Insight ::: 07.12.21 by Insight News, Inc

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Insight News

July 12, 2021 - July 18, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 28• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

HENNA & HIJABS

The Nordstrom Collection Black, Muslim-led company’s collaboration with Nordstrom is one of the first hijab collections offered by a major U.S. fashion retailer

Designer Hilal Ibrahim

nordstrom.com

Minneapolis-based company Henna & Hijabs (H&H) this month launched a groundbreaking partnership with Nordstrom to sell an exclusive line of luxury hijabs – one of the ﬁrst oﬀered by a major U.S. fashion retailer. The Nordstrom x Henna & Hijabs

Collection features organic hijabs created to be ethically responsible to both people and the environment. The collection is available at Nordstrom. com and is in sixteen Nordstrom stores nationwide, including Mall of America and Ridgedale. Founded by 26-yearold Hilal Ibrahim, Henna and Hijabs is designed for the modern Muslim woman, but accessible to individuals across many backgrounds. After pioneering the first healthcare hijab in 2019 2019,, Ibrahim continues to address the lack of access Muslim women face in finding sustainable and fashionable hijabs. Henna & Hijabs said the partnership with Nordstrom to introduces one of the first luxury hijab collections to be sold at a major U.S. retailer on an ongoing basis. Designed for the modern Muslim woman, but wearable for individuals across many backgrounds, the collection features a versatile mix of prints, vibrant colors and fabrics that are designed to offer incomparable style and flawless function as a headscarf. View the Nordstrom X Henna & Hijabs collection at nordstrom.com/hennaandhijabs Henna & Hijabs was founded by designer Hilal Ibrahim, 26, to address the lack of access Muslim women face in finding sustainable and fashionable hijabs in both retail and healthcare settings. “I am grateful to find collaborators that are committed to creating a place where every customer is welcome, respected, appreciated and able to be themselves.” said Hilal Ibrahim, H&H founder and CEO. “Henna and Hijab’s mission is inspired from a place of inclusion and representation. As an entrepreneur and designer, I hope our new partnership with Nordstrom and this collection of hijabs will offer millions of

underrepresented women a favorite new addition to their closet, but also inspire them to reimagine what is possible and find inner strength.” The new collection includes pieces for every setting ranging from everyday luxury to special occasions silks. Accessories include under caps and an exclusive H&H Signature Pin, giving wearers confidence with fashionable and secure fastening options. Pricing for the luxury pieces starts at $45. “We are honored and excited to be partnering with Henna & Hijabs to create a thoughtfully designed collection of hijabs for our customers,” said Jen Jackson Brown, EVP and President of Nordstrom Product Group, Nordstrom, Inc. “We look forward to continuing to evolve our assortment, while listening to our employees, customers, brand partners and neighbors along the way. We hope this collection provides a sense of pride, excitement and confidence for an otherwise underrepresented community of women.” In addition to the Nordstrom collection, H&H is creating transformative, culturally inclusive hospital apparel for patients and healthcare workers through its growing H&H MED line. In 2019, H&H launched the world’s first-ever medicalgrade hijab for healthcare workers and patients. Henna & Hijabs is a Black, women owned Minneapolis-based company founded on the belief that fashion can be good for both people and the planet. “We are committed to creating beautiful handmade hijabs and organic henna.” Find out more at hennaandhijabs.com hennaandhijabs.com.. Engage with H&H on Instagram @hennaandhijabs and Facebook at Facebook.com/hennaandhijabs

Page 2 • July 12, 2021 - July 18, 2021 • Insight News

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Insight News • July 12, 2021 - July 18, 2021 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE

Insight News July 12, 2021 - July 18, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 28• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

To lead UCare’s call center

Troy Brice named UCare Associate Vice President

tributearchive.com

Richard Harrison Jefferson

Former Rep. Richard Jefferson dies Richard Jefferson, who represented North Minneapolis in the Minnesota House of Representatives for 12 years, died June 28, 2021 at the age of 90. A Korean War veteran Jefferson earned a B.A. from Xavier University of Louisiana, and worked as a chemist for U.S. Bureau of Mines. Upon retirement he won election to the state legislature, serving 6 terms from 1987 to 1999 representing He was the only person of color in the Legislature from 1987 to 2001, when he was joined by Ellen Garcia of Richfield and Carlos Mariani, of St. Paul. He succeeded Randolph Staten, who opened the door for Minneapolis Black’s winning election to the Legislature in 1980. In a story by Nicole Wood, in the House of Representatives Session Weekly, Jefferson, when he retired from office in 1999, said one of the things he has enjoyed the most as a legislator was helping people who were

tied up in the bureaucracy of local government. “That’s the power of this office,” he said. “It can be, when used properly, a very important tool for helping people.” Jefferson said he had no illusions about how long the power to get phone calls returned quickly lasts. “The power is seated in the position, not in the individual,” he said. “Because the day that I leave here, that will no longer exist for me, and the young man who comes in behind me will be able to do those things.” Jefferson’s spent 32 years with the U.S. Bureau of Mines. As the head of research services, he used his chemistry background to oversee research into mining techniques and the use of resources - projects that the private sector would not do or couldn’t afford. Jefferson was a key negotiator on 1994TargetCenter buyout, and later on Minneapolis Convention Center expansion. Of the 12 House

members from the Minneapolis delegation, Jefferson was the only one to vote for a new Twins stadium during the November 1997 Special Session. “I saw [those initiatives] primarily as job opportunities, as much as anything,” he said. Jefferson said the most important piece of legislation he sponsored was a 1993 measure setting residency requirements for public employees ofbthe city of Minneapolis. “It had the greatest impact and the mostfarreaching effect on the city of Minneapolis of anything I’ve ever done,” he said. Another bill that was important to him but did not receive as much attention provided for the testing of newborn babies for sicklecell anemia, a genetic blood disease that primarily strikes those of African descent.Sign BROUGHT TO YOU BY KOZLAK-RADULOVICH FUNERAL CHAPELS Jefferson was Chair

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

of the Minneapolis Housing Authority, and he was one of the founders of Pilot City which is now known as Northpoint Health & Wellness Center in North Minneapolis. He was a co-founder of the WillardHomewood Organization and he also authored legislation establishing Juneteenth as a State Holiday in 1996.He was a commissioner for the Metropolitan Sports Facility Commission, and became an Ordained Minister for the American Fellowship Church in 2016. He is survived by his wife, Alice Johnson, former Minnesota State Representative and Minnesota State Senator. He is survived by his children, Keith Jefferson, Stephanie (Theodore) Crosby, Raymond (Carla) Jefferson, Leonard (Denise) Jefferson, Matthew (Colette) Jefferson and many grand, great-grand and greatgreat grandchildren. Also

JEFFERSON 4

JustThink: Was George Floyd White America’s sacrificial lamb? Culture and Education Editor

By Irma McClaurin, PhD A year has passed. And George Floyd is larger & more heroic in death than he ever could be in life. The system already had him pegged, tried & convicted of a life of petty crimes — yet his merciful cries of anguish to breath & for his mother, under the weight of a police knee, became the change we needed. The catalyst —to move America’s heart. To rip oﬀ the veil of white supremacy & racism that hide behind a police badge these days instead of a KKK hood/ mask, as it did in the past. Underneath the masks, badges, and hoods, they are all the same: angry white men, trying to exert their manliness through power over the oppressed Black Other; Behind the hoods/ masks/badges are also angry white women who feel entitled to accuse, challenge, and police Black bodies in their role as citizens, teachers, shoppers, pass-

erby’s on streets or in parks, and exert white privilege that really obscures their own experiences of gender oppression. These white women give birth to and/or nurture — as aunts, uncles, cousins,neighbors — confused white children who mimic white adults and assault & ridicule the Other — whatever form they take — Black, Indigenuous, LGBTQI, Trans, Muslim, Asian — . Rewriting History and Ignoring Facts There is a deliberate attempt underway by white political leaders to re-establish whiteness as the rule of law and to rewrite history as we know it, while ignoring documented facts. Slavery was real. Not teaching about it will not erase the fact that it existed in America. Or that the wealthy in this country owe their vast wealth to the exploitation of Indigenousness and Black bodies, broken treaties, and the appropriation of natural resources that did not belong to them. The overarching goal of this modern-day whiteness agenda is to re-inscribe a white supremacist version of the past that centers white as always right. It is a false narrative about the founding of

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America, along the lines of the 1915 ﬁlm, “Birth of a Nation” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ The_Birth_of_a_Nation ). Through such a lens of white supremacist history, the now controversial Confederate statutes make sense. They symbolize the beginning of a false history. The Big Confederate Lie The Confederacy (comprised of Southern States) lost the American Civil War. But the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) created monuments to celebrate the losers (their sons, husbands, brothers, uncles, cousins, and neighbors)

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Empowering our children and giving them hope

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and promote them as heroes. Notwithstanding their traitorous eﬀorts to dissolve the “United” States and maintain the system of slavery!And after the Civil War ended and enslaved Blacks were emancipated on Juneteenth, southern state governments had no problem complying and allowing the DAR to perpetuate the lie of Confederate heroism. The truth and facts are this: those who fought in the Confederacy were no heroes. They were losers, yet there are numerous statutes to commemorate and honor them spread

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MINNEAPOLIS, July 6, 2021 – UCare has hired Troy Brice as the community-based, nonproﬁt health plan’s Associate Vice President of Customer Service. Excellent customer service is a hallmark of UCare’s mission. Brice will continue that tradition built from more than 20 years of call center leadership experience including experience with Fortune 50 companies such as Verizon and Home Depot. Most recently, Brice served as Director of Service Operations of CVS Health subsidiary Aetna Better Health of Illinois. In this role, he was responsible for leading a department of more than 500 employees. Within his scope of responsibility were member and provider support for Medicaid, Medicare, Special Needs Plan, and Individual and Family health plans. Brice brings invaluable expertise to UCare including developing and executing call center strategies to support company-wide strategic priorities; optimizing business processes to improve consumer experience and retention; and introducing new technologies

Troy Brice to increase digital engagement and operational efficiency. He reports to Hilary Marden-Resnik, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. “Beyond his considerable experience and expertise, Troy shares a passion for UCare’s mission and the members who we serve. His leadership style aligns well with UCare’s people powered culture,” said Marden-Resnik. As Associate Vice President of Customer Service at UCare, Brice provides leadership and vision to continue transforming the call center into a proactive partner that effectively supports UCare

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Open Letter from Civil Rights Movement Veterans to Teachers:

We’ve seen this before and we stand with you We who fought and struggled to win voting rights for all Americans during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ‘60s stand now to fight against the new wave of voting-rights suppression and voter nullification laws that are being promulgated across the land. And we who marched for equality and endured jail for Freedom rise now to fight against this new wave of teacher-intimidation and thought-suppression laws being enacted in Republicancontrolled states to distort and deny the violent realities of racism and white-supremacy in American life and history. We who resisted the laws of segregation by sitting at “White Only” lunch counters, and organized voter registration campaigns among those historically denied the right to vote, stand now in support of those teachers and professors who today defy this new form of McCarthyism by pledging to continue writing, speaking, and teaching about systemic racism, structural inequality, and institutionalized whitesupremacy past and present. These teachers continue to teach the truth. We who were young just the day before yesterday recall our teachers being fired because they dared to support

and join the NAACP in deﬁance of laws enacted by white-ruled governments in the South. And we came of age in an era when college professors, community leaders, union organizers and famous entertainers were shamed and pilloried in the press, hauled before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC), and dismissed from their positions because they criticized segregation, or advocated racial equality, or spoke in favor of anti-lynching laws, or the United Nations or the New Deal, or signed a petition against atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons. From our lived experience we know how bigots, bullies, and demagogues use scare-words to stoke fear, hatred, and division for their personal gain, and how politicians use bogeymanterminology to confuse and distract their constituents, and smear organizations who call upon America to “Live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all people are created equal.” Yesterday, their targets were the NAACP, SNCC, SCLC, and CORE. Today they are taking aim at organizations such as the 1619 Project, the Zinn Education Project, Black Lives Matter at

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2 Building trust in the science of vaccines

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Page 4 • July 12, 2021 - July 18, 2021 • Insight News

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TEAM BIRKIE LAUNCHES!

Three of the largest cross country ski organizations in the Central Region combine forces to start a professional racing team Minneapolis (July 2, 2021) — Central Cross Country Skiing (CXC), the Loppet Foundation, and the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF) are teaming up to create a high performance racing team - so that the next Jessie Diggins can stay home to train, inspire future generations, and win Olympic medals. Team Birkie is based out of the Trailhead at Wirth Park, The Loppet Foundation’s headquarters in Minneapolis. The Team will conduct training camps in the Hayward/Cable Area and around the Central Region, as well as training and competition trips around North America. The name “Team Birkie” is an homage to one of the first clubs to promote high level training for juniors, seniors and masters in the 1990’s in the Twin Cities and Hayward area. Led by former US Ski Team Coach, Steve Gaskill, Team Birkie helped several athletes achieve World Cup and Olympic starts. Steve Gaskill’s most lasting legacy with Team Birkie was educating and mentoring a whole cadre of Midwest coaches who continue to coach and organize xc ski programs around the country. Three organizations have been working closely together for the past year to launch this team, and this effort and sentiment is summed up by Ben Popp of the Birkie Foundation, “Affording these athletes an opportunity to strive to be the best in the world takes a village, and we are excited to be a part of it.” The theme of having

Jefferson From 3

Floyd From 3 throughout southern states. In the south, the Civil War never ended. It simply went underground and maintained its power through public symbols— Confederate ﬂags, playing songs like Dixie at public events, and an abundance of larger than life Confederate stat-

the entire Central Region supporting Team Birkie athletes is the key to long term success of this program. Claire Wilson of the Loppet Foundation, “We are thrilled to be part of this regional collaboration - not only by our three organizations, but looking to all Central ski clubs, citizen ski races, and ski shops.” “High-performance team is a much-needed athlete development program for the region that will provide a platform for the regional best athletes to excel and play mentorship roles to clubs and coaches around the region.” Yuriy Gusev, CXC Executive Director The Coaching Staff Caitlin Gregg - Head Coach Leo Hipp - Assistant Coach Jeremy Hecker -Assistant Coach The coaching staff will be led by the 2015 World Championships bronze medalist Caitlin Gregg. Caitlin will be supported by Leo Hipp and Jeremy Hecker. In addition to a great coaching staff, Team Birkie has two Midwestern legends of xc skiing who are mentors and training partners to our team athletes: Brian Gregg and Matt Liebsch regularly join the team for training sessions, and are able to share their years of race and training experience with the younger athletes.

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

Named

Team

Head Coach – Caitlin Compton Gregg Vermont, Stilwater ) Matt Clarke (St Scholastica, Bloomington ) PJ Rubin (St Scholastica, Bloomington )) Tryg Solberg (Michigan Tech University,Minneapolis ) Calvin Boone (St Scholastica, hometown ) Charlotte Brown (Saint Lawrence University, St Paul ) CJ Young (University of Green Bay, hometown ) Charlie Reinhardt (Saint Lawrence University, Mound )

Nick Kjome (St Scholastica, Maple Grove ) Cole Johnson (Colby,St Paul ) Renae Anderson (Bowdoin College, Hopkins )Ben Boetler (St Scholastica, St Cloud ) The teams are still accepting applications for the 2021-2022 season. Email to Caitlin Gregg, caitlincgregg@gmail.com. Team Birkie Websitefor more information on Team Criteria, Training Camps and Race Schedule.

Head Coach – Caitlin Compton Gregg Caitlin Compton Gregg (caitlincgregg@ gmail.com) is a 2015 World Championship Bronze Medalist from Falun, Sweden and was

Loppet Sport Director, Piotr Bednarski, has been laying the groundwork to launch this team with CXC and ABSF for the past three years. “By many measures, the Central has the strongest ski community in the nation, but top Central athletes go to programs like Craftsbury, Stratton, APU, and BSF once they have graduated from college. For example, Stratton Mtn School is the homebase club for many of the top

survived by Alice’s ghildren, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren. Jefferson enjoyed fishing, golfing, traveling the

world with his wife Alice, did stand-up comedy for seniors at the Senior Centers, and loved making Jelly and Jam. Richard

and Alice were playing golf when he passed away on the 9th green. He was preceded in death by Mary Louise Jeﬀerson, his

previous wife. Mass of Christian Burial was held at Church of the Ascension in North Minneapolis on Thursday, July 8th at 11 AM

with Interment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Family would prefer memorials.

utes!

their very existence simply prove the persistence of racism in America, 300 years after slavery, 150 years after legalized segregation in the form of Jim Crow laws, and ongoing social, political, health, and economic disparities.

222: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/education/2021/02/09/iowa-lawmaker-claims-1619-project-leftistpolitical-propaganda-shouldbanned/4355885001/) — anything to preserve whiteness. Such actions can never hide the fact that the political,economic and social wealth infrastructure of today’s United States is the built on the genocide of Native Americans, the enslavement of African bodies, the immigrant labor of Chinese building the railroads, and Latinx migrant laborers.

out of jail card.” We have witnessed this trend of excusing white violence against non-whites happening over, and over, and over again. It began in slavery and continues into the present. The history of the white American justice system is one that exonerates police violence speciﬁcally and white violence in general. Today’s police are simply yesterday slave patrollers — paddy rollers — with one prime directive: the control of Black bodies and any non-white bodies by any means necessary.

Pretend all you want. Facts are facts, and they cannot be hidden forever! Were these lies/false narratives/real fake news/revisionist history of omissions circulating in Chauvin’s mind and those of his co-conspirators when they murdered George Floyd. Perhaps, though not consciously. But that is the power of white supremacist thinking. It is embedded in the psyche, lurking silently in the unconscious mind, and waiting quietly like an aneurism to burst. Those who have imbibed racial hierarchy need only the most minor excuses — fake $20 bills, traffic stops, unpaid traffic tickets, fleeing from deadly police — to flex their assumed superiority muscles and put down anyone who is Black, brown or Indigenous. You add other layers of identity — gender, sexual orientation — and the response of racialized hatred is heightened. White police (and even women and non-white police in uniform) fundamentally believe that the badge they carry is designed to shield and protect them, even when they are deadly wrong and even when they make deadly mistakes — shoot a gun instead of a taser or walking into the wrong apartment and killing the legal occupant. They are comfortable that the justice system is designed to always ensure their white innocence and protect them. The trigger for this unjust system is simply uttering that white magical phrase — “I Feared For My Life. Wherever Black, brown and indigenous bodies are present, this white supremacist incantation is sufficient to hand any white a “get

America’s Latest Victim of White Racial Hate — Asians Of late, Asians, who too often pass as “honorary whites” or “model minorities,” have felt the oppression and wrath in the form of anti-Asian hate. It is tragic, for no one deserves to be oppressed. But we must acknowledge how their honorary white status resulted in immediate Presidential Executive Order to stop anti-Asian hate crimes. Yet, after hundreds of Black deaths and centuries of white assaults on Black, there is NO “Stop Anti-Black Hate”legislation or Presidential Executive Order to stop the violence against Black people date. Case-in-point, Blacks must ﬁght to get the Civil Rights Act reauthorized.

no other non-white group living in this country today has ever experienced. Until America deals righteously with racial reckoning and signs into law Stop AntiBlackness Hate and Stop AntiIndigenous Hate, then very little has changed. Until America gives Reparations to Black and Indigenous people -like they did to Asian Americans interned in WWII — for the free labor we provided for generations to build this country, America can never move forward. Until America holds itself accountable for what the land of the free and home of the brave allowed to occur under its banner of laws, then it means that George Floyd’s death may have been an unnecessary sacriﬁce.

What other country, in the world, allows its former enemy to place statutes, which depict the illusion of heroism, in its public squares and on its college campuses, after a loss? The big Confederate lie — embodied in its symbols of ﬂags and statutes — outshone the known fact that the South lost the Civil War. Until recently, such symbols were revered. Now,

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Editor-In-Chief Al McFarlane

Athletes Birkie

Team Birkie: Zak Ketterson (Bloomington) Christian Gostout (Rochester) Abbie Drach (Eden Prairie) Amanda Kautzer (Minneapolis) Ingrid Thyr (Minneapolis) Julie Ensrud (Saltnes, Norway) Jordan Schuster (Minnetonka) Tony Mathie (Edinboro, PA) Andrew Millan (Wayzata) Summer Development Team Lars Dewall (St Scholastica College, Afton ) Joe Lynch (St Scholastica College, St Anthony ) Gus Schlatzein (St Scholastica College, Savage ) Peter Carlen (St Olaf College, St Paul ) Xavier Mansﬁeld (Northern Michigan University, Minneapolis ) Henry Snider (Michigan Tech, Mounds View ) Libby Tuttle (University of

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Central athletes, most notably, Jessie Diggins. Athletes from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan now have a World Class training opportunity in the Central Region, and we are confident they can market themselves better when in the communities that they grew up in. And by training here, at home, these top athletes can help elevate the training level and profile of ski racing in the Central Region. This year the top American at NCAA’s, Zak Ketterson, has decided to join Team Birkie over other top clubs in the US. With great coaching, race support, and talented training partners, we are confident that Zak and his teammates will be well prepared for Olympic qualification.

a member of the 2010 Winter Olympic Team in Vancouver, Canada. She has also competed at 5 World Championships – four times for Cross Country Skiing and once for Biathlon. Caitlin has also won the American Birkebeiner more times than any other athlete, and has many City of Lakes Loppet wins under her belt as well. A US Ski Team Alum and an 8-time National Champion, Caitlin has been living and training in the Minneapolis area for over 15 years and knows how to maximize every inch of terrain in our urban playground. She has used her creativity to compete and succeed at the highest level in the sport of cross-country skiing. She and her husband Brian Gregg, also a 2014 Olympian, started Team Gregg in 2013 and have enjoyed pushing their limits to succeed in results and marketing on the World Stage. When not coaching or taking care of young daughter Heidi, Caitlin enjoys sharing her passion for health and the outdoors with the youth in her North Minneapolis community.

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,

Today’s Reality Check Fast forward to our times — today. It is a year and a months after George Floyd’s murder by police, ﬁve months since new and diverse political leadership was installed and the racially devisive 45th president left oﬃce, and one month since a jury lf his peers found Derek Chavin, Floyd’s killer, guilty. What Now? Despite the change in national leadership, there are warning signs that all is not well in America. It appears that the ghosts of the Confederate past have infected contemporary politicians. Under some delusion of white racial hierarchy, white politicians are using their white political privilege to orchestrate a historical lie and make it law. They seek to ignore the atrocities perpetrated against Black and Indigenous people to build this country — this United States of America. Rather, they are putting forth a narrative that seeks to legitimize and make righteous all white egregious actions of the past. They want critiques of white American to be silenced and/or punished. They want to restore the white supremacist history of the pre-1970s before Black Studies was institutionalized. These legislative actions must be viewed as power assaults against democracy and a deliberate attempt to return us to the Jim Crow era, where whites controlled the public Master narrative of America’s history. One example is the state of Arizona that banned the teaching of Ethnic Studies in public schools. White lawmakers want to pretend that Latinx — and anyone else — have no history, except the one white people choose to write. The State of Iowa is wants to cement a white gaze of history and legally punish any public educator or school system that dare teach about the 1619 project. (Iowa House File

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By Lee H. Jordan Minneapolis Juneteenth Committee - 2018 National Juneteenth Film & Bicycling Commissions

Inequality Within Oppression In less than two months, over a Billion dollars was raised to support Asian groups fighting injustice. It has taken over a year to raise money for #BlackLivesMatter and #Stop Anti-Black actions; but these efforts have yet to reach over a Billion dollars! Even within the oppression realm, there is a hierarchy ladder and Black people are still on the bottom rung. This is America’s signature. It privileges every group’s oppression over the most egregious of its actions in the past and in the present against Black people and Indigenous people. Yet these are the two groups that have lived with and suffered from the most police brutality and who bear significant generational wounds of economic, health, political, and social trauma and disparities that

I pray not. A lot of change has occurred: New, young Black leaders emerged. #Blacklivesmatter is now a universal rallying cry; Defund the police and other alternatives are on the discussion table; and George Floyd’s name has become a GLOBAL symbol of the reality of racial injustice, of which his family can be proud. Let George Floyd’s tragic and unnecessary death, and those of other unarmed Blacks, not be in vain. Don’t make George Floyd America’s sacrificial lamb. Let us take action, move beyond diversity pleasantries and move forward as a country to do whatever it takes to make sure such deaths by police never happen again. America must publicly acknowledge the racial harm it has inflicted upon generations of Black people (men, women, children, and Trans). Only then will George Floyd’s death be more than an unintentional sacrifice. Only then can America do better. Only then, can America be better! (c)2021 Irma McClaurin. All Rights Reserved This story is reposted from irmamcclaurin.medium. com/

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Insight News • July 12, 2021 - July 18, 2021 • Page 5

Empowering our children and giving them hope Columnist

By Brenda Lyle-Gray “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”. Angela Davis. Welcome to B1, one of the most phenomenal 6th grade classrooms I had ever observed and that was 17 years ago in a small town just east of L.A. I will never forget that rich, white 22-year-old student teacher who taught this black seasoned educator a few things no college education graduate course could ever teach me. Hunter Mathis was so, so gifted and our principal gave him free reign because his out-of-thebox academic methodology worked. High attendance and test scores validated his success, and his students were always so cheerful when they came into his classroom every morning. If he noticed any behavior to the contrary, he had this special way to keep the student from being embarrassed while keeping from adding any more trauma than had probably already been experienced the night or morning before they walked into school. At least once a week, parents were scheduled to sit in on the beginning of their children’s class; no more than 30 minutes, at least for the ﬁrst quarter. Tavis Smiley’s ‘Empowerment Cards’ (50) or a powerful quote started each day. Many of Mr. Mathis’ former students went on to succeed

Brice From 3 operations, as well as growth and branding strategies. He oversees all areas of customer service, and is responsible for creating a positive diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace environment with an engaged team. In addition, he evaluates and recommends opportunities for process and technology improvements to advance

CRM From 3 School, Learning for Justice, Teaching for Change, and also teachers throughout this nation who want their students to better understand the history behind the economic and social disparities so evident in their communities ... and the ways every day Americans have long fought to make America live up to its ideals. But the ideas that these demagogues decry so stridently are not new. Civil rights advocates, civil libertarians— and courageous teachers—have been discussing these same ideas for generations. We know this because we still hold living memories of the words spoken by Septima Clark, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Ella Baker, John Lewis, James Forman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Harriette Moore, James Farmer, Vincent Harding, Howard Zinn, Bob Moses, and so many others. All forthrightly organized against the systemic, structural, and institutional racism that has shaped American history and crippled American lives for generations. To all the courageous teachers who won’t back down from teaching their students the truth, we stand with you. We know you risk much in this struggle—with threats to your jobs, safety, and your right to teach the truth—just as so many in generations past risked their lives and livelihoods in the long struggle for democracy. But ... together we will win, because we must. Future generations depend on our standing strong ... together! For further information:

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beyond anyone’s expectations coming from the backgrounds and the environments they did not choose to live. A middle school alternative school where children looked forward to coming to school. Their teacher had been nominated for a national teacher’s award because the parents wanted to thank him. Smiley was the ﬁrst African American to have had his own signature talk show in NPR’s history. In introducing his ‘Empowerment Cards’ in 2003, his intent was to provide inspiring messages that would promote positive change. “Everyone has the power in all their interactions to choose peace, joy, forgiveness, tolerance, and success and many other empowering attributes. The year 2020 was unprecedented and the loss of human lives in so many venues could never be measured. The

ﬁrst 6 months of 2021 has found gun violence among black youth and young adults diﬃcult to explain. The violent epidemic has not just ravaged The Twin Cities, but the horror, fear, and sadness spreads nationwide. In the coming weeks, I hope to present supportive information that will help parents and teachers, especially with children who have been so traumatized they can’t talk about it. They must talk to someone if they are to move forward. As our resident teen contributor to both “Insight News” and our Friday “Healing Circle”, Lillie Rankin, a sophomore at Irondale High School, shared, “Adults must go beyond the surface. Parents and all other child advocates have to bond; to let young children and teens know they understand, they can trust us, we can talk about whatever is on their minds and hearts, and there are peaceful and solution-

driven ways to resolve their issues and the hurts even they don’t understand. And so, I’d like to introduce a segment of ‘empowering’ our children and teachers by enhancing the positive ambiance of our classrooms.  Be consistently kind - Avoid the enticement to be mean or argue. Allow others to be right. As far as you’re concerned, be peaceful with everyone you encounter.  Destroy the doubt Eliminate the doubt that you can eﬀect change, that you will receive what you are due, and that justice will be done. Release the doubt and accept the challenge to change what you consider unacceptable.  Intensify your integrity - Be open, honest, and honorable in all your endeavors. Establish high standards, principles, and values for

yourself, then kick it up a level. In everything you do, be true to you.  Defy the fear - Fear brings on severe cases of ‘woulda, shoulda, coulda.’ Confront that feeling of emptiness and anxiety over possible rejection. Face the fear now and avoid the regret later.  Be conscious of the comeback - Know that everything you do comes back to you. Step outside yourself and consider the consequences before you make a move. If your action will bring peace to all involved, its’ the right thing to do.  Change your rhythm. Pick up the pace of your life. Add a new activity, make a new acquaintance, read a new book, or take a new course. Move outside your everyday mundane existence. Add a new beat and expand your boundaries.  Dot the D’s. You have

strategic goals for member and provider experience, organizational eﬃciency, and regulatory requirements. Brice has an International Business Management degree from Northwood University (Midland, Mich.). He will be relocating to Minneapolis from Chicago.

more than 550,000 members throughout Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin. UCare partners with health care providers, counties, and community organizations to create and deliver Medicare,

Medicaid and Individual & Family health plans. All UCare health plans have earned accreditation from the National Committee for

Quality

About UCare UCare is an independent, nonproﬁt health plan providing health care and administrative services to

Contact: The SNCC Legacy Project – Judy Richardson, Board Member Email address: info@ SNCCLegacyProject.org Contact: The Civil Rights Movement Archive – Bruce Hartford Email address: webspinner@crmvet.org

Assurance (NCQA). The health plan addresses health care disparities and care access issues through a broad array of community

the ability to attract into your life all your wants and needs by following the Five D’s. Decide what you want, determine to make it happen, diligently do everything in your power to achieve your goal, and detach yourself from the result.  Appreciate the obstacle. Each obstacle you overcome is a stepping-stone on your path to greatness. Appreciate the obstacle for it empowers you to courageously face future barriers in your quest for success.  Change your internal chit chat. Rehashing in your mind the negative events of your past leads to mental and physical dis-ease. Face forward and change your mind chatter. Only you have the power to control your thoughts that evoke love, laughter, and happiness.  Create can-do kids. Don’t impose your thoughts of lack and limitation on your children. When you think your children can, they will think they can. When you erase your own doubt in your child’s ability, your child will face each challenge with conﬁdence and a can-do attitude.  Explore your talents. Everyone is blessed with at least one unique talent. Take time now to discover, deﬁne, and develop your talent. Don’t go to your grave with your untapped talent buried inside you. At the end of the day, Hunter Mathis shook each student’s hand, and reminded them they must have a good reading book with them every day. On the board, there would always be the same message. “Waste no time in your day. Stay enlightened, encouraged, and empowered!”

initiatives. UCare has received Top Workplaces honors from the Star Tribune for 12 consecutive years since the rankings began in 2010.

Page 6 • July 12, 2021 - July 18, 2021 • Insight News

Insight 2 Health

insightnews.com

Building trust in the science of vaccines (NewsUSA) During the pandemic, Geraldine Bradshaw, a school principal in Durham, North Carolina, volunteered for a clinical trial that tested one of the COVID-19 vaccines. She says her students inspired her to do so and she in turn wanted to inspire African Americans like herself. “It gave me the power to help pave a way for these children to have a better future,” Bradshaw says, “and show them how important it is that people who look like them aid in the progression of science.” Now, Bradshaw can see how her participation paid off, as half of adults are fully vaccinated. “Science is part of the solution to ending this pandemic,” says Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. And at every step on the pathway to scientific discovery, safety leads the way. Safety always guides the scientific pathway toward vaccines and treatments. Safety steers scientific leaders like Gibbons, who review and fund research. Safety, and science also inform recruitment of volunteers like Bradshaw, who partners with researchers and participate in clinical trials, frames the rigorous and continuous oversight of studies, determines regulatory approval, guides engagement efforts in communities, and

directs doctors and nurses who bring these discoveries to patients. Yet myths and misleading information have generated questions, confusion, and mistrust. This has spurred an eﬀort for many communities, especially those hit hardest by COVID-19, to talk about why they should trust the science behind new vaccines and treatments. “It is my passion to communicate the safety and eﬃcacy of these vaccines, and how they work, to people in the community,” says Ian Moore, Ph.D., a chief of infectious disease pathology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious

Diseases, also part of the NIH, who oversaw safety at the earliest stages of vaccine research in the lab. Moore’s in good company. “I can say with the utmost confidence that this vaccine is safe and effective,” says Lisa A. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of medicine and public health at Johns Hopkins University, who reviewed and monitored Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine trial, which proved safe and 94% effective at preventing severe illness. “My role allows me to ease any concerns raised by family and friends and make sure they continue to trust the science.” And for many others

on the scientiﬁc pathway, it’s personal. “Part of my role as an infectious disease physician is developing certain clinical protocols,” says Katya Corado, M.D., a researcher at the Lundquist Institute. “I am able to conﬁdently provide details to our communities which have been devastated by COVID. I no longer want to see my parents, my grandparents, or my cousins dying of COVID.” This type of outreach only seems to help. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in February, nearly 70% of all adults and 61% of Black adults planned to get

vaccinated compared to 60% of all adults and 42% of Black adults polled in November. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among the more than 123 million adults who were fully vaccinated in May, approximately 1,949, less than .001%, reported severe COVID-19 illness. As a trusted messenger within his community, Olveen Carrasquillo, M.D., M.P.H., a chief of general internal medicine at the University of Miami, shares this type of news through communityengaged outreach. “As a Latino physician, with more than 20 years of experience, it is very important to

me that our hardest-hit communities receive the care and education they need and deserve,” he says. “To ensure my community survives COVID-19, I educate my patients, family, and friends on the science surrounding COVID-19 and vaccine development.” And Chyke Doubeni, M.D., a family physician at the Mayo Clinic and a vaccine trial participant, shares, “I now tell everybody with conﬁdence, that getting the vaccine is safe. I know, because I was involved.” To learn more about COVID-19 science and resources in your community, visit https:// covid19community.nih.gov.

insightnews.com

Insight News • July 12, 2021 - July 18, 2021 • Page 7

Susannah Baudhuin, Como Friends.

Como zoo welcomes baby Kudu Como Zoo has welcomed a female lesser kudu calf, born overnight on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. The birth is the result of a recommendation from the Lesser Kudu Species Survival Plan (SSP), coordinated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). SSPs provide breeding recommendations to maximize genetic diversity, with the goal of ensuring the long-term survival of the AZA

population and the health of individual animals. Como Zoo is an accredited institution of the AZA. The calf was born to five-year-old Fjorda and sired by seven-year-old Bond. She is the third offspring for Fjorda. “The calf was standing and nursing when the Zookeepers arrived in the morning. She has long legs, big ears, and is fiercely cute,” said Andrew Nerness, Senior

Como Friends’ July 15th Sunset Aﬀair Gala. Lesser kudu are one of the more striking species of antelope. Lesser kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis australis) are one of eight species of African spiral-horned antelope. This species has a white stripe running down its back with 11 to 14 stripes coming oﬀ it and down the animal’s side. Large ears allow for enhanced listening

Zookeeper. “Fjorda is taking great care of her and has already proven to be a great mom.” The calf stands about three-feettall and weighs in at about 14 pounds. The baby calf is currently oﬀ exhibit while she bonds with Fjorda. She is expected to make her public debut in the next few weeks. Naming rights to the calf will be incorporated into

Make your holiday twice as nice 612.377.2224 / guthrietheater.org

A tenderhearted favorite

Steel Magnolias Now – Dec 15

by ROBERT HARLING directed by LISA ROTHE

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