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February 15, 2021 - February 21, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 7• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

LaTrisha Vetaw Ward 4

Victor Martinez Ward 5

Teqen Zea-Aida Ward 7

Alicia Gibson Ward 10

Carmen Means Ward 9

Attorney and long-time community and business leader, F. Clayton Tyler

Conversations talks politics; Tyler talks golf

STORY ON PAGE

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Page 2 • February 15, 2021 - February 21, 2021 • Insight News

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Insight News • February 15, 2021 - February 21, 2021 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE

Insight News February 15, 2021 - February 21, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 7• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Lining up for city council seats

By Brenda Lyle-Gray Columnist

photo/Doug Mills-Pool_Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 01: U.S. President Joe Biden (Center R) and Vice President Kamala Harris (Center L) meet with 10 Republican senators, including Mitt Romney (R-UT), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and others, in the Oval Office at the White House February 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. The senators requested a meeting with Biden to propose a scaled-back $618 billion stimulus plan in response to the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package Biden is currently pushing in Congress.

Hard Bargain: Biden and Congress agree on basic relief, but chasms remain on Covid plan

By Emmarie Huetteman, Kaiser Health News ehuetteman@kff.org, @emmarieDC President Joe Biden and a group of Republicans agreed this week on how much Congress should spend on vaccine distribution, covid-19 testing and other health investments that public health officials say are desperately needed to fight the pandemic.

But agreement on those popular programs, which make up only 9% of Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief proposal, is not enough to dispense that money quickly.

It will likely have to wait as the president and lawmakers hash out a bigger deal to also address the pandemic’s economic toll, or as Democrats pursue the lengthy

process that would allow them to pass their relief plan without Republicans. The latter would require the support of nearly every Democrat in Congress.

The disagreements that nearly torpedoed December’s relief package remain, underscoring how differently lawmakers view the pandemic and their responsibility to support the millions of Americans suffering from it. And Biden’s wideranging, high-dollar proposal, which also includes provisions increasing child care tax credits and raising the minimum wage to $15 that Republicans said would be deal breakers, has ignited new tensions.

This week 10 Senate Republicans offered a $618 billion counterproposal, matching Biden’s requests for $160 billion for vaccinations, testing, treatment and other

measures to contain the coronavirus; $4 billion for mental health and substance use disorder services; and $12 billion for nutrition assistance.

They also provided lower counteroffers on spending to reopen schools, sending direct payments to some lower-income consumers and enhancing unemployment benefits, and on a handful of other programs.

Those are cuts that some progressive Democrats said they could not support.

Biden has called for both parties to work together to right the economy and stop the virus. But it is unclear whether either party is willing to compromise at a time when emotions are still raw over the insurrection at the Capitol and the looming impeachment trial.

However this is resolved could potentially set the tone for his presidency.

Melvin Carter

By Irma McClaurin, PhD By Irma McClaurin, PhD https://corporate. target.com/article/2020/09/lakestreet-letter

Andrea Jenkins

Commentary by Dr. By Aarohi Narain By Mecca Dana Dan Randall Alexa Harry Maya Holly Starks Colbert, Beecham Spencer, Bos Bradley Jr. Josie Johnson

By Global Latisha Information Townsend Contributing Architect Howard Mayo Urban Managing Clinic News University Editor Staff Service Writer Contributing Network (GIN)Writer News Service harry@insightnews.com

While some have suggested a “shots and checks” strategy to initially just deliver aid in the form of vaccinations and stimulus checks, many Democrats worry that would leave other urgent problems unaddressed, like the enhanced jobless benefits for millions of Americans that expire next month.

After Biden met with the Senate Republican group earlier this week to discuss their proposal, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden “will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment.”

Editor’s note: Conversations with Al McFarlane - 1pm Mondays on YouTube/Insight News and Facebook/Insight News focuses on the local political landscape.

The following story is from the Feb. 8th webcast.

With the events of the past year, the horror of the January 6th right-wing assault on the US Capitol, and 470,000 COVID19 pandemic deaths in the United States, local elections become even more important because they shape the work that needs to be done in historically disenfranchised communities plagued with disparities unearthed by the Pandemic and by the execution of George Floyd.

“People love living on the Northside of Minneapolis, and they are very passionate about livability.

They just want their neighborhoods to be welcoming, clean, and safe . . . that the trash would be picked up as scheduled or the snowplows would make it to their streets.

They want to feel safe if they have to come home after dark,” says Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board (MPRB) VicePresident and Commissionerat-Large, LaTrisha Vetaw.

“I’ve decided I want to be the voice for the residents in Ward 4. The Northside faces high unemployment and economic instability - more than any part of the city. We also see more than our share of crime, but then sometimes we don’t feel safe calling the police. I have personally faced some of the same challenges and trauma experienced by many living in the area and I can relate.”

Commissioner Vetaw has served as Director of Health Policy and Advocacy

for Northpoint Health and Wellness Center for 15 years.

She also takes her position as Commissioner for Minneapolis Parks very seriously. Often when she runs into her constituents outside of her place of employment, they talk about children and the amenities and accessibility of safe places for play and relaxation. The Commissioner said the informal neighborhood encounters give her a chance ask what residents like about Minnesota’s outdoor venues for recreation and sports team play and what the city could do better.

“Ward 4 is a diverse community with residents of all ages. There’re a lot of first- time voters and I want to talk to as many as I can about civic engagement. I believe Northsiders deserve a council member who listens and puts the community residents’ voices first. The Northside faces the highest unemployment and economic instability - more than any part of the city. It’s time for us to come together as revitalized diverse communities - as a city - and follow a new equity path,” Vetaw said.

For more Vetaw campaign information: www.latrisha@ latrishaforward4.org For Victor Martinez who is running for City Council in the 5th Ward, there is a crisis in decision making at City Hall. The pastor, entrepreneur, husband, and father of three said he talked to people in the ward in October and November, and heard the same thing: They just want safety and prosperity.

“Why is it that every part of Minneapolis can get better - thrive and grow - except the Northside,” Martinez asks?

Martinez said he is “looking for common sense reform in zoning to protect

POLITICAL 5

That leaves lawmakers trading proposals and jumping through procedural hoops to pass a big package, while public health officials — from the government’s top infectious

BARGAIN 4

Duchess Harris named to board of The Kamala Harris Project Duchess Harris, professor of political science and American studies at Macalester College, has been named to the project advisory board for The Kamala Harris Project. Coordinated by the Dornsife Center for Leadership by Women of Color at University of Southern California, the Project consists of a collective of scholars across disciplines who will track all aspects of Kamala Harris’ tenure as the nation’s first woman of color to serve as vice president.

“When I realized that I was one of six women chosen for the advisory board, I was honored to have the privilege of joining a conversation with the most esteemed scholars on women of color in politics,” said Harris.

Serving with Harris on the advisory board are Nadia Brown of Georgetown University, Pearl K. Dowe of Emory University, Sangay Mishra of Drew University, Sara Sadhwani of Pomona College, Brooklyne Gipson of University of Illinois, Wendy Smooth of Ohio State University, and Angela Lewis Maddox of University of Alabama, Birmingham. The project’s conveners are USC professors Ange-Marie Hancock Alfaro, Jane Junn, Oneka LaBennett, and Francille Wilson.

The author of numerous books including “Black Feminist Politics from

Attorney and long-time community and business leader F. Clayton Tyler

Summer jobs on the golf course

By Brenda Lyle-Gray Columnist

Prof. Duchess Harris Kennedy to Trump” and an expert on Black women in American politics, Harris has been quoted in numerous national media outlets, including NBC News, The Lily, and The Hill, about Kamala Harris’ rise to the second-most powerful position in U.S. government.

She believes the Vice President’s achievements will ultimately transcend American politics.

“She will be a role model for generations to come,” said Harris. “In addition to being

a powerful woman of color, she will help the world think about gender roles in family structures. Her husband’s role as Second Gentleman will send a message to younger generations that men can support women’s careers.”

The Kamala Harris Project plans to host an academic symposium in May to mark the Vice President’s first 100 days in office and will produce a series of publications over the next five years looking

News

Race and data discrimination in America

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photo/Macalester College

at issues such as Harris’ policy priorities and speeches, as well as shifts in public opinion during her tenure.

Harris said it’s still too early to determine what her contributions to the Project will look like, but she knows where her focus will be.

“I am most interested in how she governs the Senate and how her lawmaking is depicted in the media,” she said.

For 25 years, Attorney and longtime community and business leader F. Clayton Tyler, has had a passion for getting youth, ages 13-17, involved in golf through a caddy program. “At first, the environment these young people are being exposed to might take them out of their comfort zone, but that’s a good thing.

This program is designed to keep young people from sitting around all summer long and doing nothing constructive.”

The participants work at Highland Country Club where they can earn up to $3,000 to work as a caddy and they are paid to train. They learn about the game of golf, learn to speak the language, and observe how business deals and careers are often made right on the golf course. Sometimes they are

invited to other country clubs, as well.

There are many success stories of those who attended the summer session.

Attorney Tyler’s nephew credits the invaluable lessons he learned from the caddy program to helping him get where he is today as a business owner.

“Another young man appeared out of the blue one day and thanked me for lessons he had learned in the program like getting up early, being on time, approaching conflict resolution, and the way to advantageously meet and talk to people,” the golf enthusiast boasted.

For parents and youth who might be interested in the summer caddy program, there will be virtual information sessions on March 6th and 13th. Contact www.mmjga.org (Minnesota Minority Junior Golf Association) or (612) 963 -1378

I2H

COVID-19 vaccination questions answered

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Page 4 • February 15, 2021 - February 21, 2021 • Insight News

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Newly self-employed? You may be a small business in the eyes of the IRS Brandpoint (BPT) (BPT) - If, like so many others, you lost your job in 2020 and decided to turn your hobby into a money-making venture, congratulations! That’s what we call resilience. But did you know, you don’t need a brick-and-mortar store or even employees to be considered a small business by the IRS? If you’re self-employed as a sole proprietor or single-member LLC, you’ll likely need to report your income and expenses on the IRS Schedule C tax form, included with your personal income tax return this year.

“At one point in 2020, and any other year for that matter, someone’s hobby could have turned into a business,” said Ian Hardman, general

manager and vice president of small business at H&R Block.

“Maybe they haven’t registered their company name or rented a location to conduct business outside of their home. But, having an official name or separate location isn’t a litmus test for whether or not a business exists — the intent to make money is.”

If you made money from your business last year, you must pay taxes on that income on the 1040 tax form.

And you will likely need to include a Schedule C to report your income and expenses and figure your net self-employment income. If you didn’t keep accurate records last year, now’s the time to reconcile everything so you’re not caught off-guard when April 15 rolls around. The penalties for not filing accurately can be serious and costly. In

“It’s important for self-employed individuals to see themselves as small businesses.

Getting professional guidance about how to handle small business taxes instead of relying on gut instinct or assuming their situation is like a friend’s could help self-employed small business owners avoid costly mistakes,” Hardman said.

advertising and vehicle costs.

Schedule SE, which is the SelfEmployment Tax form, must also be filed if net earnings exceeded $400; however, there is no minimum income requirement for filing Schedule C. The good news is that onehalf of your self-employment tax is taken as an adjustment to income (aka above-the-line deduction) on your Form 1040.

other words: Accurate tax filing will keep you out of trouble with the IRS. The information Schedule C collects includes basic bookkeeping information, such as gross receipts/sales, cost of goods sold and business expenses. Without Schedule C, small business owners can’t deduct eligible business expenses, including supplies,

Help is available year-round, in-person and online For good reason, many new and longtime small business owners who aren’t numbers experts have concerns about how to approach their 2020 tax returns. By working with Block Advisors, they can address this annual chore with confidence; with an average of 12 years of experience and focus on small business taxes, Block Advisors small business

certified tax pros can meet the needs and expectations of selfemployed small business clients.

Also, help from Block Advisors is available year-round, not just at tax time.

And they can help with other small business financial tasks, including bookkeeping and payroll. Block Advisors will help you come up with a plan so you can get back to what you love. And when things change — and they always do — plans can be reviewed and revised at quarterly care checks or as the need arises. Clients can meet with their Block Advisors tax pros in person, virtually, via phone, chat or secure messaging.

To start working with the experts at Block Advisors on self-employed and small business tax returns, visit blockadvisors.com.

Community health workers, often overlooked, bring trust to the pandemic fight

By Michele Cohen Marill Kaiser Health News For 11 months, Cheryl Garfield, a community health worker in West Philadelphia, has been a navigator of pandemic loss and hardship. She makes calls to people who are isolated in their homes, people who are sick and afraid and people who can’t afford their rent or can’t get an appointment with a doctor.

The conversations always start with a basic question: “Tell me about yourself.” She wants to know her clients before she figures out how she can help.

“Sometimes a patient just needs somebody to listen to them, so you just listen,” said Garfield, 52.

Public health authorities are relying on Garfield and her peers to be a bridge to communities that have been hardest hit by covid-19 and who are most skeptical about the new vaccines. African Americans and Hispanics have been hospitalized with covid at rates more than three times higher than for non-Hispanic white Americans, but they are among the most hesitant to get the vaccine. As the pandemic brings long-standing health disparities into sharper view, community health workers are coming to the forefront in the public health response.

It is an about-face after their efforts were largely curtailed early in the pandemic, when “nonessential” health services came to a halt. Community health workers “were sidelined

but the needs of the community weren’t sidelined,” said Lisa Hamilton Jones, co-president of the Florida Community Health Worker Coalition. “Now we’re seeing more hiring of community health workers than ever. If you look at the virus and the timeline, why did it take so long?”

President Joe Biden has endorsed a bigger role for these workers as part of his $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan.” The proposal includes the hiring of 100,000 people to help with “vaccine outreach and contact tracing in the near term, and to transition into community health roles” after the covid crisis is over.

With their deep roots in the community, many of these workers were disappointed when they were not called on to help initially in the pandemic.

Community health workers often work on grant-funded projects with a specific goal, such as improving blood sugar control among people with diabetes.

When the pandemic shutdown suspended those programs, many found themselves without a job.

They became marginalized workers within marginalized communities.

“We were hearing from our members across the country, ‘I’m trying to get in touch with my local health department to say I want to help,’” said Denise Octavia Smith, executive director of the National Association of Community Health Workers. “They couldn’t even get through to the [local covid] task force.”

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‘Shared Life Experiences’ Garfield works for Penn Medicine, the health system of the University of Pennsylvania, but she isn’t a medical professional. She and other members of this fast-growing workforce help fill the gaps between health care providers and low-income communities by offering education, advocacy and outreach.

Before the pandemic, Garfield met with at-risk patients as they were discharged from the hospital and eased their path to care in the community. Her work often isn’t directly related to health care. In one case, she took a formerly homeless man bowling. The outing, which triggered joy and memories from his youth, helped him decide to turn his life around. He got a job, kept the doctors’ appointments he had been avoiding and took better care of himself.

Since the pandemic, her caseload has varied — and her encounters occur by phone. She helped a young woman with a high-risk pregnancy — and a positive test for covid — find a doctor. She assisted a homeless man in getting federal stimulus funds and care in a nursing home.

Garfield is a grandmother who raised six children as a single mom, and she’s a survivor of domestic violence. She lost a nephew to gun violence, has friends who died of covid and has her own serious health problems — sickle cell disease and the inflammatory disorder sarcoidosis. She doesn’t hesitate to share those personal details.

They help her relate to patients.

“You look at them like they’re a family member,” said Garfield. “We connect with our patients more because we’re from the community, and we

Bargain From 3 disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, to the state officials who testified before the House this week — pleading for critical funding that already has the approval of members of both parties.

“Getting vaccines out quickly has become more important than ever,” Dr. Joneigh S. Khaldun, Michigan’s chief medical executive, told lawmakers.

Here are a few of the key disagreements — among the many — that could hold up public health funding.

Stimulus Checks The Senate Republicans’ counterproposal suggested the strictest limits yet on which Americans would be eligible for the next round of relief checks, arguing Congress should not spend extra money to help higher-income Americans.

Individuals making up to $50,000 — or couples making up to $100,000 — would receive up to $1,000 per person under the Republican proposal.

Last year’s relief packages also imposed income limits on recipients. The most inclusive proposal, passed last March, sent up to $1,200 to individuals making as much as $99,000 a year (or as much as $198,000 for couples).

Biden’s proposal would send $1,400 per person.

Democrats are discussing making those payments more targeted. They argue the checks could help support those who get infected and must stay home from work to recover and protect others.

Democrats are

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By ByLee Harry H. Jordan Colbert, Jr. Minneapolis Juneteenth Managing Editor Committee - 2018 harry@insightnews.com National Juneteenth Film & Bicycling Commissions

have the shared life experiences that they have.”

Health care has always been most personal when it extends beyond the clinic or hospital. Community health workers often are employed in traditional health settings, but in recent years they also have served in community centers and churches or gone door to door, providing health education and connections to resources. They promote, among other health issues, HIV/AIDS prevention, prenatal care, immunizations and cancer screening.

Dr. Shreya Kangovi, founding executive director of the Penn Center for Community Health Workers at the University of Pennsylvania, helped demonstrate these workers’ effectiveness in a study published last year that followed 302 patients who were on Medicaid or were uninsured, lived in poor neighborhoods and had at least two chronic health conditions. Community health workers met one-on-one with half those people in 2013 and 2014 and helped them create plans to address their health and social needs. The patients who received help from community health workers had fewer and less costly hospital admissions than the rest of the group.

Kangovi and her colleagues calculated an annual return on investment of $2.47 for every dollar spent.

Other studies similarly showed lower health costs.

“Sometimes a patient just needs somebody to listen to them, so you just listen,” says Cheryl Garfield, a community health worker in Philadelphia.

(Brittanie Comer) Investing in Engagement

Community

describing the $1,400 checks as rounding out the $600 checks many Americans recently received from the December relief package.

That legislation was delayed when former President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders pushed to more than triple the payments to $2,000 per person — a proposal that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, then the majority leader, said could not pass the Senate.

Progressive Democrats have argued for monthly payments, a suggestion that party leaders have not embraced.

State and Local Funding The Republican proposal did not include additional emergency funding for state and local governments, an exclusion some Democrats say makes the package a nonstarter.

Both proposals would give states money specifically for reopening schools, distributing vaccines and more.

But Biden also proposed $350 billion for states and localities that generally could be used at their discretion to cover budget shortfalls and unexpected expenses directly related to the pandemic.

“The financial burden being placed on states is tremendous,” Dr. Courtney N. Phillips, secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Health, told lawmakers Tuesday.

“The resources provided to states, communities and families will allow us to come out the other side of this pandemic successfully and not looking at a new financial problem facing our country,” she said.

In the first, $2.2 trillion relief package last

photo/Robin Gentry

As the pandemic brings long-standing health disparities into sharper view, community health workers are coming to the forefront in the public health response.

Covid’s unequal burden became obvious by May and June as demographic data emerged, documenting higher infection rates among African Americans and Hispanics.

The Trump administration awarded $40 million to Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta to lead a broad initiative to mitigate the impact of covid on minorities.

Morehouse created the National COVID-19 Resiliency Network, which is hiring and training community health workers and building partnerships with organizations that represent a wide scope of vulnerable populations, including Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities and those who are incarcerated.

In September, the National Institutes of Health launched the Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities, or CEAL, in 11 states as an effort to improve outreach to highrisk communities and to combat misinformation about covid and the vaccines. The program offers

year, Congress established a $150 billion fund to help state, local and tribal governments coping with the pandemic. The money was distributed based on population, with broad guidelines: State and local governments generally may use the money for “necessary expenditures” that arose from the pandemic.

States have put those dollars toward a variety of needs, from hazard pay for health workers to improved internet access. Some, like Oregon, Mississippi and North Dakota, sent additional relief checks to residents. Others, like Colorado, helped renters and homeowners facing eviction or foreclosure.

States have until the end of this year to spend the money, at which point the federal government will reclaim any unspent funds.

Republicans have argued that states do not need more money, because some of the original funding remains unspent. In December, for instance, some sounded the alarm that Texas had about $2 billion left of its disbursement — even as state officials pleaded for more help for rural hospitals, renters and food banks.

Experts note the pandemic has not taken as heavy an economic toll on state and local governments as once feared. But a recent analysis from the Brookings Institution estimated state and local governments, which already have cut about 1.3 million jobs in less than a year, stand to lose roughly $350 billion over the next three years.

Jobless Benefits In the month after Trump declared a national emergency, more than 22

community health workers an opportunity to express concerns they have heard from the people they serve.

For example, in a recent online “listening session” sponsored by the Georgia CEAL, a community health worker noted local fears about vaccine safety. “My folks are concerned if [electronic] chips are going to be in the vaccine,” she said.

Vaccines promise to end the isolation caused by covid.

Garfield offers information and answers questions, and if people feel uncertain, she encourages them to talk to their doctor.

Ultimately, they will make the decision about when or if to get a covid vaccine.

But if they tell her they want a vaccine, she said, “we’ll find a way to make it happen.”

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a nonprofit news service covering health issues.

It is an editorially independent program of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation), which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. By December, 10.7 million people remained out of work.

Those who filed for unemployment assistance in the early months of the pandemic received an additional $600 a week, among other benefits expanded under the first relief package — until the end of July, when the extra cash expired. In December, Congress gave the jobless an extra $300 a week.

Republicans have proposed another short-term extension of the additional $300-per-week benefit, expiring at the end of June. Biden proposed raising it to $400 and extending the benefit through September.

The current benefits are set to expire March 14, the date Democrats are now calling the unemployment benefits “cliff” — and citing as the deadline for the next relief package.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the incoming chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, called an extension of at least six months “essential.”

“We can’t keep jumping from cliff to cliff every few months,” Wyden said in a statement. “Workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own shouldn’t be constantly worrying that they are going to lose their income overnight.”

This has been republished under a Creative Commons license.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a nonprofit news service covering health issues.

It is an editorially independent program of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation), which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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Insight News • February 15, 2021 - February 21, 2021 • Page 5

Public safety panel clears measure mandating civilian oversight

By Tim Walker Minnesota Session Daily The May 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody led to “a global reckoning and an uprising of people demanding justice and fairness in their interactions with law enforcement,” says Rep. Aisha Gomez (DFL-Mpls).

To that end, Gomez sponsors HF640, which would modify the Peace Officer Discipline Procedures Act to require local units of government with more than 50 officers — about 40 agencies — to establish law enforcement citizen oversight councils. It would also establish new model statewide policies for police interactions with citizens.

“Accountability is a cornerstone of any respectful relationship,” Gomez said.

The House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee approved the measure, as amended, on a party-

line 11-7 vote Friday and sent it to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee.

There is no Senate companion.

The bill would change the powers and duties of existing “civilian review boards,” by renaming them “civilian oversight councils” and giving them authority to “conduct an investigation into allegations of peace officer misconduct and retain an investigator to facilitate an investigation.”

“A robust civilian oversight mechanism is a very important check on the powers of police,” said Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality.

“Robust civilian oversight ensures accountability, but, more importantly, is a key mechanism to reduce liability and future bad conduct.”

The bill would also require the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board to develop a model policy on procedural justice that governs peace officer interactions with community members.

officer and the person affected.

The state auditor ‘s office would be tasked to ensure local government compliance.

The POST Board regulates education, selection, licensing, and training standards for the state’s more than 11,800 peace officers.

The bill would mandate the POST Board model policy to require peace officers to: obtain consent before conducting searches of individuals in the absence of a search warrant or probable cause; obtain written acknowledgment that consent has been sought from individuals that the officer has requested to search; identify themselves by their full name, rank, badge number, and command, when applicable, to all individuals they have stopped; state the reason to the individual affected for any search requests, searches conducted, or stops; and report to the officer’s chief law enforcement officer relevant information related to the encounter between the

Issuing subpoenas, recommending discipline A bill provision would empower a citizen oversight council to “subpoena or compel testimony and documents in an investigation” and upon completion of an investigation, “a council may recommend appropriate discipline.”

That provision was troubling to several committee Republicans.

Rep. Marion O’Neill (R-Maple Lake) called such powers “overreach” and said it would unwisely result in “a very heavy-handed citizen group that can inflict discipline upon an officer.”

O’Neill said another reason she opposes the measure is because many civilians don’t have a good understanding of, or appreciation for, the intricacies of police procedures and training.

photo/MN Session Daily

HF640 would modify the Peace Officer Discipline Procedures Act to require local units of government with more than 50 officers to establish law enforcement citizen oversight councils.

Eric Werner, chief of police in Maple Grove and vice president of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, also expressed concern about giving subpoena and investigatory powers to civilian oversight councils.

The League of Minnesota Cities opposes

the measure, and in written testimony states the proposed legislation “infringes on local control” and would “impede local decision-making and fail to recognize the differences between communities throughout Minnesota.”

Race and data discrimination in America NNPA Newswire

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. President and CEO, NNPA Today there is a welcomed breath of fresh political air in Washington, DC even amidst the unprecedented spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic throughout the United States.

According to the Biden-Harris Administration the issues of racial justice and equity are now top priorities in a “whole of government” commitment to all Americans, and in particular to African Americans and other people of color communities.

Most recently the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) had a special on-the-record briefing from the White House Office of Public Engagement directed

Political From 3 the last place in Minneapolis where community members can purchase a starter home.” He said he wants to lift the voices of experts and stakeholders not his own agenda. He said he supports Medaria Arradondo, Minneapolis’ first African American police chief, because the Chief “pledges to bring meaningful reform to the force and accountability to the city neighborhoods impacted by growing crime. Public safety is not only the responsibility of law enforcement, but of government officials and the community itself,” Martinez said.

Martinez announced his plan to tackle the two priority needs: building businesses on West Broadway and supporting youth in Ward 5. Revitalization of West Broadway, where half of the storefronts are boarded up and often attract drug trafficking and other criminal elements is key, he said. “Other major cities have Business Improvement Centers that would take a blighted area like the Broadway corridor and bring back its onceupon-a time vitality. The city of Minneapolis doesn’t seem to see the need to do so,” he said.

Martinez speaks passionately about the inability to curb crime, especially among youth. He said 15 African American youth have been murdered since the year began.

“That is totally unacceptable,” he said. Young people make up 35% of the population. The 20,000 youth on the Northside are key to raising a stronger generation that can be put in a position to prosper and grow.”

“We have to raise up all our youth by getting rid of the inequities and demanding better schools and more opportunities - small stepping-stones like Attorney F. Clayton Tyler’s junior golf caddy program - exposing them to a different side of the world.

We must invest in our children and in our schools. There also needs to be accountability of the funds granted community organizations that have not been using financial and human resources to do the work they were charged to do. We have to offer a better looking community for our kids and we have about a year and a half to make that happen,” Martinez said. For Martinez’ campaign information go to www.victor5citycouncil.

by The Honorable Cedric Richmond who is also Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden.

As we heard Richmond strongly reaffirm the Administration’s urgent push to have the U.S. Congress to enact the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that promises to respond to the nation’s pandemic and economic crisis respecting the principles of equity, I thought reflectively about all the various racial disparities, discriminations, and inequities that daily have a negative impact on Black America.

Yet, in 2021 we live in the age of data where the aggregation, control, and ownership of data continues to have enormous social and economic consequences for those who are poor and marginalized.

One preexisting condition that has not gotten enough public attention and debate is the issue of the intersection of race, data discrimination, and inequity in America.

Data discrimination is a covert form of racism that com

Teqen Zea-Aida says his 7th Ward community represents the complete spectrum of society, from the very well-to-do to the old church supported public housing district. The ward includes half of downtown. The AfroColumbian entrepreneur was raised in Minneapolis, attended Minneapolis public schools, and found his freedom as a downtown business owner. ZeaAida, with his business partner, Nathan Youngerberg, owns Models for Visions which he opened and has operated for 22 years His professional quests have been about celebrating diversity and providing economic opportunities, he said, and throwing his hat into the political arena has been a natural evolution. He said he wants to create downtown space for a new generation of powerhouse individuals.

“Minnesota is still one of the best in the country in education and work ethics.

There is such a rich fabric in this rich city.

Current and former council members come from private circles. There are people who were raised here . . . that left here, and they’re all about running things where they are now living. But we are more than sports teams and entertainment. It’s exciting to see the new investment in the arts. If given energy and tools, we will be able to create and perform incredible things.”

Zea-Aida said “Minneapolis needs to rebuild the infrastructure that was once in place to expose our underserved youth to new opportunities . . . to catch them and nurture them before it is too late. There is an immediacy and there must be a new way of doing things. There must be a new way of thinking about the new multicultural post pandemic - new normal.”

For more information: www. facebook.com/tequenforward7/ Attorney Alicia Gibson, is running for the Ward 10 seat on Minneapolis City Council. She said the city can address the twin pandemics of Covid-19 and racial injustice.

Gibson said she felt like she had been living in a bubble, and if she were going to run for a city council seat representing Ward 10, she would have to understand what was happening in the other wards of the city. She credited “Conversations with Al McFarlane” as a media resource to help begin her discovery of critical issues.

at the expense of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive to make ends meet.

As a consequence, we must begin to raise questions about the apparent linkage of the expanding credit reporting industry to the growing financial inequities especially in African American communities.

As credit reporting

booms while most Americans are experiencing financial hardship, Equifax’s “Work Number” workforce division is turning in record profits by raising costs on consumers. The Work Number is a user-paid verification of employment database that was acquired and now owned

by Equifax. This database allows credentialed verifiers to receive instantaneous electronic confirmation of an individual’s employment data and income for verification purposes.

Today Equifax’s Work Number is charging $49.95 for the cost of an Income and Employment Report that is nearly three times what the cost of the report was six years ago at ($18).

The U.S. credit reporting industry generated over $12 billion in revenue last year, according to research from IBISWorld, and the market size is expected to grow another 3.7% next year. The three largest agencies—Equifax ($EFX), Experian ($EXPGY) and TransUnion ($TRU) —

accounted for more than 50% of the total revenue.

The industry’s growth is driven by a unique business model, which provides a dual revenue stream from consumer data. Businesses pay credit bureaus to collect employee information and manage verification requests, like those generated when an individual seeks to obtain a loan from a bank.

Agencies then charge requesting parties for the personal information, generally on a per-request basis, which is frequently passed onto the consumer.

Equifax, despite its 2017 data breach that impacted 147 million people, continues to be the largest player in the space.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and Executive Producer/Host of The Chavis Chronicles, PBS TV Network.

promises. The tragedy now symbolizes the birthing place of what has to happen in order for our neighborhoods - our city our country to move into a new awakening. There are so many historically different layers of systemic racism in the daily lives of Black and Brown people. We can no longer deny, run from, or hide the truth. These layers must be eradicated,” Means said.

Means said this is not an easy time to be running for any political office, “but it is a necessary time . . . an opportunity to finally make ‘real and sustainable change, and to recover sanity in our individual and collective spaces.”

Means has a pastoral background that has focused on social justice, calling attention to the 2015 murder of 24-year-old Jamar Clark and other injustices.

Clearly it is long overdue to put our best ideas forward; to make sure those making decisions affecting marginalized communities have representatives in the behindclose-door rooms who will voice to the decision makers what the residents want them to hear and act upon. “There hasn’t been a system whole enough; rich enough; or strategically activated to press forward with preventive measures to curb poverty which leads to increase in crime. Instead, what we’ve had for decades is “a trillion- dollar business’ where corporate white America has capitalized off our struggles and their economic disinvestment.

Non-profits, businesses, philanthropic organizations, and some places of faith have

made a living off generations of the black diaspora. They have given us intervention programs with minimum wage salaries.”

What Ms. Means would like to see is a more knowledgeable and collectively informed voter taking control of their own community and political space . . . a sharpening of their point of view.

For 25 years, Attorney and long-time community and business leader F. Clayton Tyler, has had a passion for getting youth, ages 13-17, involved in golf through a caddy program.

“At first, the environment these young people are being exposed to might take them out of their comfort zone, but that’s a good thing. This program is designed to keep young people from sitting around all summer long and doing nothing constructive.”

The participants are allowed at Highland Country Club where they can earn up to $3,000 to work as a caddy and they are paid to train. They learn about the game of golf, learn to speak the language, and observe how business deals and careers are often made right on the golf course. Sometimes they are invited to other country clubs, as well.

There are many success stories of those who attended the summer session.

Attorney Tyler’s nephew credits the invaluable lessons he learned from the caddy program to helping him get where he is today as a business owner. “Another young man appeared out of the blue one day and thanked me for lessons he had learned in the program like

getting up early, being on time, approaching conflict resolution, and the way to advantageously meet and talk to people,” the golf enthusiast boasted.

For parents and youth who might be interested in the summer caddy program, there will be virtual information sessions on March 6th and 13th. Contact www.mmjga.org (Minnesota Minority Junior Golf Association) or (612) 963 -1378 Al McFarlane . . . in closing We must make an unambiguous use of our voting power . . . especially the power of green. Residents of underserved communities of ‘people of color’ have a right and a responsibility to craft and create a vision of what the city is going to look like . . . what the good life feels like for all people. The opportunities today are great . . . deserving of a collective of resilient and hopeful communities who will author their own game plan for recovery. What is required is prioritizing, investing, and a new attitude toward unifying the Twin Cities in an equitable manner. The political needs are also great because the needs of the people are so enormous, unlike ever before. Reparations - reconciliation - a reckoning restoration.

We have an obligation to help keep our families safe (the vaccine) - to strive for home ownership, business creations, and to become a totally informed voter. We must mobilize. We MUST keep showing up.

photo/nnpa.org

As credit reporting booms while most Americans are experiencing financial hardship, Equifax’s “Work Number” workforce division is turning in record profits by raising costs on consumers. is having a devastating overt impact on the quality of life of African Americans and others who continue to face systemic inequity.

It is relevant to note that the largest credit reporting agency in the U.S. is Equifax. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Equifax actually has become more profitable Raised by a Japanese grandmother who came into a community that didn’t know how to recognize or respect differences, she learned early on about racism, she said.

At American University in Washington, D.C., she studied colonialism and said she can really see how 1492 and 1619 relate to the current racially fractured condition.

She said at first, she was going to be a human rights attorney, but pivoted to study environmental law and federal Indian law with an interest in sovereign tribes and human rights. She also studied Peace and Conflict Resolution - and Mandela’s South African Truth and Reconciliation initiative.

At the University of Minnesota, she focused on cultural studies and comparative literature - looking at the big ills of society - racism, sexism, and economic exploitation. She also owned and ran a bookstore store where she could keep an eye on her small children while continuing her education.

Gibson said she also started a neighborhood association, became its president, and then trained those interested in ‘restorative justice’.

“We have to do the right thing - connecting practical details and having the skills to actively listen and then take action. Ward 10 is a proud and creative place,” Gibson said. “I have lived in four of the ward’s neighborhoods and I know what makes each unique. It’s a progressive place and people really want to do right for history. We have to acknowledge the moment and the movement we’re in. To move forward, the marginalized have to be lifted up” Gibson said. For more information alicia@votealiciagibson.com Carmen Means is executive director of the Bryant Neighborhood Organization (BNO) and Central Area Neighborhood Development Association (CANDO). Means is running for the 9th Ward seat on Minneapolis City Council.

“After the uprising from the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020, it was obvious to me and many others that this young man didn’t have to die. If the real investment dollars had gone where they were supposed to go, the uprisings would not have happened. The corner of Chicago and 39th Street in South Minneapolis created the world’s awakening to what Black people have always known.

Floyd’s death was about broken

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Page 6 • February 15, 2021 - February 21, 2021 • Insight News

Insight 2 Health

insightnews.com

COVID-19 vaccination questions answered Brandpoint (BPT) (BPT) - With COVID-19 vaccination underway in the United States, many Americans are preparing to get the vaccine to protect themselves and help slow the spread of COVID-19. If you’re able to get the vaccine, you probably have a lot of questions. Knowing what to expect and how to properly prepare for your appointment can help put your mind at ease.

COVID-19 vaccine basics COVID-19 vaccines are now available in the U.S., and

according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the vaccines approved in the U.S. do not contain the live virus that causes COVID-19 and therefore you cannot contract COVID-19 from them. The CDC states these vaccines have been carefully evaluated in clinical trials and are deemed safe and effective by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) with a full advisory committee meeting review for all vaccines.

Preparing for the COVID-19 vaccine Getting a vaccine not only protects you, but also the people

around you, especially those who are unable to get vaccinated. The CDC offers guidance summarized below to help you prepare for your vaccination, whether it’s your first or second dose: 1) If you’re approved to get a vaccine, talk to your healthcare provider ahead of time. You may be going to a vaccination clinic where your healthcare provider is not directly administering the injection, so if you have questions, speak with them before your appointment.

2) Do not schedule any other vaccinations within two weeks before your COVID-19 vaccination. If you feel ill before your appointment, call the

vaccination clinic and ask if you should still come in or reschedule.

3) Get good rest the days prior to the appointment, especially the night before. Eat a light meal or snack before your appointment and stay hydrated. Rest and good nutrition help prepare your immune system for the vaccination.

4) Ask about side effects. While some people have no symptoms, others may experience headache, muscle/joint pain, chills, fever and fatigue that generally subside after 48 hours. Plan for several low-key days following your vaccination.

5) Plan ahead for postvaccination care by having the

essentials on hand in your medicine cabinet. According to the CDC, over-the-counter medications (like Advil) can reduce pain, fever or discomfort associated with postCOVID-19 vaccine, including mild aches or arm soreness. According to Dr. Jeffrey Fudin, B.S., Pharm.D., FCCP, FASHP, FFSMB, “Aches and fever are common side effects of coronavirus vaccination, and can easily be treated with a pain reliever like Advil.”

6) If your vaccine requires two doses, consult with your vaccination clinic or pharmacy to schedule your second dose.

While millions in the U.S. have received the COVID-19

vaccine, availability is currently limited and you may not be able to get it right away. Continue to take smart safety measures such as washing your hands frequently with soap and water, wearing a mask when out in public, avoiding large crowds, and appropriate social distancing. When it is time to get your COVID-19 vaccination, these preparatory steps will help you feel empowered as you take an important step to end the pandemic.

For more information about how to prepare for the COVID-19 vaccine visit www.cdc.gov, and visit www.

Advil.com for more information on Advil.

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Insight News • February 15, 2021 - February 21, 2021 • Page 7

Aesthetically It

Why a shootout between Black Panthers and law enforcement 50 years ago matters today

By Paul Ringel, Associate Professor of U.S. History, High Point University In the early hours of Feb. 10, 1971, police surrounded a property in High Point, North Carolina, where members of the Black Panther Party lived and worked. In the ensuing shootout, a Panther and a police officer were both wounded.

The incident did not receive much national attention at the time – armed conflict of this type was relatively common during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

But 50 years on, as the U.S. reckons with a year that saw militarized police confront Black Lives Matter protesters and fail to prevent an attack on the U.S. Capitol, I believe the circumstances of this shootout are relevant today.

As a historian who has interviewed participants in the confrontation for a coming book, I see the raid in the context of a then-emerging strategy of urban policing in the U.S., shaped by the racial and political clashes of the 1960s and forged through a growing partnership between local and federal law enforcement. That strategy, of criminalizing Black political activism at a time when white reactionary protesters were accommodated, has defined police responses to Americans’ activism – and political violence – over the past half-century.

Aggressive approach The approach of law enforcement on the bitterly cold morning of Feb. 10, 1971, was aggressive and combative. Brad Lilley, the 19-year-old leader of the High Point branch of the Black Panthers, woke at 5 a.m. to discover about 30 police officers and sheriff’s deputies surrounding the rented house he shared with three other teenage members of the organization.

The police were seeking to evict the Panthers.

Despite the fact that Lilley and the other members were paying rent on time, High Point police were looking to force them out in line with a national strategy of pushing Black Panthers out of communities because of their political activities. According to a High Point Enterprise local newspaper reporter on the scene, the force was “heavily armed and wearing flak jackets,” though none of the residents had a record of criminal violence.

The Enterprise also questioned the police

photo/Sonny Hedgecock_High Point Enterprise, CC BY-SA

Members of the Black Panther Party outside the High Point property raided by police.

Healing

photo/Bettmann_Getty Images

A member of the Black Panthers peeks around a bullet-pocked door that police blasted with gunfire during a predawn raid in Chicago. department’s aggressive strategy in the crowded residential neighborhood, stating “someone could have been killed in the comparative safety of his home.”

Ironically, High Point Police Chief Laurie Pritchett, who was on the scene that day, had previously built a national reputation by avoiding combative tactics. Pritchett had been chief in Albany, Georgia, in 1961 when the civil rights group the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee began organizing a movement to desegregate the city. His nonviolent approach to policing during this campaign largely thwarted those efforts, even after Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference became involved.

King later called Pritchett “a basically decent man.” Some Black High Pointers described

Pritchett’s approach on Feb. 10 as inconsistent with his generally nonbelligerent law enforcement practices.

Interviews I have conducted suggest that the strategy of Feb. 10 exemplified Pritchett’s adoption of a more militant policing trend in the city. Lilley told me that just a few days before the shootout, a High Point police officer stopped his car and told him, “I know who you are.” According to Lilley and two other passengers in the car, the officer said he was a marked man and was going to be killed.

Surveillance and intimidation Such targeting of leaders of the Black civil rights movement had become increasingly common for law enforcement since the FBI began surveilling King in

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1963, and it accelerated after President Lyndon Johnson declared a “war on crime” in 1965. That surveillance, and the FBI’s COINTELPRO operation that sought to infiltrate Black revolutionary groups like the Panthers, reflected a shift in federal law enforcement’s response to the civil rights movement.

Previous Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy, respectively, had offered protection to the movement at pivotal moments, such as the desegregation of Little Rock’s Central High School and the Freedom Rides.

Now the FBI was focused on disrupting and discrediting these organizations and particularly their leaders, echoing director J. Edgar Hoover’s 1968 warning to “prevent the rise of a ‘messiah’ who could unify and electrify the

Boys & Girls Clubs of America names Walker as diversity, inclusion and equity officer Boys & Girls Clubs of America has named H Walker as its new Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Officer, underscoring an ongoing commitment and legacy of building opportunity and great futures for kids and teens. Walker will be charged with building upon the diversity, equity and inclusion strategy and creating new initiatives for Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide and key organization partnerships.

In addition, he will drive a community-focused strategy for Breaking Down Barriers, Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s commitment to addressing

left-wing and Black activists, an association that is still seen today in the different police responses to Black Lives Matter and anti-Trump protesters compared with that of rightwing activists. The Capitol attack shows the dangerous consequences of this tendency.

The law enforcement strategy against Black Panther leaders at the time also saw local and federal officers share information, with the FBI facilitating the Chicago Police Department’s killing of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton through an informant who shared information about Hampton’s activities and the layout of his apartment.

This partnership between local and federal agents contributed to the mistrust of law enforcement that already existed among Black activists. When the High Point police demanded that Lilley and the other Panthers exit the house that morning, they refused. Lilley remembers thinking about Hampton, as well as Bobby Hutton, the 17-yearold Panther shot at least 10 times by Oakland police in 1968 as he voluntarily surrendered.

This mistrust remains strong half a century later. A Feb. 2 poll revealed that just 36% of Black Americans trust the police, compared with 77% of white Americans.

and dismantling racism and inequality for all youth, employees and volunteers at Boys & Girls Clubs.

Walker joins Boys & Girls Clubs of America from an extended career with global brands like The Coca-Cola Company, IBM, McDonald’s Corporation, and the United States Postal Service, where he served in numerous organizational culture and diversity, equity and inclusion leadership roles in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.

Walker’s work helped transform DEI educational experiences,

corporate strategies and structures and inspired senior leaders, staff, membership organizations, franchisees and suppliers to challenge their own knowledge and truly embrace DEI as a mindset and a way of managing change.

“Diversity, equity and inclusion is not only a strategy but should be infused in an organization’s culture, building a more equitable future for all. Boys & Girls Clubs play a pivotal role in breaking down barriers for so many young people today, and we must continue to strengthen

the opportunity equation for millions that are impacted by this organization,” said H Walker.

For 160 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens.

More than 4,700 Clubs serve over 4.6 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities serves over 9,000 youth at 11 Twin Cities locations, and represent more than 80 years of service to the region.

Black nationalist movement.”

This change aligned federal agents more closely with the practices of many local law enforcement institutions, and collaboration between the two groups flourished. The Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1965 began the process of Congress’ providing “militarygrade hardware” for local police departments. This trend has accelerated in the post-9/11 era, enabling local police to produce heavily militarized responses to anti-racism protests today.

Militant methods of policing Black activists also aligned with the violent treatment of left-wing and anti-war protesters at sites like the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1968 and Kent State University in 1970. Such aggressive tactics conveyed a perception of danger posed by

communities When police threw tear gas and began moving toward his house in 1971, Lilley told me he was sure he would be killed.

He fired a shot that wounded one of the officers.

The police responded with dozens of rounds of gunfire, and one of the Panthers was also wounded. Lilley subsequently served four-and-a-half years in prison for assault with a deadly weapon. He is now a pastor and activist in High Point, working to deescalate violence in the community.

Fifty years on from the police shootout, he said: “I find myself still in the struggle to help my community heal from the violence that is used against us.”

Paul Ringel is an award-winning associate professor of history at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina. He teaches a variety of courses on the 19th and 20th-century United States, with a particular focus on race, sports, and popular culture.

This article appeared originally on The Conversation and is published under a Creative Commons license.

Page 8 • February 15, 2021 - February 21, 2021 • Insight News

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