Celebrating the MORE ON PAGE 9 123rd Anniversary of Marcus Garvey’s Birthday
INSIGHT NEWS August 23 - August 29, 2010 • MN Metro Vol. 36 No. 34 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • www.insightnews.com
CitySongs: UROC program nurtures art, culture Eighteen years ago, a professor in the University of Minnesota’s School of Social Work had an idea. What if you could bring kids together to sing in a choir and, at the same time, give them the chance to develop competence, confidence, and individual potential? The idea became a program launched as an after-school music and youth development organization in St. Paul called CitySongs. In 2009, it became a part of the university’s new Urban Research and Outreach/ Engagement Center (UROC) and moved its work to North Minneapolis. A new Northside community partner, Plymouth Christian Youth Center (PCYC), agreed to provide the youth development programming while Cheryl Reeves, its music director, continued to direct the choir and provide administrative leadership. The past year has served as a pilot in the new location, with eight choir members who, although small in number, nevertheless performed with verve and talent at several community events, at two concerts at the Capri Theater, and at UROC’s open house in May. Reeves is eager to recruit
new kids to the choir and the program. “We got our feet wet during the past year and the kids did a terrific job,” Reeves said. “But we’re excited about bringing in more children and building the program to a higher level with many more participants.” To that end, Reeves is recruiting in the North Minneapolis schools, churches, community organizations, and anywhere people are interested in hearing about the opportunities that CitySongs can offer. “Unlike many other performance programs, we don’t audition participants,” Reeves explained. “We also don’t charge any fees for participation. Through our 18 years of experience we’ve learned that any child who is willing to work hard and attend the program regularly can learn to sing well enough to make a positive contribution.” CitySongs is for children in grades four through eight. It fosters healthy development by helping urban youth identify and reach their potential through diverse music participation and activities. It challenges youth to master music and performance skills, to make aesthetic contributions
Michaela Rinkel
CitySongs to their communities, to take leadership roles, and to set and achieve their goals. In turn, these children provide live performances to inspire, strengthen, and vitalize their community. Karen Goodenough, director
of community programs for PCYC, provides the additional programming and support beyond the choir activities and supervises interns from the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota and Augsburg College. The interns
work with the choir members when the children aren’t rehearsing “When the university came to us to discuss a partnership, we looked around and saw there were no youth choirs on the Northside,” Goodenough
said. “We had our theater institute, the ability to do music recording, and a performance space with the Capri Theater. It seemed like it could be a very
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Jamaica’s genius: Passion and drive By Al McFarlane and B.P. Ford The Editors Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus in the late 1400s first visited Montego Bay, Jamaica, calling it “Golfo de Buen Tiempo”, or fair weather gulf. The name Montego Bay came from the Spanish word manteca, or lard, because the port was used to ship lard, leather and beef during Spanish occupation. Montego Bay remained a Spanish colony until the mid 1600s, when Oliver Cromwell claimed it for the British, who used it as a sugar port well into the 20th Century. Fierce resistance to slavery and domination by the escaped enslaved Africans, the Maroons, and, derring-do high-seas bravado of pirates who menaced and mastered sea-borne shipping industries helped create a national character that celebrates independence and self-reliance, agricultural excellence, entrepreneurial initiative, and a wellspring of joy-driven faith and hope that brighter days are within reach. These traits fueled Montego Bay’s emergence as a tourist haven of choice. Wealthy and ordinary people alike flocked in droves to the famous Doctor’s Cave bathing beach. That attraction has been the inspiration of exponential growth in Jamaica’s burgeoning tourism industry. Nowadays, Montego Bay’s appeal never seems to wane. Today when visitors come in search of sunshine and outdoor adventure, Jamaica’s unsurpassed Caribbean hospitality keeps them returning again and again. And when you visit The Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort at Rose Hall, Jamaica, what you come away with is an appreciation of the unique, indomitable star quality that is the hallmark of Jamaicans’ richly sonorous voice, their proud, confident walk, and their engaging genuine friendliness. Time and time again, during our recent visit, we were reminded why we love Jamaica so much. To a person, we encountered energetic, focused, purpose-driven men and women whose attitudes and actions reflected their belief in and commitment to the mission
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Education:
Tips for building your college resume
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Shirley Sherrod
Photos: Al McFarlane
Tiffanie Swaby at Ritz Carlton Golf Course and Spa Resort
Tea Party, Fox News hoodwink America By Shirley Sherrod Commentary
Transportation entrepreneur Denzil Haye (his friends call him Denzil Washington), Green Apples sales staff --Kerry-Ann, Sandra, Sherene and, store owner, Prem Samtani. Green Apples Gift Shop & Liquor Store is located across the street from the Ritz-Carlton at the new Whitter Village Centre. The store is a favorite place for Americans to find good deals on duty-free liquors and spirits, authentic Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffees, and an excellent array of gift items, art and handicrafts, Jamaican made-clothing for men, women and children, Cuban cigars and more. Green Apples ships internationally. Call 876-953-3092 for additional information. To reach Denzil Haye for island transportation: 876-792-6201.
Aesthetics:
Guthrie production seeks Black community response
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www.cltnetwork.org
Back in March, I delivered a speech to an NAACP Freedom Fund banquet in my home state of Georgia. I drew on my personal life story to urge poor people, white and black, to pull together and overcome racial divisions. We have to understand that our struggle is against poverty and against those who are blocking our path out of poverty. Unless we figure this out, I warned, our communities won’t thrive and our children won’t prosper. As you know, a Tea Party blogger named Andrew Breitbart released an intentionally deceptive, heavily edited clip from that speech to make it look
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as if I was delivering exactly the opposite message. Then Fox News blasted that false message across America’s airwaves, creating a firestorm that led to my ouster as the USDA State Director here in Georgia. Not long ago, I sat here in my living room in Albany, GA, for an afternoon of deep conversation with NAACP President Benjamin Jealous. As he has done in public, Ben movingly apologized for the fact that the NAACP was initially hoodwinked by Breitbart and Fox into supporting my removal. I told him what I want to tell you. That’s behind us, and the last thing I want to see happen is for my situation to weaken support for the NAACP. Too many
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Sports Report:
Tiger Woods falls down but gets back up
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