Local & State

Many African Americans migrated to the North from the South upon being declared free people. Most came for opportunities to experience a new life and to build new foundations for their newfound freedom. For many, this freedom would mean a new and unpredictable journey.

Melvin Whitfield Carter, Jr. was born December 1948. His father was born 1923 in St. Paul at St. Joe’s Hospital, and his grandfather, Mim Grundy Carter, a musician, moved here from Paris, Texas in 1917 when “a great fire” burned their town under mysterious circumstances.

Willie Carter was born October 24, 1943, in Shawnee, OK, 40 miles east of Oklahoma City. His father, Thomas Lee Carter, and his mother, Willie Mae (nee Burrell), were both born and buried in Oklahoma.

His mother died when he was about a year old. “She hemorrhaged to death. Couldn’t go to a hospital back in those days.”

Craig Warren, named last May as the Greater Twin Cities United Way’s Chief Administrative Officer, took a long and convoluted route to that position, where he said he will finally be fulfilling his long-term ambition to be of service to the community.

Last year I wrote an article titled “Empty Seats” published in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. In this article I raised to attention the need for us men to be present and involved in community matters.

Ask a woman to go for a walk and she’ll say, “Sure!” Ask a man and he’ll say, “Where’re we going?” Men will go into a library for a Chilton’s car repair manual. Women are omnivores when it comes to reading.

Too often, then and now, Black Minnesotans and their contributions to society locally and nationally are overlooked. The late Walter R. Scott, a transplant from Chicago, instead took it upon himself, with the help of others, to do something about that.

As the Emancipation Proclamation was declared and the American Civil War came to an end, there was still a lot of work to do and trails to travel for the freed African slaves here in America.

The year was 1867, and the Civil War raged on. A young man of Native and African American descent was sent to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, to be stationed there in the fight for freedom.

It is impossible to mention medicine and health care from an African American perspective here in Minnesota without mentioning Dr. Thomas Johnson. He had established clinics starting in South Minneapolis in 1957.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had the uncommon ability to articulate a vision, and then follow his words with action. Have you ever stopped to think about the community where you live and how that in itself impacts your life? What is your vision to improve your community, and are there actions you can take […]

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of community is as relevant today as it was in 1963.