Local & State

John J. Henry — no, not the steel drivin’ man of historic lore — has a fascinating line of work. He’s an inventor, president and CEO of Innervision.

Can the current U.S. criminal justice system be reformed? This and other questions were recently discussed at a half-day forum at St. Paul’s Metropolitan State University. No easy answers were forthcoming.

“Forty-seven thousand Minnesotans don’t have the right to vote. They’re tax-paying citizens who have served their time, and they’re out. They’re in our community, they own property. They run businesses. They’re part of our community. And they’re denied the right to vote on Election Day, but they have to pay taxes.”

A forum on addressing how to better educate Black children is scheduled for April 20 in North Minneapolis. BEST Academy Founder and CEO Eric Mahmoud is the expected keynote speaker at “The Education of Our Children in the 21st Century” at BEST Academy, located in the former Lincoln Middle School building on 2131 12th Avenue North. The free public event from six to nine pm is sponsored by the Sankofa Series, a local grassroots organization.

While officers voiced opinions of the lack of respect by young citizens of the Twin Cities, teens voiced similar frustration with their peers. Young men and women spoke up about being stereotyped and falsely profiled.

Seward Coop founded their first store in 1972 on Franklin Avenue in South Minneapolis. In their long history, much like many of the Minnesota food coops, very few people of color, including African Americans, have worked in their stores as managers. Currently, after over 40-plus years, Seward Coop has hired Raynardo Williams, a 35-year-old African American born and raised in St. Paul, to manage their second location, which is under construction on 38th Street across from Sabathani Community Center in South Minneapolis.

The struggle for democracy by Blacks for most of this country’s history has included the right to vote, a right that according to some is still being challenged. “Democracy is under siege,” proclaims U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.). He and U.S. Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) held forums in North Minneapolis and Madison, Wisconsin on their constitutional Right to Vote Amendment.

It is a poorly kept secret that racial disparities exist in Minnesota. In literally every measurable aspect, education, income, housing, employment, etc., people of color lag behind their white counterparts. This in spite of the efforts of many to make and keep Minnesota an all-inclusive place to live, that provides equal opportunities.

Discrimination — whether in America or his native India — is wrong, but despite established laws to the contrary it still goes on today in both countries, said a retired Indian professor.

Construction on the 47,000-square-foot former auto dealership building at 800 West Broadway, the site of a new education and career center, is expected to begin this summer and be ready to open by the fall of 2016. Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) and other officials presented their plans Tuesday at the Capri Theatre in North Minneapolis.

Hundreds of Black women and girls representing the Black Women’s Roundtable descended on the nation’s capital last week to petition the Senate to confirm U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch as the next attorney general.