January 7, 2013, St. Paul, MN — Over 1,400 individuals, corporations and foundations donated $359,000 by December 30, 2012 to Penumbra Theatre Company. The Penumbra Summer Institute, a nationally recognized three-year arts education and leadership training program, was not impacted by the fall suspension and continues as scheduled. Due to an income shortfall in August, […]
January 2013
Posted inNews
Black History Month Calendar of Events
Black History Month Calendar of Events Through Wed., Feb. 6 Thursday, January 31 6:30-7:30 pm — My Soul Looks Back, Sumner Library, 611 Van White Mem. Blvd., Minneapolis Celebrate Black History Month with songs, poetry and stories that give voice to the journeys and contributions of African Americans in American history. All ages welcome. […]
Posted inNews, Opinion
Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation
This January 1 marked the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The original purpose for the document core to President Abraham Lincoln’s presidency may have been to free slaves, or it may have been solely a strategic move to decimate the Confederate troops’ stronghold in the South and win the Civil War. Its purpose was […]
Posted inResources
Purchase a 2014 Minnesota Black History Calendar
Click the image above to email us your calendar request, or email billing@spokesman-recorder.com for information.
Posted inNews
Obama presidency gives African Americans hope for ‘a more perfect union’
By Vickie Evans-Nash Editor-in-Chief WASHINGTON, D.C. — Over 800,000 people were in attendance on the National Mall for the 2013 presidential inauguration. Though the crowd may not have equaled the size of the 2009 gathering, this second presidential inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama demonstrated Americans’ enthusiasm for his presidency. What was a significant event for […]
Posted inNews
Inaugural evoked spirit of ‘We the people’ joined in common cause
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer WASHINGTON, D.C. – Barack Obama, who became the third consecutive U.S. president to deliver a second Inauguration Address, told the nation Monday that it is up to all of us to “act in our time” to move this country forward. “We cannot afford delay and substitute spectacle for politics, and […]
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MLK Day march covered broad spectrum of human-rights issues
By Jerry Freeman MSR Senior Editor Over 100 people braved below-zero temperatures Monday, Jan. 21, to march in the Second Annual MLK, Jr. March for Jobs, Justice and Housing organized by Occupy the Hood MN. The march’s aim was to honor the human rights legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Participants took to the […]
Posted inNews
‘Fierce urgency’ stressed at MLK Breakfast
Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund, told nearly 2,000 people attending the 23rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast January 21, “We need to wake up.” Specifically, she urged the sold-out audience at the Minneapolis Convention Center and the live TV audience watching on TPT (Twin Cities Public […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Second Chance advocates ‘make some noise’ on the Hill
When Sarah Walker first lobbied the Minnesota Legislature on behalf of former offenders, she didn’t see it going over very well. “The first time I organized this, I was concerned that this would be received very poorly,” recalls Walker, the COO of 180 Degrees, Inc. But as a result, over 50 organizations formed the Minnesota […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Ten steps to setting an example for 2013: Modeling is the key!
Welcome to 2013 — the holidays have come to a close. Congratulations for making it to another new year. Many of you have set New Year’s resolutions. Some of you want to lose weight. Some of you want to drink less alcohol. Some of you want to stop smoking. Some of you want to go […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
More than ever, we need to resurrect the spiritual teachings of our Ancestors
“We are in trouble as a People” is a statement that I hear many times over the course of a week from people in the community, both younger and older. I hear stories from children who tell of the painful experience of being isolated from their biological parents, children who have been abandoned by their […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
The power of informational interviews
As a career changer, I can say that I owe much of my career transition success to informational interviewing. An informational interview is a meeting in which a job seeker asks for career and industry advice rather than employment. The job seeker uses the interview to gather information on the field and to find employment […]
Posted inArts + Culture
This week’s Entertainment spotlights
Aida Through Sun., Jan. 27, 7:30 pm Pantages Theatre 710 Hennepin Ave., Mpls. www.hennepintheatretrust.org/ Aida is a contemporary spin on Giuseppe Verdi’s grand opera about love and hate, slavery and freedom, war and peace. It stars Austene Van and Jared Oxborough as lovers Aida and Radames, along with T. Mychael Rambo, Ben Bakken, Cat Brindisi, […]
Posted inArts + Culture, Television
Don’t fall for the ‘deception’: Lack of Blacks on TV still a ‘scandal’
Meagan Good (Deception) and Kerry Washington (Scandal) are two Black women who are starring in their respective prime-time dramas. LL Cool J co-stars in another network series. And Jada Pinkett Smith was executive producer and star of her own series on cable for three love webseasons.
Posted inOpinion
Sports Authority Legislative Report, with Unequal Equity Plan, sent to legislature
It is an unintended but very real sad irony of history that on the birth date of Martin Luther King, Jr., January 15, the Vikings, the NFL, and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) sent its first annual report to the state legislature carrying the message that there may be some room in the People’s […]
Posted inOpinion
Election fraud: Why it didn’t work this time
As Inauguration Day for President Barack Obama neared, it was hard not to recall the voter fraud of 2000 and 2004 that outright stole the elections of those for George W. Bush. BBC investigative journalist Greg Palast proved that George’s brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris and Florida Elections Unit […]
Posted inOpinion
The N-word unchained: Film controversy calls for some education
By Charles W. Davidson Guest Commentator By now, movie-goers across the country are embroiled in heavy social media discussions or water-cooler arguments about Quentin Tarantino’s use and Spike Lee’s criticism of said use of the infamous N-Word in the blockbuster hit Django Unchained. There are those who believe that the word is grossly overused in […]
Posted inOpinion
Letter to the Editor: Honoring our community leaders
I am honoring the late Evelyn Eubanks as my local hero. For those of you who never had the opportunity to meet this dedicated leader, you missed out on a great thing. Evelyn was a tireless activist in the education of our children. She was the founder of the Minneapolis Parents’ Union and a former […]
Posted inSports
Rooney Rule misnamed — should be called Rooney Ruse
The NFL’s Rooney Rule that mandates teams looking for a new head coach to interview at least one Black candidate today resembles a Peanuts comic strip. Team general managers and owners are like Lucy holding the football, and Black coaches are Charlie Browns watching head-coaching jobs perennially snatched from beneath them under the guise of […]