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September 6, 2021 - September 12, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 36• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

CELEBRATING

20 YEARS Jazz master Nachito Herrera and the Selby Jazz Fest celebrate their 20th together

Nachito Herrera

2021 marks the Festival’s & Herrera’s twentieth anniversary

Live jazz returns to Selby Avenue The 20th annual Selby Ave JazzFest will take place from 11:00 AM – 7:30 PM on Saturday, September 11th at the intersection of Selby and Milton in St. Paul. For more information, interested parties can visit the event’s website at selbyavejazzfest. com or Facebook page.

Admission is free.

Mychael Wright, founder of the Selby Ave JazzFest and owner of Golden Thyme Coffee Café, recently announced the performing artist lineup for the 2021 Selby Ave JazzFest “2021 marks JazzFest’s twentieth anniversary,” said Wright.

“We’re very excited, especially because we’ll be back on Selby Avenue where the event belongs.”

Wright said this year’s festival will be one to remember, celebrating “New Orleans traditional jazz and as well as dynamite Latin and Cuban jazz.”

Performing on the US Bank Main Stage, the 2021 Selby Ave JazzFest lineup will feature:  Nachito Herrera and His Habana Jazz Social Club All-Stars: Headlining this year’s Fest will be multimusic award winner Ignacio “Nachito” Herrera, who will be supported by a group of Latin jazz all-stars. “Last September, our 2020 virtual Fest featured an incredible performance from Nachito,” said Wright. “At that time, he said, ‘Hey, 2021 is JazzFest’s 20th anniversary.

2021 also marks my 20th

J Carson Photography

anniversary in Minnesota. Let’s make this a big deal!’ He is an amazing artist, and we are very proud to feature him and his band for our twentieth anniversary.”

Selby Ave Brass Band: A JazzFest tradition, this group of local musicians will again kick off the Fest with a traditional New Orleans procession as well as perform another set later in the afternoon.

The group is led by Tom Wells, tubist, arranger & composer and music educator in the Twin Cities area and features

a number of great Twin Cities musicians.  Brio Brass: Formed of over 50 adult musicians, Brio Brass is a non-traditional, rockin’ brass band has delighted and entertained audiences throughout Minnesota’s Twin Cities Metro area since 1999.

Members of the ensemble bring a wealth of experience and talent to their unique performances.  Walker|West Music Academy All-Stars: This group will feature upper-level students and staff from this famed music

academy performing a variety of songs including traditional and progressive jazz standards.

“As we have for 20 years, it’s important to give the genre’s future a place to play,” said Wright. “Braxton Haulcy and all the folks at Walker West do such a great job and they are such a vital part of our neighborhood.”

Besides free performances, JazzFest features a variety of food vendors, family activities, and live artist demonstrations. “We’re working hard to make sure there’s plenty

to do to for folks to make a full day of it,” said Wright.

The Selby Ave JazzFest is supported by Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, Minnesota State Arts Board, The Clean Water, Land & Legacy Amendment, The City of St. Paul’s Cultural STAR Program, AARP (Co-Presenting Sponsor), U.S. Bank (2021 Main Stage Sponsor), Ordway Center for the Performing Arts (2021 Family Fun Zone Sponsor), Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, Central Selby,

UCare, Rondo Community Land Trust, Mississippi Market Co-op, , WFNU 94.1-Frogtown Radio, Old National Bank, and St. Paul Pioneer Press.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Page 2 •September September 6, 2021 - September 12, 2021 • Insight News

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Insight News • September 6, 2021 - September 12, 2021 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE

Insight News September 6, 2021 - September 12, 2021

Vol. 48 No. 36• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

Part 2 in a series First Independence Bank CEO says -

“Money becomes an oxygen, so they can breathe a little bit easier.”

By Al McFarlane Editor The power and promise of having a family that supports you, came through loud and clear in my recent interview with the visionary business leaders whose collaboration is giving rise to a new, Black owned bank in Twin Cities.

First Independence Bank, of Detroit, Michigan, will open the first to two Minneapolis branches in November, with plans for opening the second location in 2nd quarter, 2022.

Kenneth Kelly, CEO of First Independence, Damon Jenkins, the executive Kelly chose to lead the Minnesota

most importantly, mergers and acquisitions. I got to a stage in my life to where I was able to retire as I approached 50. I made a decision to come and look after our family business.”

“First Independence Bank, was purchased in 1980 by my cousin Don Davis, who was a music producer,” said Kelly giving a nod to the commonality of the Motown Sound, and Minneapolis’ emergence as a music Mecca.

“He produced all of Johnny Taylor’s disco soul sound, and, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.’s ‘You don’t have to be a star’ among many chart topping hits. He owned a studio there in Detroit where Aretha Franklin, Anita baker,

Showing up for GrassRoots in Action (GRA): Stellar community and civic leaders welcomed Minnesota Viking draft pick Christian Darrisaw at a recent community event promoting the work of GrassRoots in Action, a community service and advocacy organization lead by Artiste Mayfield. Pictured above l-r: Alfred Babington-Johnson, CEO, Stairstep Foundation, Minnesota Attorney General, Keith Ellison, Artiste Mayfield, Christian Darrisaw, Vikings first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Minnesota State Senator Bobby Joe Champion, D-59, David Leonard - Program Officer - Win Minnesota and Christian Darrisaw’s father, Jay Darrisaw. The Mission of GrassRoots in Action (GRA) is to educate communities of color about the policies and institutions that shape their lives and to empower them to hold institutions accountable. GRA initiatives include voter education and registration.

First Independence Bank

The elevator still goes to the top floor 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

Kenneth Kelly

Greg Cunningham

Damon Jenkins

I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.

Frank Lloyd Wright I remember when I was about four or five, I would

jump in the passenger’s side of one of Daddy’s many Buicks and wait for him to come out the back door. It was Friday afternoon, an hour before Douglas State Bank would close. After all, I had to make

a deposit. Most of the time I would have collected around $2.00 in allowance and a little extra for keeping my black cocker spaniel, Frisky, clean and fed. I carefully recorded every dime in my savings booklet. I

so wished I had listened to my father when it came to finances.

He could have taught me so much had I taken the time to listen.

The Black bank was established in 1947 to service African Americans and other minority communities in the metropolitan K.C. Kansas area.

It closed in 1983. When it was time for summer vacations, I would have saved enough to buy a few Native American souvenirs as we would always head west.

My paternal grandfather was said to be Black Cherokee, so I was all about that cross section of history and the rich ancestral blood of two ethnicities of color running through my veins.

During my junior year in

BANK 4

Part 1

If ‘Black Lives Matter’, why are we killing each other?

Columnist

By Brenda Lyle-Gray Violence is a disease. You don’t cure it by spreading the illness to more people. Game of Thrones via Gecko Fly Kujichagulia: Selfdetermination that life’s unfortunate events or circumstances will not take control of one’s life; of one’s family, or child, or neighborhood.

Dr. Bravada Garrett Akinsanya, founder and CEO of the African American Child Wellness Institute (AACWI) and cohost of “Conversations with Al McFarlane” Friday Healing Circle would attest there are certain things within our control

and power. Speaking that power into existence is the key. It’s called social wellness.

“We can choose to use our hands to hug, or we will decide to harm. Eventually, some will learn they cannot dehumanize someone without losing part of who they are and a portion of their Divine appointment as a human being.

I just want those holding guns to stand in a mirror and keep telling themselves, ‘I affirm my right to be. My life does matter,” said Akinsanya.

Lisa Clemons wore a police officer’s badge for 13 years until she began the critical work of her non-profit organization, A Mother’s Love.

She emerged from the chaos of post George Floyd murder resulting in civil unrest around the country and around the world, as a prominent critic of a left-wing philosophy towards the police department. She heard shouts of “disband, defund,” and she declared “reform!”

Kenneth Kelly

Spike Moss “Violence experienced at the hands of law enforcement cannot be condoned, but all police don’t have that brutalitytype reputation.

Cops are human, too, but they are and should be held to a higher standard,” Clemons said. “We also recognize that 70% of

News

Lessons about 9/11 often provoke harassment of Muslim students

PAGE 5

African American households are headed by women and they needed support in holding their families together. We’ve stayed the course with many mothers and their children over the years.”

Spike Moss is often referred to

BLM 4

expansion, and US Bank executive Greg Cunningham, each revealed the strength families bring to their successes in a Conversations with Al McFarlane broadcast on KFAI FM 90.3 and across McFarlane Media social media channels.

“I had a great career,” Kenneth Kelly said.

“I’m an engineer. I worked for a company by the name of Southern Company, and really got to learn a lot of the nuts and bolts of doing business from engineering to marketing, finance, corporate finance, human resources, supply chain management, marketing, and

and so many others recorded.

Don parlayed his money into buying Independence Bank in 1980 to save the bank. He ran it successfully through 2015. And I ended up becoming a trustee in 2014. When he passed 2015, we decided to get fully engaged in company because we recognized that this was a way to have an impact on our community.

And so for me, watching what we were doing and what we were trying to accomplish, became a great vehicle for us to have an impact. We ended up becoming the leader of the

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Things parents should know sending their kids back to school

PAGE 6

Page 4 •September September 6, 2021 - September 12, 2021 • Insight News

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Twitter

Minnesota leads Midwest in state fair vaccinations

More than 1,000 fairgoers vaccinated at Minnesota State Fair

INSIGHT NEWS www.insightnews.com

BLM From 3 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. 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,

as ‘the General’ and rightfully so. By the time the 40 plus year freedom fighter and civil and human rights activist had finished his truth discourse, I was temporarily stunned. The information was jarring and I sat there wanting people to hear him; to get the truth that was peeling off; and to want to do something about this deadly atrocity.

We deserve to be whole; we deserve to be free; and our children need to laugh and learn and feel love once more.

If the young people who formed Black Lives Matter had paid attention to what has been going on in the urban communities all over the country, they would have never used that catch phrase, Moss said. “They might have replaced it with the words ‘co-conspirators of their own demise’, as James Baldwin once wrote of black people.

There’s been few villages or visions in 20 years, and with the staggering statistics of gun violence, obviously Black lives haven’t mattered in quite some time. I went to my first gang conference in 1968 in St. Louis.

It was sponsored by the Vice Lords out of Chicago. Believe me when I say, things have not changed.”

Moss continued by validating his declaration with raw facts. “The Ku Klux Klan has been in business for 173 years. We have now killed more black people than the Klan has

clinic. The Community Vaccine Clinic offers both the Pfizer vaccine and single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Only Minnesotans receiving their first dose of the vaccine will qualify for the $100 Visa Gift Card.  A map directing Fairgoers to the Fair vaccination clinic can be found here. More information can be found at https://mn.gov/covid19/ statefairvaccine/.

At the close of the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery, Blacks constituted 14% of the American population, yet owned 0.5% of the wealth.

Today, the percentage is slightly less, but they still own only one to two percent of the wealth.

Coming out of the Civil Rights movement in the early 1970s, there were 70 banks controlled and owned by Blacks.

In 2001, there were 48. Today, there are only 18 which says African American and other communities of color must create the dollar in a manner to support the needs and efforts controlled and owned by the people they serve and those institutions who serve them, Kelly said.

In 2021, collaborating with a powerful group of Minnesota business, financial, and community leaders, First Independence Bank filed an application with the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) to open in two Minneapolis locations; one in November and another in June of 2022.

The five financial

powerhouses - Wells Fargo, US Bank, Bank of America, Bremer Bank, and TCF Bank have joined forces to support Alliance of Alliances, a civic and wealthbuilding strategy orchestrated

by Greg Cunningham, vice president of global inclusion at US Bank.

“This former hands off-neglect came into sharp focus with the murder of George Floyd, the disparaging statistics this piercing event unearthed, and the continuing deadly pandemic of a virus that has its own mind,” Cunningham said, remembering a time when Black leadership would come together and talk community building. “What was missing was a way to catalyze bringing all those entities together with a community shared agenda with the Black business community supporting that agenda. There are a lot of people with boots on the ground every single day like McFarlane Media that are doing great work. What you see going on now is a sweeping upscaling of collaborations and partnerships.”

Banker Damon Jenkins, will lead the First Independence Bank Twin Cities expansion. With his fourteenyear history in banking, growing up in the 38th and Chicago area where George Floyd took his last breath, Jenkins said his mother has lived in the family home in that neighborhood for 32 years.

Attending Minneapolis public schools was enriched by afterschool and summer activities at Boys and Girls Club and opportunities of having a mentor like John Hardiman, a manager at the community organization.

Jenkins said, “I prayed. I asked for honest direction. The decision felt right. I knew I wanted to be a blessing to others, exposing more subcultures to more people of color in banking which most certainly will bring about a much higher level of trust.

White America is not the only population who can get on an elevator on the first floor and ride all the way to the top to a corner office.”

in 173 years. The Viet Nam War went on for 5 years and we were 7% of the front line. We have now killed and wounded more Blacks than in the Viet Nam War. To date, over 200 have been shot in the Twin Cities not including the ones who were murdered.

At the end of last year, the total figure was approximately 1,000 victimized in Minneapolis and St. Paul combined, Moss said. “Do Black Lives Really Matter?”

On one of his frequent prison visits around the country, Moss found himself in New Jersey visiting four prisons a day for a week. In addressing young men mostly of color, he realized these boys might be 50 or 60 years old when they would have a chance for freedom.

“I’m not upset about how many of you are here; how many years you were sentenced for your crime; or how young you are. I’m upset because you are here for doing something to someone who looks just like you,” Moss said he told the imprisoned men. “It reflects self-hatred.”

“But there’s no time for excuses, for them or for us.

We have to teach and provide resources and places to heal,” Moss said.

Telling the story of how we arrived at a place where there are constant sounds of popping bullets and mothers’ cries when learning thier babies’ lives have been taken by stray bullets, Moss highlighted 1998 when then President Ronald Regan went on television and announced, ‘If you can go to the rest room yourself and you can feed yourself, we shall no longer take care of you in mental institutions.”

They emptied facilities and many very ill people found themselves living under bridges and on the highways and byways. These individuals got even sicker, Moss said.

“Another white man got on television and warned that in 30 years children would suffer from a new drug called ‘crack cocaine’. It would stifle learning, anger control, and create extreme anxiety. The children wouldn’t be able to sit still. At the end of 2020, it was reported that 1 in every 5 Americans are mentally ill. If one looks at an African American study, it will probably show every two or three in five.

Then we poison these mentally ill people with dangerous drugs while making sure they have a loaded weapon that empties in seconds at their disposal to end of someone else’s life. And added to all that, let me sadly report that African Americans have the largest population of dysfunctional parents.

They have the largest population of single mothers trying to figure out how to handle this life when they’ve never been taught to be women or mothers. We only comprise 14% of the country’s population. Who’s taking care of the children?”

Moss said “If there is a father figure in the home, there’s a chance he could be dysfunctional, chemically dependent, or on alcohol.

Often, there’s no mother figure either. And if she’s there, she’s probably dysfunctional, too, living on chemical drug fixes every day, or on the street looking for a man. What kind of modeling are her children getting? They tell their five-

year-olds not to get ‘punked’ when they go to school. To get the person back. Revenge. The child grows up getting revenge in the streets and walks away from school at 13. There’s been no guidance. And most of those holding a gun they don’t know how to use, haven’t had a hug in years.”

“We were fortunate as young people to have had a man by the name of Mahmoud El-Kati,” Moss boasts proudly and with admiration and respect.

“He taught us the importance of being African American and being proud people; that we were not the N-word they told us and everyone else we were.

We were not to disrespect our women, calling them ‘bitches and hoes’ or sing rap songs with degrading, demoralizing lyrics while our babies sit in the back seat. We were to call them Queens,” Moss said.

Pensive, Moss said he was tired of being mad, and yes, sometimes it took courage.

He said, “We need a legion of healers. It’s what the famed educator Jaime Escalante did with a group of broken souls in East L.A. turning them around, making them believe in themselves, showing them they were loved.”

“You know, Dr. B.,” Moss concluded. I hate to say it, but unless we re-evaluate our current crises with urgency, answers, and resources, the only way this will all end is that we will kill off each other.”

Part 2 of the “Healing Circle” interview with Spike Moss, Tenanye Heard, Dr. Oliver Williams, Dr. B., Lillie Rankin, and Al McFarlane” offer solution recommendations.

Face2FaceAfrica.com

2

By Lee H. Jordan Minneapolis Juneteenth Committee - 2018 National Juneteenth Film & Bicycling Commissions

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How to Get Vaccinated at the State Fair:  Walk-ins are welcome or Fairgoers can make an appointment beforehand at

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“The story of Black wealth is phenomenal, said Al McFarlane”. During times of impossibilities, Black men and women pooled resources, intelligence, and collaborated to create opportunities for building banks and insurance companies and other businesses to serve our people.”

Kelly affirmed that we of African descent “have always managed to make a way out of no way.”

He said right after President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, the Freedman’s Bank was established for emancipated Africans. Kelly recommended Dr. Mehrsa Baradaran’s 2017 book, “The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap” which describes the many ultimate betrayals of Blacks by people who did not look like them. For instance, the book reveals, in 1874, 63,000 Black depositors were robbed of the savings they were hoping to use to purchase homesteads in attempts to escape the cotton sharecropping system.

https://my.primary.health/r/ statefair.  The Community Vaccine Clinic is located at the North End Event Center, North of Murphy Avenue. No appointment, identification, or insurance is necessary to get a COVID-19 vaccine.  Anyone 12 years of age and older who needs their first or second dose of COVID-19 vaccine can get vaccinated at the

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college, I dropped out for a semester, angry because I was not allowed into journalism school as a Black female. I ended up working for Swope Parkway National Bank, another Black owned and controlled bank which catered to the Kansas City Chiefs and whose vice-president was the team’s star fullback, Curtis McClinton.

Move forward 50 plus years, and meet Kenneth Kelly, CEO of First Independence Bank of Detroit, Black owned and controlled. “The bank began 51 years ago as the result of the riots and rebellion in the city based on an increase in police brutality,

informed Kelly. Black leaders decided the community needed its own economic engine, the beginnings of writing our own destiny. We hope to parlay some of this experience, learning, and infrastructure into the Minnesota market,” Kelly said in a recent interview on Conversations with Al McFarlane.

The history of Back banks can be described in periods of ebbs and flows, inspiring at one time, and then not. Along with the practice of ‘redlining’, the systemic racist denial of services such as banking, insurance, health care, price gouging, and even locating retail outlets and supermarkets far away from Black neighborhoods, people never had it easy recognizing and enjoying tidbits of the American dream.

administered more vaccines than other state fairs around the Midwest. The Community Vaccine Clinic will be open daily 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Labor Day. State Fair tickets are required to enter State Fairgrounds.

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“I’m grateful so many Fairgoers are taking this opportunity to get protected against COVID-19,” said Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. “More than 1,000 more Minnesotans are now vaccinated thanks to this Community Vaccine Clinic.

Let’s keep it going Fairgoers — and get your $100!”

In just over four days, the Minnesota State Fair has

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Walz. “Don’t miss this opportunity. If you’re already going to be at the State Fair, get your shot and get your cash.”

So far, 1,199 Fairgoers have received a COVID-19 vaccine at the Community Vaccine Clinic.

Minnesotans who get their first dose at the clinic can receive a $100 Visa gift card on site. Of the 3,600 gift cards available, Fairgoers have claimed 1,183.

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[ST. PAUL, MN] — Today, Governor Tim Walz announced that more than 1,000 Fairgoers have been vaccinated at the COVID-19 Community Vaccination Clinic at the Minnesota State Fair.

“More than 1,000 Fairgoers have rolled up their sleeves and walked away with both $100 in hand and a new layer of protection against this deadly virus,” said Governor

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Insight News • September 6, 2021 - September 12, 2021 • Page 5

Lessons about 9/11 often provoke harassment of Muslim students

By Amaarah DeCuir Professorial Lecturer of Education, American University Near the start of each school year, many U.S. schools wrestle with how to teach about 9/11 – the deadliest foreign attack ever on American soil.

In interviews I conducted recently in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area – one of three places where hijacked planes crashed on Sept. 11, 2001 – I found that Muslim students are often subjected to ridicule and blame for the 9/11 attacks.

“Even if they’re joking around, they’ll say ‘terrorist’ and stuff like that,” one student told me. “That used to trigger me a lot.”

Another student told me: “9/11, every single year, is so awkward. The administrators would be like ‘On this fateful day, this happened’… then the Muslim jokes would come up, like ‘Don’t blow us up.’ When I was younger it bothered me, but now I’m just desensitized to it.”

“There’s so much tension, just being even this color and then being a Muslim, period,” yet another student told me. “It’s really strange, like, you feel it, they’re not saying it … ’You don’t understand this question because you’re Muslim,‘ which is the strangest thing, but it’s definitely the tension that these teachers give off sometimes.”

These students are among the 55 Muslim students, ages 12 to 21, whom I interviewed in the Greater Washington, D.C., area from 2019 through 2021 about their experiences in school during classroom lessons about 9/11. Their experience is part of a larger pattern of Muslim students being targeted and bullied in U.S. schools.

Increase in harassment A 2020 poll found

that 51% of American Muslim families reported that their children experienced religiousbased bullying – insults or physical assaults – in school.

That’s nearly twice the rate reported by parents among the general public, the same poll found. Perhaps more disturbingly, 30% of those incidents reportedly involved a teacher or school official – the same people whom students ought to be able to turn to for support.

Effects on learning When Muslim students experience these kinds of challenges at school, it is associated with higher levels of psychological distress.

Students can learn better when educators foster a sense of emotional safety and belonging.

Observers might conclude that it’s no big deal when students merely subject their Muslim classmates to jokes – that the teasing is all in good humor and a normal part of high school.

My research – which is ongoing and unpublished – suggests that this sort of cavalier attitude can be found among teachers and administrators.

A few students in my study noticed their teachers would dismiss their concerns or make excuses for students who teased Muslim students about 9/11 by suggesting the other student “didn’t mean it” or “was misunderstood.”

But calling Muslim students “terrorists” or telling them “don’t blow us up” repeats deeply ingrained stereotypes that vilify Muslims as prone to extremist violence and should be considered anti-Muslim racism, I believe.

Opposition from the top Beyond having their concerns about harassment dismissed, Muslim students sometimes must deal with school administrators who block their efforts to form identity groups. For instance, a 2018

Jasmin Merdan

Muslim students report being teased and harassed when schools focus on 9/11. study found that at a high school where the principal suspended meetings for a Muslim Student Association, Muslim students felt as if their school was “characterized by exclusion and racialized surveillance.”

Muslim students also report that their commitment to democratic values is often called into question.

Despite the animosity that Muslim students face, scholars who specialize in Muslim student issues, such as Suhad Tabahi and Layla Khayr, argue that schools can do more to combat anti-Muslim racism.

Much of that work can be done in the classroom – and school-based 9/11 observances and lessons represent a prime opportunity.

As a teacher trainer who partly works in developing culturally responsive 9/11 teaching resources, I offer

three strategies educators can use to reenvision how they deal with the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath.

1. Teach culturally diverse stories Although it’s common for people to recall how “Islamic extremists” carried out the 9/11 attacks, it’s also true that Muslim immigrants, such as Mohammed Salman Hamdani, lost their lives serving as first responders. Those stories can help counterbalance the negative sentiments that arise from Muslim-blaming narratives that sometimes accompany lessons about 9/11.

2. Examine the social and political effects of 9/11 Teach students how immigration policies became linked to national security. Introduce students to how 9/11 gave rise to the USA

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First Independence Bank in Detroit national bankers’ association and meeting individuals like Greg Cunningham.”

“I come from a bluecollar working family. I have four generations, all born inside of a 25-mile radius in Barbara County, Alabama. With hard work and love, I would say to your listening audience, your kids can achieve and do anything that they desire,” Kelly said.

“I’m sitting in the seat that I’m in because of sacrifices made by my parents, by their parents, by many others having to deal with the humiliation that they endured doing jobs they didn’t want to do… making sacrifices so I can get an education. And that happens for African-American families all across this country.

And so it is about self-sacrifice.

So many times we get caught up in materialism. But the reality is your legacy won’t be about the

material things you possess. It’s going to be the philosophical things that you passed on. I would say as a parent, even in the midst of all your struggles --- we’ve all been there where we’re just trying to pay bills, keep the lights on and hopefully not be evicted--- what is it that you’re passing on to your family in a way that matters when you’re gone? Can we leave here in such a manner that will instill in them and inspire them to do better? When you start with that as your basis, then money becomes an oxygen, so to speak. Figure out how to pass that philosophy on, in a way that hopefully they can breathe a little bit easier,” Kelly said.

“We are descendants of a slave who ironically was brought to Barbara County by a Scottish banker from South Carolina. Beyond that, we did DNA tests that connect us to the

Mlive.com

west coast of Africa,” Kelly said.

Next week, Damon Jenkins and Greg Cunningham on family, community and building wealth.

Patriot Act, which authorized the broad use of federal surveillance to counter violent extremism, led to the formation of the Department of Homeland Security and informed the so-called “Muslim ban.”

Discuss how 9/11 led to “no-fly” lists and disproportionately affected the surveillance of Muslim Americans.

Recount how the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were linked to 9/11.

Show students how Muslims, and people assumed to be Muslim, feared for their personal safety because of all the backlash that followed 9/11.

This can help students better understand contemporary events, such as why Afghan refugees are coming to America, or why airport security increases around Sept. 11 each year.

3. Keep students safe As the United States

prepares for potential terror threats on the anniversary of 9/11, educators bear a responsibility to maintain a safe learning environment.

Teachers should pay attention to the conversations between students to ensure that they are not repeating harmful words and actions that target Muslims.

Respond to students who express fear for their personal safety. Educators should consult their state’s antibullying policies to get up to speed on how to handle harassment.

But by offering a broader perspective of 9/11 and its aftermath, educators can create a safer learning experience for students as they reflect on 9/11 and how it forever changed Americans’ lives.

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

Page 6 •September September 6, 2021 - September 12, 2021 • Insight News

Insight 2 Health

insightnews.com

Things parents should know sending their kids back to school lockers. Finally, most schools do not have automatic sinks or dryers. So, students should consider using paper towels to turn handles off and on and opening doors after washing their hands for at least 20 seconds.

By Breonna Randall, Howard University News Service For the first time since March 2020, millions of students, prekindergarten to high school seniors, will be attending inperson classes. Aside from attending class, they will be also participating in extracurricular activities, like sports, music and clubs. Parents have many concerns and questions. Howard University News Service reached out to five physicians for answers, Dr. Hadie Shariat, pediatrician, Howard University Hospital; Dr. Katherine Hager, Infectious Disease Fellow, Howard University Hospital; Dr. Catherine Marshall, pediatrician at Balboa Pediatrics; Dr. Andrea Goings, pediatrician, Baby Doc House Calls, and Dr. Stacey Eadie, pediatrician at her own private practice, Peds in a Pod. Should I get my child vaccinated?

The unanimous opinion among our doctors was if your child can get vaccinated, they should. The only thing that has proven to be effective so far in fighting COVID-19 is the vaccine, they said. While a tiny fraction of people has died from the vaccine, more than 600,000 have died from the disease.

Children under the age of 12 cannot be vaccinated, though pharmaceutical companies are working on a vaccine for them.

What if my child is too young for the vaccine?

In this case, the doctors advise, your child should stay away from unvaccinated adults, stay away from crowded indoor places, always wear a mask and keep practicing social

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Children, especially younger children, seem to always have a sniffle or runny nose. However, in today’s climate, it’s better to be safe than sorry. distancing and good hygiene.

Also always remember to keep up with your local safety guidelines. Guidelines and prevalence of coronavirus are different in different cities and states. Residents may need to be more careful in some locales.

What kind of mask should my child wear and how many do they need?

The readily available blue and white surgical masks are the best option for students of all ages. They will protect your child if they are wearing them properly. The mask should cover their nose and their mouth.

If the mask falls to the ground or gets wet either by sneezing into it or from water, they should be discarded, and a new mask

put in place. Younger children should carry about a half a dozen surgical masks with them a day.

Students in grades 9-12 should not need to change theirs as often. They may only need to have about three. For older children doubling up by wearing a surgical mask and a cloth mask on top throughout their school day is the best option.

If your child is most comfortable wearing only a cloth mask, that is fine, but remember it needs to be cleaned daily, never wait more than a day to clean or rotate your child’s cloth mask. N-95 masks are said to be the best option, but only if they have been fit tested by a doctor to a child’s face. Children with disabilities who are not able to

wear a mask all day should wear a shield.

What should be on my backto-school shopping list?

You should buy everything that you would already get but more. Make sure your child has more than enough supplies, so they won’t need to ask their classmates to share. Young children like to chew on their pens and sharing those supplies could increase the spread of germs. Aside from masks, you may want to add new items like hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.

What are some school habits my child needs to break and new ones they should include?

The number one habit

that children of all ages need to break is sharing. They should not share toys, school supplies, food, drinks or anything else.

It won’t be easy to get young children to unlearn “sharing is caring,” but it is very important that they try their best.

Other habits that students need to break is any unnecessary touching. Hugging or kissing other students is a no-no. Students have been away from their friends for a very long time, and they may want to show physical affection towards each other when they reunite but it is very important that they don’t as much as possible.

They should also use disinfectant wipes to clean their desks between classes and the handles and locks to their

Are there warning signs that my child may have been exposed to the coronavirus?

Children, especially younger children, seem to always have a sniffle or runny nose. However, in today’s climate, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Every day after you child comes home, spend two minutes with your child and let them tell you about their day without asking any specific questions. In that time, they may tell you if they shared toys or snacks with anyone that they shouldn’t have. If your child is having a cough or runny nose, yes it could be allergies or a common cold, but do not risk the safety of your family and others.

Keep your children home and quarantine them until they can take a Covid-19 test at a medical facility, not an at home rapid test. A two-year old may get sick and have just a runny nose or sore throat from the disease, but if they infect their grandmother, for example, she could end up in the hospital on a ventilator.

Are extracurricular activities okay for my child to participate in?

There is nothing wrong with your child returning to their extracurricular activities, just as long as these activities are supervised and are following all Center for Disease Control and Prevention and local health guidelines.

insightnews.com

Insight News • September 6, 2021 - September 12, 2021 • Page 7

PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy

Joséphine Baker: Artist, activist, resistance fighter and now honoured in France’s Panthéon

By Clare Church PhD Researcher in History, Aberystwyth University In the midst of the second world war, at the edge of the vast Saharan desert, Joséphine Baker took the stage. Her backdrop was a midnight sky, painted with stars.

A crowd of adoring Allied soldiers stationed in North Africa gathered to swoon over the world-renowned entertainer. To their great delight, Baker sang one of her most celebrated songs: J’ai Deux amours or I have two loves. The first was her country, the US – where Baker was born and raised – and the second her newly adopted home, Paris.

More than 75 years after this fated performance, one of these two countries has chosen to bestow upon Baker an honour of the highest degree. Emmanuel Macron has announced that Baker will be memorialised in the Panthéon in Paris on November 30. Burial at the Panthéon is a distinction reserved only for the greatest of France’s national heroes, among them JeanJacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo

and Marie Curie.

A hero’s final resting place The Panthéon takes inspiration from ancient Greece.

The name derives directly from the Greek words pan meaning “all” and theos meaning “gods” – denoting a sacred final resting place. Internment in the great crypt is granted only to those idols who have “shaped France’s national identity”, and their burial must be approved by the president.

Baker will be the sixth woman, first entertainer and first Black woman to be honoured at the Parisian mausoleum. She will also be among the few honourees who were not born in France.

This memorialisation is in part due to a petition, led

by Baker’s family and fans, which garnered more than 37,000 signatures over the last two years. Though Baker died in 1975 and is buried in Monaco, the petition asserts that Baker deserves a place in the Panthéon.

A statement from the Élysée – the official residence of the French president – affirmed that Baker is the “embodiment of the French spirit”. It cited her tireless efforts towards the French resistance throughout the second world war, as well as her artistry and commitment to the fight against racism.

The statement continued that for these reasons, Baker “deserves the recognition of her homeland”.

Singer, soldier, spy Born in St Louis, Missouri in 1906, Baker moved to Paris at 19. After facing racism, segregation and oppression in the US, Baker looked to France as a haven of liberty and new beginnings.

She found immense success in the French cabarets and music halls and by the early 1930s, was rumoured to be making more money than any other artist on the Parisian scene. When war broke out in 1939, Baker didn’t hesitate to stand against Nazi tyranny.

Soon after the Germans invaded France, Jacques Abtey – head of the French countermilitary intelligence – asked if she would officially join the growing resistance. In response, Baker pounded a clenched fist against her heart, famously avowing: “I am ready, captain, to give my life to France”.

Throughout the second world war, Baker served the French resistance in every way she knew how. Notably, she sheltered Belgian refugees and resistance fighters in her residence, the Chateau des Milandes. Soon after, however,

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0 )APIO\ )XNº =ONE PONSOR -AINVTAGE 6PONSOR This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund

the Nazi occupiers approached her home, suspecting her of stockpiling weapons. Though Baker managed to charm the officers into leaving her chateau without searching it, she recognised that her days in occupied France were numbered.

Touring spy Her journey with the resistance would continue abroad under the guise of a European tour, accompanied

by Abtey, who posed as her assistant. While travelling, Baker received numerous invitations to lavish diplomatic parties. She would attend every event, listening in for information that could help the resistance.

She passed along all information to the free French forces, pinning notes to her clothes and writing messages using invisible ink on her sheet music.

Strangely in October 1942, Baker was reported dead in Portugal. Newspaper headlines around the world mourned the singer and entertainer, who was suspected of succumbing to tuberculosis in poverty.

Even Langston Hughes, the American poet and playwright, wrote a heartfelt obituary for Baker in the Chicago Defender.

But while Baker was gravely ill, she was

still very much alive, albeit in Morocco. In early 1941, Baker had travelled to north Africa, where she faced serious complications from an emergency hysterectomy.

She recovered in a private clinic in Casablanca from June 1941 until December 1942 – all the while using her convalescent bed as a rendezvous point for members of the French resistance. When Baker heard the news of her untimely death, she reportedly replied: “I’m much too busy to die”.

And busy she was.

When she wasn’t recruiting members for the resistance or passing along secret messages, Baker performed for the Allied troops stationed in north Africa. Her aim was to raise morale for all troops, regardless of the colour of their skin.

For these performances, she refused payment. And though she was still frail from her illness, her voice never wavered.

For all of these efforts, Baker was made a lieutenant in the Auxiliaire Feminine, the women’s air auxiliary in France.

She was also awarded the Croix de Chevalier de la Legion du Honneur, the Croix de Guerre, and the Rosette of the resistance.

Following the end of the war in 1945, Baker returned

to her home in France – but also made frequent trips to the US, where she actively fought for the civil rights of Black Americans.

Artist, entertainer, resistance fighter, and antiracism activist – the deeds of Joséphine Baker make her indeed worthy of hero status.

Harold Cruse, an academic of African American studies, was in the audience that starry night in north Africa, stationed with the Allied forces. Upon watching her performance, Cruse wrote: What she sings, what she says in words, expresses in movement of body, in dance motions and pantomime, constitute an art of such magnificence and individuality that it is not enough to talk about it. She must be seen.

With the memorialisation of Baker in France’s most honoured burial site, Cruse’s wish may indeed come true. Fans will flock to admire this indomitable entertainer once more and everything she contributed to art and culture as well as to France will be celebrated.

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

Page 8 •September September 6, 2021 - September 12, 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.

First Avenue presenting sponsor Baird.

Prince sponsor Xcel Energy.

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

______________________________________________________________________________________

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

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