Insight ::: 09.04.2023

Najee headlines the Selby Jazz Festival on Selby Avenue this Saturday. He joined remotely via Streamyard me and my guests

Elder Atum Azzahir, CEO of the Cultural Wellness Center, and Dr. O. Adepeju Solarin, PhD, social scientist and conflict practitioner in a special KFAI FM 90.3 State Fairgrounds live broadcast of The Conversation with Al McFarlane. Here are highlights from the interview.

Elder Atum Azzahir:

People like you with your gifts are sometimes referred to as shaman or teachers who have insights into the spirit. I believe that aspect of your work is underrated. So as you have chosen a particular presence in music, you penetrate the spirit, whether you know it or not. Do you understand that you’re penetrating and touching this spirit with your work?

Najee Rasheed:

I’m honored if that’s the case. I have to say that starting out as a kid, I would’ve done everything I’m doing for free. I can’t say I was on a mission. I’ve just been blessed to be able to. I came from a mother who was very spiritual lady, very spiritual woman. She was a very strong Christian woman who really believed in teaching her children the presence of The Unseen… to believe in mighty God, The Unseen. Those lessons permeate the soul in some way and come out another way. So as a musician, I can’t say that I consciously think that way because, as a musician, I’m just thinking about creating a good song and making sure my saxophone or my flute is in tune.

But honestly, I’ve heard that several times, and I guess there’s something that’s just ingrained in me as a musician that translates, and the people feel it. And I’m grateful for that.

John Coltrane, for me, was probably one of the most spiritual musicians. He embodied not only creativity, but you felt his spiritual energy coming across the hall, even if he was playing something as technical as Giant Steps, which is at the top of the list to learn for most jazz saxophonists.

I grew up in New York and attended August Martin High School, which was an aviation school.

“ The people feel it”

“The people feel it”

NAJEE headlines

Selby Jazz Fes t Jazz Fest

Presidential Mean Muggin’

By Chuck Hobbs

When Donald Trump was indicted in New York, Florida, and Washington, D.C. earlier this year for assorted state and federal felony offenses, no booking photos were taken of the 45th President of the United States.

Last night, history was made once more as Mr. Trump, booked at the Fulton County Jail, became the first former president to pose for a mugshot while being fingerprinted and released on a $200,000 bond relating to a 100 page indictment which alleges election interference in 2020.

Mr. Trump is one of 19 defendants indicted this month for their roles in seeking to coerce Georgia officials, including Republican Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State

Justice Natalie Hudson named Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court

Governor Tim Walz last week announced the appointment of Justice Natalie Hudson to serve as chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Justice Hudson will fill the vacancy that will occur upon the retirement of Chief Justice Lorie Gildea in October.

Justice Natalie Hudson is an associate justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court, having been appointed to

this position in October 2015 by Governor Mark Dayton. Hudson previously served as a judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals for thirteen years. She also practiced criminal appellate law with the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General for eight years and served as the St. Paul city attorney. Early in her career, she represented indigent clients as a staff attorney with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal

Services. Hudson served as a member of the original Minnesota Supreme Court Racial Bias Task Force from 1991-1993 and later served on the task force’s implementation committee. Her other community involvement includes serving on the advisory board for Minnesota Women Lawyers and the advisory board for the University of

Minnesota Law School. She also participated on the Warren E. Burger Inn of Court for many years. She is a member of the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association, the Minnesota State Bar Association, and the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers. Hudson earned her B.A. from Arizona State University and her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.

are divided on whether society overlooks racial discrimination or sees it where it doesn’t exist

By Kiley Hurst

Ahead of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Black Americans’ civil rights, we asked U.S. adults what they think is the bigger problem when it comes to racial discrimination in the country today.

How we did this

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to explore how Americans view racial discrimination in the United States today compared with previous years. This question is a part of a broader study that asked Americans about their views on the Black Lives Matter movement and Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.

This analysis is based on a survey of 5,073 U.S. adults conducted April 10-16, 2023. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. Address-based sampling ensures that nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more

Brad Raffensperger, to “find votes” and support a fake set of electors after the same had already counted (and recounted) votes in 2020 that proved time and again that Democrat Joe Biden was the winner of the state’s Electoral College votes. Among Trump’s co-defendants are his former legal counsel, including:

Mr. Rudy Giuliani, Esq. I highlight these three co-defendants in

AAPF Statement on the Racist Murders in

Jacksonville, FL

On August 26, 2023, as thousands gathered in Washington, D.C. to renew the nation’s commitment to racial justice on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, a white gunman took the lives of three Black people named Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Jarrald Gallion, 29, and Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr., 19, at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida. The killer, 21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmeter, who was known for his deep hatred toward Black people, first attempted to enter Edward Waters University, a historically Black college, but was denied access. He then drove to the Dollar General store with an assault weapon adorned with swastikas to take the lives of Black people.

Six decades after Black people marched on Washington to demand that

America fulfill its promissory note of full and equal citizenship, we know that hate and prejudice still threaten to take away our lives while shopping, praying, and simply existing while Black. Like the massacres at Buffalo and Charleston, this deplorable act makes plain the horrifying reality that we must once again live under the threat that racial terrorism can take our lives at any place, at any time. These atrocities were committed by young white men born into a post-civil rights and supposedly postracial world, yet determined to enact ideologies with deep and odious roots in American history.

It is crucial to resist the ‘lone wolf’ framing that absolves local, state, and national accountability for

Photo from Ax Handle

Justice Natalie Hudson

Americans

Donald John Trump, Inmate #P01135809. The former president’s

Auditions are now open for CTC’s pre-professional training program

AT CTC we value supporting resilient young people who are fearless individuals, innovative thinkers, and open-hearted humans. If you have a student in grades 6-8 or 9-12 who is interested in advancing their acting training, try the Institute program at Childrens Theatre Company.

with industry professionals, an annual spring showcase, mentorship by CTC artists, and college audition prep. Classes include voice and vocal work, viewpoints, Shakespeare, musical theatre dance, and more. The year ends in a showcase performance for family and the CTC casting director.

Young Company is four-year program for students Grades 9-12 and, prepares young actors for college and professional theatre careers.

Institute Audition:

Wednesday, September

13, 2023 from 6-7:30pm Class Time:

Tuesdays from 5-8pm Session Dates

Young Company: Monday, May 14 from 5-8pm

Young Ensemble: Thursday, May 16 from 5-8pm

Showcase Performance

Young Company: Tuesday, May 15 at 6:30pm

Young Ensemble: Friday, May 17 at 6:30pm Tuition: $1,500

CTC’s Institute program is an audition-based, pre-professional training program for young artists who are interested in advancing their training and may be considering a career in the arts. Highlights include intensive acting and musical theatre training

Trump

From 3

Young Ensemble is a three-year acting training program for students Grades 6-8 who are interested in advancing their skills. Students spend the year working with industry professionals and receive specialized training in acting and musical theatre.

primary defense strategy for these lawyers and their former client, Mr. Trump, will be to argue that they were merely advising their client of potential arguments that he could raise to levy additional challenges to the election

of Long

COVID on African Americans:

Why Us Again?

COVID-19Vaccine

TheAfricanAmericanChildWellnessInstitute

Cordially InvitesyoutoJoinus for our Weekly Podcast: Conversations with Al McFarlane Live: The HealingCircle

Followed by the Monthly Recovery Room Town Hall & Support Group

Fall Session: September 26-December 5, 2023

Winter Session: January 9-March 12, 2024

Spring Session: March 19-May 14, 2024 Showcase Tech Rehearsal

results—and that Trump was merely “thinking out loud” during his discursive phone call with state election officials based upon their legal advice.

ACT Pass Scholarships and payment plan options are available. Learn More and Register at: https:// childrenstheatre.org/ about-us/work-with-us/jobopenings/ particular because it is already crystal clear to me that the

Whether the above stated legal defense will work will depend greatly upon whether the case remains in state court (instead of being removed to federal court—as several defendants are already seeking) and, if it remains in state court, will the venue remain in overwhelmingly Democratic (and Black) Fulton County? If I had to hazard a guess, I’d submit that there are enough adequate state grounds to prevent removal to Federal court—and that the venue will remain in Fulton County because the key evidence, the very unwise Trump phone call, was taken by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in Atlanta (Fulton County). I also submit that the old “pretrial publicity prevents Trump and the other members of the Atlanta 19 from receiving a fair trial” argument will not be viable because Trump, himself, is constantly Tweeting, texting, and posting all sorts of public comments about this and his other cases via social media.

What’s Next?

Next up for Trump

Discrimination

and his co-defendants will be arraignment, which is currently set for September 5th. An arraignment is a formal proceeding in which a defendant is formally informed by the court of the pending charges, after which the same can enter a plea of not guilty (or guilty). Each defendant has a right to waive appearance at an arraignment and can have their counsel enter a written plea of not guilty, and I suspect that is what will occur for the “Atlanta 19” in the days ahead.

After arraignment, lawyers for the state and defense will then start drafting and responding to myriad motions, including ones for changes of venue, suppression of evidence, and perhaps even dismissal depending on the facts and evidence. There surely will be motions to sever, meaning that a defendant or multiple defendants will seek to have individual trials instead of being tried in a group setting.

Separately, in the weeks ahead, lawyers will participate in “Discovery,” the formal name for the process within which both parties list potential witnesses while prosecutors must turn over (or allow inspection of) evidence that they intend to

use at trial. Once witnesses are disclosed, both parties will have opportunities to interview the same through their investigators or during depositions; while much hay has been made about these trial(s) being ready to go within the next several months, my past experiences with multiple defendant state court cases, particularly white collar ones where many thousands of documents must be copied and disclosed, is that it is highly unlikely that this case will be tried before Election

Day 2024—if it is ever tried!

With news already leaking that prosecutors across the four cases cooperating with each other with regards to scheduling, I predict that if the far less complicated classified documents Federal case in Florida, or the January 6th MAGA riot case in Washington, D.C. ends with a Trump conviction, that Atlanta prosecutors may eventually dismiss the case against Trump even if they continue to push forward against his lawyers and other co-defendants.

Last, there is always the possibility that one or more of the Atlanta 19 may strike deals to cooperate with prosecutors against the other defendants. It is important to note that of the 19, the only defendant who is

grifting money hand over fist is Mr. Trump! Hardly a day goes by that emails aren’t being sent asking for the MAGA sheep to send their hard earned money to defray the legal bills of their billionaire shepherd. Indeed, none of the other Atlanta 19 defendants have the kind of reach or pockets as deep as Trump’s and that factor, coupled with disbarment proceedings that have already been finished (Giuliani) or are pending (Eastman/Powell), may be incentive enough for one or more to break and cooperate if it means that they avoid long prison sentences as well. Trust, I’ve seen the toughest of the tough get to talking and testifying when prison numbers like 10 years to life get tossed around so as I often say and write, “stay tuned!”

Subscribe to Hobbservation Point

By Chuck Hobbs ·

Hundreds of paid subscribers

“Real Politics in Real Time” Chuck Hobbs is a freelance journalist who won the 2010 Florida Bar Media Award and has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.

FORMOREINFORMATIONCALLDR.B.AKINSANYAAT: 763-522-0100 CONVERSATIONSWITHALMCFARLANE(EveryFriday@1:00pm) https://www.youtube.com/live/JWmslfsaE70?feature=share https://www.youtube.com/live/YB6l7QEVXS4?feature=share https://www.facebook.com/insightnewsalmcfarlane

about the ATP’s methodology. Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and the survey methodology.

 53% say people not seeing racial discrimination where it really does exist is the bigger problem.

 45% point to people seeing racial discrimination where it really doesn’t exist as the larger issue.

www.insightnews.com

From 3 Insight News is published weekly, every Monday by McFarlane Media Interests.

Iroegbu Lou Michaels Roy Lewis - Washington D.C. Artist Donald Walker Contact Us: Insight News, Inc. Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Ave. N. Minneapolis. 55411 Ph.: (612) 588-1313 Fax: (612) 588-2031

Member: Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium (MMMC) Minnesota Newspaper Association (MNA) National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)

Postmaster: Send address changes to McFarlane Media Interests, Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Avenue

North, Minneapolis,

Views on this have changed in recent years, according to Pew Research Center surveys. In 2019, 57% said people overlooking racial discrimination was the bigger problem, while 42% pointed to people seeing it where it really didn’t exist. That gap has narrowed from 15 to 8 percentage points.

Americans’ current views on this question differ greatly by:

 Race and ethnicity: 88% of Black adults say people overlooking discrimination is the bigger problem. Smaller majorities of Asian (66%) and Hispanic (58%) adults say the same, as do 45% of White

adults.

 Partisanship: 80% of Democrats and Democraticleaning independents say

people not seeing racial discrimination where it does exist is the larger issue.

About three-quarters (74%) of Republicans and Republican leaners give the opposite answer.

How views on racial discrimination differ within political parties

Majorities of Republicans across age groups say people seeing racial discrimination where it doesn’t exist is the larger issue. But Republicans ages 50 and older are more likely than those under

50 to say this (78% vs. 68%).

Among Democrats, age differences aren’t as large, but there are differences by race and ethnicity. Hispanic Democrats are the most likely to say people seeing discrimination where it doesn’t exist is the bigger problem. Some 29% say this, compared with 20% of Asian Democrats, 19% of White Democrats and 8% of Black Democrats.

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and the survey methodology.

anti-Black hate violence. This is modern-day lynching, an all-too-common phenomenon produced by a culture in which tolerance of anti-Black

Najee

From 1

I went there to become a pilot. And I’ll never forget, at the age of 15, I took my first tenor saxophone solo in front of an audience. After that, all the girls knew my name, so I didn’t want to fly planes anymore. But on a much more serious note, opportunity just came to me. I had the pleasure of studying at Jazzmobile where I studied with the legendary Jimmy Heath and Frank Foster. And then at the age of 18, I went on my first world tour with a group called Area Code. We toured all over the world performing for the USO for our troops.

I played with the legendary Benny King for a summer before I went on to New York City at Bronx Community College in music. The next year I attended New England Conservatory of Music. I went there until I couldn’t afford to go anymore. And then in ‘83, I came back home to New York and I was fortunate that as soon as I got back, I got hired by Chaka Khan. I signed my first record deal with Capital EMI I records in 86, I think it was 1986. Of my first four albums, two went platinum. All of ‘em had reached gold status. I toured with prince for three years. So I spent a lot of time in the Twin Cities.

I remember walking around in Madrid, Spain recently and I’m in a garage and I hear this music coming across the speakers and I’m like, “That’s me.” So I think it is a universal language. How commerce is

racism is mounting and the commitment to antiracist thinking is weakening. While states like Florida attempt to suppress the history of racist violence and the valuable antiracist lessons to be gleaned from our shared past, white supremacist ideologies continue to circulate, maim, and murder in our present.

going is changing music. I came up through the big record labels, but there was a big downside to that. I’ve made more money leaving the big labels than I have being with them. But I certainly gained a lot of popularity being with them. They had the money to promote worldwide. In my case, that’s how records were sold. We had retail stores back then, and thanks to Michael Jackson, I always give him credit for this, people came back into the record stores in the mid-eighties as a result of the Thriller album being so successful. And of course we had Prince, and others that opened up the market for jazz.

Commerce now is different. Now it’s about social media. It’s about metrics. You no longer sell a million records. You aim for a million streams.

You see? So the income model is quite different.

I came up with Billboard. Your position on Billboard represented your actual hard record sales. So if you sold 500,000 units, billboard reported it. Now Billboard doesn’t really represent what you’re generating in terms of sales.

When you record a record, you want people to hear it. So how we promote and distribute it, is a totally different game now. I encourage artists to be independent. You’re fortunate if you can get with a big label that can obviously do things on a mass scale because they have the money to broaden you, whether it’s a radio or social media or even television.

Television is a powerful medium. I was very fortunate when I first came out. I did a lot of TV on my first albums. I

We cannot sit idly by and “pray” or “hope” that these racist atrocities will stop happening. Our history and this latest attack demonstrate the danger of white supremacy and the existential threat it poses to our future. Neutralizing it requires truthful education, critical thinking about its contemporary manifestations,

was on all the major TV outlets back then. I mean, we had jazz on BET. We had MTV, Europe and Japan. We hadVH1. Those outlets aren’t as readily available for instrumentalists any longer. So I always encourage an artist if they can have a big label, have a big publicist that can get ‘em on television. Yeah, that’s great. Go ahead. But these young folks use social media to give them access to the world. It’s distribution on another level to the world. You’re not limited to a record executive saying, well, we’re only going to release this product here in the United States and maybe six months later we may or may not release it in another territory. Social media, everything is instant. So that creates a whole other profile. And if you’re blessed to catch the viewership, that’s the way of the future. We’re not going back to the old days. Those days are gone, almost dead. So it’s time to move into a whole other thing.

The key is collaboration on every level. I’ve collaborated with many artists over the years on my own records and other records, but moving into the future of commerce, I think collaboration is the way that alleviates the burden of having to come up with a huge sums of money to make music. And the return is bigger because you’re doing it that way.

I decided to start a label two years ago, and we just released our first artist, Ellis Hamilton, a young gifted saxophonist from here in the States. He’s doing extremely well at radio. He’s my first attempt at being a label. And all I can say is I’m so happy

and dedication to multiracial democracy. Yet, it is this precise education that is now branded as “woke,” divisive, and “un-American.” It is not an accident that history is now repeating itself. When we let down the fortifications and pretend the threat is no longer there, or worse still, when we allow efforts to fight racism to

because he was somebody I took a chance on and he was willing to take the bumpy road with me. And he’s doing extremely well right now as a young artist. All

be framed as racism itself, loss of life is not far behind. AAPF condemns the racist murders in Jacksonville, the violent ideologies that motivated them, and the complicity of those who demonize current efforts to confront white supremacy.

the established guys are like, who is this kid? Because he’s blazing the radio charts with his playing and the song he has out.

I think collaboration is really

histories and policies that sustain the genocidal belief that Black lives don’t matter. To honor the victims of anti-Black violence, we must tend to the vital work of rooting out white supremacy from a society that has been too ready to imagine that it is not already there, already violent, in plain sight.

the key to future commerce. It would be great if we could create our own social media platforms that are specifically designed for that.

COVID VACCINE & FLU SHOT CLINIC

Unvaccinated individuals will receive ONE dose of the Bivalent vaccine.

People aged 65 or older can receive a second Bivalent booster at least 4 months after their first Bivalent booster.

Children 6 months - 4 years will receive 3 Bivalent Pfizer doses as part of their 3-dose series.

Individuals who have previously received only ONE dose of the Monovalent vaccine will receive the Bivalent vaccine at least 2 months after their first dose.

COVID Clinic Dates:

July 13 & 27; Aug. 10 & Aug. 24; September 14 & 27; October 12

CAPI IOC

11 am - 3 pm

14 & 27; October 12

Anyone 6 months and older can get a Flu Shot!

English: Any numbers below

Hmong: 612-449-2312

Lao: 612-449-2310

Spanish: 613-930-1395

DAAWADA COVID-19

Daawada afka laga qaato ee ka hortagta fayraska

Daawada KOFID-19 ee kahortagta fayraska waxay ka caawiyaan dadka inay iska caabiyaan jirrooyinka. Paxlovid waxaa loogu talagalay dadka jira 12 sanno iyo ka weyn; molnupiravir waxaa loogu talagalay dadka waaweyn ee

Haddii aad la jirran tahay KOFID-19, daawada ka hortagta fayraska waxay kaa joojin kartaa inaad sii xannuunsato waxayna yaren kartaa muddada aad jirran tahay. Waxa laga yaabaa in aad daawadan hesho haddii afartan shay run yihiin:

Haddii lagaa helay cudurka KOFID-19.

Astaamahaagu bilowdeen wax yar 5 maalmood kahor.

Haddii aad halis ugu jirto KOFID-19 daran iyadoo ugu wacan tahay inaad da’ weyn tahay ama aad

Haddii aan isbitaal laguu dhigin sabab la xiriirta KOFID-19.

Inta badan daawooyinka KOFID-19 waa lacag la’aan laakiin waxaa jiri kara kharash iyo khidmada kale.

•

•

naasnuujinayso

Minnesota Department of Health | health.mn.gov | 625 Robert Street North PO Box 64975, St. Paul, MN 55164-0975 | 651-201-5000 La xiriir health.communications@state.mn.us si aad ugu codsato qaab kale. (Somali) 5/2/2022

The historical importance of August 28th

By Chuck Hobbs

In the annals of modern American history, August 28th has proven time and again to be a critically important date:

August 28, 1955—

Emmitt Till, a 14-year old Chicago boy, was lynched to death in Mississippi by Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam after Bryant’s lying wife, Carolyn, falsely accused the child of whistling at her and grabbing her around the waist. Till’s gruesome death and pictures of his grotesque remains were two of the leading catalysts for what would soon be called the “direct action” phase of the Civil Rights Movement, one in which boycotts, sit-ins, protest marches, and freedom rides would confront systemic racism and racists all across the South.

August 28, 1963

An all star cast of Civil Rights leaders, organized by Bayard Rustin and A. Phillip Randolph, led the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream Speech.” The roster of presenters that day read like a Who’s Who in American history, including HBCU alumni James Farmer (Wiley), Whitney Young (Kentucky State), future Congressman John Lewis (Fisk), Diane Nash Bevel (Fisk), march organizer A. Phillip Randolph (Bethune-Cookman), Gloria Richardson (Howard), Mrs. Medgar (Myrlie) Evers (Alcorn State), Rosa Parks (Alabama State), Bayard Rustin (Wilberforce/Cheyney), Morehouse President Emeritus Benjamin E. Mays (S.C. State) and his prized pupil, Dr. Martin L. King (Morehouse).

August 28, 2008

Then Sen. Barack Hussein

Obama (D-Illinois) became the first Black American to be nominated for president by a major party, the Democratic Party, 15 years ago today! Obama was deemed a longshot when he announced a presidential bid in 2007 that would pit him against the presumptive nominee, then New York Senator (and former First Lady) Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But a few factors fell into Obama’s favor including early endorsements by media

mogul Oprah Winfrey and Carolyn Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of the beloved former President John F. Kennedy, along with his dominant win over Clinton in the early South Carolina Democratic Primary (55 percent to 27 percent)—one that propelled him to a string of historic primary wins that would end with a solid victory over Republican nominee John McCain that November!

August 28, 2018

Then Tallahassee Mayor

Andrew Gillum made history by becoming the first Black American to win a major party nomination for governor in Florida when he bested a crowded field that included presumed front-runner Gwendolyn Graham, a Democratic member of Congress and daughter of beloved formed Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham (D). A graduate of Florida A&M University, Gillum, with the help of his longtime campaign advisor/

manager Sharon LettmanHicks, was first elected to the Tallahassee City Commission at the age of 23 before becoming the city’s third elected leadership mayor in 2014. After completely dominating Republican Gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis in their two televised debates, Gillum came closer than any Democrat since Lawton Chiles (1990-98) to winning the gubernatorial race, losing by only a few percentage points to DeSantis that November.

The Obamas on election night 2008

Josalyn Thomas’ Watch Me Grow

Sharing Our Stories

By: W.D. Foster-Graham Book Review Editor

WATCH ME GROW

By Josalyn Thomas

You guessed it –for most school districts in Minnesota, school is starting, and parents have been out securing the necessary school supplies, clothes, etc. for their children to start off the new school year. Though my son is now an adult, I remember those days well.

After attending the Black Children’s Book Fair recently, it drives home the importance of having BIPOC

children’s books in our personal libraries to augment what our kids are receiving in school, and I look forward to attending more events like it in the future. That being said, it is my pleasure to present the work of another of the remarkable authors who participated in the Fair, Josalyn Thomas’ Watch Me Grow. We watch as a seed grows and is nurtured by water, sun, and loving care. It may grow and bloom into a flower or food such as fruits and vegetables. It supports other forms of life, and it completes the life cycle by returning to the earth where it begins again.

Thomas’ book illustrates the cycle of a seed, and at the same time we see the parallel to this cycle as it manifests in our seeds – our children. They are constantly growing and changing into something new, from babies

to children to adults. With the love, care, and nurturing of us as parents, they will in turn impact and change the world. In essence, they already are. When it comes to writing a children’s book, the collaboration between writer and illustrator is crucial, hence I give a hat tip to Lindsey Bailey, whose illustrations captured the story’s vibrance in her work and her intentionality in showing the various skin tones we represent as BIPOC. As an educator, Thomas has sown delightful seeds with Watch Me Grow, which is available through her website www. expandingmindscc.com.

Thank you, Josalyn, for bringing another literary gift to the garden of the minds of Black children. May they grow into something spectacular!

GLEN DAVID ANDREWS THRILLING NOLA SHOWMAN

JOHN JORGENSON BLUEGRASS BAND SUPERLATIVE GUITAR GENIUS

DENNIS SPEARS: A SOFTER SIDE OF SPEARS SOULFUL SWING & JAZZ

ZACC HARRIS GROUP DEXTEROUS MODERN JAZZ