Next week, the City of Minneapolis will have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to provide more jobs and career options for people of color in Minneapolis now and for the next 30 years. Minneapolis has the worst employment disparities by race of any major city, meaning that White people are three-and-a-half times more likely to be employed […]
MSR News Online
Reach the MSR staff at msrnewsonline@spokesman-recorder.com.
Posted inNews
In the mix on media day
Students hone interview skills on Lynx players, coaches By Charles Hallman Staff Writer It can be a whirlwind experience for novices who attend such events as a pro or college team’s media day, where every player and coach is made available for interviews and photos. However, the 10 high school students from FAIR School Downtown […]
Posted inNews
Ad campaign highlights achievement gap
By James L. Stroud, Jr. Contributing Writer In April 2012, the Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Foundation for Children (RKMC) unveiled a public service campaign aimed at bringing more attention to the Black-White educational achievement gap problem in Minnesota and a focus on solutions that have worked towards closing it. The campaign has included skyway […]
Posted inNews
Payday lending called exploitation
By Dwight Hobbes Contributing Writer Minnesota watchdogs are barking about what they assert to be “predatory” payday lending. A payday loan is a small, short-term, loan secured against a customer’s next paycheck. Upwards of 250 groups are accusing the banking system of exploitation, claiming U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and other institutions are exploiting this tough […]
Posted inNews
Gopher AD departs with ‘no alibis, no regrets’
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer When Joel Maturi steps down next month to become a special assistant to the school president, he will leave a collegiate athletic environment that is markedly different than it was a decade ago when he was hired as the University of Minnesota’s first athletic director of the newly merged men’s […]
Posted inNews
Knuckleheads deserve love too
Corny as it might sound, some people are just born to give. They have a big hearts that way, and a big heart appears to be what draws Kelechi Javaaid to work with youngsters. “Kids,” he says, “need a role model. They need somebody to kind of give them some wits about life. It’s a […]
Posted inArts + Culture
Summer Jazz festivals blend new and old school talents and genres
The summer festival season is upon us. Would you believe there is a complete listing for over 175 festivals? Yes, folks, it’s the truth. Just take a look at the 2012 May issue of DownBeat magazine. Both fans and musicians are gearing up for globetrotting around the festival circuit. If you plan on staying close […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Supportive family and community instill ‘can do’ attitude in banking leader
Federal Reserve VP works to increase economic growth for marginalized communities Dorothy Bridges, senior vice president responsible for community development and outreach at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, thought life was good in New Orleans in the 1950s and ’60s. She doesn’t recall noticing what others clearly saw as the poverty that existed inside […]
Posted inOpinion
The Hunger Games’ young racist fans
There’s a frenzy surrounding the blockbuster film and book The Hunger Games. But the fan attention around the movie has taken a decidedly different turn from the fervor the book caused. The schism originates from the difference between reading — where one’s visual images of characters can be both personal and individual — and watching […]
Posted inGo Green, News
Financial Remix: Encouraging the real ‘American Dream’
The term “American Dream” was invented in 1931 by writer and historian James Truslow Adams. He coined the term in his novel The Epic of America where he states, “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according […]
Posted inArts + Culture, News, Opinion
Story potential of Hurricane Katrina squandered in first season of Treme
Treme Season One (HBO-DVD) could’ve been worse and should’ve been better. The first season, anyway. Even with Khandi Alexander (The Corner, NewsRadio, Sugar Hill) Wendell Pierce (The Wire, B.B. King and I) and Clarke Peters (The Wire, Legacy) starring. Treme is filmed as documentation of and in homage to those in New Orleans who […]
Posted inSports
Without trying, Robinson left unforgettable legacy
STACY ROBINSON, who starred at St. Paul Central and went on to play wide receiver for the New York Giants, passed away last week after a courageous battle with cancer. He was 50. Robinson spent six years with the Giants as a wide receiver and earned two Super Bowl rings after an All-America career at […]
Posted inSports
More than ever, all-Black sports radio’s time has come
A Spanish all-sports station may soon debut in New York City. Yet there’s still not an all-Black sports radio station anywhere in this country, neither on terrestrial regular radio nor on the nation’s only satellite radio service, SiriusXM. Before the FCC approved the Sirius-XM merger in 2008, we were told that new channels for underserved communities […]
Posted inOpinion
Coordinated attack underway to suppress the Black vote
NAACP launches campaign to counter new voting restrictions By Marvin Randolph Guest Commentator The 2008 U.S. presidential election brought us not only an historic election, but also record participation of minority voters. More than two million more African American voters and an additional two million more Latino voters cast ballots than had done so in […]
Posted inSports
It all started with Dave Winfield
Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Twin Cities’ two cities, are very close in population and size and just 15 minutes apart. One is known for being the place to be, where most everything goes on; the other is the Capital city where all the state-wide decisions are made. Minneapolis has the Vikings-Twins-Timberwolves-University of Minnesota and […]
Posted inSports
Vikings stadium should require Community Benefits Agreement
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Editor’s note: The Minnesota Legislature last week approved a Minnesota Vikings stadium bill. The team agreed to pay 49 percent ($477 million) of the building costs, but the City of Minneapolis ($150 million) and the State ($348 million) will be responsible for the rest. This week we are re-running a […]
Posted inOpinion
Our Vikings appear to be saved
But did legislators still leave the exit door to L.A. open? Because of our decade of columns and solution papers on saving the Vikings, especially in the last two years, I have received calls saying my column was instrumental in helping change anti-stadium votes to pro-stadium. Who can say? We are pleased the House and […]
Posted inOpinion
Letter to the editor: Mrs. Dunning still ‘crying out for my grands’
The following is an update from Mrs. Dorothy Dunning, the African American grandmother in Mississippi who is appealing a Minnesota decision that allowed a White Minnesota family to adopt her grandchildren. Much of her struggle involves bureaucratic negotiations between Minnesota and Mississippi human services agencies. I have recently found out that due to the story […]
Posted inOpinion
Money, power, respect: Part 1, the money
Part one of three-part column Bullets in search of flesh and bone burst forth from a semi-automatic pistol, cracking the silence of the night air. Zipping to their tragic destination, the bullets leave in their wake piercing screams and chaos and a lingering whisper: money, power, respect. Much of the violence in the community stems […]
Posted inArts + Culture, News, Opinion
I Will Follow: little-known film gem from a Black woman director
By Dwight Hobbes Contributing Writer A problem with living in a small market, especially if you happen to be a movie nut, is that many flicks, even those with major stars, don’t make it here to the Twin Cities. There just aren’t enough theaters, not even with the multiplex venues. And, of course, there are […]