Opinion

When I first heard of the brash, senseless mass murder in Tucson, my first instinctive, impulsive thought was, “Gee, I hope that he isn’t Black.” It wasn’t until I was able to erase that irreverent thought that I was able to process any rational consideration of the matter. After satisfying myself of the apparent identity […]

“Who are you? You don’t know? “And where were you? “And what did you have? What was yours? “What language did you speak then? “What was your name? “Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? “Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? “Who taught you to hate the shape […]

Recently, Rev. McAfee and Ensemble have been bad-mouthing the Council on Black Minnesotans. Others have joined the Get-the-CBM Community Ensemble. The Ensemble must have tuned their instruments to C instead of concert B flat. They sound terrible. At times, they mention my name as having expressed concerns about the CBM in the past.  Disturbing. Some […]

By Rep. Bobby Joe Champion Guest Commentator Education is, and remains, the central threshold for improving quality of life for all. History has demonstrated this to be the case. I remember growing up in a family with deep southern roots. Every time I headed south, I was frequently reminded of the sacrifices made by many […]

Why has there been such little coverage of the attempted bombing along the MLK Parade route in Spokane, Washington, January 17, 2011? Is it because of the Eastern Washington and close-by Idaho hot beds of White supremacists, Aryan Nation types, survivalists, and other American fringe White groups? Is it another negative outgrowth of the terrorist […]

It isn’t hard to fathom what angers so much of the world about America: its galling arrogance.  This fuels a sense of impunity against being accountable for mistreating others. Hence, the term “The Ugly American” used to describe U.S. citizens who travel abroad and refuse to respect the sensibilities of the countries and cultures they […]

Mellaneous By Mel Reeves Folks of late were disturbed by the misguided fella Brett Reese who — yes, ironically — is on the board of education in Greely, Colorado. Reese created an uproar when he used his radio program to smear MLK by calling him names. It won’t work — King’s place in history is […]

Through My Eyes By Ron Edwards It has been extremely painful to watch the accounts of the horrendous acts of violence and death in Tuscon, Arizona on January 8, 2011, when 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner shot and killed six, including a nine-year-old girl, and wounded 14, including his target, a U.S. Congresswoman. Even though every […]

Everything’s Possible By Sondra Samuels “There are more African Americans under correctional control today — in prison or jail, on probation or parole — than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.” Michelle Alexander, author, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness On January 13, Marian Wright […]

Yeah That’s Right, I Said It By Sheletta Brundidge Recently the country was captivated with the rags-to-riches story of Ted Williams.  The homeless radio announcer stood on the road begging when a newspaper reporter from The Columbus Dispatch shot a video clip of him. That two-minute exchange changed Williams’ life forever.  We all know how the […]

By Donald W.R. Allen, II Guest Commentator   After reading last week’s interview with Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) Contract Compliance Manager Johnny Burns in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder [“Are Blacks getting jobs on the Schubert Theater project?”], I became a little concerned about Mr. Burns’ limited-to-no-involvement on several major City of Minneapolis projects. For […]

Through my Eyes By Ron Edwards Booker T Hodges, current president of the Minneapolis branch of the NAACP, strongly urged in his December 1, 2010 column in this newspaper that the culture of corruption and corrupt leadership in Minneapolis must no longer be tolerated and excused. Some suggested he had stepped over the line. Clearly, […]

Little By Little By Matthew Little Because of the collapsed roof of the Metrodome, on Tuesday, December 28, we witnessed the Minnesota Vikings football team having to play a “home” game in Philadelphia, Pa. Surprisingly to many, they outlasted their opponents by a score of 24 to 14. It was surprising because the Philadelphia team […]

Issues And New Perspectives By Lucky Rosenbloom We need Black leaders capable of understanding the conservative/Republican ideology. We need Black leaders who have the ability to interpret and apply conservative/Republican policy in immediate, concise and competent ways that benefit Black people. Many Black leaders lack these proclivities when it comes to Republican policy because of […]

Pastor’s Corner I sometimes wonder if our young people are doctor shopping for someone who will play the game that some of them are playing, which is “Let’s pretend to be really sick, stay home, watch The Young and the Restless.” When we (the elderly) who have worked the majority of our lives for the […]

Mellaneous Mel Reeves As we wish one another a Happy New Year and look forward to another year, we will haphazardly spread the myth that somehow the new year will indeed be a better one without any effort on our part. Most of us are indeed well-meaning, so we really want to believe that everyone […]

Through My Eyes The Minneapolis Story Continues… Ron Edwards This column provides an example of what Justice Louis Brandeis called “great unfairness” to the public: “Many bills pass in our legislatures which would not have become law if the public interest had been fairly represented.” A recent City of Minneapolis document includes the agenda item […]

By Alfred Flowers Guest Commentator Our community is in crisis, and it is time for everyone to know. It is time for everyone to realize that the systems and institutions that have been created for our benefit are failing to deliver on their promises to us. It is time to shine a very bright light […]

SOMETHING I SAID Dwight Hobbes Keith Ellison ran for congressional office as an agent for humanitarian change. On winning, Ellison assumed a sense of politically correct entitlement to step on a soapbox and market his religion as a Muslim. Somebody had to say something about it. So, I did in the column below. Each September, scores of Americans […]

LITTLE BY LITTLE Matthew Little If 2009 politically was punctuated by the heralding of the inauguration of the first Black President of the United States, 2010 most certainly will be noted as the year in which, for the first time in history, the chief executive officer of this country has been publicly and deliberately demonized, […]