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March 29, 2021 - April 4, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 13• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Healing must begin Uchechukwu Iroegbu STORY ON PAGE

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Page 2 • March 29, 2021 - April 4, 2021 • Insight News

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Insight News • March 29, 2021 - April 4, 2021 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE

Insight News March 29, 2021 - April 4, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 13• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

The Myth of “Race” and The Reality of Racism: A Thesis

“Nothing can be solved that can’t be faced.” - James Baldwin said it best, “The distinction that we make between the past, present and future is a stubborn illusion.”

Myth of Race

By Professor Mahmoud El-Kati

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Dr. Bravada Garrett-Akinsanya

Al McFarlane

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Steve Belton

Brandi Powell

No matter what, the healing must begin

By Brenda Lyle-Gray Columnist Healing is never complete until we have been truly heard. May the universe send you someone who will sincerely care to listen.

Anthon St. Maarten Dr. Bravada GarrettAkinsanya, President and CEO of Brakins Consulting and Psychological Services and founder of the African American Child Wellness Institute (AACWI), a mental health agency, focuses her research and work around the promotion of the psychological and spiritual liberation of children of African descent and their families. Our newly elected President and Vice President, with unprecedented layers of critical mayhem creeping outof-control in a divided nation, know with utmost certainty that if decent, kind, compassionate, faithful, and hopeful citizens don’t step forward to support our children while taking ‘self’ out of the equation, we will lose yet one more generation.

Several weeks ago, a distinguished group of

individuals in the civil rights, media, law, consulting, clinical psychology, and mental health arenas (The Urban League’s ‘Real Talk’ and “Conversations with Al McFarlane” co-hosted with AACWI) came together to shed light on realities and truths they believe must change.

Convener, Urban League president, Steve Belton, began by inquiring of the guests as to their feelings and those of Black community leaders and residents regarding the upcoming trial where unbiased jurors have been hard to come by. When the 27-million-dollar award to the family was announced, the response of some was if they have paid that amount of money in a wrongful death civil suit before the criminal case has even been heard, then that must mean the white police officer is guilty. Yet, the history of the law in black and white tells a different tale.

Attorney A.L. Brown detailed what he believed would be the basic premises of the defendant’s attorney who will continue to maintain that the venue and the city’s prejudicial and fearful mindset not wanting to experience another uprising

will never lend itself to a fair trial. “The attorney will say police officers have a tough job; that the area is tough and dangerous. He will contend all the things some segments of society believe about Black people are true. This man is a hero who just got caught up in a horrible space. He doesn’t feel great about this. It’s tragic for everyone. We’ve all been ripped apart. And remember, Mr. Floyd had a record and the toxicology report revealed he had drugs in his system. No one really wins.”

Whatever we can give of our talents and resources, parents, educators, and the disenfranchised must be a starting point to begin the healing process, no matter what.

And with the devastating and negatively impactful past year which appears to be repeating itself in the new year, a key component of that process is holding ourselves accountable for our wellness - our physical, emotional, and mental health so we can be strong enough to be teachers of the lessons we hear our ancestors reminding us from whence we have come and from Whom we have come from; of

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 Randall Harry Maya Alexa Starks Colbert, Beecham Spencer, Bos Bradley Jr. Josie Johnson

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

our resilience and gratitude in surviving a deadly pandemic, having shameful truths of inequities in almost every aspect of life unearthed, fearless in raising our voices for change and a level playing field. ‘It’s gonna get rough. It’s gonna be tough. But we’ve had enough!’

No longer willing to stand on the sidelines watching how the ‘other half’ has and continues to live.

Al McFarlane, host of “Conversations with Al McFarlane” believes there are two general themes of sentiment permeating the Black communities regarding the trial. “There is a sense of hope that justice will prevail; that Minneapolis can and will deliver fairness, honesty, and a result that reflects true justice has taken place. Then there’s this suspicion; an undercurrent of fear that it would be business as usual where there might be a general unwillingness to prosecute aggressively and effectively to get a guilty verdict in the case. “Don’t be upset if you don’t get the verdict you want because we

HEALING 4

Alliance of Alliances bringing a different approach to advancing racial justice and equity in the Twin Cities region The African American Leadership Forum, in partnership with members of a Black professional fraternity, the Itasca Project and GREATER MSP, have announced an initiative to address racial inequities in the Twin Cities region in a new and transformational way.

With a working title of the Alliance of Alliances, the effort will be led by local Black leaders. It will be housed at the African American Leadership Forum (AALF), which will be the backbone for coordinating existing racial equity work and for instigating new work shaped and driven by the Black community.

Early partnership with the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity (MBCRE) helped pave the way to developing new pathways to fund efforts such as this initiative.

“The Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity represents leaders from more than 80 organizations who have come together to build an equitable, inclusive and prosperous state with and for Black residents,” said Acooa Ellis, steering committee member and senior vice president of Community Impact

photo/Uche Iroegbu

The Alliance, AALF, and MBCRE will work together to generate and implement solutions to advance equitable outcomes for Black Minnesotans. for Greater Twin Cities United Way. The Alliance, AALF, and MBCRE will work together to generate and implement solutions to advance equitable outcomes for Black

Minnesotans. Currently, nearly $4 million of the $4 million required to jumpstart this effort has been raised through a coordinated fundraising effort with MBCRE members’ companies.

News

What is a hate crime? The narrow legal definition makes it hard to charge and convict

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The approach that the Alliance of Alliances will take to solving the region’s persistent disparities is different, according to Lynn Casey, chair of the Itasca

BLM 5

Editor’s note: Part 1 in a series Today we begin the serialization of Professor Mahmoud El-Kati’s book, The Myth of “Race” and The Reality of Racism: A Thesis, published

by Papyrus Publishing Inc., in 2012.

In today’s hypercharged environment, understanding and facing the meaning of race and racism are foundational to substantive, transformative change.

The African, or more precisely, the Ashanti proverb says that “if you know the beginning well, the end won’t trouble you.” If you know the original sin, then you know and understand why things are as they are today - whether you are an optimist or a pessimist.

If you are an optimist you are not troubled at all. If you are a pessimist you can be troubled only by the challenge to face the truth. I insist that there is something fundamental about our present fortunes, which derives from what should be defined as original sin. This sin called racial slavery has produced its own consequences and is so profoundly a part of the body politic of America. It was George Will, the noted conservative pundit, the eminent political commentator and pontifical voice for everything, who said that “everything that’s true is derivative and everything that’s not is false”. My bias against contemporary conservative thought notwithstanding, I concur with that statement.

This is a good recommendation for respecting the meaning and value of history. Albert Einstein

Fearless Candor James Baldwin, a prophet of our own times, has admonished us to accept the fact that “nothing can be solved that can’t be faced.” He proclaimed, “Black and white Americans, for excellent reasons of their own, haven’t the faintest desire to look back, because they view the past as quite horrible, and it will remain horrible, so long as they refuse to assess it honestly.” We half consciously deny our past, he said. He went on to say, in so many words, that it is so heinous, this past, “so unspeakable and in such bad taste that it defies all categories and all definitions”. Baldwin’s common sense observation that “the most dangerous creation in any society is that man who has nothing to lose” is a caveat that is well worth heeding. However, long before James Baldwin there was Frederick Douglass, the human rights champion as well as the most democratic of 19th century America who declared that, “The American people have this lesson to learn.

That where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, and ignorance prevails, where any one class of people are made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to rob, oppress, and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.

Hungry men will eat, desperate men will commit crimes, and outraged men will seek revenge.” In this connection with the original National sin, which is racism, which springs from the doctrine of white supremacy. This recurring theme goes back to the founding of the Republic. In the 1840s, the very insightful French writer Alexis De Tocqueville opined, “If there are ever great social

RACE 5

Chauvin trial begins The 15-member jury has been selected for the Derek Chavin trial. Jury selection began Monday, March 8. And after 11 days, the panel of 15 –12 jurors, two alternates and an additional alternate—were selected. There are six jurors of color, including three Black men, one Black woman and two mixed-race women with the remaining nine jurors identifying as white.

Potential jurors were residents from Hennepin County. They were first sent a 14-page questionnaire to assess their familiarity with the case.

The questionnaire includes a wide range of questions from their media habits to whether or not they have watched the video of George Floyd’s murder.

The jurors were then questioned by the judge and attorneys through a process called “voir dire.” This process assesses each person’s ability to judge fairly and the potential biases they may have, according to the American Bar Association.

A juror may have been dismissed “for cause” if either attorney thought they were biased towards the case and the judge approves the dismissal. Most potential jurors admitted that they had seen either some or all of the viral video in which George Floyd lost his life while Chauvin held his knee on his neck.

Chauvin stands trial for the May 25 murder of George Floyd. On that Memorial Day weekend, Floyd stopped at Cup Foods in South Minneapolis and allegedly attempted to pay for his purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. The store manager called the police and now former Minneapolis police officers, Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng responded to the call.

According to police cam footage, Floyd expressed fear of getting arrested. After he was handcuffed and on the ground, Chauvin arrives to the scene and pins Floyd down with his knee for almost nine minutes.

The other three former officers involved in the murder, Lane, Kueng, and Tou Thao will be tried in a separate case scheduled for trial in August 2020.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is the lead prosecutor as appointed by Governor Tim Walz. Ellison will be in the courtroom, but will not question witnesses. Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank will prosecute the case with Neal Kaytal and two additional attorneys, Jerry Blackwell and Steve Schleicher who are joining the prosecution pro bono.

Insight contributing writer Donna Baeck contributed to this article.

I2H

Biden: Open vaccinations to all adults by May 1

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Page 4 • March 29, 2021 - April 4, 2021 • Insight News

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Ben Johnson named men’s basketball head coach at U of M

Ben Johnson has been named head men’s basketball coach at the University of Minnesota.

The University and Johnson have agreed to a five-year term, pending the completion of a background check and Board of Regents approval. Johnson, 40, is Minnesota’s 18th head coach in program history.

Johnson, who graduated from Minnesota in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, returns to his alma mater after spending three seasons at Xavier as an assistant coach. Johnson previously served as an assistant coach at Minnesota from 2013-18 and was a two-time captain during his playing career for the Gophers.

“Ben is a proven coach who is ready to lead his own program,” said University of Minnesota Athletics Director Mark Coyle. “He has earned this opportunity and is a tremendous teacher, recruiter and relationship builder. I am thrilled for him to lead his alma mater, and I am excited for the future of our men’s basketball program.”

“Athletics is such an inviting “front porch” for

so much of the great work we do here at the University. Few programs are more visible or closely followed than Gopher men’s basketball,” said University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel. “To have someone like Ben Johnson leading this program – an ambassador for our University who grew up here, went to school here and knows what the University is all about – is tremendous, for our basketball program and our institution.

Like so many Minnesotans, I’m excited to welcome Ben home and look forward to our team’s success under his leadership.”

Johnson helped lead Xavier to consecutive top-30 recruiting classes in 2019 and 2020 and the Musketeers posted a collective record of 51-37 in three seasons with him on the bench.

“The University of Minnesota is such a special place and has impacted me in immeasurable ways on and off the court,” said Johnson. “I want to thank President Joan Gabel, Mark Coyle, Julie Manning and everyone involved in the search process for believing in me and trusting me to lead this historic

photo/gopher daily

Ben Johnson, who graduated from Minnesota in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, returns to his alma mater after spending three seasons at Xavier as an assistant coach.

his career atop the Gopher record books in rebounds (1,307), free throws made (460), free throws attempted (698) and second in scoring (1,802 points).

Prior to returning to Minnesota in 2013, he spent one season as an assistant coach under Tim Miles at the University of Nebraska.

While with the Huskers, Johnson assisted in all-day-today basketball-related duties while also serving as recruiting

program. I am ready to get to work.”

In his previous stint at Minnesota, Johnson helped recruit local standouts and current members of the Los Angeles Clippers organization Daniel Oturu and Amir Coffey to the Gophers. He also recruited current Gopher Gabe Kalscheur to the Maroon and Gold. Johnson was instrumental in recruiting and developing Jordan Murphy, who finished

coordinator. Johnson also led the development of Nebraska’s backcourt players.

Johnson spent 200812 as an assistant coach at Northern Iowa. The Panthers went a combined 93-77 in that timeframe, winning at least 20 games in all four years. Northern Iowa reached postseason play in all four years and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2009-10.

That year, UNI won a schoolrecord 30 games and upset topseeded Kansas in the second round.During his tenure at UNI, the Panthers boasted three first-team All-MVC selections, including 2010 Missouri Valley Conference MVP Adam Koch in 2010. Four players were named to the MVC All-Freshmen or All-Newcomer teams, including a pair in 2011-12.

Prior to his stay at Northern Iowa, Johnson served as an assistant coach for two seasons at the University of Texas-Pan American.

He was heavily involved in recruiting, worked with the Broncos perimeter players and coordinated UTPA’s summer camps.

Johnson’s coaching career began at the University

of Dayton, where he served as a graduate assistant during the 2005-06 season.

Johnson started his collegiate playing career at Northwestern and played two seasons before returning to the Twin Cities to finish his career.

He finished with 533 points in 59 games in Maroon and Gold and scored a total of 1,202 career points between the two Big Ten Conference institutions.

The Minneapolis native enjoyed a standout prep career, leading DeLaSalle High School to a pair of state championships. He was a twotime first-team all-state selection in both football and basketball, and as a senior, was named a Street & Smith All-American, as well as an honorable mention Nike All-American.

He was listed as the 60th-best basketball player in the country by Bob Gibbons in his senior season, totaling more than 2,200 points during his high school career. Johnson also was listed on Tom Lemming’s High School Football All-American list as a top-20 national recruit and was a two-time all-state performer on the gridiron.

Raising the minimum wage is a health issue, too

By Utibe Effiong, Board Certified Internal Medicine Physician and Public Health Scientist, MidMichigan Health, University of Michigan Congress just missed one of its best shots at improving health when the Senate failed to advance a bill that would have raised the minimum wage to US$15 an hour. Study after study has linked higher income to better health.

Consider that a well-paying job, by definition, increases household income.

That, in turn, means increased access to good nutrition, heat and a safe environment. It also means adequate health care.

With that job, you’ll likely make more visits to primary care doctors, dentists and specialists who work in preventive care.

An inadequate income does none of these things. Instead, it increases susceptibility to psychological stress, malaise, illness and disease. This is one reason those

who move off welfare benefits and gain employment improve their well-being.

I am not an economist.

But I am a physician and public health scientist. I can tell you that research shows that a wellpaying job translates to a longer life. For example, researchers in 2016 found that the richest 1% of men in the U.S. lived 14.6 years longer on average than the poorest 1% of men.

Employment benefits Numerous studies show employment is linked to self-esteem, purpose and identity.

It provides relationships, social connections, social status and regular productive activity; a job is an integral part of a person’s identity. Its loss threatens that identity, which is why unemployment typically causes a decline in mental health. When compared with their employed counterparts, unemployed Americans are far more likely to receive a diagnosis of depression.

One study found that people with a disability who were employed were less

are in Minnesota,” a few of my associates warned.”

“I’m going to believe Attorney General Keith Ellison is going to deliver the

Healing From 3

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, PhD. Associate Editor Afrodescendientes Carmen Robles Associate Editor Nigeria & West Africa Chief Folarin Ero-Phillips Columnist Brenda Lyle-Gray Book Review Editor W.D. Foster-Graham Director of Content & Production Patricia Weaver Content & Production Coordinator Sunny Thongthi Yang Distribution/Facilities Manager Jamal Mohamed Receptionist Lue B. Lampley

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likely to have frequent mental distress, including anxiety and depression, than those with a disability who were not employed (18% vs. 40%). This finding held up even when accounting for demographics and individual characteristics.

A possible solution Many economists have long criticized unemployment benefits because of their negative impact on the willingness to work. The average unemployment benefit is $320 weekly; the amount varies by state. The American Rescue Plan, recently passed to provide economic aid to million of Americans hit hard by the pandemic, adds an additional $300 to unemployment benefits through Sept. 6.

Compare that to the current federal minimum wage: $7.25 an hour. That’s $290 for a 40-hour week, less than what unemployment benefits pay. That means, for millions of Americans, being employed means less income. With the federal supplement, 63% of workers currently make more on

best case possible as will the representation of the defendant.

Genuine jurisprudence inclusive of an ethical responsibility and quality examples of how the legal system can and should work will prevail. I’m going to continue to talk about; to write about; and to present other writers and artistic creators who envision, as I do, narratives about our healed world where everybody wins,” McFarlane said.

Steve Belton said there are two messages that cannot be ignored. In the light of the case of the shooting by Black police officer, Mohamed Noor of 40 year-old AustralianAmerican, Justine Damond in 2017, just weeks after a high-profile manslaughter trial acquittal in the 2016 police shooting of Philando Castile, the Black man, whether officer of the law, or apprehended suspect, would be held accountable, as is the same with George Floyd, and be demonized. The second message is just as clear. The state of Minnesota has never successfully prosecuted a white police for killing an unarmed Black man. The stakes are high with so many explosive implications and possible outcomes while still amid a pandemic that has yet to loosen its grip entirely, he said.

Brandi Powell is an anchor/reporter at KSTP-TV (ABC affiliate) known for her breaking and often difficult news reporting and feature stories. “When journalists must craft stories in tough times like these, we have to be able to hear from people we don’t normally hear from. With this profound feeling of strength, hope, and inspiration, I want to show Black people in a light that depicts the beauty of the Black experience, that which is presented in our wisdom, our resilience, our power, and all inherent in our being. White families will admit they haven’t talked to their children about current issues that have changed their world. I believe all voices must be heard. What did we learn in the first unrest? What are the people’s expectations?”

McFarlane added,

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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

unemployment than they would with a minimum-wage job.

Reduce the federal supplement to only $100 a week, and 25% of the workforce would still make more on unemployment.

Which raises the question: Why not increase the minimum wage – at least enough to make it more than unemployment benefits? That way, more people would be motivated to seek jobs.

That may not happen soon, if at all. President Biden’s plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour was not a part of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package. And it’s true there’s a downside: Raising the minimum wage can reduce the number of jobs available.

A Congressional Budget Office estimate on Biden’s proposal says the raise would lift 900,000 people out of poverty, but it would also kill 1.4 million jobs over four years.

A brief history of the minimum wage.

That said, people who are fit to work should be encouraged to seek, not shun, employment.

With

unemployment benefits more than the basic minimum wage in many states, we are sending the wrong message to millions.

There’s more to a higher minimum wage than just more money. It also means more happiness, better health and a longer life.

Dr. Utibe Effiong is a US physician. Before his clinical appointment with MidMichigan Health, he was the Writer-inResidence at the University of Michigan Risk Science Center.

In that role, he ran Risk Without Borders, a unique blog that

examined emerging risk issues through the lens of a developing economy. Dr. Effiong is a boardcertified Internal Medicine physician and Public Health scientist. He holds the MBBCh degree from the College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, membership of the Nigerian National Postgraduate Medical College of Physicians, and the MPH degree from the University of Michigan.

This article appeared origionally on The Conversation and is republished under a Creative Commons license.

“I am a journalist on a mission - seeking to understand, report, elevate, protect, and project positive outcomes and possibilities for Black people with the belief that intent set in that arena means success for all people. How do we tell the full story when the one crafted so far is filled with lies and errors and mistruths and intended deceptions in an effort to create a narrative that has permanently disadvantaged people of color in general, Blacks in particular?”

Dr. B, as she is affectionately called, asked, “What are our priorities through and after the Chauvin trial?

Might I suggest claiming our wellness by becoming aware of our bodies and exploring the things we can do to improve and appreciate our person; exercising our minds; and tending to our spirits. We should do all we can to get all these things in alignment and centered. Say different and more positive things to yourself. Create a space and a time of peace.

We must remember the floors scrubbed; the hills climbed; the shoulders we stand on; and the pain that has been passed on from generation to generation.

Let it stop. In so many ways we are in a better position as a people than we were before. We now have an opportunity to teach our children and ourselves to fight in a way and love in a way that sends the message ‘I can be pro-Black without being antiwhite. I can love me without hating you. But we will insist on power, wealth, and opportunity being shared, and there must be an acknowledgement that we are wounded; we are sad; and we are angry, but that doesn’t make us weak. The traumas of violence, loss, an uncertain future for self and family, and a show of blatant hatred gives us permission to ask for help. We are in mourning.”

When Belton opened the joint programming of “Conversations” and “Real Talk”, he reminded us all that 30 years ago right down the street from U.S.C. where my oldest daughter had been blessed with a full athletic scholarship, riots broke out after four white

police officers were acquitted for brutally beating Rodney King, an unarmed Black man.

She had just begun to recover from Skinheads confronting her along with a few other Black and Latino students in the hallway of her high school where students had just celebrated a state championship in Track and Field, the first in 10 years.

Instead of a nervous breakdown brought on by the stress of how I was going to get my child out of L.A. and out of danger while Molotov cocktails flew over the university’s outside gates, the swelling of hives in my throat brought me to the brink of almost taking my last breath. I shut down and knew it would be a while before I could write this story. What happened to me was what Dr. B. refers to as a ‘trauma trigger’; re-traumatizing; anticipatory grief and fear.

The trauma continued for my children most of their adolescent and young adult lives, and it lives with many of our youth of color today who have faced an unprecedented jarring in their daily lives in which some cannot talk about; in which many have internalized; and in which parents have no coping skills in order to address the needs of their family.

“Our children have seen times when they witnessed their parents go through the grief just hours after they themselves had been attacked or bullied.

Racial trauma in our community is such an early education for Black kids learned through experience.

They are very aware of our voice tones, our body language, and our moods.

We must instill in ourselves and in our children that we possess the ability to change things for the better. Part is our truth, and the other part is our challenge; a challenge to strive for wellness as we learn to dig deep into our spirit, our soul, and our lineage remembering our heritage being one of a people who have overcome; who continuously found ways out of no way; and who eventually broke those plexiglass ceilings,” said Dr. B. Regarding the trial where Minneapolis and the law are on center stage, a top

political figure probably said it best but in terms unacceptable by the opposition. No matter the verdict, the aftermath, the reforms, the dialogue with opened doors, there will still be those who will try and find a way to shut them. The culture will not change soon and that’s a sad misfortune, especially for our children and grandchildren.

I just don’t get it. When I watched the video over and over again, I could only think without a doubt that this was murder. It was deep seated hatred, and no amount of money can ever right that wrong. Only justice can begin to heal those wounds.

In closing and when asked if he hoped justice would be served, Attorney Brown gave a potent response. “I am a Black man. I’m not entitled to hope.

But what I am entitled to is a sense of progression. Hope for tomorrow. If hope is informed by experience, then the answer is no. America hasn’t shown us that. Black America remains under constant manipulation as a means of creating white absolution for the wrongs committed in this country. What we can do is empower ourselves.

Re-engage and make yourself and your vote count. Georgia proved what can happen when we ‘show up’.”

McFarlane said, “Today, we are challenging white power and white privilege. No longer will ‘you’ blame us for the resultsiduals of 400 years of oppression and suppression, and then create careers and huge profits from the disparities, hatred, and fear you have perpetrated. My mission is to tell that the conditions African Americans find themselves in is not our creation. And it is not our permanent condition. We can emerge and become our true selves - productive, resilient, powerful, and demonstrative of what humanity can be. I will continue to speak to that truth.”

Join Al McFarlane and Dr. B. every Friday on Facebook or You Tube for “The Healing Circle” on “Conversations with Al McFarlane” from 1-2 CST.

photo/Eric Baradat_AFP via Getty Images

More than 22 million Americans lost their jobs at the start of the pandemic.

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Insight News • March 29, 2021 - April 4, 2021 • Page 5

What is a hate crime? The narrow legal definition makes it hard to charge and convict

By Jeannine Bell, Professor of Law, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University A white man travels to one business and kills several workers. He then kills more people at a similar business.

Six of the eight people he killed are Asian women, leading many people to call for him to be charged under the new state hate crime law. Authorities resist, saying they aren’t sure that racial bias motivated the man’s crimes.

That’s the situation unfolding in the Atlanta area in Georgia, right now. But there is often a gap between public opinion and law enforcement when people believe a hate crime has been committed, whether against LGBTQ people, racial minorities or Jewish people.

Hate crimes and hate murders are rising across the U.S., but long-term polling data suggests that most Americans are horrified by bias-motivated violence. They also support hate crime legislation, an effort to deter such attacks.

What is a hate crime?

I have studied hate crime and police for over 20 years.

Hate crimes are crimes motivated by bias on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity.

In some states, gender, age and gender identity are also included. Hate crime laws have been passed by 47 states and the federal government since the 1980s, when activists first began to press state legislatures to recognize the role of bias in violence against minority groups. Today, only Arkansas, South Carolina and Wyoming do not have hate crime laws.

In order to be charged as a hate crime, attacks – whether assault, killings or vandalism – must be directed at individuals because of the

BLM From 3 Project. “Our region’s business and philanthropic organizations have invested heavily over many years in reducing the disparities between white residents and people of color — particularly Black residents,” she said.

“We can point to many success stories, yet Black Minnesotans remain at or near the bottom in income, graduation rates and other socioeconomic measures when those quality-of-life measures are broken out by race. It’s time to add some new thinking. It’s time to invest in Black leadership.”

In addition to Black leadership, the Alliance of Alliances will use an approach called Black-Centered Design to ensure that solutions for the Black community are created by the Black community. “This is not how things have typically been done in the past,” Marcus Owens, AALF’s executive director, said. “Previous efforts have failed largely because they did not center Black perspectives and experiences.”

The Alliance of Alliances’ approach also is different in its

Race From 3 revolutions in America, it will be solely because of the presence of the African people. Revolutions grow out of conditions of inequality, not equality.” De Tocqueville was a great admirer of “American democracy”, but could not avoid its most obvious flaw, the institution of Negro enslavement. Along that line of thinking, we have the premonition of Thomas Jefferson: “I believe that slavery is an exercise of the most boisterous passions, of unremitting despotism on the one hand, and degrading submission on the other. It teaches white children to be tyrants after the pattern of their parents. It destroys the will to work in white men, and above all, it robs man of God’s greatest gift, and that is the gift of liberty.

Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just,

prohibited biases. Hate crimes, in other words, punish motive; the prosecutor must convince the judge or jury that the victim was targeted because of their race, religion, sexual orientation or other protected characteristic.

If the defendant is found to have acted with bias motivation, hate crimes often add an additional penalty to the underlying charge. Charging people with a hate crime, then, presents additional layers of complexity to what may otherwise be a straightforward case for prosecutors. Bias motivation can be hard to prove, and prosecutors can be reluctant to take cases that that they may not win in court.

It can and does happen, though. In June 2020, Shepard Hoehn placed a burning cross and a sign with racial slurs and epithets facing the construction site where his new neighbor, who is Black, was building a house.

Hoehn was charged with and later pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges in Indiana. A few months later, Maurice Diggins was convicted by a federal jury of a 2018 hate crime for breaking the jaw of a Sudanese man in Maine while shouting racial epithets.

photo/Megan Varner/Getty Images

A memorial to the Asian American women gunned down at Gold Spa, in Atlanta, Ga., on March 18, 2021. studied a specialized police hate crime unit in a city I called, for the purposes of anonymity, “Center City.” My study revealed that those detectives could distinguish non-hate crimes – for instance, when the perpetrator angrily used the n-word in a fight – from cases that are truly hate crimes, as when the perpetrator used it during a targeted attack on a Black person.

Without the right training and organizational structure, officers are unclear about common markers of bias motivation, and tend to assume that they must go to extraordinary lengths to figure out why suspects committed the crime.

“We don’t have time to psychoanalyze people,” said the same veteran police officer in 1996.

Even law enforcement officers specifically trained in bias crime identification still may not name incidents as hate crime that, to the general public, seem obviously bias-driven.

Even though 47 states have hate crime laws, 86.1% of law enforcement agencies reported to the FBI that not a single hate crime had occurred in their jurisdiction in 2019, according to the latest FBI data collected.

How to charge a hate crime The first use of the term “hate crime” in federal legislation was the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990. This was not a criminal statute but rather a data-gathering requirement that mandated that the U.S. attorney general collect data on crimes that “evidenced prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.”

Soon, states began passing their own laws recognizing bias crimes. But hate crime legislation has not led to as many charges and convictions as activists may have hoped.

Law enforcement struggle to identify hate crime and prosecute the offenders.

In many cases, police have received inadequate training in making hate crime classification.

“What weights do you give to race, dope, territory?

These things are 90% gray – there are no black-and-white incidents,” said one 20-year veteran police officer in a 1996 study of hate crime.

But I’ve also found that police departments are rarely organized in a way that allows them to develop the expertise necessary to effectively investigate hate crimes. When police departments have specialized police units and prosecutors who are committed to taking on hate crime, they can develop the routines that allow them to investigate hate crime in a manner that supports victims.

In the late 1990s I

comprehensiveness, Owens said. AALF will recruit leaders for each of eight areas essential to achieving racial justice and equity: public safety, shared responsibility, infrastructure investments, employment, education, healthcare, housing and advocacy. “These leaders will not only convene those organizations and individuals who currently work in and support those areas; they also will look for ways to leverage work across those areas,” Owens said.

“Take education and employment as one example.

They are linked. Could we be more successful in how we educate and train our young people for careers if we thought through and addressed the barriers more holistically?”

The idea for the Alliance of Alliances began last July when members of Omicron Boule’, the local chapter of the Black professional fraternity Sigma Pi Phi, met with leaders of the Itasca Project and GREATER MSP to co-create a vision for what a more equitable region would look like in 2030. Out of those discussions emerged a two-page document outlining a 10-year vision and the eight work areas essential to achieving that vision. The document was shared with

more than two dozen business, philanthropy and nonprofit organizations, including many that are Black led.

“We asked what it would take to build a different kind of movement for change,” said Omicron Boule’ member and U.S. Bank Chief Diversity Officer Greg Cunningham. “As conversations continued, the question of whether to form a separate organization or leverage an existing one came up repeatedly. AALF became the logical home because of its reach into the Black community, its way of partnering with others to get things done, and its commitment to centering Black voices in its efforts to drive change.”

Initial funders of the Alliance of Alliances include the U.S. Bank Foundation, 3M, Best Buy, General Mills, GHR Foundation, Securian Financial, Target Foundation, Thrivent, The Toro Company, and Wells Fargo. “This effort is about shifting our region from a focus on managing disparities to investing in equity as a strategy to drive growth and innovation,” said GREATER MSP President & CEO Peter Frosch. “And we are inviting other leaders and organizations to join in shaping a new consensus on how to advance racial equity.”

and that His justice cannot sleep forever.” Early on both De Tocqueville and Jefferson shared an instinctive foreboding, which resembles a Greek Tragedy. The Achilles Heel of the American Republic then and now is the lack of social justice for its second oldest population African descended people. We must leave aside for a moment, the indigenous population, because they weren’t a part of the Republic. They were defined outside of it, hence, “Indian Reservations”. There have been two seismic shifts in the history of the still young Republic – The Civil War of the 19th century and The Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century.

A part of the American character comes from the results of these critical events. Black Americans have been at the center of the struggle for De Tocqueville’s true “American Democracy”.

Curiously they have the most sustained examples of Jefferson’s “Tree of liberty…a little rebellion is its natural manure.”

Given the growing awareness that we now have about the peoples in the “Global Village”, it remains astonishing that so many of us otherwise enlightened people do not accept the inter relatedness of humankind, even more so of Americans, “as the last and best hope for mankind”. It is an inescapable reality that the world and the people in it are interdependent. According to James Baldwin: “The world is not white. It is not black either.

The future of this world depends on everyone and that future depends on, to what extent, and by what means, we liberate ourselves from a vocabulary which cannot now, bear the weight of reality.” To create a new and responsible vocabulary that respects reality as it is.

This is the great challenge of our time. “Let the word suit the action and the action suit the word,” cried Voltaire, or was it Socrates?

Will continue to next week: Adding to the Confusion.

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By LaurenofPoteat Courtesy University of Alejandra By Dr. Commentary By North Brandpoint Dr. Rhonda Nicole Rekha Kimya Memorial Winbush E.Oliveras N. Mankad by Moore (BPT) Sen. Staff Ian Roth NNPA Minnesota Washington News Staff Bobby Dennis, Incoming Joe Salem Board Champion College ChairAfrodescendientes Mayo Clinic Staff Correspondent By IanPhysician Roth NorthPoint www.TheConversation.com elect, WomenHeart Health & Mayo Clinic Staff Wellness Center

This may be the result of police bias.

Limits of the law Advocates for hate crime victims maintain that police and prosecutors can do much more to identify and punish hate crimes.

Empirical evidence supports their claims. The FBI’s 2019 report contains 8,559 bias crimes reported by law enforcement agencies. But in the National Crime Victimization Survey, victims say that they experienced, on average, more than 200,000 hate crimes each year. This suggests that police are missing many hate crimes that have occurred.

Distrust of police, especially in Black communities, may dissuade minorities from even calling the police when they are victimized by hate crime for fear they could also become victims of police violence.

All this means that perpetrators of hate crimes may not be caught and can reoffend,

further victimizing communities that are meant to be protected by hate crime laws.

Hate crime laws reflect American ideals of fairness, justice and equity.

But if crimes motivated by bias aren’t reported, well investigated, charged or brought to trial, it matters little what state law says.

A nationally recognized scholar in the area of policing and hate crime, Professor Jeannine Bell has written extensively on criminal justice issues. Bell’s research is broadly interdisciplinary, touching on both political science and law, and relying on her empirical expertise.

Professor Bell joined the IU Maurer School of Law in 1999, where she teaches in the areas of criminal law and procedure.

She was appointed Richard S. Melvin Professor of Law in 2015.

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

Page 6 • March 29, 2021 - April 4, 2021 • Insight News

Insight 2 Health

photo/Prostock-Studio

Over the next six weeks, the Administration will deliver vaccines directly to up to an additional 700 community health centers that reach underserved communities, increasing the total number of participating community health centers across the country to 950, White House officials said.

insightnews.com

photo/whitehouse.gov

The Administration promises to more than double the number of federally run mass vaccination centers, run by FEMA, the U.S. military, and other federal agencies in partnership with states, to ensure that we reach the hardest-hit communities in this historic effort.

Biden: Open vaccinations to all adults by May 1

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Just hours after signing into law his massive $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, President Joe Biden addressed the nation and announced the implementation of his next phase of a national strategy to put the pandemic in the country’s rear-view mirror.

The President declared that he would direct states, tribes, and territories to make all adults eligible for the coronavirus vaccine by May 1.

In his first prime-time address since taking over the Oval Office, Biden proclaimed a

goal of getting the nation closer to normal by the July 4 holiday.

“If we do our part, if we do this together, by July 4, there’s a good chance you, your families, and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day,” he noted as he stared firmly into the television camera.

Speaking from the East Room of the White House, Biden said returning to normal requires everyone to continue wearing face coverings, social distancing, and getting vaccinated.

More than 529,000 Americans have died since the pandemic began, and nearly 30 million have contracted the virus.

“We all

lost something,” the President declared.

“A collective suffering, a collective sacrifice, a year filled with the loss of life. In the loss, we saw how much there was to gain.

An appreciation, respect and gratitude,” he uttered.

In his first hours in office, Biden launched a comprehensive strategy to defeat the pandemic. He noted that in the seven weeks since the Administration has delivered more than 81 million vaccinations and more people can visit their loved ones again.

“There is more work to do,” the President reminded viewers.

He promised that the White House COVID-19 Response Team has concluded

that the accelerated vaccination efforts will enable prioritized vaccinations that will prove far enough along by the end of April that officials could lift all eligibility restrictions at that time.

The President offered a ramped-up effort to create more places for people to get vaccinated, enabling officials to reach those hardest hit and most challenging to reach.

Over the next six weeks, the Administration will deliver vaccines directly to up to an additional 700 community health centers that reach underserved communities, increasing the total number of participating community health centers across the country to 950, White House officials said.

The Administration also will double the number

of pharmacies participating in the federal pharmacy program, making the vaccine available at more than 20,000 pharmacies in locations convenient to all Americans.

Pharmacies are also directed to expand mobile operations into the hardest-hit communities to reach more people.

The Administration promises to more than double the number of federally run mass vaccination centers, run

by FEMA, the U.S. military, and other federal agencies in partnership with states, to ensure that we reach the hardest-hit communities in this historic effort.

“Finding light in the darkness is a very American thing to do,” Biden said.

He also used the national platform to denounce racism and hate crimes against Asian Americans, whom the previous Administration targeted as the cause of the pandemic.

“There have been vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans who’ve been attacked, harassed, blamed, and scapegoated,” President Biden remarked.

“At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans, are on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives and still are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. “It’s wrong, it’s un-American, and it must stop.”

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Insight News • March 29, 2021 - April 4, 2021 • Page 7

1/8 PAGE COLOR CAPRW ENERGY ASSISTANCE

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Page 8 • March 29, 2021 - April 4, 2021 • Insight News

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WAYS TO EXPLORE AFRICAN AMERICAN

HISTORY WITH

SEE MORE PRINCE

In the photogr aphy exhibit Prince: Before the Rain , you can see iconic images of the artist tak en by Allen Beaulieu in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Prince’ s story continues in the First Avenue exhibit, where you can see his Purple Rain suit. Both exhibits now on view, Minnesota History Center, St. Paul.

Aesthetics

First Avenue presenting sponsor Baird.

Prince sponsor Xcel Energy.

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COME TO FAMILY DAY

SATURDAYS at the MUSEUMɨ Explore the history of St. Anthony F alls with a day of family-friendly activities during My Mighty Journey: A W aterfall’s Story Family Day, Nov 9, Mill City Museum, Minneapolis.

Storytellers, Activities and Fun! Sponsored by Xcel Energy.

Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery 1256 Penn Ave No, Minneapolis, MN 55411, 4th Floor

Saturday mornings from 10 - 11:30am • 240 pages

Hear Stories Read or Great Storytelling!

EXPLORE THE HIDDEN Engage in coordinated HISTORY

activities and just have Fun!

Hear Dr. Christopher Lehman talk about his ne w book, Slavery’s Reach, which tr aces the mone y between Southern plantations and Minnesota’ s businesses. Slavery’s Reach Author Ev ent, Nov 17, North www.maahmg.org Contact us at: info@maahmg.org Regional Libr ary, Minneapolis.

Become a member!

MNHS Press

• $18.95

Local Children’s Book Authors and Storytellers! Treats!

All Are Welcome.

See us at

Free Admission.

____________________________________________________________________________ "The Children's Reading Circle is partially supported by The Givens Foundation for African American Literature through operating support funding from Target. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund."

PLAN YOUR VISIT 1-844-MNSTORY MNHS.ORG

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The MAAHMG is a fully qualified 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Minnesota.

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