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Insight News

December 21, 2020 - December 27, 2020

Vol. 47 No. 51• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

SUZANNE BURKS Setting new strategic direction at Phillis Wheatley Community Center Uche Iroegbe STORY ON PAGE

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Page 2 • December 21, 2020 - December 27, 2020 • Insight News

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Insight News • December 21, 2020 - December 27, 2020 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE

Insight News December 21, 2020 - December 27, 2020

Vol. 47 No. 51• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Legacy + Leadership

By Al McFarlane Editor Part 1 of 2 Suzanne Burks is a business developer, an innovative thinker and a philanthropic strategist. She’s also a relationship builder. She began her career right here in Twin Cities with General Mills and over a 20year period, worked her way up from a summer intern through a variety of positions of increasing responsibility, emerging as a director of General Mills Foundation and as executive director of ethnic community relations.

She’s now back in town to lead the legacy institution, Phyllis Wheatley Community Center (PWCC). Her goal: rebuild and rebrand, moving the organization forward with a new strategic direction by introducing new program initiatives and at the same time, honoring the power of longevity and legacy by planning PWCC’s 100th Anniversary.

Here are excerpts of my interview with her in late October: Elijah Cummings was my congressman when I lived in Columbia, Maryland. He said, ‘We’re better than this.’ I think the fact that people elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris demonstrates that we want to be better than what we have been at least the last five years.

We lost John Lewis, too, but the Congressional Black Caucus actually picked up a couple new members. They’re almost at 50 now.

The one thing I think their legacy says is we have to have the right politics and policies at the federal level. But it is also so important that we focus on the local level, and that we have people running for school board and city council.

I did a lot of work with Stacey Abrams when she was

Uche Iroegbe

Suzanne Burks running for Georgia governor. We actually started a Black women’s Political Action Committee (PAC), because of the fact that she was running. There were several Black women’s PACs that were established at that time because you have to do that work, and you have to raise money. You had a confluence of Black Lives Matter, Color of Change and other organizations that came together to help organize. That was a big deal. It wasn’t just educating people on their rights to vote, but they actually registered people.

They made sure people got out to vote and I think we saw the results of that. But we lost a lot of seats on the Democratic side that we should have kept. And a lot of that’s around the Democratic Party not really understanding that yes, we might believe in a lot of the same things, but in certain districts you cannot be too liberal and certain ones can’t be too moderate.

So you have to really understand what are the requirements in those particular districts and I’m hoping that going forward, that we’ll be able to pick up some seats in the next couple years with understanding that strategy. For us to really change things, we’ve got to raise money.

But what’s the alternative to defunding to police?

Words matter.

I went to a meeting with the chief of police at Zion

Baptist Church last Tuesday. And the whole idea is so that the chief can give people in the community that want to come in update on all the things that are going on. So we have had almost 1200 shootings this year, we’ve had almost... we’ve had 40 deaths and 573 injured from gunshots.

Keep that in mind, City Council reduced his budget by $625,000 to fund some artwork in South Minneapolis. But the department is down 200 police officers. I’m just like, what are these people doing? Part of what we have to do is just be honest about what’s going on.

No matter what the relationships are, sometimes people get in positions too soon. That’s not a legacy position to be... I just don’t believe that. You get to earn it no matter what. And you have to do what’s right for whoever you’re representing. And that goes for the city council, state rep, and the rest.

In the past, there was power because we came together and we had an agenda. We had people in corporations that had power and influence because of how money was managed, and who we could influence and change what happened in the community. That’s very different now. Not only corporations but in foundations the people that are making these decisions now have very different agendas.

I would like to see us form a PAC, and be a part of these campaigns that are need money to run. We have to identify people who could really be good representatives at all levels, and make sure that they’re trained, and make sure that they’re equipped.

Because if you connect them with the right organizations, they will actually help with all of that, the organizing the fundraising, the setting up websites, all of that kind of thing. And the other is to really have a political agenda and then stay with it whoever you’re talking with. North Minneapolis still has a lot of needs. “What

are those needs?” And we got to stay with it and keep making sure that we’re getting a response and support. .

Phyllis Wheatley started as a settlement house. So a lot of famous people stayed at Phyllis Wheatley because they couldn’t go to hotels. Phyllis Wheatley was the hub of the whole community.

In 1955, a woman named Katherine Parson gifted us a camp that’s 106 acres and it’s in Carver County, which is west of the Twin Cities. So we’re going to be looking at doing some things at the camp this coming year as well. ``We’re going to try to bring back a lot of the rich history of truly bringing the community together.

Obviously, with COVID, doing things in person is going to be more difficult.

One of the things we’re focusing in on is health and racial equity. And a lot of it’s around our whole health, our whole environment, what we eat, everything related to that, and then looking at where the inequities are.

We have launched a digital tech works academy and part of that is a program that we’re partnering with Microsoft and the newly formed chapter of the 100 Black Men of the Twin Cities. It features a 12 week program for young Black men 12 to 17. We will teach life skills, including financial literacy,and understanding how to cope with what’s going on now. And then we’re going to also introduce coding and a number of other more technical skill related activities, like robotics. Ay the end of that program, we will create a video gaming league and so we’re partnered with Microsoft on those two things.

With the county, we now can serve essential workers with a new daycare program. We offer essential workers $3,000 in scholarship for them to place their children in our toddler, Pre-K and preschool programs.

Tonya Allen leads McKnight The McKnight Foundation has announced that Tonya Allen will lead the Foundation as president, effective March 1, 2021. Allen comes to McKnight as a distinguished leader in philanthropy, most recently as president and CEO of The Skillman Foundation in Detroit.

Poised for its next chapter, the Foundation sees her as precisely the right person to take the helm during this historic time. In the midst of a global pandemic, a national racial reckoning, and the climate crisis, Allen’s bold and visionary leadership will accelerate McKnight’s progress in addressing this generation’s most complex and urgent problems.

“Tonya is a dynamic and innovative leader who builds on the strength of McKnight’s long family history, values, and grantmaking,” said Noa Staryk, McKnight’s incoming board chair. “With her integrity, her brilliance, and her proven track record, we have complete confidence in Tonya as a trusted, capable, impactful leader who will move our mission forward.”

Staryk, a fourth-generation family member and longserving board member, will succeed current chair Debby Landesman in January.

Allen has focused on community-led philanthropy and has been passionate about the power of transforming place.

With skillful persistence, she has worked to engage communities and bring together diverse sectors to meet opportunities and challenges, and advocated

for equitable policies and practices that benefit all people.

“I am excited to join the McKnight Foundation,” said Allen. “I feel called to this remarkable institution and to the unique opportunities and challenges of Minnesota.

We have an extraordinary opportunity to work side by side with our partners—community activists, corporate executives, public system leaders, and nonprofit champions—to advance collective leadership that will accelerate the speed, scope, and scale of impact.

Together with my talented colleagues, I am ready to build on McKnight’s greatest strengths and assets, and usher in system change commensurate with what it will take for people and planet to thrive.”

Allen can trace her belief in the value of service and philanthropy to her grandmother’s front door. As a child growing up in Detroit, Tonya would watch as her grandmother, herself an activist and neighborhood organizer, welcomed those most in need into her home.

“Families would come to my grandmother’s house in the middle of the night because their water was out, or they didn’t have heat. And she would always open her door,” recalled Allen. “What I took from those experiences is that we all are gifted. We don’t have to be gifted with money or stature, but we’re all gifted with something. And sharing the gifts of compassion and altruism is extraordinarily

photo/Shawn Lee

Tonya Allen will lead the McKnight Foundation effective March 1. impactful.”

Allen will work closely with McKnight board members and leaders—heading an allwomen, majority people-ofcolor senior leadership team— as well as a diverse staff of about 50. Her selection follows an extensive national search by the Foundation’s search committee, led by board members Erika L. Binger and Ted Staryk. Allen succeeds Kate Wolford, who stepped down as president in late 2019 after 13 years. Lee Sheehy, former director of the Foundation’s Region & Communities program, will continue as interim president until Allen begins the role in March.

“Tonya is a highly respected civic diplomat and bridge builder who will be a leader for all of McKnight’s programs and partners in Minnesota and across the globe,” said Debby Landesman.

“She excels at diving into complexity, testing new

News

Minnesota receives first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine

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approaches, and mobilizing people and communities toward a common vision for change.”

Beyond her work in Detroit, Allen is a skilled and collaborative leader on the national stage. She serves on several statewide and national boards. She is the incoming chair for the Council on Foundations; she also serves as chair of Oakland University board of trustees, and co-chair for the Executives’ Alliance for Boys & Men of Color. She received the Nicholas P. Bollman Award at the 2017 Funders Network annual conference in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy named her among Five Nonprofit Innovators to Watch in 2013.

“We have an extraordinary opportunity to work side by side with our partners to advance collective leadership that will accelerate the speed, scope, and scale of impact,” said Allen.

Health officials sound alarm on rising COVID cases

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has sounded the alarm about the increasing number of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. With approximately 273,000 reported deaths in 2020, Dr. Redfield said this week that the nation is on course to reach about 450,000 deaths

by February.

“These next few months might be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation,” Redfield stated.

Despite the grim outlook, the CDC announced it had reduced the recommended minimum quarantine time for those exposed to the virus from 14 days to as few as seven.

According to the most recent “Options to reduce quarantine” data posted to the CDC website, local public health authorities will make final decisions about how long quarantine should last based upon local conditions and needs.

The latest guidelines call for a quarantine of seven days for those without symptoms and a negative test, or ten days without a negative test.

“Shortening the

photo/NNPA

Medical experts hope that, after frontline workers receive a vaccine from Pfizer, which is expected as early as December 15, the African American community will embrace vaccination. length of quarantine may make it easier for people to take this critical action by reducing the economic hardship associated with a longer period, especially if they cannot work during that time,” Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC’s Covid-19 incident manager, said.

Of greatest concern is that the virus is worse than at any previous time, health officials said.

Many are refraining from large gatherings but others are not, despite of the fact that several states and municipalities have enacted local laws and ordinances prohibiting such gettogethers.

Hip-Hop superstar

COVID CASES 4

The Universal Hip Hop Museum’s mission is particularly relevant when considering that it is actively choosing to invest in its community and hire from within the community. The entire project has always focused on the community’s needs, with ample green space surrounding the Museum, an affordable housing component, and the Museum as the project’s cultural anchor.

OP-ED: The Universal Hip Hop Museum – The Official Record of Hip Hop

By Rocky Bucano, Executive Director, Universal Hip Hop Museum In the 1970s, America was in turmoil.

The economy was in a freefall. The nation was grappling with the Vietnam war.

Marginalized Americans were still protesting in the streets for change. Anguish was felt throughout the country, but most profoundly in the nation’s inner cities. And this collective pain incubated an art form in the heart of the Bronx, New York, that would ultimately have a profound effect and influence upon the entire world. The birth of Hip Hop is a “Made in New York” story.

The story is delivered from the Bronx’s core creativity.

It’s an epic tale, rich in history and cultural heritage that is rightfully told in the place that first gave it life – Welcome to

the Universal Hip Hop Museum.

Humble – Yet Explosive Beginning In the late 1970s, an end-of-the-school-year party delivered Hip Hop, a new musical genre that would travel from borough to borough, city to city, and eventually around the world. The Black and Latinx teens who spearheaded the revolution of Hip Hop launched a musical paradigm shift, one which, by far, has had the most significant influence on popular culture since the U.K. invasion of the Beatles in 1964.

Those teenage kids who ignited New York City’s most significant cultural export came from various Bronx neighborhoods and were viewed by their peers as relatable superheroes. In the communities in which they lived. They were the coolest of the cool.

You have seen their names on party flyers, watched

HIP HOP MUSEUM 4

I2H

Four ways to close the COVID-19 racial health gap

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Page 4 • December 21, 2020 - December 27, 2020 • Insight News

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Business relief package agreed to; DFL members offer more proposals

By Mike Cook, Minnesota Session Daily Assistance for small-business owners hurting due to the COVID-19 pandemic may not be the only item up for debate during next week’s special session.

Heard Thursday by the House Ways and Means Committee was a series of DFL proposals that includes financial assistance for businesses and child care providers, additional benefits for the unemployed, housing help and a one-time cash benefit for certain lowincome households. No action was taken.

Most funding would come from the General Fund.

Released last week, the state’s latest budget forecast shows a projected $641 million surplus for the current biennium that ends June 30, 2021.

“The goal is to have a heads-up in terms of what may be discussed for (Monday’s) special session,” said Rep. Lyndon Carlson Sr. (DFLCrystal), the committee chair.

“I think it’s fair to say that conversations are still taking place.”

Helping Minnesota businesses The proposal that carries the largest financial commitment — $216.5 million — aims to help businesses that have experienced at least a 30 percent sales decline since 2019.

Rep. Tim Mahoney (DFL-St. Paul) put forth an aid package that would provide: • $102.5 million for counties to make grants to eligible businesses and nonprofits. Each county would receive the greater of $200,000 or a per capita amount based on

COVID cases From 3 Cardi B issued an apology for a 14-person gathering she hosted during Thanksgiving.

Police in New York broke up a 400-person party after an Airbnb owner discovered the festivities while watching his security cameras from a separate location.

Incidents of large gatherings – where many of the participants shun face

Hip Hop Museum From 3

its 2019 population; • $100 million to businesses that provide on-site food and beverages; including bars, restaurants, breweries and wineries; bowling alleys; and fitness or sports recreation centers.

Payment amounts would be based on the number of workers; and • $14 million for movie theaters and multipurpose convention centers with a capacity of at least 1,500 people.

A per screen formula would be used to help movie theaters and several factors would be considered for convention center allocations. Convention center awards would need to be used for direct operations and facility upkeep.

Money could start being allocated before the year ends.

At a news conference, Sen. Eric Pratt (R-Prior Lake), chair of the Senate jobs committee, said there is agreement with the House DFL and Senate Republicans on this.

“We know that there’s more things to it, but this was the foundation of our business grant relief program with the details businesses are really looking for,” added Rep. Dave Baker (R-Willmar). “But there’s going to be other components to make the package come together.”

Mahoney also outlined a plan for up to an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits for someone who exhausts their regular unemployment benefits, state extended benefits or federal extended benefits.

Mahoney said between 100,000-125,000 Minnesotans are slated to lose unemployment benefits Dec. 26 without a state or federal extension. If a federal extension is enacted, all that money would be used first.

Publisher Batala-Ra McFarlane Associate Editor & Associate Publisher B.P. Ford Associate Editor Culture & Education Dr. Irma McClaurin Associate Editor Afrodescendientes Carmen Robles Associate Editor Nigeria & West Africa Chief Folarin Ero-Phillips Columnist Brenda Lyle-Gray Director of Content & Production Patricia Weaver Content & Production Coordinator Sunny Thongthi Yang Distribution/Facilities Manager Jamal Mohamed Receptionist Lue B. Lampley Intern Kelvin Kuria

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State Rep. Mohamud Noor, DFL-Minneapolis

“There is no separation for me between the workers and the businesses. We need to take care of both. Or both of them will go down,” Mahoney said.

Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington) said he doesn’t understand how extending unemployment benefits became controversial.

“The unemployment insurance system is insurance. … Why shouldn’t we want to be responsible and always make sure we’re responsible stewards of these dollars? It’s important to recognize there are a lot of people who need this help.”

However, differences remain. For example, the Senate wants just a five-week extension, the bodies differ on the end date and the Senate puts a $200 million cap on the total amount.

“I hope between now and Monday we can come up with a win-win situation,” Carlson said.

A separate Mahoney proposal calls for shortening from 12 months to three months the length of employment requirement for an employee to participate in a shared work program.

Cash benefit for low-income Minnesotans To assist low-income

families with children, Rep. Mohamud Noor (DFL-Mpls) offered a proposal to take $15.71 million in TANF funds “to provide a onetime cash benefit of up to $500 for each household active in the Minnesota family investment program or diversionary work program.”

“This is an opportunity to make sure that no one is left out in Minnesota,” Noor said. “ … These Minnesotans are struggling at this moment of need with the economic crisis, with the health crisis. We need to stand up for every family, for every individual so that we can show we are one Minnesota, we care about each other and we stand for each other.”

He noted that the money would be spent immediately in local communities, thereby helping local businesses as well.

“They have not seen a reduction in the amount of MFIP that they receive. This would be additional money on top of what they already receive,” House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) said at a morning forum of legislative leaders hosted by Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. “We’re certainly reviewing that. It’s possible it could be included, but the past few times that we’ve reviewed it both our caucus and the Senate

masks – have been reported in California, Florida, Georgia, New York, Texas, and other places, rankling public health officials nationwide.

New hospitalizations in the U.S. reached more than 100,000, and scientific evidence from the CDC, Johns Hopkins University, and other sources shows that African Americans are still the group affected the most by the virus.

Medical experts hope that, after frontline workers receive a vaccine from Pfizer, which is expected as early as December 15, the African

American community will embrace vaccination.

“People like Dr. Anthony Fauci, who I know, and I’ve worked with, I trust completely,” former President Barack Obama said in an interview with Sirius XM’s Joe Madison.

“So, if Anthony Fauci tells me this vaccine is safe and can vaccinate, you know, immunize you from getting Covid, absolutely, I’m going to take it,” Obama stated.

He continued: “I promise you that when it’s been made for people

who are less at risk, I will be taking it. I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science, and what I don’t trust is getting Covid.”

Dr. Ebony Hilton, the Medical Director of GoodStock Consulting LLC, and Associate Professor in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Virginia, added that she understands the mistrust of the medical system that exists in the Black community.

However, Hilton believes African Americans shouldn’t hesitate to accept an

approved coronavirus vaccine.

“There have been historic insults made by the government to the Black community, and the scars of that breach linger. But that’s why it’s up to the medical system to restore that trust,” Hilton, a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s Coronavirus Task Force, remarked.

“Initiatives to place Black physicians on the main stage to engage in conversations with our community are imperative because time is of the essence for this message to be

heard and understood,” Hilton said.

“What we know is that for every 870 Black people alive in January, one has now died from COVID. Black people die at three times the rate of white people and a decade younger.

We cannot afford to take any measure that will keep us alive, and at this time, the vaccine is our most valuable resource. We need this intervention to help shield our community, through herd immunity, and increase our likelihood of surviving together to see our future generations thrive.”

them showcase their talent on the big screen, and have heard their songs on the radio. Their unique personas and mastery

of this new art form fueled Hip Hop’s explosive rise. I was one of those teenagers. I witnessed the culture’s birth and have participated in its global growth as a promoter and music label executive and am now leading the next phase of Hip Hop’s historical development as Executive Director of the Universal Hip Hop Museum.

Hop Don’t Stop” – because, during the past year, the Museum has focused on supporting the needs of the greater global and local community by raising money to help New York City’s frontline healthcare workers and participating in the United Nations World Day of Peace.

We have also produced a successful preview of the future Museum in partnership with The Related Companies at the Bronx Terminal Market, titled the [R] Evolution of Hip-Hop, which has drawn more than 10,000 visitors from every corner of the world.

As a permanent home to accurately document, archive, and celebrate the cultural phenomenal; milestones, the Universal Hip Hop Museum will share and document the stories about the people, places, and events that spawned a uniquely American art form that celebrates the musical and

creative contributions of the culture.

The Museum will give permanence to the stories bred in the Bronx and beyond and serve as a new international cultural hub welcoming local residents and one million-plus tourists to the Bronx from across the U.S. and overseas when the Museum opens to the general public in 2023.

than average unemployment rates and COVID-19 related deaths.

The Universal Hip Hop Museum’s mission is particularly relevant when considering that it is actively choosing to invest in its community and hire from within the community.

The entire project has always focused on the community’s needs, with ample green space surrounding the Museum, an affordable housing component, and the Museum as the project’s cultural anchor.

When construction of the Museum begins in January 2021, a new standard for development will make history.

L&M Development Partners and Type A Projects, the Museum’s development partners, have agreed to hire and train people who live in the local community.

L&M Development Partners has recently signed a landmark deal with Laborers’ Local 79. The agreement represents a significant step forward, ensuring that Bronxites will be among those hired to build the future home of Hip Hop history, which also distinctly sets the Museum apart from other cultural institutions.

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Editor-In-Chief Al McFarlane

photo/file

State Rep. Tim Mahoney, DFL-Saint Paul

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Will it get done?

“I’m confident we’ll be able to come together by Monday to pass a package to help Minnesotans,” House Speaker Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) said at the forum.

Gov. Tim Walz said last week he would like to see lawmakers pass $300 million to $600 million in state assistance.

“Minnesota’s small businesses and workers are bearing a large burden of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to protect their entire community amid restrictions that are saving lives,” Walz said in a statement calling Monday’s special session. “I call upon our state legislature to come together and ensure our businesses stay afloat, our workers are supported, and our families can put food on the table.”

Also heard were plans to: • appropriate $53.1 million for additional support funds for eligible child care providers in December, January and February. Since July, the Department of Human Services has used federal CARES Act money to provide funds to help child care providers implement state and federal public health guidance related to COVID-19; • spend $50 million for emergency housing assistance aimed at preventing homelessness and helping maintain home ownership; • fund a COVID-19 food relief grant program with a $10 million appropriation “to provide economic support to Minnesota owned and operated restaurants, catering companies, and food establishments that employ the equivalent of 50 or

fewer full-time employees and operate five or fewer locations while also providing hunger relief to Minnesotans impacted

by COVID-19, including people experiencing food insecurity”; • modify the state’s basic sliding fee program — that helps families pay for child care while they work, look for work, or attend training or school to prepare for work — with a $9.98 million appropriation; • extend from Dec. 31, 2020 to June 30, 2021 the end date of the COVID-19 Minnesota fund used “to pay expenditures related to a peacetime emergency … that relates to the infectious disease known as COVID-19”; • temporarily waive certain fees, including a permit for alcohol sales after 1 a.m.; late license fees for food retailers, food manufacturers, food wholesalers and food brokers; and the Metropolitan Council would refund the wastewater permit fee to any brewer that produces fewer than 20,000 barrels per year; • correct a date to a previously passed Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund law; and • update a law passed in October that provided an 8.4 percent pay increase for state troopers to include the same increase to some employees whose exclusive representative is the Minnesota Law Enforcement Association.

This would be Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents, special agents in the gambling enforcement division, fugitive specialists in the Corrections Department, conservation officers with the Department of Natural Resources and commerce insurance fraud specialists at the Department of Commerce.

Republicans have agreed not to move forward with that.”

Contributing Writers Maya Beecham Nadvia Davis Fred Easter Abeni Hill Inell Rosario Latisha Townsend Artika Tyner Toki Wright Photography V. Rivera Garcia Uchechukwu Iroegbu Rebecca Rabb Artist Donald Walker 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,

A Home for Hip-Hop Although most concentrated in Manhattan, New York City has many great cultural institutions, with very few located in the outer boroughs. The Universal Hip Hop Museum will be the first smart Museum constructed amidst a worldwide pandemic and the first cultural institution of its kind on the globe honoring the totality of Hip Hop. However, even though the doors are not officially open – we hold true to the saying –“Hip

Walking the Walk and Talking the Talk-True Community Investment The construction of the Universal Hip Hop Museum is one of the beacons of the borough’s revitalization. It represents a homecoming celebration of an area that has been historically home to marginalized BIPOC communities that are severely rent-burdened, low income, and, during the pandemic, most severely impacted with higher

The Power, Purpose, and Platform The power and influence of Hip Hop are most formidable.

It’s an educational instrument used in classrooms, it’s the backdrop for movie scores, we hear the beats on tv commercials, and Hip-Hop is used as a tool to preserve ancient languages in Peru and Uganda.

The rhythmic beats and culture of Hip Hop not only entertains but also serve as a global connector and a loudspeaker to amplify social change. The Museum is bass bottom that adds soul to the past and present cultural and social justice issues.

As an amplifier of social messaging, the Universal Hip Hop Museum seeks to become the Gold-Standard of how cultural institutions perform and inform the educational, artistic, cultural, aspirational,

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Minneapolis high school senior receives prestigious literary award for courage The literary and free expression organization PEN America presented Minneapolis high school senior Darnella Frazier, “the quick-thinking and dauntless young woman” who videotaped the murder of George Floyd, with the 2020 PEN/Benenson Courage Award.

PEN America bestowed the award on the 17-year-old Frazier at its virtual gala celebration on December 8. Filmmaker Spike Lee presented the award to Frazier.

Frazier said in

accepting her award, “I never would have imagined that in my whole 17 years of living that this would be me.”

Frazier documented the death of the 46-yearold Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, one of whom—Derek Chauvin— pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck, well after Floyd lost consciousness. Frazier’s video quickly spread across social media and led to a wave of community outrage, a major investigation, and Chauvin’s

arrest, as well as the dismissal of the three other officers. Floyd’s killing, along with the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Dion Johnson, and others, drove a wave of activism across the country crying out for racial and economic justice.

Actress Gabriel Union remarked that not everyone could demonstrate Frazier’s courage to step up and document injustice.

Prior Courage Award honorees include Anita

Hill; student activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Cameron Kasky, Samantha Fuentes, and Zion Kelly; the Women’s March; Flint, Michigan contaminated water whistleblowers Lee-Anne Walters and Dr. Mona HannaAttisha; and the surviving staff of the French publication Charlie Hebdo, honored in the wake of the murders of 12 of their colleagues.

Darnella Frazier videotaped the murder of George Floyd.

U.S. Senator Tina Smith continues to push for marijuana legalization In August, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced legislation to address health and safety considerations for implementing the legalization of marijuana at the federal level.

Last week, the House passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which Smith considers to be a major victory for racial justice.

Black Americans use marijuana at roughly the same rate as white Americans but are approximately four times more likely to be arrested for possession. Smith’s Substance Regulation and Safety Act of 2020 (SRSA) will ensure that the federal legalization process protects the health and safety of consumers, patients, drivers, and

youth.

The SRSA Act would do the following: • Remove the federal prohibition on marijuana, by taking it off the list of illegal controlled substances from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, especially since 42 states and the District of Columbia already allow marijuana use.

• Grant the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate cannabis and cannabis products, including regarding labeling and advertising standards – just as it does for tobacco products.

• Establish 21 years of age as the minimum age for purchasing cannabis products, in line with tobacco and alcohol.

photo/Kimberly Delaney

Black Americans use marijuana at roughly the same rate as white Americans but are approximately four times more likely to be arrested for possession.

•

Establish a national

strategy to combat the use and

abuse of cannabis by youth, with special considerations to prevent racially disparate impacts of the strategy.

• Promote the safety and quality control of cannabis crops.

• Require regulations to govern the safe import and export of cannabis materials.

• Require transportation safety research to establish an evidence-based standard for detecting cannabis-impaired driving, and to ensure that recommended best practices do not contribute to racist enforcement patterns.

• With the House’s passage of the MORE Act, Smith believes Americans are one step closer to ending discriminatory marijuana laws,

working towards justice for communities of color devastated by the racist War on Drugs, and bringing about true criminal justice reform.

Smith’s goal is to keepfighting to end the failed and racist policy of marijuana prohibition — which contributes to mass incarceration and the racist over-policing of communities of color.

The Senator is requesting that supporters of her bill and the legalization of marijuana sign her petition urging the U.S. Senate to pass this progressive legislation to legalize marijuana in a smart and safe way. Visit LEGALIZE IT to sign the petition and support the legislation to decriminalize marijuana.

Minnesota receives first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine The first COVID-19 vaccine shipments arrived in Minnesota today Gov. Tim Walz visited the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center this morning to greet the very first shipment’s arrival in Minnesota.

“This is an exciting day for Minnesota,” said Governor Tim Walz. “The first vaccines are here. They are safe, and they will be ready to go soon.

The sun is coming up, Minnesota “With these first shipments, we will soon begin vaccinating thousands of health care workers and the most critically at-risk Minnesotans,” Walz continued.

“All Minnesotans will have the opportunity to receive the vaccine in time, but until then, we need to stay safe and keep up the fight.”

Throughout the week, Minnesota is expected to receive a total of 46,800 units of vaccine across the statewide regional vaccine distribution hubs. From there, the vaccine will be distributed to smaller hospitals or clinics, and providers will then administer the vaccine to Minnesotans, starting by protecting life and health of those most susceptible to serious complications and those who care for them.

photo/Aaron Lavinsky_startribune

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz watched as Seth Warnecke, a FedEx delivery driver, unloaded a box containing 2925 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to the Minneapolis VA hospital Monday morning.

“Because of thoughtful planning by experts who have been doing this work for years, Minnesota is ready to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine. We are focusing on maximizing impact, equity, and transparency, so that Minnesotans can be confident in the safe distribution of the vaccine,” said Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan.

This morning, Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York, became the first US Citizen to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

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com article, Lindsay say she wanted to recive the vaccine publicaly so she could “instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe.”

“It will be several months before the average Minnesotan will be able to be vaccinated, but we will get there,” said Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm.

“These first vaccine deliveries are one small but very important step in the right direction. In the meantime, we must be patient

and absolutely must continue to take those measures that keep all Minnesotans safe: wear a mask when in public, maintain social distancing, get tested, and properly isolate and quarantine when needed.”

Department of Health staff will train providers on protocols and procedures for administering the vaccine this week, with most vaccinations expected to begin next week, December 21.

“While we have

photo/WBNG.com

Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York, became the first US Citizen to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. hundreds of experienced nurses and vaccine providers in the state, this vaccine is new and complex and vaccinating thousands of people in a short time is a massive undertaking, so the training is critical to ensure vaccines are administered according to protocols,” said Kristen Ehresmann, director of infectious disease for the Minnesota Department of Health.

The first group to

be vaccinated in phase 1 will include health care workers and long-term care residents. The priority groups for phase 1b and 1c have yet to be determined but may include essential workers and older adults.

For more on Minnesota plan to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine, visit: https://www.health.state.mn.us/ diseases/coronavirus/vaccine. html.

Page 6 • December 21, 2020 - December 27, 2020 • Insight News

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Four ways to close the COVID-19 racial health gap

By Tamra Burns Loeb, Adjunct Associate Professor - Interim, UCLA School of Medicine and Dorothy Chin, Associate Research Psychologist, UCLA School of Medicine The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the reality that health in the U.S. has glaring racial inequities. Since March, people of color have been more likely to get sick and more likely to die from COVID-19 infection because they have been living and working in social conditions that worsen their physical health and mental health.

These conditions are rooted in structural inequalities that are also responsible for the severity and progression of COVID-19. While the issues are complex, research has suggested some ways to repair the broken system. Now, at the dawn of a new administration, more effective strategies that

look at the realities of these affected communities can be implemented.

As research psychologists who study the social influences of health and mental health among marginalized groups and help design interventions for COVIDaffected communities, we offer a four-pronged approach in mounting an effective response.

Focus on community, rather than individual, risk Risk for COVID-19 has primarily been framed as individual risk, such as being over 60, having a preexisting illness or performing front-line work. Research suggests that to close the racial gaps in health, we need to shift our thinking away from personal risk to a community orientation.

Community risk is the set of factors that collectively put a group of people at risk.

One such factor is deep poverty.

Deep poverty, describing those with household incomes at less

photo/dmbaker via Getty Images

New strategies are needed to help people of color battle the COVID-19 virus. than 50% of the poverty level, is linked with poor physical health and mental health and lack of resources.

COVID-19 has laid bare the effects of deep poverty in communities of color, with government mandates that do not square with the realities of underresourced communities.

How does one socially distance in an overcrowded living

situation? How can children learn remotely from home when parents have to go to work?

Policymakers need to understand and better address risk profiles that reflect communities’ environmental conditions and specific vulnerabilities.

Use culturally relevant messages One reason that Asian countries have succeeded in curbing the spread of COVID-19 is the widespread acceptance of mask-wearing, consistent with collectivistic cultures. Maskwearing is seen as polite social behavior that protects others, so recommendations to wear masks graft onto an existing social value.

Among those in the white mainstream culture in the United States, the message of mask-wearing may conflict with the individualistic ethos.

Black men, however, may limit mask-wearing out of fears that it will incur police attention.

In Latino communities where family is a top priority, “protect your family” may be an effective message. Identifying culturally consistent messaging is important for COVID-19 prevention, testing and treatment efforts.

Also exemplary of cultural differences are the varying responses to a COVID-19 vaccine. An overwhelming 93% of Black Americans in Los Angeles County said they would not take the vaccine when it becomes available. Black and Indigenous Americans have long been subjected to unethical medical experimentation and outright deception and fraud. Coupled with racism in the health care system and a lack of physicians

of color, many may question whether the vaccine is a safe option.

For Black and Indigenous Americans to accept the safety and value of a newly developed vaccine, trusted community partners such as familiar neighborhood clinics and local social activists need to present reliable data coming from community-validated sources.

Prevention, testing and treatment messages must be tailored to populations most affected by COVID-19 to determine the best way to allocate limited resouces.

Public health messaging should consider communities’ sociodemographic factors, such as poverty, housing, discrimination, language barriers, loss or lack of health insurance, jobs without paid sick leave and lack of access to healthy foods.

Researchers have called for culturally sensitive health care and interventions designed to meet the needs of vulnerable populations. Without this approach, messages encouraging COVID-19 prevention, testing, treatment and ultimately acceptance of the vaccine will have limited success.

Identify barriers to health care There are many interrelated barriers to health care access. Many Latino and Latina people face language barriers in communicating with providers, which can result in being undertreated. Health care systems need to incorporate integrated care for cumulative histories of trauma, which are high in communities of color.

Trauma, including experiences of racism and discrimination, increase mental health risks, pose barriers to health care access and treatment adherence and increase risks for physical symptoms and chronic disease.

Brief screening questionnaires that can be quickly administered in primary care settings have been developed for use with diverse populations and can identify those at risk for mental and physical health problems.

However, providers must be trained to ask about histories of trauma and its bodily manifestations to minimize

barriers to COVID-19 testing and treatment. Researchers and mental health professionals must not only be trained to address COVID-19-related trauma but understand its effects on underresourced communities that have long been affected by adversity, poor mental health and chronic disease.

Recognize and remedy traumatic effects of racial discrimination Research shows that social rejection based on race is related to post-traumatic stress and depression symptoms.

Mental health problems caused by COVID-19 can be exacerbated by experiences of discrimination, linking racism and COVID-19. Police shootings of unarmed Black citizens can have a devastating effect on entire communities, increasing anxiety, depression, number of sick days taken and school absences.

The experience of racial discrimination over a person’s lifetime is an aspect of cumulative trauma that has reverberating repercussions for health and mental health.

Intervention programs that contextualize discrimination in historical terms can mitigate the negative effects.

Unconscious biases of Black inferiority perpetuate racism and discrimination; interventions designed to address these biases are critical to promote social justice and health equity.

With the establishment of a new coronavirus task force, the incoming Biden administration has taken a critical first step in turning back COVID-19 in the U.S. We believe what needs to follow is a program that aims to close the racial gap brought to light by the pandemic.

Based on our experience and studies, we think the evidence suggests that this program must look at communities as a whole and their cultural values and experiences and remove barriers to health care. It should affirm the existence of and remedy the effects of widespread racism and discrimination. While this approach is ambitious, it is necessary. By adopting it, the Biden presidency can halt, and begin to close, the widening racial gap in health due to COVID-19.

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Insight News • December 21, 2020 - December 27, 2020 • Page 7

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Page 8 • December 21, 2020 - December 27, 2020 • Insight News

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Insight News • December 21, 2020 - December 27, 2020 • Page 9

Page 10 • December 21, 2020 - December 27, 2020 • Insight News

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