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Insight News

April 5, 2021 - April 11, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 14• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

TRIAL BEGINS Uchechukwu Iroegbu STORY ON PAGE

Page 2 • April 5, 2021 - April 11, 2021 • Insight News

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Insight News • April 5, 2021 - April 11, 2021 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE

Insight News April 5, 2021 - April 11, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 14• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

If you don’t understand the doctrine of ‘white supremacy’ you are going to be confused about everything else in American society. - Nielly Fuller Part 2 in a series Myth of Race By Professor Mahmoud El-Kati

history.com

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Floyd’s nephew, Brandon Williams (center), with the Rev. Al Sharpton (left) outside the heavily guarded Hennepin County Government Center, in Minneapolis, Minn., before the murder trial of Officer Derek Chauvin began, March 29, 2021.

Derek Chauvin trial begins in George Floyd murder case: 5 essential reads on police violence against Black men By Catesby Holmes International Editor | Politics Editor, The Conversation US The trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd is underway in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chauvin, who is white, is charged with seconddegree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with the death of George Floyd, who was Black, during an arrest last May. For 8 minutes and 46 seconds, Floyd – handcuffed and face down on the pavement – said repeatedly that he could not breathe, while other officers looked on. A video of Floyd’s

agonizing death soon went viral, triggering last summer’s unprecedented wave of mass protests against police violence and racism. Chauvin’s murder trial is expected to last up to four weeks. These ﬁve stories oﬀer expert analysis and key background on police violence, Derek Chauvin’s record and racism in U.S. law enforcement. 1. Police violence is a top cause of death for Black men Since 2000, U.S. police have killed between 1,000 and 1,200 people per year, according to Fatal Encounters, an up-to-date archive of police killings. The victims are disproportionately likely to be Black, male and young,

according to a study by Frank Edwards at the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, in Newark. In 2019, Edwards and two co-authors analyzed the Fatal Encounters data to assess how risk of death at the hands of police varies by age, sex and race or ethnicity. They found that while “police are responsible for a very small share of all deaths” in any given year, they “are responsible for a substantial proportion of all deaths of young people.” Police violence was the sixth-leading cause of death for young men in the United States in 2019, after accidents, suicides, homicides, heart disease and cancer. That risk is particularly high pronounced for

Melvin Carter

By Irma McClaurin, PhD By Irma McClaurin, PhD https://corporate. target.com/article/2020/09/lakestreet-letter

Andrea Jenkins

Commentary by Dr. By Aarohi Narain By Mecca Dana Randall Harry Maya Alexa Starks Colbert, Beecham Spencer, Bos Bradley Jr. Josie Johnson By Global Latisha Information Townsend Contributing Architect Howard Mayo Managing Clinic University Editor Staff Writer Contributing Network (GIN)Writer News Service harry@insightnews.com

young men of color, especially young Black men. “About 1 in 1,000 Black men and boys are killed by police” during their lifetime, Edwards wrote. In contrast, the general U.S. male population is killed by police at a rate of .52 per 1,000 – about half as often. 2. Chauvin has a track record of abuse Many police oﬃcers who kill civilians have a history of violence or misconduct, including Chauvin. In an article on police violence written after George Floyd’s killing, criminal justice scholar Jill McCorkel noted

By Brenda Lyle-Gray Columnist

Alica Gibson

Jeremiah Ellison

their feelings are about the vaccine and how COVID19 has impacted their wards and respective neighborhoods; and where their passion comes from. Recurring themes for the 1pm Monday Youtube/ Facebook Live sessions bring critical issues into focus: a possible fourth surge of the deadly COVID-19 virus, that, already having taken 550,000 plus lives and still is met with

a hesitancy for many to take the vaccine; so many jobless residents without skills and some without food; s spike in crime including escalating violence among teens and easy access to illegal ﬁrearms; the lack of livable, safe, and aﬀordable housing and absence of policies holding slum landlords accountable; the necessity to re-design education at all levels making academics

News

House passes $104.5 million student summer learning package

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Barbara Jordan

Constitution and the history of legal oppression as well as culturally based racism in America. She was a southerner, and a Black southerner as well, born and bred in the terrifying teeth of “white supremacy” (The cause of racism). She knew what racism was, but refused to face this unalterable fact. She earned her law degree from Texas Southern University in Houston. This is a school was established in 1943 to keep “Negroes” out of the all white University of Texas at Austin. Ms. Jordan referred to some non-existent or invisible “Black racism”, without explaining what she meant, i.e.: When did it emerge? How is such “Black racism” structured in society? How does it work? Who controls the resources and power to exercise such “racism”? How are whites victimized by it? Who were these Black people who orchestrated such a system against white America? Barbara Jordan represents a signiﬁcant faction of the Black middle class, same as the white middle class, not being able to aﬀord candor on the question of “race”. Her

RACE 5

FLOYD 4

City Council candidate says - Circle the wagons and close the gates When the world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful. Malala Yousafzai (the youngest Nobel Prize laureate - an advocate for Pakistan) Leadership Mondays are always informative, especially now that the Twin Cities are on the world stage. Al McFarlane, host of the weekly “Conversations with Al McFarlane” invites candidates vying for mayor and city council seats an opportunity to exchange viewpoints and analyses on topics and issues of the day. The important information they share helps constituents navigate obligations and opportunities as they shape futures for their families and communities. Candidates discuss their hopes for the outcome of the Derek Chauvin trial; the disparities for Black and Brown residents of the state unearthed and needing immediate attention and solutions; what

Adding to the Confusion All definitions are arbitrary. And in the final analysis the name of a thing must mean something. By racism, I mean “white supremacy.” Nielly Fuller put it well, “If you don’t understand the doctrine of ‘white supremacy’ you are going to be confused about everything else in American society.” I would strongly suggest that we do not do what the popular elocutionist, the late - and in some ways great Barbara Jordan did at the 1992 Democratic Party National Convention. Ms. Jordan at the time, a Texas-Democrat in the US House of Representatives, matter-of-factly stated, “Black racism is just as bad as white racism.” It is this kind of irresponsible, displaced and timid rhetoric that contributes nothing to understanding, but contributes mightily to the confusion over the definition and reality of racism. That statement by Ms. Jordan was blatantly untrue. As Frederick Douglass would put it, “If she is sensible, she is insincere and if she is sincere, she is insensible.” Barbara Jordan was a former congressperson and well-trained lawyer who has presumably studied the

Victor Martinez relevant, rigorous, engaging, and career focused. “What we need,” said 10th Ward City Council candidate Alica Gibson, “is Truth and Reconciliation summits at the ward level with open invitations for local, county, and state leadership to join in the dialogue.”

CITY COUNCIL 4

Virtual Town Hall looks at Highway 252/I94 improvements A virtual Town Hall meeting 1pm Tuesday, April 6 will explore issues and opportunities created by the search for improvements in the Highway 252/I94 Corridor segments in North Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park. The Town Hall is presented during the Conversations with Al McFarlane Public Policy Forum broadcast on KFAI 90.3 FM and on social media including Facebook Live and YouTube. Stairstep Foundation CEO Alfred Babington-Johnson joins Conversations moderator, Al McFarlane as co-host, to introduce an initiative to support Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) eﬀorts to broaden engagement around the project for African American and African immigrant residents who may be impacted by improvement considerations. Stairstep discussions and Town Hall meetings engage leaders of African and African

American church organization congregations and neighbors, and marketing outreach through McFarlane Media, producer of Conversations with Al McFarlane and owner of Insight News. The initial Tuesday Town Hall provides background information to community residents and sets the stage for ongoing targeted communication and engagement. Leaders from MnDOT will describe how the agency approaches improvements and the department’s goals for diversity and inclusion. A panel of church leaders will share community concerns reﬂecting issues of safety, access, environmental impact, transit considerations and workforce/business contracting opportunity. The public is invited to participate in the Town Hall meeting at Facebook/Insight News or Insight’s Youtube Channel.

I2H

Medication can fight COVID-19 virus

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Rescue Plan expand funding for students, schools The U.S. Department of Education last week announced additional benefits, outreach, flexibilities, and guidance to assist students, federal student aid applicants, and institutions of higher educations. The announcement detailed ongoing relief from the COVID-19 emergency and new provisions in the American Rescue Plan recently signed by President Biden’ The Department issued guidance telling grantees how to calculate and charge “lost revenue” to their HEERF awards. The new guidance reflects a change in the Department’s prior position, which previously only allowed funds received under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSAA), to be used for costs incurred on or after Dec. 27, 2020. “The comprehensive and clear guidance on the use of HEERF grants will enable colleges and universities to better address the academic needs of their students, as well as ensure the safety and well-being of all members of the campus community,” said Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “One of my first priorities is to ensure that institutions of higher education have the financial support and resources needed to support their students and mitigate the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 emergency. Our latest actions will help campuses address those challenges.”

The

updated will: Emphasize support for students with exceptional needs and allow financial aid grants for dual enrollment, continuing education, non-degree seeking, or non-credit students, as well as to a broad range of students with exceptional needs, such as certain refugees or persons granted asylum. Empower institutions to use their grants to discharge student debts and support student services. Expand flexibilities for student and institution needs brought on by the pandemic: Colleges will be permitted to use HEERF grant funds to reimburse themselves for institutional lost revenue and expenses incurred as far back as Mar. 13, 2020, the start of the national emergency. The Department also informed postsecondary institutions they can conduct direct outreach to students who may meet temporarily expanded eligibility criteria for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Department’s office of Federal Student Aid will soon begin its own direct outreach to students to tell them about the temporary program changes and how to apply. “Many students have had their postsecondary careers turned upside down as they manage their schoolwork while also protecting themselves from this virus. On top of that, many college students have also had to deal with food insecurity,” guidance

according to McCorkel.

Floyd From 3 that Derek Chauvin was “the subject of at least 18 separate misconduct complaints and was involved in two additional shooting incidents.” During a 2006 roadside stop, Chauvin was among six officers who fired 43 rounds into a truck driven by a man wanted for questioning in a domestic assault. The man, Wayne Reyes, who police said aimed a sawed-off shotgun at them, died. A Minnesota grand jury did not indict any of the officers. Nationwide fewer than one in 12 complaints of police misconduct result in any kind of disciplinary action,

3. Bad police interactions hurt Black families Even when oﬃcers who use excessive force are ﬁred, as Chauvin was after the George Floyd killing, these incidents – occurring so frequently, for so many years – take an emotional toll on Black communities. In a 2020 Gallup survey, one in four Black men ages 18 to 34 reported they had been treated unfairly by police within the last month. The racism and inequality researchers Deadric T. Williams and Armon Perry analyzed data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which surveyed nearly 5,000 families from U.S. cities, and found that negative police interactions have “far-reaching

said Cardona. “This direct outreach from the Department is an attempt to get every eligible college student to apply for these beneﬁts so that they no longer

have to worry about their next meal. We hope every eligible student takes advantage of these beneﬁts while continuing to focus on their studies.”

Because state SNAP agencies administer the SNAP program, process applications, and determine eligibility, students should contact their

local SNAP oﬃces to learn how to apply or to ask other questions.

implications for Black families.” “Fathers who reported experiencing a police stop were more likely to report conﬂict or lack of cooperation in their relationships with their children’s mother,” they wrote. Black mothers also report “feelings of uncertainty and agitation” after Black fathers are stopped by police, Williams and Perry found. That can “aﬀect the way that she views the relationship, leading to anger and frustration.” [Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get expert takes on today’s news, every day.]

Paul Hirschfield, American police were 18 times more lethal than Danish police and 100 times more lethal than Finnish police. The top reason for this difference, Hirschfield wrote in an article explaining his findings, is simple: guns. In most U.S. states, it is “easy for adults to purchase handguns,” Hirschfield wrote, so “American police are primed to expect guns.” That may make them “more prone to misidentifying cellphones and screwdrivers as weapons.” U.S. law is relatively forgiving of such mistakes. If officers can prove they had a “reasonable belief” that lives were in danger, they may be acquitted for killing unarmed civilians. In contrast, most European countries permit deadly force only when it

is “absolutely necessary” to enforce the law. “The unfounded fear of Darren Wilson – the former Ferguson cop who fatally shot Michael Brown – that Brown was armed would not have likely absolved him in Europe,” writes Hirschfield. 5. American policing has racist roots Well before modern gun laws, racism ran deep in American policing, as criminal justice researcher Connie Hassett-Walker wrote in June 2020. In the South, the first organized law enforcement was white slave patrols. “The first slave patrols arose in South Carolina in the early 1700s,” HassettWalker wrote. By century’s end, every slave state had them.

Slave patrols could legally enter anyone’s home based on suspicions that they were sheltering people who had escaped bondage. Northern police forces did not originate in racial terror, but Hassett-Walker writes that they nonetheless inﬂicted it. From New York City to Boston, early municipal police “were overwhelmingly white, male and more focused on responding to disorder than crime,” writes Hassett-Walker. “Oﬃcers were expected to control ‘dangerous classes’ that included African Americans, immigrants and the poor.” This history persists today in the negative stereotypes of Black men as dangerous. That makes people like George Floyd more likely to be treated aggressively by police, with potentially lethal results.

Ellison’s election campaign at info@jeremiahforward5.com Victor Martinez, seeking election in Ward 5, said Minneapolis is reporting a 78-85% increase in newly issued firearm permits of the past year, highlighting the concern residents about safety and security during a period of historic unrest, the ‘defund’ the police movement, and the pandemic. There are now more guns than people in the U.S., he says. He says he asks neighborhood young people, “Do you want to kill yourself or let someone else do it for you? If we don’t stop the madness of using a gun to solve conflict, families won’t be safe, and poverty and the sounds of live bullets will take over.” Part of the problem, he said, is that government agencies operating the same as they always have - totally ignoring disparities between Blacks and whites. “We need resources. We’ve been talking about problems evolving from systemic racism for decades. It’s time to begin to do the hard work. It would make it a lot easier if we began to come together - to join forces - to save our communities,” he said. Campaign information: info@ victor4citycouncil.com Elijah Norris is also seeking the Ward 5 city council seat. He said Minneapolis can eliminate a lot of unnecessary spending on huge monetary settlements coming out of tax payers’ pockets if bad cops are weeded out by reducing the power of the police union and addressing the problem of qualified immunity, which shields officers from personal liability for their actions, and shift settlement costs to government. Qualified

immunity allows police brutality to go unpunished, he said. “There’s been poor leadership right in the middle of a pandemic. 50% of the residents in Ward 5 make less than $30,000 a year. Many can’t even afford Class C affordable housing. They are surrounded by run down businesses and blocked off streets. And many around 38th and Chicago, where George Floyd was killed, are still hurting and afraid from the last riots. How can we assure them they will be safe and we will get through these tough times and come out better when it’s over,” Nortris said. “We must circle the wagons, close the gates, demand needed resources, and begin to take care of our own in earnest.” Campaign information: E45mpls@gmail.com Perhaps Teqen ZeaAida, candidate for the 7th Ward city council seat, said it best. “We need results. We know the problems. We also know where most of the resources have gone and it wasn’t to our communities. Until the painful murder of George Floyd and the pandemic, even the Biden money would have been earmarked in the same manner. It’s analogous to how Toto, Dorothy’s dog in the famous movie “The Wizard of Oz” pulled the curtain back to expose the illusion of an allpowerful despot.” Zea Aida says he is avoiding the Chauvin trial for the time being. He said, “I just want all of us to be safe and for leadership and both sides of courtroom and jurors to deliver justice. I’m going to stay in prayer. We’ve got to recover and move ahead strategically and with intent.” Zea Aida also questioned the timing of the civil settlement award before the criminal trial have taken

place. Campaign information: teqen@teqenwardseven.com Ward 10 candidate Alicia Gibson, said just before she joined the program, she got a call from her son’s school. It was the first day he had gone back. Sadly, the school called to tell her that he had been exposed to the virus, and she had to go get him after the program. “Just have empathy for parents who are working full time and have to deal with a crisis like this. There are no babysitters.” Asked how justice looks in the light of the Derek Chauvin trial, Gibson said there is a lot of anger, rage, disappointment, and division on how the city will operate going forward. But, she said, “You know justice when you can feel it; when you can see it. I see economic justice as reparations of some sort; of housing justice meaning decent, safe, affordable living environments; a universal income structure as wealth sharing justice; along with environmental justice protecting our natural habitats.” “The Civilian Review Board under the purview of the city council can rise to the occasion of true responsibility in investigating police and the lack of best practices in human resources. Having a clear discipline process in the police department would certainly help. There are many layers that have to be peeled off simultaneously,” Gibson said. “We haven’t done the work yet. We’re breaking apart communities as we try to recover from large scale trauma. Minnesotans must figure out how to do things differently; to consider a new consciousness; and to stop the harm. We must reform the criminal justice system.” Campaing information: alicia@votealiciagibson.com

4. This happens far less in Europe According to a 2014 study on policing in Europe and the U.S. by Rutgers researcher

City Council From 3

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“It’s kind of sad and rather dangerous to tell the truth, said Jeremiah Ellison, incumbent city council member representing Ward 5, in north Minneapolis. “I worry about how we’re going to keep our communities of color safe when some are too scared to call the police because of the department’s history of abuse and no accountability. We have to refuse to accept lawlessness and being ignored when our residents have urgent needs. We were ﬁnally able to get more COVID testing sites and vaccine locations when there was availability, but it wasn’t easy.” Ellison said he hopes the Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd will result in a conviction. He said he regrets that there was little coordination with the criminal and civil cases. Attorneys for the Floyd estate settled their civil lawsuit against Minneapolis by accepting an award of $27 million. Many wondered whether the award announcement on the opening day of the trial last week would have some inﬂuence on jurors who must decide Chauvin’s fate in the three murder charges brought against him. Ellison said he is immersed in economic development initiatives that are coming on-line thanks to the city’s Minneapolis Commercial Property Fund and the infusion of stimulus funds for ‘people of color’ businesses in general, and black-owned businesses in particular. He said his advocacy for green, renewable energy projects is bearing fruit. Reach

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Insight News • April 5, 2021 - April 11, 2021 • Page 5

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In addition to increased afterschool and summer programming, key elements of the plan include expanding access to quality child care, additional school-linked mental health services and helping schools develop community partnerships for added tutoring services and hands-on learning opportunities.

Rep. Jim Davnie, DFL-Minneapolis

House passes $104.5 million student summer learning package By By Rachel Kats Session Daily Summer break may not be as leisurely for many students this year after the House advanced a summer school funding package Tuesday. Sponsored by Rep. Jim Davnie (DFL-Mpls), HF1064 would appropriate $104.5 million to provide additional summer programming to help students make up for learning loss during the coronavirus pandemic. It was passed 69-63, and now heads to the Senate where Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes) is the sponsor. The bill reﬂects

Gov. Tim Walz’s 2021 summer learning plan. In addition to increased afterschool and summer programming, key elements of the plan include expanding access to quality child care, additional schoollinked mental health services and helping schools develop community partnerships for added tutoring services and hands-on learning opportunities. “With more than 90% of schools now in-person learning and teaching, with more school staﬀ vaccinated, we have reason to hope and reason to act,” Davnie said. “We can make summer work for students and focus our work on those who need it most.”

Several Republicans expressed opposition to the bill due, in part, to how most of the funding would be distributed. Rep. Ron Kresha (R-Little Falls) unsuccessfully oﬀered an amendment that would have addressed those concerns by distributing funding through per-pupil aid based on enrollment, rather than through grants to districts and charters distributed by the Department of Education, as is prescribed in the bill. “This amendment puts the dollars into the hands of the schools … and allows the schools to fairly distribute this out and address the programs they need,” Kresha said. “It’s a

The largest investment would support districts that have experienced pandemic-related enrollment loss by increasing the declining enrollment formula replacement percentage from 28% to 48.5% for ﬁscal year 2021 only. The temporary formula increase would have an aid entitlement cost of $29 million. Additionally, the bill includes a $20 million appropriation in ﬁscal year 2021 to provide grants to low-income and underserved children to enroll in a three- or fourstar-rated private preschool, public preschool or public prekindergarten in-person learning program. 1

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By LaurenofPoteat Courtesy University of Alejandra By Dr. Commentary By North Brandpoint Dr. Rhonda Nicole Rekha Kimya Memorial Winbush E.Oliveras N. Mankad by Moore (BPT) Sen. Staff Ian Roth NNPA Minnesota Washington News Staff Bobby Dennis, Incoming Joe Salem Board Champion College ChairAfrodescendientes Mayo Clinic Staff Correspondent By IanPhysician Roth NorthPoint www.TheConversation.com elect, WomenHeart Health & Mayo Clinic Staff Wellness Center

Race From 3 class orientation, not to mention the concocted self-deception that this mindset invents, keeps her from acknowledging that the operational words for racism are power and oppression. Racism is first and foremost, a function of power. People, such as Barbara Jordan and their unwillingness to face the facts, add much to the avoidance of the truth. There is but one system of racism in this country and that system was initiated by and remains in the hands of European-Americans. The Founding Fathers of the US assured that racism would be a part of the equation backed by the power of the State and all major institutions of the Republic. Racism means dominance, an unshared power relationship, in which the state is often involved. Nazi Germany, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa, and before their emergence in history, the United States of America are prime examples of state sponsored racism. “Negro” Slavery is an example of this type of subordination. Under the first article in the U.S. Constitution we have one of the earliest systematic and legalistic expressions of racism in the modern world. The 3/5th clause, Article I, Sections 3 and 9 of the U.S. Constitution is an explicit block in the edifice of Americanstyle State sponsored racism. There is no counterpart of such power among African-American people in the past or present. In America, certain people within the white population are responsible for the oppression of all African people in this country, historically and contemporarily. They are the elites (south and north) who established this system in 1787 and bequeathed it to subsequent white generational leaders. The ideology of white supremacy, which produce “the white man’s burden”, “manifest destiny”, “city of the hill”, “American exceptionalism” all of these slogans are akin to this doctrine, that is the overriding ideology of European superiority. Later, this spirit of superiority led to the rise of the Third Reich and Hilter’s

Nazi Germany. A kinship doctrine was implemented in the U.S. and in South Africa. White supremacy is a modern world western European construction. It is national and international in scope. Thanks to the Barbara Jordans of this world, racism has now become a loaded term. Since the rather measured achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, and the new and false claims that we are now a non-racist or postracial society, racism can mean anything we want it to mean without a meaningful context. The legal triumph of the Civil Rights Movement exercised some of the most blatant, shameless and reprehensible racist and contradictory aspects of American society. As a result many middle class white Americans (to keep up appearances) have repudiated the most simple-minded and outrageous manifestations of racism: “All Negroes look alike,” and “They all have rhythm,” and “They all are thieves” and “They all smell bad”. There is no longer the publicly or legally arranged “white over Black” or “first by birth” caste lines. Coupled with National and local governments dismantling southern de jure racism, white Americans, put simply, within the blink of an eye, are now no longer racist. Within a millisecond they have cast off centuries of beliefs, customs, habits, myths, religious and legal systems and thus America is no longer a raceridden society. Virulent, overt, mad dog racism has gone out of style. Now it is Black people’s turn to be racist. The mouse, supposedly, is now chasing the cat. There is now something called “reverse racism”, “reverse discrimination”, and “The race card” No one quite knows how this happens. Words are curious things. You can create anything with them, even things that do not exist. The French writer was correct: “Words are like God turned loose in the flesh.” Labeling everybody racist is no way to deal with this very specific and spooky phenomenon (white supremacy), which continues to threaten the bulk of the human family. We now define “race” as only a personal reality.

This makes everybody racist, irrespective of history, culture, religion, or any aspect of social life. There is really no way for Black people, even if they tried to play “the race card” or even the president if he or she is Black can’t play “the race card”. There is no structure to support such actions. Only whites can do that. The core reality of racism is this - it is a function of power. Racism is first and foremost about power. It determines who gets what, when, and how much. The effective external realities of racism surround us everyday; it is so pervasive that it affects every aspect of our lives, however much of it goes unrecognized. Witness the harassment of African-American shoppers, in downtown stores throughout America; the redlining of African people’s community by banks as a device for denying access to loans; although less than previously, lest we forget the old American custom cross burning on the lawns of African-American homeowners, the bombings of home and churches, cut down by a sniper on a dark country road, or sometimes in broad daylight in front of a court house. We had our last old fashion public lynching of Michael Donald in Mobil, Alabama as recent as 1981. Racism is a public evil, which causes private pain. Will continue to next week: Understanding Racism as an Ideology

differing viewpoint, I believe it is more equitable.” Other significant investments during fiscal year 2021 include: $10 million for field trips and hands-on learning opportunities; $10 million to increase funding for adult basic education programming; $6 million for summer programming for high school graduates at public postsecondary institutions; $6 million to expand school-linked mental health grants; $5 million for summer academic mentoring or tutoring for students;

$5 million for afterschool community learning programs; $3 million for additional math corps activities; $2 million for additional reading corps activities; and $2 million for expedited grants for full-service community schools. The bill speciﬁes that if any additional COVID-19related federal funds become available they should be used to replace state aid, and that the Department of Education should report to the Legislature on how the federal funds were used.

Page 6 • April 5, 2021 - April 11, 2021 • Insight News

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Muslims can get vaccinations during Ramadan Muslims can get the COVID-19 vaccine while they are fasting. Because the vaccine does not have nutritional value, it will not invalidate or break the fasting, according to a statement from Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The COVID-19 vaccines do not contain pork products, gelatin, animal products, or the live COVID-19 virus. People getting the COVID-19 vaccine may experience side effects such as pain at the injection point, feeling achy or tired, or having a headache. Some people may have chills or a fever. Some people do not have side effects. People who experience side effects from the vaccines are allowed to break fast. Any sick person is exempt from fasting and breaking fasting for a medical reason is permissible, the MDH statement said.

the conversations

Medication can fight COVID-19 virus

medicalnewstoday

People who are sick with COVID-19 may get medication to help their body ﬁght the virus so they get better faster, according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Medications like monoclonal antibody treatment are for people who test positive and have mild to moderate symptoms. The medication must be taken within the ﬁrst 10 days of having symptoms so it’s important to act quickly. For information: https://www. health.state.mn.us/diseases/ coronavirus/meds.html or talk to a health care provider. Video: https://youtu. be/375O0Ug8XF0

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Insight News • April 5, 2021 - April 11, 2021 • Page 7

1/8 PAGE COLOR CAPRW ENERGY ASSISTANCE

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A tenderhearted favorite

Steel Magnolias Now – Dec 15

by ROBERT HARLING directed by LISA ROTHE

A Christmas stmas Carol Nov 12 – Dec c 29 by CHARLES DICKENS adapted by CRISPIN WHITTELL directed by LAUREN KEATING