They have done it again: The one percent, the power structure, the ruling class, take your pick, has used their media to distract us from yet another of their attempts to enrich themselves and their kind. This time it’s disingenuously named Health Care Reform or the Affordable Care Act, which will bring neither reform nor […]
MSR News Online
Reach the MSR staff at msrnewsonline@spokesman-recorder.com.
Posted inOpinion
Another child’s death spreads fear and dismay
When five-year-old Nizzel Anthony George’s mother laid him down to sleep Tuesday night, June 26, she assumed that her child, her “hero,” as she called him, would enjoy his sleep and have the pleasant dreams of a five-year-old child. Instead, a waking nightmare: “Shot in his sleep, North Side boy dies” (Star Tribune headline, June […]
Posted inOpinion
Pat Boone: cultural hate from the man who ‘Whitewashed’ Black music
By Eric Grimsrud Guest Commentator You have all probably noticed the advertisements recently shown in Montana in which Pat Boone, one of my generation’s popular singers in the 1950s, has been “educating” that same generation — who are now senior citizens — concerning threats posed by President Obama and Sen. Tester to our Medicare system. […]
Posted inOpinion
To The Editor: Saunders elected first Black president of AFSCME
The NAACP congratulates Lee Saunders on his election to serve as the new president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Saunders is the first African American president in AFSCME’s history. “For his entire career, Lee Saunders has been a staunch defender of workers’ rights and civil rights,” stated NAACP President […]
Posted inNews
Step Up prepares eighth-grade boys for success in high school
The second annual Northwest Suburban Integration School District (NWSISD) Step-Up Summit for eighth-grade boys was held June 18-22, 2012 at the University of St. Thomas downtown Minneapolis campus. Approximately 45 students from five NWSISD member districts attended the summit. The intensive educational experience helped prepare participants for high school by focusing on four key educational […]
Posted inArts + Culture
From romance reader to best-selling author
Brenda Jackson writes the diversity-filled novels she always wanted to read By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Nora Roberts is known worldwide for her romance novels, but among Black romance lovers, so is Brenda Jackson, who has written over 90 books since 1995. “My 100th book will be out next year,” says Jackson, who spoke recently […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Insurance exchange a step toward health equity for all
In the United States and here in Minnesota, your health, and your ability to get health care or health insurance, has a lot to do with who you are. A report released last year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), a part of the U.S. Public Health Service, put numbers to what […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Preeclampsia: Black women at high risk for serious pregnancy complication
By Monyette Wells Contributing Writer First published July 6, 2005 Preeclampsia is a complex disorder that can be fatal to an expectant mother and her child if it goes untreated. Also known as toxemia, preeclampsia is a condition that causes a pregnant woman’s blood vessels to constrict, which leads to fluid leaking into the tissues. […]
Posted inNews
Students of color now the majority at MCTC
By Vickie Evans-Nash Contributing Writer Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) has one of the most racially diverse college campuses in the state of Minnesota. Unlike students at many other colleges and universities across the state that tend to attract a more elite student body, faculty members describe their students as “eager to learn.” […]
Posted inNews
Townsend and his new film get warm Mpls reception
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Although his three-decades résumé as an actor, director and producer is more well known, an overlooked aspect of Robert Townsend’s multitalented career is his love for kids — and grownups too. “He cares about people,” said Wesley Smith of Townsend, who was in the Twin Cities last week for a […]
Posted inNews
Under new leadership, Sabathani Community Center battles Southside poverty
By Robin James Contributing Writer Rev. Stanley King and other people of vision who helped found Sabathani Community Center 46 years ago could not have foreseen that the longtime community service nonprofit would someday become the thriving and vital organization that it is today. Sabathani’s grassroots efforts and vision have for nearly half a century […]
Posted inNews
President Smith extends MAD DADS’ outreach
News Analysis By Dwight Hobbes Contributing Writer MAD DADS National President VJ Smith has ramped things up considerably for the community-based activist organization, effecting a vital means of checking in with the public via expanded media outreach. Modestly, but nonetheless successfully, he has strengthened MAD DADS’ local profile, accessing community cable television and establishing a […]
Posted inSports
Concern grows over long-term effects of football head injuries
Thomas Darden is among more than 2,000 former players who are suing the National Football League, arguing that the league concealed information from them about football-related injuries and long-term brain damage. We are slowly learning that playing football can be dangerous to one’s health. At least three former pro players’ deaths, all ruled suicides, may […]
Posted inSports
Tiger Woods passes Jack Nicklaus!
It’s no secret that Tiger Woods, the first and only billionaire athlete, is arguably the best player in golf history. There have been many great players over the many years: Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, and of course the record book of golf, Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus (The Golden […]
Posted inSports
Youth Day held at U of M
LINDA ROBERTS, director of special events/outreach for University of Minnesota athletics, helped coordinate the football team’s annual Youth Day Out at TCF Bank Stadium last Thursday afternoon. Nearly 200 Twin Cities youngsters, ages 9-14, participated in football drills with Gophers players and received pep talks from Head Coach JERRY KILL […]
Posted inSports
Many pay tribute to ‘Mayor of North Minneapolis’
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Keith Davis was a living example of someone who learned from one generation and gladly shared it with the next generation. He died June 19, only a month and two days after his 57th birthday. Not a pew was empty last Saturday as the community crammed the sanctuary of New […]
Posted inNews
Summer Spots: Extended Entertainment Calendar
The Music • The Brick 111 5th St. N., Mpls., 612-333-3422 or www.thebrickmn.com Tue, Aug 7, 9 pm: Chiddy Bang Tickets are $22 in advance and $25 the day of show. • Bryant Square Park 3101 Bryant Ave. S., Mpls., 612-230-6484 or www.mplsmusicandmovies.com Tues., Jul. 17, 6:30 pm: Capri Big Band This event is free. […]
Posted inNews
Dis-membering Stonewall
LGBTQ mainstream White-washes people of color out of historical 1969 rebellion “By institutionalizing memory, resisting the onset of oblivion, recalling the memory of tragedy that for long years remained hidden or unrecognized and by assigning its proper place in the human conscience, we respond to our duty to remember.” — UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura Friday, […]
Posted inNews
From KMOJ to BET: Local radio personality steps into national TV spotlight
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Miss Georgia entertains her on-air radio audience every midday at KMOJ-FM. She recently took her local celebrity status to the Big Apple as a guest judge on BET’s 106 & Park show. Georgia Ellyse, a St. Paul native, appeared on the cable network’s June 8 broadcast as one of three […]
Posted inArts + Culture
Ravi Coltrane’s Blue Note debut arrives right on time
Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Ravi Coltrane’s debut recording for Blue Note Records, Spirit Fiction, was released on June 19. I believe that’s cause for celebration. You may recall reading the news about Coltrane’s historic Blue Note signing in a previous James on Jazz column. We also profiled Coltrane in a 2008 interview with the MSR. […]