Insight ::: 7.13.20

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Insight News

July 13, 2020 - July 19, 2020

Vol. 47 No. 28• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

James Trice: “So, we also declare our (human) right to abolish this oppressive, abusive, repressive, and autocratic form of government that exists in America today. And to replace it with a government that genuinely treats all men/ women as equals. America was built on the backs of Black and brown people, and so it cannot exclude us.”

STORY ON PAGE 2

Uche Iroegbu

Page 2 • July 13, 2020 - July 19, 2020 • Insight News

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Uche Iroegbu

Since the Memorial Day murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis Police officers, millions around the world have taken to the streets in protest.

We also declare our rights!

“We declare our rights on this earth…to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a

human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY”.

-Malcolm X The Declaration of Independence - one of the most critical documents in the history

of the United States was written in 1776 by members of the 13 American colonies of Great Britain. The Declaration was

an official act of the colonies demanding independence from the tyrannical leadership of King George III and the

government of Great Britain.

The 13 colonies grew angry about the oppression and

DECLARE RIGHTS 6

Serenity Graham

Serenity Graham, who was named to her prom court, and her date, Nick Walker, attended East Ridge High School’s prom.

We also declare our rights!

Uche Iroegbu

By James Since theTrice, Memorial Day murder of George Floyd by former Don Walker Founder &Police CEO of Minneapolis offiPublic cers, millions 2 around the world have taken Policy Project to the streets in protest.

Smith From 1

Filmmakers From cover

By Tiffany Bui Contributing Writer

Commentary

By Sen. Jeff Hayden

By Harland Al McFarlane Mecca Bos Randall Maya Beecham Heimstra Bradley By By Daja Abeni Stacy E. Henry, M. Hill,Brown IlaOffi Wilborn Editor-in-Chief Architect Contributing Writer DNR Information cer

StaffNatrawn NNPA Writer Newswire and Maxwell, NNPA Correspondent DTU Journalism Fellowship @StacyBrownMedia

Prepared and paid for by champion4change.org

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Insight News • July 13, 2020 - July 19, 2020 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE

Insight News July 13, 2020 - July 19, 2020

Vol. 47 No. 28• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

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Valerie Castile has tirelessly advocated for changes in the manual since her son was fatally shot in 2016 by Jeronimo Yanez, a Saint Anthony Police Department officer.

Valerie Castile sees changes to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Minnesota Driver’s Manual four Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib launch the ‘Squad Victory Fund’ years after death of her son Building on their history of Deal, racial justice, an end

By Robin Caldwell Staff Writer On the fourth anniversary of his death, Valerie Castile, mother of Philando Castile, announced updated language to the Minnesota Driver’s Manual with state safety officials. She has tirelessly advocated for changes in the manual since her son was fatally shot in 2016 by Jeronimo Yanez, a Saint Anthony Police Department officer.

When Philando was pulled over, he announced that he was legally carrying a licensed firearm when he was killed, a fact he announced to Yanez. He was shot as he reached for supporting documents to present to police. The entire incident was documented in video footage taken by his companion Diamond Reynolds.

In today’s press conference with the Department of Public Safety, an update of new language instructs a driver on how to behave - what a driver should and should not do - during a traffic stop when a firearm is in the vehicle.

The new language tells drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel as they inform officers that there is a weapon in the car, do not reach to show them the weapon and wait until guidance is given by the peace officer. The new language beings on page 40 in the Minnesota Driver’s Manual.

Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said, “These recommendations, if implemented, will make Minnesota communities and the

After announcing he had a licensed firearm, Philando Castile was killed by a Saint Anthony Police officer. peace officers who serve them safer. The recommendations offer practical guidance and action steps to better prevent and respond to police-involved deadly force encounters.”

Harrington also thanked Valerie Castile for bringing the simple yet important changes to his attention. He also noted that as a result of Philando Castile’s death other states had adopted the guidance before Minnesota.

Assistant Public Safety Commissioner Booker Hodges added that citizens should “expect the respect” of peace officers during traffic stops. Hodges stated that officers are to be trained to respond accordingly.

Valerie Castile’s recommendation was one of 28 announced by the working group on police-involved deadly force encounters chaired by Commissioner Harrington and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

sisterhood and collective advocacy for bold, progressive change, Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN05), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) last week announced their official endorsements of one another for re-election in 2020.

Together, the legislators also announced the creation of the Squad Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that will support the Congresswomen’s re-election campaigns and their leadership PACs, which will provide vital resources to organize and mobilize a broad, diverse grassroots movement across the country.

Since their election in 2018, the four Congresswomen - all first-term members, friends, and women of color - have introduced bold, progressive legislation and championed policies centered on justice and equity, despite repeated, racist attacks from Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans.

Their continued leadership is especially critical at this moment, as our communities struggle to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, grapple with the racial injustice that led to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Elijah McClain and so many others, and fight to end deeply entrenched inequities in healthcare, housing, education, and our economy.

“We are in an unprecedented historical moment. Our country is facing three simultaneous crises of unemployment, public health, and systemic racism.

The progressive policies that my sisters and I are fighting for Medicare for All, a Green New

News

Walker Art Center presents “Creative Black Music at the Walker: Selections from the Archives”

PAGE 5

to mass incarceration - have never been more important.

But, make no mistake, last week’s victories put an even larger target on our backs.

Wall Street and Trump donors poured over $3 million into an attempt to defeat me and now they’re preparing to do even more to stop this progressive momentum in its tracks. The Squad Victory Fund will help us fight back,” said Ocasio-Cortez.

“In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, Minneapolis inspired a movement. Right now, people across the country are taking to the streets to demand an end to our broken systems of injustice.

The American people are demanding a comprehensive response to the public health and economic crisis we face.

While GOP and corporate donors fight to silence us, we are building a multi-racial grassroots movement to take on entrenched systems of inequality. Our movement is for justice. Our movement is for equality. Our movement is for peace. And our movement is for a better future,” said Omar.

“I am so deeply grateful to call Alex, Ilhan, and Rashida my sisters-in-service, and to work alongside them to advocate for our communities, and to fight for those who have been left out and left behind for too long. We find ourselves in unprecedented times that call for unprecedented organizing, unprecedented mobilizing, and unprecedented legislating.

Alex, Ilhan, and Rashida are bold, activist leaders who share a deep commitment to the communities they represent.

Together, we’ll continue to do the work of ensuring that those

SQUAD 4

photo/theconversation.com

Demonstrators march in the Black Mamas March to protest police brutality, June 27, 2020 in Washington, D.C.

There are many leaders of today’s protest movement – just like the civil rights movement

By Sarah Silkey, Professor of History and Social and Economic Justice, Lycoming College The recent wave of protests against police brutality and systemic racism has inspired numerous comparisons with the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Commentators frequently depict the charismatic leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X in sharp contrast with the decentralized and seemingly leaderless nature of the current movement.

Despite the efforts of activists and historians to correct this “leaderless” image, the notion persists. Such comparisons reflect the cultural memory – not the actual history – of the struggle for Black equality.

Heroic struggle led by charismatic men Through collective remembering and forgetting, societies build narratives of the past to create a shared identity –

what scholars refer to as cultural memory.

The civil rights movement is remembered as a heroic struggle against injustice led by charismatic men. That is not the whole story.

King’s soaring rhetoric and Malcolm’s unflinching social critiques have supplanted recollection of the significant work performed by legions of local leaders, whose grassroots organizational style more closely resembled the efforts of Black Lives Matter activists and other contemporary social justice groups to build movements full of leaders.

The iconic images of 1950s and 1960s Black protesters marching, kneeling and being arrested while dressed in their “Sunday best” illustrated the respectability politics of the day.

These efforts, designed to cultivate white sympathy for civil rights activists, relied on conformity with patriarchal gender roles that elevated men to positions of visible leadership, confined women to the background and

MOVEMENT 5

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What makes a ‘wave’ of disease? An epidemiologist explains

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Additional mortgage-relief options available to homeowners facing hardship due to COVID-19 Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Governor Tim Walz, and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan last week announced a commitment by 31 Minnesota financial institutions to provide mortgage-relief options to customers facing financial hardship caused by COVID-19 for homeowners not covered by the CARES Act.

Under this framework, participating financial institutions have agreed to offer the following relief options:

90-day forbearance period for customers facing financial hardship caused by COVID-19 Participating financial institutions will offer mortgage-payment forbearances of up to 90 days to singleor multi-family mortgage customers directly impacted

by COVID-19. The framework went into effect yesterday, July 1, 2020, so qualifying customers can begin applying for forbearance immediately.

Customers accessing forbearance will not be required to make a lump-sum payment at the end of forbearance plan

Participating financial institutions will not require single-family customers who qualify for forbearance under this framework to make a lump-sum payment at the end of the forbearance plan. Instead these institutions will work with borrowers on repayment options, which may include:

Allowing customers to add the reduced or missed payments over the lifetime of their loans; or Extending the maturity of the loan to make up for the missed payments.

No late fees or negative credit reporting for customers in a forbearance plan

For single-family customers who are in an active forbearance plan under this framework, the participating financial institutions will: Freeze all mortgage-related late fees for missed payments; and

Not report late or missed payments with credit reporting agencies.

This framework was negotiated by Ellison’s office and Walz’s office, and was supported by the Minnesota Department of Commerce and Minnesota Housing.

“In the next few weeks, we may see a dramatic increase in the number of

photo/skynesher_iStockPhoto

Participating financial institutions will offer forbearance up to 90-days. Qualifying customers can apply for forbearance under this framework, now through October 1, 2020. foreclosures and evictions. I am very pleased to announce that these banks and credit unions across Minnesota are working together to try to mitigate the damage,” Ellison said. “I thank each of the participating institutions for stepping up to the plate to help Minnesotans that are struggling because of COVID-19 and for recognizing that we are all better off when every Minnesotan has stable housing.”

“Minnesota families have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and banks across the state have been working with their customers to help find solutions,” said Walz.

“This initiative provides some

added flexibility to Minnesotans who need help affording their mortgage payments during this unprecedented time.”

“The COVID-19 crisis falls hardest on Minnesotans who were already in crisis. For many low-income families or Minnesotans who have lost jobs or sources of income, their housing stability has been put at risk,” said Flanagan. “Mortgage relief is one way that we can provide some comfort and stability for those most impacted.

I am thrilled that we can work in partnership to offer this relief.”

US Bank is one of the participating institutions.

Andy Cecere, President and CEO of US Bancorp, said:

“I want to thank Governor Walz, Lt. Governor Flanagan, and Attorney General Ellison for their leadership in these difficult times. At U.S. Bank, we are committed to serving our community and we have aided thousands of customers who are facing financial pressure due to the coronavirus.

We remain committed to helping and encourage our customers needing assistance to contact us digitally or over the phone to find the best solution for their situation.”

Jeanne Crain, President and CEO of Bremer Financial Corporation also praised the commitment.

“Bremer’s purpose is to

cultivate thriving communities, and we have long recognized home stability as foundational to strong communities. We have provided financial assistance to our customers affected by COVID-19 over the past months, and we remain steadfast in our promise to help. I appreciate the Attorney General’s, the Governor’s, and the Lieutenant Governor’s attention to this important issue. Bremer is committed to supporting their efforts to help Minnesotans through these challenging times.”

To apply for forbearance offered by this framework homeowners should first ensure that the financial

institution servicing their mortgage is participating in this commitment. If they are, contact and work with them directly to apply for relief offered under this framework.

Participating financial institutions will offer forbearance up to 90days. Qualifying customers can apply for forbearance under this framework, now through October 1, 2020.

Participating institutions will not charge you late fees for missed payments for homeowners as long as they are in forbearance under this framework. While homeowners are in forbearance under this framework, the participating institutions will not report late, missed, or skipped payments with credit-reporting agencies.

Financial institutions may report a forbearance, which will not impact a FICO score, but may impact credit scores furnished by other credit-score providers. It may also impact your ability to borrow in the future. Contact your mortgage servicer directly to see if they will report the forbearance to credit agencies.

Additionally, omeowners taking advantage of the forbearance plan offered in this framework, are still responsible for repaying the mortgage payments or the balance of reduced mortgage payments that you missed.

However, participating financial institutions will work with program participants to explore repayment options. Participants are not required to make a lump-sum payment of the reduced or missed payments under this famework. There will be other options for repayment, which may include:

Adding the reduced or missed payments over the lifetime of the mortgage, which usually leads to higher monthly mortgage payments; or Extending the maturity of the mortgage to make up for the missed payments.

Ellison’s office recommends discussing which repayment options best fits when first applying for forbearance.

Contact your mortgage servicer to discuss your options.

If you continue having trouble making your mortgage payments due to COVID-19 after October 1, 2020, contact your lender as early as possible.

Absentee voting for 2020 primary election is open INSIGHT NEWS www.insightnews.com

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

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

Contributing Writers Maya Beecham Nadvia Davis Fred Easter Abeni Hill Inell Rosario Latisha Townsend Artika Tyner Toki Wright Photography V. Rivera Garcia Uchechukwu Iroegbu Rebecca Rabb Artist Donald Walker Contact Us: Insight News, Inc. Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Ave. N. Minneapolis., MN 55411 Ph.: (612) 588-1313 Fax: (612) 588-2031 Member: Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium (MMMC), Midwest Black Publishers Coalition, Inc. (MBPCI), National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Postmaster: Send address changes to McFarlane Media Interests, Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Avenue North, Minneapolis,

The 2020 primary election kicked off on June 26 with the start of absentee voting.

This year, Hennepin County is emphasizing the ability to vote by mail to ensure all eligible residents can safely participate during the COVID-19 Minnesota law permits noexcuse absentee vote by mail for all eligible residents. Voters must fill out an application online or on paper to receive a ballot. Paper applications are available in English, Spanish, Hmong, Somali, Vietnamese, Russian, Chinese, Lao, Oromo, Khmer and Amharic.

Residents who are not yet registered to vote are able to apply to vote absentee.

However, to make the process easier, voters may choose to register before applying for an absentee ballot.

Voters can expect ballots to be mailed within a few days of submitting an application. Election staff are working as quickly as possible to process absentee ballot applications. Do not submit duplicate applications, this will cause delays in materials

Squad From 3 closest to the pain are closest to the power, and we’ll continue building this movement to make real, positive change in pursuit of racial, economic, education, and environmental justice,” said Pressley.

“Shared values of being rooted in justice, freedom, and equity brought me together with my sisters-

being mailed. For the 2020 state primary, absentee ballots must be postmarked by election day (August 11, 2020) and received

by August 13, 2020.

In-person absentee voting is now available through August 10 at city halls across Hennepin County and at the Early Vote Center in Minneapolis at 980 E Hennepin Ave. Voters should contact their city for available in person absentee voting dates and hours.

Each of these locations can accommodate only residents of that particular city.

Voters who live anywhere in Hennepin County can vote early in person at the Hennepin County Government Center, located at 300 S. Sixth Street in downtown Minneapolis, on the skyway level. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The state primary election determines the list of candidates that will appear on the general election ballot.

The Office of President and Vice-President is not on the state primary ballot. This office will be voted on at the general election.

in-service, Alex, Ayanna, and Ilhan. During our first term in office, we’ve remained rooted in the communities we serve, pushing bold and transformative solutions to the issues impacting our neighbors.

We lead by centering vulnerable communities and ensuring that we do not leave anyone behind.

I’m proud to endorse their reelection campaigns today and to push forward to make sure people are truly represented with transformative leadership in Congress with the Squad Victory Fund,” said Tlaib.

Minnesota law permits no-excuse absentee vote by mail for all eligible residents.

While Hennepin County is encouraging all residents to vote by mail this summer, the ability to safely vote in person on Primary Election Day continues to be a top priority. Cities throughout Hennepin County are looking for election judges to handle all aspects of voting at polling places. Training starts soon, so interested community members should sign up now.

Many cities are looking for Primary Election Day support from those who are multilingual, including those who speak Spanish, Somali, Hmong, Vietnamese or other languages.

Judges should be available for one paid training for a few hours, plus a paid shift on Primary Election Day, August 11. Pay and shift lengths vary by city.

Residents may be election judges in cities other than where they live.

Hennepin County is hiring seasonal election assistants to help with absentee balloting, voter registration and voter outreach and engagement work. To apply, visit hennepin. us/jobs.

For more information about elections in Hennepin County, visit hennepin.us/ elections.

image/DemocracyNow.org

(L-R) Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) and Ilhan Omar (MN-05).

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Insight News • July 13, 2020 - July 19, 2020 • Page 5

FLOW Northside Arts Crawl call for artists This summer marks the 15th FLOW Northside Arts Crawl, a three-day celebration of the arts in North Minneapolis, July 30–Aug 1, 2020.

Since 2006, FLOW has become both a community celebration and the premier art event in North Minneapolis.

FLOW is a non-juried, selfguided tour of studios, galleries, theaters, commercial and vacant spaces over a mile and a half of the West Broadway corridor.

From b-boys to ballet, graffiti

to graphite, rap to rhapsody, fine artists to arts, practicing to professional, FLOW showcases the great art being made every day on the Northside. FLOW is a program of the West Broadway Coalition that showcases over Northside artists of all ages and experiences at various locations around the community with an exciting weekend of indoor and outdoor activities.

For the health and safety of staff and community, FLOW will look a bit different

For the health and safety of staff and community, FLOW will look a bit different this year. This year, event organizers will host virtual pop ups and artist panels via Zoom as well as socially distant, curated art pop-ups.

this year. This year, event organizers will host virtual pop ups and artist panels via Zoom as well as socially distant, curated art pop-ups.

The call for artists is now open, entries are due Sunday, July 19 by midnight.

FLOW Northside Arts Crawl seeks artists of all genres, ages and experience to participate in this year’s FLOW Lookbook, or Virtual Pop Ups. The FLOW Lookbook will be an interactive marketplace to

connect with Northside artists, find out where and how to purchase their work, and will be published to our website.

Submissions can be made electronically by filling out a form found here, or sent to the West Broadway Coalition office, 1011 W. Broadway Suite #202, Minneapolis 55411. If technical assistance is needed , call 612-353-5178.

Artist orientation will be hosted virtually on Tuesday, July 21st at 4:30pm.

Walker Art Center presents “Creative Black Music at the Walker: Selections from the Archives” The Walker Art Center recently announced the launch of Creative Black Music at the Walker: Selections from the Archives, the fourth volume of the Living Collections Catalogue, the Walker’s digital publishing platform dedicated to scholarship of its renowned collections. The catalogue was conceived three years ago as part of the Walker’s multiyear Interdisciplinary Initiative (2016–2020), supported by the Mellon Foundation, which explored the intersections of the performing and visual arts.

Scholars Danielle A. Jackson and Simone Austin, Walker Interdisciplinary Fellows in Visual and Performing Arts, edited the publication.

“We are pleased to share with the public the culmination of this multiyear effort surfacing rare archival recordings and other materials, drawn from the Walker’s sixdecade history of presenting some of the country’s most important and visionary Black music artists. We hope the publication, offered at this heightened moment in the fight for racial justice, may provide added insights into, and appreciation for, the critical role that radical Black innovation has played in the world of contemporary American artistic expression,” said Mary Ceruti, Executive Director of the Walker Art Center.

Jazz and the broader worlds of creative Black music have been important parts of the Walker Art Center’s Performing Arts program since its inception. In the early 1960s, the volunteer-run Center Arts Council began presenting genre-

Movement From 3 banished LGBTQ individuals to the closet.

Yet the movement could not have happened without the extraordinary leadership of Black women like veteran organizer Ella Baker. Baker’s model of grassroots activism and empowerment for young and marginalized people became the driving force of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, known as SNCC, and other nonviolent protest organizations, past and present.

The decentralized structure of the current movement builds on this history of grassroots activism while working to avoid replicating the entrenched sexism and homophobia of an earlier era.

Amplifying voices SNCC transformed lives by recognizing talent and empowering marginalized people. As Joe Martin, one of the organizers of a student walkout in McComb, Mississippi, recalled, “If you had a good idea it was accepted regardless of what your social status was.”

Endesha Ida Mae Holland, a teenage prostitute, found purpose as a SNCC field secretary, organizing and leading marches in Greenwood, Mississippi. Facing down Police Chief Curtis Lary “made me feel so proud,” she recalled, and “people start looking up into my face, into my eyes” with respect.

Holland went on to become an award-winning playwright and distinguished university professor.

Black Lives Matter co-founders Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors also encourage strategies that place marginalized voices at the center.

Elevating “Black trans people, Black queer people, Black immigrants, Black incarcerated people and formerly incarcerated people, Black millennials, Black

defining, iconic Black jazz figures, often introducing their music to audiences in the Upper Midwest for the first time. While the Walker’s programming has over decades involved many leading figures in jazz and experimental music across racial, generational, cultural, and transnational lines, this volume of the Living Collections Catalogue—Creative Black Music at the Walker: Selections from the Archives—focuses on a select group of influential Black artists who came to the fore in the ’60s and ’70s and appeared at the Walker multiple times, each having an indelible impact on US musical culture.

Archival material now available to the public for the first time is at the center of this publication, including rare audio and video recordings, photographs, posters and programs, and correspondence. The volume also features commissioned essays and interviews offering insightful perspectives from new generations of artists on these groundbreaking figures and movements. A timeline of selected performances highlights the remarkable range of Black musicians and writers who appeared at the Walker from 1963to 2019. “In focusing on these vanguard artists with whom the Walker has had sustained relationships over time, the publication Creative Black Music aspires to honor them and the art forms they helped to forge, work that exemplifies artistic freedom, self-determination, racial justice, interdisciplinarity, and freeflowing creative expression,” writes Philip Bither, the Walker’s

McGuire Director and Senior Curator of Performing Arts, in the publication’s foreword. A foreword by Bither introduces the museum’s engagement with creative Black music, dating back to the 1960s, accompanied by a timeline of selected performances compiled by Jill Vuchetich, head of Archives & Library. And grounding the entire publication is a historical reflection by scholar Tammy L. Kernodle, professor of musicology, Miami University, Ohio, on the emergence and prominence of avant-garde Black jazz in American music.

women, low income Black people, and Black people with disabilities” to leadership roles, they wrote, “allows for leadership to emerge from our intersecting identities, rather than to be organized around one notion of Blackness.”

Black women and teens have played a critical role in organizing, leading and maintaining the momentum of recent protests.

Kimberly Jones captured the nation’s attention with an impassioned takedown of institutional racism and debates over appropriate forms of protest. After repeatedly breaking the social contract to keep wealth and opportunity out of reach for black communities, Jones concludes, white Americans “are lucky that what black people are looking for is equality and not revenge.”

Women have organized family-friendly demonstrations, including the “Black Mamas March” in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a “Black Kids Matter” protest in Hartford, Connecticut.

Six young women, aged 14 to 16, organized a peaceful protest attracting more than 10,000 people in Nashville, Tennessee, while 17-year-old Tiana Day led a march on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

emerge.”

Full of leaders The adaptive “low ego/high impact” leadership model, in which leaders serve as coaches helping groups build their own solutions, has become popular among current social justice organizations, but it is not new.

Baker encouraged civil rights organizations to “develop individuals” and provide “an opportunity for them to grow.” She praised SNCC for “working with indigenous people, not working for them.”

“You don’t have to worry about where your leaders are,” former SNCC organizer Robert Moses reflected. “If you go out and work with your people, then the leadership will

Featured artists A key voice in redefining jazz and improvisation, the Art Ensemble of Chicago formed out of a desire to create music outside of the purview of a white-dominated, segregated jazz industry. The ensemble first performed at the Walker in 1980 and many individual members, including Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, and Roscoe Mitchell, repeatedly returned for solo or their own various group performances.

A poet, critic, playwright, and social activist, Amiri Baraka was also deeply invested in jazz criticism.

Three previously unpublished recordings feature Baraka reading his jazz-related poems as part of the Walker’s 1980 literature series.

Drawing on references to African, Asian, and European musical traditions, Anthony Braxton rejects strict musical boundaries. His approach is traced in this online catalogue through access to recordings of a solo from the New Music

Campaigns are exhausting and external recognition as a “leader” can take a heavy toll. Spreading leadership around helps to protect any one person from becoming a target for retaliation while advancing a stream of talent to rise as individual energy wanes.

Returning from a citizenship training program in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1963, Fannie Lou Hamer was arrested and severely beaten, leaving her with permanent injuries. Holland’s mother died when their house in Greenwood, Mississippi, was bombed in 1965 in retaliation for her activism.

Civil rights worker Anne Moody recounted how the physical and psychological toll of constant harassment by white supremacists in 1963 forced her to leave a voter registration drive in Canton, Mississippi, saying “I was on the verge of a breakdown” and “would have died from lack of sleep and nervousness” had she stayed “another week.”

In a 2017 interview, Erica Garner, who became a tireless campaigner against police brutality after her father, Eric Garner, died from a New York police officer’s chokehold in 2014, echoed Moody’s comments.

“I’m struggling right now with the stress and everything. … The system beats you down to where you can’t win,” she said. Just three weeks after that interview, Erica Garner died of a heart attack at the age of 27.

Comparisons to the romanticized cultural memory of charismatic leadership in the Civil Rights Movement devalues the hard work of today’s activists – as well as those who worked hard outside of the limelight in the earlier movement. Social change – then and now – derives from a critical mass of local work throughout the nation. Those who cannot find leaders in this movement are not looking hard enough.

America Festival in 1980, trio performances, and a concert with Richard Teitelbaum (who sadly passed away on April 9, 2020) on keyboard/electronics.

Known for her complex and imaginative vocal explorations, Betty Carter was a jazz pioneer. Presented here is a rare recording and ephemera from her 1983 performance at the Walker with her trio.

A legendary innovator, composer, and saxophonist, Ornette Coleman forever expanded the boundaries of free jazz with radical inventiveness.

The publication considers his legacy through two artists of the next generation: Twin Cities– based drummer and composer Dave King and musician, producer, and writer Greg Tate.

Julius Eastman’s minimalist compositions embodied a radical politics and an expanded sonic palette. Surfaced here are two rare, previously unpublished and recently digitized video recordings of the piano quartet pieces the artist performed at the Walker in 1980, which today are among his most celebrated works.

Musician and interdisciplinary artist Jace Clayton offers a personal contemplation on the posthumous appreciation of the vanguard composer.

Trumpeter, composer, and improviser Wadada Leo Smithis revered as one of the

photo/Wlaker Art Center

Creative black music at the Walker Art Center, 1960s–1980s (composite image). form’s most innovative and influential practitioners. An interview between the artist and Taja Cheek, a multiinstrumentalist, vocalist, and assistant curator at MoMA PS1, New York, focuses on Smith’s musical trajectory, philosophy, and inspirations.

Consciously blending techniques from European composers with African American musical traditions, poet and pianist Cecil Taylor first performed at the Walker in 1979.

The video recording of Taylor’s trio at the Ted Mann Concert Hall in 1990 is accompanied by a reprint of Fred Moten’s “Sound in Florescence: Cecil Taylor Floating Garden”(1997).

By challenging the prescriptive limits of the term

“jazz,” composer, saxophonist, and flautist Henry Threadgill embarked on a lifelong series of sonic explorations and radical redefinition of the form in the early 1970s. A response by Twin Cities–based cellist and curator Michelle Kinney, as well as an interview between Philip Bithera and pianist, artist, and composer Jason Moran, reflect on Threadgill’s enduring influence.

Editors: Danielle A. Jackson, Interdisciplinary Fellow, Performing Arts, 2016–2018Simone Austin, Interdisciplinary Fellow, Visual Arts, 2018–2020Walker Curatorial Advisors: Doug Benidt, Philip Bither, Adrienne Edwards, Siri Engberg, and Pavel Pyś

Page 6 • July 13, 2020 - July 19, 2020 • Insight News

Declare Rights From 2 inequalities they experienced under British rule. To secure their independence, the colonies went to war -the American Revolutionary War, aka War of Independence - with Great Britain.

In the Declaration, the 13 Colonies outline a 27-count indictment against Great Britain and King George.

Some of the claims include: King George III had become a tyrant ruling the colonies, thereby causing “repeated injuries and usurpations.” The people were being heavily taxed without their permission yet had no say/vote in decision making (taxation without representation). The King also waged war against his very own people. And put in place standing armies in full view among the people to intimidate and keep them in check.

Etc... (Please read the entire document. Not just portion of the preamble)

In no way am I defending the Declaration’s writers, many of whom owned slaves at the time the Declaration

was written. Therefore, the Declaration was not intended to include Black people who were enslaved. However, the content of the Declaration is noteworthy despite the morality of its authors. I feel the Declaration is a road map fortuitously set by its writers for generations of oppressed and marginalized people. The writers of the Declaration probably never had in mind that the enslaved Africans, their descendants, and others living under tyranny would use the Declaration as a strategy to fight against their oppressors.

Most Black people I’ve talked to said they have never read the full Declaration of Independence document.

They only know “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” However, to get a better understanding of what the 13 colonies were declaring, you must read the full document.

In my opinion, the most critical statement written in the Declaration is, “That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is

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the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness.” We are charged with the responsibility to take decisive action to remove any form of government that marginalizes, suppresses, and subjugateso;io’i us. And to set up or institute a truly egalitarian government where we the people are the protagonist in their health, wealth, and wellbeing.

We have been an oppressed people in America since the first slave ships landed on the shores of what is now the United States in 1619. Black people endured more than 250 years of chattel slavery. There were also 100+ years of Jim Crow oppression (a racial cast system of rigid anti-Black laws through which AfricanAmericans were treated as second-class citizens and viewed as inherently inferior to whites) until 1965.

Here we are in 2020, Black and brown people are enduring de facto Jim Crow antiBlack oppression, racism, and brazen discrimination. Extreme income and wealth inequalities,

a vast and unchanging education achievement gap, mass incarceration, poor health outcomes, the prevalence of Black people being brutalized and killed by police, and high infant mortality rates among even the Black middle-class still remain in America. Black and brown people are not doing well under this system of government.

Michelle Alexander wrote in her book, The New Jim Crow, “We have not ended racial cast in America; we have merely redesigned it.”

The writers of the Declaration wanted what Malcolm X later declared for Black people -their independence from an oppressive government- and they intended to get it by any means necessary. Patrick Henry, one of the founding fathers of the United States and the first revolutionary, declared in 1775, “Give me liberty, or give me death!” They were willing to put their lives on the line for the cause.

Dr. John Henrik Clarke said, “the best way to get someone of your back is to stand straight up.”

Here are some ways we stand up to and fight American anti-black apartheid:

Vote in every election -local, state, and federal-each and every time.

March, protest and make our voice heard loudly so that others know our plight.

Marching, protesting, and demonstrating is a very visual way to get our voice heard.

Educate ourselves in every way imaginable. We need to know our history and the contributions we made to make America a tremendous economic power.

Assert our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Be mentally prepared to declare and defend our rights as human beings, with force if necessary.

Get a passport! Every Black woman, man, and youth should have a passport.

As civil unrest grows more and more with each act of domestic terrorism against Black and brown people by the police, and with people growing more incredulous about America’s promise that “all men are created equal” and of becoming a genuinely egalitarian nation, Black and brown people must take decisive action and quash all pretenses and deceptions.

The horrific murder

of George Floyd, broadcast worldwide on tv and on every social media platform, unleashed a revolutionary spirit of Black liberation activism and the urgent need to fight for social justice.

I believe there is something brewing, and it’s going to be unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before.

A shift in the universe will soon take place, and nothing will ever be as pre-George Floyd.

“I argue that nothing short of a major social movement can successfully dismantle the new cast system.”

–Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow

So, we also declare our (human) right to abolish this oppressive, abusive, repressive, and autocratic form of government that exists in America today. And to replace it with a government that genuinely treats all men/ women as equals. America was built on the backs of Black and brown people, and so it cannot exclude us.

By: James Trice, CEO of Public Policy Project Peace! Of My Mind Blog at: www.ppp-ejcc.com/category/ peace-of-my-mind/ Date: 7.4.2020

What makes a ‘wave’ of disease? An epidemiologist explains

By Abram L. Wagner Research Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of Michigan Panic about a second wave of coronavirus cases is “overblown,” Vice President Mike Pence wrote in June, implying the U.S. has COVID-19 under control. On the other hand, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warns that the U.S. is still firmly within a first wave of cases.

As media broadcast information about daily increases in the number of cases, it’s hard not to wonder which way the country is headed.

Have the weeks and months of lockdown really helped? What do the trends in diagnoses and deaths mean for the course of the pandemic? Is the U.S. stuck in a first wave? Through the worst of it? Headed for a second round?

Six months into the pandemic, people are looking for ways to make sense of what’s happening. Talking about waves of disease, with the implication of predictable rises and falls, is part of that. As an epidemiologist, I know that disease waves aren’t scientifically defined.

But looking to the history of previous epidemics and other countries’ current COVID-19 outbreaks can be useful.

Characterizing a wave

There’s no strict definition for what is or is not an epidemic wave or phase. A wave implies a rising number of sick individuals, a defined peak, and then a decline. The word “wave” implies a natural pattern of peaks and valleys; it hints that even during a lull, future

photo/theconversation.com

Daily deaths from COVID-19 have rarely been below 600 in the U.S. since March. outbreaks of disease are possible.

Historical outbreaks of infectious diseases offer some models for how the course of a disease like COVID-19 might unfold over time.

Some diseases come in somewhat predictable seasonal waves, with higher transmission rates at some times of the year than at others.

Seasonal coronaviruses, like 229E or HKU1, which cause the common cold, have a high point from around December through March, according to research in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Several factors influence whether a particular disease is seasonal in nature. Some pathogens may spread less well with greater humidity. Annual epidemics, like of influenza may occur because of climate or patterns of social mixing – often driven by the school year or people staying inside more during the winter.

It’s possible that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, spreads more efficiently under certain weather conditions.

But recent outbreaks in Florida, Arizona, Texas and Southern California suggest that warm or humid weather is not sufficient to stop the spread of the disease. Some scientists model that SARS-CoV-2 will eventually become seasonal like other coronaviruses.

Waves and seasonal dynamics are also affected by levels of immunity in the human population. As more individuals become immune to a pathogen, its spread slows and eventually stops as the virus runs out of new people to infect. The U.S. is nowhere near what epidemiologists call herd immunity in the general population, however; mathematical modelers suggest at least between 43% and 60% of people would need to be immune to SARS-CoV-2 for that to be the case.

Ebb and flow, 150 years of influenza waves

Some of the current talk of coronavirus waves likely stems from comparisons with past epidemics that did show these peaks and troughs of infections.

University of Oxford

scholars of evidence-based medicine Tom Jefferson and Carl Heneghan have summarized past waves in respiratory virus pandemics over the previous 150 years. For example, the 1889-92 influenza outbreak had three distinct waves, which differed in their virulence. The second wave was much more severe, particularly in younger adults.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is often compared to the 1918 H1N1 influenza pandemic, which had three distinct waves over the course of a year. The proportion of influenza patients who were severely ill or died was much higher in the last two waves compared to the first. It’s unclear whether being infected earlier on protected individuals during later waves.

More recently, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, though mild, had two distinct waves; this virus still commonly shows up in seasonal influenza outbreaks. A study of H1N1 influenza in 2009-2010 found that the second wave affected more older people, with underlying conditions.

Insight from the past suggests that discrete waves result as a disease spreads into and out of a population.

Different waves can have different features, too, regarding factors like disease severity or which populations are most affected.

What’s happening now in the US

SARS-CoV-2infections in the U.S. are on the rise. Some of this increase may be driven by more widespread testing now.

But the increases felt in many large states – Texas, California,

Florida – are a result of more community transmission.

Currently, even with an increase in the number of cases in many parts of the U.S., there has not been a corresponding increase in the number of deaths.

Panic about a second wave of coronavirus cases is “overblown,” Vice President Mike Pence wrote in June, implying the U.S. has COVID-19 under control. On the other hand, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warns that the U.S. is still firmly within a first wave of cases.

As media broadcast information about daily increases in the number of cases, it’s hard not to wonder which way the country is headed.

Have the weeks and months of lockdown really helped? What do the trends in diagnoses and deaths mean for the course of the pandemic? Is the U.S. stuck in a first wave? Through the worst of it? Headed for a second round?

Six months into the pandemic, people are looking for ways to make sense of what’s happening. Talking about waves of disease, with the implication of predictable rises and falls, is part of that. As an epidemiologist, I know that disease waves aren’t scientifically defined.

But looking to the history of previous epidemics and other countries’ current COVID-19 outbreaks can be useful.

The story from Iran may offer a cautionary note.

From a peak of over 3,000 cases confirmed per day in early April, it declined to less than 1,000 by May, from which it has climbed to hover around 2,500 daily confirmed cases as

of the end of June. The rise in the number of deaths did not occur until the second half of June. This is likely due to the time lag between when someone is infected and when they die.

Accordingly, U.S. states currently experiencing an uptick in COVID-19 confirmed cases could see a notable increase in deaths within a few weeks. The average age of those infected is getting younger, though, complicating predictions about a death toll.

The U.S. is not yet in a second wave and increasingly it looks like the country may not see one. Instead, the U.S. may sustain a constant first wave that just continues to crest. The political willpower necessary to limit transmission through robust, ongoing lockdown measures seems, unfortunately, to have been snuffed out.

But arguing about whether the U.S. is in a second wave, the first wave, or wave 1.5 ultimately doesn’t matter. Whichever it is, the commonsense actions everyone can currently take to limit the spread of infection remain the same: Staying home when possible, wearing a mask and socially distancing when out, and frequently washing hands will help speed our way beyond this pandemic, regardless of what wave we’re in.

Dr. Wagner studies the predictors of vaccinepreventable disease incidence, with a particular focus on vaccine hesitancy, at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation.

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Insight News • July 13, 2020 - July 19, 2020 • Page 7

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