The March on Washington, August 1963

BY ED FELIEN By the time of the March on Washington I was already too radical to believe I was needed or wanted.  It was to be a mostly black affair, and communists and Marxists weren’t invited.  Organizers of the March had been fending off criticisms that the March was…

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MPS yields to community pressure

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE In a stunning reversal, after initially defending the choice of a $1.25 million contract with publisher Reading Horizons, the Minneapolis School Board reversed its decision and cancelled the contract at its meeting on Oct. 13. The meeting was packed with angry parents and community members who…

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Geography lessons and gentrification

BY ED FELIEN Last month Council Member Alondra Cano organized a meeting in her ward (9th Ward) to discuss gentrification.  More than a hundred people showed up to listen to experts talk about how gentrification of neighborhoods prices poor and working people out of their homes. Most people when they think…

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We must not look away

BY ED FELIEN On Tuesday, Oct. 20, at about 6:45 p.m., in the bus shelter at Lake Street and Park Avenue, Jessica Denise St. Marie was shot multiple times in the head.  She was 28, African American and homeless.   Adopted when she was 8, her adoptive mother said, “There was…

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Rest in Peace, Chester

A REMEMBRANCE FROM CAM GORDON I was saddened to learn that Chester, a West Bank icon, has died.  Chester was a gentle man, and was well-known and well-loved by the West Bank community, especially some of his nearest neighbors in the Riverview Tower apartment building. One of the most interesting…

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Yonci

BY COOPER My name is Yonci Jameson. I’m 17 years old, born and raised in North Minneapolis and I’m a senior at Southwest, taking college classes at MCTC. I am a poet/spoken word artist and a musician, as well as a cultural artist, with my African drumming and dance. SSP:…

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Queen of Cuisine: Top locales for locovores

BY CARLA WALDEMAR Think globally, eat locally. Healthwise, it’s a boon, because when food is harvested close to home, preservatives aren’t needed. As a socio-political statement, the practice lends support to smaller, local producers rather than vast agri-conglomerates. Eco-conscious diners have adopted this mantra to cut back on use of…

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MPS superintendent search progress and other news

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE In the wider world of public education, education reform and associated politics, things are heating up. In the state of Washington, the state Supreme Court struck down Seattle’s charter school amendment as unconstitutional. In LA, there is concern over a semi-invisible player in the high-stakes school…

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Roosevelt Library, and its Friends

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE As one of the smallest libraries in the Hennepin County system, Roosevelt has to make a little noise to get what it needs. It is one of only two or three libraries in the system to have a very restricted schedule of 24 hours a week—eight…

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