CHILDREN’S THEATRE COMPANY’S
Jackie and Me essay contest MORE ON PAGE 5 Photo by Dan Norman.
Ansa Akyea as Jackie Robinson
January 28 - February 3, 2013
Vol. 40 No. 5• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Obama’s bold return to base Opinion
By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief
Freddie Allen/NNPA
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama acknowledge well-wishers at 2013 Inauguration Ball.
Students, parents seek answers after black doll hung at Washburn High By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer
WASHINGTON (NNPA) — Rejecting calls for him to move closer toward his Republican critics, a condent President Barack H. Obama kicked off his second term on Monday by making an impassioned plea for a more inclusive America. “It is not our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began,” Obama said in his inaugural speech. “For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a
living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. “Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we nd a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity – until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown,
INAUGURATION 12 TURN TO
Edelman:
American education system in crisis By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer
Students, parents, educators and concerned members of the community packed inside the auditorium of Washburn High School hoping to get answers following the hanging of a black doll. The incident took place on Jan. 11, but didn’t fully come to light until nearly a week later. Parents were not informed about the incident until several days after the incident – which led some to say the school and the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) were trying to cover-up the disturbing act. A community forum to discuss the shocking incident was held on Jan. 23. “I grew up in Selma, AL, where segregation was the rule.
Harry Colbert, Jr.
MPS Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson addresses students, faculty, parents and concerned citizens regarding the hanging of a black baby doll at Washburn High School.
This incident has saddened, angered and hurt me personally,
It was cold (the thermometer showed -9) and it was early (doors opened at 7 a.m.) but for the 2,000plus in attendance at the 23rd annual MLK Breakfast, the early morning cold was no obstacle. Many said the celebration of the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – on a historic day when the country celebrated the second inauguration of President Barack Obama – was
MLK TURN TO 3 Credit: General Mills
Marian Wright Edelman
WASHBURN TURN TO 7
ProBid teaches the business side of business By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer
Harry Colbert, Jr.
Errol Foster (left) and Dale White, co-founders of ProBid seek to provide minority and women contractors with all the tools they need to successful bid on private and government contracts.
Youth
Aaliyah Kellogg joins Scholastic News Kids Press Corps
PAGE 3
Possessing a skill for a trade does not necessarily mean that a person has a skill for business. And while there are many skilled African-American contractors and laborers, far too many who set out in business for themselves fail to remain in business for long due to the lack of business skills. But a Twin Cities company is hoping to equip these budding entrepreneurs with the tools to run thriving, successful
Lifestyle
Pets affected more than humans
PAGE 8
businesses. ProBid, founded by Errol Foster and Dale White, has been teaching business acumen to minority, women and disadvantaged contractors since 2007. Along the way, ProBid has received contracts with MnDOT, the city of St. Paul and other agencies to assist in training and qualifying what are considered disadvantaged businesses for government contracts. “We found we have a large number of small businesses that don’t know how to bid on a contract,” said White. “So
we help them to know costs, various bidding rules and other critical information so they can be successful in the bid process. In trade schools and even in college, they don’t teach you how to run a business.” “They know how to do the trade. They know how to lay concrete; they know how to do the jobs, but they don’t know the business – they don’t have the business acumen. Once we’ve trained people to understand the numbers, they can’t be taken advantage of,” said Foster, who has a degree in engineering. “We
Commentary
State of equality and justice in America
PAGE 9
increased minority contracting within MnDOT by 30 percent.” White, who has a degree in computer science, has developed proprietary software to assist contractors in every aspect of their business. The software can take blueprints and quickly provide exact square footage for a room or area, and most importantly – from a business standpoint – assist in accounting (labor, taxes, insurance, worker’s compensation, material costs, etc.) to insure a contractor can
BUSINESS TURN TO 7
Health
Fibroids: What can you do?
PAGE 11