Local & State

Last month, St. Paul’s Progressive Baptist Church (PBC) sent approximately 70 youth on a tour to visit seven Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the South.

In the name of solidarity, the NAACP national office, the NAACP Minneapolis chapter, along with Black Lives Matters Minneapolis and other community organizations and members, came together Friday, November 20, to honor the memory of Jamar Clark and all victims of police violence.

As a response to U. S. Census Data and analysis of the data by the Star Tribune and the Minnesota Population Center, which showed a recent and significant drop in household income for Black Minnesotans as one of many statistics, Congressman Keith Ellison organized a community meeting to address related economic issues.

The cry for answers from community members has only intensified in light of the announcement Tuesday that police shooting victim Jamar Clark has died.

On November 16, at around 5 pm, organizers of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis rallied at the Fourth Precinct to protest the police killing of Jamar Clark. Protesters marched, until they reached 94 West and blocked traffic, where some were pulled from the protest line and arrested. There was a total of 51 arrests, including two journalists. Everyone was booked and released within hours after the demonstration.

On November 7 Patrick Henry High School invited 100 Black men to take part in their second “100 Black Men Strong” event, featuring keynote speaker Toki Wright.

On Thursday, November 5, the St Paul chapter of the NAACP celebrated its 102nd anniversary with the annual freedom banquet held at the InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront Hotel (formerly the Crown Plaza Hotel).

More than 100 people attended a vigil for the late 32-year-old Henry McCabe at Rush Lake on Saturday morning, November 7. The atmosphere was somber as they cried, hugged, and consoled his widow, Kareen McCabe.

The proposed University of Minnesota’s Athletes Village will be the school’s first new sports facilities development in over three decades. The University Board of Regents last month approved the $190 million plan, which includes three new buildings: an academic, leadership and nutrition center; a football development center, and a basketball development center.

Metropolitan Council officials are optimistic that the estimated $1 billion Metro Blue Line Extension (Bottineau) light rail transit project is becoming much closer to realizing its anticipated 2018 construction start date.

In the spirit of Nellie Stone-Johnson, the late local African American union and civil rights activist, the NAACP Minneapolis branch kicked off its first official event Friday, October 30 taking aim at the ills of the criminal justice system as they affect Black women.
The event, entitled “Black Women, Policing and Mass Incarceration,” took place at the Women’s Club of Minneapolis and featured Kemba Smith, a former incarcerated person, who chronicled her transformation from college student to federal prisoner in the memoir ‘Poster Child: The Kemba Smith Story.’

The MSR has published two previous stories on a community-wide search for a Mounds View man, Henry Tobee McCabe, reported missing by his family on September 7. The recent discovery of a body has brought the search to a close, as it has been determined to be that of the missing man.

The best way to teach youngsters is to simply help them learn, an abiding principle at Above the E.D.G.E. (Excel Dreams Goals and Education). Accordingly, founding CEO Quadree “Coach Q” Drakeford also is an enthused proponent of helping youth by empowering them to help themselves.

Two University of Minnesota graduate students arrested and jailed earlier this year for a protest on campus are facing additional sanctions. Rahsaan Mahadeo and David Melendez are two of 13 students arrested, jailed and sanctioned by the school’s Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity after they took part in a protest at Morrill Hall in February.