Insight News ::: 1.6.14

THE

It List 2013

January 6 - January 12, 2014

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Vol. 41 No. 2 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Cora McCorvey

Intent, purpose & grace By Maya Beecham While deeply entrenched in public service, Cora McCorvey developed a desire to write a book about her life. In fact she started an outline and the memories began to flow. In a quick read of the pages one might learn that McCorvey was born in Illinois, lived in Indiana in her formative years, graduated high school one year early, is a mother of four children, grandmother of 12 and has successfully served as the first executive director/ CEO of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) since 1991. At that time, MPHA separated from the community development

arm of Minneapolis and was established as an independent agency. However, without turning a page of the planned memoir, an observer can watch McCorvey walk into the employee entrance at 1001 Washington Ave., north Minneapolis, with a gait of intention, purpose and grace. When she speaks with various members of community including her staff, former fellow board members, travel companions to Ghana and even her children’s childhood friends; one notices a common denominator. When people say her name their words are overcome with a deep respect and admiration for her character.

MCCORVEY 3 TURN TO

Cora McCorvey

ENVIRONMENTALIST

Della Schall Young By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer In Minnesota most of us take water for granted. After all this is the land of 10,000 lakes. We are surrounded by water. But Della Schall Young is not most of us. She knows the true value of water. As a youth, Schall Young would travel to Liberia, where her grandmother lived, and would have to process the water to make sure it was safe to drink. That experience in many ways shaped Schall Young, helped define the person she is today and ignited her career path. “That experience always stuck with me and I knew I wanted to do something to protect that (water) resource,” said Schall Young, who recently accepted a position as a regional manager with Burns & McDonnell, an engineering, architectural, construction, environmental and consulting services firm headquartered in Bloomington. “Now my focus is overall lake and river health, both for consumption and recreation.” Schall Young joined Burns & McDonnell this past July, following positions with the engineering consulting firm of H.D.R., MnDOT and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. With

Courtesy of Burns & McDonnell

Della Schall Young

Burns & McDonnell, she is responsible for helping businesses and municipalities navigate regulations such as the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) program as well as those associated with restoration and protection of water and native land resources. Schall Young is doing her best to get young people – and particularly young people living in urban environments – to appreciate the state’s natural resources. As the troop leader of Girl Scout Troop 15981, Schall Young engages her girls in a variety of nature outings. “Whether it’s going on a canoeing trip or hiking at Ft.

YOUNG TURN TO 9

Preserving Nelson Mandela’s legacy U.S. winning war on poverty

ANC, and who fought tooth and nail to keep South Africa a racist pariah state, now claim Nelson Mandela as their own.” In trying reclaim Mandela as their own, many Whites are trying to sanitize him image, Jackson argues. Part of that effort begins with attributing many of Mandela’s outstanding qualities to his 27 years in prison. For example, television commentators in the U.S. and in Africa say Mandela learned to love his enemies in jail and cite his forgiveness of his former jailers as evidence to support that assertion. However, Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, traces that lesson back to his youth. “On this first day of classes I was clad in my new boots. I had never worn boots before of any kind, and that first day, I walked like a newly shod horse. I made a terrible racket walking up the steps and almost slipped several times. As I clomped into the classroom, my boots crashing on that shiny wooden floor, I noticed two female students in the first row were watching my lame performance with great amusement. The prettier of the two leaned over to her friend and

Opinion

By Jazelle Hunt NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Nearly 50 years after President Lyndon B. Johnson declared war on poverty, a new report finds that robust social safety net programs are slowly leading the nation to victory. According to the report, “Trends in Poverty With an

Anchored Supplemental Poverty Measure,” the poverty rate has dropped 40 percent since 1967, as a result of provisions such as housing vouchers, free school lunch unemployment benefits, Social Security, food stamps, and more. Without these programs, the researchers find, the percentage of Americans living in poverty would be twice as high.

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... tax breaks and safety net programs have saved 13 percent of lower-middle income Americans from poverty.

By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief PRETORIA, South Africa (NNPA) – Nearly a month after his death, there is a bitter struggle to define – and, in many instances, re-define – the legacy of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first democratically elected president. “There is an attempt to do in his death what they could not do in life – take away his story,” Jesse Jackson said in a speech at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg. “… He did not go to jail as some out-of-control youth who needed to be matured. He went in as a freedom fighter and came out as a freedom fighter.” The effort to soften the image of Mandela as a freedom fighter began long before his death. Speaking at an African National Congress (ANC) celebration a year before Mandela’s death, South African President Jacob Zuma said, “Inside our country, even those who were are who are still, fundamentally opposed to the

NNPA Photo by George E. Curry

Mandela’s statue, at 24 feet, towers above others

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Commentary

Lifestyle

Insight 2 Health

Education

Extend emergency unemployment insurance benefits now

Overcoming personal stress with pending uncertainty

Obesity: The definition and its health risks

Friendship Academy of the Arts students give back to the community

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Page 2 • January 6 - January 12, 2014 • Insight News

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Letter to the editor: Shannon Gibney What an unsettling article about the MCTC, Minneapolis Community and Technical College, regarding its unfair and hypocritical treatment in rendering a threatening reprimand to the biracial English professor, Shannon Gibney, for addressing structural racism in the U.S. only because two (2) caucasian students in her class

felt uncomfortable about the subject. The two male students claim that they felt targeted when Gibney sought to discuss racism and believed that she was directing conversation towards them as individuals. When they said they felt harassed by her, Gibney told them she was not singling them out as racists, but, if

they still felt uncomfortable they could file a complaint of discrimination. They did, and consequently, she was strongly reprimanded via written correspondence to her. The threatening written warning to Shannon Gibney completely contradicts MCTC’s own statements that no faculty member is disciplined for teaching

or discussing structural, institutionalized racism, which is very real in this country. Ironically, some Caucasian male faculty at the college said that they freely discuss issues of structured racism in their classrooms, but they have never been approached or reprimanded by any superiors at the school as their colleague, Shannon Gibney,

has been. Given the history of MCTC maintaining an environment of unwelcome and racial hostility against faculty of color, it is clear that professor Shannon Gibney is herself the victim of the structured racism, which she was hoping to discuss further before she was threatened to stop via the reprimand from one of

her superiors at the two-year college. The union president, Barbara Hager, has summed the matter up quite honestly in relaying that, “you can have a plantation environment that’s diverse but all of the people in power are Caucasians.” Hopefully, there will be justice for Shannon Gibney and the written warning and racial discrimination complaint against her will be dropped – completely. Melissa Owens

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“You cannot find this education anywhere else.” We are now accepting applications for the Spring 2O14 Workshop at Macy’s! If you are a woman or person of color and own your own business, we invite you to apply for the Workshop at Macy’s! You’ll gain insight from seasoned Macy’s pros and Macy’s partners, and get the tools you need to succeed and sustain growth in the retail industry. Apply today at macysinc.com/workshop PICTURED: Amber Lee-Forrester, Kane & Couture. Past participant of The Workshop at Macy’s.

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Insight News • January 6 - January 12, 2014 • Page 3

Extend emergency unemployment insurance benefits now Child Watch

By Marian Wright Edelman In the last few days of this year, most Americans are wrapping up their holiday celebrations and pondering the promise of 2014. But millions of Americans who have been struggling the longest to find work in our slowly recovering economy are now facing deep uncertainty and despair instead of a Happy New Year. The budget deal Congress finally reached in December did not extend emergency unemployment insurance benefits for the long-term unemployed and 1.3 million struggling jobseekers

are losing those desperately needed survival benefits on December 28. Unless Congress acts immediately in the new year to extend these benefits, huge numbers of struggling jobseekers will be affected: the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates almost five million jobless workers will lose benefits over the next twelve months. The President’s Council of Economic Advisors estimates that if Congress lets emergency unemployment insurance expire, it will cost the economy 240,000 jobs and impact families with 3.6 million children by the end of 2014. Federal emergency unemployment insurance benefits were designed to be a critical safety net for unemployed workers who have exhausted regular state unemployment insurance payments. During the recent

recession the number of unemployed workers unable to find new jobs before their regular benefits ran out

already started phasing down as the labor market improved, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out

Congress must act to support the millions of Americans and their children who have been tossed around in our stormy economic seas by extending emergency unemployment insurance and focus on creating more jobs has soared. Although the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program had

it’s still far too soon to let the program expire completely since almost two-fifths -- 4.1

million of the 10.9 million unemployed — are long-term unemployed who have been looking for work for 27 weeks or longer. Although the overall unemployment rate went down in November, the proportion of long-term unemployed workers rose from 36.9 percent to 37.3, double the rate in 2007 before the recession hit. This is the first time Congress has let longterm unemployment insurance benefits expire when the longterm jobless were more than 1.3 percent of the labor force. Today 2.6 percent of the labor force is long-term unemployed in our still sluggish economy. New jobs are desperately needed in this “post-recession” economy. One recent example in the nation’s capital paints the picture. Walmart was opening two new stores and offering 600 jobs for which 23,000 jobseekers applied.

People desperately want to work! Getting a job at Walmart has become as competitive as getting into Harvard. We don’t know how many of those 23,000 jobseekers were longterm unemployed workers. What we do know is that employers tend to discriminate against those workers and hire people who want to change jobs or have only been unemployed for a short time first. Congress must act to support the millions of Americans and their children who have been tossed around in our stormy economic seas by extending emergency unemployment insurance and focus on creating more jobs. All of us at the Children’s Defense Fund were disappointed when budget negotiators and Congress failed in this

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How to succeed in fundraising FUNdraising Good Times

By Mel and Pearl Shaw Happy New Year! Are you beginning 2014 with your hopes pinned on a bountiful new year? Does your vision of December 2014 include smiling faces as you toast members of your fundraising team, celebrating a year that broke fundraising records? Are you dreaming of fundraising success, or are you

planting seeds that can bear fruit this year and for years to come? We suggest giving your dreams a strong foundation: put in place the prerequisites for fundraising success. There are 18 things you can focus on throughout the year that will help ensure fundraising success in 2014 and for years to come. This column focuses on four: agreement, commitment, teamwork, and a budget. Start with agreement. Do the leaders of your organization agree on the fundraising priorities and how much needs to be raised? Are the goals in line with your nonprofit’s strategic direction? Does everyone

understand the current financial position? Are the goals realistic? Is there an understanding of where the money could come from? Are there contingency plans in place in case initial donors or funders are unable or unwilling to give at the level your nonprofit anticipates? Move on to commitment. Your board might approve a budget that depends on the organization raising a specific amount of money, but that is not the same as being committed to ensuring the funds are raised. Leaders demonstrate commitment through their own personal giving. If board members won’t

give, why should anyone else? Involvement is another way to demonstrate commitment. Are board members willing to host friendraisers and fundraisers? Talk with current and prospective funders? Introduce your nonprofit to a new circle of potential supporters? Board participation is critical, but no board can achieve fundraising success on its own. A larger team is required. Engage those who can make a difference in your nonprofit’s fundraising by asking them to join a fundraising leadership team. Invite donors, local business and community leaders, your employees,

volunteers and those who benefit from the work of your nonprofit to lend their skills, enthusiasm and relationships. Colleges, universities, private schools and charter schools should always engage alumni. Set up weekly or monthly meetings for the team and make sure there are clear and well defined roles for each team member. Make sure the annual operating budget includes funds to support your fundraising efforts. The old saying is true: it takes money to make money. Successful fundraising requires the consistent allocation of time, money and resources. Take the time to determine how much

can be allocated to fundraising, and set realistic expectations regarding how much can be raised. Over the next few weeks we will introduce additional prerequisites for fundraising success. In the meantime, we invite you to assess your fundraising readiness for free at www.saadandshaw.com. Copyright 2013 – Mel and Pearl Shaw Mel and Pearl Shaw are the authors of “Prerequisites for Fundraising Success.” They position nonprofits for fundraising success. Visit them at www.saadandshaw.com.

McCorvey From 1 It is this same character that placed her on a trajectory of success beginning in 1977 at MPHA as she moved from entry level positions to numerous promotions for her exemplary work in property management in the agency’s Family and High-Rise Housing programs that eventually led to her current executive leadership role. And true to form she does not rest on her laurels, but considers her journey a service that has to be met. “This position is a position of honor because I have been entrusted with the huge responsibility of making sure people have dignity in housing. I see it as a high honor. I am in the business of providing housing to our community’s most vulnerable,” said McCorvey. McCorvey governs the largest public housing agency and provider of quality, affordable housing for lowerincome families in the state of Minnesota. She oversees the management of more than 6,000 affordable housing units owned and operated by MPHA and the administration of 5,000 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers for families who use this assistance to live in privately-owned rental properties. McCorvey promotes a culture of excellence that has garnered national recognition for MPHA as a standard bearer in the public housing industry. In 1998 Housing and Urban Development (HUD) named MPHA one of the nation’s top five large housing authorities in the country based on the agency’s overall performance including its capital and financial indicators. In 2007 MPHA’s Housing Choice Voucher Program earned the High Performer designation, and continues to maintain this status to date. MPHA has engaged in an unprecedented renewal of its public housing stock through securing and investing over $282 million in physical and management improvements. As one of the defendants in the Holiman v. Cisneros housing discrimination lawsuit, MPHA was responsible for leading the implementation of the $117 million settlement that significantly impacted affordable housing development in Minneapolis and the surrounding communities. In addition, MPHA secured $50 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. “She is a visionary and a leader who has a great deal of flexibility,” said Bob Boyd, MPHA director of policy and special initiatives, who has

MCCORVEY TURN TO 4

Page 4 • January 6 - January 12, 2014 • Insight News

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LIFESTYLE Overcoming personal stress with pending uncertainty Lifestyle

By Daryl D. Green Do you know what the future holds in 2014 for you? Are you now dreading the holiday season with more demands on the job, an unconcerned boss about your personal welfare, and new threats of pending layoffs? All of these things create stress and anxiety for working professionals as the holiday season approaches. Many smart buyers do not want to overspend in this economic crisis, creating a situation where the economy recovers even slower. Leadership strategists offer advice to working professionals during the holiday season to reduce stress related to all the uncertainties in 2014. Sadly, our standard of living is eroding. Families cannot

Benefits From 3 budget deal to ask the richest Americans and corporations to pay their fair share or close even the smallest and most egregious tax loopholes that could fund desperately needed investments

McCorvey From 3 worked with McCorvey for 20 years. He recalled after Congress passed ARRA, working with McCorvey to use ARRA funds they received from a national HUD competition to create the senior campus in Heritage Park. “We had vacant land in north Minneapolis that because of the housing crisis had been largely undeveloped,” said Boyd. “(McCorvey) believed, and was committed to finding some way to put an anchor on the site that would set the stage for future

Poverty From 1 “Our research tells us that these programs are important for families struggling to put food on the table and find adequate shelter,” says study co-author Christopher Wimer, a research scientist at the Columbia Population Research Center. “For a family of four our measure puts the poverty threshold higher at about $25,000 a year, which is not going to go so far.” The Census Bureau introduced the official poverty measure (OPM) in 1963 to aid

professionals are succeeding in the corporate environment while failing miserably at their own personal relationships. If you are human, you will experience some disappointments. It does not take a genius to understand

coping tools for survival. Individuals should not lose hope. The following positive tips are suggested: • Become a good steward of your finances. Do not attempt to spend more than you have. • Evaluate your current situation at work and home. Are you moving forward or just standing still? • Consider how to improve your individual condition with self-learning, trade/ professional certificates, and newer job strategy approaches. • Seek out mentors who can assist you with your personal goals. • Get rid of unnecessary stress in your life and negative people. • Surround yourself with a positive network of individuals. • Consider a hobby, interest, or a community cause which requires going outside your comfort zone.

spend the holidays in despair or you can take control of some things to have a more successful life. This does not happen by chance. Certainly, depression sets in for some of the 15 million unemployed Americans, causing some women to grow weary and some men to grow angry. For millions of individuals, a pity party is a regular affair. However, individuals must be persistent during the current economic crisis and a good outlook goes a long way. Your attitude will greatly impact how you retool your life so that you can be successful in the future.

make ends meet despite working multiple jobs. Companies are demanding more. It is no surprise that folks are stressed out. According to the third annual Work Stress Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Everest College, more than eight in 10 employed Americans are stressed out by at least one thing about their jobs. Additionally, the study showed poor pay and increased workloads were top sources of concern for many employees (1,019 surveyed by phone). The results produced a significant increase (73% to 83%) from last year’s survey, which found that more employees were stressed at work. Another holiday season has come. After the presents have been given out and the year comes to a close, many people will reminisce about the past year. Sadly, some people’s lives will be filled with many defeats, broken relationships, and unfulfilled dreams. These many setbacks may be relatively minor in nature. Pastor Richard S. Brown of Knoxville notes,

“For many people, the holidays season bring great pressure and stress...We stress that we can’t get everyone something for Christmas?” or they may be much more serious. Depression can happen to

anyone. Christian Maslach and Michael Leiter, authors of The Truth about Burn-out, explain how stress can burn out people and impact their mental state. In fact, many

how someone can get depressed. Some call it a “Pity Party.” With the ongoing global crisis and individual financial struggles, more and more Americans need to find better

in children and poor families and strengthen the American economy. Helping workers without jobs who are seeking employment should be an obvious lifeline during periods of economic downturn and recovery. In 2012, 2.5 million people escaped poverty through unemployment compensation including 600,000 children.

Many families who lose unemployment insurance benefits, especially longterm jobless workers, will face poverty again. They may have to rely on other government supports like the nearly-disappeared Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

which Congress cut in November and the House of Representatives is threatening to slash again by $40 billion as part of the farm bill. Allowing emergency unemployment insurance benefits to expire on top of cuts to SNAP and other programs is cruel and unnecessary and asks sacrifices from those least able to bear it.

Please ask your Senators and Representatives to act now to extend emergency unemployment insurance benefits as soon as they return in January to assist those who need help most in this jobless recovery. Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Children’s

Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more information go to www. childrensdefense.org.

development. Cora’s vision was to do something that extensively looked at the needs of elders. We had developed a 102 unit senior development in 2006 but she wanted to do something more comprehensive. Cora got a vision – and this was well over 20 years ago – that somehow the public housing agency had to respond to the needs of older residents who were experiencing dementia. This was something public housing authorities across the nation hadn’t really dealt with. And when funding became available Cora called me in and sat me down and we came up with the idea of creating a memory care development that

would focus on people with acute assisted living needs with a high emphasis on those who needed memory care.” Most recently the agency received five prestigious National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) Awards of Merit for its community revitalization work and resident service initiatives. An example of the projects of recognition include MPHA’s Thomas T. Feeney Manor, a 48-unit assisted living and memory care “green” facility, that provides affordable housing and services for an increasing population of seniors, including those who are low income, or

suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. It is the first-in-the-nation assisted living/memory care public housing development. In the midst of all the success, challenges have arisen in the form of a closed MPHA Section 8 HCV waiting list, budget cuts, staff layoffs, or championing programs or services in an uphill battle. “You are here to solve problems and to make things work better,” said McCorvey. “You have to have courage to step up and solve problems even when they are not politically popular. You have to have courage to do the right thing

rather than the status quo. When you’ve gone through an intellectual process and narrowed down decisions to what you believe to be the best for the agency, you may still agonize over the ramifications of these decisions, but you have to trust your instincts and be confident in yourself. Be respectful, care about people, and work hard at everything from the big to the small things.” Cheryl Borden, managing director of the Housing Choice Voucher Program was appointed to McCorvey’s team in December of 2000 and witnesses McCorvey’s care on a daily basis.

“Cora’s got this quiet way of letting you know you are doing a good job,” said Borden. “She never fails to let you know. It’s a subtle way that she does it but it makes you feel on top of the world, because you know that she recognizes what you have accomplished.” “Cora is this dynamic woman who melds her compassion with her responsibilities and the things she does so much better than most people I know,” said Boyd. “She doesn’t let responsibility get in the way of her compassion, but she does not let compassion stop her from what she needs to do to keep MPHA fiscally solvent.”

in distributing federal aid. At that time it was based on income and the cost of food. Today, the measure is based on a family’s size, cash income, and ages of its members. The study’s authors say that it’s an outdated and insufficient measure—not only are there non-cash types of income (such as food stamps or housing subsidies), but also the OPM excludes tax burden, and only considers families linked by blood, marriage, or adoption (same-sex partners or cohabiting couples with children, for example, do not count as family). It seems the Census Bureau

picked up on these deficiencies; in 2010 it introduced the supplemental poverty measure (SPM). This measure uses an improved threshold, a more inclusive tally of a family’s expenses and resources, and a broader definition of “family.” Although the SPM is only intended for research use (the OPM is still used for federal spending), the authors contend that it offers a better picture of American poverty. According to the OPM, the poverty threshold is around $23,000, and has been since the late ‘90s. The SPM offers a higher threshold, largely because it reflects changes in cost of

living more acutely—and it also means more people qualify as poor. To study poverty trends over the last 45 years, the researchers used today’s SPM threshold and applied it to American families’ household data since 1967 (adjusting for inflation). That year, the official poverty rate was 14 percent; and it hasn’t changed much since then, lingering between 11 and 15 percent over 45 years of data. But with the SPM, the poverty rate has steadily declined—in 1967 it would have been 26 percent. It’s come down to 16 percent as of 2012, which means that poverty has fallen 40 percent since 1967.

The measure also reveals the impact of anti-poverty programs and policies by examining the effect of taxes (tax requirements, breaks, and credits) and transfers (in-kind federal income, such as housing vouchers and free school lunch). Without including taxes and transfers in the SPM measure the poverty rate would have been 27 percent in 2012. In other words, tax breaks and safety net programs have saved 13 percent of lower-middle income Americans from poverty. Elise Gould, an economist with think tank nonprofit, Economic Policy Institute also believes in the potential of this measure. “We absolutely see that if we look at measures—even just the OPM—that if it had not been for these economic programs more people would be in poverty. All these programs like sick days, housing vouchers, child care credits, help lift people out of poverty,” she says. “And the SPM is absolutely the best thing today to examine that. Trying to recreate it back in time is a great undertaking.” The researchers also calculated SPM-based poverty rates for the elderly, working age people, children, and for those in deep poverty (who live on 50 percent or less of the poverty threshold). Taxes and transfers have kept deep poverty around five percent since the ‘70s. Without them, that rate would be closer to 15 and 20 percent.

This study comes at a time when media spotlight has focused on the rising tide of poverty, especially for urban children. But this month Congress approved nearly $40 billion of cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) over the next decade, starting last month. One in seven Americans will be affected. “It’s not that we’ve solved the problems through these programs—there’s still 15 or 16 percent of the country living in poverty under our measure,” Wimer says. “But our research shows that programs like SNAP do a decent job of helping families meet their food costs, which clears room in the budget to pay rent.” Gould, who also studies economic mobility, believes that while safety net programs are essential, they’re only half the battle. “Government support has done an incredibly good job in helping people, but pre-tax and pre-transfer income for people really hasn’t changed a lot,” she explains. “You have to really think of ways to increase people’s income and that usually means better wages. When the economy is not doing a great job of serving and providing jobs for ordinary people, the government has to step in. With both aspects, you can do a fair amount to alleviate poverty in this country.”

Your attitude will greatly impact how you retool your life so that you can be successful in the future.

2014 and beyond are full of a lot of uncertainty. You can

© 2013 by Daryl D. Green Dr. Daryl Green has done extensive research on cultural issues impacting today and future leaders. His last book, Job Strategies for the 21st Century: How to Assist Today’s College Students during Economic Turbulence, has been rated number one on Amazon.com. For more information, you can contact him at www.darylgreen. org or www.nuleadership.com.

THE

It 2013 List By Harry Colbert, Jr. Contributing Writer Now that we are just days into 2014, let’s take a look back at some of the major entertainment happenings of 2013 in the Twin Cities. Before we start, let’s be clear this retrospect is presented with no empirical data – there were no pollsters out at malls or restaurants asking each shopper/diner for their insights, though unofficial Facebook polls were taken. The accounting firm of Price Waterhouse Coopers was not charged with tabulating the results. Nielsen was not called in to rate the list – the Aesthetically Speaking It List of 2013. Also, let it be stated that the author of this list is also an event producer and some of the events that made the list were produced in association with said author. In such instances, these events will be denoted with an asterisk. Now with the housekeeping out the way, let’s get to the It List. It Artists (music) The Twin Cities offers a wealth of outstanding musical talent. Come on, Prince is from here. Enough said. But allow us to say more. 2013 saw the emergence of several other outstanding artists in soul/R&B and hip-hip. So, who made the list? For outstanding soul, the It “award” goes to Timotha Lanae. When your album (“Red”) tops the soul charts in London, you’re doing something very right. “Red” is a

timeless project that we’re shocked isn’t garnering her more attention here in her hometown. The Twin Cities needs to take a cue from the Londoners and get hip to Lanae. “It” song of 2013: We have a tie. “Beautiful” by Lia Renee Dior and “Wish You’d Let Me Love You” by Janey Neal. Contrasting songs – “Beautiful” is a life-affirming feel good melody that provides daily motivation, while “Wish” is an emotional tale of one yearning for the love of another – but both are equally outstanding. Dior’s “Beautiful” was one of the most played on KMOJ – FM, while Neal has yet to crack the limited R&B/soul/hip-hip airwaves in Minnesota, but that takes nothing away from her song. In fact, it maybe says a lot more, considering Neal had only social media and live performances to get her music out. Kudos to both talented artists. 2013 just may have been the year of the woman, as the It List award for outstanding hip-hip goes to Lioness. The Lioness’ mixtape, “Queen” is a hands down no doubter for the best hip-hop project of the year. While Grrrl Prty and its standout member Lizzo was the media darling of other outlets (and certainly not without merit), Lioness was grinding the club scene showing up her male counterparts time after time. The Lioness’ true coming out came in July when she opened for Doug E. Fresh and proudly proclaimed her stake as queen of the hip-hop jungle.

The It CD of 2013 goes to Villa Rosa with “Blue Diamond Island.” “Blue Diamond” is the joint project of Maria Isa and Muja Messiah. While Messiah holds his own and has an undeniable flow, Isa, the duel threat singer and MC elevates “Blue Diamond” to It worthy status. Do not be shocked to see her on the national radar very soon. The It DJ of 2013 is DJ Willie Shu. Shu – or Shu Nasty, as he’s often called – has risen to area stardom with his unique ability to cross DJing genres, spinning everything from hood-hop to underground hip-hip, to neosoul to fusion. What sets Shu apart is his willingness to play songs and artists that aren’t the same five to 10 that we hear at almost every other party. Shu takes it back to the era when DJs actually broke records instead of relying on radio to dictate what gets played. It Events 2013 saw a plethora of great shows and events come to the Twin Cities. Music’s new royal family of Jay Z and Beyoncé both had tour stops here. Drake came through. Janelle Monae brought her electric show to Hennepin Avenue and Bilal*, Rasaan Patterson, Algebra Blessett* and Dwele* all graced the Twin Cities with their presence. But when we talk about the concert event of 2013 it’s hard to top pancakes being served at 6 a.m. while listening to Prince at Paisley Park.

LIST TURN TO 7

Photos Left side, top to bottom: Dwele, Hugh Masekela, Timotha Lanae, Lia Renee Dior, Bilal Right side, top to bottom: Algebra Blessett, The Lioness, Janey Neal

Page 6 • January 6 - January 12, 2014 • Aesthetically Speaking

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Flo Anthony: The Deadly Stuff Players interview By Kam Williams Flo Anthony is a syndicated celebrity radio host, columnist. The first African-American woman to work in the sports, entertainment and the renowned Page Six departments of the New York Post, as well as the first African-American to pen a column in the National Examiner, her work currently appears in the New York Daily News, Resident Magazine, the New York Amsterdam News and other newspapers. Flo is also the publisher and editor-in-chief of Black Noir Magazine, as well as a busy blogger. She has appeared on many TV shows, including Life After, omg! Insider, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, and other programs on the Fox News Channel, CNN, HLN and MSNBC. A graduate of Howard University, Flo resides in the East Harlem section of New York City. Here, she talks about her new novel, Deadly Stuff Players.

KW: Which one do you enjoy doing the most? FA: I love it all, but my radio show is my baby. I can say whatever I want and I love interacting with the air personalities. It is not financially as rewarding as it should be, but the creative outlet rewards my soul. KW: What celebrity was your

FA: I don’t mean to sound vain, but a beautiful, seasoned woman.

KW: What was the most challenging aspect of writing the novel? FA: Getting it exactly the way Zane wanted it to be.

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for? FA: A movie deal with Tyler Perry for Deadly Stuff Players.

KW: Who is the right audience for the book? FA: Men and women from 18 to 80. KW: What message do you think people will take away from it? FA: That good prevails over evil and that life can have a happy ending. KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would? FA: Can I offer you a million dollar deal? Yes, you can. Thank you very much. [LOL] KW: [LOL] Would you mind saying something controversial that would get this interview tweeted? FA: I think that both Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston were murdered. They were both seasoned drug users. They wouldn’t have overdosed. [Laughs again]

Kam Williams: Hi Flo, it was great finally getting to meet you at the Pocono Mountains Film Festival. Flo Anthony: Hello, Kam. I feel the same way. You are such an amazing journalist. It was a thrill to finally meet you, too. KW: Thanks! You are a Renaissance woman who wears a lot of hats: radio host, publisher, editor, gossip columnist, publicist, blogger, talk show guest, syndicated columnist and novelist. How do juggle so many interests? FA: Thanks for the compliment. I keep a very tight daily schedule. I provide live radio feeds to almost 30 stations from 7:35 am until 5:00 pm. From 9:30 to noon, I research and write two shows, Gossip On The Go With Flo and Flo Anthony’s Big Apple Buzz for the next day. At 12:10 pm, I record the shows. Then I start up live again at 2:00. In between feeds, I write my other columns and work on other projects. I was on a three-month deadline to write Deadly Stuff Players, so I began work on it at 5:00 every morning, did my other work between the radio feeds, then resumed work on the novel at 3:30, then worked until around 7:00 every evening and all day on Saturdays and Sundays.

for five days and all the wild people, murder and mayhem they encounter.

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh? FA: Just now when I answered the last two questions. I believe laughter is good for the soul and I laugh all the time. KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure? FA: Drinking chardonnay. The new one is Flo wine by Marcus Johnson. KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read? FA: I read several novels a week, but the last good one was A Family Affair by Roshonda Tate Billingsley. I’ve actually read it over and over. http:// w w w. a m a z o n . c o m / e x e c / obidos/ASIN/1451639694/ ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

Flo Anthony

favorite interview of all time? FA: Michael Jackson, every time I interviewed him throughout the years. The most exciting interview with him was when I took the Inside Edition cameras onto the set of his “They Don’t Care About Us” video. I was very humble about it at the time, but looking back on it, it was a huge deal! KW: Who did you most like representing as a publicist? FA: Tyra Banks. KW: What TV show have you had the most fun appearing on

as a guest? FA: Geraldo.

KW: What inspired you to write Deadly Stuff Players, a sequel to Keeping Secrets, Telling Lies, your first novel? FA: I loved the characters Valerie and Rome, and wanted to bring them back. And, I kept coming up with all the other great characters like Vance Dumas, Platinum Pizzazz, Royale Jones, Turquoise Hobson, etcetera. KW: The heroine of the book, Valerie, is a gossip columnist. Is the character based on you? FA: Yes, she is me down to the long blonde hair and love of Christmas. A lot of things that happen to Valerie in the book have actually been my experiences.

Courtesy of Kam Williams

KW: Tell me a little about Deadly Stuff Players. The cover says “Zane Presents,” which makes me naturally expect a steamy romance novel. Yet, the title suggests that it might be a murder mystery. Which is it? FA: It is a murder mystery, although it does have a halfdozen love scenes. Zane has her own imprint, Strebor Books. KW: Tell me a little about the plot in 25 words or less? FA: It revolves around Valerie and Rome, who is an NFL Hall of Famer-turnedPrivate Investigator, as they try to solve the murder of drug-addled socialite Andrea Dumas. She is the wife of an African-American dot.com billionaire Victor Dumas and mother of Vance Dumas, a jockey. The story follows Rome and Val around L.A.

KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What was the last song you listened to? FA: “This Christmas” by Chris Brown from the This Christmas soundtrack. http:// w w w. a m a z o n . c o m / e x e c / obidos/ASIN/B008RCO5UO/ ref=nosim/thslfofire-20 KW: What is your favorite dish to cook? FA: Spaghetti and meat sauce. It’s fast, easy, filling and inexpensive. KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you? FA: Shopping for shoes. KW: The Mike Pittman question: What was your best career decision? FA: To move to New York City by myself the Monday after I graduated from college to pursue my dreams. KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time? FA: First, I would go to church and pray. Then, I would have a wonderful dinner and wine with my boyfriend Claude, and call my cousins and friends to say good-bye. KW: The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be? FA: A lioness. KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory? FA: Going to the store for bananas in Mississippi when I was about 2. KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question: How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person? FA: It really hit me. I was 19. I lost 30 pounds, weighed only around 90, but I didn’t get over him for a long time. KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose? FA: To fly! That way, I could move around fast! KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? FA: Most get very little sleep and are early risers. KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps? FA: Never give up! If you really want to do something, you can do it. Can you imagine that a person like me, born in Mississippi, raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, child of schoolteachers, would one day interview Michael Jackson and be able to call him and La Toya my friends? I could always write from a little kid, so I knew books were in my future. KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered? FA: As a nice person who gave of herself and was kind. KW: Did it feel funny being asked these questions, instead of being the one doing the interviewing? FA: No, I love being interviewed. KW: Thanks again for the time, Flo, and best of luck with the book and all of your other endeavors. FA: Thank you Kam, for all of your help and your contributions to the literary world.

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Aesthetically Speaking • January 6 - January 12, 2014 • Page 7

Kanye West faces lawsuit over “Bound 2” sample By Alexis Taylor Special to the NNPA from The Afro-American Newspaper Ricky Spicer was just 12 years old when he sang about being “Bound” to fall for the girl of his dreams on the 1971 album “2+2+1= Ponderosa Twins Plus One.” Now 56, the retired Cleveland native has resurfaced–not to restart his career but to defend his old work from “Yeezus.” Spicer filed a lawsuit on Dec. 23 against Kanye West, who he alleges sampled his voice without his authorization or consent to produce the song “Bound 2.” Roc-A-Fella Records, Inc., Universal Music Group, Inc., Island Def Jam Music Group, Rhino Entertainment Company doing business as Rhino Records, and Kanye

List From 5 Even better than his three-day stint at the Dakota Jazz Club, Prince, and his new all girl band at Paisley was simply magical. Honorable mentions in this category go to Dwele at the Dakota*, Anthony Hamilton at Epic and Hugh Masekela at the Dakota. The It party of 2013 was the Black Out Affair at Seven featuring DJ Kid Capri. Where the White Out Affair fell flat, the Black Out delivered threefold. Something Special, who produces both events, showed why they have been among the preeminent party producers in the Twin Cities for more than a decade with this year’s Black Out. The It concept event goes

Producer and Rapper, Kanye West. Omari West are all listed as defendants in the suit. “Mr. Spicer was the lead vocalist when the group recorded ‘Bound.’ His voice can distinctly be heard throughout the song, including its chorus, to Thee Urbane Life* for Expressions graphic t-shirt party (Vol. I). Concept parties are nothing new (i.e. White Out/ Black Out) but the t-shirt party took it to another level. Two hundred and fifty plus urban professionals dressed down in unique (often outrageous) graphic (and yes, some were “graphic”) tees partying outside on the back deck at Darby’s to the tunes of DJ Dell Dilla was the breath of fresh air that the Twin Cities had been looking for. The It club goes to The Light for its resurrection from Elixir. The space was once a drab and congested spot suffering from an identity crisis. Was it a club or a lounge? Light was opened up, updated with new décor, bright lights and most importantly, enhanced sound. There we have it, the It List of 2013.

which contains the following words sung by Mr. Spicer: ‘Bound, bound; Bound to fall in love,” Spicer’s suit alleges. Spicer is demanding a trial by jury in a Manhattan Supreme Court, according to

documents released by the New York County Clerk. According to the complaint, Spicer is the only member of Ponderosa Twins Plus One both living and able to take up the issue, as Alvin and Alfred Pelham are deceased and Kirk and Keith Gardner are both currently in prison. The lawsuit alleges that Spicer was never adequately compensated for his recordings as a child with Ponderosa Twins Plus One, though he did go on to work briefly with Gladys Knight and James Brown. According to court documents, Spicer was listening to the radio one day this year when he heard his own voice singing back to him. “The chorus, which contains Mr. Spicer’s lead vocal, is heard at least four times throughout ‘Bound 2’ including the beginning, middle and end of the song,”

the complaint states. “Mr. Spicer’s voice is sampled exactly as he recorded it and his voice, altered by the defendants, is also heard several times.” The song is the final track on West’s sixth studio album, “Yeezus,” which according to court documents sold more

than 327,000 copies during its first seven days on sale. Spicer seeks an immediate injunction to stop “any further unauthorized use or exploitation of plaintiff ’s name,” along with damages, reasonable costs, and attorney fees.

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Page 8 • January 6 - January 12, 2014 • Insight News

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OBESITY

The definition and its health risks Obesity is a medical condition in which a high amount of body fat makes it hard for a person’s internal organs to work well. This can cause poor health. People with obesity are at a higher risk for developing these health problems: • High blood glucose (sugar) or diabetes • High blood pressure (hypertension) • High blood cholesterol and triglycerides (dyslipidemia or high blood fats) • Heart attacks due to coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke • Bone and joint problems -- more weight puts pressure on the bones and joints. This can lead to osteoarthritis, a disease that causes joint pain and stiffness. • Stopping breathing during sleep (sleep apnea). This can cause daytime fatigue or sleepiness, poor attention, and problems at work.

• Gallstones and liver problems These three things can be used to determine if a person’s body fat puts them at risk for developing obesity-related diseases: • Body mass index (BMI) • Waist size • Other risk factors the person has Body Mass Index Body mass index (BMI) is calculated using height and weight. It is used to estimate body fat. In general, starting at 25.0, the higher your BMI, the greater is your risk for developing obesityrelated health problems. These ranges of BMI are used to describe levels of risk: • Overweight (not obese), if BMI is 25.0 - 29.9 • Class 1 (low-risk) obesity, if BMI is 30 - 34.9 • Class 2 (moderate-risk) obesity, if BMI is 35 - 39.9 • Class 3 (high-risk) obesity, if BMI is equal to or greater than 40

Waist Size Women with a waist size greater than 35 inches and men with a waist size greater than 40 inches have an increased risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. People with “apple-shaped” bodies (meaning their waist is bigger than their hips) also have an increased risk for these conditions. Risk Factors A risk factor is anything that increases your chance of getting a disease. Having a risk factor does not mean that you will get the disease, but the more risk factors you have, the more likely you will be to develop a disease or health problem. Some risk factors, like a person’s age, race, or family history cannot be changed. Your risk of health problems such as heart disease, stroke, and kidney problems increases if you are obese and have these risk factors: • High blood pressure

(hypertension) • High blood cholesterol or triglycerides • High blood glucose (sugar), a sign of type 2 diabetes • These other risk factors for heart disease and stroke are not caused by obesity: • Having a family member under the age of 50 with heart disease • Being physically inactive or having a sedentary lifestyle • Smoking or using tobacco products of any kind Summing It Up You can control most of these risk factors by changing your lifestyle. If you have obesity, your health care provider can help you begin a weight-loss program with a starting goal of losing 5 - 10% of your current weight. This will reduce your risk of developing obesityrelated diseases. Source: Allina

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Insight News • January 6 - January 12, 2014 • Page 9

HEALTH Anton Gunn brings passion and truth to health care By Michael H. Cottman | BlackAmericaWeb.com For Anton Gunn, the journey to become a successful health care advocate began with a deeply personal experience. “It hit me to the core,” Gunn, the Director External Affairs for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in an interview with BlackAmericaWeb. com. Ten years ago, Gunn was 30 years old and recently married. He learned that his wife was pregnant with their daughter and he was bursting with excitement until Gunn received some disturbing news from his doctor. “We got a letter saying that my insurance company denied coverage for my wife’s pre-natal care, her pregnancy, and the delivery of our baby,” Gunn said. “I had a good job with health care insurance, but I made a simple mistake on the application and checked the wrong box, and because I checked the wrong box, I had to spend the next 3 ½ years paying $17,000 out of my own pocket.” Gunn, a former South Carolina legislator, was outraged and confused. “This made no sense to me,” he said, exasperated. “I had two degrees, a job with health benefits, I was working in health care policy, and I thought if this was happening to me, then what was happening to the rest of America? Gunn, who brings passion and a sense of urgency to his profession,

Anton Gunn Gunn, who works closely with Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, spends a good part of his time talking to black America about the president’s Affordable Care Act through black radio, which includes conversations with radio hosts Tom Joyner, Joe Madison and Russ Parr, among others. For African Americans, Gunn said, the Affordable Care Act ensures that people cannot be denied health coverage because of pre-existing conditions. “Nobody can be denied the opportunity to get a routine physical exam,” Gunn said. “I never had to worry about health care until I had to face it myself.” “In the African American community, screenings for diabetes, or cholesterol, or high blood pressure, can be the difference between life or death for our families,” he said. “So if you don’t have insurance, people can now get low cost insurance and that’s what the Affordable Care Act does and that’s why I’m so

feels he was destined to work in the health care field because he started his career working as a community organizer helping low-income children find adequate health care. “It hit me that so many children in America didn’t have didn’t have health insurance,” Gunn said. “I would hear these stories about children in rural South Carolina who were failing in school not because they weren’t smart but because they didn’t have health coverage or dental coverage so they had teeth rotting in their mouths,” he said. “I don’t care how good the teacher is, if you have pain in your face there is no way you can learn math and science,” Gunn added. “It’s unconscionable that children in America do not have health care insurance and I wanted to do something about it.” Today, Gunn, a highly-visible aide for the Obama administration who has been working as a health care advocate for 17 years, is a point person for the Affordable Care Act who provides outreach to the African American community.

passionate about it.” Gunn’s national outreach campaign comes as a new report released by the Department of Health and Human Services shows that six out of ten (4.2 million) uninsured African Americans who may be eligible for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace might qualify for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or tax credits to help with the cost of premiums. If all states took advantage of new opportunities to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Gunn said, 95 percent of uninsured African Americans who may be eligible for the Marketplace might qualify for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or tax credits to help with the cost of premiums. The report also details uninsurance rates by state and provides several examples of what premiums might look like for African Americans living in major metropolitan areas. One fifth of uninsured African American citizens and permanent residents live the greater Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Detroit metropolitan areas. A 27-year-old in Atlanta with an income of $25,000 can pay as little as $105 a month for a bronze plan after applying the tax credit, while a family of four with an income of $50,000 could pay $148 a month for a bronze plan after applying the tax credit. Nationwide, about 2 million uninsured African Americans may

be eligible for coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Meanwhile, Gunn said the Affordable Care Act’s website is up and running and Americans can enroll online, or through a 24-hour call center — 800 318 2596 – or enroll in-person through community health centers across the country. Under the Affordable Care Act, Gunn said, black women can now get counseling, breastfeeding support, mammograms, cervix cancer screenings and prenatal care. “This is big deal,” Gunn said. “This is about changing the future of our community.” Gunn said there are plenty of African Americans who dream of starting their own businesses and becoming entrepreneurs, but can’t because they need to keep their full-time jobs because somebody in their family needs health insurance. “But now, because of the Affordable Care Act, people do not have to be locked into their jobs and more people in our communities can become entrepreneurs because the can buy low-cost insurance through the Affordable Care Act,” he said. Gunn said Obama’s health care initiative is a game-changer for the African American community. • 7.3 million African Americans with private insurance now have access to expanded preventive services with no cost sharing. This includes services such as colonoscopy screening for colon cancer, Pap smears and mammograms for women, well-

child visits, and flu shots for all children and adults. • An estimated 5.1 million African American women with private health insurance now have guaranteed access to women’s preventive services without cost sharing. These services include well-woman visits, HPV testing, counseling services, breastfeeding support, mammograms and screenings for cervical cancer, prenatal care, and other services. • The 4.5 million elderly and disabled African Americans who receive health coverage from Medicare also have access to many preventive services with no costsharing, including annual wellness visits with personalized prevention plans, diabetes and colorectal cancer screening, bone mass measurement and mammograms. • More than 500,000 young African American adults between ages 19 and 25 who would otherwise have been uninsured, including 230,000 African American women, now have coverage under their parents employer-sponsored or individually purchased health plan. “The Affordable Care Act will change the future of our community because if you are not healthy in your mind and not healthy in your body how much can you really contribute to your family and your community?” Gunn asked. “This is a great opportunity to transform lives long term,” he added, “and to make sure the African American community is healthy.”

Good looks may not be the only thing that runs in your family; Glaucoma can too It may be easy to see that beauty is deeply rooted in your family tree. But some things that are passed down from generation to generation are not as easily seen— like glaucoma, an eye disease that runs in families and often has no warning signs. Glaucoma is a group of diseases that damages the eye’s optic nerve, which carries visual signals to the brain. It can lead to vision loss or blindness if left untreated. Primary open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of this disease. Quite often, by the time people are diagnosed with glaucoma they have already begun to notice changes in their side, or peripheral, vision. It’s important not to wait until you

Young From 1 Snelling, we have so many treasures right here,” said Schall Young. “One of my favorite places is Frontenac State Park (southeast of Red Wing). You can see eagles; you can see other different wildlife. It’s just

studies and a Master of Science in water resources science – both from the University of Minnesota. “This is a great profession. And who would have thought I would be here? I’m an African-American female with a birthmark that takes up half of my face and I could have felt like I was the victim, but my advice is to keep doing what you’re doing and people will see your gifts and your talents.”

beautiful.” Schall Young hopes her involvement with youth can inspire more African-Americans and females to take an interest in environmental engineering. “You talk about AfricanAmericans in this profession, but it’s also interesting being a female in the male dominated field,” said Schall Young, who possesses a Bachelor of Science in environmental sciences/

© PhotoXpress

notice vision problems to see your eye care professional. “Studies show that at least half of all persons with glaucoma don’t know they have this potentially blinding eye disease,” said National Eye Institute (NEI) director Dr. Paul Sieving. “The good news is that glaucoma can be detected in its early stages through a comprehensive dilated eye exam.” People with a family historay of glaucoma and everybody at higher risk—especially African Americans age 40 and older— should get a comprehensive dilated eye exam every 1 to 2 years. A comprehensive dilated eye exam is a procedure in which an

eye care professional places drops in your eyes to dilate (or widen) the pupil to examine the back of your eyes and your optic nerve for signs of disease. This exam may help save your sight because when glaucoma is detected early, it can be controlled through medications or surgery. Keep the vision of your beautiful family in your future. To learn more about glaucoma, visit www.nei.nih.gov/glaucoma or call NEI at 301–496–5248. A low-cost exam may be available to you through Medicare. For more information, call 1–800– MEDICARE or visit www. medicare.gov. Source: National Eye Health Education Program

Being a bit of a trailblazer is nothing new to Schall Young. At the University of Minnesota, Schall Young was a charter member of the Kappa Pi chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. She is also a member of the American Council of

Engineering Companies, Minnesota and serves on the Friends of the Mississippi River Board. It’s evident that the highly driven Schall Young is judged on her work and not her gender nor ethnicity.

“Consulting firms are here to make money. They don’t have you here because you are Black or because you’re a woman. They have you here because you’re talented,” said Schall Young.

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Page 10 • January 6 - January 12, 2014 • Insight News

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COMMUNITY

Green line businesses in the red

Although the mission is for the Green Line to connect communities and make travel more efficient, the construction process has severed customer traffic and left Arnellia’s (like many businesses along the Central Corridor) in the red. A triage team of local artists will hold a free, public performance from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. at Arnellia›s on 1183 W. University

Artwork by Kelly Frankenberg

Avenue in St. Paul on Saturday, January 11. The performance’s goal is to bring the community together and stop the bleeding for this neighborhood business that has given so many fledgling musicians an opportunity to showcase their talent over the years. The event is titled, “Ajha’s Web w/Ray Covington-A Fusion of Drama & Song.” Written

excerpts by Essence Bonitaz, music by Ray Covington, and a cast of actors led by Terry Bellamy comprise this contemporary version of old-school radio soap opera drama presented live on stage. This collaboration is funded by Irrigate--a partnership between the City of St. Paul, Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and Springboard for

the Arts--an initiative to aid St. Paul businesses during the Central Corridor Light Rail construction. The artists hope to incite a groundswell of support and inspire others to support businesses along the Green Line so that they may survive long enough to benefit from the light rail›s mission. For more information contact Project Manager Jamillah Hollman at (612) 701-6680.

Donna Brazile is MLK, Jr. speaker

Donna Brazile

Mandela From 1

Donna Brazile, political commentator, strategist, author and adjunct professor, will deliver the keynote speech at the 24th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast on Monday, Jan. 20, 2014. This event will be hosted by General Mills Foundation and United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The breakfast will bring together an estimated 2,000 supporters and is an opportunity to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy of service and create an imperative to live out his legacy in our

homes, communities and world. This year’s breakfast theme is “Reimagine the Future.” “For 24 years, the General Mills Foundation and UNCF have worked together to bring a singular celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy and message to the Twin Cities and Minnesota,” said Tiffanie Boyd, chair of the 2014 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast committee and human resources vice president at General Mills. “ Donna Brazile is well-

positioned to address this year’s “Reimagine the Future” theme. She has a passion for encouraging young people to vote, work within the system to strengthen it and run for public office to impact change. She worked on every presidential campaign from 1976 through 2000, when she was the first African-American to manage a presidential campaign. She appears regularly on CNN and ABC News and is a columnist for Universal Uclick, Ms. Magazine and O, The

Oprah Magazine. She is also the author of the best-selling memoir, Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics. In addition to Brazile, the 2014 breakfast will include musical performances from Darnell Davis & The Remnant as well as the MacPhail Community Youth Choir, and the presentation of the Local Legend community service awards. During the breakfast, the audience will encouraged to

“Reimagine the Future” by signing up to volunteer and help those in our local community. Learn more about the 24th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast by visiting MLKBreakfast.com. Tickets for the breakfast, which will be held from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Minneapolis Convention Center, are now available at MLKBreakfast. com. As in the past, the breakfast will also be broadcast live on Twin Cities Public Television at 8 a.m. CST.

said loud enough for all to hear: ‘The country boy is not used to wearing shoes,’ at which her friend laughed. I was blind with fury and embarrassment.

“Her name was Mathona and she was a bit of a smart aleck. That day I vowed never to talk to her. But as my mortification wore off (and I became more adept at walking with boots) I also got to know her, and she was to become my greatest friend at Clarkebury,” a Wesleyan missionary school Mandela began attending at the age of 16. In his a u t o b i o g r a p h y, Mandela gave another example of not humiliating his opponents. “I learned my lesson one day from an unruly donkey,” he recounted. “We had been taking turns climbing up and down its back and when my chance came I jumped on and the donkey bolted into a nearby thornbush. It bent its head, trying to unseat me, which it did, but not before the thorns had pricked and scratched my face, embarrassing me in front of my friends. Like the people of the East,

Africans have a highly developed sense of dignity, or what the Chinese call ‘face.’ I had lost face among my friends. Even though it was a donkey that unseated me, I learned that to humiliate another person is to make him suffer an unnecessarily cruel fate. Even as a boy, I defeated my opponents without dishonoring them.” Many public reflections understate the depth of Mandela’s hatred of apartheid, a system where a White minority of 10 percent controlled the 90 percent Black majority. “In their relationship with us, South African whites regard it as fair and just to pursue policies which have outraged the conscience of mankind and of honest and uprights men throughout the civilized world,” he said in his famous speech from the dock on Oct. 22, 1962, the first day of his trial. “They suppress our aspirations, bar our way to freedom and deny us opportunities to promote our moral and material progress, to secure ourselves from fear and want. All the good things of life are reserved for the white folk and we blacks are expected to be content to nourish our bodies with such pieces of food as drop from their tables of men with white skins. This is the white man’s standard of justice and fairness. Herein lies his conceptions of ethics. Whatever he himself say in his defense, the white man’s moral standards in this country must be judged by the extent to which he has

condemned the vast majority of its inhabitants to serfdom and inferiority.” In that same speech, Mandela said, “I hate the practice of race discrimination, and in my hatred I am sustained by the fact that the overwhelming majority of mankind hate it equally… Nothing that this court can do to me will change in any way that hatred in me, which can only be removed by the removal of the injustice and inhumanity which I have sought to remove from the political and social life of this country.” There have been some efforts to depict Mandela as South Africa’s version of Martin Luther King, Jr. But unlike America’s apostle on nonviolence, Mandela was in charge of the military wing of the ANC. “Some of the things so far told to the court are true and some are untrue. I do not, however, deny that I planned sabotage,” Mandela said in his statement from the dock. “I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression of my people by the whites. “I admit immediately that I was one of the persons who helped to form Umkhonto we Sizwe [the military arm of the ANC], and that I played a prominent role in its affairs until I was arrested in August 1962.”

Mandela explained, “We felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed by legislation, and we were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or to defy the government. We chose to defy the law. We first broke the law in a way which avoided any recourse to violence; when this form was legislated against, and then the government resorted to a show of force to crush opposition to its policies, only then did we decide to answer violence with violence.” His widely-praised leadership skills were also honed during Mandela’s youth. “As a leader, I have always followed the principles I first saw demonstrated by the regent [the man who took him in after his father died] at the Great Place. I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my own opinion. Oftentimes, my own opinion will simply represent a consensus of what I heard in the discussion. I always remember the regent’s axiom: a leader, he said, is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.”

Grant Writer Saint Paul Area Council of Churches Job Overview: The primary purpose of the Grant Writer is to assure that SPACC develops and secures sufficient financial resources through foundation grants, United Way and government grantors to the Saint Paul Area Council of Churches. This position requires a high level of motivation, attention to detail, and excellent oral and written communication skills and a personal commitment to the organization’s mission.

How to apply: Please send cover letter, resume, writing sample to: Vernon Sowell, Director of Operations, SPACC, 1671 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105. Applications close January 17, 2014. Saint Paul Area Council of Churches is an Affirmative Action Equal Opportunity Employer

Vacancies

Notice of Vacancy of U.S. Magistrate Judge The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of a full-time United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. The salary of the position is $181,332 per year and the position will be located in Minneapolis or St. Paul. The term of office is eight years; incumbents may be reappointed to successive terms.

The full public notice and application is available on the Court’s website at www.mnd.uscourts.gov. Applications must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. Central Time on Friday, January 24, 2014.

Cokato Apts, Cokato, MN (a seniors complex 62 or over or handicapped) has vacancies on 2nd Floor for one BR apts. Waiting list open. Contact Don at 320-286-2758. E-Mail cokapts@embarqmail.com

Fiscal Analyst The MN House of Representatives Chief The MN House of Representatives Fiscal Analyst Department has a full-time Fiscal Analyst position available. The complete job posting can be found at: www.house.mn/jobs or call 651-297-8200 for a faxed or mailed copy. Cover letter and resume must be received by Friday, January 10, 2014. EEO/AA EMPLOYER

West Falls Estates Rent based on 30% Of adjusted income Call Patricia Brown At 218-283-4967 TDD 800-627-3529

Opening Soon in Woodbury, MN! The World’s Foremost Outfitter is expanding and is hiring Full-time, Part-time and Seasonal employees to join our Woodbury Retail Store, scheduled to open Fall 2014.

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Apply online at www.cabelas.jobs and view Job #11895BR. Cabela’s is an Equal Opportunity Employer and seeks to create an inclusive workplace that embraces diverse backgrounds, life experience, and perspectives.

APARTMENT OPENINGS Delton Manor is accepting applications for future 1, 2, & 3 Bedrm apartment openings. Delton Manor has 3 twobedrm handicapped accessible units located in the building. Delton Manor promotes equal housing opportunities for all perspective residents regardless of race, color, creed, sex, sexual preference, religion, handicap, marital status, familial status, national origin or source of income. For applications and qualifications, contact NANCY at 218759-2523. AN EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

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Insight News • January 6 - January 12, 2014 • Page 11

EDUCATION

L-R Back Row: Didier Attipou, Martin Ngaime, Jahnese Jones, Jaida Higgins, Naija Russell. L-R Front Row: Lillian Moon, Saryah Harden (not shown: Charvez Russell, Serenity Phernetton

L-R Back Row: Didier Attipou, Martin Ngaime, Jaida Higgins, Naija Russell, Jahnese Jones. L-R Front Row: Daryl Boudreaux, Charvez Russell, Saryah Harden, Lillian Moon, Serenity Phernetton, Margaret Jordan

Friendship Academy of the Arts students give back to the community By Juan Effiom

The students of Friendship Academy of the Arts (FAA) shared in the spirit of giving

this season by sharing the gift of art. Although in the midst of

Swati Avasthi: ‘We’ve all absorbed structural racism’ By Sheila Regan, TC Daily Planet Swati Avasthi is a novelist and creative writing professor. When we asked for people to tell us about their experience with classroom discussions of structural racism, here’s what she told us: How do you define structural or institutional racism? Structural racism is a system that provides subtle but real privileges to one group of people because of their skin color. Because it is so subtle, it often invisible, but it has been demonstrated by a number of studies that show that we like to hire, promote, and/or give preference to those whose identities match closest to those we see typically in power. We’ve all absorbed structural racism and so it is hard to spot and hard to fight. What has your experience been teaching this subject? Do you face much resistance? Most people are eager to take part in a discussion about race. That said, people are rather nervous about it. Part of it, of course, is that people are afraid of offending someone or being called out as racist. But underneath that, I think people are nervous about it because structural racism is reversed when we discuss race. In other words, those who are usually the least likely to be listened to with deference and respect (people of color) are suddenly given the authority to speak, while people who are used to speaking with authority (Caucasians) suddenly find themselves without it. This makes everyone sort of “squirmy”. No one in that discussion knows the rules or how to behave; we haven’t experienced conversations with that dynamic typically. I focus on the successes, rather than on resistance, because doing so privileges those who are making progress. I give acknowledgement to those people who indicate that we are all part of the problem, but that we can also be part of the solution. We need to stay diligent about ourselves and our actions.. We need to acknowledge that almost all of us are also privileged in some manner (able-bodied, gender, class, sexual orientation) and that our privilege is a part of our success. Our successes come through our hard work, dedication, and those opportunities we were in privileged position to get.

What works best? What do people find trouble with? I’ve found that experiential learning makes the biggest difference. A colleague and professor at Normandale College, Charlotte Sullivan, taught me a wonderful way to start a discussion about the invisibility of privilege and structural racism. I run a simulation, dividing the class in half, being sure that those people who are more likely to experience privilege are in one half. I essentially turn that half into second-class citizens by “running out of handouts,” blocking their view of board, dismissing their questions, and as they get more frustrated with me, calling out their attitude. The other half of the class I treat with respect: making sure their answers are reinforced, answering their “smart” questions. At the end of the simulation, we debrief. Much of the time those who were in the privileged group didn’t notice. That’s where the trouble comes; they feel ashamed and tricked into thinking they were special. Those who were in the secondclass citizen group have usually grown sullen and angry. And I have to make a point to draw them out, to remind them that it was a simulation, that their voices are important and that I’m the same teacher they’ve trusted all semester long. At the very end, I remind them that our simulation was only

for a short time, but that is not true for people of color. Why is this an important topic? In track and field, everyone has the same distance to run. Whoever finishes first wins. That is system that rewards an individual for their talents; it is a meritocracy. We live in a meritocracy and we’re all supposed to be able to get ahead because of our talents. But a meritocracy only functions well if we have an even start, only if we all have the same distance to run. Currently, we have a staggered start and no real athlete wants to win because others have further to run. Also, if we want our country to stay competitive, we need our best people. We can’t have our best people if we only give some of our people access to the race. A classroom discussion of structural racism led to a reprimand for Professor Shannon Gibney at MCTC. Professors and students at other colleges report that discussions are often tough, with some white students perceiving any discussion of structural racism as a personal attack. We’ve collected many of their accounts in Structural racism: Can we talk? Or not? To join in the discussion, post a comment or send an opinion article toeditor@tcdailyplanet. net.

WHERE DIFFERENT WORLDS MEET FOR A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITIES OPPPORRTUNIT

testing, FAA students found it necessary – and were empowered –to give back to the community in a way they thought best, which was the giving of themselves in a musical performance along with some handcrafted gift items for the residents of Providence Place Senior Living located in south Minneapolis. The seniors enjoyed the performances by singing along with the students and clapping their hands to the beat enthusiastically. The beat was provided by Daryl Boudreaux of the Grammy Award-winning Sounds of Blackness and

Margaret Jordan (volunteer and grandparent of a FAA student). Friendship Academy students take pride in their academic work, demonstrated in their test scores and the fact that FAA placed first in the state for during a recent testing. A small Minneapolis public K-6 charter school is located in south Minneapolis, FAA has students from within the city and nearby suburbs. Friendship Academy provides a 15 to 1 student to teacher ratio. The students and families are not a mere number but known by their names and they know the teachers and staff by name as

well. The curriculum provides a unique blend of core courses with the arts and additional enrichment courses of drum and drill, fine arts, dance, theater, music and Spanish. Friendship Academy prepares students for success not only for career and college readiness but also to be confident, creative and competent leaders who know the value of serving others and not afraid to put it into action. For more information about Friendship Academy of the Arts, visit www. friendshipacademy.org or call 612-879-6703.

Page 12 • January 6 - January 12, 2014 • Insight News

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