‘Black Boy’ by Richard Wright The first 24 years of my life were spent in the south—that is, the southern part of the United States: Arkansas. In our household of nine, we always had one Black servant. We called her the maid, but she really was the “jill of all…
BY ED FELIEN Around 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, Kenosha police officers responded to a reported domestic when a woman called saying her boyfriend was present and was court-ordered not to be on the premises. Officer Rusten Sheskey and his partner tried to detain Jacob Blake. He resisted arrest. They…
BY ELINA KOLSTAD We just went through a second stint of authoritarian lockdown in the form of curfews declared and the National Guard occupying our streets. Many will say that misinformation was at fault here. A Black suspect was said to have been shot by police. Riots broke out. The…
BY ABĒ R. LEVINE Carmen Means rallies the crowd at the “Peoples’ Press Conference” on Saturday, Aug. 15, at the George Floyd Memorial site in front of Cup Foods. Means, along with memorial caretakers, have submitted demands to Mayor Frey in response to George Floyd’s murder. Five women organizers who’ve…
BY KAY SCHROVEN Gardens are growing in four Minneapolis parks and others are in the works, including Powderhorn Park. If you haven’t completed the Powderhorn Park Community Garden Survey, please do so now. Nearly 100 responses have already come in. Your input will help the garden planners know just which…
BY KAY SCHROVEN Powderhorn is not the only neighborhood in the Twin Cities recovering from a unique summer, but surely we’ve had our share of challenges: protests/riots, destruction, violence, including the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the MPD, unemployment and hundreds of unsheltered neighbors living in beautiful…
BY TONY BOUZA “What do you have to lose?” Thus Spake Zarathustra! Well, Sarah Palin, of revered memory, might have responded: “How’s it working out for ya?” The Wall—ah yes, a metaphor for all that is good and wholesome about this great country. China has its Great Wall—why shouldn’t we…
BY DAVE TILSEN The burning and looting is terrible. It alienates the workers, it causes pain and suffering to many, it makes life in the city more difficult, and it increases support for the police. These are questions that dominate all conversations. The burning and looting does amplify Trump’s messaging,…
BY ED FELIEN Is the nightmare over? Have the plague and pestilence gone? Have we buried the dead? No, the nightmare is not over. The madman still runs the White House. The plague and pestilence have not gone because there is no leader to rid the land of plague and…
BY NATHAN HOUSE If you live in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood, you may have recently seen people walking or biking in the streets in high resolution vests in the early morning or late night. These are volunteers of Powderhorn Safety Collective (PSC), a group of neighbors committed to alternative methods…
BY ED FELIEN Council Member Phillipe Cunningham was quoted in a recent article in The New Yorker: “No one could say that we didn’t try reform. We tried every kind of reform.” I phoned his office. No one was there. I left a message: You say you’ve tried everything? How…
BY JESS SUNDIN, AS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN FIGHT BACK NEWS Hundreds of protesters rallied outside the Minneapolis police’s 4th Precinct in North Minneapolis, July 31, to demand justice for Travis Jordan, on what should have been his 38th birthday. On Nov. 9, 2018, Travis Jordan was shot and killed by…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Lyndale Avenue South seems to be doing pretty well, all things considered. Lyndale is a long avenue, stretching from Brooklyn Center to Bloomington (the city, not the avenue). We are focusing on the segment from Franklin Avenue southward to about 60th Street. I found myself being…
BY KAY SCHROVEN What’s happening with the west encampment in the park? It’s been nearly two weeks since MAD DADS issued 65 Notices to Transition per the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s (MPRB) Resolution 2020-267 (requiring permits, limiting parks and numbers of tents in a park, etc.). There are varying…
Will Chinese tourists be banned in the U.S.? A July Minneapolis Star Tribune carried an article stating a ban on Chinese tourists is under consideration by the U.S. administration. Almost 3 million Chinese visited the U.S. in 2018, but the number has plummeted due to the corona virus. The presidential…
