Insight ::: 05.31.21

H

S C

TURN TO PAGE

5

Page 2 • May 31, 2021 - June 6, 2021 • Insight News

For those who like their steak rare, and Puffy jacket, summer your time is up. well done.

It’s that time of year when it feels like winter will never end, but at Kowalski’s Floral and Gii, we’re already seeing the first signs of spring.

You’ll find fresh cut flowers to brighten your day, short-sleeve tees and tops to inspire your inner optimist, and heartwarming giis to help you celebrate the joy of the coming season.

insightnews.com

Say their name’s Weallknow thatBLACKLIVESMATTER

Theyhave fromtheverystartWhyisitsodifficulttotakethistruthtoheart Weremember,thenameEmmittTill whotraveledfromNorthtoSouthKlansmenkilledthisyoungblackboyfora whistlefromhismouth Weremember,thenameDaunte Wright Heandhissonhadsomuchfunapolicetookhislifeawayneverusedhertazerbutquicklyusedhergun Weremember,thenameTravonMartin,Obamasaid”hecouldbeenmyson”Ajuryofsi xacquittedZimmermanofmurderthatwasdone Weremember,GeorgeFloyd ashelaythereonthedeckhediedbecauseacopnamedChauvinkepthiskneeuponhisneck Weremember,thenameBreannaTaylor

The joy of grilling season.

The joy of welcoming the Summer doesn’t officially start until you fire up that grill! new season.

Grillmasters will forever argue over settings, styles and best-kept

sheheldbrightfuturesinherheadButano-knockwarrantwasservedwithbulletsNowsheandallherdreamsaredead

secrets, but the one thing they can all agree on is that the best

HewaskilledinatrafficstopHewouldstillbefeedingschoolchildrenhaditnotbeenforthatcop

flavors from the grill start with the best meats from Kowalski’s.

Whether you’re shipping Kowalski’s exclusive akaushi cuts from our

Floral & Gii

Butcher Block for Father’s Day or picking up certified humane prime steaks for Friday night, Kowalski’s can help you get the most m out of grilling season.

Weremember,thenameofPhilandoCastile

Weremember,thenameofStephanClark deadlyforcetookhislifeawayPoliceclaimhehadaguninhishandbuthe onlyhadaphoneinhishandthatday TheyallturnedpaintopurposeSOSAYTHEIRNAMESwithprideTruemembersofajusticemovementwholivedandbreathedanddied

Dr.JamesT.Shelton

“The Absence of Justice” starting June 1, 2021 starting from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum & Gallery located at 1256 Penn avenue Minneapolis MN

insightnews.com

Insight News • May 31, 2021 - June 6, 2021 • Page 3

Insight News WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE

May 31, 2021 - June 6, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 22• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Still killing under the auspices of "public safety"

By Jonathan Palmer Guest Editorial

James Garrett Jr.

Roger Cummings

Finding Hope and Guidance in Philosophy

By James Garrett Jr.

Approximately one year ago, my hometown became ground zero for the event that would of racial discourse in modern America: the murder of George Floyd, or “Big Floyd” as we called him at Conga Latin Bistro, where he worked for many years. As an architect, I thrive on combining creative vision with the pragmatics of planning for—and protecting—public health, safety, and welfare. But times like these, I often seek guidance in another discipline: philosophy.

I’m a proud Gen Xer and a part of the Hip-Hop Generation with an eclectic philosophical archive that embraces diverse cultural Ching, Tao Te Ching, and Art of War to Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeau, and the Supreme Mathematics of the 5% Nation of Islam (Nation of Gods and Earths).

In fact, hip-hop music and culture trace their origins to 5% “mathematics” being built upon in informal circular “ciphers” of poets, griots, B-boys, and musicians gathered on New York City street corners, brownstone stoops, subway stations, and

public parks in the 1970s.

According to 5 Percenters, each Arabic numeral has a unique

inextricably linked to an Islamic principle connecting its origin, physical form, and ultimate manifestation.

For the better part of the past decade and particularly now with the convergence of COVID-19 and our national reckoning with racial injustice, I have been ruminating on an exploration based the traditional 5 Percenter math lesson regarding the number 8: Build or Destroy.

Historically, humans have built societies, settlements, and sacred structures upon a foundation of spirituality and philosophy as expressed through the integration of arts and humanities into architecture. Although the scrubbed expressive ornament and craft from our cities and built environment in favor of we must endeavor to re-situate people, community, and cultural expression within the design process. To this end, philosophy can be both a basis and catalyst for creative thought particularly in times as uncertain as these.

“The science or act of Building means to add on

productively and constructively to any said Cipher. Destroy, which is the polar opposite, means to do away with any and all things that are nonproductive and destructive to any said Cipher. Just as the shape of the numeral ‘8’, Build or Destroy possesses the duality of two Ciphers, one positive and one negative. This duality exists in every aspect of life and must

what causes all things to occur that are below and above our level of Understanding…”

Sha Be Allah The Source May 8, 2013 Within this construct, the role of design professionals is vital to the re-institution and maintenance of balance in the world. Architects, designers, and artists are the most powerful and universal embodiment of the positive cipher. We imagine, plot, plan, innovate, create, and build. We are magical. Through our mind’s eye, we see what does not yet exist and have the organizational skills to bring the unseen into existence. This is our role in society. It is a sacred responsibility.

This past year has exposed many aspects of contemporary society as emblematic of the negative cipher Destroy. From climate

change to the carceral state, white supremacy, income

racial justice, the dismantling of unjust, unsustainable systems and institutions that maintain the current social order is inevitable. destruction that exploded here in Minneapolis at the apex of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protest movement were isolation, death, and economic disruption of the pandemic.

This ubiquitous Destroy cipher is especially to navigate as it runs counter to our internal imperative to make, generate, produce, conserve, and create. It destabilizes our mental health and sanity.

Thus, it is not for us to be on the frontlines of this type exposing ourselves to the ubiquitous violence and chaos that emanate from it.

Our role as creatives is to fully embrace and exemplify the Build cipher—to focus our attention and energy on the new world that must rise from the ashes, like seedlings

HOPE 4

Intention, planning matter in mining opportunities created by Hwy 252/I94 improvement project Final in a series of 4 on MnDOt Hwy 252/I94 project Stairstep Foundation CEO Alfred Babington-Johnson and Conversations with Al McFarlane moderator, Al McFarlane in April co-hosted a virtual Town Hall meeting to introduce an initiative to support Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) around the project for African American and African immigrant residents who may be impacted by improvement considerations.

Forum participants included: Reverend Dr. Francis Tabla, senior pastor Ebenezer Community Church in Brooklyn Park, Bishop Richard Howell, the Diocesan Bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and Pastor of Shiloh Temple Church in North Minneapolis, Reverend Cyreta Oduniyi, a pastoral leader

at Liberty Church in North Minneapolis and Superintendent McKinley Moore, pastor of Jehovah Jireh Church of God in Christ in Brooklyn Park.

Babington said the panelists were part of an august team of church leaders whose churches and members are situated in or live and work along the Hwy 254/I94 Corridor in Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park and North Minneapolis.

Chris Hoberg, MNDOT’s Civic engagement manager for this project, said “I don’t want people to think out because we haven’t. But our intention is to be very mindful of where the opportunities lie, where the resources are and how we can bring those resources to eliminate barriers and get people plugged into careers in highway heavy construction.”

Project Manager

Stairstep Foundation CEO Alfred Babington-Johnson Jerome Adams, said, “People always ask when, how are you going to make this actionable?

My goal is that in 2021, we’ll be able to work with the Stairstep Foundation and the rest of the community, in actually saying, ‘Hey, here is a class you can take that helps you get into the

highway heavy construction trade or here’s a journeymen class or here’s how to connect with the union.’ And I’m hoping that that plan has an actual mechanism where the state helps an individual in the community

MNDOT 5

A year ago, the world changed.

Not because George Floyd died, that is an experience that is all too common in Black and brown communities across this nation: Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Daunte Wright…the list goes on.

No, the world changed because it witnessed the murder of George Floyd by a person in a position of authority, sworn to protect and serve the people. It changed because Darnella Frazier showed how Derek Chauvin betrayed the law he was sworn to uphold. And in the span of 9 minutes and 29 seconds, the world became aware that racism was alive and well, systemic and still killing Black people under the auspices of “public safety”.

Our country has labored under the notion of “law and order” without truly examining what that means and we want our communities to be livable, but it cannot be at the expense of justice.

“Law and order” all too many times ha become codewords for homogeneity, protecting privilege and persecuting Black, brown and poor people. They are the political theater of notable and Richard Nixon who used the term to garner support by perpetuating the myths of Black and brown people as threats, criminals and people needing to be put or held down.

Like you would with a knee, pressed into a neck, to

Jonathan Palmer Executive Director demonstrate who was in charge, and where we belong.

The world changed, the world woke up, and the world became energized with protests and demonstrations across the globe saying clearly, with a loud voice, “Black lives matter”.

But here we are, a year later and for all the progress and awareness, Black and brown people continue to be killed by police and racist White people, over the notion of what “justice in policing” means. Stop and consider that for a moment, that the concept of justice interpretation when it comes to the very people responsible for ensuring it. One of the major immunity”, which essentially excuses the government employee who should know the law and how best to adhere to it from consequences should they break it by mistake.

However, we don’t allow this self same protection for your average person who isn’t as well versed as law enforcement

BLM 5

It’s Time for a Black Woman on the Supreme Court For the

By Ben Jealous I am eager to see a brilliant Black woman serving as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. I hope to celebrate her swearing-in later this year.

If you’re thinking, “Did I miss something?” the answer is no, there is no vacancy on the Court right now.

But there has been talk that Justice Stephen Breyer, who is 82 years old, might step down after the current Supreme Court term ends in June.

Some activists and legal scholars are encouraging Breyer to step down now. That would give President Joe Biden promise to name a Black woman to the high court. And it would let a Biden nominee be considered by a Senate that is not controlled by Republicans.

Never forget that when Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell was majority leader, he abused his power to slowwalk President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees. And he refused to allow the Senate to even consider Obama’s Supreme Court nomination of

Merrick Garland, leaving a seat vacant for more than a year.

Sen. That same McConnell did everything he could to pack the courts with right-wing judges during the Trump administration— including a third Trump Supreme Court justice who was rammed through the Senate just days before voters turned Trump out threaten the legal legacy of the the Supreme Court, the brilliant Justice Thurgood Marshall.

And that threatens all of us.

As a Marylander with deep roots in Baltimore, I am proud that a native son of that justice on our country’s highest court. As a lifelong civil rights activist, I am grateful that a strategist for the civil rights movement was given the opportunity to advance equality under law as a Supreme Court justice.

As a Black man and father of Black children, I am thankful for the ways that Marshall changed history. And I am deeply committed to defending those changes at a time when they are under at-tack.

The threat to our lives, and to a multiracial, multiethnic democratic society, does not just come from violent white supremacists or abusive cops. It comes from Republican

JEALOUS 5

I2H

News

Paying people to get vaccinated might work – but is it ethical?

Women united to win

PAGE 5

PAGE 6

Page 4 • May 31, 2021 - June 6, 2021 • Insight News

insightnews.com

As gun violence escalates –

Greatest threat to a Black man is another Black man

By Brenda Lyle-Gray Columnist

Most of the great problems we face are caused by politicians creating solutions to problems they created in the first place.

Walter E. Williams

Minneapolis is among cities that is talking about partially defunding the police department. Some crime prevention programs that had begun to work were cut.

“I think what we see has happened is a reduction in policing, particularly the kinds of policing that might be expected to have the most effect on homicides and shooting crimes,” said former judge and current law professor at the University of Utah, Paul Cassell.

This concept, referred to as “the Minnesota Effect”, was the topic of discussion along with Lawrence Rosenthal, a law professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA. at a virtual event held in March by the Heritage Foundation. Their premise: the anti-policing rhetoric, actions, and protests after the George Floyd murder might not be all there is to the story of rising gun violence and the fear currently shrouding North and South side neighborhoods.

A few quick facts.

High homicide rates continued long after the protests ceased.

The structural damage was a reminder as many young people especially could not quell their anger and disgust. Most of the homicides occurred outside of the riot areas and were not in excess during warmer months which had been the norm so far.

Gun sales increased in March, but the surge of killings didn’t start until the end of May. They concluded the pandemic was an unlikely culprit in that the homicides began to increase over two months before the reality of a deadly virus was accepted by the previous administration.

A probable cause was the redeployment of police to protests and riot locations. After the somewhat calming of the riot areas, police morale was low due to antipolice sentiments. Quite a few left the force and moved to other areas and the ones remaining pulled back.

In search of theories as to why a 6-year-old child would lose her precious life in her mother’s car on her way

Al Flowers Jr. ‘A.J.’

Diana Hawkins

Dr. BraVada Garrett Akinsanya

Kamau King

Peter Hayden

Dr. Walter E. Williams

home from McDonald’s and as the date of this writing, both an 8 and 10 ten-year-old lie in a coma in the same hospital holding on to dear life by the grace of God, even those explanations are perplexing.

According to Rosenthal and Cassell, aggressive policing can lead to violent confrontations where an officer’s judgment can be questioned. De-policing calls for answering the demands for systemic reforms and more effective management within police departments. Sadly, as Diana Hawkins, co-host and Executive Director for the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council reports, “people are afraid to come out of their homes.”

A year or so ago, the late economics professor Walter E. Williams might have offered food for thought. “The greatest danger for a Black man in America today is another Black man. Black people need to have frank conversations among ourselves no matter how uncomfortable and embarrassing the topics may be.” Williams suggests that Black people should patrol their own neighborhoods armed while ignoring the liberal agenda.

Many believe, as does the ‘field marshal’ as he is referred to by the host and decades long friend, a fullthrottle campaign that activates the information infrastructure of the Black community and

supports increased presence in numbers in the hot spot areas. In several interviews last week on “Conversations with Al McFarlane”, the host and guests were perplexed and sad.

Local community activist K.G. Wilson’s granddaughter, Aniya Allen, had been robbed of her young life. Wilson could not describe the pain and disbelief.

So many holes punctured in so many hearts and souls, Wilson said in community vigils and gathering.

Al Flowers, Sr. lost a daughter and Al (A.J.) Flowers Jr. lost a sister to what Dr. BraVada Garret Akinsanya, founder and CEO of the African American Child Wellness Institute entitles ‘a bullet without a name’.

One could tell the anguish was still raw as they both talked about the fear many people were feeling with the current surge of gang and police violence plaguing the city they love. The role model for so many young people including his son says hecontinues to “fight the good fight” making a gallant effort to level the playing field. The familiar ‘popping’ sounds continue to be heard at a distance. There seems to be no value on life. Residents who love their neighborhoods, who have history on the North and South side of Minneapolis, face a quandary: Do I stay or do I go? I am responsible for protecting my family.

Our friend and

Hope

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

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,

From 3 that emerge from nutrient-rich soil in the wake of forest fires.

We are the germinators of culture as expressed through the built environment. This is our ultimate purpose.

We are now called into prayerful mediation, intense visualization, and engaging conversation about the future that is to be created. Our work is imperative and essential to the continuity of society. Once the proverbial dust settles and the smoke clears, we must be ready to rise up—uprise—and fulfill our fundamental purpose by meeting this moment head on.

Incidentally, we find ourselves in a moment of historical symmetry. One hundred years ago, the world was in the waning days of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.

After 24 months and multiple

Kansas City childhood classmate, Kamau King, retired attorney for Coca Cola and now living with his family in Decatur, Georgia just outside of Atlanta, showed the sadness in his face.

What was happening in the Twin Cities was happening in Atlanta too. But he remembers the role models from D.A. Holmes and Central Jr. and Sr. High Schools.

We were expected to succeed and whenever our phenomenal principal, George Perry saw us, there had better been a book for reading in our book satchels, King said.

In an interview the following day, Dr. Peter Hayden, founder and CEO of Turning Point Inc., spoke of the upcoming anniversary of his own 25-year old daughter’s murder that happened in Atlanta. “She had graduated from Prairie View College and was just taking a short weekend trip with a few of her friends in celebration. This violent surge brings back so many painful memories, but moving forward, there’s so much work to do, he said.

The latest shooting came right after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced a detailed summer safety response, more funding for intervention programs, and a promise to hold Minneapolis police more accountable via new standards and training. Frey said he is also working with the police department to get more

cameras on the street, more officers on patrol, and more funding for victims of trauma.

Beth Moore, a spiritual thinker and writer, once penned, “Faith is without equal in its effects upon the human life. Faith unchallenged ordinarily remains unchanged.” Faith and hope for our children’s future has been and continues to be challenged not just in Minneapolis, but in major cities with neglected and ignored urban communities that have known this life trek for generations.

Andrew Bornhoft, Housing Administrator for the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council said, “those who have long been directly impacted appear to let their fearful and angry voices ring out at a distance where no one can hear them.”

And Hayden reminds us, “no matter what has happened in the past, we have babies dying today. We can’t go around talking about ‘how the ‘man’ has perpetrated injustice and ripped off opportunities for generations. We have to save our children and ourselves and that means families and neighbors together.”

Hayden, a native Kansas Citian like McFarlane, King and me, described how we all attended schools named after Black historical heroes, how neighbors watched out for the children on the block, and how great our teachers were as

waves of an invisible plague ravaging society, the world began to emerge from darkness and isolation. Two years of anxiety and absence from the public square created pentup economic demand and desperation for socialization that was unmatched at that point in American history.

In the mid-1920s, the magical era called the Jazz Age was born, and for the next decade, the Roaring ’20s exploded from cities like New York and Chicago, permanently transforming the production of art, music, science, and technology while ushering in a period of radical social transformation and the creation of a new social order, virtually unrecognizable from that of the previous decade.

Women cut their hair and exchanged Victorian era gowns for low-cut dresses. They celebrated their newly minted suffrage and independence by dancing all night to the latest tunes in racially integrated jazz clubs and sipping cocktails in underground, Prohibitionera speakeasies. Led by Black entertainers and dancers, like Josephine Baker, this flapper culture quickly spread throughout society to become the vanguard of modern, progressive expression.

Jazz geniuses like Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington toured Europe spreading the soundtrack of this new era across the pond.

Art Deco architecture emerged, moving pictures gained sound, penicillin battled diseasecausing bacteria, and the Spirit of Saint Louis soared across the Atlantic.

Now to 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic is winding down and the social anxiety–driven, pent-up energy is palpable. We may be on the

precipice of a new Roaring ’20s—the 2020s. As the current Destroy cipher topples institutional norms and attacks pervasive, structural inequality, our time to imagine, create, and Build the next iteration of modernity is approaching.

Creatives can become proactive change agents by producing new ways of imagining the institutions and relationships that will be possible after the antiquated ones collapse.

Imagine a future founded in justice, shared responsibility, universal access to opportunity, and abundant resources all expressed through the creative arts and documented through the humanities. Peoplecentric design will become standard practice and mag-lev trains, autonomous electric vehicles, and drone taxis will become primary means of transportation. Smart power grids will transport energy from ubiquitous rooftop solar and wind farms with high-capacity battery storage systems, replacing coal power plants and oil pipelines. Vertical farms and organic urban agriculture will replace industrial farms and chemical-based fertilizer.

Solar hydro-panels paired with rooftop rainwater capture, storage, and filtration systems will eliminate our reliance on failing municipal infrastructure (see Flint, Mich.). Advanced mRNA technology will eliminate pernicious, chronic diseases like cancer and prevent new contagions from spreading.

The future that we deserve is on the horizon, within reach. To get there, we must constantly seek opportunities to expand our knowledge, intentionally pursue opportunities to elevate our consciousness, and courageously extend our arms to embrace this moment.

we excelled in fine segregated schools with impressive role models and high expectations.

“The colonial trauma of the Middle Passage from the ancestors on whose shoulders we all stand on today still runs through our DNA. We know that to be true, today more than ever. A positive and more determined change of attitude should be the norm after we survived a pandemic, the hell of a dictator that would have surely made people of color ‘fair game’ for demise, and a verdict that not only saved the city of Minneapolis, but cities around the globe. A Chauvin acquittal might have indeed been the last straw. And who would have been hurt more but the children.

So, from our guests who have experienced ‘a lot’, let us offer a few solution recommendations. VOTE: make sure all legal documents are in order; volunteer to tutor and help clean up the schools so that our children can be proud and want to come; become a mentor; go back to the concept of block clubs and neighborhood community councils; check on young mothers and seniors in our neighborhoods; explore and inform of available resources; write editorials; support Black media platforms; teach the history of legacy leaders in the communities and city; teach a history ‘of the people’; support the mayor and the police chief and allow them to do their job; and above all else, find joy and gratitude in your days, sharing that joy with the children. Give them a hug and open the love and understanding doors so they will feel free to talk and ultimately feel safe. Ask for help and re-define roles as parents.

We are in critical times and the killing of babies must stop.

Connecting with and supporting The African American Child Wellness Institute (AACWI) is an excellent starting place.

One of my first articles as a columnist for “Insight News” starting back in August of 2020 was on HIS Works United. I will never forget one of the distinguished ministers ending his interview with this wonderful smile in a very confident and calm manner saying, “There’s always time and room for prayer.”

Resource: The Daily Signal - “How ‘Minneapolis Effect’ Explains Surge of Violent Crime in American Cities” by Jarrett Stepman

The views and conclusions from this author are not necessarily those of ARCHITECT magazine or of The American Institute of Architects.

Call for Submissions.

We regularly publish opinion columns that we think would be of service to our readers.

Have a timely, relevant, and unexplored perspective or experience to share with the design community?

Email architectmagazine@ zondahome.com with a oneparagraph pitch. Due to the volume of submissions we receive, we are unable to respond individually to every pitch.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Garrett Jr., AIA, NOMA, artistically creates technologically advanced, resilient design that articulates an evolving comprehension of the 21st-century city. As a visual artist, writer, and architect, he expresses the urban condition through inspired design. His work employs diverse media to explore complex theoretical topics from a unique, ethnoexperiential perspective.

In 2002, James cofounded 4RM+ULA, a fullservice architectural design firm that specializes in connecting communities through transit and aviation design, transitoriented development, as well as community-focused, urban infill redevelopment projects. James is also a recipient of the 2019 AIA Young Architects Award and the 2015 AIA Minnesota Young Architects Award.

The publication will credit the article as “Reprinted from ARCHITECT magazine, published by Zonda Media”

insightnews.com

Insight News • May 31, 2021 - June 6, 2021 • Page 5

Women united to win Sharing Our Stories

By: W.D. Foster-Graham Book Review Editor In the words of When Destiny Calls author Sharon Botts Garth, “When you change the narrative, you change the perception.”

Such is the focus and celebration of the Women United to Win luncheon, for which she will be a guest speaker on June 5.

The celebration is part of the Minnesota Steppers AllStar Bash weekend, hosted by National Empowerment Groups, Inc. Founder J. MOST was inspired to start the organization 13 years ago because of his at-

tachment to his grandmother.

NEG was then established as instructional programs, programs with a cause. After learning about Women’s History Month through his daughter, the luncheon is normally held in March. MOST’s vision is to bring women together and give them the opportunity to be recognized and fellowship in sisterhood. Honorees are selected by the community for their contributions, be it in the fields of nonprofit, for-profit, community work, etc. This is the first year WUTW is honoring both women and girls.

One of the goals is a program for getting high school girls and women with the needed knowledge and tools to become homeowners, to become selfcontained and self-sustaining.

Garth, one of the first

award recipients for her work in housing and homeownership, believes in the importance of letting people know who is doing things in the community to impact it in a positive way, that there is hope and to keep it alive. She notes the relevancy of WUTW to her book, citing how her grandfather, the late Rev. Henry Botts, Sr. of Zion Baptist Church, worked his way up, and how he dealt with the ongoing challenges of inequality and disparities the community faces.

“Love, respect, and appreciation is something we all want,” she states. She stresses the importance of setting the environment for what we want the community to be in terms of accountability, values, and sharing, of which sharing these stories is key. In helping young people find a better way, we must, in her words,

“be intentional and hands-on in our sharing.”

The luncheon will begin at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, June 5 at Hilton Hotel, Mpls./St. Paul Airport 3800 American Boulevard East Bloomington, Minnesota 55425 Seating is limited, but virtual attendance is available for the event. Please contact J. MOST at (612) 237-5118 regarding reservations and any questions and/or visit NEG’s website at nationalempowermentgroupsinc.org Let’s support the women and girls in our community who are being honored for making a positive difference. If we don’t share our stories, who will?

firms so that smaller firms can become more involved in highway projects and build their capacity to take on additional work? Should we be doing things with the big contractors, the prime contractors to say, Are there things that we can do to incentivize the hiring of people who come from these programs and plug them in now? So, now we’re going from, “Okay, you came out of the trade union with an apprentice status, and now we’ve got a plan to work with our contractor to

take you from an apprentice status to a journeymen status.”

So, I’m hoping that’s something that we can implement in 2021. This is just kind of a sketch, but hopefully it’s something we can implement that in 2021, promoting classes and helping people get trainings.

And then as 2027 approaches, when construction happens, just like Chris said, we’re actually doing contracting methods to help small businesses actually perform the construction work with the big prime contractor.

people being held to a higher standard than those with more authority, power and freedom?

Too often when we start to talk about police reform, hackles get raised and there is a presumption that it automatically translates to not supporting or worse, being against the police; another misconception right up there with “law and order”.

Police reform is really about removing the negative and even destructive elements of a system that was born out of Slavery in America and imbued with racism

that became so intertwined as to be indistinguishable from standard practice. This is why the system is broken. This is why we need to make changes for the good of the people and for the good of law enforcement.

The truth is, as radical as it may sound, you can be both for police reform AND supporting law enforcement, it is not a choice you have to make.

We have many police officers, commanders, lieutenants and chiefs who work well in the community, care about the

citizenry and work hard to live up to the ideal of “protect and serve” and they do deserve our support. And working to reform law enforcement does not negate or take away from the good they do. In fact, progressive police reform IS in support of law enforcement, because done right, it can remove responsibilities they don’t need, personnel who shouldn’t be, and strengthen relationships with the community…if we can only get politics out the way.

The fact that there’s

any debate whatsoever, that our progress hasn’t been further only goes to show just how deeply entrenched system racism is and how much more we have to fight. Fight in the name of Philando, in the name of Ahmaud, in the name of Breonna, in the name of Daunte, in the name of George…and all the others whose lives were cut short because racism has been with us for too long.

And so, one year later, I’m asking you to make a commitment to stand up for

racial justice, to fight against oppression and to demand accountability so that no more lives have to be sacrificed in the name of justice. George Floyd died last year, but his memory and his legacy will live on, joining the others I have mentioned, so that those of us who remain will have a better, safer world.

Respectfully, Jonathan Palmer Executive Director

That is especially true are fighting for civil rights every now that another civil rights day. Black women scholars are champion, the late Justice Ruth expanding our understanding of From 3 Ba-der Ginsburg, has left the systemic racism and its impact court, and been replaced by a on all of us. Black women justice who does not share her strategists are defending voting politi-cians whose response to values. We need someone to rights. Black women activists high Black voter turnout in 2020 fill the shoes of both Marshall are building coali-tions and is to make it harder for many of and Ginsburg, two of the most electing politicians who are us to vote. And it comes from transformative lawyers in our committed to defending our judges who dismiss evidence nation’s history. rights and our com-munities. of systemic racism and uphold Fortunately, there are Candidate Joe Biden voter suppression. plenty of Black women who demonstrated his recognition of What better time to represent the values of the civil the importance of Black women have a powerful Black woman rights community and are ready when he chose Sen. Kamala on the high court as a voice for to serve.

Harris as his running mate. And truth and accountability?

202136_KL_HennepinCounty_Printad_InsightNews_BW_5.25x7_RD1.pdf 1 5/6/21 many1:15 of usPMwith his

Black women lawyers he excited

promise to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court. The American people made Biden president and made Harris the first woman, first Black person, and first Asian American to serve as vice president.

I am looking forward to working with President Biden to confirm to the Supreme Court a phenomenal Black woman who will champion the values of

freedom, justice, opportuni-ty, and equality at a time when they urgently need champions.

It will be a relief to see her take her seat. And it will be glorious.

Ben Jealous serves as president of People For the American Way and People For the American Way Foundation.

Jealous has decades of experience as a leader, coalition

builder, campaigner for social justice and seasoned nonprofit executive. In 2008, he was chosen as the youngest-ever president and CEO of the NAACP. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and he has taught at Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania.

MnDot From 3 connect with those resources.

“Taking it a step further,” Hoberg said, “Are there things that we can do in how we procure our contracts with big contractors and small contractors? Can we take portions of the construction work and size them appropriately for smaller

BLM From 3 and can more easily break the law by accident. The average person must depend on the court systems to be fair and rule in their favor. If the courts are fair and impartial, and police are acting in good faith, why is the system that everyone else uses not appropriate for law enforcement? Why are average

Jealous

DON’T MISS THE COVID-19 VACCINE. SAFE

TAKE

EFFECTIVE

EASY

Care

OF EACH OTHER. FIND YOUR VACCINE AT TAKECAREHENNEPIN.ORG

Page 6 • May 31, 2021 - June 6, 2021 • Insight News

insightnews.com

Insight 2 Health

Paying people to get vaccinated might work – but is it ethical?

By Christopher Robertson Professor of Law, Boston University A financial shot in the arm could be just what is needed for Americans unsure about vaccination.

On May 12, 2021, the Republican governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, announced five US$1 million lottery prizes for those who are vaccinated.

Meanwhile, in West Virginia, younger citizens are being enticed to get the shot with $100 savings bonds, and a state university in North Carolina is offering students who get vaccinated a chance to win the cost of housing. Many companies are paying vaccinated employees more money through bonuses or extra paid time off.

The push to get as many people vaccinated as possible is laudable and may well work. But leading behavioral scientists are worried that paying people to vaccinate could backfire if it makes people more skeptical of the shots. And ethicists have argued that it would be wrong, citing concerns over fairness and equity.

As a behavioral scientist and ethicist, I draw on an extensive body of research to help answer these questions.

It suggests that incentives might work to save lives and, if properly structured, need not trample individual rights or be a huge expense for the government.

In the United States, incentives and disincentives are already used in health care. The U.S. system of privatized health insurance exposes patients to substantial deductibles and copays, not only to cover costs but to cut down on what could

be deemed as wasteful health care – the thinking being that putting a cost to an emergency room visit, for example, might deter those who aren’t really in need of that level of care.

In practice, this means patients are encouraged to decline both emergency and more routine care, since both are exposed to costs.

Paying for health behaviors

In the case of COVID-19, the vaccines are already free to consumers, which has undoubtedly encouraged people to be immunized. Studies have shown that reducing outof-pocket costs can improve adherence to life-sustaining drugs, whether to prevent heart attacks or to manage diabetes.

A payment to take a drug goes one step further than simply reducing costs.

And if properly designed, such incentives can change health behaviors.

Payments and cash prizes have been shown effective in encouraging blood donations, adherence to blood thinner drugs, blood glucose monitoring, physical activity and smoking cessation.

And for vaccination in particular, payments have been succesful for human papillomavirus (HPV) in England; hepatitis B in the United States and the United Kingdom; and tetanus toxoid in Nigeria. The effects can be substantial: For example, for one group in the HPV study, the vaccination rate more than doubled with an incentive.

For COVID-19, there are no field studies to date, but several survey experiments, including one my group conducted with 1,000 Americans, find that incentives are likely to work. In our case,

the incentive of a tax break was enough to encourage those hesitant about vaccinations to say they would take the shot.

Coercion concerns

Even if incentives will save lives by increasing vaccinations, there are still other ethical considerations. A key concern is protecting the autonomous choices of people to decide what they put into their own bodies. This may be especially important for the COVID-19 vaccines, which – although authorized as likely safe and effective – are not yet fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

But already people are often paid to participate in clinical trials for drugs that have not yet been approved by the FDA. Ethicists have worried that such payments may be “coercive” if the money is so attractive as to override a person’s free choices or make them worse off overall.

One can quibble about whether the term “coercion” applies to offers of payment.

But even if offers were coercive, payments may still be reasonable to save lives in a pandemic if they succeed in greater levels of immunization.

During the smallpox epidemic nearly 100 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the power of states to mandate vaccines. Compared with mandating vaccination, the incentives to encourage vaccines seem innocuous.

Exploitation and paternalism

Yet some still worry.

Bioethicists Emily Largent and Franklin Miller wrote in a recent paper that a payment might “unfairly” exploit “those U.S. residents who have lost jobs … or slipped into poverty

skodonnell/Getty Images

A shot and a small fortune could entice some to get vaccinated. during the pandemic,” which could leave them feeling as if they have “no choice but to be vaccinated for cash.”

Others have noted that vaccine hesitancy is higher in nonwhite communities, where incomes tend to be lower, as is trust in the medical establishment.

Ethicists and policymakers should indeed focus on the poorest members of our community and seek to minimize racial disparities in both health outcomes and wealth. But there is no evidence that offering money is actually detrimental to such populations.

Receiving money is a good thing. To suggest that we have to protect adults by denying them offers of money may come across as paternalism.

Some ethicists also argue that the money is better spent elsewhere to increase participation. States could spend the money making sure vaccines are convenient to everyone, for example, by bringing them to community events and churches. Money could also support various efforts to fight misinformation and communicate the importance of getting the shot.

The cost of incentives

Financial incentives could be expensive as a policy solution. As in Ohio, lottery drawings are one way to cap the overall cost of incentives while giving millions of people an additional reason to get their shot.

The tax code could also allow for a no-cost incentive for vaccination. Tax deductions and credits are often designed to encourage behaviors, such as savings or home ownership.

Some states now have big budget surpluses and are considering tax relief measures. If a state announced now that such payments would be conditional on being vaccinated, then each person declining the shot would save the government money.

Ultimately, a welldesigned vaccination incentive can help save lives and need not keep the ethicists up at night.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

A COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO COVID 19

Hallie Q. Brown 271 North Kent Street St Paul, MN 55102 In The Heart of Rondo

Serving our community with:  Daycare/childcare for families with essential workers  Boxed Food Pick up  Referrals- We'll get you connected to resources to help your family navigate the COVID-19 Crisis.

Call 651-224-4601

insightnews.com

Insight News • May 31, 2021 - June 6, 2021 • Page 7

Page 8 • May 31, 2021 - June 6, 2021 • Insight News

insightnews.com