Prep Scene By Mitchell Palmer McDonald Finally got a chance to see Columbia Heights mix it up in boys’ basketball with St. Paul Como Park last Friday evening. Before I could sit down to enjoy my popcorn, Columbia Heights’ ZACH LOFTON (21 points) had dunked twice and teammate BEN GLOVER (15) had one slam as […]
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Posted inSports
How I fell in love with sports
Kwame’s Kapsules By Kwame McDonald During my 70-plus years of conscious athletics watching, listening and participating, let me share with you some of my most satisfactory, thrilling, and yes, frustrating experiences. 1935 We lived in Chicago for a summer, and I saw my dad pitch for the Joe Louis Brown Bombers minor Negro League baseball […]
Posted inSports
Don’t mess with Detroit
For too many years my hometown, Detroit, has been much maligned by nighttime comics and knuckleheaded sportswriters.
Posted inHealth + Wellness
New column focuses on Black businesses
Today’s Entrepreneur by Ste Brown The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder has provided a platform by which we can help community members see more clearly what is at stake and how area minority entrepreneurs are doing in this depressed economy. While shining a spotlight on local entrepreneurs, we hope to increase readership. In addition, the articles may provide […]
Posted inOpinion
Has Social Security become a new welfare program for the able-bodied?
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 […]
Posted inOpinion
Happy New Year — we hope
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 […]
Posted inOpinion
Mpls proposes ordinance amendment redefining ‘small’ minority businesses
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 […]
Posted inOpinion
Community engagement is vital to save our failing children
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 […]
Posted inArts + Culture
ENTERTAINMENT AROUND TOWN
THIS WEEK’S SPOTLIGHTS: Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612-332-1010 or www.dakotacooks.com Sun., Jan. 9, 7 pm & 9 pm: Stanley Jordan Tickets are $25 for the 7 pm show and $20 for the 9 pm show. Tues.-Wed., Jan. 11-12, 7 pm & 9 pm: Oleta Adams Tickets are $40 for the […]
Posted inArts + Culture
Film dramatizes true story of Southern injustice —The Lena Baker Story recalls tragic life, death of woman in Jim Crow era
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer As a young girl in the early 1900s, Lena Baker and her mother pick cotton in rural Cuthbert, Georgia. Much to the chagrin of her mom, Baker later began working as a prostitute because she wanted to move north, but was arrested and sentenced to 10 months’ hard labor. She […]
Posted inSports
Royals claim the throne
Prep Scene Mitchell Palmer McDonald The Hopkins boys’ basketball team, led by University of Minnesota signee JOE COLEMAN, Northern Iowa-bound MARVIN SINGLETON, and point guard SIYANI CHAMBERS, helped the Royals stake their claim as the state’s best with a 101-53 victory over Hyde Park Academy (Chicago) to win the Best Buy Classic at Augsburg College […]
Posted inSports
Black NFL coaches now 55-49 for the season Frazier retained by the Vikings
Kwame’s Kapsules Kwame McDonald Black coaches in the NFL were 3-4 during the final week of the season. Winners were Indianapolis (JIM CALDWELL) 23, Tennessee 20; Pittsburgh (MIKE TOMLIN) 41, Cleveland 9; Tampa Bay (RAHEEM MORRIS) 23, New Orleans 13. Losers were Chicago (LOVEY SMITH), Cincinnati (MARVIN LEWIS), Minnesota (LESLIE FRAZIER), and Denver (ERIC STUDESVILLE). […]
Posted inSports
Diversity report cards: Local teams again earn dismal grades
There’s diversity in sports that we regularly see, namely the players. But what about diversity in key areas where business decisions are routinely made? Richard Lapchick, director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) located at the University of Central Florida, annually grades the various pro leagues and college sports’ racial hiring […]
Posted inSports
2010 Vikings season a complete failure!
Fitz Beat Larry Fitzgerald There is no sugar-coating the disappointing Vikings 2010 season — plain and simple, they did not get the job done. The Vikings’ two-year run of NFC North titles is over, and the reality of a 6-10 season, last in the Division, is humbling. Last year the Vikings had 10 Pro Bowl […]
Posted inNews
Are Blacks getting jobs on the Schubert Theater project?
By Charles Hallman Staff Writer Photo by James L. Stroud Photo by Charles Hallman When the $18 million Shubert Theater renovation project began in late 2009, City officials predicted it would create over 100 construction-related jobs. After hearing concerns from some MSR readers that not enough of these jobs were going to workers of color, […]
Posted inNews
Opponents of MLK dog park get organized
The Minneapolis Park Board commissioners are scheduled to meet January 5 to establish a citizen advisory committee (CAC) that will discuss a new dog park for the city’s Sixth Park District. Proponents want it at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, while opponents prefer it be installed elsewhere.
Posted inNews
Thrift helps the Si-Asars to honor their community service commitments
…And A Hard Place By Dwight Hobbes Photo by James L. Stroud Anura and Rekhet Si-Asar bend with the economic winds, but they don’t let it break their commitment to community. Specifically, as founders and directors of the Imhotep Science Initiatives, they’ve needed to make adjustments in educating youngsters, but they’ve kept the doors to […]
Posted inNews
Coalition mobilizes to save North High
By Jamal Denman Contributing Writer Photo by Jamal Denman In October 2010, the Minneapolis School Board announced plans to close North Community High School due to poor performance and declining enrollment. Since then, community activist Mel Reeves and a few other dedicated individuals in North Minneapolis committed to keeping North Community High School open organized […]
Posted inNews
Special Retrospective Illustrations by Christopher E. Harrison
For this issue, we feature story illustrations that we have run throughout this past year created by our own talanted Christopher E. Harrison. Click on the image for a larger copy to print. Better yet, request a print edition and sign up for a weekly subscription to be mailed straight to your box! Email to: […]
Posted inResources
Permanent Housing
If there is a location that we may have missed, please email Display@spokesman-recorder.com to have your location added to our list. Evergreen Residence 177 Glenwood Ave. N., Minneapolis 612-204-8406 Single room housing for single men and women, $350 per month cctwincities.org/evergreen_residence _________________________________ Hope Harbor 53 Glenwood Ave., Minneapolis 612-659-0705 long wait list, […]