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December 23, 2019 - December 29, 2019

Vol. 46 No. 51• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

CELEBRATE KWANZAA and …

WE WIN Institute students offer up the essence of Kwanzaa in their own words. DnM Creations, LLC

STORY ON PAGE 8

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Twin Cities director Marion McClinton passes away after battle with kidney disease

The greatness in our ability to survive

By Brittany Wright Hometown giant, actor, director and playwright Marion McClinton died Nov. 28 following a long battle with kidney disease.

After news spread of the beloved artist passing away, the internet flooded with memories, thank yous and career highlights of the theater giant.

Writer, director, and mentee of McClinton, E.G. Bailey shared online, “There is a shadow on the theatre world today, a shadow on Minnesota, that will not be filled anytime soon. But he will live on through all of us, and all that have been touched by his work.”

McClinton, who at one time was one of the highestpaid directors on Broadway,

leaves behind a legacy of working with some of the most talented professionals in the theater world; Phylicia Rashad, Whoopi Golberg, Lou Bellamy, Thomasina Petrus, Pavielle French and Viola Davis. He is most known for his collaborations with famed playwright August Wilson.

McClinton and Wilson worked together for 15 years, on plays such as “The Piano Lesson,” “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” “Fences” and “King Hedley II,” which earned McClinton a Tony Award nomination.

As a friend and collaborator of Wilson, McClinton was inspired to reflect the beauty he saw in his mother and aunt whom he felt were “worthy of art.” This celebration and depiction of Black life was a reoccurring

MPR/Dan Norman

Director Marion McClinton theme in his work and directorial aesthetic. He spent the earlier part of his career honing his craft at Penumbra Theater in St. Paul and credits Penumbra for teaching him. McClinton was unhappy with the portrayal of Black life in media and theater and committed his career to showing the brilliance that

he knew to be the essence of African-American life. He wanted to show the world the “greatness in our ability to survive.”

From Penumbra to Broadway and countless theaters across the country, McClinton became one of the defining figures in African-American

theater. With a resume that most only dream of attaining, his success didn’t get in the way of his ability to continue sowing into the Twin Cities artist community.

“Most people will never know that he got equal enjoyment spending hours with fledgling actors at St. Paul Central High School discovering their voices as he did working with Broadway stars,” said James Williams, best friend of McClinton and veteran actor and director.

McClinton returned to the Twin Cities permanently after realizing his fight with ikdney disease couldn’t be battled on the road. Despite his illness he continued working in local theater and called his works during that time “some of the best of his life.” His

son, Jesse Mandell-McClinton, shared that his commitment to the theater was unwavering even in the decline of his health.

“He always found a way to find energy despite how he was feeling at the time,” said Mandell-McClinton Both in his prolific career and in the declining of health, Marion McClinton dedicated everything he had to directing great theater works.

He in many ways embodied the very thing that the hoped his cast would portray on stage, the beauty in African-American life despite unfortunate circumstances and what he described as, “the greatness in our ability to survive.”

A community-driven celebration of life for McClinton will take place in 2020. Details have yet to be announced.

Attorney Ben Crump talks new book, ‘Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People’

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Famed Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump has written a new book that examines the troubling history of environmental racism in America.

“Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People,” the 272-page book that’s already the top seller on Amazon.com in the category of Civil Rights Law, tackles how environmental racism pertains to the water crisis in Flint, Mich., and Newark, N.J. In the book, Crump explores how marginalized communities largely are overlooked by the institutions charged with protecting them. He also summarizes the state of civil and environmental rights in the U.S. As he prepared a return to Flint, Crump vowed to avoid distractions, including

a recent $100 million lawsuit filed by George Zimmerman against the attorney and the parents of Trayvon Martin.

“The parents of Trayvon Martin and I don’t want to give any attention to this frivolous and unfounded lawsuit at all. We believe attention is what he’s seeking,” said Crump. “It’s so asinine that the actions of the killer of their teenage son will continue to devastate them over and over again. Every year he comes up with something like the selling of the gun. It’s just horrific what this individual does. We rather focus on something more important, like in Flint, and this guy is only a distraction.”

Crump’s return to Flint, where he planned to hold rallies over two days to keep attention on the continued water crisis, comes nearly four years after he went houseto-house delivering water to families throughout the city.

“We found out that not only was there a water crisis, but

Flint was a food desert,” said Crump. “So, we have to focus on this because it’s important. We have children who have problems with brain development because they were poisoned by the government wantonly.”

While Crump’s new book digs deeper into the Flint crisis, it also explores racism across the country. In one section of “Open Season,” Crump talks about one of the incidents that inspired him to continue his work as a civil rights attorney.

“When we were in Ferguson, Missouri, in the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown, who was shot and killed in broad daylight, there were these young Black Lives Matter activists who refused to let them sweep Michael Brown’s life under the rug,” said Crump. “The government called in the National Guard.

And I remember being there with the media and the crowds of people and the National Guard with militarized and an assault rifles. And you have

these young people without fear.

And this one brother specifically walked right up to the National Guard, who has their rifle trained on him. The man’s face was practically touching the tip of the rifle, but he just had enough at that moment. He said, with the rifle in his face, ‘go ahead and shoot me with all these cameras here, because you’re going to shoot us anyway when they go away, so shoot and kill me now so the people can see how you kill us.’ I thought that was riveting because I said he’s right. It is important that people see how they’re killing us. But not just with bullets in the police shooting cases, but more poignant, how they kill us every day in every city, in every state, in every courtroom in America legally with these trumped-up felony convictions.”

With the book, Crump said he seeks to hold a mirror to the face of all Americans and force them to acknowledge the hypocrisy.

“You have to at least

acknowledge the racism and discrimination in the institutions of governance. If you don’t ever admit it, we can never solve the problem,” he said.

It took about three years for Crump to write “Open Season,” and he called it one of the most challenging tasks he’s undertaken.

“You sit there and remember all those things that have happened to Black and Brown people in this country, and it just breaks your heart,” said Crump. “Over and over again, no matter what the situation is, for people of color, we get the most injustice. You can give me any situation, and they will find a way to make sure that marginalized people of color don’t get equal justice.

“That’s what we have to fight against. That’s what we’re fighting against in Flint, Newark, Baltimore, Washington, and other communities. If this water crisis in Flint would have happened in a white community, it would be a national

Attorney Ben Crump explores how marginalized communities largely are overlooked by the institutions charged with protecting them. catastrophe. Lightning would strike and thunder would boom.

I mean people would go to jail.

But, because it›s a majorityminority community, it›s almost as if Americans don›t know it happened. They say, ‘it doesn›t affect me, just those black and brown people, so it doesn›t matter.’”

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Vol. 46 No. 51• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Upper Harbor Project: Seat at the table or on the menu

By Harry Colbert, Jr. Managing Editor harry@insightnews.com It is not a question of if, but when … and with whom.

That is the reality facing the residents … many longtime and often discounted … of North Minneapolis, with the pending development of 48 acres of riverfront land known as Upper Harbor Terminal.

The long-abandoned shipping yard accessed from Dowling Avenue just east of Interstate 94 will soon be the site of a major housing development with street-level retail shops and its crowning jewel, a 10,000-person capacity outdoor entertainment complex. With the “if” certain, several community stakeholders are saying the “when” is now to make sure Black people are not just at the table; but helping to build the table.

DeVon Nolen is at the table with her work boots on putting hammer to nail. So too is Bill English. They are just two of many who ascribe to the theory of “if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”

More importantly, they say there are plenty of seats left available … but not for long.

“Typically, the

average community member on the Northside doesn’t know about what’s going on with projects until brick and mortar have gone up, and by that time it’s too late,” said Nolen, a North Minneapolis resident and Pillsbury United Communities engagement coordinator. “We don’t know the planning that went into things five, six, 10 years before. So at that point (of brick and mortar) it’s too late to get our demands met. With (Upper Harbor) we’ve been thinking strategically. This is not just about Upper Harbor; this is about changing the way we go about development from now on.”

To Nolen’s point, Erik Hansen, director of Economic Policy and Engagement for Minneapolis said the city has been looking at how to develop the 48-acres of riverfront property since the late 1970s or early 1980s. And United Properties and First Avenue have been working with the city and Minneapolis Parks and Recreation board since 2015 on the proposed development.

But Hansen said equity is at the forefront of the project.

“It’s very important to explore who ultimately ‘owns’ this property,” said

Rep. Terri Sewell This vision of the Upper Harbor Terminal site along the Mississippi River in North Minneapolis could mean a serious economic boost for North Minneapolis, but the time is now, not later, to take advantage of the opportunities it may bring.

Hansen. “How is this going to be a natural extension of the McKinley neighborhood?

How will it support the greater Northside? We designed this to work for people who have (traditionally) been left out of the conversation. And I know people are skeptical. We (city of Minneapolis) do not have a great track record of delivering on promises.”

Hansen said already there have been changes to the plan based on community feedback.

English, a longtime community stakeholder who joined the city’s Upper Harbor Advisory Council planning team, said he is confident the interests of the Black community will be served.

“I’m convinced this development will offer unique opportunities and benefits for

African-Americans. I trust the process and I’m known to be critical of government, but this process started with community engagement,” said English. “It will change the paradigm.”

“I don’t want to just fight, I want to win,” said Nolen.

“And winning is the difference between working at Upper Harbor or having your own business there.”

The comments within this article were taken from two separate interviews with Al McFarlane – one at the Insight News office in North Minneapolis and the other at the studios of KFAI Radio (90.3 FM) – and are available online on the Insight News Facebook page. Audio from the KFAI interview is available online at www.kfai.org/program/ conversationswithalmcfarlane.

Congressional Black Caucus members talk impeachment, HBCU funding

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Shortly after the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Donald Trump on Dec. 13, members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) held a conference call with publishers of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the trade association of Black Press publications from around the country.

While CBC members addressed the impeachment proceedings, the call was a reminder that Congress continues to work on other pressing issues. The call included CBC Chair Karen Bass (D-Calif.), and Reps.

Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Val Demings (D-Fla.), Alma Adams (D-North Carolina) and Bobby Scott (D-Virginia).

They discussed the passage of the FUTURE Act, legislation that provides needed funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other educational institutions.

“Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges or Universities, and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) play a significant role in expanding access to higher education for low-income students and students of color,” said Scott, chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor. “Unfortunately, despite their outsized role in serving our nation’s most underserved students, these schools have historically been underresourced compared to other institutions of higher education.

The FUTURE Act won’t only

iStockphoto/NNPA

The FUTURE Act, which stands for Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education, unanimously passed the Senate. guarantee at least $250 million per year for HBCUs and MSIs; it will simplify the Free Application for Student Aid (FASFA) and makes it easier for students to access student aid and repay their loans.”

The FUTURE Act, which stands for Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education, unanimously passed the Senate. The bill has been sent to the president for his signature.

Through the FUTURE Act, HBCUs will receive $85 million per year – about $1 million per school. American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities will receive $30 million annually, while Hispanic-serving institutions will get $100 million per year.

Also, predominately Black institutions will continue to reap an annual payment of $15 million, and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiianserving institutions will receive $15 million each year.

Asian-American and NativeAmerican Pacific Islanderserving institutions and NativeAmerican-serving nontribal institutions each will continue to receive $5 million annually.

“HBCUs and MSIs (minority serving

institutions) provide pathways of opportunities for millions of Americans who come from low-income families. As a two-time graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, and a retired professor of 40 years at Bennett College for Women, I as well as all the pupils that I had the pleasure of teaching, are a testament to the power of these schools, which mold their students into the leaders of tomorrow,” said Adams, the chair of the House Higher Education and Labor subcommittee on Workforce Protections “This agreement will secure $255 million a year for these institutions to serve over eight million students of color, preparing them for careers in our STEM professions.”

The legislation also reduces the Free Application for Federal Student Aid by 22 questions and allows the Internal Revenue Service to directly share applicants’ tax information with the U.S. Department of Education.

“The simplification in the provision was to get information from the IRS to make the applications more accurate,” said Scott. “If you can get the necessary information from the IRS,

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DPS to work with public, staff to create care packages for homeless

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there would be more accuracy.”

Meanwhile, JacksonLee addressed the impeachment vote against Trump.

“Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress,” she said of the two articles of impeachment that the House Judiciary Committee voted.

“What the president was essentially caught doing was attempting to interfere in the 2020 election. So, in terms of the significance of this for our community, the idea that the president would cheat on the election and attempt to get himself re-elected, I think, would change our lives for generations.

If you think about the fact that (re-election) would mean there will be one if not more appointments to the Supreme Court. He has already appointed over 100 judges, and I am sure 99 percent of them would be horrible when it comes to our issues. When you think of the dismantling of so much as what we have fought for over these years, the idea that our people would have to endure another term of this president is almost beyond our comprehension.”

Jackson-Lee conceded that the Senate in all probability would not remove Trump, but impeachment in the House was still necessary.

Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton are the only presidents in American history to have faced impeachment. Nixon resigned before the House could vote.

Johnson and Clinton were impeached in the House, but both were acquitted in the Senate.

“We felt that it was so important that we had to put the brakes on him interfering in the election, that even if impeachment was not going to remove him successfully, it was still critical that we did this,” said Jackson-Lee.

House passes voting rights measure to restore portions of law gutted in 2015

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia More than four years after sections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were taken out by the Supreme Court and following four attempts under a House led by Republicans, Rep. Terri Sewell’s (D-Ala.) bill to reinstate voting protections has finally passed.

“Voting is personal to me because it was on the streets of my hometown, Selma, that foot soldiers shed their blood on the Edmund Pettus Bride so that all Americans – regardless of race – could vote,” Sewell, who is African American, wrote on Twitter.

“I am so proud the House voted to #RestoreTheVote.”

The measure, H.R. 4, passed by a 228-187 margin,

with all Democrats voting in favor while Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick counted as the only Republican to support the legislation. Many are now calling on the Senate to take up the measure.

The Rev. Dr. William Barber, the president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach and the architect of the Moral Mondays Movement in North Carolina, counts among those calling out Senate leaders.

“The U.S. House passed legislation to restore the Voting Rights Act,” Barber stated. “If (GOP Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell refuses to take it up in the Senate, he’s confessing that he believes the GOP can’t win without voter suppression.”

Gerrymandering, unfair voter I.D. laws, and intimidation at the polls are among the tactics being used

VOTING RIGHTS 8

Apple, Alphabet (Google), Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla are all accused of using child labor in the mines of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Global Information Network

Five tech giants linked to ‘cruel and brutal use of children’ in Congo mines

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia (Global Information Network) – Do kids work in coal mines?

In 1910, an estimated 2 million American children under the age of 15 were working in factories and mines for low wages and long shifts.

Photographs by Lewis Hine of New York revealed the depraved exploitation of children, some as young as 8 years of age, in fields and in mines. Child labor was finally outlawed in 1938.

A century later, 15-year-olds are digging tunnels in unsafe cobalt mines. Not in the U.S. but out of sight, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where protective gear is not provided and shifts may run 24 hours or more.

This month, five major companies were named in a federal class action suit filed by the Washington-based

International Rights Advocates (IRA) for “knowingly benefiting from and aiding and abetting the cruel and brutal use of young children.”

The companies named are Apple, Alphabet (Google), Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla – allegedly part of a chain starting with a UK mining company selling cobalt extracted by African youths to a Brussels-based trader who then sold battery-grade cobalt to the five major tech companies.

Amajor Chinese cobalt firm was also named in the suit.

The claim was filed on behalf of 14 anonymous plaintiffs who are either guardians of children killed in tunnel or wall collapses or children maimed in such accidents.

In court documents seen by The Guardian newspaper, the Congolese families describe how their children were driven by extreme poverty to seek work at large

FIVE TECH 8

I2H

Feeling sick is an emotion meant to help you get better faster

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Anisha Murphy named director of Community Advancement at Community Reinvestment Fund, USA Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF) has named Twin Cities attorney and professor Anisha Murphy as its director of Community Advancement.

Murphy will work with community stakeholders to create a more fair, responsive, and accessible community finance system in the Twin Cities “I am excited to join such a renowned organization,” said Murphy.

“CRF’s commitment to addressing economic inequity through innovative financial solutions to empower people, building sustainable communities and inspiring systemic change is

particularly appealing to me.

I know that together we can enhance strategic partnerships with the community and its stakeholders to address financial barriers while creating clear pathways for small business development and community impact.”

A native of Minneapolis, Murphy has dedicated her career to the pursuit of equity, justice and community improvement. She began her career at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, followed by work for the Children’s Defense Fund, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the

U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Most recently, she worked as director of Community Engagement at Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) and as an adjunct professor at Hamline University, where she earned her Master of Public Administration and Juris Doctor degrees.

CRF has a 30-year history of providing capital for communities and supporting opportunities for people. CRF works to address social and economic inequity through new financial solutions that help empower people, build

sustainable communities and inspire systemic change.

“Anisha’s expertise and leadership experience is a valuable asset to CRF as we further our commitment to community engagement and impact,” said Keith Rachey, senior vice president and chief impact officer of CRF. “We can improve our communities for the better through access to capital and a truly grassroots approach to addressing income inequality and entrepreneurship for women, veterans and people of color. Anisha will be a big part of this push for greater impact at the community level.”

Anisha Murphy

BlackWoman Start-Up working to close significant revenue gap of Black woman-owned businesses Although Black women are being lauded as the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the U.S., their earnings are not on par with their white counterparts.

In fact, according to American Express, womenowned businesses generate an average of $143,000 a year. However, for women of color, revenue averages have dropped from $84,000 in 2007 to $64,000 in 2018.

Conversely, white women business owners’ revenues rose from $181,000 to $212,000.

E.R. Spaulding, CEO of BlackWoman Startup, a Chicago based company created as a support system for Black women business owners who wanted to achieve above average business ownership success. They are doing this through coaching, training, customized programming, systems development, innovation, integration and automation, recognized

these disturbing facts, and determined to help address it.

“I’m a true believer that powerful people ask powerful questions and the information found in the ‘2018 State of Women Report by American Express’ helped me to ask different questions,” said Spaulding, the chief operations officer and a partner in the 200,000-member strong BlackCEO Business Network, along with founder, Trevor Otts.

“The answers to these questions revealed that Black women in business who were moving from employee to entrepreneur, were barely making it, because the average Black woman in business was earning only about $24,700 a year as of 2017.

This helped me to see that the narrative was incomplete and that Black women business owners needed a life raft.”

A successful business consultant, with a corporate background in project

E.R. Spaulding, CEO of BlackWoman Startup, a Chicago, IL-based company. management, operations, and cultural development, Spaulding at one point also found herself in a challenging financial situation, which negatively impacted her first company. However, with the help of business mentors, she was able to turn

her circumstances around. As a result, she says that she created BlackWoman Startup to not only offer affordable, practical and proven success strategies for Black women business owners, but also be a supportive and effective resource.

“Marketing Camp powered by BlackWoman Startup is an intensive training ground committed to helping high achieving women transitioning from careers, move into cash flow positive businesses and marketing effectively is a major part of that,” said Spaulding. “Our Marketing Camps, which typically only accepts 30 highlymotivated people per quarter, is designed to help Black women business owners build systems to help power their business success for the next 10 years, and we believe in the results and value of what we’re offering so much, for the first time, we’re allowing women to name their own price to attend.”

Among the marketing training mechanisms to be offered during the powerpacked BlackWoman Startup Marketing Camp, will be CRM Management and set up, social media marketing and marketing

automation, online billing platforms and systems, squeeze page and landing page design and set up, creating Facebook and YouTube ads, video marketing and more. Business owners skilled in developing and executing successful marketing campaigns, will be providing training including the Evergreen Revenue Model, the PPSA Decision Making Matrix, the Influencer Launch and Automation Mastery.

“I remember that feeling of only having $20 to my name and someone stood in the gap to help me and didn’t judge me, and I want to pay it forward,” said Spaulding. “Our programs are here to help black women business owners, while holding them accountable to the greatness within them,” she said.

For more information on BlackWoman Startup Marketing Camps or to register, go to www.blackwomanstartup. com/marketingcamp.

Drop off locations at DPS offices across Minnesota

DPS to work with public, staff to create care packages for homeless In an effort to help those who are experiencing homelessness with basic necessities, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) will provide “Care on the Go” packages that will include toiletries and clothing items.

These packages will be handed out by the State Patrol and staff from other DPS divisions when they encounter someone who is homeless throughout the year, but especially during the winter

season.

Along with DPS employees, the agency is asking the public to help by donating white t-shirts (size large, or extra-large), white or black tube socks, personal/travel size body wash, deodorant, and shampoo, personal/travel size toothbrush and toothpaste, personal/travel size wet wipes, packs of 8 oz. (small) bottled water, Granola or protein bars and plastic locking baggies (gallon size).

“People who are experiencing homelessness have very little in the way of basic items that we sometimes take for granted. Care on the Go packages will not solve the problem of homelessness, but they are something we can provide to a person during a difficult time in their life,” said DPS Assistant Commissioner Booker Hodges.

Community donations will be accepted at any of the

following DPS locations. DPS is asking that all donations be dropped off by Dec. 31.

BCA headquarters, 1430 Maryland Ave. St. Paul, Driver Exam Station locations of Arden Hills, 5400 Old Hwy. 8, New Brighton, 2070 Cliff Road, Eagan and 2455 Fernbrook Ln., Plymouth and the DPS Central at 445 Minnesota St. (skyway level reception area, or DVS location on the ground level), St. Paul.

Minnesota Department of Public Safety is asking for the public’s help in creating care packages of the region’s homeless population.

Voting rights

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to prevent voters of color from casting votes, said Marcela Howell, the founder, and president of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda.

“Passage of the Voting Rights Advancement Act by the House is a first step toward restoring our democracy.

We applaud the House of Representatives for passing the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019,” Howell said. “The wholesale disenfranchisement of voters threatens our democracy.

Conservative lawmakers across the country are pulling out all the stops to prevent people of color – especially Black people – from exercising our right to vote. We didn’t march and die fighting for our right to vote only to have that right denied us in this new Jim Crow era – fueled by the racist policies of conservative state legislators and the terrible decision in Shelby v. Holder by the Supreme Court that reinforced these oppressive laws.

“We call on Sen. Mitch McConnell to follow the leadership of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to stop the assault on voting rights by scheduling a Senate vote on the Voting Rights Advancement Act as soon as possible.

“We encourage voters across the country to unite in resistance by holding their elected representatives accountable and, most of all, by exercising their right to vote in local, state, and federal elections.”

Sewell’s bill initially would cover 11 states, including

nine in the South, and also California and New York.

The bill would require all states to get federal approval for election changes known to disproportionately affect voters of color, like strict voter I.D. laws, tighter voter registration requirements, and polling place closures in areas with large numbers of minority voters.

The Voting Rights Act is perhaps the most significant piece of civil rights legislation in U.S. history, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stated. He said for more than 50 years, the law stood as a powerful force to prevent the type of racial discrimination in voting that marred America’s history before the bill’s passage.

“The Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in Shelby County v. Holder gutted this critical legislation and unleashed a surge of pernicious Republican-led voter suppression laws,” he continued. “The House of Representatives passed H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act. This is a critical step towards restoring the protections of the Voting Rights Act and beating back the scourge of voter suppression. The right to vote is the very wellspring of our democracy. Generations have organized, protested, marched, and died to extend the franchise to all Americans. It is incumbent upon every member of Congress to continue to fight to increase, rather than impede, access to the ballot box and ensure that every eligible American can have their voice heard. I urge Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring this legislation to the floor of the Senate. Voting rights are simply too important to be banished to Leader McConnell’s legislative graveyard.”

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Insight News • December 23, 2019 - December 29, 2019 • Page 5

Pots and kettles – Republican hypocrisy and double-talk NNPA Newswire Contributor Commentary by Dr. Julianne Malveaux When you elect a clown, expect a circus, and this month’s impeachment hearings have been precisely that.

Yelling, shouting, and disrespectful accusing seem more the rule than the exception.

The increased volume of President Donald Trump’s tweets echoes his fear and discomfort because he has been called out. Republican histrionics and obsession with “process” suggest that Trump’s party is not especially interested in facts. Even the falsehood that Democrats have been “out to

get” this president since he was elected is outright wrong. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came to the impeachment conclusion only reluctantly. And Democrats have been very measured in their accusations. While Trump has only been charged with two “high crimes and misdemeanors,” if Democrats wanted to throw the book at the “criminal-in-chief,” they could have detailed multiple high crimes and misdemeanors.

Instead, they’ve kept it narrowly focused on Trump’s behavior regarding Ukraine. Democrats have shown admirable restraint, while Republican shouting and deflecting could be the basis of a comedy show if the matter weren’t so serious.

And every time some of these folks speak, they illustrate their hypocrisy.

Thus, Florida Republican Rep. Matt Goetz launched into a tirade about Hunter Biden’s

very candid disclosure of his substance abuse challenges, some of which are detailed in a New Yorker article this summer.

But Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) had no time for Goetz, saying that Goetz’s attack on Biden was like “the pot calling the kettle black.” Goetz was charged with a DUI some years ago.

The charges were mysteriously dropped, but there is evidence that Goetz was impaired.

Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has never been arrested or charged with any of his substance abuse challenges.

Goetz’s attack on Hunter Biden is not the only example of Republican hypocrisy and improper behavior.

These impeachment hearings show how far Republicans will go to obfuscate Trump’s behavior and to throw mud at Democrats.

While Republicans are throwing mud at Hunter Biden, no one has asked for

any investigation of the Trump family. Ivanka Trump has used her father’s influence to gain coveted trademarks in China. Her brothers have used government resources and their father’s influence to feather their nest in establishing new Trump properties all over the world.

While I’m not condoning Hunter Biden’s possible pecuniary use of his father’s status, none of us should be happy about the way our government has subsidized the Trump empire.

In another example, Melania Trump got outraged and agitated because one of the Democratic legal witnesses, Stanford Law Professor Pamela Karlan, made an inappropriate joke about her son, Barron Trump. The professor said that while Trump could name his son Barron, he could not make him a baron, an attack on the autocratic power that Trump attempts to wield. One might

have thought that the professor had attacked the child or ridiculed him. She didn’t. She made a clumsy joke and was so roundly criticized for it. And she apologized. Melania “Be Best” Trump played mama bear for her teenaged son. Yet, she seemed to have no words for another teen, Greta Thunberg, who was Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.

Thunberg, who describes herself as “on the autism spectrum” with Asperger’s syndrome, was lifted because of her advocacy for the planet. Time says the young lady won the award “for sounding the alarm about humanity’s predatory relationship with the only home we have, for bringing to a fragmented world a voice that transcends backgrounds and borders, for showing us all what it might look like when a new generation leads.” But Donald Trump doesn’t believe in global warming or climate change, so he ridiculed the young woman

in one of his many rude and bullying tweets. And Melania Trump thinks that only her son should be protected from bullying. The pot and the kettle.

If she wants to call bullies out, she might start with her husband.

There have been accusations, finger-pointing, anger, and deflection during these impeachment hearings.

Republicans have shown that they have taken an oath, not to protect the Constitution, but to protect Donald Trump. As Republicans march lockstep behind a corrupt president, Congressman Johnson has it right. The “pot really can’t call the kettle black.”

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author, media contributor and educator.

For more info visit www. juliannemalveaux.com.

South African leader sees end to racism and bigotry (Global Information Network) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa struck a note of optimism in his message on Dec. 16 – the Day of Reconciliation and the anniversary of two major historical events, now celebrated as a public holiday.

Since the nation attained democracy, he said, citizens have showed the capacity to look beyond their differences “in the quest to achieve true nationhood.”

“As we take stock of how far we have come in healing the divisions of the past and building a united nation, we have much to be proud of,” he said.

He cited the Springboks World Cup victory

in Japan and the Miss Universe competition early this month as evidence of things achieved.

Diversity in the country is evident in sports, parliament, in places of higher learning and schools, and on television screens where programming reflects the diversity, he continued.

“Racism and bigotry no longer define our nation,” he insisted. “Where they do occur, they are isolated. Where there have been manifestations of intolerance, we have been able to unite behind the values of tolerance and respect for diversity that define our Bill of Rights.”

December 16 became the Day of Reconciliation due to

sacks

Five tech From 3 mining sites where they worked 12-hour days, some for just $2 a day, digging and hauling

of cobalt-rich rocks.

The DRC has the world’s largest deposits of cobalt, an essential element of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used to power smartphones, laptops and electric cars.

“Put simply, the

its significance to both Afrikaner and African people. In 1838, white Voortrekkers proposed a meeting with the Zulu leader Dingane kaSenzangakhona Zulu, with an eye towards settling on Zulu lands. Dingane,

mistrustful, took a preemptive measure and ordered an attack.

Close to 400 Voortrekkers died at the hands of the Zulus.

Not long after, the Voortrekkers returned with superior weapons (Zulus, said to

hundreds of billions of dollars generated by the defendants each year would not be possible without cobalt mined in the DRC,” the legal complaint says.

Lauren Lee, a spokeswoman for Dell, told Fortune the company was investigating the

allegations in the lawsuit.

“We have never knowingly sourced operations using any form of involuntary labor, fraudulent recruiting practices, or child labor,” Lee said in an email. “We work with suppliers to manage their sourcing programs responsibly.”

be strong fighters, were unable to resist the cannons and other firearms not yet in Zulu hands).

Some 3,000 Zulu soldiers were killed in this final battle, which lasted less than seven hours. Not one Voortrekker is believed to have died during the fight although some were wounded. The bodies of fallen Zulu warriors scattered the scorched earth surrounding the Ncome river – the water itself ran red with blood.

The Battle of Blood River became a turning point in South Africa’s history.

The monstrous defeat which befell the Zulu kingdom on that day destroyed Dingane’s political power base. The Zulu

kingdom became embroiled in a civil war, as rival leaders vied for control. Dingane fled Natal in 1840, after being overthrown by Prince Mpande at the Battle of Maqongqe.

For the Voortrekkers, the Battle of Blood River entrenched their struggle for self-determination. This militaristic victory is seen as one of the most defining moments for the Afrikaner nation.

The second historical event was the birth of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). This was the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC), launched to wage an armed struggle against the apartheid government.

But IRA took issue tech company claims.

“Rather than step up to help these children with a negligible portion of their vast wealth and power, these companies do nothing but continue to benefit from cheap cobalt mined by kids robbed of

their childhoods, their health, and for far too many, their lives,” said Terry Collingsworth, lead counsel for the child victims.

“We will do everything possible to get justice quickly for the children we represent.”

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Insight 2 Health

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Feeling sick is an emotion meant to help you get better faster

By Joshua Schrock Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, University of Oregon TheConversation.com You know what it’s like to be sick. You feel fatigued, maybe a little depressed, less hungry than usual, more easily nauseated and perhaps more sensitive to pain and cold.

The fact that illness comes with a distinct set of psychological and behavioral features is not a new discovery. In medical terminology, the symptom of malaise encompasses some of the feelings that come with being ill. Animal behaviorists and neuroimmunologists use the term sickness behavior to describe the observable behavior changes that occur during illness.

Health care providers often treat these symptoms as little more than annoying side effects of having an infectious disease. But as it turns out, these changes may actually be part of how you fight off infection.

I’m an anthropologist interested in how illness and infection have shaped human evolution. My colleagues and I propose that all these aspects of being sick are features of an emotion that we call “lassitude.”

And it’s an important part of how human beings work to recover from illness.

Your body sets priorities when fighting germs The human immune system is a complex set of mechanisms that help you suppress and eliminate organisms – such as bacteria, viruses and parasitic worms – that cause infection.

Activating the immune system, however, costs your body a lot of energy. This presents a series of problems that your brain and body must solve to fight against infection most effectively. Where will this extra energy come from? What should you do to avoid additional infections or injuries that would increase the immune system’s

Kalinka Georgieva/Shutterstock.com

The emotion of lassitude might help your body fight off infection by making certain adjustments. energy requirements even more?

Fever is a critical part of the immune response to some infections, but the energy cost of raising your temperature is particularly high. Is there anything you can do to reduce this cost?

To eat or not to eat is a choice that affects your body’s fight against infection. On one hand, food ultimately provides energy to your body, and some foods even contain compounds that may help eliminate pathogens. But it also takes energy to digest food, which diverts resources from your allout immune effort. Consuming food also increases your risk of acquiring additional pathogens.

So what should you eat when you’re sick, and how much?

We humans are highly dependent on others to care for and support us when we’re sick.

What should you do to make sure your friends and family care for you when you’re ill?

My colleagues and I propose that the distinctive

changes that occur when you get sick help you solve these problems automatically.

Fatigue reduces your level of physical activity, which leaves more energy available for the immune system. Increased susceptibility to nausea and pain makes you less likely to acquire an infection or injury that would further increase the immune system’s workload. Increased sensitivity to cold motivates you to seek out things like warm clothing and heat sources that reduce the costs of keeping body temperature up. Changes in appetite and food preferences push you to eat (or not eat) in a way that supports the fight against infection. Feelings of sadness, depression and general wretchedness provide an honest signal to your friends and family that you need help.

Of course these changes depend on the context.

Any parents reading this article are likely familiar with the experience of being sick but pushing through it because a

child needs care. While it may make sense to reduce food intake to prioritize immunity when the sick individual has plenty of energy reserves, it would be counterproductive to avoid eating if the sick person is on the verge of starvation.

Sickness

as an emotion So how does your body organize these advantageous responses to infection?

The evidence my colleagues and I reviewed suggests that humans possess a regulatory program that lies in wait, scanning for indicators that infectious disease is present. When it detects signs of infection, the program sends a signal to various functional mechanisms in the brain and body. They in turn change their patterns of operation in ways that are useful for fighting infection.

These changes, in combination with each other, produce the distinct experience of being sick.

This kind of coordinating program is

what some psychologists call an emotion: an evolved computational program that detects indicators of a specific recurrent situation. When the certain situation arises, the emotion orchestrates relevant behavioral and physiological mechanisms that help address the problems at hand.

Imagine you’re walking through the woods, thinking you’re alone, and suddenly you are startled by sounds suggesting a large animal is in the underbrush nearby.

Your pupils dilate, your hearing becomes attuned to every little sound, your cardiovascular system starts to work harder in preparation for either running away or defending yourself.

These coordinated physiological and behavioral changes are produced by an underlying emotion program that corresponds to what you might think of as a certain kind of fear.

Some of these coordinating programs line up nicely with general intuitions

about what makes up an emotion. Others have functions and features that we might not typically think of as “emotional.”

Some psychologists suggest these emotion programs likely evolved to respond to identifiable situations that occurred reliably over evolutionary time, that would affect the survival or reproduction of those involved.

This way of thinking has helped researchers understand why some emotions exist and how they work. For instance, the pathogen disgust program detects indicators that some potentially infectious agent is nearby. Imagine you smell the stench of feces: The emotion of disgust coordinates your behavior and physiology in ways that help you avoid the risky entity.

Another example is the emotion of shame, which scouts for signs that you’ve done something that causes members of your social group to devalue you. When you detect one of these indicators – a loved one rebukes you for doing something that hurt them, say – the experience of shame helps you adjust your mental map of what kinds of things will cause others to devalue you. Presumably you will try to avoid them in the future.

Drawing from the emerging discipline of evolutionary medicine, my colleagues and I now apply the idea of these emotion programs to the experience of being sick. We call this emotion “lassitude” to distinguish the underlying program from the outputs it generates, such as sickness behavior and malaise.

We hope that our approach to lassitude will help solve problems of practical importance. From a medical perspective, it would be useful to know when lassitude is doing its job and when it is malfunctioning. Health care providers would then have a better sense of when they ought intervene to block certain parts of lassitude and when they should let them be.

Ask Dr. Kevin: Clinical trials are the foundation for scientific innovation

By Dr. Kevin Williams Chief Medical Officer for Rare Disease at Pfizer As you may have heard, my team at Pfizer recently experienced a significant disappointment.

Our phase 3 trial for rivipansel, a potential treatment for the debilitating vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs) endured by virtually every person with sickle cell disease (SCD), did not meet its study endpoints. Both professionally and personally, this news was hard to hear, especially knowing that people with SCD have such limited treatment options

available to them. However, even though the study didn’t turn out as we had hoped, the good news is that the rivipansel program greatly advanced our understanding of SCD and VOCs, which will be important for future SCD research programs and drug development.

As I’ve written about before, SCD is the most common inherited blood disorder, and it disproportionately affects people of African descent.

VOCs, one of the most common complications of SCD, are marked by extreme pain resulting from sickle-shaped red blood cells clumping together in the bloodstream. The standard of care for patients experiencing

these pain crises has remained largely unchanged since the first report of SCD in 1910, and is restricted mostly to treating disease symptoms, like the use of opioids for pain management.

Just last month, Novartis was granted FDA approval for a treatment to reduce the frequency of VOCs experienced by patients; however, there still stands a greater need for therapies that target the root cause of these painful episodes.

The clinical trial for rivipansel may have come to an end; however, the one thing that working in SCD and collaborating with the NNPA and SCD-focused patient groups over the last several years has taught me is that this community is strong. Their strength inspires me and my team every day and fuels our passion for our work in advancing the scientific research of rare diseases like SCD. In this article, I’d like to share a little more about the importance of innovation in rare diseases and answer some common questions about the role clinical trials play as the foundation for moving medical innovation forward.

Why trials

are

clinical important?

Cutting-edge research and clinical trials are key to making an impact for patients and are essential to the development of new treatments.

These studies also deepen our understanding of diseases, especially rare diseases, such as SCD, where few advances have been made. For rare diseases in particular, only 5 percent of diseases have an FDA-approved treatment, so there is a lot of work to be done in this area.

At their core, clinical trials are designed to produce high-quality data

Dr. Kevin Williams, chief medical officer for Pfizer Rare Disease. that will translate into a better understanding of the treatments that work best for certain diseases and people. Given their crucial role in medical science, clinical trials are highly regulated and conducted using high-quality scientific and ethical standards to ensure the safety of participating patients.

Are there potential challenges associated with clinical trials?

The biggest challenge is that a clinical trial may fail, even after decades of research aimed at uncovering a treatment breakthrough. While no one likes to hear a clinical trial didn’t meet its goals, especially people in need of new treatment options, researchers are unfortunately unable to anticipate the end results of these studies in advance.

However, even though we can’t be sure of the results, it’s still critical for this research to happen to bring new treatment advances to those in need.

Did you know that for every approved medicine, there are countless others that don’t pass through the grueling clinical trial and regulatory processes?

A recent report found that the likelihood of drugs moving from

clinical phase to approval is only 9.6 percent. Moreover, even if an investigational therapy is backed by promising data, it can take around 12 years or longer for it to gain approval.

Another challenge can be enrollment of volunteers to participate in clinical trials.

Historically, recruitment obstacles have been a barrier in SCD research. However, a poll conducted, as a part of Pfizer and the NNPA’s collaboration, found that a majority of respondents had positive or neutral attitudes toward SCD clinical trials, and furthermore, they indicated a willingness to participate in them if provided the appropriate information. These results are encouraging and suggest people are becoming more inclined to participate in clinical trials for hard-to-treat diseases like SCD. What have you learned about clinical trials during your time at Pfizer?

Pfizer strives to accelerate the development and delivery of groundbreaking medicines and the dedication, talent and resources that support our clinical trials can’t be captured in a few words. However, as I’ve said

earlier, advancing research and conducting clinical trials comes with the unfortunate reality of not always being successful.

The news that our trial for rivipansel didn’t achieve its goals was disappointing, especially for the SCD community who is eagerly awaiting new therapies for VOCs. That said, we are channeling this loss into renewed energy and making it our purpose to learn from it. We are in the process of reviewing the trial data closely to ensure our findings can help inform and shape future SCD programs.

Regardless of the outcomes, I want to stress again that more trials in the rare disease space, particularly for SCD, are desperately needed.

I am confident in saying our steadfast commitment to this community will continue, as we work tirelessly to look for new ways to continue advancing care.

The “Ask Dr. Kevin” series is brought to you by Pfizer Rare Disease in collaboration with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) to increase understanding of sickle cell disease.

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Insight News • December 23, 2019 - December 29, 2019 • Page 7

Serena Williams builds schools in Jamaica, Africa

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia While many deep-pocketed philanthropists and celebrities will write checks to support worthy causes, tennis megastar Serena Williams routinely goes the extra mile.

In a recently released video, Williams donned a pair of jeans, workboats, a hardhat and went to work on Salt Marsh Elementary School in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica.

Williams, who has won a total of 39 Tennis Grand Slams, has also built grade schools in Uganda, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.

She built the Marsh Elementary through a partnership with the nonprofit Helping Hands Jamaica, while the schools in Africa were in conjunction with Build Africa. It’s part of the mission of Williams’ Serena Williams Fund and her other charitable efforts, which include the Serena Williams Venture, where the tennis champion seeks to boost the bottom line of individual companies.

“In 2014, I launched Serena Ventures with the mission of giving opportunities to founders across an array of industries. Serena Ventures invests in companies that embrace diverse leadership, individual empowerment, creativity, and opportunity,” Williams said in a statement posted on her organization’s website. “Serena Ventures focuses on early-stage companies and allowing them to be heard. As we grow, we hope to mentor young founders and take burgeoning entrepreneurs to the next level. Serena Ventures extends relationships, encourages collaboration among portfolio companies, and expands partnership

opportunities across my vast network. Similar to many of the companies we have invested in, we are just getting started and are hoping to make a difference.”

Also, according to Charity Buzz, the Serena Williams Fund was established to promote equity through education, gender, race, disability or anything else that stands in the way of someone achieving their goals and living their best possible life.

“The mission of this charity is to help the individuals or communities affected by to violence, and (to ensure) equal access to education,” Williams said.

Knowing the value of creating strong partnerships with organizations with expertise in their fields, Williams counts as a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador.

She has partnered with organizations such as Beyond the Boroughs Scholarship Fund, The Equal Justice Initiative, The Caliber Foundation, and Build Africa Schools.

Jessica Curney of Borgen Magazine reported that before each of her matches, Williams reads and writes affirmations out loud from her diary about wanting to help people, kids, and work in Africa.

“Through the Serena Williams Fund, Williams dedicates her off-season time improving access to education by building schools in underprivileged areas of the world,” Gurney reported.

“She has done extraordinary tasks using her own resources and through partnerships with the Serena Williams Fund and other foundations dedicated to providing and improving education for those in difficult conditions or developing countries. Her active role has notably left a mark on those who have had their lives changed significantly through this act of kindness.”

sperry/Wikimedia Commons

Serena Williams at The American Issue for The Fader.

Marvin Miller gets to the Baseball Hall of Fame … but no Curt Flood Commentary by Bill Fletcher, Jr. NNPA Newswire Contributor

“THIS IS A CINDERELLA FOR TODAY. IT GIVES US A FANTASY THE REAL WORLD LACKS.” – Pioneer Press

St. Louis Cardinals/Wikimedia Commons

Curt Flood year court battle, ultimately ending in the Supreme Court, trying to end the reserve clause and institute free agency (the ability of a player, after a specific period of time, to offer his services to the highest bidder).

He was ultimately defeated in one of the strangest Supreme Court decisions ever recorded.

Flood was exiled from baseball, went into a tailspin, but, with the help of his second wife, actress Judy Pace and other key friends, was able to reestablish his life. He passed away in 1997.

Flood’s case, though going down in defeat, shook up the baseball world and discredited the reserve clause system. It laid the foundation for the strategy employed by Miller a few years later to crack the system and introduce free agency. It is as a result of the courage of Flood and the strategy of Miller that Major League

players were able to gain the incredible salary improvements seen over the last four decades.

I have, for quite a long time, felt that both Miller and Flood should have been admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Both of them, in different and related ways, changed baseball as an industry.

Miller’s induction was a great victory, hands down. Flood, however, was the first soldier out of the foxhole; a Rosa Parks-like figure in baseball who knew that though the odds were stacked against him, he was prepared to stand firm.

How could that not merit being admitted into the Hall of Fame?

Bill Fletcher, Jr. is the executive editor of g l o b a l a f r i c a n w o r k e r. c o m and the former president of TransAfrica Forum.

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When it was announced on Dec. 8 that the late Marvin Miller, the first executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), had finally been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame I let out a yell of glee.

Finally, an individual who did so much for baseball and knocked down so many walls has been recognized. Transforming an organization – the MLBPA – that was barely functioning into one of the most important labor unions in the U.S. was no small feat. And opening the door to free agency, which he and his leadership team mastered through brilliant strategy, fundamentally changed baseball.

What was missing in all the excitement was the recognition of the first “soldier” out of the foxhole who, in an act of great courage and sacrifice, laid the foundation for the victory that Miller was able to bring about. Of course, I am referencing the late Curt Flood.

Curt Flood, an African-American outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, was faced with a forced trade to the Philadelphia Phillies. This was in the late 1960s when baseball players were de facto owned by their teams (due to the “reserve clause”). Flood refused the trade and went to Marvin Miller seeking support. Miller and other leaders of the MLBPA asked Flood some tough questions, including whether he was truly ready for the risks associated with taking such a stand. Flood convinced Miller, as well as player leaders such as Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh Pirates), that he was ready. And he then received their full support.

Flood fought a multi-

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Kwanzaa as a tool for academic success

By Titilayo Bediako If we want children to learn and succeed in life, we must give them a love for themselves, which includes an understanding of the contributions of people that look like them.

It is within that spirit that WE WIN Institute has partnered with Brightwater Montessori School, teaching kindergarten through sixth grade students about the greatness of Black people and aligning our curriculum with the Minnesota Standards in Language Arts.

Brightwater youth have been learning about the African-American holiday Kwanzaa.

Students have reviewed what makes a sentence, paragraph and how to write an essay. They also created poems on this holiday.

What we have demonstrated is that we can teach students about Black culture within the context of the educational pedagogy. We have also shown that children of all cultures want to and should know about African culture.

Brightwater Montessori students share their love of Kwanzaa

By Mushtaq Arab, Savannah Fry, Lucinda Hassan, Chace Lofton; Kwanzaa poem is

by Olamide Olagbaju Kwanzaa is a very cool holiday.

It means “first fruits,” and stands for the first fruits of the harvest. The language of Kwanzaa is Swahili. It is a cultural holiday, not a religious one. Kwanzaa is celebrated from Dec. 26 – Jan. 1 Kwanzaa was created in 1966, by a professor at the University of California named Dr. Maulana Karenga.

He believed that Black people needed a holiday that expressed their culture and their values.

Kwanzaa is about the Nguzo Saba, which means

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WE WIN Institute students both learn and deliver the Nia (purpose) of the African-American celebration of Kwanzaa.

Ben Garvin

The poignant documentary, “Love Them First: Lessons from Lucy Laney Elementary” screens Jan. 6 at North Community High School.

First Thursday Films presents ‘Love Them First: Lessons from Lucy Laney Elementary’ Destiny Roberts

(From left to right) Savannah Fry, Olamide Olgbaju, Lucinda Hassan, Chace Lofton and Mustaq Arab both learn and teach the lessons of Kwanzaa. seven principles in Swahili.

Principles are things people live by and believe in. The first principle of Kwanzaa is Umoja. Umoja means unity. The second principle is Kujichagulia. Kujichagulia means self-determination.

The third principle is Ujima.

Ujima means collective work and responsibility. Ujamaa is the fourth principle. It means cooperative economics. The fifth principle is Nia. Nia means purpose. Kuumba is the sixth principle. It means creativity.

And the last principle is Imani, which means faith.

Kwanzaa poem Kwanzaa is a good holiday

It helps us to stay on track And not fall back into Bad ways It is for many days Millions celebrate every year You should participate while it’s here There are seven principles I can even name them all Umoja, Kuumba, and Nia are three Ujamaa, Ujima and Imani Kujichagulia is the only one left Saying them will Make you catch your breath

“Love Them First: Lessons from Lucy Laney Elementary” screens Jan. at North Community High School, 1500 James Ave. N., Minneapolis, for First Thursday Films.

MSP Film Society, in partnership with the Capri Theater and the Minnesota Historical Society, presents the 2019 MSPIFF winner for both Best Minnesota Made Documentary and Audience Choice New American Visions Documentary Feature. “Love Them First: Lessons from Lucy Laney Elementary” at 7 p.m.

With unprecedented access over the course of a year, “Love Them First” follows the determination of a charismatic North Minneapolis school principal, Mauri Melander Friestleben, as she sets out to undo history. With Lucy Laney at the bottom of the state’s list of underperforming schools for two decades, standardized test scores from most Black students began rising for the first time

under Friestleben’s leadership.

However, when the school encounters a heartbreaking setback, Friestleben is forced to confront the true measure of student success at Lucy Laney in this story of inspiration, heartbreak, perseverance and the power of love.

Each First Thursday Films screening is followed by a discussion of the movie. This month the discussion is led by “Love Them First” directors Lindsey Seavert and Ben Garvin.

After graduating from Indiana University’s Ernie Pyle School of Journalism and working as a reporter at five news stations stretching from Northern Minnesota, to Nevada and Ohio, Seavert has been a reporter at Minnesota-based news station KARE 11 since 2012. Garvin, a photojournalist for KARE 11, was named 2011 Journalist of the Year by the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2017 he served as president

of the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists where he helped overturn a ban on photography in state prisons.

Both Seavert and Garvin have received Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards for their work.

The First Thursday series continues with Harriet Tubman biopic “Harriet” on Feb. 6 and Cine Latino Audience Award runner-up “The Radical Monarchs” on March 5.

Topical and relevant in these turbulent times, First Thursday Films aims to create a space for dialogue and better understanding.

More information is available online at www.thecapritheater.org or www.mspfilm.org.

North High serves as the alternate location for this film series while the Capri Theater is closed for expansion and renovation. Tickets to First Thursday Films are $5 and can be purchased in advance or at the door the night of the show.

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