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Insight News

June 7, 2021 - June 13, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 23• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

TULSA MASSACRE: WHITE MOBS BOMB BLACK AMERICA

STORIES ON TULSA GO TO PAGE

Page 2 • June 7, 2021 - June 13, 2021 • Insight News

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Insight News • June 7, 2021 - June 13, 2021 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE

Insight News June 7, 2021 - June 13, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 23• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Don’t complain, activate!

Call it what it is By Brenda Lyle-Gray Columnist

Kim Smith-Moore

Jason Peterson

Investing in reducing equity disparity By Al McFarlane Editor Minnesota ranks high in a lot of areas. Education, health, and homeownership are examples. But access to these things hasn’t been equitable. Homeownership rates, for example, among people of color in Minneapolis and St. Paul show a glaring racial equity gap: the highest homeownership disparity in the entire U.S. For Black households, homeownership rates are about half the state average. Access to down payment funding and information are cited as barriers to homeownership. Says Kim SmithMoore, “Now is the time to change that.” NeighborWorks

Home Partners and Wells Fargo are presenting the NeighborhoodLIFT program to help remove some of the barriers for homebuyers in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Born and raised on the Northside of Minneapolis, Smith-Moore is a Wells Fargo Senior Vice President and LIFT Programs National Manager. She runs the Wells Fargo Foundation Housing Aﬀordability Philanthropy initiative. She leads the foundation’s homeownership strategy and identiﬁes opportunities to increase homeownership in BIPOC (Black, Ingenious People of Color) communities across the country. Smith-Moore said Wells Fargo, with the intent to reduce the racial equity gap, is bringing the NeighborhoodLIFT

program to the Twin Cities for the third time in a decade oﬀering $15,000 grants to help low-tomoderate income homebuyers with down payment costs to buy a home. The NeighborhoodLIFT program provides down payment assistance for people to purchase homes and prepares them for the home buying process. Smith-Moore manages over $500 million in grants through the LIFT programs. Locally, the $7 million “Neighborhood Lift” program is expected to help 425 families buy a home within the city limits of St. Paul or Minneapolis. To qualify, households can earn no more than 80 percent of area median income, which is $77,840 for a family of four. NeighborhoodLIFT prospective homebuyers get coaching on the homeownership

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

process in a required a certiﬁed homebuying workshop through NeighborWorks Home Partners or another nonproﬁt. The homebuying counseling is available at no charge to participants. NeighborWorks CEO Jason Peterson, a native of Saint Paul, joined SmithMoore in the recent interview on Conversations with Al McFarlane on KFAI. Peterson has been at NeighborWorks for ten years and has seen the organization grow from being mostly focused on a few neighborhoods in Saint Paul to now serving the whole metro. For the past 20 years, his work has revolved around making sure people have a place to live. “Safe and stable housing is one of the cornerstones from which all else grows,” Peterson said.

I am ignorant of absolute truth. But I am humble before my ignorance and therein lies my honor and my reward. Kahlil Gibran “If there was ever a clearly focused example of white supremacy and white privilege at its purest, it was the police response to the U.S. Capitol riots in comparison to their response to protests led by ‘Black Lives Matter’ declared Leslie E. Redmond, 28-year-old former president of the Minneapolis branch of the NAACP and founder of ‘Don’t Complain, Activate’” When asked recently by the host of “Conversations with Al McFarlane” to reﬂect upon the last year (2020), Redmond describes the opening of the country and the Chauvin verdict victory as a New Year. “Last year at this time, the world shifted. People were inside their homes locked down, but George Floyd’s televised execution opened the world back up. It deﬁnitely wasn’t in a way people expected when the Minnesota and the world seemed forced to watch. People also had to put on glasses and look in a mirror seeing, without a doubt, what Black folks have been experiencing in Minnesota and around the world for far too long. The knee and the late George Floyd’s neck are symbolic of the knee that has been and is still on most Black folks’ necks, especially in Minnesota which has some of the worst racial disparities in all aspects of our livelihood.”

Leslie E. Redmond “We want a police force that respects the residents in our communities,” she said. “We will no longer accept overseeing, over policing, and brutalizing neighborhood residents. No traﬃc stop should end as a death sentence. I believe Chief Arredondo is one of the best. He’s done everything he said he was going to do and he needs our support. Communities of color and families have to do their part, as well; be responsible for our own choices; our own households; our own bodies; while keeping institutions of government accountable.” There is a fear that the summer might be a tough one nationwide considering the dangerous surge of youth and gang violence. Don’t Complain. Activate is creating the ﬁrst woman-owned, mobile educational, healing and resource center. It has raised about half of the needed funds for operation. The center will engage community residents, especially youth, by providing wrap around services and resources; educate

CONVERSATIONS 4

HallieQBrown.org

American-Made Black Race Pogrom

White erasure of Black Tulsa Culture and Education Editor

By Irma McClaurin, PhD Editor’s Note: A version of this column was previously published in Medium on July 11, 2020.

Lest America forgets its history of violence against #ADOS —Native-born Black descendants of enslaved Africans, this article is a reminder about the legacy of violence that America has bestowed upon those of us who are descended from enslaved people of the United States My ancestors’ labor and rice and other agricultural technologies (as well as our development of “American art, cuisine and music) built this capitalistic empire that white America now claims is theirs alone. Our Black (and mixed-raced — due to rape) bodies were the commodities sold to increase white wealth and build and sustain white academic institutions with proﬁts earned from the human traﬃcking of Black bodies in America. Nowhere else in the “civilized” world did any other colonial power make the reproduction of human life a commodity. This is America’s greatest sin and tragedy. It is also the greatest barrier to change and forward progress.

Native-born Black Americans are considered the lowest of the low. We are passed over for virtually everything. There is a trending preference in America today for Blacks with roots in other countries. The stories of Black American sheroes, heroes & artists are being performed by non-Native Blacks. And while they are stellar, and admit they cultivated their Black American accents by watching Black actors, it is difficult to believe that there was not one Native-born Black American actor to be found for these roles. With all due respect, it feels as if everyone is pimping and profiting from the Black American experience except us. My goal is not to debate authenticity, but to point out that America has a predilection for choosing anyone but their Native Black daughters and sons. So what is to be done? 1. America as a nation must acknowledge its crime against Black Americans. 2. America as a nation must officially apologize to the descendants of enslaves Africans in the United States. This country issued an apology for Japanese internment, but has never apologized to Nativeborn Black Americana for enslavement. 3. American must pay Reparations and enact and enforce legal remedies to the persistent and sustained injustices endured by Black Americans. And these Reparations benefits can go ONLY to those

Left: Image of the Greenwood district aflame, with the derogatory designation “Little Africa”. Right: Tulsa’s black population was rounded up and taken to detention centers at the Convention Hall, McNulty Park, and later the fairgrounds which left Greenwood open to be looted and destroyed.

100 years later

Tulsa and the history of America By Jonathan Palmer CEO Hallie Q. Brown

Irma McClaurin, PhD

Ruins after the race riots, Tulsa, Okla. June, 1921, Library of Congress who are the Black American descendants of African people who were enslaved in the United States and who identify over time as ”Black.” Not “mixed” or “biracial,” but BLACK! This quest for Reparations is our unique struggle for rights as true American citizens. Our demand for Reparations is NOT a time for inclusion and lumping the Black immigrant and other immigrant “People of Color” experiences together with those of Black Americans. Our demand is based upon generational experiences of oppression, which are historic and span centuries and whose claim of injury and generational trauma is made to the United States of America government. The immigrant experience and the Native-born

News

The anguish of unmasking

PAGE 5

Black American experiences are different (though sometimes you may be treated like one of us), with histories that originate elsewhere, and they must be respected as such. Black Economist, Dr. William (Sandy) Darity of Duke University eloquently reminded us, in a 2020 CNN interview of earlier this year, of the multitudes of justification for why amends must be made and the historical debt paid, and with a check that is not marked “insufficent funds,” as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once described it. “The case for Reparations is not predicated exclusively on slavery. It is critical that we take into account in our calibrations the long-term

TULSA 4

It has been 100 years and we are only now, as a country, beginning to learn the truth of one of the most horriﬁc events of racial violence in America’s history, the Tulsa Massacre. On May 30, 1921, a 19 year-old Black shoe shiner, took a break from his stand inside a local pool hall to use the restroom. He walked from the hall to the Drexel Building which housed the only “Colored” public restroom in the segregated city of Tulsa. He tripped as he entered the open wire-caged elevator operated by Sarah Page, a 17 year-old White person, and instinctively grabbed for anything to catch himself, which happened to be Ms. Page’s arm (in some accounts he stepped on her foot). Ms. Page was startled and screamed. When the elevator opened, Mr. Rowland ran out and a clerk in a department store in the building called the police. But it was the store clerk, not Ms. Page, who assumed that Mr. Rowland tried to assault her and reported this to the police. Ms. Page refused to press charges against Mr. Rowland, and there are some sources that say they knew each other and were even involved. The clerk’s false

claim, plus an inflammatory article, “Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in Elevator”, and an editorial in the Tulsa Tribune are what set things in motion. The editorial, “To Lynch Negro Tonight” according to witnesses, appeared in the city version of the same edition and reported on plans of White residents to lynch Rowland that night. However, all copies of this edition have either gone missing or have the editorial section torn out. What followed is as unprecedented as it is unknown. A half hour after the Tribune hit the streets, talk of lynching circulated the White community. Three hours after, a lynch mob of hundreds of White men headed to the courthouse where Rowland was being held. They were met by 25 Black armed WWI veterans who set up at the courthouse to protect Rowland. A group of an additional 75 veterans soon joined them, which enraged the White mob. A shot was fired, and that is when “all hell broke loose,” resulting in a firefight that left ten White men and two Black men dead, which then exploded into throngs of White men moving through the Greenwood district, setting fire to every building, shooting everyone, pillaging businesses. It was the first time

100 YEARS 5

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4 things to ask your doctor about online healthcare

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Project to include bank branch, affordable housing

Nicollet-Lake rebirth: Wells Fargo, Project for Pride in Living announce redevelopment at 3030 Nicollet Wells Fargo and Project for Pride in Living (PPL) last week announced a redevelopment agreement for the Wells Fargo bank at 3030 Nicollet Avenue. PPL and the Cultural Wellness Center, a community development organization, will conduct an extensive community process in 2021 to inform future uses and the overall development project. The process will include online meetings in Through July, 2021, as well as other outreach strategies. The Cultural Wellness Center wil play a role as a codeveloper with PPL, supported by Wells Fargo, in creating a transformative pre-development engagement process.

Tulsa From 3 eﬀects of the Jim Crow period [which lasted almost 100 years after slavery] and I also indicated there are ongoing damages to be considered. And I would highlight among these again the mass incarceration, police killings of unarmed Blacks and the immense magnitude of the racial wealth gap” (Sandy Darity) 3. Reconciliation, along the lines of what took place in South Africa postApartheid, is a starting point for healing this nation. Why? Because people are stuck in either “it wasn’t me or I am an immigrant” mindset, even as they enjoy and walk with historic white privilege and entitlements. Another perspective held by many (whites and even some immigrants kf color) is “just get over it; slavery is in the past and Black people need to move on, and do some kumbaya.” What these “goodintentioned” folk failed to recognize is that racial trauma is

Conversations From 3 by providing knowledge and academic resources in cultural history and literacy; and elevate with knowledge and resources for families and the entire community. For further information, go to: www. leslieredmond.com Yusef Mgeni and Al McFarlane have been close friends and media comrades since both were in their mid-20s. “In 1970, we formed the Twin Cities

civil unrest in May 2020. Last fall, Wells Fargo issued a request for proposals from developers to reimagine the site to take full advantage of its proximity to transit and its place along the Nicollet Avenue corridor, which will be reopened in the coming years with the development of the former Kmart location. After

Wells Fargo customers safely retrieved the contents of their safe deposit boxes, demolition of the Wells Fargo building was completed in mid-March, 2021. “The destruction of our bank building was traumatic for our team and for so many in this South Minneapolis neighborhood,” said Laurie Nordquist, Central Lead Region President for Wells Fargo. “As we thought about transforming the 3030 site, we looked for a development partner that shared our desire to work with the surrounding community to ultimately inform how the site can better serve the neighborhood. PPL and the team they assembled brought

the creativity in thinking and commitment to this process that will allow Wells Fargo to continue serving the banking needs of our customers while also putting the site to more uses that directly benefit our neighbors.” The redevelopment is anticipated to occur in phases. The first phase will feature a new LEED-certified Wells Fargo branch as well as around 100 units of housing over first floor commercial and community space. The overall site will include at least 200 units of housing, the majority of which will be affordable. The affordable housing will meet Green Communities standards.

The overall development seeks to meet a goal of 35% of construction workforce hours going to people who identify as BIPOC and women. PPL has hired Design by Melo to lead the architectural design work. Community Meetings will be held on the following Thursday evenings: July 17, July 8, July 22, August 5. PPL will refine plans for the site in fall 2021 based on the community feedback. Construction for the first phase is anticipated to begin in 2022 with the first building opening a year later in 2023.

difficult to heal from or breathe through with a constant foot on your neck. The image of a huge, Black man, laying on the ground, with a white policeman’s foot on his neck, begging and pleading for air, as his oppressor presses his foot casually, but with deliberate sustained pressure, and with his hands in his pocket as if he were on a casual coffee break, and a look of utter disregard for the pleas of suffering in his ears. should be burned into EVERY American’s minds eye. And rest assured that as you close your eyes and visualize that image, what you may feel for a brief moment is the pressure of fear and utter disbelief that Black people experience (emotionally. symbolically, and structurally) every day and in every aspect of our lives: while working, while shopping, while driving, while eating out, while bird watching in a park, while making a purchase in a store, while jogging, and while trying to breathe with a foot on our collective necks. The fact thar some of us have acquired some level of status, prestige, amd privilege cannot be used to dismiss our

claim for Reparations. Because what happened to George Floyd and both Breonna Taylor and Atatiana Jeﬀerson, shot in their homes by police for #livingwhileblack, can happen to any of us — anytime, any place, any day. As Black Americans we live with the very real knowledge that regardless of our wealth or education status, we can leave our homes and be killed with such reckless and inhumane disregard by white policemen or white vigilantes…because there have been no reparations, no acknowledgement of the harm done, no apology, and no reconciliation. Learn more about why Reparations is the only reasonable path forward. Read the book. If there are to be no more Tulsa Racial Pogroms, which were nothing more than a display of white supremacist power, and no more #MinneapolisBurning and the outpouring of black rage (and white empathy) over the #deathbypolice of George Floyd and others, which spread around the world, then America must take bold steps to apologize, correct its past and present, and

use a clear, unambiguous, moral compass when engaging with Black America,to chart a path forward. Right Now! The conversation about progress is ours alone and cannot be hijacked by “what about…x?” diversions and Agatha Christy-like “red herrings.” We will not be diverted, diluted, or dismissed. We appreciate all the support and solidarity, but we can and must speak for ourselves. So a gauntlet to the media: you want to know what Native-born Black Americans think? Ask us! Not the white antiracist, not the immigrant Blacks, not the “People of Color” authorities on the “Black issues in America.” Ask us, who are the daughters and sons whose ancestors plowed the ﬁelds, nursed the Masters’ babies, developed the cuisine of the south, brought America the banjo, invented the spirituals, blues, jazz, rock & roll, soul music, gospel, doo-wop, built plantation homes, forged iron nails and iron gates, risked punishment to learn to read and write, were raped and produced America’s rainbow of people.

“My mother called Pearl was born in red clay country of Alabama.” (Pearl’s Song) We are the people whose blood ﬂowed from being whipped, who rebelled and fought for our freedom, who sometimes stayed in slavery, so others could be free, and proved ourselves innovators and business people like in Tulsa until your white envy and jealousy that a people you treated so badly could rise from our brutal and inhumane shackles to climb above some of those who once enslaved us. There is still jealousy that we continue to rise and climb, even with your foot on our necks, if not individually, then legally and structurally. We are living proof that the Native-born Black American’s desire for unfettered freedom and liberation continues to burn bright — ”this little light of mine” — it shines. I am certain our ancestors with no last name of their own, just those of the people who owned them, or the names taken after they reached freedom, like Tubman, Douglass, Jacobs, Truth, are smiling down on us. They know we will

achieve true freedom — we are the descendants of the enslaved African pleople who could ﬂy. Watch us SOAR! (c) 2021 Irma McClaurin. All Rights Reserved Irma McClaurin, PhD/ MFA (http://irmamcclaurin. com/) is the Culture and Education Editor for Insight News and was named “Best in the Nation Columnist” by the Black Press of America in 2015. She is also an award-winning poet, activist anthropologist, DEIA and Community Engagement Specialist, and previous leadership positions include President of Shaw University, Program Oﬃcer at the Ford Foundation, and former University of Minnesota Associate VP and founding executive director of UROC. She is the founder of the “Irma McClaurin Black Feminist Archive” at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has a forthcoming collection of her columns: JUSTSPEAK: Reflections on Race, Culture, and Politics in America. Contact: http://info@ irmamcclaurin.com / https:// twitter.com/mcclaurintweets.

Black Communications Group, recalled Mgeni. We agreed if we couldn’t see positive images of Black people, then we needed to be those positive images. Then Al got a contract from the Minneapolis Housing and Redevelopment Authority that enabled him to launch Insight Magazine as “Insight News”. I was involved in the start of ‘Radio for Black People’ at KUXL AM 1590, ‘Harambe’ on Channel 11, the Pan African Network. I was writing editorials for all six Black newspapers in the Twin Cities. We were all over the map!” Mgeni recalled a conference entitled, ‘Where

there is no vision, the people will perish’ that was held at Macalester College where Gary Hines was a student and football player while launching the phenomenal “Sounds of Blackness”. Hines and the Grammy winning musical group will celebrate their 50th Anniversary this year with the release of a new album including classics and new pieces appropriate for the current movement into transformation. At the time of the conference, Mgeni said, there was ‘a crisis in Black leadership and the heads of all the Black service organizations in the Twin Cities came together along with youth

leaders. He suggested perhaps a gathering today of similar participants could be another step in curbing the violence keeping residents in their homes once more due to a different kind of fear. Our children must believe they are not alone, and that we will overcome and move forward being better human beings. There were quite a few profound truths offered by the two:  We have been planting seeds in our communities for almost 50 years. Some have bloomed sooner than others. We need to have a flower market now. Our babies are dying. We continue to do God’s work.  The internet and

the availability of quality educational programming that is challenging, relevant, engaging, and enjoyable aﬀords parents and tutors the opportunity to enhance a child’s academics and aids in the building of character and conﬁdence.  Hip Hop music elevates the message of a “truth that white America refuses to acknowledge: that we are capable accomplishing whatever we choose to do.” (I thought immediately of the late Tupac and “The Rose That Grew from Concrete”. There is a willfulness in hip-hop and reggae embedded in revolutionary and change messaging of artists such as EarthKry; Rion; Sounds of Blackness; Ipso Facto; and Little Baby, who declares that this is

The process features parallel pathways of human capital investments and built environment investments that support the community as cocreator desired measurable outcomes that reflect the community’s aspirations for culturally-based solutions to real-world problems. The project, which will be completed in phases, will include a bank branch, affordable housing units, commercial space and other uses informed by a community engagement process that will kick off in May. The 3030 Nicollet Avenue site previously included a Wells Fargo bank branch and office building damaged during

Laurie Nordquist

Let’s Work Together for a Better Highway 252/I-94 Join the online conversation! Join one of the City-Speciﬁc Community Conversations

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

INSIGHT NEWS www.insightnews.com

Mayor Don Fraser.

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

Focus area - North Minneapolis: Tuesday, June 15th from 5pm-7pm

Access the virtual open house:

Focus area - Brooklyn Center: Thursday, June 17th from 5pm-7pm Focus area - Brooklyn Park: Tuesday, June 22nd from 5pm-7pm

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

For more information Visit the project website at

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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., MN 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,

bigger than Black and white!  The ideology of white supremacy has been an attack on humanity for four hundred years. There were no slaves in Africa. The ﬁrst group of captives were brought to the shores of America on a Dutch ship called the ‘Good Ship Jesus’ and then they were enslaved.  No place on earth has a people survived this kind of continued oppression and come out whole as American Blacks. We need to recognize that fact!  Recommended reading: Essay/PBS movie: James Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket’; Isabel Wilkerson, Caste; and Democracy in Chains: The Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America by Nancy MacLean. This last book describes what is happening politically in America today and what created Donald Trump. Warns Mgeni, “40 states have already passed voter suppression legislation directly impacting people of color and their right to vote. It’s all happening right before our very eyes without us having the opportunity to say a word. Texas got tripped up at the midnight hour.”  “Let’s re-visit former mayor’s Don Fraser’s idea of getting corporations to hire a youth employee from the North side for every 100 employees. WEhen Fraser was mayor, leadership companies were on board if the mayor would lead by doing the same thing at the city level. The city council rejected the idea. We have the leadership in North Minneapolis and the city. The momentum and capacity to do something like this exists now, Mgeni said.  Regarding the Derek Chauvin verdict, Mgeni said “One conviction does not deﬁne justice.

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Insight News • June 7, 2021 - June 13, 2021 • Page 5

The anguish of unmasking Afrodescendientes

By Carmen Robles Unmasking has been pretty traumatic for me. The wearing of masks was a call to action for public health, public safety. Becoming a symbol of solidarity for the health of others. A personal perk for me was that it also eliminated the need for makeup, lipstick and the shaving of my mustache. The mask tucked in my triple chins nicely, giving my proﬁle an instant lift. Best of all, hiding my chin hairs. I was enjoying life behind the mask. Becoming a mask fashionista, in the name of encouraging the wearing of masks. But once the restrictions were lifted, and my mask came oﬀ, it revealed

the image of a vieja (old lady) staring back at me from the mirror. The reality of the slow deterioration of my skin, taking place under the mask, hit me hard. My face and neck were a canvas of cracks, spots, discoloration, skin tags. I’d already endured the harsh eﬀects of breast cancer treatment, chemotherapy, radiation, medication causing my face to swell up my eyes to sink into their sockets and to lose every hair follicle on my body. When my hair grew out, it sprouted like an uncontrollable crop of weeds, all over my face. Mostly on my upper lip, sides of my mouth, my chin and neck chins. I’d pull one hair and a new crop would show up in its place. Hair, hair coming out from everywhere … on my face, chins, ears…aye! My plucking and pulling of those facial hairs only made things worse. My skin began creating crust-like pimples around the hair follicles,

focus on the health of my skin as I enter into this post pandemic new world. I repurposed my savings into an investment plan for the health of my skin care and headed to the oﬃces of Enhance MD Body & Skin Clinic (formerly Andros Med Spa.) https://enhancemdbodyskin. com/ I walked straight into the arms of Dr. Inell Rosario MD, an Otorhinolaryngologist (ow-toe-lah-ruhn-goh-lohjest) or specialist in disorders of the ears, nose, throat and cosmetics. Dr. Inell is a St. Paul Minneapolis Magazine Top Doctor and Best Doctor for Women, with over 23 years of experience in the medical ﬁeld. Surrendering to Dr. Inell and her trained team of medical estheticians to guide me through my rejuvenation journey, trusting the connection of the external me with the internal me will reveal not a vieja in the mirror … but the warrior I am. More to follow…

a habit that intensified during a time when we were encouraged NOT to touch our faces!! When the mask mandates began, I barely paid attention to the morphosis taking place behind ‘the curtain’(mask.) Soap, water and a bit of Vicks was my beauty regiment. When the mask came off, I was left with the harsh reality that the vieja staring back at me from the mirror was in fact, me. Home remedies, scrolling through Google, trips to the stores, eyeing the aisles through a sea of products for a solution, only added more wrinkles to my face. The stress magnifying itself through discoloration spots, dark circles under, around and above my eyes. My jowls meeting my triple chins was the last straw. Causing me to re-evaluate my priorities. When it comes to inanimate objects, I’m on top of things. Quick to save for that special something, something I want. It seemed only fitting I

Dr. Inell Rosario, MD Enhance MD Body and Skin Clinic (formerly Andros Med Spa.)

The healing circle:

Honoring our brothers and sisters who served our country By Brenda Lyle-Gray Columnist I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes. But I laugh. And eat well. And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes. Nobody’ll dare say to me, eat in the kitchen then. Besides, they’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed. I, too, am America. By Harlem Renaissance poet, Langston Hughes It was when a childhood friend reminded me that journalist, Bill Whittaker of ’60 Minutes’ fame used to sit with his parents in the middle of a much longer set of pews and a little to the left when we all attended Metropolitan Baptist Temple in Kansas City, Kansas. Yep, I wanted to use any contact I could to get in touch with him. ’60 Minutes’ really needed to air Ray Robinson’s story. At the time my editor introduced me to this amazing war hero in his interview on “Conversations with Al McFarlane”, Robinson was having another birthday. “In a moving tribute, the Minnesota Vikings honors soon-to-be 100-year-old World War II veteran, Ray Robinson prior to a primetime home game at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Monday night (Dec. 23rd) game against the Green Bay Packers brought more than 66,000 fans to the stadium. Many became visibly emotional when a half-time ceremony video of Robinson played detailing his life and service as a member of the famed Buffalo Soldiers and earning three bronze medals for valor. He was flanked by active-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces.” (Insight News) When I first wrote about this hometown hero maybe 6 or 7 months ago, he told the story about how he had boarded a bus after returning home from the warfront and proudly donning his army uniform brandishing an impressive ensemble of hardearned medals. He sat in the closest seat he could find. When a white man got on the bus right

100 Years From 3 that bombs were dropped on American soil as the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) dropped them from the air. As many as 300 Black residents were killed, 35 square blocks were burned to the ground, 10,000 people were left homeless, 191 businesses were destroyed, and the equivalent in today’s dollars of approximately $32M in personal and business damages were done. This was a truly major event in American history. And yet an overwhelming number of people in our country learned about this tragedy not from history books or classes, but rather the opening scene of HBO’s acclaimed superhero drama, Watchmen last year. This scene was so intense and so incredible that the internet blew up with people searching for information and asking the question, was it real. Stop and consider that for a moment. That one of the most signiﬁcant events of this country has been so buried and minimized, that a fantasy television show did more to enlighten this country in 4 minutes than history text books over the past 4 decades. Were this only the sin of omission that people refer to it as, you could simply incorporate

Marcus Bentley

Dr. Vincent “Peter” Hayden

Douglas Garrett

Lillie Rankin

after him, Robinson was told by the bus driver he would have to give up his seat. My father was stationed in Tampa, Florida and suffered similar treatment as a Black soldier. Willing and eager, as a sense of duty, to give their lives for the protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, like Robinson fought for freedoms which had seldom been enjoyed by Black Americans. A recent “Healing Circle” segment of “Conversations with Al McFarlane”, co-hosted by Dr. BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, founder and CEO of the African American Child Wellness Institute (AACWI), paid tribute to veterans who endured the white racism while aboard ships in the middle of an ocean or while facing the enemy on the battlefield. And when they came home, like Ray Robinson, Peter Hayden, and Douglas Garrett, there were no parades, no welcome mats at area restaurants or movie theaters; no press coverage, and few thank you’s for serving to preserve the freedoms of democracy not extended to ‘colored folks’. Zoey Severson, a member of the dedicated and highly qualified mental health clinicians’ team at AACWI, recalls the story when her husband enlisted in the army at 17. He had little interest in formalized academics but did quite well as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, an infantry branch specializing in parachute assault operations. Today, he is a disabled veteran who didn’t realize his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

(PTSD) was as serious as it was. She said veterans received little support when they really needed guidance in filtering through mounds of paperwork, and obtaining the resources that should be available to them. After a close friend died, Zoey’s partner started having flashbacks, and they knew they would have to really fight to get the help he needed. Severson said other veterans need to know they are not alone. There is help. “I come from a proud, military family,” says Marcus Bentley, father, educator, and founder and CEO of L A.V.A. (Learning Abilities for Victory and Achievement). Bentley works and resides in Akron, Ohio. “So, there was a great uncle, my father, several uncles, and a sister who is a Major. Black women carry a double load as a military professional and as a Black mother. She has served for 20 years and is stationed in the Middle East. And now, I’m torn because my son is considering signing up,” Bently said. Dr. Vincent “Peter” Hayden, founder and President of The Turning Point, Inc. agrees that when he went into the service as a boy, without a doubt, he returned as a man. That happens for a lot of young soldiers, especially Blacks. “A lot of things changed for me, some of which were because of who I am, but more importantly of whose I am.” Hayden pointed out other advantages of military service. “There were pretty good benefits. Because of the GI Bill, I have purchased three houses,

earned a masters and a Ph.D., and built an organization that has saved lives.” Dr. Hayden said he would tell young people hold on to their own truth by acknowledging shoulders of brave ancestors on which they stood. Douglas Garrett, the brother of Dr. Brvada Akinsanya, is a retired army veteran of 24 years, commissioned in 1978 as a ﬁeld artillery oﬃcer. He said

Black soldiers could deal with racism because ‘you just knew it was there’. “You have to be really sure of who you are when you enlist,” he said. Garrett is also a disabled veteran with 70% of his diagnosis being that of PTSD. He has tried to get to 100% medical recognition for years, but the system has done everything possible to keep him from collecting the full amount

it in lessons and highlight the necessary change. But unfortunately, it is a much more purposeful act of revisionism and suppression done intentionally to both marginalize the Black community and avoid culpability for the actions of the Tulsa Massacre. It lays precedent for other incidents and instances. While they may have reveled in the fervor of the destruction, the Chamber of Commerce, elected officials and Sheriff very quickly realized how much of a public relations issue this was...not how horrific an act it was, but how much it would affect the city’s reputation and the impact on being considered a cosmopolitan city and the oil capitol in the US. Actions took place rather quickly, the editorial page being ripped out before the Tribune could be transferred to microfiche, the Police Chief sending officers to White photography studios to collect photos and negatives or images of the riot (they were being used to create postcards among other things), and articles report on this incident as a “riot” by the Black residents. The city and state promptly buried it, literally. In October 2020, the first mass grave was uncovered, and is set to begin examination. In addition, in 2001, the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 released its final report, revealing that the

city had conspired with the White mob and recommended reparations, among other things. In 2010, a park to commemorate the victims opened and in 2020, the massacre was added to the Oklahoma school curriculum. It took 99 years to add one of the most signiﬁcant historical events in their state to their curriculum! This is more than a sin of omission: it is the absence of knowledge that places our Black and brown communities out of context in our country. The myths and the stereotypes that have fostered racial hatred and violence could largely be avoided if we had an accurate reﬂection of our country’s history and culpability. Black people have been stereotyped as lazy and freeloading...ever since Slavery ended and we stopped “working for free.” We have been told to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and if we don’t like our neighborhood, to move, ignoring the impact that redlining has had on opportunity for homeownership and generating wealth -especially when you consider between 1934 and 1962, when the federal government issued $120B in resources for home ownership and less than 2% went to non-Whites. We have been characterized as criminals because we are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.

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By LaurenofPoteat Courtesy University of Alejandra Oliveras By Dr. By North Brandpoint Dr. Nicole Rekha Memorial Winbush Mankad (BPT) Staff Ian Roth NNPA Minnesota Washington News Staff Afrodescendientes Mayo Clinic Correspondent By IanPhysician Roth Staff NorthPoint Health & Mayo Clinic Staff Wellness Center

due. Like Hayden, Garrett’s message to the next generation of enlistees is, “Remember that you are of value. Quitting should never be a consideration if you can avoid it. That was always one my family’s mantras and continues as such.” Lillie Rankin, a sophomore at Irondale High School, an intern for “Insight News”, participates in the Healing Circle each week. Those of us who are chocolate baby boomers can remember the ROTC classes in our schools, and the Armed Forces’ recruiting oﬃces in our neighborhoods. Representatives would often come and talk to our civics classes. But, “I really don’t think about it much,” Rankin said. “There is some talk about military service from time to time with 18 year olds, but fortunately, more work opportunities are opening for our generation,

Page 6 • June 7, 2021 - June 13, 2021 • Insight News

Insight 2 Health

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4 things to ask your doctor about online healthcare Brandpoint (BPT) (BPT) - The COVID-19 pandemic changed how people think about healthcare. Interacting with your doctor has never been more critical, but now some or all of those interactions might occur online. The ability to make appointments online and see your physician without leaving home has beneﬁts. In fact, Chilmark Research estimates that by 2025, 15 to 25% of all primary care visits will be conducted virtually in the United States. As telehealth use

grows and patients have come to expect more online services from their doctors, it’s important to ask your doctor about available tools to help you stay connected and save time. Explore the new age of care One company leading the evolution in patient engagement technologies is NextGen Healthcare. The NextGen Patient Experience Platform can save time for healthcare teams and boost convenience for patients. To ensure you get the best online healthcare access, experts from the company

suggest you ask your doctor about: Online patient access: How does their patient portal work, and what features does it offer? Can you easily send a message to your doctor, request a prescription refill, access your personal health records and view lab results online? Online appointments: Can you schedule your own appointments online? Can you view your appointment history and modify existing appointments? Virtual visits: Do they offer virtual video visits

(aka telehealth) for situations that don’t require an in-person office visit (e.g., refill requests, lab results or follow-up appointments)? Are they using a secure and HIPAA-compliant telehealth system? (HIPAA is a law that protects the privacy and confidentiality of patient health records and information.) Online bill pay: Can you see your balance and pay a bill electronically without having to call or send payment in the mail? The future of the doctorpatient relationship People are

comfortable shopping online from their smartphones, tablets or computers. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, video chats with friends and family skyrocketed in every age category. Software platforms enable you to do almost anything from the comfort of home, and the same expectation now applies to healthcare. The patient experience will continue to evolve beyond the conﬁnes of a traditional oﬃce setting. This growth of consumerism also means you have more choices for where and how you receive healthcare, and this will likely impact how you

choose a doctor in the future. Your health is your top possession. You can stay connected to your doctor and take an active role in your own health by ensuring your doctor’s practice oﬀers digital patient engagement tools that make it easy for you to stay on top of your healthcare. Through technology, doctors and patients can be more aligned for even better overall health outcomes. Learn more at www.nextgen. com.

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Insight News • June 7, 2021 - June 13, 2021 • Page 7

Children’s books recommended by mental health clinicians and therapists Anglim, Dominic, The Secret Words Helping children feel better is helping them build selfconﬁdence. This book is written to do exactly that! Follow Rija, the lemur’s adventure through the Madagascar forest and learn about the importance of loving oneself. When Rija discovers 4 ‘secret words’, she realizes she can do anything she puts her mind to. Brown, Mark, Zen Pig: Feelings Are Clouds Children learn to focus their emotions when they are stressed out or anxious. The enjoyable tale can help adults, too! Zen Pig teaches children the value of gratitude, mindfulness, and compassion in a way that’s easy for them to understand. It’s a perfect book for helping children calm down. (a series) Chu, Rachel Urrutia, Fiona Flamingo This colorfully illustrated book teaches that it’s okay if you don’t understand

are beginning and understand what it means to care for someone else. Psychologists often recommend this book as a resource when helping socialize children. It focuses on values such as compassion, empathy, and kindness.

your emotions and it’s okay to be scared, angry, and sad at times. Fiona Flamingo is also a great resource for helping children see that being unique should not be looked down upon. Gaither, Jennifer, I Can Yell Louder This book teaches that you don’t have to yell and throw a tantrum to get what you want. The content provides the means for dealing with frustrated children so they can understand how to communicate what they want in the proper way.

Mayﬁeld, Joy, A Mother’s Love Psychologists say the most important thing we can do for our children is let them know they are loved especially when the world around them seems to be falling apart. This beautifully written book will help children understand the unconditional amount of love parents have for them. It’s a great book for families to get back to what really matters.

Kutasi, Jason, A to Z: A Life of Glee This book has been known to help pull young children out of sad feelings! The hilarious story within not only helps children learn the alphabet, but also teaches them about being friends with each other and having compassion. Mayﬁeld, Joy, A Friend is Someone Who . . . This fun, rhythmic book is great for children who

stockvault

Owen, Daniela, Right Now, I Am Brave In the second book of her Right Now series, Dr. Owen explains the choice that we all have when we face situations that may make us anxious or fearful. This book is perfect for the uncertain times we face today and can be vey eﬀective

in teaching children how to deal with their fears. Owen, Daniela, Right Now, I Am Fine This book is a mindfully written self-help guide to aid children in dealing with stress and anxiety by uncovering their emotions and following a simple calming routine. Dr. Owen is a clinical child psychologist in the San Francisco Bay area. She specializes in using evidencebased treatments to help with managing anxiety, worry, anger, and low mood. Owen, Daniela, Right Now, I Am Kind In the third book of her Right Now series, Dr. Owen helps children learn what it means to be kind and aware of other people. This book is a guide for children to help them understand why being aware is important, and what actions they can practice to show compassion.

Black-led nonprofit receives ‘reparations payment’ from slaveholder’s descendant Compiled By Brenda Lyle-Gray Columnist A nonproﬁt organization supporting the Black community in Kentucky said they received a “six-ﬁgure reparations payment” from a white American who recently discovered her ancestor enslaved people in the area. Andreana Bridges, an administrative associate at Change Today, Change Tomorrow, a Black-led 501(c) (3) based in Louisville, told ABC News on Tuesday that the donor would like to remain anonymous and wished for the money to be looked at “as a reparations payment, not a donation.” The organization did not wish to disclose the exact amount it received as part of the payment, just that it was “six

figures.” Organizers with the group say they hope this payment will inspire other white Americans to take similar action. “Even though the American government has not taken steps to atone for what James Baldwin would call the ‘original sin, slavery,’ there have in recent years been Americans that don’t see reparations as a topic to be debated but an obligation that must be fulfilled to Black Americans,” Nannie Grace Croney, the organization’s deputy director, said in a news conference Monday. “These Americans are creating the blueprint for what reparations in America can look like.” The donor came into a lot of wealth on her 25th birthday, and began researching her family history to find out where this wealth came from, according to Croney. Eventually,

community-based nonprofit focused on eradicating barriers faced by the Black community in “education, food justice and public health,” according to Bridges. Under these three pillars, the group runs a myriad of initiatives including a coding program for Black youth, a free grocery delivery program catering to “food desert” neighborhoods, and “unhoused outreach” that provides meals and toiletry kits to those without a roof over their heads. Taylor Ryan, the founder and executive director of Change Today, Change Tomorrow, said Monday that the funds will be used to support staff and sustain outreach efforts, and then 20% of it will be put aside into a reserve. As the nation still grapples with issues of systemic racism in everything from health care to education, many advocates have renewed calls

the donor found out her greatgrandfather had enslaved six individuals in Bourbon County, Kentucky. The individual was unable to track down the direct descendants of the people enslaved by her greatgrandfather because he did not record their names, Croney said. The donor then decided to make a payment to Change Today, Change Tomorrow, to support the work it does for Kentucky’s Black community. “The donor stated, ‘This was my ﬁrst payment of reparations, but it will not be my last,’” Croney said. She added that the donor encouraged other white Americans to also pay reparations and to continue to petition the government to pay reparations to Black and Indigenous Americans. Change Today, Change Tomorrow is a

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