SOCIAL MEDIA INTERN We’re looking for a high-spirited, forward-thinking person to join our team as the Social Media Intern. This person is responsible for capturing quick photos/stories for our social media platforms. They will work closely with our design team and Publisher to create strategic goals
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WINNER: 2016 NNPA MERIT AWARDS: 1ST PLACE COMMUNIT Y SERVICE, 3RD PLACE BEST USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS
Insight News August 8 - August 14, 2016
Vol. 43 No. 32• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Community Possible: U.S. Bank initiative promotes volunteerism
Courtesy of U.S. Bank
U.S. Bank launched Community Possible Relay, a nationwide effort to revitalize the spirit of community across America
U.S. Bank’s Community Possible Relay, a nationwide initiative aimed to inspire 153,000-plus volunteers across the country to take part in rebuilding and revitalizing their communities came to a close with its final stop in North Minneapolis. The three-month, 12,000 mile relay included volunteer activities centered around work, home and play, the three focus areas of the bank’s new corporate giving and volunteer program, Community Possible. The relay visited 38 communities across 25 states. “This relay symbolizes our dedication to bringing back community volunteerism in America. By working together,
we can and will make a difference,” said Richard Davis, chairman and chief executive officer of U.S. Bank. “We invite everyone to help build and support vibrant communities by volunteering and giving back.” Davis said the relay represented U.S. Bank’s dedication, in part, to addressing the reported 25 to 50 percent decline in volunteerism that has taken place over the last four decades. The bank hopes it inspired a wave of volunteerism and community engagement with the “mobile baton” that drove across the country making stops throughout the
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Profile in Excellence: Yassin Omar By Harry Colbert, Jr. Managing Editor
Yassin Omar
If Donald Trump has his way Yassin Omar would be officially branded a suspected terrorist; forced to register in a federal database. In reality, Omar is in a government database of sorts. Omar is working for the Minnesota governor’s office as the executive assistant to
Kimberly Holmes, general counsel to Gov. Mark Dayton and Lt. Gov. Tina Smith. Along the way he is broadening people’s perspectives and erasing negative preconceptions about Muslims and SomaliAmericans – especially young Somali men. “Muslims, AfricanAmericans, Native-Americans, Hispanics; Asians … all of us understand the subcultural bias that exists in parts of America.
This has always been happening, but now it has a larger platform because of Trump,” said Omar. “But it just makes me work harder to prove that I belong (at the table of government and policy). As they say, if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. I’m here to stay. I’m not going anywhere.” Born in Somalia, Omar, first came to America as a young child and lived in Portland, Maine before moving to
Hopkins and graduating from Hopkins High School. With a degree in finance from Hamline University, Omar’s path to working in government was like much of his life before – nontraditional. “In college my interest was in business and finance, but I always had an interest in how money and government intersected,” said Omar.
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Forum examines police violence, trauma By Harry Colbert, Jr. Managing Editor With last month’s killing of Philando Castile and last November’s killing of Jamar Clark – both at the hands of law enforcement – Minnesota has become somewhat of a flashpoint for the nation’s conversation of ethnicity and policing. With the spotlight on the area, many are hoping these tragic killings and their aftermaths can lead to meaningful change. Hope for change brought together a group of panelists
at a recent town hall, “Beyond the Rhetoric,” which was coproduced by Insight News and the St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN). Co-hosted by Insight founder and editorin-chief, Al McFarlane and Soul Tools Radio’s Brittany Lynch, the forum provided varying perspectives on over-policing that has led to many deadly encounters when it comes to communities of color, in particular, the African-American community. A common theme among the panelists was one of humanity.
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Members of the “Beyond the Rhetoric” panel (left to right) Kathleen Cole, Andrea Jenkins, Dr. Bravada Garrett-Akinsanya and co-host Brittany Lynch.
Seated next to “Beyond the Rhetoric” co-host Al McFarlane (left), Bill Woodson explains that saying Black Lives Matter does not devalue the lives of others.
Fed chief Kashkari: Black unemployment a crisis By Harry Colbert, Jr. Managing Editor “We’re in crisis and the threat needs overwhelming force to address it.” That’s how Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari summed up the nation’s employment gap between Blacks and whites. Kashkari said the Black unemployment rate is two times the national average and that should be of concern to all Americans. He admits he doesn’t yet know why the
Harry Colbert, Jr.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari (left) tells reporters he is committed to do whatever he can to lessen the unemployment gap between Blacks and whites, as Anthony Newby, executive director of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change looks on.
disparity exists. “We’re working to understand why there is this disparity. That’s the question we’ve been asking and to be honest, I haven’t gotten a good answer to it yet,” said Kashkari, who offered his critique following a meeting with Black residents of North Minneapolis at the offices of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC), 1101 W. Broadway Ave., Minneapolis. While the national unemployment rate for Blacks is dismal at 8.8 percent compared to a 4.3 percent
unemployment rate for whites; the rates in Minnesota are downright appalling. The unemployment rate for Black Minnesotans is at 14.1 percent – the second highest in the nation – compared to a below national average unemployment rate of 3.7 percent for white Minnesotans. In a closed meeting with several Black residents, the Minneapolis Federal Reserve president did his best to assure everyone he was committed to doing what he can to get everyone working, even if he has to figuratively live a day in
someone else’s life. Rosheeda Credit accepted his invitation. She said she needs Kashkari to see what it’s like to try and survive as a single mother with few employment opportunities. Kashkari agreed, but a date for the interaction has yet to be determined. Kashkari, who had an unsuccessful run for governor of California, said he spent a week living as a homeless person in order to better serve those living in the poorest conditions.
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Commentary
Education
Business
Lifestyle
How much do Black child lives matter?
Leadership legacy: Planting seeds of social change
So you want to be a college president?
How men and women think: It’s a matter of gray and white
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