WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE
Insight News
August 2, 2021 - August 8, 2021
Vol. 48 No. 31• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Photo: Bob Moses and Julian Bond, “Fifty Years After Freedom Summer and the Civil Rights Act of 1964” 2/26/14. Visit millercenter.org / Miller Center / Wikimedia Commons
Despite the violence that African Americans routinely faced when trying to vote, Bob Moses helped register thousands of voters. He trained countless organizers inside the walls of so-called freedom schools to carry out the mission of civil rights.
IN MEMORIAM:
Civil Rights legend Bob Moses dies at 86 By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia
BOB MOSES The Architect * Mississippi Freedom Project * Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party * The Algebra Project
Robert Parris Moses, one of America’s foremost civil rights leaders who stood fearless in the face of violence to register African American voters in the South, has died at the age of 86. His daughter, Maisha Moses, announced his death. Often clad in denim overalls, Moses drew comparisons to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The depth and scale of Moses’ courage proved legendary. His activism drew the ire of White supremacists, but minorities and the oppressed hailed him as a pioneer. Moses famously noted the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s (SCLC) Ella Baker as an inspiration. In a tribute released by the Student Non-Violence Coordinating Committee (SNCC) on Sunday, July 25, SNCC officials said Moses was key to the SNCC launching its voter registration campaign in Mississippi. That work led to Freedom Schools, the 1964 Summer Project, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, the Poor People’s Campaign, and the Mississippi Freedom Labor Union. “And these not only began to alter the face of Mississippi but also challenged the country to be true to the best in itself,” the SNCC wrote in its tribute. They continued: “At the heart of these efforts was SNCC’s idea that people – ordinary people long denied this power – could take control of their lives. These were the people that Bob brought to the table to fight for a seat: maids, sharecroppers, day workers, barbers, beauticians, teachers, preachers, and many others from all walks of life.” The statement continued: “The Algebra Project [Moses] founded in 1982 is a direct outgrowth of this early work in Mississippi. The project’s work aims to prepare those still kept on the bottom rungs of our society for success in the information economy of the 21st century. “Finally, the SNCC Legacy Project want to issue a call on behalf of Bob and other
MOSES
4
Page 2 •August August 2, 2021 - August 8, 2021 • Insight News
insightnews.com
insightnews.com
Insight News • August 2, 2021 - August 8, 2021 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE
Insight News August 2, 2021 - August 8, 2021
Vol. 48 No. 31• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
OP-ED: The movement for justice will not be deterred
OUR VOICES
By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA
“As we continue the vaccination program to get more Americans protected, it is important that we double down on our efforts to increase testing, especially in vulnerable communities,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Biden-Harris administration to invest more than $1.6 Billion to support COVID-19 testing and mitigation in vulnerable communities
As part of Biden’s national testing initiatives, more testing in congregate settings will help prevent infections as Delta variant spreads and vaccinations continue to increase NNPA Newswire Report As part of the BidenHarris Administration’s ongoing COVID-19 response efforts, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will invest more than $1.6 billion from the American Rescue Plan to support testing and mitigation measures in high-risk congregate settings to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and detect and stem potential outbreaks. As COVID-19 cases rise among unvaccinated people and where the more transmissible Delta virus variant is surging, this funding will expand activities to detect, diagnose, trace, and monitor infections and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in homeless shelters, treatment and recovery facilities, domestic violence shelters and federal, state and local correctional facilities– some of the hardest hit and highest risk communities across the country. “As we continue the
vaccination program to get more Americans protected, it is important that we double down on our efforts to increase testing, especially in vulnerable communities,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, we can make sure high-risk environments like correctional facilities and shelters for those experiencing homelessness have greater capacity for testing to prevent potential outbreaks and continue our nation’s progress in moving out of the pandemic.” This funding will support expanded COVID-19 testing and mitigation measures for: Mental Health and Substance Use Providers: HHS, through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will invest $100 million to expand dedicated testing and mitigation resources for people with mental health and substance use disorders.
This funding provides supplemental funding to both the substance abuse prevention and treatment and community mental health services block grant state grantees for rapid onsite COVID-19 testing and for facilitating access to testing services. Funds are available to provide behavioral health services to staff working as contact tracers and other members of the COVID-related workforce, training and technical assistance on implementing rapid onsite COVID-19 testing and facilitating access to behavioral health services, including the development of onsite testing confidentiality policies, personal protective equipment (PPE), supporting mobile health units, particularly in medically underserved areas, and expanding local or tribal programs workforce to implement COVID-response services for those connected to the behavioral health system.
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
Shelters for People Experiencing Homelessness, Group Homes and other Congregate Settings: HHS, in partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will invest $80 million to support state and local COVID-19 testing and mitigation measures among people experiencing homelessness, residents of congregate settings including group homes, and encampments. State health departments will use this funding to hire workers to coordinate resources, develop strategies and support existing community partners to prevent infectious disease transmission in these settings. State health departments will also use this funding to procure COVID-19 tests and other mitigation supplies such as handwashing stations, hand sanitizer, and
BIDEN 4
Los Angeles county returns $75 million land to Black family By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Nearly a century after the government allegedly used trickery and eminent domain to seize their valuable property, the family of Charles and Willa Bruce are finally receiving justice. Officials in Los Angeles County reportedly have decided to return the family’s Manhattan Beach property that estimates show might be worth as much as $75 million. The beach resort once flourished while welcoming African American visitors in the 1920s – a time when Black people and other minorities weren’t allowed on White beaches. The property famously took on the name “Bruce’s Beach.” Meanwhile, descendants of Charles and Willa Bruce had fought for years to have the land returned to the family. “It was a very important place because there was no other place along the coast of California where
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection – UCLA)
According to media reports, Willa and Charles Bruce fought back legally but received only $14,000 in compensation. (Photo: Visitors to Bruce’s Beach in 1920, featured in the book “Living the California Dream,” by Alison Rose Jefferson.) African Americans could actually go and enjoy the water,” Chief Duane Yellow Feather Shepard, the Bruce family historian and spokesperson said in a local interview. Regularly facing threats and intimidation tactics from the Ku Klux Klan and other White supremacists, the Bruce family maintained their property and kept the resort open. But in 1924, the city council cited eminent domain as a reason to take the land, reportedly under the guise of building a park. “However, the land remained untouched for
years,” the Insider reported. According to media reports, Willa and Charles Bruce fought back legally but received only $14,000 in compensation. Now, city officials have placed the value of the property at $75 million. “When I first realized that the county-owned the property that was once Willa and Charles Bruce’s Beach Lodge, I knew that returning it to the Bruce family was the right thing to do,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn told CBS Los Angeles in a statement. “But this is the first
News
BLACK NERD BLUE BOX
PAGE 5
time a government has done anything like this, and there were a lot of questions about how it would work.” For the family and Shepard, there remains more work. “Our next step will be, once we get that land restored to us, is to go after them for the restitution, for the loss of revenue for 96 years of our family from the business, the loss of generational wealth, and the punitive damages for their collusion with the Ku Klux Klan in disenfranchising our family,” Shepard remarked.
The right-wing majority on the Supreme Court just undercut the Voting Rights Act again. Having gutted the section that required pre-approval of state voting laws to protect the rights of minorities to vote in Shelby v. Holder, Republican-appointed justices now have castrated the backup clause — Section 2 — which bans racial discrimination in election practices in Brnovich v. DNC. The result will open the floodgates even further to the wave of partisan laws that Republicans are pushing in states across the country to suppress the votes of African Americans and other people of color. The right-wing justices continue their assault on the meaning and power of the Voting Rights Act, a triumph of the civil rights movement that Justice Elena Kagan, writing in dissent, noted represents the “best in America.” The reaction against the civil rights movement continues. Every movement for equal justice under the law in this country has been met with a brutal reaction. When reformers tried to limit the spread of slavery into new
Eric Mahmoud
The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr., one of America’s foremost civil rights, religious and political figures. states coming into the republic, the slave states seceded, launching the Civil War, the deadliest war in American history. After losing the war, when the federal government began reconstruction to free the slaves and guarantee equal political and economic rights to all, the reaction was brutal, with lynching and terrorism — led by the Ku Klux Klan and others — spreading to suppress the newly freed slaves. In the end, segregation — America’s version of apartheid — spread through the South and the hope of the civil rights amendments was crushed. Now, after the civil
JACKSON, SR. 4
Pastor Darrell Gillespie
The Healing Circle
From a seed to a bountiful harvest Columnist
By Brenda Lyle-Gray “What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action.” Mesiter Eckhart At the beginning of last week’s Healing Circle webcast, right after the magnificent ‘Sounds of Blackness’ belted out ‘Pay Up! Time for Reparations’, I glanced over at the Facebook Live Chat and saw a brief message from Synamon Baldwin that read, ‘in my lifetime, God’. I thought about that request of the Divine with the world being so messy and perhaps frightening, painful. and surreal. I was reminded that a day of reckoning is at hand. In the midst of crises on top of crises, it is clear that there are many opportunities, even though we must still face tall mountains to climb. We see a future with less worrying and more faith and gratitude; with less judgment and more compassion; and with more love and less hate. The Healing Circle focused on the impact of trauma on children, whose innocence and futures are besieged by the COVID 19 pandemic, by urban unrest and resistance to daily oppression, by witnessing the execution of George Floyd, and by experiencing the deaths
of some of their young friends by the escalating gun violence. And now they have to return to school very soon. Eric Mahmoud addressed the issue of mental health in a rich narrative that embraced and intertwined our culture, history, achievements, and needs in the context of education. Host Al McFarlane described Mahmoud as a thinker, mover & shaker, doer, builder, architect, and manager of the Harvest BEST Charter Schools. “I grew up in a pretty tough neighborhood in Philadelphia which helped shape my resilience for survival at first, and later down the road for rewards and success. I aimed at becoming the best myself that I could be. Unfortunately, it seemed like there was always a teacher strike, which meant I was missing at least a year of academics. At the time, that arrangement was just fine with me. I thought I was getting over, but I learned when I got to high school and to college that I was behind so many other students. When my college white roommate said ‘Black folks never did anything’, that belief and him saying so was the first of quite a few turning points for me. I set out to read everything I could about Black America and was so pleased that I could prove the white boy wrong though it wasn’t my job to educate him. It was for the system and for parents,” Mahmoud said. The academic guru will tell anyone that his wife, Dr. Ella
HARVEST 5
I2H
What should people with diabetes know about the COVID-19 vaccine?
PAGE 6
Page 4 •August August 2, 2021 - August 8, 2021 • Insight News
insightnews.com
The Opportunity Project
Census Bureau’s innovation model continues to expand through post-COVID-19 challenges Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau brings together crosssector collaborators during The Opportunity Project’s (TOP) technology development sprints to come up with ways to use data and technology to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. TOP is led by the Census Bureau’s Census Open Innovation Labs. It engages government, technologists and communities to create digital products using federal open data that serve the public. To date, more than 1,500 people, 30 federal agencies, and hundreds of organizations have participated in TOP sprints, resulting in nearly 150 new open data tools including apps, websites, mapping tools, data visualizations, games and more. WHAT: From August to November, TOP technology development sprints will focus on tackling issues confronting “The World Post
Gables).
COVID-19: Society, Economy and Environment.” They will be addressing the following challenges: Preventing Crisis for Low-Income Renters & Small Landlords (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). Improving Minority Businesses’ Access to Capital (Minority Business Development Agency, U.S. Department of Commerce). Tackling the Climate Crisis through ClimateSmart Communities (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Analyzing Housing and Migration Trends PostCOVID 19 (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). Analyzing Equity in Federal COVID-19 Spending (U.S. Department of the Treasury). Helping Small Businesses Thrive in a Digital Economy (City of Coral
Increasing Content Accessibility for Multilingual Communities (New York City Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, TOP’s first city-sponsored challenge!). View full problem statements WHO: Anyone interested in helping to create technology solutions using federal open data is invited to participate. Contact the Census Open Innovation Labs at <www.census.gov/ forms/contact-top.html> to get involved. Tech teams. Companies, universities, nonprofits, and students who build digital products throughout the sprints. User advocates. Community leaders, local or national advocates, and people with direct experience in the target challenge who guide tech teams in designing realistic,
useful solutions. Product advisors. Product experts from outside of government who advise teams in developing products that are sustainable after the sprints. Data stewards. Experts on federal open datasets who advise teams on accessing and using data. Learn more about these roles at The Opportunity Project. Anyone interested in these challenges can also apply to the Open Data for Good Grand Challenge. WHEN: Interested in participating in TOP 2021 sprints? Please contact us by Aug. 6. Anyone interested in helping to create technology solutions using federal open data is invited to participate. Contact the Census Open Innovation Labs at http://www.census.gov/ forms/contact-top.html to get involved.
CROONERS Supper Club adds to summer excitement A number of Crooners Supper Club major engagements have just gone on sale for dates through the summer. Among these are Marilyn Maye (four shows Sept 23 to 26); Jeff Dayton (July 30); Billy Stritch (Aug 14 & 15); The New Standards (Aug 20 & 21); Ben Sidran (Aug 21 & 22); and Broadway star Marcy Harriell with jazz polymath Etan Iverson in an evening of Burt Bacharach (Sept 16). Among the brand new shows premiering at Crooners are Jennifer Grimm’s new love letter to Judy Garland featuring sultry big band orchestrations (special encore Jul 23); Andrew Walesch’s erudite new Cole Porter survey, also with lush big band orchestrations (special encore Jul 31); and Johnnie Brown’s heartfelt tribute to pop-
Moses From 1 SNCC veterans like Julian Bond, John Lewis, Chuck McDew, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ruby Doris Robinson, James Forman, Marion Barry, Ms. Ella Baker, Amzie Moore, Unita Blackwell, and the local people with whom
soul legend Lou Rawls (two nights, Jul 30 & 31). In another premiere, the beloved vocalist Ginger Commodore offers her own Minneapolis incantation for racial justice in “Summer of Soul with Ginger Commodore, Jesse Larson and Ashley Commodore” (Aug 6). On August 29, the JazzMN Orchestra presents “What Women Write,” an evening of music by women composers spanning continents and cultures, including the legends Mary Lou Williams, Melba Liston, and Toshiko Akiyoshi, as well as the rising stars Asuka Kakitani, Ayn Inserto, and Minnesota’s own Maria Schneider. Playing in support of this program as featured guests are the exemplary Bob Mintzer and Ricky Peterson. (Aug 29)
Crooners, which opened its tented Belvedere in April and its two indoor venues in January, has gradually eased capacity limits in all three venues. “As always we are mindful of our guests comfort and safety preferences,” says Crooners owner Mary M. Tjosvold, popularly known as Mary T. “Masks indoors when not at your table are still suggested but no longer mandatory. For the time being Crooners staff members continue to wear masks. Throughout the pandemic we’ve set out to balance pleasure and safety.” Musical moment of the revelatory “Summer of Soul” documentary in an evening of roof-and-spiritraising passion (Fri Aug 6, 7pm); the Adam Meckler Orchestra (Fri Aug 13, 7:30pm);
they worked to continue to raise the banner of the continuing struggle for a better world.” Noted Civil Rights leader and National Newspaper Publishers Association President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., saluted the life and legacy of Moses on behalf of the Black Press of America. “Bob Moses’ entire life was dedicated to freedom,
justice, and equality for African Americans and all people,” Dr. Chavis reflected. “The Black Press of America pauses to express our condolences to the Moses family and to rededicate our journalistic efforts to keep alive the legacy and the vision of Bob Moses. “SNCC does not get enough credit for all of the transformative work that SNCC accomplished in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Long live the spirit of Bob Moses.” Filmmaker and famed television producer Topper Carew also counted as a friend and admirer of Moses. “Bob Moses wasn’t a drum major. Bob Moses was the drummer,” Carew told NNPA Newswire. “I will miss his presence. Being around him made you stronger,” Carew remarked. Activist and teacher Zellie Imani was among many others mourning the passing of Moses. “We have lost one of the most courageous organizers of our time,” Imani wrote on
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 Associate Editor & Associate Publisher B.P. Ford Culture and Education Editor Dr. Irma McClaurin, PhD. Associate Editor Afrodescendientes Carmen Robles Associate Editor Nigeria & West Africa Chief Folarin Ero-Phillips Columnist Brenda Lyle-Gray Book Review Editor W.D. Foster-Graham Director of Content & Production Patricia Weaver Content & Production Coordinator Sunny Thongthi Yang Distribution/Facilities Manager Jamal Mohamed Receptionist Lue B. Lampley
Intern Kelvin Kuria Contributing Writers Maya Beecham Nadvia Davis Fred Easter Abeni Hill Inell Rosario Latisha Townsend Artika Tyner Toki Wright Photography V. Rivera Garcia Uchechukwu Iroegbu Rebecca Rabb Artist Donald Walker Contact Us: Insight News, Inc. Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Ave. N. Minneapolis. 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,
Biden From 3 masks for people experiencing homelessness and for those living in congregate settings. Federal, State, and Local Prison Populations: HHS, in partnership with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Prisons, will invest $169 million to advance testing and mitigation efforts in federal congregate settings. This will include funding to support routine testing and surveillance for outbreak and non-outbreak situations according to public
Jackson, Sr. From 3 rights movement, the Voting Rights Act and the election of Barack Obama, the reaction has been fierce.
Daisy Dillman Band (Sat & Sun Aug 14 and 15, both 7pm); the sixth encore engagement of The New Standards (Fri & Sat Aug 20 and 21, both at 7pm); Tyler Michaels King returns with a bevy of talented friends in an evening musical theater favorites (Thu Aug 26, 7pm); JazzMN Orchestra presents “What Women Write,” an evening of music by women composers (Sun Aug 29, 7pm); Karrin Allyson (Fri & Sat Oct 1 and 2, both 7pm); Joey DeFrancesco Trio (Fri & Sat Oct 15 and 16, both 7pm). And in the Dunsmore: Prudence Johnson and Dan Chouinard take stock of the tuneful gems of Burt Bacharach and Hal David (back-to-back shows Fri Aug 6 at 5:30pm & 8:30pm); piano showman Billy Stritch kicks off the
new “Legends of New York Nightlife” series (two shows, Sat & Aug 14 and 15, both 5:30pm); the much lauded Maud Hixson explores the 1930’s songbook (Sat Aug 21, 5pm). For in-person
and livestream tickets and information visit www. croonersmn.com or call 763760-0062. Crooners is located at 6161 Highway 65 NE, just north of Minneapolis and 694 in Fridley.
Moses her model for organizing. “Principled, intellectual, humble, deliberate, willing to work with all who come, never berating but consistently challenging,” Perry stated. “Fun loving, kind, and a reflective teacher,” she concluded. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson told the New York Times that Moses exemplified putting community interests above ego and personal interest. “If you look at his work, he was always pushing local leadership first,” Johnson exclaimed. Born on Jan. 23, 1935, in Harlem, New York, Moses became a schoolteacher. He later moved to Mississippi and quickly organized civil rights activists to counter actions by the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups. Despite the violence that African Americans routinely faced when trying to vote, Moses helped register thousands of voters. He trained countless organizers inside the walls of so-
called freedom schools to carry out the mission of civil rights. During one encounter with White supremacists, Moses suffered a severe head injury that required nine stitches. While bloodied, bruised, and nearly unconscious, Moses led a group to a Mississippi courthouse to register them to vote. When he was 73, Moses told CNN he did not vote for a president in three decades until 2008 for President Barack Obama. “I don’t do politics, but I made sure to vote this time,” Moses said. “Obama is the first person I really felt moved to vote for.” CNN noted that “Obama called Moses a hero of his, Moses recalled, recounting to an Obama rally he attended where the former President discovered he was in the audience.” Moses is survived by his wife, Janet, and children Maisha, Omo, Taba, and Malika.
health recommendations. This funding will also be used to support ongoing vaccination efforts and the necessary hospital costs associated with this pandemic. In partnership with DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs, HHS also announced that CDC is distributing $700 million to 64 state and local jurisdictions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in confinement facilities, including prisons, jails, and juvenile confinement facilities. These funds will allow facilities to implement COVID-19 diagnostic and screening programs for people who are incarcerated, staff, and visitors. Funds also may be
used to support other activities, including COVID-19 contact tracing, isolation and quarantine strategies, infection control practices, and education and training on ways to minimize the spread of COVID-19 for facility staff and people who are incarcerated/detained.
and mitigating infections for adults, children, and youth experiencing domestic violence and dating violence. This funding will also support cultural competency training and technical assistance for implementing rapid onsite COVID-19 testing and facilitating access to mobile health unit services for adult and youth victims of family violence, domestic violence, or dating violence and their dependents, including the development of onsite testing confidentiality policies, procurement of PPE, enhancing information technology, data modernization, and to coordinate confidential reporting with local health departments.
Across the country, Republican legislators have sought to make it harder for African Americans and other people of color to vote. The long lines that mark inner-city voting sites are a graphic demonstration of the success of those efforts, for many people can’t take
the hours off from work to cast a ballot. In each era, the lawless reaction — and blatant violations of the Constitution — have been ratified by disgraceful decisions in the Supreme Court. The court ratified segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson, inventing the doctrine of separate but
Twitter. 4217
Face2FaceAfrica.com
2
By Lee H. Jordan Minneapolis Juneteenth Committee - 2018 National Juneteenth Film & Bicycling Commissions
“As a field organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Bob Moses was the architect of the Mississippi Freedom Project, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and the Algebra Project,” Imani declared. When people would ask what they should do, Moses asked them what they thought; filmmaker Ava DuVernay offered in a quote she credited to political activist Tom Hayden. “At meetings, he usually sat in the back and spoke last,” DuVernay noted. “He slept on floors, wore overalls, shared the risks, took the blows.” DuVernay said Moses dug deep. “You need to know about this genius, Bob Moses,” comedian Bill Cosby asserted, urging people to start with Moses’ book, “Radical Equations.” Imani Perry, the Hughes Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, called
Local Domestic Violence Shelters and Tribal Shelters Supportive Services for Survivors of Domestic and Dating Violence: HHS, through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), will invest $550 million in the Family Violence Prevention and Services Program to support state and tribal programs for detecting, diagnosing,
equal — a concept that existed only in the judge’s imaginations, not in the realities of any of the former slave states. Voter suppression following the civil rights movement was ratified in Shelby v. Holder and now in
CONTINURE TO PAGE 5
insightnews.com
Insight News • August 2, 2021 - August 8, 2021 • Page 5
SHARING OUR STORIES 4
BLACK NERD BLUE BOX Sharing Our Stories
By: W.D. Foster-Graham Book Review Editor By T. Aaron Cisco As a child of the 1950s and early 1960s, Doctor Who has just made its debut on the horizon, but T. Aaron Cisco’s Black Nerd Blue Box resonated with me, especially since I was seen as a Nerd and a brainiac growing up.
Jackson, Sr. From 4 Brnovich vs. the DNC, that have essentially gutted the Voting Rights Act, the crown jewel of
Harvest From 3 Mahmoud persuaded him to “leave his good engineering job and join her on an educational journey spanning 30 plus years.” Together, he said, they have achieved “unprecedented goals in changing the lives and opportunities for children of color, strengthening their minds by challenging their work ethic and their will to succeed; building their confidence and pride of being who they are by teaching true history of American sins we hope will not be repeated, and gladly being responsible for the shaping future leaders from the next generation.” In 1985, the Mahmouds set out on their quest to use education to establish sustainable community development. SEED Academy was a pre-school that began in their home. In 1992, SEED
Alternating between external dialogue and the internal dialogue of the Doctor Who universe, Mr. Cisco takes us on a journey of the eclectic, and the pitfalls of putting people in a “box.” All too often, African Americans are placed in a “box” of stereotypes via ignorance, bias, or prejudice, seen as one monolithic front, even from within. Then, someone like Cisco comes along who challenges this way of thinking, his presence calling out the hypocrisy. I remember well this slogan as a college student in the early ‘70s: “Do your thing.” The subtext, however, was “as long as it conforms to our standards
and definitions of what that is,” which I discovered when I put that slogan to the test. His road wasn’t an easy one, but it was his path to his authentic life. He was blessed with supportive parents during his formative years in Chicago. The ordeal of his mother’s breast cancer taught him valuable lessons. His peers, however, were a challenge, judging him for his love of Doctor Who, science fiction, his taste in clothes and music, etc. Being a Nerd, he was seen by them as “other”; as, in his words, a “cappuccino-colored oddball,” he didn’t fit the “box.” Dealing with racism, he breaks
down his experience with its various degrees, from the overt and blatant to the subtle microaggresions from his own truth and take on the world. I loved his take on Chicago, the term “schmooey,” and his memory of “Vanilla Bean.” In his journey, being a Black Nerd put people on notice, and at the end of the day, his qualities proved to be his strengths. He never gave up. As one who has come up through the ranks of Nerdiness, I thank you, T. Aaron Cisco, for sharing your story.
the civil rights movement. The so-called “conservative” justices on the Supreme Court are rewriting the laws passed by Congress to serve their own partisan purposes. Now the excuse is to limit voter fraud, even though there is no evidence of such fraud other
than in the ravings of partisan politicians. This struggle will continue. Clearly, Republicans across the country have decided that rather than seeking to win the votes of African Americans and other peoples of color, they would rather pass measures to suppress their vote — from
discriminatory changes in voting practices, to gerrymandering of districts, to (most dangerously) empowering Republican legislatures to overturn the results of an election. Once more people of conscience must stand up and organize to protect the right to vote and to counter those
who would suppress it. Once more, right-wing justices have written another shameful chapter of judicial ignominy that must simply be overturned. Once more Congress must act to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to counter the brazen efforts of
the court’s right wing to neuter it. Once more, those standing in the way of equality under the law will find that the movement for justice will not be deterred.
grew into Harvest Preparatory, located on Golden Valley Road. It was a private school. Charter schools had not been integrated into the academic scheme of the Minneapolis school district. In 1998, Harvest Prep became a charter school. With the creation of BEST Academy in 2008, Mahmoud and his staff wanted to address academic deficiencies in boys who to seemed surpasss girls only in the number of suspensions. In 2018, the three schools were consolidated under the Minneapolis School District as Harvest Best Academy with a school population of 800 kindergarteners through eighth grade, 70% African American and 30% East African Somali. “It’s been a wonderful journey, he said, but I will admit at times a ‘baptism by fire’. Integrating newly arrived Africans, often with a language barrier, into the fabric and culture of America and especially the African American families and communities, has been a challenge. But we learn
from each other,” Mahmoud said. Mahmoud said he knew the impact the COVID-19 shut down was going to be felt for a very long time unless a strategy was devised to make up that lost ground. In March of 2020, he managed to get 750 Chrome books for his students to work for home. But then he found out that only 50% of the computers were turned on. “Many of the students just didn’t have conducive learning environments to utilize the equipment or understand the material to their benefit and mastery,” he said. As a solution, he created a mobile learning lab with a charter bus company providing safe spaces and the use of the internet. But it wasn’t sustainable, and the school wasn’t reaching enough students. Next he secured funding to pay churches and the YMCA to allow approximately 500 students not just from Harvard Best but around the
neighborhoods to work in learning pods and often under tents. On August 17, 2020, kindergarten opened with 75 students that were allowed to come into the building because of new air filtration units. Tenanye Heard, a member of the AACWI’s COVID outreach team, said “There must be precise strategies put into practice to protect our children, our school staffs, and ourselves. With children under the age of 12 unable to be vaccinated, we must be consistent with the correct use of masks; put into the daily routine social distancing as much as possible; display posters about hand washing and normalizing sanitizers; and insist on facility ventilation inspections for quality air purification. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have hygiene stations secured in classrooms and throughout the school. We’re not talking about a one-time event. Establishing consistent systems and processes must become a critical component
of our schools’ infrastructures. It doesn’t appear COVID19 is going away anytime soon.” Pastor Darrell Gillespie, a mental health clinician with AACWI and dean of HOPE Academy, encourages us all to ‘encourage’ ourselves. “We’ve got to tap into our ancestors’ resilience, that way of ‘making a way out of no way’. And as a people, we’ve got to allow our children to see us do the things necessary to keep our families together in a safe and nurturing environment; be motivated and uplifting; to dream big and not limit ourselves; and to be of service to others. We’re like those seeds Brother Mahmoud talked about having everything in it that we need. We just have to tend to it routinely, care for it, protect it, teach it, and watch it grow.” Gillespie said “as we take our rightful place as elders. our culture allows us to be in relationships with kids that look like us. We’ve got to push aside fears caused by misinformation.
We also have to talk with parents about the situations that scare them and cause trauma and angst.” Therapist Ted Thompson said parents know that children will be returning to a school that will not be business as usual. “Parents have learned a lot from being home with their kids for the past year and a half. In the past, they would defer student problems over to the schools’ administration or the teacher. I invite parents and guardians to come forward and become partners in their child’s school and in their personal academics. They will find that their communities have resources if they are willing to do the research, follow through with leads and advice, and accept that there is no shame in asking for help. People are being compelled to shift their thinking and actions, create, and circumvent obstacles. The focus should be on the health and welfare of the students,” Thompson said.
AUG. 15TH, 2021 - EXTENDED DEADLINE!
Page 6 •August August 2, 2021 - August 8, 2021 • Insight News
Insight 2 Health
insightnews.com
COVID-19 leaves lasting impact on heart health
(NewsUSA) - As the threat of COVID-19 continues, doctors and patients are considering the long-term impact of the pandemic on public health, especially heart health. The American Heart Association’s annual publication on Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics for 2021 emphasizes that heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. “COVID-19 has taken a huge toll on human life worldwide and is on track to become one of the top three to five causes of death in 2020. But its influence will directly and indirectly impact rates of cardiovascular disease prevalence and deaths for years to come,” says Donald LloydJones, M.D., ScM, FAHA, president of the American
Heart Association and chair of the department of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Not only does research show that COVID-19 itself can cause heart damage, the indirect effects of the pandemic will likely generate an increase in heart health problems, he says. “Unhealthy eating habits, increased consumption of alcohol, lack of physical activity and the mental toll of quarantine isolation and even fear of contracting the virus all can adversely impact a person’s risk for cardiovascular health, he emphasizes. “We’ll need to watch and address these trends as the full ramifications will likely be felt for many years to come.” COVID-19 will
impact the risk of experiencing or dying from heart disease or stroke for many years for several reasons. - Unhealthy habits: During extended periods of quarantine or lockdown, many people developed or returned to behaviors related to poor eating, changes in work/sleep habits, lack of regular exercise and the mental stress of social isolation and excessive screen time that could contribute to heart disease and stroke. - Missed medical visits: Many patients postponed regular doctor visits to manage chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and high cholesterol, resulting in an epidemic of poorly controlled disease that can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. - Fear of hospitals:
Data from the American Heart Association show that many individuals experienced a heart attack or stroke during the pandemic and did not seek urgent care out of fear of contracting COVID-19 in a hospital setting. Unfortunately, some people may have experienced medical events with lasting consequences that may have been lessened with prompt treatment. Heart-related risks for COVID-19 patients: Although studies of the impact of COVID-19 on pre-existing medical conditions are ongoing, the data show that individuals with cardiovascular conditions such as high blood pressure are at increased risk for more severe disease - even death - if they become ill with COVID-19. It’s important for everyone eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Visit heart.org/statistics to view the complete 2021 Statistical Update and to find fact sheets
with information about the impact of COVID-19 on heart health and about cardiovascular disease risk in general.
What should people with diabetes know about the COVID-19 vaccine? (NAPSI)—With the three new COVID-19 vaccines widely available, millions of Americans have been encouraged to get vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that, as of July 2021, 47% of the total U.S. population is now fully vaccinated and over 182 million Americans have received at least one dose. This effort has helped reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. But people with diabetes may have questions about COVID-19 vaccines, including whether they should get vaccinated and whether the vaccines are safe. If you have diabetes, here is what you need to know: •People with diabetes should get vaccinated. About 40% of people who died from
COVID-19 from February to April 2020—before COVID-19 vaccines were publicly available—had diabetes. People with type 1 or type 2 diabetes often have complications including heart disease and obesity, which means people with either type of diabetes are at a much higher risk of developing severe illness if they were to get COVID-19. One of the best ways to avoid becoming seriously sick with COVID-19 is to get vaccinated. •The three COVID-19 vaccines are safe for people with diabetes. The available vaccines are not made from SARS-COV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, so there is no risk of getting sick with COVID-19 just from getting the vaccine. People with diabetes were included in COVID-19
Doctors say people with diabetes should get vaccinated against COVID-19.
vaccine clinical trials across the United States and other countries, and none of the trials reported significant safety issues among study participants. •Continue monitoring your blood glucose regularly after being vaccinated. In some individuals, the vaccine may
cause possible side effects that can be similar to feeling sick, such as chills, fever, and nausea. People with diabetes should speak with their health care professional about this and how to monitor their blood glucose levels following COVID-19 vaccination.
•Caregivers should get vaccinated too. People with diabetes might have a family member or caregiver who assists them with their daily living, health care, or other needs. These family members and caregivers also need to get vaccinated so they can stay healthy, avoid exposing family members with diabetes to COVID-19 and continue being a source of support. •Even after getting vaccinated, people still need to follow safety precautions set by public health experts, such as the CDC. For instance, the CDC states that people who are vaccinated generally no longer need to wear masks or follow social distancing. However, they do need to continue following these precautions where required by federal, state, local, tribal,
or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including in local businesses and workplaces. •Consider enrolling in a clinical trial. Research is still underway to answer such questions as how long the vaccines help the immune system fight the virus. Learn more about COVID-19 clinical trials and how you can play a role by visiting the COVID-19 Prevention Network: www. coronaviruspreventionnetwork. org. To learn more about COVID-19 vaccines, visit the CDC website at cdc.gov and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ website: www. vaccines.gov/diseases/covid. For more information on managing diabetes, visit the NIDDK website at www.niddk. nih.gov.
insightnews.com
Insight News • August 2, 2021 - August 8, 2021 • Page 7
Page 8 •August August 2, 2021 - August 8, 2021 • Insight News
insightnews.com
WAYS TO EXPLORE AFRICAN AMERICAN
HISTORY WITH
SEE MORE PRINCE
In the photogr aphy exhibit Prince: Before the Rain , you can see iconic images of the artist tak en by Allen Beaulieu in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Prince’ s story continues in the First Avenue exhibit, where you can see his Purple Rain suit. Both exhibits now on view, Minnesota History Center, St. Paul. First Avenue presenting sponsor Baird. Prince sponsor Xcel Energy.
COME TO FAMILY DAY
SATURDAYS at the MUSEUMɨ Explore the history of St. Anthony F alls with a day of family-friendly activities during My Mighty Journey: A W aterfall’s Story Family Day, Nov 9, Mill City Museum, Minneapolis.
Storytellers, Activities and Fun! Sponsored by Xcel Energy.
Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery 1256 Penn Ave No, Minneapolis, MN 55411, 4th Floor
Saturday mornings from 10 - 11:30am • 240 pages
Hear Stories Read or Great Storytelling! EXPLORE THE HIDDEN Engage in coordinated HISTORY
activities and just have Fun!
Hear Dr. Christopher Lehman talk about his ne w book, Slavery’s Reach, which tr aces the mone y between Southern plantations and Minnesota’ s businesses. Slavery’s Reach Author Ev ent, Nov 17, North www.maahmg.org Contact us at: info@maahmg.org Regional Libr ary, Minneapolis.
Become a member!
MNHS Press
• $18.95
Local Children’s Book Authors and Storytellers! Treats!
All Are Welcome.
See us at
Free Admission.
____________________________________________________________________________ "The Children's Reading Circle is partially supported by The Givens Foundation for African American Literature through operating support funding from Target. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund."
PLAN YOUR VISIT 1-844-MNSTORY MNHS.ORG
______________________________________________________________________________________
The MAAHMG is a fully qualified 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Minnesota.
If I could do one thing, I’d tell the world she counts. Communities are as rich and diverse as their needs. That’s why completing the 2020 Census matters. It’s a safe and confidential step toward having an impact on how public funds flow through our communities. That could mean more resources in your area for special needs. It’s within your control.
Learn more at:
2020CENSUS.GOV Paid for by U.S. Census Bureau.
Review From 2