By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Jeffry Martin became St. Paul NAACP president in January. “My vision for the St. Paul NAACP is right in line with the national vision,” said Martin last week in an interview with the MSR. “I think we have to get people within our community to see the NAACP as being […]
MSR News Online
Reach the MSR staff at msrnewsonline@spokesman-recorder.com.
Posted inOpinion
It’s time to quit “waitin’ on Roosevelt”
“The pot was empty,/ The cupboard was bare./I said, Papa,/What’s the matter here?/I’m waitin’ on Roosevelt, son,/ Roosevelt, Roosevelt,/Waitin’ on Roosevelt, son./ The rent was due,/ And the lights was out./ I said, Tell me, Mama,/ What’s it all about?/ We’re waitin’ on Roosevelt, son,/ Roosevelt, Roosevelt,/ Just waitin’ on Roosevelt./ Sister got sick/ And […]
Posted inOpinion
Mpls Civil Rights case backlog eliminated — by shredding
Last week’s column reported three Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) personnel who have emerged as heroes in exposing serious ongoing ethical and illegal MDCR breaches. This week, a fourth: Ronald G. Brandon, former chief supervisor of the MDCR Investigative Unit. His ouster from the department and City of Minneapolis came after his expressions of […]
Posted inOpinion
Black comics are an usher’s nightmare
In my mild-mannered secret identity, I usher for a great metropolitan theater establishment. Step in a phone booth and emerge as a nondescript, nattily attired entity who, when you’re downtown Minneapolis in the Orpheum, State or Pantages Theatre venues, shows you to your seat, where the restroom is, the bar, generally facilitating your enjoyment of […]
Posted inArts + Culture, News
Jazz needs fresh artists, new music to move the art forward
Trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Nicholas Payton’s new mixtape, Bitches, features guest vocalists Cassandra Wilson and Esperanza Spalding. -Photo by Michael Wilson Check it out! The Pace Report: Revive Da Live Big Band with Nicolas Payton and Talib Kweli: watch?v=E89SKng9-Es Jazz has never known a time quite like this. Much has changed. Much has stayed the […]
Posted inArts + Culture, News
This Week’s Spotlights March 24-30
Dancer’s Studio 1508 University Ave. W., St. Paul Sat., Mar. 26, 7 pm (VIP reception at 6 pm): “Living as Light” Fundraising Gala Benefiting One Way Up Prison Ministry With performances by Shelia Raye Charles, Cherelle, Kevin L., Jubilee, St. Paul Saintz and the Bluprint Silent auction at VIP reception Tickets are $65 in advance […]
Posted inArts + Culture, News
Documentary details plight of Colombians of African descent
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Uprooted shows single mother Noris in the shanties of her refugee camp in Colombia. -Photo courtesy of Juan Mejia Botero A film about the terrible plight of Afro-Colombians caught in the middle of the Colombian civil war recently was aired as part of the third season of PBS’ AfroPoP: The […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Job Corps alumnus now works for civil rights
“Job Corps saved my life — I was a knucklehead.” So says Johnnie Burns, assistant director in the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights. He’s in charge of the Contract Compliance Unit, supervising six people whose work ensures that, in employment contracting, there is city ordinance compliance with affirmative action, civil rights and non-discrimination policies. “The […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Positive steps taken toward a new North High
Dear MPS Partners and Friends, I am incredibly proud and deeply enthused by the partnership that has been cultivated between the community and the district in our first steps to realizing a new North High School. I continue to hear from those in the community that we all have engaged in a transparent process that […]
Posted inSports
Cast your vote for the 2011 NBA MVP
It’s always been about team and winning as far as I’m concerned, and basketball, remember, can play only five guys at one time. But a dominant team leader can take you a long way. The last two years, the NBA’s MVP has been LeBron James. He was the man in Cleveland, as you know; however, […]
Posted inSports
Student-athletes’ grad rates is the perennial untold story
Perhaps the best storyline not being discussed or written about during this year’s NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournament is this: Do these players graduate? This is “the elephant in the living room” or TEIR question that hoops fans and pundits annually ignore or simply won’t ask. The mainstream print media has been “shockingly quiet” […]
Posted inSports
Stars shine at Girl’s State Basketball Tournament
Brianna Williams Nia Coffey The girls’ basketball state tournament was certainly one to remember. BRIANNA WILLIAMS, NIA COFFEY, SYDNEY COFFEY, EBONY LIVINGSTON, MIKAALA SHACKLEFORD, TT STARKS, JULIA WEIMER and GRACIA HUTSON led Hopkins past Eden Prairie, led by AUBREY DAVIS, JACKIE JOHNSON, SHAYNE MULLANEY and MORGAN VAN RIPER-ROSE, 67-45 for the Class 4A crown. DeLaSalle […]
Posted inSports
Girls’ State Basketball Tournament one of the best ever
LISA LISSIMORE, former St. Paul Central, Grand View (IA) and Gopher hoopster, did a magnificent job directing the Minnesota Girls’ Basketball Tournament last weekend. Among her able assistants were LINDA ROBERTS, FELICIA FULLER and SHLYNN HAYES. JIM ROBINSON, supervisor of officials, had former University of Minnesota women’s basketball standout CRYSTAL FLINT as the referee in […]
Posted inNews
Green jobs? Say what?
News Analysis By Donavee Chappell Contributing Writer We have been bombarded with the word “green” for a number of years and told this is where things are going. We have been urged to become aware of the concept and get involved in the “green economy.” Okay then, what is “green,” and what does that have […]
Posted inNews
Women hardhats: Construction’s not just for guys anymore
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer (l-r) Tesa Johnson, Michelle Miller and Tanessa Greene -Photo by Charles Hallman Michelle Miller once drove large vehicles in Iraq for two years. Now the Minneapolis resident looks forward to handling similar large construction equipment here in the Twin Cities soon. Miller is one of 11 females in a 70-student […]
Posted inNews
Director confident CBM is taking care of business
Conclusion of a two-part story By Charles Hallman Staff Writer CBM Executive Director Lester Collins – MSR file photo The Council on Black Minnesotans (CBM), like most state-funded agencies, is subject to regular auditing by the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA). According to the OLA, the council has been audited four times since […]
Posted inNews
Pondering the pharaohs of ancient Egypt
By James L. Stroud, Jr. Contributing Writer A child views the simulated remains of King Tut through a glass case at the Science Museum. -Photos by James L. Stroud, Jr. On February 18, the Science Museum of Minnesota opened the exhibit “Tutankhamen: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs,” which runs until September 5. Over […]
Posted inOpinion
Addressing the literacy gap in the Black community
”In the end, there is no program or policy that can substitute for a mother or father who will attend those parent/teacher conferences, or help with homework after dinner, or turn off the TV, put away the video games, and read to their child.” — President Barack Obama, address to Joint Session of Congress, February […]
Posted inOpinion
This column continues my five-year investigative reporting of a city government that stands for itself, not its citizens. This government, the City of Minneapolis, continually makes reports with false and erroneous information about its compliance to the general pubic, to the State of Minnesota, and to the federal government, and treats whistleblowers with intimidation and […]
Posted inOpinion
Propaganda war divides those of us who work for a living
Whether we are aware of it or not, most of us hold values and ideas that are in direct contradiction of where we stand in society, and some of us oppose ourselves. This irrationality is a direct result of the propaganda war that has been launched against the U.S. working class. In losing this war […]