The Minnesota Department of Corrections is understaffed on weekends and is taking away inmates’ weekend hours due to unionizing.
Opinion
The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (MSR) welcomes thoughtful commentary and feedback from the community. All articles in this section are edited for clarity and space; the views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the MSR. MSR does not provide payment for commentary. To submit an opinion piece, please send inquiries and submissions to submissions@spokesman-recorder.com.
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Artificial Intelligence could impact Black voting during 2024 Elections
Voter suppression in the digital age: AI’s role in targeting African American voters
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Closing economic opportunity gaps
The Federal Reserve proposal could worsen economic disparities for marginalized communities.
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Rush City prison in shambles
We should all want people coming out of prisons to be better off, not worse off than when they went in.
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WORD ON THE STREET | What’s your hot-button issue this election?
Crime seemed o top voters’ concerns ahead of the 2023 election.
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Consumers deserve to have choices in the grocery store
Some in Congress think getting it ‘right’ means restricting certain consumers’ food items as “wrong” to buy.
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Four Little Girls
‘Those girls—they didn’t live their lives because of the color of our skin.’
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Call for Reparations
In the last Congress, leaders within the Democratic Party demonstrated their political will for a Reparations Commission.
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Prayers for our children
The teachers and school administrators who are beginning a new school year right now are always on the front lines advocating for and alongside our children.
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Families demand reduced timeline to implement new prison “good time” law
The Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act (MRRA) allows people to earn early release and supervision reductions by using their time well, increasing public safety and saving taxpayers money. Planned for the last three years and passed in May, the law went into effect this August 1. Yet there is ongoing controversy over its implementation, with […]
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Passing of a racial justice champion: Charles Ogletree
‘It’s one thing to talk about trying to change the way we look at children. It’s another thing to give it some teeth so that it makes a big difference.’
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Bridging the nation’s digital divide for the next generation
It’s important for Black college students to have a grasp of digital skills even before they set foot on an HBCU campus, but the “digital divide” is likely to have already set them back.
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Commentary: A day at George Floyd Square
‘It doesn’t seem to be benefiting or uplifting the community.’
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Children are supposed to enjoy their lives
‘Through loss you can still love, and that’s what we want to continue to do, to represent the love that we have for our children, and the love that we have for other people’s children.’
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Book bans are here—we must be ready to fight them
We must be confident, forceful and unyielding in our defense of books and libraries, as the enemies of progress will be just as relentless.
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Remembering Emmett Till
‘I should have learned the story of Emmett Till in my history classes. I never did.’
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Cultivating the next crop of America’s farmers
The federal government spends billions every year on farm subsidies, but most of the money goes to the largest and wealthiest operators.
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Youth aren’t bulletproof
‘Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in the United States.’
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Philanthropy’s bridge bends toward justice, not cooperation
The deepest relationships— the loving, energizing, healing kind—cannot blossom in a bed of lies and ignored truths.
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We are not colorblind
Arguing to ignore the category of race is a form of White supremacy.