Phillip Turner, Seaman Second Class, is the first Negro service man from Minnesota known to have received the Purple Heart medal during World War II.
Local & State
A space for original local news with an emphasis on stories pertaining to African Americans
Posted inLocal & State
Minnesota transplant recalls segregated Selma
Dr. Hallie Hendrieth-Smith watched the movie Selma with keen interest. She grew up outside of Selma, Alabama, and once lived in the city as a young adult after her family bought a house there that they occupied for many years.
Posted inLocal & State
St. Peter’s AME Church sponsors annual HBCU College Fair
The 2015 Martin Luther King Day HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Fair was held on January 19 at St. Peter’s AME Church in Minneapolis…
Posted inLocal & State
Clothing that makes you ask, ‘Huh?’
What do you do when you want to buy something, but just can’t seem to find it?
Posted inLocal & State
Gordon Park’s Band to Play Matinee Dance
From the MSR Legacy Archives
As part of our celebration over the next several months of our 80 years of continuous publication, the MSR will be republishing notable stories from our extensive archives of more than 4,000 weekly issues of African American news in Minnesota. Many of our readers will be sure to recognize friends, family and neighbors from the distant and not-so-distant past — such as the young band-leader (among many other things) below, as published in the April 23, 1937 edition of the St. Paul Recorder.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Sen. Franken: early childhood ed now a top priority
Despite some critics’ assessment that he wasn’t visible enough, Minnesota U.S. Senator Al Franken says he stayed busy during his first term in Washington…
Posted inLocal & State, News
HN county attorney challenges staff to reduce Black youth incarceration
Taxpayers nationwide pay an estimated $8 to $21 billion each year to keep juveniles in jail according to a December 2014 Justice Policy Institute report, …
Posted inLocal & State
Pioneering woman DJ still fighting for respect
Ann Estis amazes with her ability to prevail. Original sistah soul, you could say, breaking ground to push past and stand as well as, if not better than, a man.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Sexual Violence Center heals wounds of ‘a rape culture’
Small, quaint, intimate, private, relatable — words to describe the space and the open house held by the Sexual Violence Center in North Minneapolis. Annex Teen Clinic, UROC, and the Minneapolis Police Department were all a part of the many groups and organizations that attended this event held January 13.
Posted inLocal & State
Famous Couple Returns Home
Two of the Twin Cities’ most famous theatrical folk returned home to Minneapolis last week.
Posted inLocal & State
Vernon Jordan: Civil Rights Movement was about ‘tearing down walls’
On January 19, the General Mills Foundation and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) partnered once again to cohost the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Council on Black Minnesotans announces ‘aggressive’ agenda during its ‘Day on the Hill’
The Black population in Minnesota has increased by at least six times since the Council on Black Minnesotans (COBM) was founded in 1980.
Posted inEducation, Local & State, News
MPS superintendent bids farewell to all-consuming job
She leaves proud of many achievements as ‘a fierce advocate for children’
Among the “frustrating challenges” she often faced during her nearly five years as Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) superintendent was the unfair “characterization” she received from some in the Black community, says Bernadeia Johnson, who announced her resignation last month. Her last day is January 31.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Reclaim MLK march in St. Paul
Approximately 2,000 people gathered in St. Paul for a four-hour, four-mile Reclaim MLK March as a part of a national day of action taking place in cities across the country.
The march ended with a candlelight vigil for Marcus Golden, who was fatally shot by St. Paul police on January 14.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Mall protester Levy-Pounds vows to fight charges
Bloomington presses ahead with effort to recover ‘lost revenues’
Despite written pleas by local and national elected officials and a petition with over 40,000 signatures against it, the City of Bloomington has announced it will seek “lost revenues” from 10 people associated with last month’s Black Lives Matter Minneapolis demonstration at the Mall of America.
Bloomington City Attorney Sandra Johnson, who filed charges last week, is seeking restitution, including at least $25,000 in police overtime, stated a Black Lives Matter Minneapolis press release last week.
University of St. Thomas Law Professor Nekima Levy-Pounds, one of the 10 persons charged with up to eight misdemeanors, told the audience at the January 15 Council on Black Minnesotans’ (COMB) Day on the Hill in St. Paul, “I was charged…because I have been outspoken against police misconduct [and] police brutality.” She characterized the action as “prosecutorial overreach and misuse of taxpayers’ dollars.”
Levy-Pounds, in a brief MSR interview after her scheduled appearance at St. Paul’s Christ Lutheran Church, said that the charges against her, if she were found guilty, carry a maximum penalty of two years in prison and an $8,000 fine, which “is retaliatory in nature because I have been outspoken in the media about the tactics being used by Johnson and Mall of America.”
Posted inLocal & State
From the MSR Legacy Archives: Juvenile Jive Part 2
What say, swooners and crooners? Well, hep cats, shall we start our weekly debate about those cats that are gruesome and the chicks that rate? Two cats that really rated high Saturday night were Nathan Bonner and Willis Reed who were really digging that jive all right!
Posted inLocal & State, News
Bolder Options connects youth with mentors and fitness
Bolder Options, at 2100 Stevens Avenue South in Minneapolis, has been offering mentoring programs and services to youthful first-time offenders and truant students for more than 20 years. Kari Davis, Bolder Options’ chief operations officer, explained that “We’re an activity-based mentoring program, where we use running, biking and swimming.” She also said that program participants […]
Posted inLocal & State
From the MSR Legacy Archives: Juvenile Jive Part 1
Creep, leap, holler and wail, cause I am about to begin my tale: There was a jump at Banham’s on Friday night and I mean cats were really jumping…well, all night. Some of the fine feminine were Jean Cannon, Sally Williams, Jane House, and many more fine chicks. Also saw Virginia Beasly, who was looking mighty fine — Jack.
Posted inEducation, Local & State
Generation Next’s education data reveal no surprises
We’ve heard it before: Kids of color lag behind Whites When it comes to Generation Next, partnerships and outreach play a key role in their hoped-for success. “We’re kind of an opt-in effort, and the more folks you get to opt-in the greater [our] likelihood [of success is]” said Jerimiah Ellis in a previous MSR […]
Posted inLocal & State, News
St. Paul YWCA director ends 20 years of service
Billy Collins was first male E.D. in St. Paul, second in the nation William “Billy” Collins soon will begin his next phase of life. The longtime YWCA of St. Paul executive director is set to step down in April after 20 years of service. “I want to get away from working 50-60 hours a week,” […]