“In my mind I see a line, and over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line, but I can’t seem to get there no how. I can’t seem to get over that line.” — Harriet Tubman, quoted by Viola […]
MSR News Online
Reach the MSR staff at msrnewsonline@spokesman-recorder.com.
Posted inOpinion
Will Metro Transit address racial disparities in fare evasion?
On a very cold day near the end of winter in Saint Paul, a low-income woman of color on her way to work races across the street on Dale and University to catch the light rail while pushing a stroller with her seven-month-old daughter in it. If she does not catch this train she will […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Engage other Black men and boys to pledge violence-free lives
The BeMore Campaign knows that Black M.E.N. C.A.N be the solution. BeMore has become the front runners in increasing healthy, nonviolent relationships, decreasing teen dating violence, and engaging men and young men to end violence against women and girls inside of homes and in communities around the world. The pledge goes hand in hand with three […]
Posted inBulletin
Apply for a Puckett Scholarship-University of Minnesota
On behalf of the Office for Equity and Diversity at the University of Minnesota, we’d like to draw your attention to the online application for our Puckett Scholarship. The Puckett Scholars Program was created in 1994 by Kirby and Tonya Puckett to provide scholarships for incoming first-year students from Minnesota. Any high school senior from […]
Posted inGo Green
Minnesotans favor funding to increase statewide access to healthy food
A majority (72 percent) of Minnesotans would be likely to choose healthier food if more options were available in their communities, according to a poll conducted by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Nearly 63 percent of respondents also think the state of Minnesota should appropriate funding to increase that access. According to the […]
Posted inOpinion
Why I organize
A biweekly column in which various contributors from both sides of prison walls explore common ground for effecting change. I organize because I have to. I organize because I believe that we are much more powerful together than we can ever be apart. I organize because I believe that individual power can change a moment, […]
Posted inNews
‘Mrs. Tough Love’ honored as Excellent Educator
On a weekly basis each Wednesday, teachers across Minnesota are nominated as “Excellent Educators.” In early February, Loretta Hall of Best Academy was nominated by a coworker. Hall was surprised February 10 in her classroom in front of her students by WCCO News cameras and crew. Best Academy staff and Hall’s students knew she would […]
Posted inBulletin
Give your kidneys a free checkup for National Kidney Month
Free Kidney Screening Offered by the National Kidney Foundation Over 26 million Americans have kidney disease and most don’t know it. A quick screening from the National Kidney Foundation can help assess your kidney health. March is National Kidney Month and the National Kidney Foundation is urging all Americans to assess their risk for kidney […]
Posted inNews
Critics of GOP healthcare plan respond to CBO report
Criticism mounted against the American Health Care Act — the Republicans’ new healthcare plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, upon the March 13 release of the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) report assessing the proposal. The CBO report estimated that enacting the American Health Care Act would reduce federal deficits by […]
Posted inOpinion
Is race a factor in U of M expulsions?
The office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action at the U of M refuses to answer these questions: The E.O.A.A. office decides whether to review a case and the level of punishment given, if any, based on “the probability of the accused reoffending.” How then is this determined? If you have 1000 young male students […]
Posted inBulletin
COUNTRY Financial scholarships available as part of Money Smart Essay Contest
In support of financial literacy initiatives, COUNTRY Financial® has partnered with Minnesota Council on Economic Education to present the Money Smart Teen Essay Contest. April is financial literacy month and Money Smart Week will take place across the nation to help consumers better manage their personal finances. Students in the Twin Cities area (Hennepin and […]
Posted inOpinion
Repeat offense: private prisons resurrection represents pay-to-play
“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” — Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian Novelist, The House of the Dead, 1862 Twenty-four hours after the election of Donald Trump as this nation’s 45th president, the stock prices of privately run prisons in this country soared. And this reversal of fortune came […]
Posted inOpinion
Another audit of the People’ Stadium authority
It’s about time. The meeting of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority’s Board on Friday, February 24, ushered in a new regime change, as Former Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz was announced to be the Authority’s new Chair. This change came as no surprise to any who have followed our coverage of the Authority (see list below […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Learning and training are central to Community-University clinic
“Our model is how to do teaming together across different services to better serve people,” said Colleen McDonald Doiuf, current CEO of the Community University Health Care Center (CUHCC). CUHCC is a federally qualified healthcare center that is also a part of the University of Minnesota. “We have been around for 50 years,” McDonald Doiuf […]
Posted inBulletin
AARP opposes ‘special interest’ health care bill
Legislation would weaken Medicare, hike insurance premiums on those who can least afford it, and give tax breaks to big drug companies Washington, DC — In a statement today AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond announced AARP’s opposition to the House plan that would make harmful changes to our current health care system such as […]
Posted inSister Spokesman
Sister Spokesman helps bring awareness to domestic violence
“Don’t be ashamed to get help… We in the Black community have come a long way. We’re OK at getting help now.” Those were the encouraging words of Junauld Braddock-Presley, director of Residential Services at Tubman Family Crisis and Support Services at Sister Spokesman’s “Domestic Violence: Don’t Be Blinded” event, Saturday, March 4. Attendees met at […]
Posted inOpinion
Beating addiction at an early age
At just 18 years old, Miles Tidd found himself heavily addicted to the prescription drug Xanax. He was buying it off the streets, taking large amounts, and day after day enduring painful drug hangovers. One morning last spring, he woke up and knew it was time to do something to get control of his life. […]
Posted inOpinion
Is American fragile, or just in fear?
As Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in 1933, “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.” This is our eighth column on Donald Trump since March 9, 2016 (see a list at our blog entry of November 8, 2016), as we join in the national past time of trying to understand the man who challenged us with […]
Posted inObituaries
Myrrhene D. Crawford
April 1932 — February 18, 2017 Crawford died peacefully, surrounded by her loving family, on February 18, 2017. She was born April 1932 in St. Paul, Minnesota to Theodore (Ted) Allen and Ermine Hall Allen and was the granddaughter of Minnesota civil rights leader Stephen Edward Hall. She attended Hill Elementary School and the Lindsey School for the Physically Handicapped […]