WINNER: 2018 NNPA MERIT AWARDS: 3RD PLACE BES T COLUMN WRITING
WINNER: 2019 GENERAL EXCELLENCE, 3RD PLACE, COLUMN WRITING, 2ND PLACE
Insight News
September 30, 2019 - October 6, 2019
Vol. 46 No. 39• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
‘Cinderella’
PHOTO OS S: CTC - STO OR RYY ON 7
Page 2 • September 30, 2019 - October 6, 2019 • Insight News
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Insight News • September 30, 2019 - October 6, 2019 • Page 3
Insight News WINNER: 2018 NNPA MERIT AWARDS: 3RD PLACE BES T COLUMN WRITING
September 30, 2019 - October 6, 2019
WINNER: 2019 GENERAL EXCELLENCE, 3RD PLACE, COLUMN WRITING, 2ND PLACE
Vol. 46 No. 39• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Northern Metals closes facility; admits falsifying emissions readings
Longtime pollutant of North Minneapolis finally closes doors By Harry Colbert, Jr. Managing Editor harry@insightnews.com Northern Metals Recycling shredder will shred no more. With a history of environmental violations, the company located at 2800 Pacific St. in North Minneapolis reached a settlement with the state’s attorney general. The Sept. 23 settlement called for the metal recycling company to immediately halt its metal-shredding operations for good at its North Minneapolis site, admit it altered emissions readings, pay a $200,000 civil penalty to the State of Minnesota’s Environmental Fund and give the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) the ability to reopen the permit for a new Northern Metals facility in Becker, Minn. to allow for greater monitoring of its emissions and pollutioncontrol equipment. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the settlement exceed the demands and expectations of many who had been trying for years to get the business to cease operations. “The people of North Minneapolis have been demanding for years that Northern Metals’ shredding operation be shut down. Because of the settlement we reached – which is better than what we could have achieved at trial – that’s finally happening for good. For the first time ever, Northern
Thirty-six warrents were recalled Sept. 21 in North Minneapolis.
Juvenile warrant forgiveness day
recalls 36 warrants in Minneapolis
Harry Colbert, Jr.
Metal trash heap at Northern Metals, 2800 Pacific Street, North Minneapolis. Photo taken Sept. 26. Metals also publicly admitted it altered its records. On top of that, we won more money for the environment than the maximum the law would have allowed at trial. And we made sure the settlement could benefit the people of Becker as well,” said Ellison in a statement.
By statute, the maximum dollar amount the state could have collected in trial is $150,000. “This is a win for all the people of Minnesota, especially the people of North Minneapolis who’ve been fighting for community health and
environmental justice for years. This is for them,” said Ellison. One of those people from North Minneapolis is environmental justice advocate Roxxanne O’Brien, but she said the settlement still was not enough. “They reached a set-
tlement because a whistleblower came forward (about the altered emissions readings) but that was just within the past month; that whistleblower had been with the company for 10 years, so there’s a lot that wasn’t covered,” said
NORTHERN METALS 4
DFL leaders host community conversation on cannabis in Minneapolis Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (DFL46A) hosted a community conversation on cannabis at the Minneapolis Urban League. Winkler was joined at the Sept. 26 event with Assistant Senate Minority Leader Jeff Hayden (DFL-62), Sens. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL59), Kari Dziedzic (DFL-60), and Foung Hawj (DFL-67), Reps. Raymond Dehn (DFL59A), Aisha Gomez (DFL-62B), Fue Lee (DFL-59B), and Diane Loeffler (DFL-60A) and Dr. Raj Sethuraju, associate professor at Metro State University. The meeting was the second of 15 hosted by Winkler and legislators around the state to encourage Minnesotans to join the conversa-
Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler
tion on how to legalize and regulate cannabis for adult use. “Minnesotans are asking us to change our cannabis laws because they are doing more harm than good,” said Winkler. “It’s been clear in our conversations that our current system is contributing to racial injustice, damaging public health, and limiting access for veterans.” “We know all Minnesotans deserve the same opportunities to be safe and healthy, no matter where they live or what they look like. If we’re going to move forward on legalizing cannabis for adults, we need to listen and learn to make sure we get this right. These community conversations are the best way to hear firsthand from Minnesotans who would
be affected by legalizing adultuse cannabis,” said Hayden. Dehn pointed out the inequity in enforcement when it comes to cannabis. “It’s long been time for Minnesota to start having a serious conversation on legalizing cannabis,” said Dehn. “In Minneapolis, African-Americans are 11 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession, despite similar usage rates among other groups across the board. Not only do Minnesotans deserve to have access to the opportunities recreational cannabis could bring to our state, there is also a moral responsibility to recognize the injustice that cannabis prohibition has brought to our communities.” The next four meet-
ings are scheduled for St. Paul on Oct. 10, St. Cloud on Oct. 12, Eden Prairie on Nov. 18 and Eagan on Nov. 19. More event details are on the Be Heard on Cannabis website (www.house.mn/cannabis). Details for additional meetings in Austin, Bemidji, Crystal, Fridley, Hibbing, Mankato, Maple Grove, New Brighton, Rochester, Spring Lake Park, and Woodbury will be announced when they are finalized. Eleven states and Washington, D.C. have legalized cannabis for recreational use. Winkler said legalizing cannabis for adult use will be a legislative priority during the 2020 legislative session.
Stacey Abrams to headline DFL Founders Day Dinner The Minnesota DemocraticFarmer-Labor Party (DFL) announced Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia House Democratic Leader and founder and chair of Fair Fight, will be headlining the Party’s Dec. 6 Founders Day Dinner. “It is an honor to be rallying Democrats in Minnesota, a crucial battleground state in the nation and a state with a proud Democratic legacy of fighting to make the ballot box accessible to all,” said Abrams. “My Fair Fight 2020 initiative includes Minnesota because the stakes are high in the upcoming election, and a Democrat needs to win
Stacey Abrams
Sports
Timberwolves name Joe Branch assistant general manager
PAGE 4
Minnesota to win the White House. Minnesotans’ access to good health care, strong public schools and economic security depends on DFLers winning big. I look forward to joining the DFL and Chairman Ken Martin for their Founders Day Dinner and working with the party to keep Minnesota blue in 2020.” “Stacey Abrams is an invaluable leader in the fight to end voter suppression and ensure a fair and accurate census,” said DFL Chairman Ken Martin. “I really admire Abrams’ dedication to making our government more responsive to and representative of the
American people, and I am thrilled she will be headlining our Founders Day Dinner.” Martin said Abrams coming to the state signals the importance of Minnesota in the 2020 electoral picture. “Minnesota has some of the most competitive elections in the nation coming up in 2020. DFLers know how high the stakes of these elections are, which is why we are rolling up our sleeves and getting to work,” said Martin. “Our party is out recruiting volunteers, engaging our neighbors, and registering new voters. We are extremely fortunate to have an ally like Stacey Abrams supporting
I2H
Looking back, pressing forward during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
PAGE 6
our grassroots organizing.” Abrams’ name has been surfacing in vice president talks on the Democratic side. In 2018 the Abrams was narrowly defeated in her bid to become Georgia governor, signaling her strength as a candidate. Georgia has been a solid Republican state for years and during the race the eventual winner, Gov. Brian Kemp, who was secretary of state at the time, purged more than 340,000 voters from the rolls – many who were Black. Abrams lost by less than 60,000 votes.
Overcast skies didn’t dampen the mood at the first-ever Hennepin County District Court Juvenile Warrant Forgiveness Day and Community Resource Fair. Community and court partners spent months planning the event, which resulted in 19 non-felony juvenile warrants forgiven and cases resolved. The event took place at the office building located at 1256 Penn Ave. in North Minneapolis. “I was deeply heartened by the community members who attended this first-ever event to resolve warrants and access services,” said Judge Mark Kappelhoff, a Juvenile Court judge who led the event planning committee. “This was a total team effort and I would like to thank all the volunteers and community organizations who worked tirelessly to make this day such a success.” Overall, 22 individuals with warrants were helped at the event. Some of those individuals had adult and juvenile warrants both in Hennepin County and in other counties. Overall, there were 36 warrants recalled at the event. Public defenders represented the individuals attending the event and judges conducted hearings to resolve cases or schedule new court dates. In addition to local judges and court staff, representatives from the Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office, Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, and Hennepin County Department of Community Corrections and Rehabilitation assisted with resolving warrants. There were two community service project options on-site for individuals to fulfill any court-ordered community service requirements. One activity consisted of assembling and painting Little Free Libraries, which were later given away to attendees to be placed in the community. The second activity was making sandwiches for The Sandwich Project, a Minneapolis organization that provides sandwiches for homeless shelters and food shelves throughout the Twin Cities. During the event, two Little Free Libraries were assembled, and 500 sandwiches were prepared. In addition, a community resource fair featuring about 40 participating organizations offered attendees an opportunity to access information about a wide variety of community-based services and resources related to health care, education, housing, mental health, chemical dependency, recreation, nutrition and more. This was the first warrant forgiveness day for juveniles in Hennepin County. The focus was on non-felony cases. There are about 800 non-felony juvenile warrants in Hennepin County.
Arts
Minnesota Orchestra, students, to perform at North High
PAGE 8
Page 4 • September 30, 2019 - October 6, 2019 • Insight News
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Comes to the team from RocNation
Timberwolves name Joe Branch assistant general manager
The Minnesota Timberwolves named Joe Branch as the team’s assistant general manager. Branch joins the Wolves front office from RocNation Sports where he was managing director of Basketball. With the Wolves, Branch
will coordinate domestic draft efforts, lead the team’s player program initiatives and be fully involved with all player personnel matters. “Joe is a talented individual with great experience and exciting potential, “said
INSIGHT NEWS www.insightnews.com
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 Managing Editor Harry Colbert, Jr. Culture and Education Editor Dr. Irma McClaurin Associate Editor Afrodescendientes Carmen Robles Associate Editor Nigeria & West Africa Chief Folarin Ero-Phillips Director of Content & Production Patricia Weaver Content & Production Coordinator Sunny Thongthi Yang Distribution/Facilities Manager Jamal Mohamed Receptionist Lue B. Lampley
Contributing Writers Maya Beecham Nadvia Davis Fred Easter Abeni Hill Timothy Houston Michelle Mitchum Inell Rosario Latisha Townsend Artika Tyner Toki Wright
Timberwolves president of Basketball Operations, Gersson Rosas. “He brings a different perspective and skill set from his experiences as a player agent and sports executive which aligns with our philosophy of adding talent with diverse backgrounds to our front office. We look forward to him joining our front office staff and contributing at a high level.” At RocNation Sports, Branch was instrumental in building the firm’s basketball management business and was involved in player representation. He recently negotiated contract extensions for Justise Winslow, NBA champion, Danny Green and Caris LeVert. “I was drawn to what Gersson and Ryan are
building here in Minnesota,” said Branch. “I’m impressed by the team culture and focus on player development and am committed to helping make our franchise one of the best in the NBA.” Prior to RocNation Sports, Branch was a principal at Landmark Sports Group, which represented several NBA players. He also had basketball and operations roles at Nike and the NBA league office. Branch served as an adjunct lecturer at Long Island UniversityBrooklyn and was a part-time lecturer at Rice University. Branch is also a founding partner of UWantGame Ventures, a student-athlete mentor program that works with underserved youth.
Joe Branch
Northern Metals
Photography David Bradley V. Rivera Garcia Uchechukwu Iroegbu Rebecca Rabb
From 3 O’Brien, who along with the group Community Members for Environmental Justice, was apprised to the settlement before it was announced publicly. “I feel the government took the easy route.” The recycling company was originally supposed to close Aug. 1, but a Ramsey County judge offered an extension while Northern Metals and the MPCA resolved a dispute. The Aug. 1 deadline was part of a 2017 $2.5 million consent decree to settle allegations of polluting the air in North and Northeast Minneapolis. Analysis from 2016 showed the air around the shredder had elevated levels of lead, chromium, cobalt and nickel. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the settlement “welcome news.” “Northern Metals has broken our laws and breached their agreement with the state, all while brazenly betraying
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,
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the public’s trust,” said Frey. “(The) decision to immediately shutdown the shredder is welcome news for a community that for years has borne the brunt of their bad action.” State Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-59), whose district is affected by the pollution, said the shutdown and settlement are meaningful. “Northern Metals was supposed to shut down back on Aug. 1 and that day came and went, so to have this settlement it’s great news for the community; one because Northern Metals is shut down, but two, because there was an admission of what they were doing,” said Champion. “So altogether, this moves us forward. But what is also important is how do we make sure we don’t have another situation like this in the future.” Champion said his hope is the $200,000 will be used to directly impact the residents of North and Northeast Minneapolis. Unlike the shredding facility in North Minneapolis, the new Becker facility will be enclosed.
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Insight News • September 30, 2019 - October 6, 2019 • Page 5
Hawthorne Housing Committee remains active Housing Committee update
with the Fourth Precinct that will revolve around problem properties.
In April, the Hawthorne Neighborhood Association’s Housing Committee members participated in the association’s Spring Clean and collected trash from neighborhood streets. They focused on marketing its home loan programs, which have given out more than $10,000 worth of loans to community members. The Housing Committee is also participating in conversations about major developments including the Upper Harbor Terminal, the River Link, and a growing number of duplex and triplex developments in the neighborhood. In August the committee began a relationship
Missing Middle Housing Pilot program On the heels of the 2040 plan, the city Community Planning and Economic Development department is releasing new trial programs. The Missing Middle Housing Pilot Program provides funding to develop three to 20-unit residential housing in Minneapolis through the Missing Middle request for proposal (RFP). The City is releasing the RFP after conducting a community information sharing and gathering period for feedback on the program design. Comments were incor-
porated into the pilot.
Home prices continue to rise Similar to recent years, home prices continue to rise in the Hawthorne Neighborhood. As of July, median sales price for homes in Hawthorne have risen 6% to $174,950. Average price per square foot has risen to $115 in 2019 versus $107 in 2018; a 7.1% increase. Finally, the percent of original list price received has risen to 101.9%. Home prices are expected to continue to rise for the rest of the year. There is speculation that we see the market slowdown in 2020 and the economy enter a recession.
Mark Hummel’s Blues Harmonica Blowout
Nachito Herrera
Classical to Cuban Pyrotechnics
feat. Corky Siegel
OCT 26
OCT 27
Peter Himmelman
Suzy Bogguss
OCT 28
OCT 29-30
Rhiannon Giddens w/Francesco Turrisi
Janiva Magness
Powerful Poetic Country
w/special guest Jon Herchert
Soul-Stirring Blues Vocals
Powerful Union of Pure Entertainment
Letter to the Editor:
NOV 1 SOLD OUT
Train derailments can be hazardous
OCT 31-NOV 1
NOV 2 • 7PM
dent on materials that can be hazardous, asuch as oil, and we need them. But leaders should explore options to transporting these materials so our families
Johnnie Brown & The Sound of Philadelphia
Natania & Ticket to Brasil
NOV 2 • 9:30PM
NOV 3
Edwin McCain
Steve Cole: CD Release Event
Dear Editor, When most people think of community safety, they think of locking their doors and keeping their families safe. While locking our doors and taking other safety precautions are in our control, there is a looming danger we have no control over; train derailments. Numerous train cars moving through our neighborhoods are filled with hazardous waste. A train derailment would send these materials into our streets, air and perhaps groundwater. A derailment of hazardous waste would cause not only an immediate emergency but could impact our community for years to come. Americans are depen-
CORRECTION In the Sept. 16 edition of Insight News it was incorrectly reported that the Midtown Phillips Neighborhood received a $937,990 grant to fight the opioid crisis. The neighborhood organization did not receive, nor apply for such a grant. We sincerely regret the error in reporting.
will be safe. Lawrence Wright Board Member, The Sannah Foundation
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Page 6 • September 30, 2019 - October 6, 2019 • Insight News
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Insight 2 Health Looking back, pressing forward during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Commentary by Monique Linder Founder & CEO of OMG Media Solutions While September was Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, I can think of no better time to reflect on how far we’ve come in understanding, treating and defeating childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Thanks in large part to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where I serve on the Twin Cities Advisory Council, the overall childhood cancer survival rate has increased from 20 percent to more than
Monique Linder 80 percent since St. Jude opened more than 50 years ago. But, when your
child falls into the other 20 percent, then that percentage is no longer acceptable. That was the reality for Paula Head and her family, whose youngest daughter, Carson Elizabeth, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 7, 2014, the day before her 8th birthday. She fought a long and courageous battle for 16 months before the world lost her to cancer. When Carson realized her life was drawing to a close, she asked her parents to make sure that the money in her piggy bank went to St. Jude because she knew that every single penny counted,
and it just might be her own pennies that helped find the cure to end childhood cancer. No child should have to endure what Carson Elizabeth endured – one limbsparing surgery, two lung thoracotomies, one surgery to completely move her heart over to get to the cancer growing behind it, three more surgeries, 36 weeks of chemo that she never got to finish, and multiple rounds of radiation. Instead, perhaps Carson can be the hero for all of us, and the reminder that a cure for childhood cancer can be found in our lifetimes. And it could be your pennies that get us there.
As an active supporter of St. Jude for years, it is stories like this one that keep me pressing forward. But I’m far from alone in the fight to end childhood cancer. It has been inspiring to see the hundreds of supporters across our Twin Cities community come together in a number of ways for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Last month, in the Twin Cities and other regions all over the country, thousands of parents, families, and supporters collectively laced up their shoes for the St. Jude Walk/Run. They ran to support the families who rely on the incredible services and treatments
available at St. Jude. They also ran to support the efforts they put into cities across the country, like Minneapolis-St. Paul, to understand what health equity means for our community. The St. Jude commitment to community health is second to none. And, of course, they ran for angels like Carson Elizabeth, all the while holding onto the hope that cancer will end in our lifetime. We should never lose hope in saving the life of a child. At St. Jude, we’re in a race that won’t end until the childhood cancer survival rate reaches 100 percent. I hope you’ll join me in the fight.
Communities of color more likely to suffer due to drinking water violations WASHINGTON, D.C. – Race bears the strongest relationship to slow and ineffective enforcement of the federal drinking water law in communities across the
nation, according to a new report. “Watered Down Justice” is a new analysis of EPA data that confirms there is unequal access to safe drinking
water, based most strongly on race, a scientific conclusion that mirrors the lived experience of people of color and low-income residents in the United States. The report – co-authored by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Coming Clean, and the Environmental Justice Health Alliance (EJHA) – reinforces the widely held belief that ongoing water contamination in majorityBlack communities like Flint, Mich., and Newark, N.J., is related to a history of community disinvestment, residential segregation, and discrimination. “As a scientist, I was surprised to find that race had the strongest relationship to the length of time people had to live with drinking water violations. But as a Black woman, I was not surprised at all,” said Dr. Kristi Pullen Fedinick, director of Science and Data at NRDC. “It is a travesty that the nation’s drinking water laws does not protect everyone equally. No one should have to wonder about the safety of their water every time they turn on their tap.” Drinking water systems that constantly violated the law for years were 40 percent more likely to occur in places with higher percent-
ages of residents who were people of color, according to EPA data from 2016-2019 analyzed in the report. Even when actions were taken to compel systems to fix their violations, it took longer for water systems in communities of color to come back into compliance.
erts, national co-coordinator of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance. “It has been nearly 30 years since the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit formally challenged environmental racism. That’s why we’re renewing our call for
Flint and Newark put a face on EPA data confirming unequal protection under federal water law
“Every child deserves safe drinking water but, today, race still matters. The sad reality that communities of color are still more likely to face unsafe drinking water makes it clear that we have a lot farther to go. For decades communities across the country have been leading a movement for environmental and economic justice; yet, even 55 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the law still does not ensure that the color of your skin won’t mean you’re more likely to drink polluted water,” said Michele Rob-
the moral and political will to find justice for our communities and equitable access to safe drinking water for everyone.” Ethnicity and language spoken had the strongest relationship to serious longstanding violations and ineffective enforcement of the nation’s drinking water law, the Safe Drinking Water Act. Aging, underdeveloped, and underfunded water infrastructure contributes to unsafe water conditions, as does dysfunction of the law, in part because some dangerous contaminants are not regulated. Drinking contaminated water is linked to high costs to human health, including cancer, compromised fertility, developmental effects, serious infections and more. “What we have found in Newark is that its residents continue to be besieged with untenable living conditions, poverty and a myriad of health concerns exacerbated by drinking water contaminated with dangerous levels of lead. At its core, environmental justice hits the black and brown community
in ways that are not seen or felt immediately. As a public school teacher, I see the effects of this every day. More importantly, I witness the apathy and naivete from my students because of a lack of education regarding environmental justice. This report highlights the steps that are necessary to begin to turn the collective tide towards health equity,” said Yvette Jordan, of NEW Caucus, a group of public school teachers who have sued Newark to secure safe drinking water. Large cities are not the only places with water contamination. Small systems – those that serve less than 3,300 people – were responsible for more than 80 percent of all violations. “California rural communities depend on small water systems to fulfill daily basic needs. Farm working families of Latino and Mexican Indigenous origin, many of them singlemother households face social and economic barriers such as language and inaccessibility to healthcare. They should not have to endure the burden of unsafe drinking water in addition to other environmental contaminants,” said Suguet Lopez, executive director of Lideres Campesinas, the Women Farmworker Leadership Network. “All people deserve safe drinking water, wherever they live, but our national water law has failed. Nearly 130 million people in the United States live with drinking water violations, often putting their health at risk. Societal inequality and disinvestment exacerbate this in communities of color. We need Congress and the states to take action to fix the Safe Drinking Water Act, while increasing enforcement,” said Pullen Fedinick.
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Insight News • September 30, 2019 - October 6, 2019 • Page 7
Children’s Theatre Company’s ‘Cinderella’ cast announced Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) is bringing back the magical, “Cinderella,” with a noticeable twist – the cast. Playing the lead role of Cinderella is the beautifully melanated Rajané Katurah and the handsome prince is played by the equally melanated Dwight Leslie. With its own take on the classic, CTC’s musical, “Cinderella,” mixes together the heart-warming story of Cinderella and a Victorian Christmas party with lavish period costumes, grandiose sets and holiday carols,
with brand-new, clever pop culture references, shameless physical comedy, audience participation, and other gags. Freshly updated with new pop songs, the audience will jeer at the dysfunctional stepmother (played by Autumn Ness) and stepsisters (played by Ashawnti Ford and Kimberly Richardson) as much as it will cheer for Cinderella in her quest to attend the magnificent ball and fulfill her destiny. “Cinderella is a character who shows us that we are all more than we seem,” said CTC artistic director and director, Peter
C. Brosius. “The Victorian holiday party, the shameless comedy, and songs will be heightened and explored anew and of course, will dazzle with the lavish ballroom scenes that are full of spectacle and wonder for all ages. If you have seen it before, there will be a lot of new surprises – if you have never seen it, be prepared to be blown away.” “Cinderella” runs at the CTC, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, Nov. 3 – Jan. 5. CTC has produced this show 15 times, each time with its own unique updates. There is a dance party after each performance.
Playing the lead role of Cinderella is the beautifully melanated Rajané Katurah and the handsome prince is played by the equally melanated Dwight Leslie.
Osmo Vänskä /// Music Director
OCT
18
Minnesota Orchestra at North Community High School Fri Oct 18 7pm
Osmo Vänskä, conductor Beverly Cottman, host Aaron Dworkin, author and spoken word North Community High School Arts Students Tamiko French, instructor
Celebrating Youth, Students and Community
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Beverly Cottman
Aaron Dworkin
A multi-generational concert celebrating Northside artists and hosted by Beverly Cottman
UCare has plans for everyone. Get started at ucare.org.
Featuring the high-octane talent of North Community High School dancers and other arts students Showcasing the first performance of The American Rhapsody with spoken word artist Aaron Dworkin Culminating in an all-out OrchestraJam: your chance to participate in a spontaneous musical creation with the Minnesota Orchestra!
Medicaid | Individual & Family | Medicare T i c ke ts Choose your own price starting at $5 Available online and at the door
612-371-5656 / minnesotaorchestra.org / PHOTOS Cottman: Ann Marsden; Dworkin: Dwight Cendrowski
Page 8 • September 30, 2019 - October 6, 2019 • Insight News
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See their faces light up. Heidi Giacalone
Minnesota Orchestra and the Steeles at North Community High this past January.
Minnesota Orchestra, students, to perform at North High The Minnesota Orchestra will return to North Community High School. The concert featuring North Community High School dancers and other arts students takes place Oct. 18, 7 p.m., at North High, 1500 James Ave. N., Minneapolis. Hosted by storyteller Beverly Cottman, the evening will include author and spoken word artist Aaron Dworkin and culminate in an “OrchestraJam” in which audience members can participate in a spontaneous musical creation with the Orchestra. The performance is part of a week of “Hear into the Future” concerts that celebrate musical connections with youth, students and community. Tickets are available online, over the phone or at the door on a “choose your own price” basis starting at $5. More information is available at www. minnesotaorchestra.org/hear and by phone at (612) 371-5656. For further ticket details, refer
to the information section at the conclusion of this press release. The concert will feature a variety of music, including a work by New York composer Jessie Montgomery called “Starburst” that will feature original choreography performed by North High dancers, working under the direction of Tamiko French. North students will also perform spoken word while the Orchestra performs. The evening offers the first performance of Aaron Dworkin’s “The American Rhapsody,” a multi-media work combining orchestral music and spoken word that weaves Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Symphonic Variations on an African Air” with the writings and speeches of George Washington, and Dworkin’s own poetic and prosaic interludes. “As a multi-racial American … I could find no better setting in which to tell
our American story. This work brings together the words of a white Founding Father, the music composed by a Black man of the nation from which Washington fought to free us, based on a song sung by the slaves who Washington ultimately freed. I humbly pay tribute to our past and offer a sentiment towards our future with ‘The American Rhapsody,’” said Dworkin. Dworkin is a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, founder of The Sphinx Organization and currently serves as a professor of arts leadership at the University of Michigan. He will perform as the spoken word artist in these concerts. The night ends with a chance for audience members to participate in creating an improvised musical work with the Orchestra. The Minnesota Orchestra last performed at North Community High School in January 2019.
oct. 1 - Nov. 3 7pm–10pm Sun–Thurs | 7pm–11pm Fri & Sat Wind your way through more than 5,000 glowing carved pumpkins. Get lost in the magic. Don’t miss the 2nd annual Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular at the Minnesota Zoo. Let the area’s best pumpkin artists take you on a journey around the world. Enchanting for all ages.
Tickets available at mnzoo.org
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