Local & State

Col. David Hamlar Jr. was promoted to brigadier general on August 18 at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul. Hamlar is the first African American to achieve the rank of brigadier general in the Minnesota National Guard. “Col. Hamlar is not only an extraordinary leader in the Minnesota National Guard, he is an accomplished […]

During the summer of 2008, art would imitate life in New York as Michael Bloomberg implemented a more meticulous and sophisticated method to measure poverty throughout the city’s five boroughs. As such, the poverty rate in New York swelled to 23 percent overnight, and 400,000 New Yorkers joined the ranks of the poor.

Latavia Osgood contributes remarkably strong qualifications to St. Paul’s venerated anti-poverty program Community Action Partnership (CAP), starting with, as you’d expect, the credentials.

You don’t meet LeAndra Estis so much as experience her. The svelte, diminutive dynamo, an enthused conversationalist, arrests your attention, bringing intelligence and passion to bear on whatever subject happens to be at hand.

On Saturday, January 19, Wayman AME Church in North Minneapolis played host to a glorious event that celebrated the 105th birthday of Reverend Noah Spencer Smith. The church was filled with many people of all ages who Smith has touched over the years.

By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Singer-songwriter Ledisi, nationally syndicated radio talk host Warren BallentineWarren Ballentine, and actress Kim Coles were panelists at the half-day United Negro College Fund “Empower Me Tour” stop in Minneapolis October 13 at Dunwoody College of Technology. Each told a packed auditorium of Twin Cities middle- and high-school students how they […]

According to a recent City of Minneapolis press release, the $65 million renovation of 1,303 affordable housing units at the iconic Riverside Plaza is now complete. The renovation is one of the largest U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-supported projects in the country.  An event was held at Riverside Plaza October 10 to celebrate […]

  Dennis Spears, successful local entertainer and beloved mentor to youth on the North Side, attributes much of his life success to a man who loved him unconditionally, taught him patiently, and provided steady examples of good citizenship and integrity in the way he lived his everyday life. This man was Spears’ grandfather, known to most […]

Conclusion of a two-part story By Charles Hallman Staff Writer LGBT people of color often are seen as “double-outsiders” in their respective communities, says the Opportunity Agenda report on LGBT issues and race released in September. The report, “Public Opinion and Discourse on the Intersection of LGBT Issues and Race,” examined current public opinion and how […]

FIRST OF A TWO-PART STORY By Charles Hallman Staff Writer A new report from The Opportunity Agenda points out that favorable public opinion about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people of color is slowly growing among Blacks. The national communications, research and advocacy organization released “Public Opinion and Discourse on the Intersection of LGBT […]

Data released in early September by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reveals that 25.1 percent of African American households were food insecure in 2011. Food insecure households are those that struggle to put food on the table and often don’t know where their next meal will come from. This figure is more than 10 […]