WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE
Insight News
November 9, 2020 - November 15, 2020
Vol. 47 No. 45• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Biden/Harris prevail ON THE SCENE AT BLACK LIVES MATTER PLAZA IN WASHINGTON DC.
Photo by Imani McCray
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Page 2 • November 9, 2020 - November 15, 2020 • Insight News
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Accelerating our commitment to affordable housing There’s a shortage of affordable housing in America, especially in communities of color. The impact of this health and humanitarian crisis has intensified the need for increased action. As part of our commitment to invest $1 billion over four years to advance racial equality and economic opportunity, Bank of America is accelerating our investment in development in neighborhoods of color — including right here in The Twin Cities. We’re working side by side with nonprofits and community leaders to help revitalize neighborhoods, expanding on work we’ve had underway for many years. My teammates and I remain committed to addressing The Twin Cities’ affordable housing gap and helping build the community in which we live and work.
Katie Simpson The Twin Cities Market President
Building together Here in The Twin Cities, we’re partnering with organizations that are expanding affordable housing options. They include: Aeon City of Lakes Community Land Trust Project for Pride in Living Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity
To learn more, please visit bankofamerica.com/community
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender
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Insight News • November 9, 2020 - November 15, 2020 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE
Insight News November 9, 2020 - November 15, 2020
Vol. 47 No. 45• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
History in the making Al McFarlane
Shirlynn McNeil LaChapelle
Kamau King
Sharon McFarlane
A global conversations
Biden/Harris: A new dispensation By Al McFarlane Editor Nurse practitioner Shirlynn LaChappelle and I work together as part of the African American Child Wellness Institute initiative to provide crisis counselling to children and families impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. She is a frequent guest on the health and wellness oriented Friday edition of Conversations with Al McFarlane, the daily Facebook Live public policy forum and weekly KFAI FM 90.3 radio broadcast. We expanded our conversation this past week to look at the issue that was consuming us all: the tallying of votes for the 2020 Presidential General Election. Like many, I can verify that the completion of voting on Tuesday, Nov. 3, simply escalated and intensified the sense of anxiety over my personal, professional, community and even global futures, all seemingly inextricably bound to the ballot box outcome. My brother-in-law Earl Artis, in Houston said the same. “My blood-pressure skyrocketed on Election Day. It began to come down as the votetotals moved in the direction
of the Biden-Harris victory. It returned to normal, perfect, by the time the networks called the race on Saturday, naming former Vice-President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris as President-Elect and Vice-President Elect.” My first cousin Sharon June McFarlane called Tuesday Election Day from her home in London, UK as US polls began to close. She was as concerned as I was, she said, because this election impacted her life in England as a Brit of Jamaican parentage, and impacted global matters including direction of the English-Irish peace accord, and Trump inspired/supported Brexit, led by Great Britain’s “Jr. Trump” Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Her call examined whether the momentous decision that was unfolding was creating the same visceral anxiety for her US family. It was. So for my Friday webcast, I reached back out to Cousin June, as we call her, and called Atlanta to talk to lawyer and former Coca Cola executive, Kamau King, inviting them into the Conversation’s contemplation of history in the making. Kamau King’s ancestors were enslaved in Georgia. In the generations following Emancipation they made their way to Detroit,
Michigan, part for the Great Migration, detailed by author Isabel Wilkerson’s groundbreaking work, The Warmth of Other Suns (Random House 2010). King’s family moved from Detroit to Kansas City. We met in third grade at D.A. Holmes Elementary School. Watching the Thursday night and Friday morning march of ballots, particularly in Georgia, prompted me to reach out to King. On Wednesday night I sent him a text: “Y’all about to change the world!” He hit me back bright and early Friday, “Thanks to Stacy Abrams! I’m so proud to live in the county/ community that flipped Georgia Blue.” This election was/is personal. Watching it was gutwrenching, sleep-depriving. “I can’t breathe” threaded our apprehension. We were all waiting to exhale. Here are some highlights of what we said should be an ongoing element of Conversations with Al McFarlane. This Zoom podcast was both personal and global, connecting us across geographies including Atlanta, Georgia, London, England, and, Minneapolis and Maple Grove, Minnesota. It connected us across generations, affording us the opportunity to reflect on our personal histories and
family legacies. It allowed us to contextualize what might be the greatest inflection point in the evolution of modern humanity, the emergence of Joe Biden as, in his words, a bridge, and Kamala Harris as a transformer, shattering shackles of injustice and indifference, of deceit and discrimination, and of oppression and fear signaling the dawn of a new dispensation: Freedom. Here of excerpts of what we said: Sharon June McFarlane: I’ll talk on behalf of my friends and I’ll say a lot of people in England are fascinated by the American electoral system. So we’ve had to have it explained to us on several times about the Electoral College. You don’t have first man or first person past the post (with the highest number of votes) which we do in England. So we don’t understand that millions and millions of people vote for 270. That’s the magic number, isn’t it? That then will elect the president of the United States. The British are also known for their polite manners, so to see the leader of the free world, the president, particularly when you compare him to his predecessor, be so rude, loud, abrasive, and an awful human
BIDEN/HARRIS 4
More women and more Black women than ever ran for Congress in 2020, but they still lost ground Sharon Austin Professor of Political Science, University of Florida In 2020, Black women set a new record – 117 entered primaries for the House and 13 for the U.S. Senate, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. In total, 643 women were candidates in congressional primary and general elections, including a record number of Asian or Pacific Islander, Latina, Middle Eastern or North African and Native American women. Still, women ended up losing eight seats in Congress. In 2018, the nation elected 127 women – and 48 women of color – to the House and Senate. This year, that dropped to 117 women and 45 women of color. Throughout my career as a political science professor, I’ve studied women’s representation in mayoral, congressional, gubernatorial and presidential elections. Here’s my look at the female demographics of
Congress following the 2020 elections. Freshmen no more Many of the women first elected to Congress in 2018 retained their seats. All four members of “the Squad” were reelected. These women – Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib – are Democratic women of color known for their progressive policies, including the Green New Deal. Also reelected were Illinois Democrat Lauren Underwood, winner of a predominantly white and Republican district in 2018; Jahana Hayes, the first Black woman to represent Connecticut; and Georgia’s Lucy McBath, winner in a district that had been held by Republicans for almost four decades. These reelections prove that their victories in 2018’s “pink wave” weren’t a fluke and that they have real staying power in Congress. In some of the 2020 congressional races, Black women ran against each other – a sign of their strong
AP Photo_Jeff Roberson_ File
Activist Cori Bush will represent Missouri in the 117th Congress. participation. For example, Florida’s Val Demings, Florida’s Frederica Wilson and Georgia’s Nikema Williams – who will succeed the late civil rights icon John Lewis – won their congressional races after defeating other Black females. Notable newcomers Some women will be joining Congress for the first time in January. Cori Bush, a Black Lives Matter activist, became Missouri’s first Black female congresswoman and represents a district that includes the cities
News
Election 2020: Waiting through uncertainty
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of St. Louis and Ferguson, the site of the police killing of African American teenager Michael Brown in 2014. Ferguson also elected its first Black female mayor this year. Bush defeated African American Congressman William Lacy Clay Jr.. Clay, Jr. and his father represented the district for over 50 years. Other women of color joining Congress for the first time include Telemundo journalist Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican who unseated
BLACK WOMEN 4
Afrodescendientes
By Carmen Robles The November 3rd, 2020 National Newspaper Publishers Association’s (NNAP) historical election coverage was undeniably the rose that has grown from a crack in the concrete. The concrete of injustice. On election night NNAP members from many of the 230 Black Press of America, publications and media companies, changed the course of history by hosting the unparalleled coverage of the 2020 Presidential Election, Notably the most consequential election in U.S. history. NNPA Chair Karen Carter Richards and NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. kicked-off the history making coverage. “This is the most important election in history, and it’s important that the Black Press covers this and the progress of Black Americans and provides an interpretation
of the events involved in our progress,” Chavis declared. In addition to NNAP member publishers, journalists and editors, the unique commentaries included insights from elected officials and other special guests including Mary Wells of the Supremes. The conversations were robust and engaging giving full range in the reporting of the most significant election in U.S. history. This was not the usual mainstream media version but rather an inside view into the realities of oppression still alive and thriving in this, the land of the free. Was Minnesota there? You betcha! Don’t cha know. Our very own Al McFarlane, Insight News, journalist extraordinaire, shared the global dominoes affect triggered by the murder of George Floyd. Illuminating this historic movement of bringing together 230 Black Press publications and media companies, led by The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA.) “We have a duty and an obligation to seize the high ground, the moment and to be
HISTORY 5
NNPA’s Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., launches public broadcasting show chronicling Black lives By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia With a soulful sound completed by thumping bass and a picturesque view of the wind blowing the American flag over the White House, civil rights icon and National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., kicked off a brandnew public television show called “The Chavis Chronicles.” Chavis, a student and disciple of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and a member of the famous Wilmington 10 civil rights group, began his new Sunday show last month featuring Major Neil Franklin, the executive director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC). Sporting a dark blue suit with a slick necktie and with his NNPA lapel pin for his millions of television viewers, Chavis chronicled the current Black Lives Matter movement, police brutality, the battle for equality, and health disparities in his debut. The program counts as an extension of his duties as NNPA president, one which provides heightened and needed exposure for the more than 200 publishers of the Black Press of America. “It’s crystal clear that
Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. there’s a great disparity in the value of Black lives, and not just in this country,” Franklin declared during the broadcast. “This is a global issue, and we’ve gotten to a point now where action needs to occur, and it’s everyone’s responsibility to close that gap.” Clyburn spoke of the future of American democracy, particularly as it pertains to those enduring poverty. “If you think about the world in which we live and who and what makes up the world, you’ve got to be shortsighted if you don’t know that the future growth and development of this country will be determined by how well we are able to diversify the leadership of this country and how well we are able to diversity the resources of this country,” Clyburn stated. The program fills a massive void for African Americans on public broadcasting stations that opened after the departure of Tavis Smiley. The Chavis
CHAVIS 5
News
The Black Church has been getting ‘souls to the polls’ for more than 60 years
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Driven by a tumultuous four years, 100 million Americans voted early By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent After years of laws passed to make it harder to vote after the election of the first Black President of the United States, early voting has become a phenomenon. The record turnout is the result of high interest in the 2020 race and activists on the ground and political parties wielding their resources to register more voters.
A record-breaking 100 million people voted early for the 2020 elections. The numbers put the 2020 elections in position to be the highest ever for voter turnout. The total is close to twice as many early votes as cast in the 2016 election. The COVID-19 pandemic did not stifle turnout for an election driven primarily by the controversial and divisive personality of Donald Trump. Younger voters who represent the changing demographics in America voted in record numbers in Texas. Older voters
concerned about health care and social security participated in
high numbers in Florida. Black voters stood in line for hours
in Atlanta turned out in record numbers in Georgia. The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement says voters between ages 18 to 29 showed up at the ballot box in a big way. The numbers of young voters skyrocketed in Michigan, Florida and North Carolina. Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania have had the largest numbers of early voter turnout overall. Trump’s presidency has been full of controversy. From his policy to separate
parents from their children at the Mexican border to a series of direct attacks on African American officeholders to Trump’s lack of interest in policy around the impact of a national pandemic, Trump has been the source of vitriol. Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke
Stacy’s Rise Project creates visability for Junita’s Jar Al McFarlane Editor One of the biggest challenges for female founders? Being found. According to the Rise of the Female Founder survey conducted earlier this year by Stacy’s Pita Chips, 67 percent of consumers wish it were easier to find products and services from female-founded businesses and 79 percent think it is important to see more female-founded businesses in their communities. That’s why Stacy’s is launching its newest packaging innovation featuring a QR code that, once scanned with a mobile phone, will direct consumers to nearby female-founded businesses – making it easier than ever to support female entrepreneurs. The Stacy’s “Female Founder Finder” bags debut in stores nationwide this week, featuring artwork by illustrator Libby VanderPloeg. While QR codes are experiencing a resurgence in popularity thanks
Biden/Harris From 3 being, is really quite shocking to us. He supported the British in leaving Europe (Brexit), so I think we have a particular vested interest because we haven’t done a deal with Europe yet in terms of trade negotiations. I think we’re waiting. We were relying on Trump to help us out. So if or when Biden gets in, how we approach a Biden government will be very different, I think, from the Trump relationship. As a woman, it’s quite interesting. When she was first named Biden’s VP running-mate, every Jamaican I know claimed her. I know
to their contactless nature, the Female Founder Finder directory is also searchable online at www.femalefounderfinder.com, offering direct access to more than 13,000 women-owned businesses. Stacy’s developed the concept and site in partnership with Hello Alice, the free, multichannel platform for women and New Majority small business owners. They were inspired by this year’s Rise Project theme of #ShareForHer and by the Rise of the Female Founder survey findings that the top two ways for consumers to find new products are via online search (50 percent) and word of mouth recommendations (45 percent). “The Stacy’s Rise Project is a testament to harnessing resources and collaborating with like-minded allies for the benefit of female founders. By leveraging our Stacy’s national retail footprint and packaging with the digital expertise and community of Hello Alice, we built a resource
for consumers and business owners alike,” said Ciara Dilley, vice president of marketing for Frito-Lay. “#ShareForHer is a reminder that we all have something to share that can help a female founder rise, whether it’s simply writing a positive review online or facilitating a business connection.” Minneapolis’ Junita’s Jar is among the businesses featured in the directory are the 30 brands and companies founded by the women currently taking part in the 2020 Stacy’s Rise Project, the brand’s grant and mentorship program that this year includes mentorship sessions with international soccer stars, gender equality advocates and fellow entrepreneurs Tobin Heath and Christen Press. Junita Flowers, Minneapolis, creator of Junita’s Jar. Founded upon recipes that have been in the founder’s family for decades, and inspired by a journey of overcoming relationship violence, Junita’s Jar is a mission-driven cookie
company, creating conversation to educate and eliminate relationships violence against women. Junita’s Jar produces their signature, deliciously wholesome, satisfyingly crisp and bite-size cookies in three flavors. The 30 participants of the 2020 Stacy’s Rise Project span a number of different industries from across the country and, in addition to the $10,000 business grant, executive mentorship, and professional advertising services, their businesses are also spotlighted on the Stacy’s Amazon HerCommerce Hub at www.amazon.com/stacys. The program will culminate next month on Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, November 19. The specially-marked Stacy’s Female Founder Finder bags will be available at retailers nationwide while supplies last. Fans everywhere are encouraged to join the conversation by following #StacysRiseProject and #ShareForHer across social
India is claiming her as well. But Jamaicans and people of Jamaican and Caribbean heritage are claiming her. When Biden is elected and Kamala is with him, we see that power. She’s only the fourth VP nominee as a woman, but the fact that she’s a woman of color means it’s going to be a really interesting time. And though she doesn’t know us, every woman I know and every Black woman I know will be there rooting for her.
Democratic Party, which, because of its persistence and determination helped passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That work influenced the nation and motivated our people. And so, Black women, my mom, Al’s mom, were politically active when we were children. And Black women are at the forefront of Biden getting to where he is today. In Georgia, it was Stacey Abrams. Abrams ran for governor two years ago against the present governor, Brian P. Kemp. A lot of shenanigans were going on and she barely lost the election. But she didn’t give up. She started mobilizing voters and she’s the one who came up with this whole idea about early voting, getting our people to the
polls early, utilizing absentee ballots. It appears that’s what’s going to carry Biden through. to where he is today. Hopefully, we’ll see some fruits of that labor through Biden, through his appointments and through his policies.
Kamau King: I remember the 1964 Democratic Convention when Fannie Lou Hamer from Mississippi challenged the Mississippi regular delegation. Her delegation was the Mississippi Freedom
Black Women
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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 Associate Editor Culture & Education Dr. Irma McClaurin Associate Editor Afrodescendientes Carmen Robles Associate Editor Nigeria & West Africa Chief Folarin Ero-Phillips Columnist Brenda Lyle-Gray Director of Content & Production Patricia Weaver Content & Production Coordinator Sunny Thongthi Yang Distribution/Facilities Manager Jamal Mohamed Receptionist Lue B. Lampley Intern Kelvin Kuria
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From 3 Donna Shalala in Florida, and attorney Teresa Fernandez, a Democrat from New Mexico. Some underdogs didn’t make it So who lost? Arkansas’s Joyce Elliott, a teacher and veteran state legislator, came up short in her bid to become the first African American congressional
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“There are 30 million Gabriella Wiggins Americans with type 2 diabetes and 84 million with prediabetes. There are 324 million people in this country, so that’s half the population right there,” said Viola Davis who joined forces with the pharmaceutical company Merck to narrate “A Touch of Sugar,” which also depicts how the disease affects all communities.
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Commentary by By StatePoint Hazel Josh Cobb Tricethe Edney Special from Ricki Fairley By Pam Kragen By Kevin Punsky Dr. LaVonne Moore Twin Cities Association Minnesota Department The Cincinnati Herald Reprinted courtesy ofon the Originally published Mayo Clinic of Black Journalists/ Health BlacksInTechnology.net San Diego Union-Tribune Insight News Intern March 9, 2017 By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Correspondent @ StacyBrownMedia
Shirlynn M. LaChapel: When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take the reins of government, we will enter the rarefied air of women who have run countries successfully. She’s going to be the next president after him. Everywhere a woman has been in leadership, there’s been more times of peace, prosperity and countries moving forward and doing better. Women have been instrumental and doing things that benefit society. When I went
member
from Arkansas. Florida’s Pam Keith, a military veteran and attorney, lost by a wide margin to her Republican opponent. Patricia TimmonsGoodson, the first African American member of the North Carolina Supreme Court whose federal judicial nomination by Barack Obama was blocked by Republicans, failed to win a seat in Congress. Also coming up short was Tennessee’s Marquita Bradshaw, a single mother and environmental activist who
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to Kenya, they said, “Give a woman a dollar and it saves the family and it saves the country. Give a man a dollar,” excuse me men, “It goes to gambling and the prostitutes.” Because we bear children, I think we feel intimately anything that not only men go through, but all people in our community because they are part of our bodies. We bore them. And we care. So this is an exciting time. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are going to show them what it means to having intelligent people in office again… people who have common sense and who care about everyone. But we’ve got to get more senators. We’re praying for the two Democrat Senate candidates who face Republicans
in January 5 runoff elections in Georgia. (No candidate received the required 50% of votes cast to win the General Election.) If Rev. Raphael Warnock and fellow democrat Jon Ossoff prevail, the US Senate will be split 50/50 and that works for me because as Vice-President, Kamala Harris will preside of the Senate and wield the power of a tie-breaking vote. As far as my run for Maple Grove City Council, there were two Black women in the contest and neither of us made it. But we were the first two to run here in Maple Grove and it’s only the beginning because we’re going to come back at them again because it’s time for some changes.
would have been Tennessee’s first Black female congressional member if she had won. California’s Tamika Hamilton, Georgia’s Vivian Childs, Maryland’s Kimberly Klacik and Ohio’s Lavern Gore are all Republicans who ran in mostly urban Democratic districts, but none won on election night. All Black female congresswomen – with the exception of Utah’s Mia Love, who served one term in the House – have been Democrats, suggesting that the path to victory is especially steep for
Black Republican women. A white man’s government? For most of its history, the members of both Houses of Congress have been white men. The monotony began to break in 1917 when Montana’s Jeannette Rankin became the first female congresswoman. In 1964, Hawaii’s Patsy Mink became the first Asian American congresswoman. The first Latina, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, was elected in 1989. In 1968, the late Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman to serve in Congress. Four years later, two more Black women arrived in Congress, Barbara Jordan of Texas and Yvonne BraithwaiteBurke of California. Chisholm called Black women “catalysts for change” in politics. U.S. Rep Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California, once tweeted, “I cannot be intimidated and I’m not going anywhere.” [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.] Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality suggests Black women are disadvantaged because of the “intersection” of their racial, gender and class identities. One result is that they encounter disadvantages when running for office. Some of these women were disadvantaged by their race, gender or class when running against well-funded incumbents. Yet, my work in the field of women and politics also suggests that the long tradition of Black female political leadership in America is gaining momentum.
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Insight News • November 9, 2020 - November 15, 2020 • Page 5
Election 2020: Waiting through uncertainty By Robin Caldwell Staff Writer Were you one of the millions of Americans watching election coverage in the wee hours of the morning when the ceremonial “Hail to the Chief” blared to announce incumbent Trump’s entrance into the WH press room? For a hot second, the song with a protocol for official presidential events, including their own funerals, signaled what was to come - false and unfactual claims to victory and voter fraud. [insert sighs and eye rolls here] No matter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, every citizen in this country will have to live with the consequences. Getting to that outcome has turned into a weighted wait that is both heavy
History From 3 insistent in telling our truth. And the truth that we bring is the truth that the world is ready for right now. We must believe that first and act in that belief. Reflect. Model. What truth telling is
Chavis From 3 Chronicles is seen as a combination of “Meet the Press” and “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” but with an urban American flare. Chavis goes beyond the headlines to offer profound insights on matters that impact the public. Co-produced by Chavis and series creator
water pipe fiasco The delayed counting of 63k absentee ballots in the primarily blue-voting Black county of Fulton in Georgia is expected to be completed by 9PM EST tonight. This could potentially guarantee a Biden win and flip in Georgia.
for some and aggravating for most. At press time, Biden is leading with the popular vote and is 33 electoral votes away from the 270 needed to be declared the winner. This is a cursory glimpse into where we are during the wait, how we got here, and how to continue until there is an official finish. Biden wins Minnesota The expectation was Minnesota would go abruptly red but it was not to be so. Biden won with over 52% of the vote and will remain blue. In other news, Kanye West received 7,789 votes. Biden flips Arizona, Trump flips...nothing Maricopa county came through for Biden. For the first time since 1996, Arizona - the formerly pro-Trump, pro-
photo/BojanMirkovic
At press time, Biden is leading with the popular vote and is 33 electoral votes away from the 270 needed to be declared the winner. wall state - became a blue state.
Georgia’s
Fulton
County
what we’ve done all the time that’s really the mantra and the model of the Black Press but now more than ever our voices is critical and our voices are important and I think we that we should use every available resource, strategy, platform, technique, and technology to amplify our vision our voice. And I think that we should write and report inside of a context and the context
should reflect a core belief of the inevitability and the eminent occurrence, victory for us our people.” https://www. facebook.com/BlackPressUSA/ videos/4006453526035523/ 59.46 – Al McFarlane quote: A global viral pandemic of unproportioned consequences, with USA leading in deaths and infections, did not deter Americans to
vote. No matter the outcome of this 2020 political race, one thing is clear the rose has taken root and not even concrete can stun its growth. The four onehour segments can be seen Facebook.com/BlackPressUSA, and BlackPressUSATV on YouTube and of course on Insight News.
Clara Wilkerson, The Chavis Chronicles focuses on contemporary reviews and analysis of leaders and innovators of African descent in America and throughout the Diaspora. According to Wilkerson, Chavis promises lively discussions about “the lifejourneys, issues, and historical and social-changing moments of freedom fighters whose genius, courage, and commitments have helped to improve the quality of life for all in the United States and throughout
the world in affirmation of the oneness of humanity.” “Last fall, I had a premonition that America was on the verge of mass social unrest,” Wilkerson stated. “The constant police brutality videos on the news showing blacks suffering and dying at the hands of law enforcement was akin to seeing kindling wood pile up. It would only take one spark to ignite a flame.” Wilkerson continued: “As we all know the death of George Floyd started
this firestorm of protest that continues worldwide. Yet at that time it was just an intuition, but I knew we would need Dr. Chavis’s voice and his leadership as a civil rights icon. That’s why I created The Chavis Chronicles. “I’ve produced long format documentaries for Public TV for 25 years. I believed Public Television would be an excellent forum for this type of thoughtprovoking programming. “I was thrilled when Dr. Chavis agreed to host and collaborate on the series
Wisconsin and Michigan turn disenfranchisement and despair blue Trump has threatened recounts in Wisconsin, which is his right as a candidate. However, Biden is currently the projected winner in Wisconsin - a state mired in voter suppression issues and Covid mismanagement - and while that lead is narrow (30k votes), he could take the win. The story is similar in Michigan, a blue state, but uncounted absentee ballots can secure a Michigan win for Biden. Flint delivered blue.
Pennsylvania is still counting ballots Trump holds the lead, but keep your eyes on Philadelphia and surrounding municipalities as they count absentee and mail-in ballots. Senate control still GOP, Dems win one race If Biden wins the presidency, this makes sense and is traditional. If Trump wins, then it’s more of the same for another four years. What to expect ● Recount requests, especially if Trump loses ● An official declaration of presidency that will come later than sooner How to wait Prayer, snacks and rest. Oh and vigilantly. Keep your eyes open. Stay woke.
The Rose That Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature’s law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared.
and now we are contracted to provided 52 episodes. It’s a major undertaking, but I am grateful to have the opportunity to bring this TV series to a mass audience with Dr. Chavis.” American Public Television has ordered 48, one-hour episodes of the Chavis Chronicles which airs in more than 100 cities. Melody McKinley and Tracie Caldwell serve as senior producers, and Tom Knier, Omar Teitelbaum, and Elie Mosseri also share editing duties.
“We have chronicled in-depth, our voices, our dreams, our pains, our aspirations, our struggles, and our challenges, opportunities, and our commitment to ensure freedom, justice and equality for all,” Chavis declared on air following the initial broadcast. “Whether it’s Black lives matter, calls for action, and racial justice, health disparities, or income inequities, we’ll be here to report and share freedom’s constant struggle.”
Page 6 • November 9, 2020 - November 15, 2020 • Insight News
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The Black Church has been getting ‘souls to the polls’ for more than 60 years David D. Daniels III, Professor of Church History, McCormick Theological Seminary At Black churches up and down the U.S., religious slogans have been supplanted with another message in the run up to Nov. 3: Vote! The landscape of the 2020 general election has been dotted with efforts by the Black Church – churches that have traditionally had predominantly African American congregation – to encourage voter registration, mobilization and protect against efforts to suppress the vote. Under slogans including “Souls to the Polls,” “AME Voter Alert” and “COGIC Counts,” Black denominations and national bodies such as the Conference of National Black Churches have partnered with civil rights organizations including the NAACP in a concerted effort to increase voter turnout among African Americans. The push comes amid deliberate tactics to make it harder for Black and Latino Americans to vote, including purges of voter rolls in communities of color, strict voter ID rules and restrictions on polling places. As a historian, I know these tactics are nothing new – nor is the role of Black Churches in countering these moves. Black Church-led campaigns to expand and protect voting among African American reaches back to the years following the Civil War. At political forums held in churches, clergy educated congregants on political issues, regularly running for elected office themselves. ‘Give us the ballot’ Modern efforts picked up momentum during the years after World War II, especially during the era of the civil rights movement in
the 1950s and 1960s. Most African Americans were denied the right to vote prior to the 1965 Voting Rights Act being signed into law. As a result, Black Americans were grossly underrepresented in the political system while simultaneously marginalized within the economy and social order through racial segregation laws. In 1957, churches and civil rights organizations got together to sponsor the “Prayer Pilgrimage of Freedom” demonstration in Washington D.C. Organized to celebrate the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, which ruled school segregation unconstitutional, the event became a rallying cry for voting rights. Speaking at the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. framed the issue of voting, racial progress, and democracy in these terms: “Give us the ballot and we shall no longer have to worry the Federal government about our basic rights. “Give us the ballot and we will by the power of our vote write the laws on… the statute books of the southern states and bring to an end the dastardly acts of the hooded perpetrators of violence. “Give us the ballot and we will fill our legislative halls with men of goodwill. “Give us the ballot and we will place judges on the benches of the South who will do justly and have mercy.” The speech came at a time when barriers to Black voting ranged from poll taxes, literacy tests to the use of voter intimidation. To King and other civil rights leaders, the Black Church was a key institution within the pro-democracy movement. They believed its reach could be harnessed to eradicate the barriers to voting and expand accessibility of voting and enlarge the number
photo/AP Photo_Bebeto Matthews
Volunteers outside the Christian Cultural Center in New York register new voters as part of the ‘Souls to the Polls’ initiative. of voters. Rise of the PACs A lot of Black Churchbased voter registration efforts in the following decades took place under the Voter Education Project, which lasted from 1962 to 1992. The project sponsored citizenship education, voter registration and mobilization, as well as research on voting among African Americans. Black denominations such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church also worked alongside black sororities and fraternities, civil rights agencies, masonic lodges and labor unions in voter projects such as “Operation Big Vote” and “Wake Up, Black America” to encourage voter turnout. Meanwhile churches often served as locations for voter registration strategy meeting and forums. In addition to the Voter Education Project, churches and civil rights organizations worked together to set up political action committees to push for
voting rights. Political scientist Ronald E. Brown has described how in cities like Detroit, The Black Slate Political Action Committee and The Fannie Lou Hamer Political Action Committee were established as “church-based political action committees” advocating “on behalf of the poor and powerless during electoral campaigns.” These PACs emerged during the 1970s and 1980s. They led voter registration and turn-out campaigns, provided education on political issues and endorsed candidates. Both remained active even into the 2020 general election cycle. The “Souls to the Polls” movement began in Florida during the 1990s. The concept was to organize caravans after church service on the Sunday prior to Election Day to transport Black congregants to early voting locations. By the early 2000s, the NAACP, Black denominations and other organizations had transformed “Souls to the Polls” into a
national movement. Record turnout Such initiatives along with the passing of the Civil Rights Act helped increase national Black voter turnout from 40% in 1960 to 60% in 1984, according to political scientist Zulema Blair. Obama’s re-election garnered the highest percentage of Black voter turnout, reaching 66.6% of eligible Black voters in 2012. This was 1 percentage point higher than the actual white voter turnout – a new threshold for Black voter mobilization. But with the U.S. Supreme Court eliminating part of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, Black Church-based voter registration and “turnout the votes” campaigns have been hampered by voter suppression efforts that have included new voter ID requirements, the reducing of early voting days, the ending of same-day registration, the disenfranchisement of citizens with felony records , and the closing of over 1,600
polling sites across the nation. The voter suppression has kick-started a renewed focus on protecting the right to vote in addition to voter registration and mobilization spearheaded by organizations such as the Black Church PAC and Black denominations such as the African Methodist Episcopal, Full Gospel Baptist, Church of God in Christ, and Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, the Conference of National Black Churches along with advocacy groups the National Action Network and The Collective have launched “Black Church 75” – which aims to get 75% of all Black church members registered to vote. With a dual approach of concentrating on the 2020 general election and future planning for the 2022 and 2024 elections, the Black Church continues to work to expand and strengthen democracy in the United States, tapping into its rich history of securing voting rights for all U.S. citizens.
Help stop the spread of COVID-19 – get tested.
Testing is encouraged and available to everyone, regardless of symptoms. Getting tested is critical to stopping the spread of COVID-19 and will help to prevent exposing your loved ones to the virus. Find free testing events at Minneapolismn.gov.
For reasonable accommodations or alternative formats please call 311 at 612-673-3000. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can use a relay service to call 311 at 612-673-3000. TTY users can call 612-263-6850. Para asistencia 612-673-2700, Yog xav tau kev pab, hu 612-673-2800, Hadii aad Caawimaad u baahantahay 612-673-3500.
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Insight News • November 9, 2020 - November 15, 2020 • Page 7
Q&A: Green Light Twin Cities By Al McFarlane Editor Part 1 of 2 McFarlane: There’s a new project in town called Green Light Twin Cities. Simone Hardeman-Jones is its first Executive Director. Welcome to the program, Simone. Hardeman-Jones: Thank you for the invitation. Green Light Fund was initially founded in Boston back in 2004 and was recently launched in the Twin Cities as its ninth site earlier this year. It’s an interesting organization because we are a non-profit. We sort of intersect at the non-profit and philanthropy space. We raise money and then we invest those dollars in organizations and models. We also provide multi-year funding and support for that work. Specifically, Green Light was created to bring social innovations and models from other parts of the country to the Twin Cities. As you sort of described earlier, we needed to address the unmet local needs and help really break down some of the entrenched barriers and deep-rooted disparities needing to be eliminated. There are many Minnesotans quite familiar with these scenarios. Ultimately, we aspire to create new opportunities for families to survive and thrive. I am grateful we have a coalition of 50 investors in the Twin Cites who have invested about 5 million dollars. Over the course of the next handful of years, their investment will allow me to bring in four really amazing programs - one each year. In partnership with the voices of concern from our communities, we will be able to identify the outcomes we want to realize, especially for those marginalized populations who continue to struggle.
McFarlane: Maybe there are success stories about projects or programs particularly exciting that have happened in other cities you might consider replicating here. This is difficult work. Money alone won’t solve all the problems. Enough of it would certainly help. You have to garner a buy-in by organizations and companies that have a vested interest in making our communities work better for them to do better. Hardeman-Jones: It’s important to reiterate that this is a community driven process. My work has begun by making a commitment to listen intently and to document important information and concerns. My audience includes community leaders, community members, coalitions, collaboratives, politicians, and neighborhood residents who live with unaddressed needs for resources every day. I have to understand some of the important missing links in the Twin Cities; what organizations already exist where support IS being extended to those who have appealed? But as the Twin Cities have grown, some have experienced economic prosperity, while many others have been left behind, particularly communities of color. Nearly 40% of residents live within the federal poverty threshold and some neighborhoods - those living below the poverty line - it reaches 50%. Green Light of Twin Cities has launched with more than 50 local philanthropic investors and reflects the region’s spirit of embracing innovation and a strong humanitarian history. The idea is to leverage that spirit, and to work together. Green Light and local leaders’ vision are to bring more opportunities to the area’s low-income residents. We believe by collaborating, we can make significant and measurable progress towards a brighter and more equitable future for all.
Simone Hardeman-Jones Perhaps Green Light will be able to fill a priority need when there’s no immediate option. I view my work as really understanding what solution mechanisms are already in place, and what’s not there in order to provide answers and support. Those fact-finding missions and review of the documentation from the conversations from the people I will meet will go a long way in helping me figure out where Green Light should focus. Our intentions are to serve as a compliment to the local ecosystem and not be repetitive or duplicative in any way. That process has kicked off already. I’m having conversations with any and everyone willing to talk to me. I spend a lot of my time on Zoom participating in virtual meetings; building relationships; establishing partnerships; and getting an honest assessment of the work already being done. What attributes of the Twin Cities are being spotlighted? What are the areas where we begin to explore and implement critical improvements recommendations in our communities? The next step of my work will really focus on forming what we call a “selection advisory council.” My vision for this council will be to bring people to the
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table who don’t normally sit at the same table. We have to ensure holistic representation. Again, that group will help me identify the top three to five issues we think Green Light could potentially be focusing on. Then we will narrow it down from there to really determine our focus on an issue area. That’s when I’ll begin my search for a possible successful solution already existing somewhere in the country. A similar programming effort could be a good fit for the local eco-system here. And I also want to emphasize that when we do find an organization or a model to bring in, we don’t just say, “Here’s a new program,” without ensuring the program or model will be successful in the Twin Cities. That means there will be support from other local partners and local government. We really want to make sure the work we are building and the model we are bringing in is sustainable and really will alter the systems clearly not working for our most marginalized populations in the area. Addressing your initial question regarding Green Light work in the other eight cities, this will be a good test for me. We were founded in Boston, and now have Green
Light(s) in Philadelphia; Detroit; Cincinnati; Charlotte; Kansas City; Atlanta; and now the Twin Cities. There are a couple great examples, one being in Philadelphia (Green Light Philly). The local executive director there identified recidivism as a key issue in the Philadelphia communities. Green Light focused on that one concern for the time being. They imported an organization called “The Center for Employment Opportunity,” also known as CEO. The New York based organization is a transitional work program that engages returning citizens from prison in an immediate occupation opportunity. Participants are provided direct coaching and accessible support that affords them a smooth transition to permanent work and maintainable stability. You and I both know that without those pieces . . . without that infrastructure . . . so many of the newly freed will re-offend and end up back in the correctional system. The real cool thing about bringing that organization to Philly is that within a year, the state of Pennsylvania committed its own money . . . a little over $1 million. The funding will be disseminated over three years. A scalable and performancebased contract covered the vocational costs of the program. The Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation decided to contract with the organizations for transitional work crews to join their maintenance team. Today, as a result of those deep partnerships and their successes, the program has now scaled and is being implemented, I believe, in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. It’s a critical movement that’s gone further than just the city of Philadelphia. Another celebrated program example was implemented in 2019 (I believe) in Charlotte, North Carolina. A report came out, ranking Charlotte’s Mecklenburg county early childhood education space 50 out of 50 (that is, dead last in
economic growth and mobility). From what I understand, the community had a voice with a listing of recommendations as to the priority needs for the city, especially people of color historically fraught under an umbrella of inequities. That study and culminating report came out right around the same time that Green Light Charlotte got underway. The executive director previewed some of the citizens’ recommendations. In partnership with a few of their communities, the Charlotte team began to understand the city needs landscape and the occurring actions many of the local cohorts and nonprofits were already planning to tackle. They identified critical essentials in supporting children, specifically children of ages two to four. In order for the city’s children to succeed, kindergarten readiness and engaging programming had to be effectively executed. The team want to assure students in this age group were showing up at school ready to learn. After the Green Light Charlotte team conducted an extensive search around the country, they identified an organization called “Parent Child Plus”. Developmental learning specialists safely conduct home visits of students and their families. These wellvetted representatives are hired from within the communities the program is serving. Therefore, these mavens may often share the same ethnicity and cultural linguistic experiences. These visits play meaningful role helping ensure those children in that age range are ready to enter kindergarten. We’ve seen an increase in graduation rates over the years when kindergarten readiness programming sometimes prevents children from having to be enrolled in special education programs. There’s clear evidence that children are set up and ready to succeed with “Parent Child Plus” in the communities they are serving in Charlotte.
GREEN LIGHT 8
Page 8 • November 9, 2020 - November 15, 2020 • Insight News
Green Light From 7 McFarlane: I’m looking at your website now, and I’m really impressed by the number of companies who are involved in this project including Bank of America; the Bush Foundation; Anderson Corporation; Cargill and Deloitte; Ecolab; Faegre Benson and U.S. Bank. I’m a director for United Way of Twin Cities, so I’m glad we’re sitting at the table with you. Did you start off assembling this financial team first? Was that assembled before you got here or was part of your job solidifying those investments from these companies and individuals who are going to fund the first $5 million foray for the organization? Hardeman-Jones: That’s a great question. I was fortunate to walk into this role with a great support team of investors ready and willing to support me both financially and with additional resources. Yes, they’re there and stand ready and committed to ensuring Green Light Twin Cities is a success. We’re deeply grateful for their initial support. McFarlane: That’s great!! So, I assume your goal will be to continue to raise money in the future. Like any business, as things get done, you’ll need to replenish and foster additional financial and other resources to support your work. Is that correct? Hardeman-Jones: That’s right. McFarlane: What’s the vision? What happens three years out? You mentioned a five-year roll out. You’ve got $5 million, so I’m just computing. Do you plan to invest $1 million a year if you start with the funding you have now? Again, a big part of the success will be determined
by how you replenish, recycle, and sustain? Is there a big vision that’s 10 years out, 15 years out in terms of financial support? Hardeman-Jones: Continued fundraising with our current investor group and in addition to new and diverse investors, as well. I think it’s really important as Green Light gets underway, and as my work develops into quite a rewarding undertaking, we’ll let our actions and the positive outcomes from our efforts speak for themselves. My hope is to continue to build a stronger and bigger coalition and around our work. What that scenario looks like is a community working in conjunction with successful organizations, investors, and with community voices being heard. It’s important we implement creative media announcements so more residents will know who we are and the work we intend to do in our communities.
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Paul.
listeners and viewers and me to hear how you describe this opportunity. I’m framing it as an opportunity rather than a problem. Obviously, you are approaching this work with solutions. There is this inevitability changes will be made . . . the driving force behind your work in this arena. Let me ask you to talk about YOU . . . where you’re from, and what your life was like growing up here? I’ll ask you some fun questions along the way, okay?
McFarlane: I think, Simone, we’re on the exact same page because you segued into my next question. I was going to ask you to talk about your background. I often ask my guests to tell their personal story. I’ve always believed there’s power in the story; the narrative; and what brings you to this moment in your career. What fuels the passion you bring to this work? Your analysis of what the work is, I think, is critical for our
Continued next week
Green Light Twin Cities
McFarlane: And from your website, it looks like you’ve also created an opportunity for other citizens and outside donors to support Green Light Twin Cities endeavors. It appears you now have major support from big companies and benevolent families that are stepping forward. This backing will also enable engagement for other people in the community, as well. Is that correct? Hardeman-Jones: That’s right. Again, I really am deeply committed to doing this work in and with our community. I grew up here, and although I lived in Washington D.C. for quite some time, I returned to my roots a few years ago. I’ve worked at the national and federal level on policy, and have seen what it’s like to create and implement ideas and then move forward without the folks closest to the work needed to make positive change. I am deeply committed to ensuring that anything we do through Green Light Twin Cities makes sense and is the right thing for folks in Minneapolis and St.
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Insight News • November 9, 2020 - November 15, 2020 • Page 9
Post-Election Prayer for America By: Irma McClaurin, Ph, Culture and Education Editor It is 5am Wednesday and I do not know the election outcomes, but I am praying for a Different America. I am not an atheist, nor am I a praying woman, but last night and this morning words of prayer came upon me.
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Dear…. Please hear my prayer. We need a Different America over the next four years. Regardless of who is elected, we need an Open America that will welcome today’s immigrants like it welcomed First Lady Melania Trump & her parents. Just like it welcomed the majority ancestors of all white people who live in this nation. All of them, all of us, came from someplace else. Native/Indigenous people are the First and only REAL authentic Americans of this America. I am praying for a Compassionate America that will not separate immigrant children from their parents; that will prosecute ICE agents who sexually and physically abuse immigrant detainees — just because they can. I am praying for a Healing America that will prosecute priests who molest their parishioners, that will support women’s right to control their own bodies, that will support Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Gender equality, LGBTQ rights, Diversity, equity, and #BlackLivesMatter as part of the democratic ethos. With head bowed, eyes closed, and heart heavy, I am appealing to any and all: to God, to Allah, to Krishna, to Jehovah, to Jesus Christ, to Buddha, to African Orishas like Mama Wati, to John Smith and Mormon Followers, to Mother Earth, to the Universe, to any and all spirits, on earth or in heaven. I am begging you in humble prayer to move America towards “the moral arc of the universe” that ultimately “bends towards justice,” that is fairer & more humble in the present and future; that believes in and practices justice; that will restore Democracy to a politics of Hope; that will embrace those of us who are “Othered” because of our race, religion, gender, national origins, or sexual orientation. I am praying for a Different America in which Reparations for descendants of enslaved Black Americans are realized; where police violence & violent police are eradicated, where any police who kills unarmed Black people, are prosecuted, found guilty and held accountable for their actions, and jailed like the animals they are. And those police who treat armed white killers like “besties”, and don’t fear for their lives from active white shooters, are retired. I am praying vigorously for a post-Trump America, where political arrogance is packed away; where presidential policies are not tweeted; where hypocrisy is revealed, like “#theRealDonaldTrump” who trashed science, told people not to mask up in a pandemic, held COVID-19 spreader campaign rallies, then availed himself of the best doctors the best science & best scientists when he, and his family, got sick with COVID; then continued to spread falsehoods about science after his miraculous recovery — attributed to scientific & medical innovations. While across the country, for every day President Trump received the best of medical care, thousands and thousands of citizens died daily — with no access to Trump’s COVID medical & scientific miracle treatments. I am praying for a Reformed America that will erase the false charges against those Black men imprisoned for simply “breathing while Black.” Let them out. Release them from the politics of racism, an unjust Justice system, and intergenerational trauma of the past and present. I pray a new future for them, and for a prison system that focuses on rehabilitation and not simply incarceration. On bended knee and with humbled heart, I am praying for America to wake up from its white supremacy fantasy and accept the reality that they will never yield power over Black bodies ever again. Those hateful days of white supremacy domestic terrorism are over. Let them know we, Black people, joined by allies, here and globally, will resist, resist, resist. I am praying for a New America, a Hopeful America, an Anti-Racist America, a Humbled America, a Just America, an America of promise & Hope for ALL its people. AMEN © 2020 Irma McClaurin
Page 10 • November 9, 2020 - November 15, 2020 • Insight News
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