Opinion

By Frank Erickson Guest Commentator “The case against defendant Johannes Mehserle has provoked racial unrest at every turn, and police in Oakland, the scene of the killing, were on alert for more problems following a sentence that many thought was too light.” (Pioneer Press, November 6) The community’s reactions to the Oakland Transit officer’s sentence […]

By Ron Edwards Guest Commentator It took 15 years to tell us what we already knew “Disparities Found in Contract Awards” was the Friday, Nov. 5, 2010 headline in the Star Tribune about a study kept under wraps for five years, a study which cost $500,000 and took five years to complete. The disparity problem […]

By Deepak Bhargava Guest Commentator What a difference two years make. In 2008, President Obama swept into office on a platform of hope and change. All across America, there was a groundswell of voices calling for an end to a political system that upholds the powerful special interests that ran America into the Great Recession. […]

By Ron Edwards Guest Commentator This election highlights the continuing impact of race on our politics As I write late on election night, November 2, 2010, Republicans have won back control of the U.S. House and Democrats have retained control of the U.S. Senate. It could mean the opportunity for the compromise voters obviously are […]

By Dwight Hobbes Guest Commentator I remember well last year’s accusations that the hit film Avatar has racist overtones. Undertones. Something. Never thought about it twice. Hollywood making a racist movie is not exactly man-bites-dog news. And didn’t go see Avatar. My loss. Until I swung by my favorite DVD dealer — the pawn shop, […]

By Lucky Rosenbloom Guest Commentator ‘Black gangs share the vision of the KKK’ returns Due to the heavy response to my last column, I am running it again with the following proposal: I am offering $200 to anyone who does not agree with what I say and will prove what I am saying is wrong. […]

By Mel Reeves Guest Commentator An open letter to the community As most folks know by now, there has been a recommendation to close Minneapolis North High School. However, 265 young people have taken a stand and have committed to fight to keep their school open, and a few hundred community folks and teachers have […]

By Ron Edwards Guest Commentator Unfortunately, the dark forces that took his life remain at large The wrongful death of Dominic Felder at the hands of Minneapolis police on September 20, 2006, along the 3900 block of Bloomington Avenue South, cannot be reversed. But a measure of justice was received by his family when a […]

By Rev. Mary Flowers-Spratt Contributing Writer What is the connection between White privilege and zero tolerance in our educational system, and why is this connection important for understanding the adverse effects of zero tolerance policies on our children? I will explain. What is White privilege from the White folks’ perspective? White privilege is a way […]

By Matthew Little Guest Commentator The wife of Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas shook the mainstream media by reviving one of the most universally attention-getting Supreme Court hearings in that body’s history. Virginia Thomas recently announced that she was requesting attorney Anita Hill, now a professor of law at Brandeis University, to publicly apologize for […]

By Representatives Jeff Hayden and Bobby Joe Champion Guest Commentators This is an incredibly challenging yet hopeful time for our community. The home foreclosure crisis continues to weaken our communities and displace families. Jobs have been lost and they haven’t come back. Far too many Minnesotans are losing access to basic healthcare coverage. All the […]

The Black “leadership” of Minneapolis continues their efforts to run a mini-plantation. I say to them: Let my people go. These self-proclaimed leaders have been meeting to strategize how to kick Booker T. Hodges out of his office as president of our local NAACP. Mr. Hodges spoke what was on many people’s minds when the […]

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Contributing Commentator Black Americans once again stand at a critical junction in helping to determine the future of the United States of America, and thereby also the future of the world. Fifty million African Americans, with a spending power of one trillion dollars and millions of potential votes, in the […]

By Frank Erickson Contributing Commentator A recent headline read, “At U.N., Obama tries to keep Mideast peace hopes alive.” So that means violence is bad, violence is counter-productive, right? That is what Obama is saying with his actions at the U.N., in “trying to keep Mideast peace hopes alive,” that the violence is the problem […]

Harlem Children’s Zone shows us what is possible here Ask me how I’m doing these days and I’ll tell you that I am absolutely filled with awe and teeming with gratitude because I, along with 11 others from the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ), just returned from New York City, where we spent three days witnessing […]

The latest in the continuing betrayal of education in our community, this time the closing of North High School, occurred in the Minneapolis School Administration Headquarters Assembly Room at 807 Broadway. I attended the meeting, which was filled to capacity by 5:30 pm Tuesday, October 12 (with overflow in two other large rooms with closed […]

By Rev. Mary Flowers-Spratt Contributing commentator Foster children are especially vulnerable to being treated differently Responding to an article by Minneapolis Superintendent of Schools Bernadeia Johnson in the October 7 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder [“MPS goal: reading and math proficiency by 2015”], she stated that our African American children’s proficiency average for the state was lower than the […]

This high-powered election season has been largely overshadowed by the advent of the so-called Tea Party and the rapidly changing situations in the Middle East. Almost going unnoticed is the dramatic rise in female participation as major players. For instance, more women are running as candidates for governorships of various states than ever. The most […]

“A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.” — Samuel Johnson, 18th century Part of the doctors’ Hippocratic Oath (medical ethics) from the fifth century BCE states, “I will never do harm to anyone…[working] for the good of my patients.” Why, then, did North Memorial Hospital turn out a poor African […]

By Sondra Samuels Guest Commentator The film Waiting for ‘Superman’ points the way If you are willing to take a sobering look at America’s broken educational system and contemplate how that translates into the greatest crisis facing the Black community today, then you must go see the controversial documentary film Waiting for Superman (WFS). Created […]