With the state track meet nearly a month away, there are some outstanding performers who hope to participate in the big show in June. Here are five outstanding track-and-field athletes who could have an impact on the event, to be held next month at Hamline University in St. Paul. DEVIN CRAWFORD TUFTS (Edina) has been […]
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Posted inNews
LIFT-ing the Black employment rate
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer “There are so many [employment] barriers that each community can face that nobody is really addressing anymore,” said LIFT Chair Tonya Draughn. A group of concerned citizens say it’s time to stop talking and start doing something about the existing high unemployment rate among Blacks locally. Leading Individuals and Families […]
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Local high-tech businessman visits White House
Dr. Timothy Childs is a physicist, inventor and president of TLC Precision Wafer Technology and chair of the TLC Education Foundation, with both operations in Minneapolis. TLC Precision Wafer Technology, Inc. (TLC), founded in 1991, is a high-tech semiconductor manufacturing company located in North Minneapolis. TLC produces special microwave and millimeter wave electronic chips and […]
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State bill aims for athletic concussion protection, prevention
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer A bill that would establish education and return-to-play standards for youth athletes following a concussion currently is moving through the Minnesota Legislature. Five states this year already passed such laws: South Dakota, Iowa, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. Bill supporters are optimistic that it will be passed before this year’s session […]
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Author takes readers ‘Beyond Katrina’ to hurricane aftermath
By Dwight Hobbes Contributing Writer Pulitzer Prize-winning author Natasha Trethewey visited the Twin Cities with a winning appearance at University of Minnesota’s Coffman Union Theater on April 27. She is on tour supporting her newest book, a poignant blend of prose and poetry entitled Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (University of […]
Posted inArts + Culture, News
Beyond the Steps: Alvin Ailey dancers step out in new film
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Award-winning filmmaker Phil Bertelsen’s Beyond the Steps: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater provides a rare glimpse into the fascinating world of modern dance by one of America’s oldest modern dance companies. Judith Jamison’s 2004 collaboration with Rennie Harris and Robert Battle entitled Love Stories, a three-part production featuring the music […]
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This week’s Spotlights
Fine Line Music Cafe 318 First Ave. N., Mpls., 612-338-8100 or www.finelinemusic.com Fri., May 6, 8 pm: CunninLynguists, with Homeboy Sandman Tickets are $14. This is an ages-18+ event. Ordway Center for the Performing Arts 345 Washington St., St. Paul, 651-224-4222 or www.ordway.org Fri., May 6, 7:30 pm: TU Dance world premiere: “With Love” Tickets […]
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Vocal virtuoso Rachelle Ferrell dazzles Dakota with two shows
By James L. Stroud, Jr. Contributing Writer Rachelle Ferrell returned to the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis in March for two performances. Ferrell is a singer, composer, writer, arranger, and musician who has a six-octave range. Ferrell sings without effort in the “whistle register,” just like the late Minnie Riperton. She studied voice, piano and […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Questions for my community
Dear Community: Who are we? Are we handicapped? Are we crippled? Are we physically challenged? Are we mentally challenged? Are we disabled? Is it possible we don’t know? Let me submit to my community we are none of the above. First and foremost we are “people.” Some of us are people with one or more […]
Posted inOpinion
Was Malcolm X ‘gay-for-pay?’
By Rev. Irene Monroe Before any of us in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities laud Malcolm X as our new gay icon or castigate him for being a Black heterosexist nationalist on the ”down low,” we might need to closely examine the recent revelation that for a period in his life Malcolm X […]
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When discipline is broken and integrity is lost Peculiar conduct by VOTF members
THROUGH MY EYES By Ron Edwards One of the important aspects of discipline within a paramilitary unit is to respect the decisions and orders given. One of the most important aspects of police-community relations is mutual respect between police and the citizens police are sworn to protect. When police departments don’t follow their own rules […]
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‘Ain’t too proud to beg’ isn’t just a figure of speech
SOMETHING I SAID By Dwight Hobbes I’m watching an episode of the old British sitcom Chef, starring Lenny Henry and Caroline Lee-Johnson, laughing my asterisk off. Quintessential situation done to a rare turn: Husband steps in stuff with his wife and has to dig his way out of the dog house. Homeboy is beggin’ for […]
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Who gets to define what ‘the village’ is?
VOICES OF THE VILLAGE By Lissa Jones “Oh, I say, and I say it again, you been had! You been took. You been hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray, run amok…this is what he does.” — Malcolm X Last week, I opened my copy of the MSR, and to my great surprise my column was sitting right […]
Posted inSports
Blacks lack role models of swimming greats
Blacks have had a rich swimming history dating back to pre-slavery days in Africa, but in this country fear and racism have played a huge historical part in keeping them away from it. There was Jim Crow in the South, and de facto Jim Crow in the North kept Blacks from public swimming pools during […]
Posted inSports
Athletes among the top 100: Other athletes who contributed to the advancement of life in America
Conclusion of a 3 part series: Last week we talked about two athletes whose overall contributions to society assisted the inclusion of Black players in American athletics and in American life in general. PAUL ROBESON and JACKIE ROBINSON have perhaps been the most influential athletes in our history in changing the racial attitudes of Americans. […]
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Graphic designer has big plans for clothing company
TODAY’S ENTREPRENEUR By Ste Brown This is the third of several articles I am writing for the MSR. My spotlight this month will be on Kimani Beard and Kimani Apparel, Inc. Again my objective is simple: Showcase minority entrepreneurs and provide creative solutions to help find your way out of this economic crisis. I recently […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s déjà vu with the MPD as history repeats itself
THROUGH MY EYES By Ron Edwards One of the rules of investigating corruption is to determine the level of the offense. Overtime is that kind of issue. People steal overtime either by falsifying hours worked or working hours not needed or not assigned. Either way, overtime pay is stolen from the taxpayers. The level of […]
Posted inOpinion
Disputes among the famous heighten need for Black consensus
MELLANEOUS By Mel Reeves Anyone who has been paying attention to the news of late couldn’t help but notice that Black folks have been having some very open disagreements. There has been the Grant Hill vs. Jalen Rose conflict, Sharpton vs. Cornell West, Bill Cosby vs. Russell Simmons, and lately Spike Lee vs. Tyler Perry. […]
Posted inOpinion
Privileged Peterson and others like him disgrace their ancestors’ suffering
SOMETHING I SAID By Dwight Hobbes Minnesota Viking Adrian Peterson sustains America’s history of extraordinarily privileged Black men with no regard for their forebears’ suffering. He joins egomaniacal entertainer Prince and former St. Louis Cardinals centerfielder Curt Flood to insult the memory of Africans who suffered slavery’s cruelty. Peterson’s reckless, self-serving tripe claiming that the […]
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A sesquicentennial celebration
LITTLE BY LITTLE By Matthew Little Yes! It was April 12, 1861 (exactly 150 years ago) when America suffered its one and only combat defeat — although it was only temporary and did not come from a superior outside power. You probably have suspected by now that my reference is to the Civil War of […]