Nicole LaVoi, the University of Minnesota Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport’s co-director, was very relieved that her one-hour talk at the Tucker Center was scheduled for last night and not today. LaVoi, a loyal Minnesota Lynx fan, wouldn’t have missed Game 5 of this year’s WNBA finals for the world. “We are going […]
Post
Posted inNews
School board forum draws small numbers of attendees
Eight candidates are running for four seats on the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education, an “overshadowed” race, says Animate the Race, a local group that is sponsoring four community events prior to the November 8 election. In this election year, the presidential contest gets most of the attention. Only approximately a dozen community members […]
Posted inArts + Culture
MSR Top Five | DMX, Booker T. Jones & more!
A snapshot of events around town Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. A smooth, classic jazz vocalist often compared to crooners like Dean Martin and Nat King Cole Oct. 28 | 7 pm Dakota Jazz Club 1010 Nicollet Ave., Mpls. More info: www.dakotacooks.com DMX in concert See veteran rapper DMX live with opening act Baltimore Oct. 28 […]
Posted inArts + Culture
REVIEW | ‘Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise’
Reverential retrospective offers intimate look at the life of late icon Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928 to parents for whom she and her big brother Bailey soon became a burden. When Maya was just three, the siblings were sent alone by train to live […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Obesity rate for Blacks in Minnesota: 29.9 percent
National rate is 38.1 percent The state’s adult obesity rate saw a statistically significant drop between 2014 and 2015, from 27.6 percent in 2014 to 26.1 percent in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Minnesota was the only state in the region, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Iowa, […]
Posted inEducation
The role of the Black parent in healing the Black body, mind and spirit
Education and socialization in the old days, as well as the development of skills to focus the individual’s life work, was concerned with growing deeply conscious of being permanently anchored and spirituality connected to the creator’s presence in the community. Our ancestors were masters at creating practices through ceremonies, rituals and customs tying these over […]
Posted inEducation
Cultivating a culture of genius in Black youth
Black children have been a major topic of many political conversations within the past two years. Usually, these conversations employ a variety of coded language. We have heard such terms as “at-risk youth,” “urban,” “inner city” and “thugs.” However, one term seldom heard is “genius.” It almost seems odd saying the phrase “Black genius” or […]
Posted inOpinion
Hate speech undermines spirit of free speech at U of M
University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler struck a blow for intolerance when he defended as free speech the campus Young Republicans’ not-so-subtle attempt to denigrate all things Latin, when they painted a mural on the West Bank wall saying “Build the Wall.” The president chastised students who simply tried to paint over the insulting phrase, […]
Posted inOpinion
Letter to the Editor
Dear Neighbors, I have no doubt that the Edina Police Department is an excellent organization that deserves wide public support. But so are the Edina Fire Department and two libraries among other local agencies. Yet the flowering of lawn signs reported in the September 15, 2016 Sun Current expresses gratitude only to the police. Why? […]
Posted inOpinion
Civil unrest in the Midwest
I remember a time that I would turn on the TV and see the brutal, barbaric violence in other states and countries, and boy was I always thankful that Minnesota didn’t have quite the same issues. However, in recent times those dynamics have changed. The reality is that the culture of society has changed; we […]
Posted inOpinion
Love and violence in Black LGBTQ communities
The names in this article are fictional and the couple described is a composite of numerous couples I counseled on inter-personal violence (IPV). The Jills were the envy among us lesbian couples of African descent. Their public display of love for each other and their exchanges of their special terms of endearment was the stuff […]
Posted inNews
Organizers host summit to ‘seize momentum’ on police reform
Current practices traced back to early slave patrols Police brutality toward Black men in the United States has been a recurrent topic in the Black community. The killings of Alton Sterling, Terrence Clutcher, Walter Scott and others around the country, and locally Philando Castile and Jamar Clark, compelled the Northside organization Neighborhoods Organizing for Change […]
Posted inObituaries
Charles E. Scroggins
Charles E. Scroggins, age 82, from Saint Paul, Minnesota but residing in Phoenix, Arizona, passed away on October 11, 2016. He was preceded in death by his brother Marvin Scroggins, and one sister, Constance Vassar. He is survived by his wife, Glenda Scroggins, and his former wife Sandy Neal. Charles had five daughters — Nadine Freeman, Sheryl Bell, Ms. […]
Posted inSports
Student athlete makes my day
He doesn’t know it. He probably doesn’t even remember meeting me, but Minneapolis North student athlete Marquise Holloman made my day last month during the Empower Me Tour sponsored by the United Negro College Fund and Minneapolis Public Schools. The event, which was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center, provided high school and middle school […]
Posted inSports
Lynx keep dream alive
One of the greatest joys over my 38 years as a journalist who has weathered the test of time has been watching the growth of the WNBA and locally covering the Minnesota Lynx. I have a great appreciation for the business of sports, and believe me it’s a business in which you find out who […]
Posted inSports
Opportunities and challenges of aging explored
Head of AARP shared insights from senior group’s research Jo Ann Jenkins, the president/CEO of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and author of the bestselling book Disrupt Aging, sat down in a conference room filled with close to 200 people at the Sabathani Community Center in South Minneapolis for a conversation about aging, […]
Posted inNews
VIDEO | Rondo lives on in St. Paul: Commemorative Plaza preserves Black history
The groundbreaking for the Rondo Commemorative Plaza took place Friday, October 14 in St. Paul. Elected officials, Founders of Rondo Avenue Inc. and community members gathered at a vacant lot on Concordia Avenue — formerly Rondo Avenue — for the occasion. The lot faces I-94, the freeway that destroyed the old Rondo Neighborhood, home to nearly 80 percent of African Americans in St. Paul from the 1930s […]
Posted inSports
WNBA Finals | Maya Moore powers Lynx to Game 5
The Los Angeles Sparks’ California dreams turned into a nightmare as the defending champs Minnesota Lynx powered through a thrilling, must-win Game 4 against in Los Angeles to bring the series back home. When recently asked if she was to start a WNBA team using only Minnesota and Los Angeles players, ESPN’s LaChina Robinson didn’t […]
Posted inNews
Mpls. NAACP demands accountability for ‘pedestrian mistreatment’ by Edina police
The Minneapolis NAACP is demanding a formal apology and accountability in connection with the detainment and citation of a pedestrian walking down the street in Edina, Wednesday, October 12. Cellphone footage of the incident was captured and uploaded to YouTube and has since gone viral on social media. In the roughly seven-minute video, Larnie Thomas, a Black man, is seen being confronted by White Edina police officer Tim Olson while […]