No. 32
attraction,
By Al Brown Assignment Editor
s we exit Black History Month and enter Women’s History Month, we thank our many readers for sharing these inspiring and educational articles on people, places, and events.
During March, we will profile women of inspiration, courage, and leadership across all walks of life. We kick off our coverage this week with a story about Pan-African solidarity and sisterhood as Somali women showed their support of Angela Davis during the 1970s and MSR Publisher Tracy Wil-
liams-Dillard’s inspiring speech to Stillwater Prison inmates.
The celebration continues on page 2, as we highlight the health advocacy work of Anissa Keys, and Sister Spokesman’s recent event showcasing powerful women in the community.
Readers are encouraged to
submit articles, op-eds or suggestions of women doing notable work in Minnesota that positively impacts many people. Please submit your suggestions to the email below.
Al Brown welcomes reader comments to abrown@spokesman-recorder.com.
Urban League 2024 report highlights progress, persistent challengesBy Stacy Brown NNPA Newswire
he National Urban League has unveiled its highly anticipated 2024 State of Black America Report, a comprehensive benchmark and thought leadership document offering profound insights into racial equality in the United States.
to economic empowerment, National Urban League President Marc Morial emphasized the nuanced progress revealed by the Equality Index. “Civic engagement and health show improvement among African Americans; however, significant work remains in the areas of economics and social justice,” Morial stated.
The Equality Index visually
By Abdi Mohamed Associate Editordecades-old photo of Somali women protesting in Mogadishu for the release of Angela Davis in the United States has long served as a symbol of solidarity for a generation of young Somalis.
Hundreds of women are depicted in the black-and-white photo holding signs reading “liberty” and “innocent.” One
holds a placard with Davis’s arrest photo calling for her freedom. Almost all don white hijabs as they patiently, yet passionately, pose for the timeless photo.
Often shared on International Women’s Day on March 8, many have used the image to capture a sense of Black solidarity, Pan-Africanism, and the fight for global Black liberation.
Asha Noor shared the photo on Twitter in 2018 with the
■ See WOMEN on page 5
By Kimerlie Geraci Contributing Writer
“Giving a voice to the voiceless” was a resonating mantra repeated during the speech given on February 28 by Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (MSR) publisher Tracey Williams-Dillard, before 78 men of color at Stillwater Prison.
The event occurred in a prison gymnasium thoughtfully turned into a Black History Month symposium. It also
featured music, African dance, and drumming by “The Voice of Culture,” a local anti-capitalist Black space for cultural arts and liberation.
As the crowd cheerfully settled in, one of the young vocalists approached the podium. Her tone, pitch, and intensity momentarily seized the room as she tested the microphone with a brief, soul-stirring rendition of the first few lines of the inspirational pop song “Hero.”
Established in 1976 under the visionary leadership of the late Mr. Vernon E. Jordan Jr., the organization’s fifth president, the report remains a cornerstone for understanding the multifaceted challenges faced by Black Americans across crucial domains such as economics, employment, education, health, housing, criminal justice, and civic participation.
This year’s edition continues the tradition of featuring insightful commentary from influential figures in various sectors, providing a comprehensive view of the complexities of the current landscape.
represents how Black Americans fare in economic status, health, education, social justice, and civic engagement compared to their white counterparts, utilizing whites as the benchmark due to historical advantages.
The 2024 Equality Index for Black America stands at 75.7%, indicating that despite notable strides, African Americans still miss approximately 24% of the pie that symbolizes full equality.
“We are in a world of deep attack by an ideological extreme that wants to erase so much of the
Economic empowerment is central to the National Urban League’s mission, and the Equality Index is a powerful tool to measure progress for Black Americans relative to whites.
Attributing the mission’s core
Breaking down the Equality Index, categories include economics, health, education, social justice, and civic engagement. Each category is carefully weighted based on its significance, and nationally representative statistics are employed to calculate sub-indices that capture the relative well-being of African Americans compared to whites. “Civic engagement and health are areas in which
The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder celebrates Women’s History Month by profiling Black women leaders from all walks of life who are making an impact in their communities. All are deserving of recognition and praise. The MSR will continue to profile women leaders throughout the month of March.
In the Black community, those seeking mental health services face barriers of stigma, access, and a lack of diversity among providers. Anissa Keyes has spent over a decade breaking down those barriers, all while supporting Black businesses.
Born and raised in North Minneapolis, Keyes obtained a degree in social work from the University of Minnesota. She went into private practice in 2012. “I really had a heart for serving other people,” she says, stemming from a father with a lifelong struggle with addiction. “I just wanted to support those that were not probably going to make it into traditional services.”
She began by visiting places that served the homeless and chemically dependent, asking to see their clients. “That just really caught fire,” she says. “There were a lot of folks that were like, ‘Absolutely, come and help these clients.’”
Traditional mental health services are held in office spaces with few clinicians and therapists of color. “You’re not going to find Black or brown bodies, disenfranchised communities or ostracized com-
munities coming into spaces like that,” Keyes says. So she met people in community centers, churches, and even their homes while in crisis.
Keyes spent a few years trying to break down stigmas, but most clients she approached made her feel welcomed. “I think people want the support,” she says. “They just maybe want it on their terms in a way that feels like they are considered and a part of the process.”
Arubah Emotional Health typically does a needs assessment and then refers clients to organizations for additional support like medication, life skills, food and housing.
to provide services. Keyes purchased a 5,000-square-foot building on 52nd and Bryant in North Minneapolis.
“It became The Healing Center, which is an integration of traditional outpatient therapy services and indigenous practices all under one roof.” Since the purchase of the building was relatively easy, “it kind of gave me a false sense of security.”
When she looked to purchase the second building, the old Camden Park State Bank building that would become the Northside Epicenter, she says she didn’t think it through completely. She envisioned the 3000-square space on the third floor as Arubah’s headquarters.
As a mother of five children between ages four and 26, she says, “To have a company is one thing; to have land ownership is totally different. That sort of diversifies my ability to be able to leave a legacy for my children.”
scheme beforehand,” she says.
“It came by way of evolution, kind of this organic shift. But it took this pain that drove everybody out and caused me to shift to be able to create the space.”
Including a school offering CNA classes, there are currently six Black womenowned businesses in the building. The service offerings are a plant-based restaurant, an apothecary, and skills to help men gain entry-level employment.
Keye’s continues to plan for the future with a Summerfest featuring a gospel concert, carnival, and literacy event this summer, all happening at the Northside Epicenter.
The murder of George Floyd combined with a pandemic caused Arubah to double its clientele as many people of color were forced to reckon with their need for mental health support. With that growth came the need for more space
But tragically, three months into the contract there was a shooting in the barbershop housed in the building. A 23-year-old man was killed while his two-year-old son was getting his hair cut. The child’s mother was also shot and wounded.
“I don’t think I was focused on the right thing when I initiated the contract,” Keyes says,
but the young man’s death caused her focus to shift. Her realtor told her it would be a good time to back out of the deal considering that she would probably lose tenants for safety concerns. Keyes forged ahead. The restaurant owner who owned the largest space gave his notice the day after she closed on the building. “I’m a believer. It is sort of the core of who I am,” Keyes says. “So, all of this was a part of His plan.
The ever-popular Sister Spokesman kicked off Women’s History Month in style this past Saturday at LifeSource headquarters with a resounding declaration of empowerment and self-worth.
Going strong for more than 15 years now, Sister Spokesman—the vision of Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (MSR)
CEO and Publisher Tracey Williams-Dillard—provides African American women the space to learn, share, laugh, love, and support one another and the needs of the larger community.
The theme for this latest installment of Sister Spokesman was “Strong, Brave, and Unbreakable.” A capacity crowd was treated to fun, prizes, good food, music, and the chance to connect with several outstanding communitybased vendors, including Big Hat Luncheon, Tea With Me, Duka Ya Mama Atieno, NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center, Pink Pearl Bliss Yoni Steam Spa, and Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.
However, the centerpiece of the afternoon was the powerhouse panel made up of Stella Whitney-West, Leticia Alvarez, and Kenya McKnight Ahad.
After a welcome and opening remarks from LifeSource Event Coordinator Celeste Hanson, who spoke to how her agency improves and saves lives through promoting organ, eye, and tissue donation, Williams-
Dillard began the discussion with a heartfelt introduction of panelist Whitney-West, who will soon retire after 17 years as chief executive officer at NorthPoint Health & Wellness.
To have a company is one thing; to have land ownership is totally different. We must inspire hope.
ourselves.
“I look up to you,” said Williams-Dillard while thanking Whitney-West for her legacy and the indelible impact she has made here in the Twin Cities and beyond. Asked to comment on strength in leadership, Whitney-
West conveyed the value of empowering everyone on your team at “all levels of the organization. Everyone is important,” she continued, “not just those at the top. A strong leader must recognize this and always keep the door open for others.”
There was a common thread that appeared in the insightful words of Alvarez and McKnight Ahad, each of whom talked about the strength and courage passed down from their elders. “I stand on the shoulders of others,” explained Alvarez, a student advocate, youth peacemaker, and mentor in the public schools, citing her grandmother Norma Jean Williams and great-grandmother Launa Q. Newman, both MSR royalty. “So, I have some really big shoes to fill.”
Likewise, when recount-
ing the days growing up in her native Kankakee, Illinois, McKnight Ahad, the founder and CEO of the Black Women’s Wealth Alliance (BWWA), fondly spoke about her greatgrandmother Mrs. Tucker, who “raised five generations of kids.”
After recently purchasing Mrs. Tucker’s home back in Kankakee, McKnight Ahad realized just how small the house she spent so much time in actually was and marveled at how her great-grandmother managed to take care of all those youngsters. “She made it work!”
Along those same lines, Whitney-West imparted that men can also play a role in growing strong Black women, noting the immense influence that both her father and the first African American teacher in her Rondo school, Mr. Zach-
I’m confident in that.” At the beginning of the process, the building occupancy was at 95 percent. Within six months of her closing, she lost 65 percent of her tenants. Her response: “We’re filling this with Black businesses then,” she says. “We’re going to ensure that it’s not going to be another liquor store, another check cashing place, more of the same.
“I didn’t have this grand
ary, had on her early life and development.
Each of the panelists took time to address their areas of expertise. In working to provide many health and wellness programs to the community, Whitney-West brought up the idea of servant leadership, of putting your team and the communities you serve first.
This was a moment when McKnight Ahad helped illustrate just how Whitney-West embodies this model of leadership, citing how she leveraged her power to transform the intersection of Plymouth and Penn avenues in North Minneapolis by providing a space for Black-owned businesses to grow and thrive.
For her part, McKnight Ahad, who does similar work by providing incubator space to Black entrepreneurs, talked about the importance of economic empowerment, of “fostering generational wealth” in Black households.”
“We must inspire hope. Normalize ourselves. And invest in our dreams and aspirations,” she said.
One of the funnier moments during the afternoon, of which there were many, came when Alvarez mentioned that her mother (Williams-Dillard) was “the best role model a daughter could ever have.”
Without missing a beat, Williams-Dillard chimed in from her moderator chair, “I didn’t pay her to say that,” eliciting a robust laugh from the audience.
It was also Alvarez who hit the most solemn note of the day when she talked about her work with children in the public schools. “Our babies are hurting,” she said tearfully,
“If I have the leverage and the power and the ownership to shift this community, it can be bigger than just me bringing Arubah here,” she says. “We’re going to drive what that corner is going to look like aesthetically, emotionally…and we’re going to honor Black bodies.”
The Northside Epicenter is located at 705 N. 42nd Ave. in Minneapolis. Abruah-The Healing Center is located at 5201 Bryant Ave. N. in Minneapolis.
Vickie Evans-Nash welcomes reader comments to vnash@ spokesman-recorder.com.
adding that far too often these kids are “not respected, seen, valued or heard.”
Alvarez, at age 33 and with two children of her own, went back to college to earn her degree. She explained that she strives to inspire the children she works with by simply “showing up, speaking the language that they understand, and empowering them to be themselves.
“Be you,” she tells them. “I don’t expect you to be anyone else.”
During the Q & A session, when answering how she assesses her self-worth, Alvarez observed that was easy. “I’m able to see my worth by spending time in spaces with sisters like these,” she stated while nodding to all women and girls in attendance.
Acknowledging the critical and continuing impact of the women on stage, WilliamsDillard closed the discussion by reminding everyone, “When you’re in a position to make a difference, make that difference!”
Join Sister Spokesman on Saturday, April 6, 2024, as the gathering returns to NorthPoint Health & Wellness (1256 Penn Avenue North, Suite 5100) for “Seed, Plant & Harvest.” Together, let’s get an early start on the summer blooming season while learning some of the tricks of the trade from experienced gardeners on how to cultivate and nurture our green thumbs. As always, Sister Spokesman runs from 12 noon to 3 p.m. Visit @SisterSpokesman on Facebook for more details and the latest updates.
Tony Kiene welcomes reader comments at tkiene@spokesman-recorder.com.
The protracted road that led Pat Lund to establish the nonprofit organization Age Well At Home took a lot of twists and turns to be sure.
“My background was in education,” he notes, “where I spent around 10 years or so working in the public school system.”
From there, Lund fell into the nonprofit world “sort of by accident” when he was tapped to direct a painting program for seniors in the area. It was through this experience that Lund decided to launch a program that he aptly named A Brush with Kindness.
This initiative, designed to assist homeowners with repairs, renovations, weatherization services, and other energy-saving tools, immediately caught the attention of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.
“Habitat thought this was a good model for their homebuilding,” explains Lund. “So, they asked me to join them. And I ended up staying there for 20 years.
“The Twin Cities has some of the largest racial gaps in the nation, including homeownership. So, we were working to support homeowners in communities where the need was the greatest—North Minneapolis, Rondo, the East Side of St. Paul.”
The program served single-parent families, older adults, and households struggling financially for one reason or another.
From the beginning, Lund’s vision was to make sure this was a community-wide effort, so A Brush with Kindness partnered with churches, neighborhood organizations, area
businesses, and a dedicated network of volunteers to help preserve homeownership.
The program proved so impactful locally during those early years that International Habitat adopted the same model, and today there are more than 500 separate A Brush with Kindness programs across the United States alone.
Over the years, Lund thought a lot about the aging population, understanding the importance of not only helping seniors keep their homes but also creating an environment that ensures they continue to live safely and comfortably in those homes.
So, while continuing to serve a broad population, there was also the need to tailor a more specific approach that targeted the senior community and its particular needs.
That is how Age Well At Home was born. Created in 2018, the organization was initially absorbed into Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity program offerings. As the program grew, Lund was encouraged to “spin it off” into its own nonprofit, which he did in July of 2022, becoming the new organization’s executive director.
“The Twin Cities has some of the largest racial gaps in the nation, including homeownership.”
As with A Brush with Kindness, Age Well At Home primarily serves households in North and South Minneapolis, on St. Paul’s East Side,
and in the capital city’s historic Rondo neighborhood.
“It feels like a homecoming in that regard,” says Lund, who adds that Age Well At Home also supports some suburban communities that have a significant number of senior homeowners of color.
The issue of safety is front and center at Age Well At Home. “As we get older, it can be difficult to navigate around our homes, both inside and outside,” says Lund. “The goal is to help older adults stay protected and longer in their homes and the communities that they love.
The work that Age Well At Home
performs both on the exterior and interior of homes includes adding enhanced lighting; building accessibility ramps; improving and/or increasing railing along walls and staircases; adding stair lifts to help people move between floors; and lifts that make it easier to sit down in and get out of a chair.
Likewise, bathroom renovations consist of improvements such as affixing grab bars to bathroom walls, installing higher toilets, and adding shower seats and handheld shower heads. And still, there is so much more to the services that Age Well At Home provides. “We repair and replace appliances too,” states Lund. “Number one, it’s a
safety issue. Equally, for example, if a homeowner’s refrigerator or stove is not working properly, they might not get the proper nutrition.”
“I am extremely grateful for the Age Well At Home program,” declared one satisfied client. “It has given my home back to me. I had entertained the option of selling…but these modifications gave me peace of mind. And each person associated with the program that came to my home was professional, helpful, cautious, and had exceptional customer service skills.”
Another thing that distinguishes Age Well At Home is that there is a person-centered, trauma-informed method to the work. “We are much more relational in our approach to service,” asserts Lund.
Age Well At Home also partners with other groups, including North Point Health & Wellness Center and is “laying the groundwork” to foster additional connections to boost the organization’s reach and its impact.
Age Well At Home serves persons 60 years of age and older. However, that doesn’t mean the head of household must be that age. “For instance,” says Lund, “if a younger couple has an older relative living in the home, and they meet the income guidelines for our program, we will provide services to that family.”
For more information about Age Well At Home visit agewellathome.org. To view MSR Publisher and CEO Tracey Williams-Dillard’s recent interview with Pat Lund, check out “Tracey’s Keepin’ it Real” podcast on YouTube at bit.ly/MSRAgeWellAtHome.
Tony Kiene welcomes reader comments at tkiene@spokesman-recorder.com.
Just
The veteran printer supports business owners who share his values of diversity in the workforce, something not seen during the decades he spent working for large companies. “You go into these other printing companies, number one, you ain’t gonna see none of us in management,” he explains.
“There may be exceptions, but generally speaking, you’re only going to see us [working] on the floor.” His management team comprises a Filipino VP of sales, a Native American operations manager, and an African lead graphic designer.
The company’s previous owners had been buying their paper from a St. Paul company.
When Brown saw no diversity in their staff, he asked to talk with the owner to see if it was something he could change.
“They gave me the runaround, so I pulled all of my paper business out of there,”
sota and became active with the DFL party. He helped push ban-the-box legislation, allowing felons to be considered for a job instead of being quickly
needed to go into business for himself.
After buying a Minute Man franchise, he joined the union.
“When I first started, I looked
moving it to a company in Fridley. “There’s no Blackowned paper companies [in Minnesota],” he says. “But if it ain’t owned by us, you better at least be hiring us from the community.”
Brown started in the printing business in 1988 as an accounting clerk. Working at a Seattle, Washington, company allowed him to pay for college and obtain an MBA. He left when he found that there were limited opportunities for advancement for people of color. He landed a job in Albert Lea, Minnesota, with a company printing pull tabs. He eventually moved to the Twin Cities following the sale of that company. He was an organizer for Take Action Minne-
weeded out by checking a box.
After a couple of years, he returned to printing for RR Donnelley, but his activism background only allowed him to stay at the job for a few years. “They had a woman there that had been there for about 25 years, and she was training all of these men on how to run their presses,” he says. “They were paying the men more than they were paying her, which didn’t fit my values.”
People of color were mainly limited to their assembly area.
“A warehouse supervisor walks up to me, and she says, ‘You need to get your monkeys working.’” Though she was reprimanded for the comment, it was just the push Brown
at the union contract, and the lowest wage was eight bucks an hour,” he explains. “I said, I’m not going to pay anybody that low.” He changed his minimum wage to $12 an hour, raising it to $15 when he found it was a livable wage.
“I do hire people with [criminal] records if they qualify for the job,” he says. “Minnesota has the largest disparity in criminal justice. They’re arbitrarily giving people of color these criminal records, and so, as Black-owned businesses, we’ve got to help our people.”
A tour of the facility includes a small museum of printing relics, including an old paper cutter that looks like a guillotine and a machine used to mix ink manually. Compared
with the high-tech machinery he currently uses, it’s easy to see how the printing process has advanced, allowing Brown incredible versatility.
They print signage, banners, postcards, bulk mailing, business cards, envelopes, menus, wallpaper, backlit signs, and print on canvas chairs. There are options to use eco-friendly materials that can be recycled after use. They have machines that print on virtually any surface, including metal and plastic. They print braille, textured photographs, and digital signs.
“We can make any kind of book,” he says, saddle stitched, plastic coil, wire bound, or softbound book, to name a few. They can wrap a bus, semi-truck, or van with signage or logos in their vehicle wrap area.
“Any African American who owns a business is also a leader in their community.”
Though they print for many privately-owned companies, like overflow printing for Ecolab and Cargill, much of their work is for nonprofits, including Take Action Minnesota,
Jewish Community Action, ISAIAH, Emerge, and Twin City Rise. He has faced challenges negotiating with big companies and is just making headway with Target, a relationship he has cultivated for years.
But Brown says this is only the beginning. “We’re in kind of a growth stage,” he says. “Once we’re in a good position, I want to start working with the high schools and getting some intern programs. I think [students from] North High and Patrick Henry…after walking around and seeing a high-tech printing facility, they’ll say, “This ain’t like the old ink and get-dirty kind of stuff.” Since most of the work is digital, he feels it will appeal to the type of work young people seek.
Unlike in Minnesota, Brown’s experience in Seattle was augmented by more solidarity among Black businesses. He talks about business owners’ role in their respective communities.
“As a business owner, I’m a leader in the community,” he says. “Any African American who owns a business is also a leader in their community, and we must ensure that we look out for the community.”
Minuteman Press is at 4024 Washington Ave. No., in Minneapolis. To contact them, call 612870-9008.
Vickie Evans-Nash welcomes reader comments to vnash@ spokesman-recorder.com.
Continued from page 1
circle encompassing the fist, [the current makeshift wooden structure at the intersection]. However, buses will not be stopping at George Floyd Square. “[We’re] trying to respect that situation and not disrupt that area more than we need to,” said Harrington. Buses will make stops at Park and 10th Avenues, several blocks away.
Freeda Williams, a Minneapolis resident who relocated from Florida four years ago, welcomes the change. Williams uses the 23 to get to work and likes it compared to the 21 because she finds
Continued from page 1
caption: “Somali women protesting for the release of black liberation activist, thinker, feminist, and revolutionary Ms. Angela Davis—whenever this photo comes on my timeline, it makes me smile.”
Noor followed with another tweet to share an exchange she had with her mother after she shared the picture. According to Noor, her mother replied to her and said, “Did you think we lived in a bubble? We knew of her and others before her like Malcolm, Rosa, Muhammad Ali, and others back in Somalia, and we rooted for them.”
The photo captures this sense of solidarity for many Somalis in the diaspora, especially in the United States, who have come into an identity outside their national identity. Burhan
Israfael, a community activist in Minneapolis, stated that the photo particularly struck him
Continued from page 1
The event opened with Robert Kendell-Bey, a vibrant crowd-rousing representative from the primarily Black men’s group, providing intrigue and building curious momentum to the entertainment line-up for the morning. He introduced the first speaker of the day, Williams-Dillard.
Her attention-grabbing antidotes and gracious stage presence immediately engaged and comprehensively educated the crowd. She seamlessly wove her family’s third-generation newspaper’s history, trials, and victories while paying homage and honor to her family’s business.
The family lineage started with late grandfather and founder Cecil E. Newman, grandmother Launa Q. Newman, mother Norma Jean Williams, and Williams-Dillard’s current leadership role con-
Continued from page 1
African Americans are doing much better,” Morial noted.
“However, economics and social justice still need plenty of work.”
The report delves into the persistent racial income gap, which has remained virtually unchanged for over two decades. Black Americans earn, on average, 64% of the income of their white counterparts.
“The Civil Rights Act of ‘64, the Voting Rights Act of ‘65, and
it safer, quieter, and more reliable. The 23 also helped her discover and appreciate her adopted hometown.
“It would be great if we could go by [George Floyd Square] for no other reason than to experience history,” said Williams, on her way home from work with a bag of takeout from Ted Cook’s 19th Hole Barbecue.
Jamal Tyus, however, thinks buses should continue detouring around George Floyd Square because of what happened there. “George Floyd got a knee on his neck. That’s the saddest thing to see, [a White police officer] putting a Black man to sleep. White police officers shoot Black people a lot, and they don’t want to take time to see what kind
as a member of the Somali diaspora.
“The picture popped up for me in a specific community of left-leaning people who have always been around and who subscribe to politics about internationalism,” he said. Davis had been arrested in 1970 after being charged with aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder for the death of Judge Harold Haley. Haley had been taken hostage along with a prosecutor and three jurors by 17-year-old Jonathan Jackson in an attempt to free his older brother George, who was on trial as one of the Soledad Brothers. George, along with Fleeta Drumgo and John Clutchette, were dubbed the Soledad Brothers after they were alleged to have murdered John Vincent Mills, a prison guard at Soledad Prison. While they tried to flee, both the Jackson brothers were involved in a shootout with police.
Davis was alleged to have provided the younger Jackson
tinuing a 90-year legacy. She announced, “MSR is one of our country’s oldest Black newspapers, and we proudly recognize this historic occasion on a grand scale with the much anticipated 90 Years of Impact Celebration, happening on Saturday, August 17, 2024.”
of a problem it is. They should keep it blocked off,” said Tyus.
The city plans to rebuild the intersection in the coming years.
Despite the square being open to traffic, George Floyd Square caretakers remain adamant that it remain closed until their 24 demands for justice,
brother with the firearms he used in the attack. After 16 months behind bars, she was released on bail and would later win her case, receiving a not-guilty verdict in 1972.
During her imprisonment, protests such as the one in Somalia took place worldwide, advocating for her freedom and showcasing a sense of global solidarity. Israfael stated that Somalia’s Marxist government at the time of Davis’s incarceration played a role in that sense of solidarity due to Davis’s leftist politics.
“Somalia played a role specifically because of our communist and socialist leanings at the time,” he said.
Safia Farole, an assistant professor in the Department of Politics and Global Studies at Portland State University, made the connection between Davis’s position as a feminist leader in the activist space playing a role in the solidarity she experienced from women worldwide.
“There’s a lot of solidarity, of
developed in August 2020, are met. Though most of the demands have been met, remaining is a call for the firing of the leadership team of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension; requiring law enforcement to maintain liability insurance; and ending qualified immunity and law enforcement indemnity.
These require state action.
On February 29, the Minneapolis City Council voted to amend their legislative agenda to lobby for changes in state law to require police officers to carry professional liability insurance.
But just because the buses will go through 38th and Chicago again doesn’t mean they will continue to do so forever. The city plans to rebuild the
course, among women in different countries,” Farole said. “Figures like Angela Davis were very prominent—Black female civil rights leaders. There’s this transnational connection where women in Africa also see parallels to their struggles.”
“There’s a lot of solidarity, of course, among women in different countries.”
Farole, whose area of expertise falls under African politics, spoke about the coinciding of the Civil Rights Movement with the time in which many
intersection in the coming years to allow for a permanent memorial and will engage the community this spring about how bus service through the square is working.
The change is being made partly because of Metro Transit’s desire to keep buses running on time, given the Hennepin Avenue reconstruction in Uptown that started in February. Other changes to the 23 include:
• Service increased to run every 30 minutes west of 38th Street station, Monday through Saturday
• Service increased to run every 30 minutes between 38th Street station and Becketwood Cooperative, 46th Avenue and 43rd Street, Monday through Friday
African nations were gaining their independence from European nations. She pointed to Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, all left-leaning PanAfrican leaders.
Farole also pointed to the engagement civil rights leaders had with the African continent, such as W.E.B. Du Bois visiting Ghana or Malcolm X’s trip to Egypt. “What better place to look for Black freedom and liberation than in societies where the majority of people are Black?” she noted.
Israfael also pointed to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s trip to Ghana with his wife, Coretta Scott King, to celebrate the country’s independence in 1957. According to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, “His attendance represented an attempt to broaden the scope of the civil rights struggle in the United States on the heels of the successful Montgomery bus boycott.”
• Service reduced to run every 90 minutes east of 38th Street station on Sundays
• Most weekend trips will only go as far as the Becketwood Cooperative, located at 46th Avenue and 43rd Street.
• Most westbound trips to Uptown will continue as Route 612 to Hopkins; conversely, most Route 612 trips from Hopkins will continue as Route 23 and go at least as far as 38th Street station
Route 5 and the D Line will continue to detour around George Floyd Square, stopping at Portland and Park Avenues as they do today.
H. Jiahong Pan welcomes reader comments to hpan@ spokesman-recorder.com.
Israefael stated that the recent depictions of King have created a more neo-liberal image of the civil rights leader devoid of his connection to the continent and his view of America being an imperialist nation.
According to Farole, this history is necessary for African immigrants in the United States to understand, given the struggles they will face under the systems made to curtail Black progress.
“I feel that as African members of the African diaspora in the United States, some of us when we came to this country may not have had full awareness of our role in the United States racial regime,” she said.
Farole stated that the social divisions in African cultures are often along clan lines, but added that once these communities immigrate to the United States they quickly lose those definitions.
Abdi Mohamed welcomes reader comments to amohamed@ spokesman-recorder.com.
“I am not the judge, the jury, or the warden, but if you have a story you want to share, I promise you, I will run it.”
She opened her speech by sharing her grandfather’s initial exposure to racism and unfair business practices, which only propelled his determination and vision. Upon his arrival in Minnesota from Missouri, he faced adversity, receiving a “salt-laced” hamburger as his introductory meal. His dream to create a reliable news source for the community
the Great Society programs in the middle 1960s probably cut the American poverty rate in half in 15 years,” Morial remarked. Civic participation among Black Americans presents a mixed picture, with increased voter registration (69% in 2020) but a decline in actual voter turnout (42.3% in 2022). Assessing President Joe Biden’s performance, the report acknowledges achievements such as a record-low Black unemployment rate and efforts to expand healthcare access and affordable housing for Black Americans. However,
and by the community included building a business from the ground up in the city’s heart, which has become a historic landmark. The positive connections he made and the impactful relationships he developed supported his dream as the MSR newspaper came to fruition in 1934. MSR’s popularity and reputable business practices helped it become an institution. Newman developed close business relationships and friendships with influential decision-makers and civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, with whom he shared a vision of hope that lasted decades. Williams-Dillard spoke
of Newman’s and Humphrey’s reciprocal passion for humanity and how it grew over time, even up to the point when Humphrey ran for the U.S. presidency.
Launa Q. Newman inherited the newspaper after surviving the loss of her late husband in 1976. She also faced adversity and was deeply hurt when she learned of a male-owned competitor who acquired office space in the same building. As he prematurely awaited the presumed demise of her newly acquired “man-less” business, Mrs. Newman proved him and others like him wrong.
She became an unstoppable force as the MSR was now led by a Black woman. The family business baton was later transferred to her only daughter, Norma Jean Williams. Her eclectic studio interview style attracted artists like Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Miles Davis and others. Her natural sense of humor provided a platform for a comedy show, and yes, the paper continued to grow and thrive.
In 2006, Williams-Dillard became the community newspaper’s president and chief executive officer and steadfastly acquired the role of MSR owner, publisher, and CEO.
Williams-Dillard’s public speaking ease and passion for family storytelling illustrate her ability to provide relevant content and capture the attention of her audience as she inspires others to overcome challenges, tests, and trials.
“I do not write speeches in advance. I write by looking into the eyes of my audience, and when I see their attention, I know I am on the right track.”
As the crowd approached a comforting lull, WilliamsDillard turned the focus back to her audience by referencing Kevin Reese, a former inmate who wrote to the MSR. His letter read that the “MSR saved his life, and the publisher encouraged him to submit a letter to the editor, which was published in the paper.”
In 2021, the MSR received
a $5000 business makeover contribution from the Small Business Revolution. She, in turn, offered a similar gift to the Stillwater prison newspaper to amplify the voice of the voiceless.
In concluding her speech, Williams-Dillard reminded the audience, “MSR cares.” She validated that by extending an invitation to “use your words and tell your story.” She assured the audience, “I am not the judge, the jury, or the warden, but if you have a story you want to share, I promise you, I will run it. If you feel we should look into a story, we will.”
The event was hosted by state prison officials, including Captain Bola Olarinde, William Bolin, Stillwater Prison Warden, Charles “Chuck” Berry, Salvation Army chaplain, and four staff members.
Kimerlie Geraci welcomes reader comments to kgeraci@ spokesman-recorder.com.
“Civic engagement and health show improvement among African Americans; however, significant work remains in the areas of economics and social justice.”
it points to political opposition hindering the enactment of key policies, including voting rights and policing reform.
“We are in a world of deep attack by an ideological extreme that wants to erase so much of the Civil Rights Movement,”
said Maya Wiley, President of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and co-author of the study. Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Justice Department, assured, “We’ve been working across
the country to reach underserved communities so that we understand the problems that communities face.”
Despite those challenges, the National Urban League said it remains steadfast in its commitment to closing the racial gap. Morial urged accelerated action, emphasizing unrestricted voting access, economic reforms to address poverty and wealth disparities, and crucial support for children, such as the expired child tax credit that significantly reduced child poverty rates.
He asserted that the 2024 State of Black America Report
serves as a comprehensive call to action, urging the nation to confront systemic challenges hindering Black Americans’ journey toward genuine equality.
“What’s dramatic is that the Civil Rights Act of ‘64, the Voting Rights Act of ‘65, the Great Society programs in the middle 1960s, probably cut the American poverty rate in half in a 15-year period,” Morial said. “So can we? Yes, there are ways.”
Stacy Brown is the NNPA Newswire national senior correspondent.
Robb Armstrong can remember the moment he found out that he was destined to become a syndicated cartoonist. At six years old, after the traumatic loss of his older brother, Billy, Armstrong found himself escaping through the pages of the Philadelphia Bulletin where he enjoyed reading the “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles M. Schulz.
He was always fascinated with the adventures of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts gang, but on July 31, 1968 everything would change for Armstrong and millions of other Black children.
Franklin, the first Black character to appear in the comic strip, appeared on the page. It was at this moment Armstrong’s mother, Dorothy, stated that he would be able to have his own strip.
Twenty years later, Armstrong would be seated in the office of Sarah Gillespie, the managing editor of United Feature Syndicate, to sign a contract for his own comic strip, “Jump Start.” Gillespie also worked with Schulz on “Peanuts” and while she declined to introduce the two, she suggested to Armstrong that he send one of his cartoons to him directly.
It wouldn’t be until several months later that Armstrong was able to meet his hero, but once he stepped into the office, he noticed that Schulz placed the cartoon he sent in a frame right above his drawing table.
Amazed, Armstrong asked Schulz about why he had placed his work in such a spot.
“I said, ‘what’s that doing up there?’ He said, ‘Rob, look, Peanuts, Jumpstart, they’re the same. Your strip has great characters. Just like Peanuts. That’s the whole thing,” he said.
Celebrating the legacy of Franklin Armstrong
Armstrong visited Minnesota on Saturday to discuss the impact that the “Peanuts” character has had on him and his friendship with Schulz, the creator behind the “Peanuts” comic strip. He partook in an event at the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) titled “Franklin: The Legacy of Peanuts’ First Black Character.”
Armstrong was joined on stage by Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communica-
tions for Peanuts Worldwide LLC. Mellisa Menta and Emmy Award winning director Raymond S. Persi who has worked on new “Peanuts’’ specials on Apple TV+ including the recently released “Welcome Home, Franklin.”
In a conversation moderated by Jacob Rorem of the MHS, the three panelists shared their perspectives on how impactful Franklin has been as a character to so many children and adults.
In the opening of the conversation, Armstrong shared the story of how Harriet Glickman, a school teacher and mother, had sent several letters encouraging Schulz to introduce a Black character in his comic strip to help relieve racial tension in the country. Glickman sent her first letter just days after the assisination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. With some convincing, Franklin was born.
“These characters have a lot of depth to them and we wanted to see how far deeper we could go with them.”
Years after they established a relationship, Schulz would approach Armstrong to ask for his blessing on naming Franklin after him.
“He said, ‘have you noticed Franklin doesn’t have a last name?’ I said, ‘no, I’ve never noticed that. I thought Franklin might be his last name, actually.’ [H said] ‘no, that’s his first name. How would you
work of young Black artists who have expressed an interest in pursuing a career in the arts. Menta and her team at Peanuts Worldwide created the Armstrong Project four years ago to make that possible.
“It was why not support students in historically black colleges to give them an edge up in their careers and hopefully proliferate people in the industry of animation and illustration,” Menta said.
The project created two endowments at Howard University and Hampton University to give a scholarship to two students a year and hire them as interns with the company. They also gave them the opportunity to design merchandise depicting Franklin for Target and other retailers.
ed to see how far deeper we could go with them,” he said. “You can’t break these characters. They’re so strong with their personalities and who they are. They’re so human that you can really put them in many different situations that can relate to an audience.”
Persi described the special as a dissertation on friendship that explores how relationships develop in real time and the ups and downs people can experience with one another.
In his approach to developing the project, Persi chose to work with Black artists who could help bring authenticity and a stronger voice to Franklin’s story. He and his team met with artists from across the country to help capture that depth in the character.
“I keep saying, as a director, my job is to kind of tell people what to do, but my job in this case was to listen, a lot,” Persi said. “[Because] a lot of these artists had different opinions and reactions to the script and to see how generationally, there’s different opinions about things and finding a way to speak to everybody, but still tell Franklin’s story.”
Armstrong co-wrote the special with Schulz’s son Craig and his grandson Bryan who have worked to revamp the “Peanuts” franchise on screen. Armstrong described how it was important for them to approach topics surrounding racial issues in a subtextual way. He explained how Schulz was a man aware of the times he was living in and his decision to introduce Franklin on the beach was his way of making a statement.
“In other words, you have to show things and not say things,” he said. “You have to indicate things without pointing fingers. Showing the beach scene, for example. This occurred in the original canon in Schultz’s history of the strip during a time when beaches were segregated.”
Audience reaction
Andre Dillard and Monique Wiley, a couple who share a love of “Peanuts,” stepped out of the event while expressing their excitement over the conversation.
“It was an amazing event and the way he spoke to race and how it proliferates every aspect
of society, including cartoons, reminded me of how and why I loved Franklin since I was five years old,” Wiley stated.
She shared that as a teacher she often references Franklin to her students as a form of representation.
The two donned their custom Peanuts shirts and memorabilia in honor of their first date together.
“I’m Snoopy, she’s Woodstock,” Dillard said. “We started dating and I’m a Peanuts guy. She’s a Peanuts gal. I saw this and I’m like, let me get this made of our first date and our first Christmas together and also her purse.”
Kevin Stockard, an aspiring comic book artist, described how enamored he was with the “Peanuts” cartoon strip as a child. Now in his late 50s, Stockard shared his takeaway from the conversation and hearing Armstrong’s story.
“To believe in yourself and to follow your dreams and to work hard,” he said. “It takes hard work. Talent might be a gift, but it is something that can be developed.”
“Welcome Home, Franklin” is now streaming on Apple TV+.
The Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz exhibit is now on view at the Minnesota Historical Society until June 9. Go to https:// www.mnhs.org/historycenter for more information.
Abdi Mohamed welcomes reader comments at amohamed@ spokesman-recorder.com.
feel if I gave him your last name?’” Armstrong recalled. He was so astonished with the decision that he kept it to himself for over a decade.
One approach to furthering the legacy of Franklin’s character has been to support the
New Franklin Special on Apple TV+
Persi has worked with Apple and WildBrain studios for the past four years to develop projects that harken back to the original specials and tell deeper stories about individual characters.
“These characters have a lot of depth to them and we want-
Housing enforcement: Black mothers want equal dignity from the city ofBy Arianna Anderson & Brianna Lofton
We are Black mothers. One of us has five children, ages two to 21, while the other has four kids under the age of 11. When our rental homes in North Minneapolis became unlivable for our young families, we filed complaint after complaint with the city’s Regulatory Services Department.
Sadly, we both experienced repeat visits from city housing inspectors with no resolutions; each time they found no violations or failed to force our landlords to address and remedy our complaints. They didn’t listen, so we were forced to sue the city.
We are two of 10 plaintiffs whose experiences show that the city fails to enforce its housing codes in North Minneapolis. Our stories are not singular, and we know there are countless more like ours, which is why we are speaking out.
Arianna felt from the beginning that city housing inspectors were on the side of the landlord, going so far as to call him a “super good guy” during one visit. I was certain our Section 8 home had lead paint, but was told no. Later, the city was forced to conduct paint tests, which confirmed my suspicion:
My family was exposed to lead.
We might have been fortunate if lead paint was our only issue, but it was much, much worse. We had electrical issues and broken door knobs.
My son was once stuck in the bathroom for hours and had to be rescued by the Fire Department. A cracked foundation and leaky shower led to water
damage to our walls and ceilings, and invited chronic black mold. As a result, my kids suffered debilitating respiratory issues and asthma attacks.
After years of receiving no help from the city, I took my landlord to Hennepin County Housing Court, and won. Still, my landlord refused to address all of my complaints. As a result, I chose to move. Sadly, our move was complicated by the fact that we were using Section 8 vouchers. Every other Section 8 house on the North Side was just as bad or worse than our rental property. So when the city failed us, we were forced to find a more expensive Section 8 rental in Crystal despite our wish to stay in north Minneapolis.
We know society is immune to the calls of Black women.
Brianna has had a similar experience. Our rental home’s windows were not weatherproofed and the bathroom pipes leaked. Both hazardous issues resulted in water damage and our basement soon became a haven for mold. For months, my refrigerator also ran off an extension cord from another outlet in the kitchen.
First, I contacted my landlord, who was not responsive. Then, I went to the city for help. Despite repeated visits by housing inspectors, the city did nothing to compel my
landlord to fix any of the problems.
In December 2021, after months of inaction, I hired a third-party company to conduct a mold inspection. It came back positive for elevated mold levels. Ultimately, by August 2022 I’d had enough and knew the city was never going to act on my behalf. It was time to find a habitable home to protect my kids and their health.
Unsurprisingly for both of us, our children’s chronic infections, respiratory issues, and open sores were resolved only after we moved. But why did this human rights travesty have to come to this?
The city’s inaction represents a pattern. We know society is immune to the calls of Black women. Our pain is ignored in medical settings. Our Black sons are viewed as older and don’t receive the same grace afforded their white peers. The city represents more of the same. City Hall didn’t listen when we repeatedly called, and it didn’t treat us with the same dignity as our wealthier, white neighbors in other parts of the city.
The North Side represents only 16.7 percent of Minneapolis’ total population, but almost half of the city’s rental housing complaints. Nearly half of Northside households are renters, and among renters, 72 percent are occupied by Black, indigenous, and people of color.
Over a five-year period, from 2018 until 2023, North Minneapolis wards had 4,629 housing complaints. Compared to the three wealthiest wards in South Minneapolis, we had more than nine times the complaints to their 495.
For the three wards that make up South Minneapolis, only 26 percent of households are renters. Of those renters, only 25 percent are BIPOC. And yet, those three wards are provided more housing inspectors than the North Side.
The racial ramifications are clear: If you are a Black tenant in North Minneapolis, you will not receive the same enforcement zeal compared to tenants in other parts of the city. The laws already on the books will mean less for you than they do for other tenants. And that’s why we were forced to sue the city of Minneapolis.
As Black mothers, we simply ask for the same dignity under the law as our white neighbors in South Minneapolis. We hope — for our kids’ sake — that our case will achieve that change.
A space for online reader comments
In response to: “Black cultural center proposed for former Third Precinct site” by H. Jiahong Pan (Feb. 22, 2024 edition)
As a resident of the George Floyd Square area for 30 years
(and a S. Minneapolis resident for over 40 years), this is, hands down, the best idea I’ve seen so far. It’s unique. It’s inclusive. It serves many purposes. I truly don’t understand why people are opposed to this. I hate to sound cliche, but if Minneapolis can come up with money for bike lanes and water fountains, we can certainly come up with
the funds for this. Also, what does the YMCA and Planet Fitness have to do with this? It’s not like a Black Cultural Center would be competition for them. Please do a follow-up article and let people know how we can get involved in getting this idea out to the public and keeping this idea in motion. Thank you.
—Katie HosleyBlack history, women’s history: Septima ClarkBy Marian Wright Edelman
As Black History Month ends and Women’s History Month begins, it’s always a special privilege to honor leaders who overlap in both—Black women who did their part to change American history.
As we approach the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement’s Freedom Summer, one of these leaders to know and honor is Mrs. Septima Clark, the woman Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called the “Mother of the Movement.” Throughout her long life, Mrs. Clark pioneered literacy and citizenship education for Black Americans, including the Citizenship Schools that helped inspire the 1964 Freedom Schools. Readers familiar with Brian Lanker’s marvelous photography collection ”I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America” may remember Mrs. Clark as the proud, strong, and beautiful woman with silver braids whose portrait graced the front cover of the original book and captured her indomitable spirit.
Mrs. Clark was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1898, the second of eight children and the daughter of a formerly enslaved father. She graduated from Avery Normal Institute in 1916 with a teaching certificate, but because the city of Charleston would not hire Black teachers, she found a job in a rural community on Johns Island, South Carolina.
The white teacher in that community had only three students but was paid $85 a month, while the Black school had two teachers for 132 children, and its two Black teachers were paid a combined salary of $60. This was the first of many injustices she encountered throughout her long career, and as time went on, she just started speaking out even when others around her would not. As she put it simply years later: “They were afraid, but I wasn’t.”
In 1919 Mrs. Clark returned to Charleston, where she volunteered for an NAACP petition effort that ultimately changed the local law prohibiting Black teachers. For the next several decades she taught primarily in Charleston and Columbia while continuing her own education in the summers—at Columbia University in New York; at Atlanta University, where W.E.B. DuBois was one of her professors; at Benedict College, where she finally received a bachelor’s degree; and at Hampton Institute, where she earned her master’s.
But after 40 years her career as a South Carolina public school teacher came to an abrupt halt in 1956 when the state legislature ruled that state employees could not belong to the NAACP. Mrs. Clark refused to resign or lie about
her membership and was dismissed. Mrs. Clark signed her name to a letter to 726 other Black teachers asking them to protest the law, but only 11 of them agreed to attend a meeting with her and the superintendent, and on the day of the meeting only four showed up.
She later said that effort was the big failure of her life, and she believed it failed because she tried to push the other teachers into something they weren’t ready for. The lesson she learned was that people needed to be trained first so that they would be prepared to act—and the trainings she went on to develop helped shape the course of the Civil Rights Movement.
Mrs. Clark had already attended several meetings at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, the legendary grassroots education center devoted to social justice. In the summer of 1955, she led a workshop at Highlander on developing leadership whose participants included a shy, quiet NAACP member from Montgomery,
“I think the Civil Rights Movement would never have taken off if some women hadn’t started to speak up.”
Alabama, Rosa Parks. After Mrs. Clark was fired from her teaching job, Highlander’s extraordinary director, Myles Horton, invited her to be Highlander’s full-time director of workshops, where she pioneered innovative programs that combined literacy education for adults with citizenship and voter education.
When the state of Tennessee forced Highlander to close in 1961, Mrs. Clark continued the same work as director of education and teaching for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)’s new Citizen Education Program.
Her workshops formed the basis for the Citizenship School movement she helped establish across the South.
In addition to teaching basic reading skills using familiar materials like the Sears catalog and covering practical topics like how to write checks, these “schools” taught basic civics and citizenship rights and focused on the arcane voting requirements specific to each local community that were being used to disenfranchise Black voters. Fannie Lou Hamer was among the local leaders who volunteered.
Mrs. Clark eventually helped establish and recruit and train teachers for hundreds of Citizenship Schools. “They were in people’s kitchens, in beauty parlors, and under trees in the summertime. I went all over the South, some-
times visiting three Citizenship Schools in one day… One time I heard Andy Young say that the Citizenship Schools were the base on which the whole Civil Rights Movement was built. And that’s probably very much true.”
Rosa Parks also said that while she may have sat down once, Mrs. Clark kept on working and building. “I am always very respectful and very much in awe of the presence of Septima Clark because her life story makes the effort that I have made very minute. I only hope that there is a possible chance that some of her great courage and dignity and wisdom has rubbed off on me.”
As a woman in the movement, Mrs. Clark said she felt the men around her often did not do a good job of listening to or including her or other women. Yet she observed that it was largely women who got things done.
“In stories about the Civil Rights Movement you hear mostly about the Black ministers. But if you talk to the women who were there, you’ll hear another story. I think the Civil Rights Movement would never have taken off if some women hadn’t started to speak up.”
Even later in life, Mrs. Clark was never hesitant to speak up. One of the injustices after her 1956 firing was that South Carolina refused to pay the pension she had earned for her 40 years of teaching or the pay she would have earned in the few years before her retirement if she had not been dismissed. She did not give up on fighting for those wrongs to be righted, and in 1976 the governor reinstated her pension. Five years later the legislature approved paying her back pay.
Although her signature accomplishment may be the programs she established for Black adults, she never lost her original and enduring passion for educating children. During “retirement” in her 70s she became the first Black woman elected to the Charleston School Board.
Near the end of her life, she said, “Education is my big priority right now. I want people to see children as human beings and not to think of the money that it costs nor to think of the amount of time that it will take, but to think of the lives that can be developed into Americans who will redeem the soul of America and will really make America a great country.”
This Women’s History Month, let’s continue to honor Septima Clark’s history-making legacy by making her priority our own.
Marian Wright Edelman, is founder and president emerita of Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), and has been an advocate for disadvantaged Americans for her entire professional life.
Iman Mohamoud is in her second year as an English teacher at Eden Prairie High School. Things had been relatively fine for her at the high school up until a few months ago in late November when she began to have unwanted encounters with an individual she believed to be a law enforcement officer.
One afternoon, during her lunch break, Mohamoud says she found herself blocked in by a vehicle that was parked directly behind her. She got out of her car and approached the man in the marked car. He then attempted to ask her who she was and why she was on school property.
Mohamoud refused to give her name, but stated that she did indeed work at the school. Worried that she’d be late coming back from her lunch break, she exited the conversation causing the officer to drive away.
Mohamoud would continue to see this officer in his vehicle
timidate me and scare me at this point. It’s the same question,” she said. “I’m answering them calmly, respectfully. I still don’t tell him my name. That’s why I’m kind of frustrated. I tell him, ‘you stopped me a couple months ago.’”
“I’m asking the board to protect its teachers, students, and staff by ensuring this officer will not be on campus moving forward.”
She explains that the man in question acknowledged to her that he had spoken to her some time ago and had asked the same questions.
The situation caused Mohamoud to burst into tears as
“young” Mohamoud looked.
In the days following, Mohamoud worked to have a meeting with the school’s principal or any other administrator or district representative, but was unsuccessful in those attempts.
“Then Monday comes around and then the superintendent has this genius idea of sitting me with the very principal who couldn’t even meet with me, as well as leaders of the police department,” she said.
Mohamoud shared that she made it clear with her union representative that she wanted to meet directly with the principal before sitting down with anyone else. Her friends, advisors, and lawyer all shared that they disagreed with this proposed approach by the district.
She felt unheard even with her union representative who questioned what else Mohamoud could have wanted. “She’s telling me the school can’t tell police officers to not be on school grounds and I’m telling her that that’s not what I’m
many times over the course of several months as he drove near the school. She stated that she knew the school’s resource officers and was well aware that this man was not one of them.
On Feb. 8, Mohamoud would have another encounter with the officer, now identified as a civilian member of the Eden Prairie Police Department. She recalled how this officer blared his siren at her to gain her attention while cutting off her path as she walked toward the school.
“He’s really just trying to in-
she walked away. She made her way toward the principal’s office in search of support, but was only able to connect with the school secretary. While they spoke, Mohamoud noticed that the person of her concern had entered the school building after her.
The secretary left Mohamoud in the office to speak with him who continued to ask about her status of employment with the school. The secretary confirmed Mohamoud’s employment, leading the person to then comment on how
asking for,” Mohamoud said.
“The school has a responsibility to keep me safe. I can tell this one specific officer that’s approached me twice now and followed me into the school to stop doing this.”
At the time of this writing, Mohamoud had only received email correspondence with her administrators about their conversations and dialogue with the police department and no word of any formal inquiry into the behavior of the officer in question.
On Monday Feb. 28, Mohamoud
Aesha Mohamed, also a friend of Mohamoud, shared her thoughts on the school board’s lack of response to Mohamoud’s statement.
“I feel like the way they acted tonight was just very poor. They didn’t show any concern,” she said. She’s literally nervous. She’s scared because of what happened. She doesn’t feel safe and they’re just like time’s up. When she’s not done speaking. It’s extremely dismissive.”
The district shared the following statement about the situation on Friday.
took matters into her own hands and approached the school board directly. She attended a school board meeting surrounded by friends, family, and colleagues and gave a statement about her experience of alleged harassment over the past few months. She was given only three minutes to share her story.
“In the past few months, I have been subject to harassment. Racial discrimination and unwarranted surveillance by a police officer. The response from my high school and district has left me feeling unsafe and absolutely terrified
to come to work,” she stated at the meeting. “I’m asking the board to protect its teachers, students, and staff by ensuring this officer will not be on campus moving forward.”
Kosar Abdi, a friend of Mohamoud’s, attended the school board meeting and was surprised by the handling of Mohamoud’s situation.
“I was just shocked at the lack of response, because I’m like, at least acknowledge, like, she doesn’t feel safe at her place of employment,” she said. “It’s already hard enough working in this environment. Why not try to support them?”
“We are aware of the concerns raised and have taken steps to address them. Unfortunately, we are limited in the information we can share without a signed release from Iman. If she were to provide that, we would be happy to discuss this in more detail.”
Upon inquiry about the officer and his alleged harassment of Mohamoud, Joyce Lorenz, communications manager for the city of Eden Prairie, shared a statement over email. “I can confirm we are investigating a complaint made against a civilian member of the Police Department. The investigation is still in progress and is expected to be concluded in the near future,” she said.
Abdi Mohamed welcomes reader comments to amohamed@ spokesman-recorder.com.
Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties, specifically the Energy Conservation department, is soliciting a Call for Contractors; we are looking for Roofing Contractors to partner with us in weatherizing low-income homes in Ramsey, Washington, and Anoka counties. Contractors will need to perform roof repairs, roof replacements, and other allowable and applicable measures.
Contractors must be fully licensed and insured. CAPRW encourages all minority/women-owned business enterprises to apply. The Call for Contractors will remain open to the public so long as work is needed.
Please call Seth Johnson at 651-444-5134 or email sjohnson@caprw.org.
Principal IT Business Systems Analyst - Sales Enablement, Medtronic, Inc., Mounds View, MN. Req. at min. Bachelors’ degree or equivalent* in Computer Info. Syst., Software Eng., Computer Science, IT Syst., or related degree plus five (5) yrs. progressively responsible exp. as Salesforce administrator or related occupation in Salesforce admin. *Equivalent: Employer will accept a post-secondary diploma/degree in CIS, Software Eng., Computer Science, IT Systems, or related degree in lieu of a Bachelor’s degree. Must possess at min. five (5) years’ exp. w/ each of the following: administration on Salesforce platform; devel. custom objects, workflows, validation rules, process flows, & Apex triggers; Data model for Sales Cloud and Service Cloud of Salesforce; SOQL Database; BI Analytics for report and dashboarding needs; Syst. implementation and SDLC; work with different access control features of salesforce including profiles, permission set, roles, sharing rules, and sharing settings. Salesforce Certified Administrator certification is required. Relocation assistance not available for this position. Apply at https://jobs.medtronic.com/, Req. #240002KT. No agencies or phone calls. Medtronic is an equal opportunity employer committed to cultural diversity in the workplace. All individuals are encouraged to apply.
Sr. Process Engineer, Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN. Multiple positions available. Req. Masters’ degree in Industrial, Mechanical or Biomedical eng. or related eng. field and 2 yrs. exp. as a process engr or related occupation providing process design & devlmpt; or Bachelor’s degree & 5 yrs. exp. Must possess a min. of 2 yrs. exp. with each of the following: ISO13485 and cGMP; Process and Product development lifecycle; DOE, QSR, and IQ/ OQ/PQ; PFMEA and PFMECA; SPC principles and Minitab; Microsoft Project; Lean and Six Sigma practices to include DMAIC process, root cause analysis, 5S, scrap reduction, and yield improvements; and CAPA. Position open to telecommuting from anywhere in the U.S. Apply at https://jobs.medtronic.com/, Req. #240002KY. No agencies or phone calls. Medtronic is an equal opportunity employer committed to cultural diversity in the workplace. All individuals are encouraged to apply.
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Sunrise, September 14, 1941—Sunset, February 28, 2024
Continued from page 10
coaching staff wants to come back next year, so that’s positive.
“I’m really excited for 202425,” admitted Woldeslassie, who completed his sixth season as Scots HC, the longest tenured Black basketball coach in the MIAC. This season started off on an exciting high with junior guard Caleb Williams lighting up host Minnesota with 41 points in an exhibition game at The Barn last November. However, injuries to key play-
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Continued from page 10
week’s tournament. “I think it’s good to see Black and brown faces in our positions,” she noted. “I believe it’s super important” for Black and POC youth in attendance at the games to see her and other Black coaches in action, she said.
“If there’s something that
ers such as 6-7 junior forward Badou Ba (out all season) and sophomore 6-5 power forward Noah Shannon, who missed most of the season after winter break, were perhaps too much for the Scots to overcome.
“It was a roller coaster year,” added Woldeslassie. The ’23-24 season highlights include watching the growth of 6-6 junior forward Armando Akapo-Nwagbo, who was pressed into service because of Ba’s absence. “Armando just physically couldn’t play as many minutes as he wanted,” contin-
they want to do in the future, I feel this is great because they see it right up front, up close,” said Smith. Conference officials predict that more than 109,000 fans will attend the five-day event, scheduled for March 6-10 at the downtown basketball arena. It is hopeful that this number will also include Black fans. Porter has a large family and many friends who are expected
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ued Woldeslassie. “We had a freshman center who just wasn’t quite ready to play extended minutes.”
But with Akapo-Nwagbo expected to return next year more experienced, as well as a healthy Ba, this may explain Woldeslassie’s optimism for next season. “I feel like we could go from one of the more undersized teams this year to next year being one of the bigger teams,” stated the coach.
Williams, who finished second in league scoring (20 points a game), is slated to graduate in May and plans to transfer, perhaps to a larger
to be there, as well as Holloway’s folk and supporters.
“Growing up, Niamya didn’t get the opportunity to see Black and brown girls on the court,” noted her mother Nolana Holloway. Having the tourney in town is an added bonus for many reasons, she added.
“You have to have money to be able to travel” to attend out-of-town tournaments, she pointed out. “It’s important for
school, to finish his collegiate career. He made all-MIAC for the third straight season, as did his teammate Coby Gold, who averaged 15.2 points this season.
“Caleb definitely got a lot of national publicity from scoring 41 [points],” said Woldeslassie on the 6-2 shooting guard. His performance against the Gophers “just showed these really good Division III players are just as good as some of those Division I players,” said the coach. Woldeslassie and his staff soon will be back at work preparing for next season. “I’ll go to the coaches clinics,” he said.
people to see that we [Black people] show up” for such bigscale sporting events.
The Terrell Battle family and friends also will be there to see his daughter Amaya this week, and his son Jamison when he comes to town in another week—he plays for Ohio State.
“There’s a lot of young ladies and young men who never got a chance to experience what a real college tournament is like,”
“I’ll work a few camps. Do a lot of film evaluation. Talk to our players about watching [March Madness games] and learn from that, whether it’s Division I, II, III.
said Terrell. “Being here opens it up for people to come and experience this.”
Minnesota Sports and Events (MSE) are the local co-organizer of both Big Ten tournaments. “There’s so much going on downtown for everyone,” said Andrea Graham, the tourney’s co-executive director.
“All the ancillary events are free and open to the public.”
“Yes, the games are impor-
“Our goal is to be there someday.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.
tant,” said MSE President/CEO Wendy Blackshaw. “But what’s more important is what we can give back to the community.”
Go to spokesman-recorder. com for our continuous coverage of the Big Ten WBB Tournament and ancillary events.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.
arch Madness is now underway. This time of year is also when teams and coaches, especially those that didn’t make postseason play, do their introspection on the season just completed.
Abe Woldeslassie’s March schedule includes attending the Division III championship game and networking with other coaches at the DI Final Four among other things. His Macalester Scots team won its final game of the season, a 79-65 win over Augsburg Feb-
“It was a roller coaster year.”
ruary 17. They finished 10-15, 6-14 in the MIAC. The Mac head coach said he will also devote time for introspection on a season that was promising at the start but didn’t pan out as originally planned. “As a coach, every year you got to look at what we could have done better,” he told the MSR last week. “Whether it’s practice time or in-game management, things like that. The whole
■ See SADNESS on page 9
he national spotlight is now on downtown Minneapolis, where the first of two conference postseason tournaments begins this week. Unlike many who might argue otherwise, the first-ever sellout of the Big 10 WBB postseason tournament is much more than Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.
There are six Minnesotaborn Black players on Big Ten rosters who also are participating this week out of 73 Black players total:
ILL – Adelia McKenzie (Park Center), 5-10 junior guard –scored at least 10 points 16
times this season
NEB – Kendall Coley (Minneapolis), 6-2 junior guard/forward – 2.3 ppg WIS – Ronnie Porter (St. Paul), 5-4 soph guard – 10.1 ppg, 4.3 asst, 5.8 rpg
“I think it’s good to see Black and brown faces in our positions.”
MIN – Amaya Battle (Hopkins), 5-11 soph guard – 11.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg; Niamya Holloway (Eden Prairie), 6-0 redshirt frosh – 3.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg; Kennedy Klick (Brooklyn Park), 5-11 frosh guard – injured, out for season. Wisconsin 6-4 soph forward
The Summit League postseason tournament starts this week (March 8-12) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. All nine schools are participating, including St. Thomas (UST), now in its third season in the Summit League.
Both the Tommies men and women teams will play this Sunday at the same site.
The UST women were picked eighth out of nine teams in the preseason poll; they will play No. 4 South Dakota on Sunday as the No. 5 seed. The men were picked fourth in the same preseason poll (they are seeded fourth and will play No. 5 North Dakota State Sunday evening).
“There’s a lot of parity… I think anybody has a chance to win,” said MBB Coach Johnny Tauer on his team’s 19-12 overall record (9-7 in league play).
After last Saturday’s regular season finale, an 83-56 home win over Denver, the longtime Tommies coach told the MSR, “I think going into a tournament you don’t want to have a different mindset, knowing that
the season is on the line. But it’s a one-and-done situation— you got to be able to adapt and respond.”
Soph Kendall Blue (Woodbury), senior Courtney Brown, Jr. (Cottage Grove), soph Ahjany Lee (Byron, MN), and graduate student Raheem Anthony (Chicago) are the UST Black players.
“Kendall is just such a cerebral player,” explained Tauer of the 6-6 Blue (10.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg). On the 6-4 Anthony (12.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg), he added, “Raheem is just so versatile. He’s
one of the most explosive players in college basketball.”
The Tommies women also won their regular season finale, a 79-68 road victory. They go into Sunday’s game with a 1515 overall mark.
“We’re still working on the little adjustments that need to be made,” observed UST Coach Ruth Sinn. “All those little things that’s got to be consistent every single time…I think that’s the next step for us.”
“They’re very physical. Everybody can shoot. Every team has their own unique style of play.”
Jade Hill (Minneapolis) and Angelina Hammond (Hopkins) are the Tommies’ Black players.
“I would just say everybody in this conference has high IQs,” said the 5-11 Hammond (4.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg), who played at Minnesota last season and is a
graduate transfer this season. “They’re very physical. Everybody can shoot. Every team has their own unique style of play.”
Added the 5-7 Hill (13.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg), “Everyone wants to win just like any other conference, and they gonna put their ‘A’ game out there to do that, and I like that.”
An HBCU rebranding
The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) announced last week that beginning in July, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ (NAIA) only Black conference will be rebranded as The HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC).
The current GCAC has 13 members in eight states and one U.S. territory: Dillard (La.) University, Fisk (Tenn.) University, Oakwood (AL) University, Philander Smith (Ark.) University, Rust (Miss.) College, Stillman (AL) College, Southern University at New Orleans (La.), Talladega (AL) College, Tougaloo (Miss.) College, University of Virgin Islands (VI), Voorhees (SC) University, Wilberforce (OH) University, and Wiley (TX) University.
Dr. Kiki Baker Barnes is the only Black woman commissioner in the NAIA. She became the first Black woman to lead the GCAC in 2022.
The conference’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments were held at Stillman College Feb, 28-March 3.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.
Serah Williams leads the Badgers in scoring and rebounding. She had 30 points in a Feb. 20 win at Minnesota. Her teammate Porter is second on the team in scoring, leads her
squad in assists, and is second in the Big Ten in steals.
“Ronnie is my dog,” said Williams as she spoke of Porter.
“We both are competitive. It’s just a really good balance.”
The Badgers and Minnesota are the conference’s youngest squads. Wisconsin Coach Marisa Moseley, one of two Black HC in the league, told us, “We knew that it was going to be a process throughout the season, and for us to be playing some of our best basketball here towards the end, I think that is what you’re looking for.”
Northwestern Associate HC
Tangela Smith is among the 29 Black assistant coaches in this
he Minneapolis Washburn Millers defeated the St. Paul Central Minutemen 77-73 to win the Twin Cities boys’ basketball championship last Saturday at Central High School.
The game featured two of the metro area’s top players in Washburn’s and Colorado State commit Kyle Jorgensen, who led the winners with 24 points, and Central’s Allan Lankfard Jr., who finished with a game-high 25. Blake Bergen added 21 points and Cooper Carlson 16 for the Millers. Eli Moseman had 21 points for the Minutemen, and Von-
tae Lewis chipped in 14. Scott Howell (Central) and Myles Sheppard (Washburn) are the teams’ head coaches.
Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader comments at mcdeezy05@gmail.com.
