Opinion

In this column I will discuss the role of civil rights organizations in the modern era. As a disclaimer, I must let you know that I am currently the president of the Minneapolis branch of the NAACP, but in this column I am speaking as an individual and not in my capacity as president of […]

The recent Star Tribune July 31, 2011 story, “Cost of Minneapolis police payouts could hit record this year,” reminds me of the Star Tribune’s four-part April 19-22, 2009 series “The Informant” regarding the misdeeds of the once seemingly impregnable Violent Offenders Task Force (VOTF), which I first exposed in my August 29, 2007 column. The […]

“I have no desire to take all black people back to Africa; there are blacks who are no good here and will likewise be no good there.” — Marcus Garvey In my last column, I talked about the idea that what we read, watch and log on to matters. In this column, I want to […]

In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King spoke to his concerns about suggestions that Blacks wait (how much longer is not certain, but wait anyway) for justice to “come around.” “Wait” for our humanity to be recognized and honored, until others could “come around” to the idea. He wrote, “We know through painful […]

Next morning, say, on your way to work, you see, scuttling on the street, tacky, red-eyed women who look like they’ve been up all night, who, at the approach of a cop car, duck in doorways or down alleys, you should withhold condescending judgment. Suspend your certainty that they’re natural-born sluts who inherently prefer whoring […]

Coming from Richfield to Maplewood, where I live, I became aware for the first time that I touched five different municipalities in the process. Each of the residents of these communities take pride in their residence, regardless of their sizes; and most would take offense if they knew one referred to them as living in […]

When the first reports came out of Oslo, Norway about the July 22, 2011 bomb that exploded in the center of Oslo, killing eight outside the offices of Norway’s prime minister (the target, it was learned later), the first reaction in this country by the news media, both left and right, was that it was […]

By Richard J. Gardell and Sarah Walker Guest Commentators The article published on June 30 by Vickie Evans-Nash, “Is another local Black institution at risk?” presented a picture of 180 Degrees, Inc. that is both inaccurate and a disservice to the many African Americans within the organization. 180 Degrees, Inc. supports and values the role […]

THROUGH MY EYES By Ron Edwards The dismissal by firing of Marvin “Corky” Taylor earlier this month continues the purge and cover-up of corruption in the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department (MCRD). In fact, rumor has it that when the department’s Roxanne Crossland, head of the SUBP (Small Underutilized Businesses Program) is terminated, it will complete […]

Voice of the Village By Lissa Jones “The ‘educated Negroes’ have the attitude of contempt toward their own people because in their own as well as in their mixed schools Negroes are taught to admire the Hebrew, the Greek, the Latin and the Teuton and to despise the African.” — Carter Godwin Woodson, The Miseducation […]

”Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” — Martin Luther King, Jr. If you had told me a year ago that our government would slam its doors in the face of its hungry children and neighbors standing on its front mat ringing the bell, waiting for the promised dinner, I would […]

Ever since the University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center’s (UROC) Futures Conference, “Coming Together to Create a Shared Future for North Minneapolis,” held in February 2009, there have been many discussions within the Minneapolis mental health community about how and when to put into play the University of Minnesota/UROC Dante Cicchetti Plan. UROC […]

Most political platforms derive from long, drawn-out declarations regarding which the political parties expend considerable effort consulting with their many layers of organizational structures to finalize. It generally emanates in concept from the precinct caucuses and traverses through the many layers of political bureaucracy until it reaches a point of consensus. But that seems not […]

Critical Thinking in the Black Independence Movement “On the other hand, I have to…speak as one of the people who has been most attacked by what we now here must call the Western or European system of reality. What White people see in the world…the doctrine of White supremacy, I hate to say it here, […]

People didn’t think it would happen again after happening just six years ago: elected Minnesota officials shutting the government down, making the Land of 10,000 Lakes the Land of 23,000 Layoffs. This sets up long-term devastating consequences for those laid off and for our fractured Minnesota economy, as the ripple effect begins to engulf our […]

By Al Flowers Guest Commentator First, the Minneapolis Park Board offends by suggesting that a dog run be installed at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park in South Minneapolis. The board then added further insult to injury when they took the issue to public hearings. After African American seniors organized and fought, morality […]

By Karen Franklin Guest Commentator The number of African American youth in the child welfare system continues to increase due to abuse and neglect in their family of origin. This is exhibited by the statistically significant difficulty in finding homes for African American children ages eight and older. This growth has prompted the Ramsey County […]

”We…reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women…” — United Nations Charter Captain Donald Banham, a native son born and raised in Minneapolis, whose father was a sergeant in the University of Minnesota Police Department for over 30 years, retired […]

Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen says that the “human race is de-evolving…we are moving backward on the evolutionary scale. The sort of thing that used to happen only in fiction can hardly compare to what’s in the news today.” Now, when I read Hiaasen’s remarks, it helps me calm down and feel that I’m not […]