Insight News ::: 8.22.11

INSIGHT NEWS August 22 - August 28, 2011 • MN Metro Vol. 37 No. 34 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • www.insightnews.com

Rededication: Martin Luther King, Jr. Park

By Abeni Hill abeni@insightnews.com Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 4055 Nicollet Ave S Minneapolis, MN, used to be named Nicollet Field, but was renamed in 1968 by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB).

According to a Minneapolis Star article in 1968, the proposal for the park to have a new name was made by the Minneapolis office of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP) right after Dr. King’s assassination.

A sculpture in tribute to Dr. King was donated to the park two years later.

The renaming proposal caused tension and controversy within the Park Board.

Freedom Form No. 2 honors Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King., Jr.

Suluki Fardan

According to the Star article some board members were opposed to the renaming proposal.

Commissioner Warren Finberg said he was troubled that the new name would stir racial tension between those who live in the area near the park. The Rev. Joseph B. Head and Gerda Koch said that why they opposed the proposal at a public hearing. Head and Koch charged that Dr. King was in communication with Communists during his struggle for Civil Rights.

The only African American commissioner on the board, Richard D. Hall stepped out of the room during the hearing because he refused to sit and “listen to this drivel”.

The name itself seemed to have its own ups and downs.

The first proposed new name

for the park was Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Park, but board members thought the word “Memorial” had a negative connotation so they left it out. The members also considered dropping the title Dr., but Sam Richardson, president of Minneapolis Branch of the NAACP and friend of Dr. King, asked them to keep it. He also told board members that the country needed more memorials to prominent African Americans.

The park was not granted its new name until improvements proposed early in the year were authorized.

According to a Minneapolis Star article published in January of the same year, MPRB sought improvements

PARK TURN TO 11

Part 1 of 2

Ramadan reflections Sawm are the elderly, pre-pubescence

By Muhamed Ibrahim children and pregnant women. muhamed@insightnews.com However, one should note a First and foremost, I would like to wish everyone Ramadan Mubarak (Blessed Ramadan). My initial feelings about Ramadan were somewhat negative. The thought of no food and no water for 16 hours wasn’t pleasant especially with the record temperatures set this summer.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar. It is considered the holiest month as it was during Ramadan in which the Holy Koran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him).

During Ramadan, Muslims observe Sawm (Fast) from dawn to dusk.

While fasting, Muslims are prohibited from eating and drinking as well as engaging in any sexual activity. Sawm is one of the Five Pillars of Islam meaning it is a compulsory observance for the majority of Muslims. During Ramadan, the daily Muslim diet consists of two meals: Suhoor (PreDawn Meal) and Iftar (Break Fast).

Among those not required to observe

Muslim’s obligations are not limited to observing fast. Believers are encouraged to make the most of this month. It is reported that during this blessed month: the gates of heaven are open, Shaitan (Satan) is chained down, and rewards for deeds are multiplied. Generally, Muslims are more conscious of their soul and their actions during this month. Many Muslims refrain from foul language, for the Muslim, Ramadan is much more than fasting, but an opportunity for spiritual change. The goal is to become a more pious believer and more righteous human being after Ramadan.

How time flies! We are now at the half-way point through Ramadan.

Ramadan has been much better than I expected. Though, the first week was very difficult for me, I’m doing better now. It seems I forget the beauty of Ramadan ever year. It’s as if after Ramadan is finished, I forget everything I’ve experienced.

RAMADAN TURN TO 2

Cops kids love Because they love kids. School officers Mark Klukow and Mike Kircher (above) spend the entire summer bring ing joy to children and a message of safety to kids and their families.

Assigned to special kids bike patrol for the summer, the officers have in tow a ton of bicycle helmets, elbow and knee pads, bike bells, to give free to neighborhood kids. The luckiest of lucky kids may also win a brand new bike, as did 4 year old Zamiya Hill, shown above with her mom, Tiara Hill, getting a bike Thursday from Officer Mike.

Obama visits Cannon Falls

By Compiled by Al McFarlane Editor-in-Chief

Additional excerpts from President Obama’s remarks in Cannon Falls, MN: Obviously America has gone through extraordinary challenges over the last two and a half years. We’ve gone through the worst recession since the Great Depression, dating all the way back to 2007, 2008. But here’s the interesting thing: If you ask people around the world, people would still tell you America has got the best universities, we’ve got the best scientists, we’ve got the best entrepreneurs -- we’ve got so much going for us that folks would gladly trade places with us.

President Barack Obama drew 40 rounds of applause in a speech delivered to America during his first stop on a three day bus tour through Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. The last question asked by an audience member following his first stop was answered this way: Why Cannon Falls? Well, I had heard that Cannon Falls has some of the smartest, bestlooking kids around. And you have confirmed the rumor about the outstanding children of Cannon Falls.

OBAMA TURN TO 2

President Barack Obama

Education

Webb named Metro State affirmative action officer

PAGE 6

Aesthetics

Trinity Goodheart: An inspiring family film

PAGE 7

Part 2 of 2

Collaborations key to multicultural markets Joe Mudd, Al McFarlane, Don Bryant, and Gerry Fernandez addressed the annual Multicultural Marketing Summit in St. Paul on April 5th, 2011 for a broadcast of Conversations with Al McFarlane Al McFarlane: What are the strategies to make sure that you sell a quality product, that as a business organization, you are prepared to deliver quality and value, but that you get beyond barriers that don’t make sense, and that keep us at the margin?

Health

Strategies for financial wellness

PAGE 8

Joe Mudd: Be prepared. I say that from the corporate side as much as I say from the entrepreneurial side.

Because the truth is, regardless of your product, corporations today are not looking for a reason to add another supplier. You have to understand that going in.

What we try to do is to understand the marketplace, understand the market share and what that company is trying to achieve.

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Eye on Europe

Once public trust goes, can democracy be far behind?

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Obama From 1 Around the world, people still understand the extraordinary power, but also the extraordinary hope that America represents.

So there is nothing wrong with America that can’t be fixed; what’s broken is our politics. Think about it: Over the last six months, we’ve had a string of bad luck -- there have been some things that we could not control. You had an Arab Spring in the Middle East that promises more democracy and more human rights for people, but it also drove up gas prices -- tough for the economy, a lot of uncertainty. And then you have the situation in Europe, where they’re dealing with all sorts of debt challenges, and that washes up on our shores.

And you had a tsunami in Japan, and that broke supply chains and created difficulties

for the economy all across the globe.

We’ve got a willingness to play partisan games and engage in brinkmanship that not only costs us in terms of the economy now, but also is going to place a burden on future generations. And the question is, can we break out of that pattern? Can we break out of that pattern? Think about it: We just went through this debacle with the debt ceiling -- an entirely self-inflicted wound. It wasn’t something that was necessary. We had put forward a plan that would have stabilized our debt and our deficits for years to come. But because we’ve got a politics in which some folks in Congress -- not the folks who are here -- but some in Congress would rather see their opponents lose than America win, we ended up creating more uncertainty and more damage to an economy that was already weak.

Think about it. Our biggest challenge right now is putting

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And Still He Stands Tall…

Reprinted from Tré Magazine Tré, a magazine for Houston TX’s 3rd Ward has generated substantial internet buzz with its prayer for President Barack Obama entitled And Still He Stands Tall, which it published July 9th. The short prayer asks readers to join the prayer by sharing via email and social networks, The email came to our attention via relatives in Baltimore, MD. July 9, 2011 By Tré God’s grace and peace upon

people to work.

Biggest challenge is getting the economy growing as rapidly as it needs to grow. It’s been growing. We’ve been able to

this man is my prayer, and I pray that before the end of his term, people’s hearts, minds, and eyes will open.

There will never be another like him. May he lead and be guided in the way God would want him to lead and guide. He is not perfect and has never claimed to be. He and this whole country are in need of our prayers. It only takes a spark.

NO President has ever worked this hard for our country. Many wonder, does he ever sleep??

Only God can sustain such energy, knowledge, and person. Please let us form a powerful prayer chain

reverse the recession. We’ve added over 2 million jobs in the private sector over the last 17 months.

But we’re not growing it

around our President and his family and ask God to secure it with love, protection, mercy and grace. Amen.

Will you please join in this prayer.

Lord, We pray for optimum health, mental clarity and political prosperity for President Barack Obama.

We pray that what he lacks in political ‘experience’ you make up for with supernatural wisdom and power. We also pray that when his enemies come upon him they will stumble and fall; and that your love will fill his heart to the end and that ‘Your will’ be done through him. Amen.

as fast as we need to, to drive down the unemployment rate in a significant way and to give people confidence.

So here are some things that we could do right now, what I’ve been talking about now for months. We could renew the payroll tax cut that we gave you in December that put $1,000 in the pocket of a typical family so that you’ve got more money in your pockets to spend to meet your obligations. It also means businesses have more customers. And it means they might hire a few more folks as a consequence. All we need to do is renew it. It’s already in place. If we have certainty next year that that same tax cut is going to be in place, then that’s going to help businesses make decisions to hire people and open up and make investments.

That’s something we could do right now. Congress can do that right now.

Congress right now could start putting folks to work rebuilding America. One of the biggest things that caused this recession was the housing bubble, and all those subprime loans that were going out that were getting packaged in Wall Street and folks were making millions and billions of dollars off them, and then the whole thing came crashing down.

And no one has been hit harder than construction workers.

And so for us to say at a time when interest rates are low, contractors are begging for work, construction workers are lining up to find jobs -- let’s rebuild America. We could be rebuilding roads and bridges and schools and parks all across America right now. Could put hundreds of thousands of folks to work right now.

There’s a bill sitting in Congress right now that would set up an infrastructure bank to get that moving, attracting private sector dollars, not just public dollars. Congress needs to move.

Right now we’ve got our veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, who’ve taken their place among the greatest of generations, have

Ramadan From 1 The most enjoyable part of Ramadan has been experiencing the sense of fraternity. It’s truly beautiful seeing the camaraderie of the Muslim Community. Just glancing across the rows of people, I saw people of all colors, nationality and backgrounds sitting next to one another and greeting and speaking to one another.

During Ramadan, people visit the mosque frequently so you will see everyone there: Friends, cousins, aunts and uncles. Sometimes, this can be distracting because trips to Masjid can become a social event with all the familiar people around you. It’s nice to greet your fellow Muslim, but many times it becomes a gateway to an endless discussion about sports, school, etc.

During the month of Ramadan, Mosques are usually filled to its capacity. An extra prayer service called Taraweh is performed every night in which the Koran is read in its entirety throughout the month.

Also, most mosques offer free Iftar meals. These meals consist dates, milk and water.

However many masjids offer more foods like samosas and fry bread. At the mosque, the call for prayer is made; we then break our fast with a light meal with the foods listed above.

After consuming a light meal we then head off to the third prayer of the day.

I learned the hard way that you cannot eat everything in the house. After fasting for 16 hours your stomach becomes

made extraordinary sacrifices.

I meet these young people -- (applause) -- I meet young people, 23, 24 years old, they’re in charge of platoons, making life or death decisions.

They’re in charge of millions, tens of millions, a hundred million dollars’ worth of equipment, and they’re coming home and they can’t find work.

So we’ve said, let’s give tax credits to companies that are hiring our veterans, and let’s put them back to work and let’s let them use their skills to get this country moving again.

Congress could do that right now.

Trade deals. You know, trade deals haven’t always been good for America. There have been times where we haven’t gotten a fair deal out of our trade deals. But we’ve put together a package that is going to allow us to start selling some Chevys and some Fords to Korea so that -- we don’t mind having Hyundais and Kias here, but we want some “Made in America” stuff in other countries.

That’s something that Congress could do right now.

Patent reform is something that a lot of folks don’t talk about, but our entrepreneurs, when they come up with a good idea, if we could reform how that system works and cut some of the red tape, we could have entrepreneurs creating businesses like Google and Microsoft right now, all across the country. But we’ve got to make this investment, and Congress could make that decision to make it happen.

So there is no shortage of ideas to put people to work right now. What is needed is action on the part of Congress, a willingness to put the partisan games aside and say, we’re going to do what’s right for the country, not what we think is going to score some political points for the next election.

So here’s the bottom line: Obviously, with the markets going up and down last week and this downgrade, a lot of folks were feeling a little anxious and distressed and feeling like, boy, we’ve been working so hard over the last two and a half years to get this economy back out of recession, and some folks worry that we might be slipping back.

I want all of you to understand: There is nothing that we’re facing that we can’t solve with some spirit of America first; a willingness to say, we’re going to choose party -- we’re going to choose country over party, we’re going to choose the next generation over the next election.

If we are willing to do that, then I have absolutely no doubt that we can get this economy going again, we can put people to work back again, small businesses can start growing again. But I’m going to need your help to make it happen. You’ve got to send a message to Washington that it’s time for the games to stop. It’s time to put country first. It is time for the games to stop.

weak, so it’s not such a good idea to fill it up so quickly.

This Ramadan has been really difficult without my Hooyo (mother). This is the first Ramadan without the presence of my mom. Mom is back home caring for her elderly mother. No mom means no delicious cooking. I miss her signature samosas. I miss you Hooyo!

I speak for myself first when I say this: I think we should all reflect back on the first half of Ramadan. We should each ask ourselves, “Am I taking advantage of this blessed month?” We should set up goals for the coming weeks.

My biggest problem this month is productivity. It seems that all I want to do is sleep, sit on the computer or be idle. I got to cut down on the laziness and read more Koran, help around the house or volunteer. This is a high priority for me since school is just around the corner.

In the second half, I would like to spend more time doing exercise. When I say exercise, in no way do I mean playing a full-court game of basketball at the gym. I would like to go to a court and simply shoot around.

Hopefully, by the end of this month, I will have that deadly jumper I dreamed of.

We should make the most of the blessed opportunity. This is the month of giving. This is the month of piety. This is the month of Koran. Let’s not let this opportunity fall from our hands. In the words of my local Imam, “Who knows if we will make it to the next Ramadan?”

I invite my fellow nonMuslim Americans to visit a Mosque during Ramadan. This month is a great opportunity to experience and learn about Islam.

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NAACP laments the passing of the Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr (Baltimore, MD) – The NAACP laments the passing of Matthew J. Perry, Jr., a federal judge, civil rights attorney, and a former member of the NAACP National Board of Directors. Perry passed away July 31st, 2011 at his home in South Carolina.

“Matthew Perry was a venerated member of the NAACP family,” stated NAACP

www.scetv.org

Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr.

Chairman Roslyn M. Brock.

“He commanded extraordinary respect throughout South Carolina as well as in our NAACP community.”

Born in South Carolina in 1921, Perry served in the United States Army before earning his undergraduate and legal degrees from South Carolina State College. As an attorney, Perry

led the legal charge with the NAACP to desegregate Clemson University and the University of South Carolina.

In 1976, Perry was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Perry was later nominated and confirmed to the United States District Court for the District of

South Carolina, where he served as the first African-American federal judge in South Carolina.

In 2004, the federal courthouse in Columbia, South Carolina was named after him.

In addition to his service to the law, Mr. Perry served his community for 16 years as a National Board Member of the NAACP, where he was both a

member and chairman of the National Legal Committee.

“Matthew Perry was a true trailblazer for civil rights,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “His legal efforts and accomplishments broke down barriers for so many in the South and across the country.”

BET celebrates the unveiling of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial BET Networks honors the legacy of the civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King, Jr., with a special day of programming on BET and CENTRIC in celebration of the

unveiling of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, August 28.

“BET Networks is truly honored to be a partner with

the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation and support such an important moment for our country, and especially for African-Americans,” said Debra L. Lee, Chairman and CEO of BET Networks. “We are proud to honor his legacy and dedicate an entire day to this on BET and CENTRIC.” “The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Foundation is humbled and honored to have the support and commitment of BET Networks to make sure the Memorial and dedication week reflect the dignity and inspiration of Dr. King’s legacy,” said Harry E. Johnson Sr., President and CEO

of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. Announced during NABJ Annual Conference in Philadelphia, BET News will premiere two new compelling half-hour specials during BET’s MLK lineup: Alpha Man: The Brotherhood of MLK and Michelle Obama on a Mission: Impact Africa. Alpha Man: The Brotherhood of MLK is a character driven television news special that traces the lineage of King’s role in the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. during his time as a young graduate student in divinity school in Boston. It also tells the story of how years later his fraternity

brothers beat the odds to help make his National Memorial a reality. Featuring never-beforeseen footage and first person accounts of King’s life as a 23-year old divinity student in Boston, actor Hill Harper takes viewers through the compelling account of King’s iconic rise from a 1952 Alpha pledgee to Nobel Prize-winner and leading civil rights pioneer whose impact is still felt today.

Immediately following is the premiere of Michelle Obama on a Mission: Impact Africa at 7:30 p.m.* that captures the First Lady’s inspiring international journey to South Africa and Botswana.

Told from the point of view of both the First Lady and the communities she visited in Africa, Michelle Obama on a Mission: Impact Africa features exclusive up close and personal footage of Mrs. Obama’s historic visit as she spreads a message of unity and hope. Seasoned NigerianAmerican journalist and former CNN reporter Lola Ogunnaike serves as narrator and on-air correspondent for Michelle Obama on a Mission: Impact Africa.

In addition to these two original News specials, BET will commemorate the MLK Memorial Day with the following programs beginning at 9:00 a.m.* with Lift Every Voice; followed by King miniseries at 9:30 a.m MLK Memorial Dedication with President Obama at 12:00 p.m.* (Live and Commercialfree); KING miniseries (continued) at 1:00 p.m.*; Alpha Man: The Brotherhood of MLK at 7:00 p.m.* (encore at 11:30 p.m.*); Michelle

Obama on a Mission: Impact Africa at 7:30 p.m.* (encore at 11:30 p.m.*); and, a brand new episode of Sunday Best at 8:00 p.m.* (encore at 9:00 p.m.*).

The Network will also air six “MLK Moments” interstitials featuring personal testimonials on the MLK Memorial from the cast of BET’s Reed Between the Lines, Tracee Ellis Ross, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Anna Maria Horsford and Melissa De Sousa, as well as fashion mogul Tommy Hilfiger and BET Networks CEO Debra Lee. CENTRIC will also dedicate its lineup in celebration of the MLK Memorial Day with the following programs beginning at 9:00 a.m.* with Obama in Ghana: The Untold Story (encore at 1:00 p.m.*); followed

by The Rosa Parks Story at 10:00 a.m.*; MLK Memorial Dedication with President Obama at 12:00 p.m.* (Live and Commercial-free); Great Debaters (movie) at 2:00 p.m.*; Boycott (movie) at 4:30 p.m.*; King miniseries at 7:00 p.m.*; Alpha Man: The Brotherhood of MLK at 1:00 a.m.*; and, Michelle Obama on a Mission: Impact Africa at 1:30 a.m.* Alpha Man: The Brotherhood of MLK is produced by Rainforest Films exclusively for BET Networks.

Hill Harper and Dianne Ashford serve as producers for this special with director Rob Hardy and Will Packer as executive producers.

Michelle Obama on a Mission: Impact Africa is produced by the Public Affairs Media Group. James Blue serves as executive producer. *All times are ET/PT.

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Insight News • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Page 5

Dance, Jump, & Jive!

The Farwell Park Summer Program presented “We Care Children” Saturday, August 20th at 1:30 PM in Farwell Park at 1201 Sheridan Avenue North, Minneapolis.

The project, organized by community elder Lorraine Smaller, included a tribute to the contributions of African American music. Above: Students practicing for the Saturday event.

Al McFarlane

Success: What do you need to achieve it?

Plan Your Career

By Julie Desmond julie@insightnews.com At a conference recently, corporate managers were asked, “What do you need to be successful?” The question behind the question was, “What does the company need to provide in order to help you help us be more profitable?”

But it occurred to me that asking that question on a personal level can help people at every stage in a career to reach the goals and successes they desire. So, what do you need to be successful?

Do you have the right education?

Education can be a high school diploma,

an accounting certificate or a medical degree. But it can also refer to on-the-job training. Seek out mentors and managers at work who are willing to share their experiences and insights.

Learn from others’ mistakes so you don’t risk repeating them yourself.

Do you have the right tools? Ask for the equipment you need to succeed. If faster internet or software training will help you achieve more, ask for it. Use the right safety equipment and keep your tools organized. Organization is a key component, actually, because having the right tools doesn’t help if you cannot access them when you need them.

Do you have the right soft skills? Understanding how to get along with others, when to speak and when to listen, how to send appropriate emails and when to pick up a phone

or connect with someone in person… these skills develop as people mature in a career.

By paying attention to the people around you, you will develop a better sense of

what steps you need to take to achieve success.

Decide what success means to you and then create a living list of what you need to get there. Three columns:

Education, Tools and Soft Skills. As you check these items off your list, you’ll find yourself moving from, “What do I need?” to “How did you do it?”

Julie Desmond is a Contract Recruiter with a Fortune 500 company in Minneapolis.

Write to Julie@insightnews. com.

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Insight News • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Page 6

EDUCATION Webb named Metro State affirmative action officer Truly Webb, Minneapolis, was appointed affirmative action officer by President Sue K. Hammersmith. The appointment was effective July 20.

Webb is responsible for developing the university’s affirmative action plan; for monitoring compliance within all aspects of university work; and for investigating student

or employee complaints of discrimination, harassment and retaliation brought under the Minnesota State College’s and University’s 1B.1 policy. She also works with the Human Resources Office in the administration and monitoring of hiring practices and provides training and professional development related to nondiscrimination, equal

employment opportunity and affirmative action.

Webb has served as interim affirmative action officer at Metropolitan State since May 2010.

She has more than 15 years of experience as an affirmative action/diversity human resources professional.

She previously worked for Accenture HR

ABUSED, NEGLECTED, AND MAYBE AWAY FROM HOME…

Services as employee relations specialist, and for Kaiser Permanente as workforce diversity programs manager and EEO/affirmative action manager, and as employment/diversity manager for GreenPeace, Inc. She attended American University, Washington, D.C., for her professional human resources certifications.

Metropolitan State University, a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, provides high-quality, affordable academic and professional degree programs at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels. It is the only state university in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Truly Webb

Courtesy of MSU

Reading tips for children

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(StatePoint) Reading is the most important skill that children need to master to be successful in school and life. However, kids increasingly are struggling with this most basic of academic abilities.

The United States currently has one of the lowest literacy rates in the developed world.

According to the National Report Card, the country is experiencing a literacy crisis, with 68 percent of fourth graders and 69 percent of eighth graders testing below grade level in reading.

When children have difficulty reading, they quickly can fall behind their peers. Luckily, there are ways to improve almost any child’s reading proficiency.

“Telling children to try harder is not the key to developing better readers. Rather, students need to be taught the building blocks of words: phonograms and spelling rules,” says Denise Eide, a teacher and author of the new book, “Uncovering the Logic of English.”

There are many things parents can do to help: • Explain writing is code.

Many students guess wildly

while reading because they have never realized words are made of individual sounds blended together. Show them how letters and groups of letters represent sounds. Then practice blending the sounds to form words.

• Teach all the sounds. Many letters say more than one sound.

For example, the letter “S” sounds different in the word “sad” than the word “is.” Many students misread simple words, because they don’t know all the sounds.

• Make it fun. Learning the basics doesn’t need to be boring.

Engage young children through play. Practice the phonograms with games, large motor activities and art projects.

• Cover pictures. Many young students struggle with the left to right eye movement of reading.

Allow students to look at the pictures then cover them with a blank sheet of paper while reading. Covering pictures makes it easier to focus on text.

• Teach all nine ‘Silent E’ rules. Many students know only one reason for a silent final “E” -the vowel says its name because of the “E.” This explains words like “game” and “ripe,” but

leaves many kids struggling to read “have” and “give.” Learning the nine reasons, including that English words do not end in “V,” prevents students from needing to memorize thousands of exceptions.

• Find answers. Too often we answer questions about reading with “that is an exception.” This frustrates many bright students and discourages them from reading. Rather than dismissing words as exceptions, look for answers and explanations.

English is more logical than most Americans think.

Answers to questions about English reading and spelling can be found in “Uncovering the Logic of English” and by visiting www.logicofenglish.com.

“Many students complain English spelling appears inconsistent, especially highly logical children who may grow up to be scientists or mathematicians,” says Eide. “By teaching students how English works you will improve their reading abilities and encourage them to read!”

Page 7 • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Insight News

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AESTHETICS Trinity Goodheart: An inspiring family film of family.

Much of the credit for the movie’s success must be attributed to the chemistry generated between its talented co-stars, Erica Gluck and Eric Benet, given that the story primarily revolves around their characters’ dysfunctional fatherdaughter relationship. Though an original production by the Gospel Music Channel Network, the film only hints at a faith-based agenda via light touches such as Trinity’s name and lines like, “Don’t forget to say your prayers.”

A present-day parable delivering a powerful reminder that much wisdom often still comes from the mouths of babes.

Review

By Kam Williams kam@insightnews.com Trinity Goodheart (Erica Gluck) is inconsolable from the moment her mother (Kellin Watson) vanishes into thin air through the fateful day she finds half of a heart-shaped pendant lying on her bed. Convincing herself that the precious keepsake was delivered by a guardian angel on behalf of her long-lost mother, the desperate 12 year-old seizes on the discovery as a promising sign of a possible impending reunion. After all, the saying inscribed on the back of the torn locket prophesies, “Every broken heart longs to be whole again.”

Such wistful thinking is understandable given how immature her father, Jeremy (Eric Benet), has been behaving lately.

The aspiring musician has barely been able to keep a roof over their heads since quitting his steady job at a bank. Consequently, he’s

Markets From 1 So in the case of Garth McFarlane & Mudd, we are approaching Fortune 100 companies trying to sell them on the multicultural marketplace.

We need to understand what their current market share is in those marketplaces and what we can bring to differentiate ourselves. We have had some success. We have had some penetration with some large national companies because we bring a differentiated value proposition. We know how to get to a market that they are interested in that they have not been able to do so in the past.

But if we don’t have the differentiation, if we don’t do our homework or understand what it is we are offering, we are going to get left at the front door and that’s a fact. That really comes from my corporate experience.

I was somewhat the gatekeeper for Target for half of my career. I can tell you from experience what that’s like not to let you in or why we don’t want to let you in. But when you come with a compelling argument and something that is going to differentiate you, we will listen to you.

Don Bryant: I think there are two areas we need to focus on: innovation and understanding the markets that we are trying to go into. The markets that we are trying to go into are driven by economics. I have considered certain international markets to bring products from to the US market.

I saw distribution as the easiest route for us as a small business because we understood this market.

We understood the US market. We understood the dynamics. We had the relationships in place. When

Actors Erica Gluck, James Hong and Eric Benét in Trinity Goodheart

Courtesy of GMC TV

currently been reduced to playing his saxophone for tips on the streets of Boston.

The stressful situation has taken a toll on Trinity’s performance at school where the once straight-A student finds herself at risk of suspension because of a declining attendance record. The problem is that the precocious adolescent is smart enough to understand that she and her panhandling dad urgently need someone to lean on, despite

the fact that he is too proud to approach his attorney parents for help.

They consider Jeremy the black sheep of the family since he failed to follow in their footsteps by attending law school like his brother did. Meanwhile, Jeremy is even more estranged from his well-to-do in-laws, The Hawthornes, who never gave him a chance just because they didn’t like the idea of a Black man marrying their white daughter.

Sadly, they even continued to refuse to reconcile after the birth of their only grandchild.

Over her father’s objections, Trinity secretly tracks down both sets of her grandparents on her own, reasonably expecting them to let bygones be bygones, if only for the sake of solving the mystery of her missing mother. However, when her surprisingly surfacing only stirs up old controversies, she decides to run away from home out of

frustration, hitchhiking from Beantown to Buffalo, the place she suspects holds the key to her missing mom’s disappearance.

Thus unfolds Trinity Goodheart, a wholesome family flick based on a script by Rhonda Baraka. Though shot on a shoestring budget, Joanne Hock makes an impressive directorial debut with this modern morality play with an uplifting, if bittersweet message about forgiveness and the importance

you don’t understand the political or the cultural dynamics enough to successfully and affordably enter a market you can spend a lot of dollars making mistakes. So you want to build relationships that allow you to minimize mistakes and minimize the cost to effectively penetrate that market. Identifying partners and establishing value added relationships that will legally allow you to get into the markets is critical.

Recently we were interested in bringing in a product from Jamaica.

They have some wonderful healthy snack products… cassava chips and banana chips that are all natural, that are very popular in the Caribbean markets. They are very popular in Florida, but they are not nationally distributed in the United States. As you know, the healthy snack market is a very large market.

And it is a market where typically the entrepreneur has the vision, maybe not the capital, but has the vision to produce and penetrate the market on a regional level. But if you have a national plan you can quickly grow that market.

First, understand what market you are best equipped to succeed in and then establish relationships in new markets to successfully penetrate those markets.

Clearly, companies are not going to add you as a supplier if you are not adding value, but I think you can talk about companies and what the cultural groups they serve can bring to the table.

So for example the minority businesses who supply Darden Restaurants, which includes Darden, The Capital Grille and Longhorn Steakhouse and a number of others, often gives input to the company on issues that they struggle with. And they have also seen minority franchisees become the focal point for developing new markets, IHOP (International House of Pancakes) in Manhattan opened up a number of years ago.

I think a group of Black doctors were behind that. That business

is just producing cash hands over fists. I think in all of Darden the Brooklyn Red Lobster Restaurant is like the second highest grossing Red Lobster in the system. What minority suppliers can do is help understand how to make connections in the community that add value, that help them attract the talent that they need and understand the cultural nuances.

On the manufacturing side, PepsiCo has a couple of great products out there that are flavored with guacamole, a suggestion which came directly from the Latino employees on the production line. So I think minority businesses need to think about how they can add value to beyond just the product. Because if it is just

Gerry Fernandez: Well I would like to first pick up on something that I think Mr. Mudd said.

Company purchasing managers are not looking for another supplier. You absolutely have to have a differentiator, and the days of somebody doing business with a minority company just because they are a minority are probably gone.

Excellent (4 stars) Unrated Running time: 84 Minutes Distributor: GMC Network (Gospel Music Channel) Trinity Goodheart is set to make its world premiere on the GMCTV Network on Saturday, August 20th at 9 PM ET/PT (8 PM CT) with additional airings on Sunday, August 21st and Monday, August 22nd at 9 PM ET/PT (8 PM CT).

a product, it is no different than anyone else and companies are not going to be open to that.

Al McFarlane: We created the Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium, and a wonderful new website. www.multiculturallife. org. It is unique because it amalgamates the content from several ethnic newspapers, Insight News, Mshale which is an African newspaper, The African News Journal serving the Somali community and African community, The Circle serving American Indian Nations, the Asian American Press and

MARKETS TURN TO 15

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Page 8 • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Insight News

insightnews.com

HEALTH Yo’ money and mo’ money

Strategies for financial wellness Murua (Swahili for ‘Respect’)

By Dr. BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, Ph.D., L.P. One of my favorite lines about money comes from the vintage movie, Trading Places, which features Eddie Murphy as a petty con-artist, Billy Ray Valentine, who is befriended by two billionaire brothers, Mortimore and Randall Duke.

In their social experiment, the Dukes seek to discover what would happen in Billy Ray’s life if he were given an opportunity to have a good paying job, a nice

car and home. As the brothers begin to justify their “kindness,” they turn to Billy Ray to assure that he fits the stereotype of a “poor, Negro” by asserting: “I’m sure that you came from a broken home,” to which he quickly replied: “Yeah, we were broke, so what?”

Many of us grew up relatively poor and we did not even know it. Not having money was a fact of life. Having parents who “paid on” the light bill, who bought “day-old bread” or who got groceries “on credit” was a common experience. I often heard my mother say she had to “take from Peter to pay Paul.” Since I didn’t know of them, I was always perplexed by her statement.

HEALTH TURN TO 9

stock.xchng

NorthPoint celebrates National Health Center Week MINNEAPOLIS—As part of National Health Center Week, US Rep. Keith Ellison, who represents Minnesota’s 5th district and who is long-time supporter of health issues and local community health centers, visited NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center Friday, August 12, to receive the NACHC 2011 Distinguished Community Health Advocate Award. The award recognizes Ellison’s “efforts in the second session of the 111th Congress to preserve, strengthen and expand access” to community health centers like NorthPoint Health & Wellness.

NorthPoint CEO Stella Whitney-West said, “The community is extremely fortunate to have someone of Representative Ellison’s caliber leading the way on health issues with his unwavering support of

local community health centers.

The award is well deserved and recognizes a true champion in the battle to improve health outcomes for North Minneapolis residents.”

“Representative Ellison’s efforts in Washington are essential in order for health centers to remain as a cost-effective primary care provider to the state’s working poor,” said Rhonda Degelau, Executive Director of the Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers.

“Without a robust system of community health centers, many of the 190,000 low-income health center patients across the state would lose access to primary medical, dental and mental health care services.”

Also recognized as part of National Health Center Week, was the North Minneapolisbased V3 Youth Triathlon team.

Courtesy of NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center

L-R: Congressman Keith Ellison (5th District); Rhonda Degelau, Executive Director of the Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers; Stella Whitney-West, CEO of NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center; and Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein The V3 team recently won the USA Triathlon Junior and Youth National Championships in San Diego. According to West, “This

team is being recognized for their commitment and promotion of a healthy active life-style, and serves as an example to the

community in the fight against childhood obesity.”

The National Association of Community Health Centers

(NACHC) is a nonprofit organization formed by America’s Health Centers. Since 1971, NACHC has provided education, training, advocacy and technical support services to its members and has worked to expand access to primary and preventive care to all people in need through the patient-centered, communitybased health center model.

NACHC mission is to promote the provision of high quality, comprehensive and affordable health care that is coordinated, culturally and linguistically competent and community directed for all medically underserved populations.

NorthPoint Health & Wellness center is a full service medical clinic, and human services facility in North Minneapolis serving the Hennepin county community.

Page 9 • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Insight News

Health From 8 As I got older, I realized that I sometimes had an unhealthy relationship with money and spent money before I had it and bought things that I could not afford. I also learned that there is a difference between being rich and being wealthy.

Someone told me: “Kobe Bryant is rich-- the person who signs his checks is wealthy.” Most of us would be “aw-right” being in either position….but being and staying “broke”….well, that’s just plain unacceptable!

In a report entitled Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009, it was found that among the working-age population, ages 18 to 65, poverty rose from

11.7 percent to 12.9 percent.

That puts it at the highest since the 1960s, when the government launched a war on poverty that expanded the federal role in social welfare programs from education to health care.

Additionally, while poverty rose among all race and ethnic groups, African Americans and Latinos were the hardest hit.

Among Latino populations, poverty increased from 23.2 percent to 25.3 percent; for African Americans it increased from 24.7 percent to 25.8 percent. The number of whites in poverty rose from 8.6 percent to 9.4 percent. Furthermore, in an November 2007 report, “Borrowing To Make Ends Meet,” investigates noted that as early as in 2004, 84 percent of the African-American households that carried credit cards, owed debt on them (when compared with 54 percent of

white households).

So, it is no secret that we, as a community, have problems with money. Many of the clients who visit my clinic experience symptoms of depression, anxiety and interpersonal conflict because of their lack of money and the limited availability of high paying jobs.

For example, it is estimated that for every dollar that a white American makes, an African American gets approximately 62 cents for the same work. Even education does not equalize this pattern as statistics show that with similar levels of education and work experience, women and members of communities of color are paid lower wages than their white or male counterparts.

An exception is among Asian Americans, who tend to be better paid with increases in education. So, while many of our difficulties with money are systemic in nature, other problems exist because we don’t know how to manage the money we’ve got.

Susan Zimmerman, LICSW, wrote a book entitled:

insightnews.com The Power in Your Money Personality. In her book she pointed out that the way that we spend is emotionally linked to our personalities.

She stipulated that there are eight “money personalities” that describe our relationships with money. These money “rascals” are identified as: “flashers, rashers, ashers, bashers, clashers, dashers, cashers and stashers.” “Flashers” like to make flashy purchases and buy a lot of “bling-bling” for the purposes of boosting their images. “Rasher” make rash, poorly planned and impulsive decisions about spending their money. They often have buyer’s remorse.

“Ashers” are often ashen and pale from constantly worrying about money.

“Bashers” on the other hand, bash wealth and materialism.

“Clashers,” according to Zimmerman, have clashes between distinguishing what they want from what they need.

For example, you may need a car, but want a Mercedes. You over-extend yourself by buying a car that you cannot afford

when a basic car like a Ford Focus will do. Interestingly, another group of people are called “Dashers” because they dash around neglecting money tasks like paying their bills on time or balancing their checkbooks.

“Cashers” are like our grandmothers who used to pin cash in their bras wrapped in handkerchiefs, or who put money under their mattresses. “Cashers” don’t like banks, but prefer to keep their savings in cash (just in case there is another run on the banks due to a depression).

Finally, “Stashers” are the type of people who put money away for growth investing. They buy savings bonds, put money in stocks, or interest bearing accounts.

So, depending on your money personality, your

spending priorities and patterns may shift.

Some of these personality types can land you in trouble with bounced checks, money you impulsively spent and can’t get back because of refund policies, bad credit ratings and even coming home one evening to find your lights cut off (because you forgot to pay the bill!). While such problems arise from having a negative attitude about the money, there is hope. In her book, 5 Steps to Developing A Millionaire Mind: A Broke Man or Woman’s Guide To Wealth, a colleague of mine, Linda Etim, MSW, LICSW, points out that we all have the ability to achieve wealth, but our feelings and emotions as related

HEALTH TURN TO 10

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Insight News • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Page 10

LIFESTYLE Things to know before renting an apartment or house (StatePoint) More Americans than ever are renting homes, due to factors ranging from a tough housing market to people moving for new job opportunities.

Whether you are considering renting a house or apartment, there are many things to consider before signing on the dotted line.

It’s most important to understand your lease and protect your property against damage and theft.

Read the Fine Print You need to understand all details of your lease, including your responsibilities.

Be sure to check beginning and expiration dates. How much will rent increase next year?

Are utilities included? Is renters insurance required?

How are maintenance requests handled?

And if you’re short on cash for your security deposit, consider asking your landlord about an alternative security

INSIGHT NEWS www.insightnews.com

Insight News is published weekly, every Monday by McFarlane Media Interests.

Editor-In-Chief Al McFarlane CFO Adrianne Hamilton-Butler Publisher Batala-Ra McFarlane Associate Editor & Associate Publisher B.P. Ford Vice President of Sales & Marketing Selene White Director of Content & Production Patricia Weaver Sr. Content & Production Coordinator Ben Williams Production Andrew Notsch Distribution/Facilities Manager Jamal Mohamed Facilities Support / Assistant Producer, Conversations with Al McFarlane Bobby Rankin Receptionist Lue B. Lampley Staff Writer Ivan B. Phifer Contributing Writers Maya Beecham Brenda Colston Julie Desmond S. Himie Marcia Humphrey Alaina L. Lewis Ryan T. Scott Lydia Schwartz Stacey Taylor Photography Suluki Fardan Tobechi Tobechukwu Contact Us: Insight News, Inc. Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Ave. N. Minneapolis., MN 55411 Ph.: (612) 588-1313 Fax: (612) 588-2031 Member: Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium (MMMC), Midwest Black Publishers Coalition, Inc. (MBPCI), National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Postmaster: Send address changes to McFarlane Media Interests, Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Avenue North, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55411.

a kitchen fire and don’t have insurance, you would be liable for damage to your unit and your neighbor’s property.

For information on choosing the right policy, visit www. rentersecurity.com.

“A residential fire occurs every 80 seconds according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

You should ask yourself how expensive it would be to get your life back after such an event or a burglary, if you weren’t insured,” says Kathy McDonald, Senior Vice President of Assurant Specialty Property. “In these types of situations, renters quickly realize the value of their renters insurance. For a minimal financial investment, renters insurance provides peace of mind for the unexpected.”

deposit program, such as one called SureDeposit. The service enables you to avoid more expensive traditional security deposits by paying a one-time bond premium at a fraction of the cost. In the event of damage at the end of the lease, SureDeposit reimburses the apartment owner or manager, and the renter reimburses the bond company.

Renters Insurance is Key One of the most essential things you can do is purchase renters insurance, required by many property managers. Your personal belongings won’t be covered by your landlord’s insurance in the event of theft or disaster. Could you afford to replace your TV, computer, furniture and clothing if they were damaged by fire or smoke? What if you left the water running and damaged your furniture and rug?

A good renters insurance policy, such as one from Assurant Specialty Property, will cover more than just your personal belongings -it can even pay part of your rent should you lose your job. Renters insurance also provides personal liability coverage. If someone is hurt in your apartment you could be liable for medical expenses.

And if you accidentally start

Health From 9 to money lead us to destructive behavior patterns that keep us broke and therefore, we must learn to re-program our patterns of behavior around money and

StatePoint

create a plan about how we are going to create the wealth we desire.

As mentioned earlier, our attitudes about money were ingrained and derived from childhood.

Consequently, these beliefs and practices may require professional counseling in order to be changed. As parents, we may have to work

hard to intentionally teach our children (and ourselves) about finances. Here are some tips to help you (and your children) change your relationships with money and manage it better: Make saving a habit. Make a house rule of everybody (including you) saving a percentage of your income, whether it’s birthday money from relatives, earnings from a neighborhood lemonade stand, weekly allowance or a full or part-time job.

Open a savings account for

yourself and one in your child’s name. Bank savings accounts help children discover how money can earn money on its own -- through compound interest. Banks usually can provide you with a compound interest table so that you can see how money can grow over time if untouched.

Set a financial goal for yourself and encourage your children to do the same. Writing down a “wish list” of items desired and plotting a course of savings that will get you there is a great way of teaching yourself and your

Trust But Verify Before committing to your new home, inspect it and make sure any problems are noted so you aren’t charged for them.

Check everything, including walls, floors, windows, electricity and plumbing. You should even inspect closets and the interiors of appliances.

Being properly prepared can make the complicated task of renting easier and speed you on your way to that housewarming party! children to “delay gratification” and avoid impulsive spending.

Give regular allowances to yourself and your kids. For kids, allowances provide handson experiences with saving and planning their spending. For you, it limits your spending but gives you some feeling of not being financially trapped.

You should also determine the amount of allowance that you think fits. For example, give kids an amount not over half their age per week.

Learn to budget. The most difficult aspect of money management is learning to budgets. Budgets should be realistic. If you know that you will need to get your hair done, buy groceries and gas for your car, don’t lie to yourself and say “I can still buy this Coach bag--I won’t eat anything but Ramen noodles for three months” when you know good a well, you will not follow through. Give yourself money for savings, charitable giving, entertainment and make priorities for your basic housing, credit cards and utilities.

Don’t spend what you don’t have. Ooooh, this is the hardest task of them all! Credit cards charge you interest, money doesn’t buy love and a new dress or pair of shoes won’t increase your value or self esteem!

Possessions also won’t relieve your anxiety, depression, or loneliness. Seek counseling for those issues.

Avoid pay day lenders”…. okay, these companies are like “loan sharks”…they are in the same boat as chocolate when you are dieting –so, don’t even think about it! Unless it is a life and death scenario (which it rarely is), you should try to pick up extra work, or even sell your un-needed possessions.

Know that there is help.

Seeking financial advisors and mental health counseling saves relationships and stress.

BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, Ph.D., L.P. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who serves as the President of Brakins Consulting and Psychological Services, and Executive Director of the African American Child Wellness Institute. She has over 30 years of experience in the field psychology specializing in violence recovery and multicultural mental health and is recognized as a Board Certified Diplomat/Fellow, in African Centered/Black Psychology by the Association of Black Psychologists.

Dr. Garrett-Akinsanya warns that this column should in no way be construed as constituting a therapeutic relationship through counseling or advice.

To forward a comment about this article or to make an appointment, please contact Dr. Garrett-Akinsanya by emailing her at: bravadaakinsanya@ hotmail.com or by telephone at 763-522-0100 or 612-3023140.

insightnews.com

Insight News • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Page 11

COMMENTARY Getting children ready for school Child Watch

By Marian Wright Edelman From new backpacks to sharp pencils, parents across the country are doing their best to cross the items off their children’s back-to-school checklists. They want to be sure that when the first day of school comes, their children will have everything they need to be ready to start and ready to learn.

But as a country we’re failing to do the same thing and in the current budget debate, some of our leaders are threatening to do just the opposite. Instead of budgeting our limited resources wisely so we’ll be able to stock up on the things we know our children need, some shrill,

Park From 1 for the park with an estimated cost of $705,000. This proposal divided neighbors of the park.

While some residents agreed to the improvements, others argued a better use for that estimated cost could go towards the activities held at the park.

A member of the board, Robert W. Ruhe said that the park did have a vandalism problem and there was a need to decrease the misuse of the park, but, on the other hand, renovations would benefit the neighborhood as a whole. “If the park is used by all age groups, it will be less susceptible to vandals and bullies, and attackers will have little opportunity to act,” said Ruhe.

ideologically driven leaders are hijacking the political process and trying to grab money out of our children’s small piggybanks and spend it on more gift cards for big corporations and billionaires. No new tax pledges have been signed by 277 members of Congress throwing the entire weight of debt reduction on children, our poorest Americans, the homeless, jobless, helpless, and a middle class treading water and trying to stay afloat.

We know that between birth and age five, children learn social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive skills that set the foundation for academic success. Factors including poverty and the “lottery of geography” create barriers to young children’s healthy development. Cognitive gaps emerge between children from families with low and higher incomes as early as nine months, and more often than not, these children are unable to

catch up by the time they enter kindergarten. The resulting achievement gap increases over time and often propels children into the cradle to prison pipeline – especially if they are poor children of color.

Quality child care and early childhood educational experiences are crucial to giving children a sound start in life – but they are still out of reach for many families. Although child care is a necessity for many families with working parents, the annual cost of center-based child care for a four-year-old is more than the annual in-state tuition at a public four-year college in 33 states and the District of Columbia. In 18 states, a family must have an income below 175 percent of the poverty level (below $32,043 for a family of four) to receive a public child care subsidy. Only 13.8 percent of three-year-olds and 38.9 percent of four-yearolds were in state-funded pre-

kindergarten programs, Head Start, or early intervention/ special education in 2008-2009 and only 10 states require all schools districts to offer full day kindergarten to get children ready for school.

Without positive early childhood experiences, it is easy for children to fall behind in school and American education, which used to be the envy of the world, is in dire straits. Many public school students, kindergarten through 12th grade, are struggling; children of color and poor children struggle most. More than 60 percent of all fourth, eighth, and 12th grade public school students and nearly 80 percent or more of Black and Hispanic public school students in the same grades are reading or doing math below grade level.

The U.S. ranks 24th among 30 developed countries on overall educational achievement for 15-year-olds, and in a study of education systems in 60

countries, we ranked 31st in math achievement and 23rd in science achievement for 15-year-olds. Too often children fall behind in school and drop out, increasing their risk of entering the cradle to prison pipeline. Staying in school and receiving a quality education are the best deterrents to juvenile delinquency and the surest route towards responsible, productive adulthood. Yet almost half of our states spend on average more than three times as much per prisoner as per public school pupil. I can’t think of a dumber investment policy, one that hurts countless children and families every day.

It’s clear we’re not getting our children what they need to be ready for and to succeed in school and to learn all that we need them to know in order to keep our workforce, military, and country strong in the future. It’s time for every voter

to tell those shrill partisan and ideologically driven extremists that America’s children are not to be sacrificial lambs on the altar of their destructive agendas. If we saw parents spending money to buy themselves a private jet but sending their child to school unprepared, hungry, and empty-handed, we would be shocked and furious at how misguided their priorities were.

Why should any of our nation’s leaders be allowed to make the same choice?

A Minneapolis Tribune article from 1964 indicated that the Minneapolis Park Board had previously received $372,500 for part of the park, which had been condemned by the state for construction of an interstate freeway, I35 In June 1970, MPRB and the Southside Activities Council (SSAC) broadcasted that on Sunday, June 21 1790, at 2:00 pm, there would be a ceremony dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King Park.

A sculpture, Freedom Form No. 2, would be revealed during the ceremony. The park celebrated the upgrades such as a new building with a craft room and gymnasium and extensive recreational facilities. Freedom Form No. 2 was created by New York artist Daniel Larue Johnson in honor of Dr. King.

Johnson came to Richardson’s wife, Virginia Richardson, to donate the sculpture to the park in 1970.

“He said even though the streets were burning with racial tension and unrest that if any city could survive it would be Minneapolis. That is why he wanted to place the sculpture in the park”, said Virginia Richards. Johnson said the steel sculpture with four abstract wings signifies freedom. The sculpture was put in the park to honor Dr. King, but has been sitting in the park unnamed for 40 years.

According to Susan Gray, KFAI producer, the sculpture was largely unnoticed by the community until a public hearing that proposed a dog park in a section of MLK Park.

“The condition of this sculpture shows lack of respect to Dr.

King’s legacy. The sculpture should be enclosed in some kind of way, so people will know that Johnson donated this sculpture,” said Charles Mays, who worked with the NAACP to rename the park in 1968.

Gray said that there are weeds growing around the sculpture and graffiti on one of its wings. The condition of the sculpture is so poor that a resident of the community, City Council Member Elizabeth Glidden, was not aware that it was a memorial to Dr. King.

“That statue has been neglected and I think it is an important issue the community needs to address,” said Glidden.

At the beginning of this year, the Park Board decided to eliminate the possibility of a dog park, but the debate over the dog park led to the creation of a legacy committee that

would explore ways to honor Dr. King’s legacy.

The committee plans to make improvements and renovations to MLK park. Ideas being considered include quilt gardens, community vegetable gardens, and an amphitheater.

And additional programs such as a Martin Luther King Youth Council and Willie Mays T-Ball Tournament.

MPRB is working to get the statue back to its original location and not in the less prominent location in the foreground of the park.

MLK Park on Sunday, August 28, will celebrate the unveiling of MLK National Memorial in Washington, DC, and the uplifting of Dr. King’s legacy here in Minneapolis at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Park. . The ceremony will be from 2:00 to 5:00 pm and

features a re-dedication of the sculpture, Freedom Form No. 2.

“We renamed the park in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King but we never really let the park be the place where all of his philosophy and his approach to life, all of the things that we honor in him are expressed in the environment in the park, the architecture in the park and the way that the program is delivered here,” said Mary Merrill Anderson, former Minneapolis Park Superintendent.

Anderson said finding a way to honor him and restore the park will help the community be able to talk about “pressing issues like violence prevention, fairness, and coming together in peace, if not harmony.”

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.

Page 12 • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Insight News

Classifieds/Calendar Send Community Calendar information to us by: email, andrew@insightnews. com, by fax: 612-588-2031, by phone: (612) 588-1313 or by mail: 1815 Bryant Ave. N. Minneapolis, MN 55411, Attn: Andrew Notsch. Free or low cost events preferred.

Events Student Placement Center Open - Now As Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) prepares for the new school year, the District’s Student Placement Center (SPC) is extending their hours to help welcome families back to school. The SPC is the first stop for families who need to enroll their child/children for the 2011-12 school year. Enrollment service is provided Mon.-Fri., 8am-4:30pm.

Extended office hours are offered on Aug. 23, 25, 30 and Sept. 1 and 6, (open each night until 8pm) @ 2102 University Ave. W., St. Paul. Start by calling 651-6323700 for an appointment or visit apply. spps.org.

Register Now for Fall Term at Camden Music School - Now Find the music that’s in your Insurance Agent heart. Sign up now Looking for people for Camden Music with a strong entreSchool’s fall term preneurial mindset to classes. Fall term: own their own insurance agency. The Sept.

12–Nov. average agent earns 19.

Classes in over $120,000 a year, Camden: 3751 with some earning over $500,000. If you Sheridan Ave. N., desire financial indeMpls. CMS in pendence, call 651NE Mpls: 1500 204-3131 to set up an appointment.

6th St. NE. More

Tech Project Specialist Technology Project Specialist, Minnesota Legal Services Coalition’s State Support Center. For details go to http://www.mylegalaid.org/jobs.

Supervising Attorney Supervising Attorney, Minnesota Legal Services Coalition’s State Support Center. For details go to http://www.mylegalaid.org/jobs.

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PHONE: 612.588.1313

information: 612-618-0219 or at website: www.camdenmusicschool.com.

WomenVenture Career Class Calendar Aug 23-25 For further information and to register, visit womenventure.org or call 651-6463808. WomenVenture is located at 2324 University Avenue West, Suite 120, St. Paul, MN 55114.

• Career & Employment Transition Group for Women - Tue. Aug. 23 9:30–11:30am at WomenVenture, Free. Walk-in group for women to make connections, get support and receive job-seeking advice.

• Career & Employment Transition Group for Women - Thur. Aug. 25 6–8pm at WomenVenture, Free. Walk-in group for women to make connections, get support and receive job-seeking advice.

Documentary “The Letter” and Members of the Somali Community to Speak - Aug 25 World Without Genocide will show the documentary film The Letter: An American Town and the ‘Somali Invasion,’ on Thur., Aug. 25, 6-8:30pm at William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul. 875 Summit Ave., St. Paul.

Rasmussen College Career Fair - Aug 25 The fairs will provide local job seekers with a unique opportunity to speak with local employers face to face. In addition to the career fair, Rasmussen will also offer webinars and workshops designed to help job seekers improve their changes of landing a dream job.

Blaine Campus: 11am-1pm at 3629 95th Ave. NE Bloomington Campus: 5-7pm at 4400 West 78th St. Brooklyn Park Campus: 3-5pm at 8301 93rd Ave. N. Eagan Campus: 11am-1pm at 3500 Federal Dr. Lake Elmo/Woodbury Campus: 11am1pm at 8565 Eagle Point Circle Mankato: 3-5pm at 130 Saint Andrews Dr. St. Cloud: 2-4pm at 226 Park Ave. S. Back 2 School Bash – Aug 26 Learn about resources for youth and adults on the East Side of Saint Paul.

Education, Mental Health, Fitness, Literacy, Community Services, ESHP. Sign children up for youth competitions: Basketball Shoot Off, Ring Toss, Double Dutch Contest, Hula Hoop Contest. All youth ages 5-18, Register with Dedric Payne at (651) 771-9339. Food will be served. @ Merrick Community Services - 715 Edgerton St. Saint Paul. More info: jwatson@merrickcs.org Whittier Neighborhood Field Day Aug 27 Get ready to head back to school! The Whittier Alliance, in conjunction with Bolder Options, is hosting an afternoon of fun and games for youth ages 5-14.

From soccer dribble to races to jump rope contests, the event features 8 station games and various group games. Sat., Aug. 27 12-4pm @ Whittier Park (26th St W & Grand Ave S). Free and open to youth ages 5-14 (and their parents).

Registration is appreciated: (612) 871-

FAX: 612.588.2031

EMAIL: andrew@insightnews.com

7756, jen@whittieralliance.org.

Farview Park.

Fall/Winter Boys Basketball Try-Outs Aug 27 & Sep 3 3rd, 4th & 5th Grade: Aug 27 12-3pm.

6th, 7th & 8th Grade: Sept. 3 12-3pm.

At Boys & Girls Club 2410 Irving Ave N Mpls. el-aminbasketball.com (952)-9331786 - FREE

4th Women’s Empowerment Symposium - Oct 1 Powerhouse Terrie Williams, president and founder of The Stay Strong Foundation will serve as the keynote speaker at The Women of Courage Awards Luncheon. Other honorees are Tonya Puckett, Sheila Raye Charles and more! Sat. Oct. 1 8am-3pm @ Crowne Plaza Hotel and Suites Three Appletree Square at I 494 and 34th Ave. For more information contact emmett_till_ legacy@yahoo.com or call 888-5099614 ext 82

Downey Side…families for youth - Sept 13 Invites community members to attend a FREE information session regarding adoption and Minnesota’s Waiting Children. Downey Side’s next information session will be Tue., Sept.

13, 6-7:30pm at Downey Side Minnesota, 450 N. Syndicate St., Suite 321 St. Paul.

Pre-registration required. To register, email stpaulmn@downeyside.org or call 651-603-5927.

Edison Class of 1961 - 50 Year Class Reunion - Sept 15-16 4 fun activities planned. Contact Gary Jones ASAP - 612.789.7000 Relative Remains - Sept 15-Oct 7 A solo show by Jody Williams, Minneapolis, featuring her diminutive and meticulously executed artist’s books.

The exhibit opens on Sept. 16 and runs through Oct. 7. A reception is on Thur.

Sept. 15, from 5–8pm. Gallery hours are Mon.–Thur. 11am–7pm; and Fri.–Sat. 11am–4pm. Located in the Library and Learning Center of Metropolitan State University , 645 E. 7th St., Saint Paul.

The Invisible Children - Sep 16 Children with incarcerated parents are among the most vulnerable populations of children. Learn how to best support the healthy development of these children.

Fri. Sept. 16 at College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph. Free for family memver impacted by incarceration, $15 for all others. Register conta.cc/pHCdDw Community Luncheon honoring “The Good Shepard” - Sep 17 1-3pm at the Prom Center in Oakdale, MN. Anniversary Worship Service - Sep 18 At Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church North Location. 501 W. Lawson Ave. St. Paul. 8-11am Worship Services. Guest Speaker: Dr Frank E. Ray, Senior Pastor of Salem Missionary Baptist Church, Memphis, TN MIA Media Luncheon - Sept 20 Kaywin Feldman, MIA Director and President, will introduce key MIA curators, who will present their upcoming major exhibitions and plans for the permanent collection. @ 2400 3rd Ave S Mpls. RSVP to Tammy Pleshek at tpleshek@artsmia.org or (612) 870-3171

by Mon., Sept. 12. Buffet lunch will be served.

Hawthorne’s Annual Meeting and Board of Directors Elections - Sept 22 This meeting is free and open to the public and all Hawthorne residents are encouraged to attend and participate.

Dinner will be served for all those in attendance. Thur., Sept. 22 6-8:30pm at

Joy Project 5k Run/Walk - Oct 8 The Joy Project, a grassroots, non-profit, eating disorder organization is hosting its 2nd annual 5k walk/run at Como Lake on Oct. 8. The walk is being held to raise support for those suffering with eating disorders, those that have survived eating disorders, or have died as the result of an eating disorder. There will be prizes for the most donations raised, as well as door prizes for the participants.

Those that bring in a $25 donation will receive a t-shirt. Those that bring in a $50 donation will receive a t-shirt and a reusable water bottle. Registration is free until the end of July ($5 fee after that): http://www.active.com/running/ st-paul-mn/change-your-pace-5kwalkskip-2011 Please check our pages for more information: http://www.joyproject.org African Awards Gala 2011 - Oct 8 Presented by Mshale Newspaper, recognizing outstanding African individuals, groups or businesses that have made an impact in the African immigrant community and the community at large. Sat. Oct. 8 4pm. @ Circus Juventas 1270 Montreal Ave St Paul. See africanawards.com for more info.

A Special Job Search Program for Veterans - Wed’s Facilitators: Capt. Dave Recker, USN (Ret) and Sp/5 Stan Brown, USA (Ret).

Christ Presbyterian Church, in the Parlor 6901 Normandale Road, Edina. Wed’s at 1pm.

For more information about this workshop, call 952-943-0718, or stan@ stanbrown.us.

The Black Parent Group - Mondays free weekly support group for parents of any race raising African American children. Mondays at 7-830PM located at: Washington Tech Middle School 1495 Rice St. Saint Paul. Please visit the website: www.theblackparentgroup. com or send an e-mail to info@ theblackparentgroup.com African Dance w/ Whitney Every Tuesday & Wednesday Tue. 7:00pm - 8:30pm $12 Patricks Cabaret 3010 Minnehaha Ave. S. Mpls.

Wed. 7:00pm - 8:30pm $13 Zenon School of Dance (4th Floor) Hennepin center for the Arts 528 Hennepin Ave. Mpls.

Impact the life of a child: Become a literacy tutor with RSVP RSVP of the Greater Twin Cities is accepting applications from people 55 and over who are interested in tutoring youth, either in the classroom or in an after school program format. RSVP places people in volunteer tutoring positions with organizations in their own neighborhoods. You can make a difference in a child’s life for as little as one hour a week. The RSVP program, sponsored locally by Volunteers of America of Minnesota, provides benefits and support to people 55 and over. For more information call Mary Jane Horton, RSVP Literacy Coordinator, at 952-9454163 or mhorton@voamn.org Senior Companions Make a Difference - Ongoing Are you interested in visiting homebound or isolated elders in their homes and helping with transportation for appointments or errands? If so, the Senior Companion Program would like to match you with people in the community who need a little extra help to stay in their homes. Senior Companion volunteers earn a tax-free stipend, mileage reimbursement, training and liability insurance while serving.

Volunteers must be 55 or older and serve 15 hours a week. For more information, contact Kate Neuhaus with the Senior Companion Program of Lutheran Social Service at 651-310-9447 or at kate. neuhaus@lssmn.org Free Internet Access - Ongoing Access internet, check email, look for housing, type up resumes, jobsearch, practice typing, learn Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. M-F 11am-2pm and 5pm7pm. At Sabathani Community Center Room 324 310 E 38th St Mpls, MN 55409.

Youth Business Club Develops Entrepreneurial Skills - Ongoing Kids learn with support and guidance from community. The Selby Avenue Youth Business Club is open to youth ages 9-16 who are interested in starting their own or learning more about business. The group meets the first and third Saturday of ever month from 9:30 am to noon at Golden Thyme Cafe on Selby and Milton. For more information, interested parties can visit http://selbyareacdc.org/Saybcindex. html , e-mail at SAYBC10@gmail.com or contact at: 615-964-0710.

Wanted: Community-minded book lovers - Ongoing One in seven U.S. adults lack the literacy skills necessary to enjoy great books, help their children with homework, or understand medication labels. But you can change this by volunteering with the Minnesota Literacy Council. With only two or three hours a week, your love of reading can create a stronger community.

Tutor an adult learner, assist in an adult classroom, or teach a basic English or GED class. We have locations throughout the Twin Cities area, flexible scheduling and training to help you get started.

Contact Allison at volunteer@themlc.org or 651-645-2277, Ext 219 or visit us on the web at www.themlc.org

Coffee Break earring 30. Front of a building 35. Like dental surgery 37. Vagrant 39. 13 in baker’s _____ 40. Average 41. Hill or Baker, e.g.

43. Just below roof 44. Gives off 46. ____ drab 47. Wedding cakes often have more than one of these 48. Leader of a Muslim state 50. Russia’s Peter the Great, e.g.

52. “___, the Beloved Country” 53. Hippocrates’ promise 55. Theatrical prompt 57. Not dense 60. *Allen/Gates invention 64. Wallop 65. Neither 67. Dam 68. Affected by wear 69. Masseuse’s office 70. African chieftain 71. Movie “The Way We ____” 72. Clairvoyance 73. Form of Japanese poetry

10. Decrease gradually, often precedes “down” 11. Short for engineer 12. Just a ___ bit 18. Sometimes comes tossed 20. Often comes with a lei 22. Rudolph’s friend Hermey, e.g.

24. Resurrection of the dead 25. Ratio of hypotenuse to opposite side of right-angled triangle 26. Scent 27. Russia’s St. _____ Cathedral 29. *Character Q provided great inventions to him 31. *Inventor of revolver 32. Pre-life 33. Postpone 34. Diary item 36. Lesotho money 38. *Inventor of “hoisting apparatus” 42. Olden day calculators 45. Not quite a spoon and not quite a fork 49. ___-been 51. Streamlet 54. Past, present or future DOWN _____ 1. 50 percent 56. Organ swelling 16. Acquire knowledge 2. *An invention usually starts 57. If it fits...

THEME: FAMOUS 17. Contend with a good one 58. She survived her infamous INVENTIONS 18. Abrupt increase 3. Serengeti sound husband Henry VIII 19. *Inventor of electric motor 4. Biblical Abraham’s original 59. Bane of teenager’s ACROSS 21. *Cyrus McCormick’s name existence 1. Ulysses S. Grant’s first name invention 5. *”Father of Genetics” 60. Tortilla sandwich 6. Second-largest bird in world 23. Brooks or Gibson, e.g.

6. One turns green with it?

61. Baker’s baker 9. Expel 24. Small stream 7. “Me,” in Paris 62. Song “Eight Days a ____” 13. Sun-dried brick 25. Sometimes hard to find in 8. Wombs 63. “Que sera ____” 14. “___ a moment too soon” city 9. Fish found off Atlantic coast 64. *Huge network 15. Helper for some elderly 28. Traditional spot for an of U.S., aka porgy 66. Roman goddess of plenty

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ek he we t f o True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.

- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King., Jr..

Answers on page 155

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Insight News • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Page 13

Once public trust goes, can democracy be far behind?

By Frank Viviano New American Media News Analysis Is Western Democracy coming apart at the seams? A decade ago, only paranoid alarmists would have posed that question.

Today, it may be an expression of cold, brutal realism.

On both sides of the Atlantic – from the fires now raging in large stretches of London, to the political chicanery that brought the U.S. economy to its knees in early August –the institutional framework that came to define modern democracy in the 19th century is in deep trouble.

The principal organs of financial oversight and management are in tatters.

Ferociously xenophobic political movements, an entire constellation of Tea Parties, now play important roles in nearly every European nation, as well as the United States.

Faith in elected leaders and legislatures, the central and defining institutions of democracy, has never been lower.

According to the Pew Research Center, the proportion of the U.S. public expressing trust in the federal

government has fallen from just under 80 percent in the late 1960s to barely 20 percent today.

A European Union poll last September found that only 29 percent of voters in its 27 member-states trust their own national government. Less than 20 percent believe that their elected representatives are capable of successful action “against the effects of the financial and economic crisis.”

A meager 7 percent trust the United States, the West’s political and economic giant, to address the crisis – a resounding vote of no confidence a year before the disastrous U.S. Congressional budget struggle.

These numbers, put bluntly, are staggering.

Angry, violent civil disturbances, first in Paris and now in London, have revealed enormous tinderboxes of alienation. With the gap between rich and poor – between philosophical democracy’s matchless promise and contemporary democracies’ transparent inequities – expanding at a dizzying pace, more explosions are likely and perhaps inevitable.

Abroad in the Middle East and Central Asia, and at home in its urban streets, the Western

Photo courtesy of NAM

Alliance is increasingly unable to maintain its values or defend them.

Murdoch affair – another betrayal of trust Two factors separate these developments from the periodic lapses that marred democracy’s evolution in the past. The first is that they are intimately connected, a systemic malady. The second is that their strains are being felt not in one Western nation or even half a dozen, but in all of them simultaneously.

The links were strikingly

evident in the scandal that erupted over the operations of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World, the United Kingdom’s largest-circulation newspaper.

The story opened with what appeared to be narrow abuses of individual privacy, the hacking by News of the World reporters into the cell phone of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old British girl who vanished on the way home from school and was later found dead.

Within days, the scandal grew into an expose of byzantine collaborations at the commanding heights of

business and politics, leading not only to the firings and eventual arrests of Murdoch editors, but bringing down powerful figures in the British government and the nation’s top law enforcement official.

Then the storm crossed the Atlantic, setting off an FBI investigation and prompting the resignation of Les Hinton, chairman of Dow Jones and publisher of the Wall Street Journal. Both companies are also owned by Murdoch, as is the Fox News Channel, the chief broadcast voice of the populist American right.

A limited story about the callous treatment of a family tragedy had morphed into a full-fledged allegory on the cynical corruptions of business and politics, all in the name of “the people” – the mostly lower-middle-class voters who are the principal audience of Murdoch’s publications and broadcasts in Britain and America alike.

The tragedy is that their betrayal, which is precisely what it amounts to, is also a betrayal of their waning faith in democracy.

A private survey released by the Brussels-based polling firm Burson-Marsteller in June, even before the Murdoch scandal broke, found that Britons’ trust in their government had dropped by 51 percent in just two years.

Decline of the Fourth Estate In the end, another of democracy’s critical institutions, a reliable and vigilant press, blew the whistle on the Murdoch empire’s shenanigans.

The most damning evidence was hunted down by the investigative team at the Guardian, a British newspaper that stands at the opposite end of the professional spectrum from the tabloid sensationalism of the News of the World (which Murdoch eventually shut down in an effort at damage control).

Voters need a dependable flow of facts, the kind the Guardian team chased down, to interpret events whose complexities are all too often lost in the braying of extremists. Without a well-informed electorate, democracy is a sham.

But like public trust in government, the mainstream press is caught in a precipitous downward spiral. In the brief span of four years since 2007, more than 25 percent of all full-time reporters at U.S. newspapers have lost their jobs. In 2009 alone, the toll exceeded 6,000, the largest single year’s cutback every recorded.

The United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Italy, with a combined population roughly 50 million less than that of the United States, laid off 6,500 reporters that same year.

Meanwhile the sensationalist tabloids and their broadcast equivalents prosper, scandals notwithstanding, with the nihilistic right as prime beneficiaries.

There is no mistaking its impact.

The European Union, an extraordinarily ambitious experiment in establishing democratic institutions across national boundaries, has brought six decades of continuous peace to a continent where history was defined by ceaseless wars among the French, British, Germans, Spaniards and their neighbors for two millennia.

Amidst a chorus of vapid nationalistic slogans on every side, the EU now stands perilously close to outright collapse.

In the once-solid heartland of western tolerance, the Nordic countries and the Netherlands, extremist antiimmigrant parties have been voted into every national parliament and exercise decisive power in many.

The rhetoric that seized the imagination of Anders Behring Breivik, and sent him on a bloody one-day rampage in Norway that took 77 lives, is heard daily in the very legislatures where social democracy was polished into the globe’s most comprehensive health, jobcreation and pension structure.

In Italy, where I live, the most important coalition partner in the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is the Northern League, a party openly dedicated to the dismantling of the Italian state. The League’s close American cousins, in spirit as well as in principle, are the Tea Party legislators of the U.S. Congress.

It also demands the forced repatriation of immigrants, from a country that saw 25 million of its own people leave for abroad in the lifetime of my four grandparents, who were among them.

Page 14 • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Insight News

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Insight News • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Page 15

Minnesota citizens redistricting commission public meetings Statewide commission members are seeking community input on redistricting for the state of Minnesota. Draw the Line Minnesota, believes that those district boundaries, which can hold communities together or split them apart and ultimately impact our ability to choose

meaningful representation, are best drawn by the people living in them. Citizen Commission Hearings will be held all across the state allowing members of the commission to learn directly from the people what your community looks like.

After the first round of hearings, the members of the

Markets

the US. This new platform affords the opportunity to acknowledge the connection between our communities here in this country to our home countries. I am a Jamaican and I am a Cuban. I intend to do business in Jamaica

From 7 Latino Midwest all serving and representing emerging markets in

commission will create several versions of maps based on citizens information received and federal / state guidelines.

A second round of hearings will happen in mid September to hear feedback on the first versions of maps.

Listed are updated and confirmed first round meeting

Suluki Fardan

dates and locations: Wednesday, August 24 from 5:45 -7:45 pm Congressional District #7 Public Testimony Willmar Public Library 410 5th Street Southwest, Willmar MN 56201

Ivan Phifer

Donald Bryant

Joe Mudd

and business in Cuba. It is part of my legacy, part of my heritage. My Asian, Latino, American Indian and African colleagues connect to the “old country” as well. The “old country” may be Wisconsin or Rice Lake, if you are American Indian. But the point is we must recognize the historical value that our cultures bring to humanity and we must promote and exploit those values for the benefit of our own people and for our communities and for our country.

come from. I look at the Jewish community as an example in the support that it is giving back to Israel.

Some of my business partners are from Israel and I commend that connection and that relationship.

I think as we speak about Africa, we must build those relationships.

There are raw materials and talent equity that can be exported outside to other parts of the world. I don’t necessarily feel that we have that connection yet from a product standpoint, but I see that legacy, that connection as a tremendous business opportunity.

Don Bryant: I am preparing my 5-year-old son who is in kindergarten. I put him in a Spanish immersion class and he is already teaching me Spanish. As I look at the next generation of our business, as I look at the future, I am preparing him to enter into a global marketplace. I am preparing him to be able to do business internationally and multiculturally.

I think there is a responsibility to know the mother countries that we

Joe Mudd: I have been to Asia half a dozen times in the last three years conducting business, looking for suppliers, looking for opportunities to find better logistics to get product here. I am an importer-distributor, which means I import goods and bring them to the US. We do that through consortiums, through connectivity

Thursday, August 25 from 7-9 Congressional District #8 Public Testimony Central Hillside Community Center 12 East 4th Street, Duluth MN 55805

thepafi.org

Tuesday, August 30 from 7-9 Congressional District #1 Public Testimony Rasmussen College 130 Saint Andrews Drive, Mankato MN 56001 For more information contact: David Wheeler 612.730.6112 dwheeler@visi.com www. d r a w t h e l i n e m i n n e s o t a . o rg

File photo

Gerry Fernandez

Al McFarlane

with other people through my Chinese-American brothers who have helped me with the language barrier, through communicating via many levels of technology that is available today including Skype. But there are many ways to conduct international business without leaving the US with the technologies that we currently have and are available to us.

I emphasize working together as minority groups within the United States. I am proud to talk about the partnership that we just formed with what I call mentors and successful business people, Bill Garth out of Chicago and Al McFarlane, who approached me and said let’s do something together. I am proud to tell you within two months we landed British Petroleum nationally. And I am very proud of that. But I could never have done that alone and I don’t think these gentlemen could have done it by themselves either.

So that’s what I am talking about-It’s the spirit of collaboration. As people of color we have to work together. We have to do it together.

building greater success. You guys are one clear example of that. I think secondly we have to build our cultural competencies, our cultural intelligence, and our cultural fluency. By that I mean you can’t go to China and not learn pretty quickly that China is not a monolithic place, what goes on at Beijing is not what goes on at Guangzhou. We here domestically have to understand that our Latino partners can be of Dominican background, Puerto Rican background, they are not Spanish people unless they are from Spain—so we have to get comfortable with other cultures and know how to talk about them, how to communicate with them, how to create valuable added value kinds of relationships.

The last thing I will say is, forums like this can go up to the next step about teaching cultural competency. Here is what you need to know about working with this particular audience to be effective. Again I go back to the Latino community because it’s a common language but not always a common culture. There are many differences between each group. The more you understand that I think the more opportunities we have. But clearly one of the brothers there said we can take a page out of our Jewish brothers and sisters’ book when they work and partner together. The South Asian Indians have been doing the same thing here in the lodging sector where they have partnered together. One will buy a large group of gas stations and then resell the smaller ones to moms and pops. These are models that we can learn a great deal from.

We are stronger together partnering within the Black community across groups between Black and Latinos.

The demographics dictate that the Latino population with an 8:1 birth to death ratio as compared to a 1:1.41 birth to death ratio for whites and something slightly higher for Blacks means we are going to have a big Latino community here for us to partner with and we must be smart to figure out how to do that.

Al McFarlane: Gerry Fernandez how do we create the public mind that supports the initiatives we are talking about and that makes it so that companies that ought to be doing more business with us feel that it is the right thing to do and in fact do it as opposed to stay in their old boy network comfort zone.

What do we do?

Gerry Fernandez: If they can make money, ultimately they will do it. But I am going to piggyback on some things that Joe said because he is speaking right out of the song book that I would like to follow. First we have to work together; particularly Black Americans have had a real tough time working together. I am of Cape Verdean descent, so I have Black Portuguese roots. My name is Fernandez, I oftentimes get people who misconstrue what my cultural identity is, but the issue is, we have to work together, and we don’t see enough of that. I see successful business people who find ways to work together

Solutions From 12

FAMOUS INVENTIONS

Page 16 • August 22 - August 28, 2011 • Insight News

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