your basketball team, the explicit messages you send about the value of Black lives, and the way you resolve conflicts and de-escalate arguments.

During times of local or national protest you can demonstrate with others. You

Are you committed to the work of changing policies and attitudes when the cameras are gone?

This is the true test of the value of a nonprofit.

can also work behind the scenes, bringing water and serving meals to peaceful protestors.

You can provide training, counsel, or transportation, create signs, collect money for legal

fees, recruit volunteers. You can identify areas in local law and policy that need to be changed and advocate. You can be part of pushing a larger agenda.

Social change requires

participation by all, same as it did in the past. It’s about churches, sororities and fraternities, civic and professional organizations.

It’s about people of all faiths, colors and backgrounds. Now is the time to come together and be part of something larger whether formally or informally. This is not a time for “us vs. them” In the words of the president of the United States, “It’s about closing the gap between our professed ideals and how they are applied in day-to-day situations.”

At the same time, don’t get too caught up in the moment and emotions. Social change takes time. Are you committed to the work of changing policies and attitudes when the cameras are gone? This is the true test of the value of a nonprofit.

Finally, you don’t have to be big to make an impact.

Serious legal matters deserve a second opinion People routinely seek a second opinion for medical issues. We think the potential for a criminal conviction—and its life-altering impact—is equally important.

At the law office of F. Clayton Tyler, we will review your case and provide a second opinion. We may offer a fresh perspective and approach, or reinforce the direction you’ve been given. Either way, our commitment is to give you peace of mind knowing your legal matters are in the best hands, and your case is receiving full and fair treatment.

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The civil rights movement was a consortium of grass roots organizations some of which later evolved into larger organizations. Fifty years later the situation is the same: you can make a difference.

You have a right to participate. As the old sayings go, “the crying baby gets the milk” and “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Be focused and committed to make sure you are heard. Grassroots organizations: America needs you!

Copyright 2014 – Mel and Pearl Shaw Mel and Pearl Shaw position nonprofits, colleges and universities for fundraising success. For help with your fundraising visit www. saadandshaw.com or call (901) 522-8727.

insightnews.com

Insight News • December 22 - December 28, 2014 • Page 9

COMMUNITY

Photos by Willie Dean

Black Lives Matter at St. Peter’s AME St. Peter’s AME Church, along with Black churches nationwide, asked its members to wear black to church on Sunday, Dec. 14 to symbolize that Black lives matter. “This action is in response to the failure of a grand jury in St. Louis County, Mo. to indict a white police officer in the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, the failure of a grand jury in Staten Island, N.Y. to indict a white police officer in the death of Eric Garner, and other incidents of police brutality leveled against Black persons nationwide,� said the Rev. Nazim B. Fakir, pastor of St. Peter’s AME Church.

Congregations around the country wore black to

symbolize that Black lives matter. “We need to draw attention to and change a system that systematically subjects Black persons to these injustices,� said Fakir.

During his sermon Fakir said that police officers have a very difficult job – saying they are supposed to protect and serve the community, and many officers do that with integrity, putting their lives on the line every day. But he went on to condemn acts by some police officers, security guards and vigilantes who seem not to value Black lives. He also made it clear that Black on Black crime is unacceptable as well and that we as a society must stop all attacks on Black lives. “I applaud the leadership of young people across

the nation who have taken up the mantle of a new Civil Rights Movement,� said Fakir.

In cities large and small young people of all races are demonstrating, protesting and letting their voices be heard.

The 10 a.m. service included a special litany and a prayer asking God’s presence and protection over the lives of Blacks in throughout the nation.

The men of the church stood behind the young people, placing their hands on their shoulders, symbolically covering them and protecting them against harm.

Protests

OBITUARY

From 3

Verga Oliver Whitmore Verga Oliver Whitmore, 65, passed away on Dec. 1 at the Villa Bryn Mar Health Care Center in north Minneapolis.

He died of kidney failure.

Mr. Whitmore won honors in football at Vocational High School and North Hennepin Junior College before a knee injury ended his football career. After college he worked on several jobs including working with the Minneapolis Public Schools.

Mr. Whitmore leaves to mourn two daughters, JoAnn Green of Minneapolis and

Classifieds

Phone: 612.588.1313

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Nathalee Henley of St. Louis, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren, two brothers; Ronal Scott, of St. Paul and Alphonzo Knox of Minneapolis, three sisters; Lilene (Liz) Moore and Vera Scott, both of Minneapolis and Theresa Spellmon (Troy) of Luther, Okla.

A brief memorial program and repass for Mr. Whitmore will be held on Saturday, Dec. 27 at 3 p.m. in the community room of 3232 Freemont Ave. N. in Minneapolis.

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under the law. This is not a Black march, or a White march‌it is an American march for the rights of all American people.�

The Washington march was also the only one attended by the families of well-known unarmed Black male victims: Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Akai Gurley, Tamir Rice, John Crawford III, Lavar Jones, Cory Ball Jr., Trayvon Martin, and Amadou Diallo. All of the families were given time to speak. “We’ve been here so many times. I know in 2000, when the four White officers were acquitted of killing my son, of all charges, I thought the world was ending,â€? said Kadiatou Diallo. Her unarmed son Amadou Diallo was shot 41 times by four New York Police Department officers in 1999. â€œâ€ŚWe said stop police brutality then. And today, 16 years later, we’re here demanding the same thing.â€?

Fax: 612.588.2031

After the march, traffic slowly reopened and the crowd mingled, making connections, walking back to chartered buses, and taking photos. Waiting for police to allow buses through, Washington resident Hassan Furtick encouraged his son to record the passing demonstrators and thank them. “I don’t like [police shootings]. That could be mine.

There’s no justice for us, but if it was one of theirs, there would be justice,� he said. He hadn’t talked to his son about the shootings, but ideas were already forming. “People feel unsafe and not comfortable going outside.

When there is an emergency you’re supposed to call 911.

There’s no reason for people to have to feel unsafe,� says 11-year-old Hassan Furtick Jr. “Black people should not be living like this. People say Black people are not going to make it in life, and bad things will always happen to us, but we try to make it work. And we will keep trying.

Email: info@insightnews.com

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Executive Assistant to the Chief

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For complete job description, visit the court’s website www.mnd.uscourts.gov, Employment.

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Page 10 • December 22 - December 28, 2014 • Insight News

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced it will welcome Grammy Awardwinning vocalist Dobet Gnahoré for a special one-night-only performance on Sunday, Jan. 11 as part of its World Music and Dance series.

Gnahoré will be joined by opening band, Marimba Africa, and a dance floor will be specially installed in front of the stage.

Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased online at www.ordway. org, by phone at (651) 224-4222 or in person at the Ordway ticket office. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. The Ordway is located at 345 Washington St., St. Paul.

Widely considered one of African music’s most charismatic talents, Gnahoré uses her captivating stage presence, appealing melodies and powerful voice to astound audiences around the globe. Gnahoré’s diverse musical compositions move from delicate ballads to upbeat African grooves, exuding the spirit and passion of the Côte d’Ivoire. She sings in a wide range of African languages including Bété, Fon, Baoule, Lingala, Malinke, Mina and Bambara, creating a unique Pan-African style all her own.

Nicolas-Baret

Dobet Gnahoré

Having toured extensively across Europe and the U.S., Gnahoré comes to the Ordway following stops in Vienna, Va., New York and Chicago.

“Dobet has a captivating presence and effusive charisma that you can’t help but be drawn in by. She effortlessly moves from singing an emotional ballad and playing a minimalist beat on an earthenware drum to dancing energetically from one end of the stage to the other, all while weaving a rich musical tapestry like no other,” said Dayna Martinez, Ordway’s artistic director of World Music and Dance. “She is a rising superstar and we are thrilled to bring her to the Ordway stage.”

The Ordway’s World Music and Dance series is sponsored

by Target. For tickets and more information, visit www.ordway. org.

Dobet Gnahoré with opening band Marimba Africa Sunday, Jan. 11 Ordway Center for the Performing Arts 345 Washington St., St. Paul 7:30 p.m. $20

insightnews.com

Dobet

Gnahoré Grammy Award-winning vocalist comes to the Ordway stage for a onenight-only performance

insightnews.com

Insight News • December 22 - December 28, 2014 • Page 11

Page 12 • December 22 - December 28, 2014 • Insight News

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