By Jasmine McBride Associate Editor
Community and organiza-
tion leaders and residents gathered outside the Metro Transit headquarters in Minneapolis on Thursday, August 7, to demand immediate action on the Blue Line Extension light rail project, which has raised serious concerns about displacement and environmental justice for local communities, especially those of Southeast Asian and African American descent.
The event, which included speeches from key community advocates, was aimed at addressing delays in critical funding and the lack of commitment from local government agencies to support anti-dis
placement efforts. Significant frustration stemmed from the removal of key language regarding environmental justice from the project’s Environmental Impact Study, which had previously addressed the disproportionate impacts of the Blue Line Extension on BIPOC communities.
Community voices
Brandon Devonsga from the LAO Assistant Center of Minnesota, a long-time partner with the Blue Line Coalition, spoke about the ongoing challenges faced by Southeast Asian communities along the Blue Line corridor, particularly in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park. He emphasized the barriers the community faces in terms of language, cultural differences, and a lack of outreach
from government agencies.
“For over 40 years, our community has been in the U.S., and we have struggled,” Devongsa said. “We’ve faced systemic challenges, and now with the Blue Line project, we’re seeing barriers to the progress we’ve made on environmental justice and antidisplacement efforts.”
He also questioned how the community could continue to trust local government when these issues remain unresolved, calling out the broken promises made by officials. “Our communities don’t just want to rise; we want to thrive,” he stated.
Crystal Lucas from the Northside Residents Redevelopment Council (NRRC) spoke about the ongoing displacement and the organization’s efforts to help residents and businesses stay in their homes.
“We’re working to keep residents in place, even paying off mortgages for elderly homeowners to protect them from displacement,” Lucas explained.
However, she emphasized that government promises of anti-displacement funding had not been fully realized, and that these funds must be accessible to those facing the pressures of displacement.
Denise Butler from African Career, Education, and Resource (ACER) highlighted the importance of communityled solutions, particularly the creation of the Anti-Displacement Community Prosperity Program (ACPP), which was developed through grassroots
efforts. Butler urged Hennepin County to expedite the distribution of anti-displacement resources, stressing the importance of the community leading this charge rather than being sidelined by bureaucratic barriers.
“We know the work needs to get done, but these unnec-
nesses that have already been lost due to land acquisition along the light rail corridor. Our small businesses run by Black, Indigenous, and people of color are the economic engines for a lot of these cities.”
Andrea Young, a representative of Heritage Park Neighborhood Association in
mediately to prevent further pressure on families facing displacement. “We deserve investment without displacement,” she added.
Ongoing struggle for equity
Throughout the event it was clear that community leaders are not simply focused on the construction of the Blue Line Extension itself but on ensuring that the project does not further harm vulnerable communities. The focus is on the people, their homes,
essary barriers are holding us back,” Butler said, adding that the impact of what is to stem from the Blue Line Extension project has and is already happening before our eyes.
“Right now, we’re still trying to gain back some of the busi-
North Minneapolis, expressed frustration with the ongoing delays and the lack of support for the community.
“For over a decade our community has been caught in the crosshairs of the Blue Line Extension Project,” Young stated. She emphasized the urgent need for the $10 million allocated for anti-displacement funding to be released im-
Submitted photo
businesses, and the ability to thrive in their neighborhoods, regardless of the train’s status.
“The train is secondary,” said Ricardo Perez, organizer for the Blue Line Coalition. “It’s about the people and the promises made to them. If this project moves forward, it must be done with full support of those who will be affected.”
Perez expressed concern over the Met Council’s cancellation of a key meeting, which failed to build trust with the community. Local leaders are calling on Hennepin County and the Met Council to fulfill their commitments and to release the anti-displacement funds immediately.
“We are not asking for charity,” said Perez. “We are asking for what is rightfully ours: the resources to keep our homes, businesses and families intact.”
“If this project moves forward, it must be done with full support of those who will be affected.”
The rally concluded with a call to action for the community to attend the next AntiDisplacement Board meeting, scheduled for August 14 at NorthPoint in Minneapolis, where further discussions will take place. The community remains united in their call for swift action, transparency, and accountability from the authorities involved in the Blue Line Extension project. As community leaders continue to push for equitable policies, they stress the need for a future where neighborhoods are not divided by transit expansion but supported through sustainable development and anti-displacement efforts.
For more information, contact ricardo@thealliancetc.org.
Jasmine McBride welcomes reader responses at jmcbride@ spokesman-recorder.com.
Sunrise May 29, 1938 – Sunset July 28, 2025
With heavy hearts, we announce the peaceful passing of Levell Jones Jr., in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on July 28, 2025.
Born in Jasper County, Mississippi, Levell moved to Minnesota at age 21, seeking new opportunities. He dedicated 50 years of service to Old Dutch Foods, where he was known for his perfect attendance, quiet strength and commitment.
Family was always at the heart of Levell’s life. In 1964, he married Laura Louise Evans. Together, they built a loving home and raised two children. He was also a devoted father to his eldest son, born during
a previous relationship, and cherished all three of his children deeply.
After retiring in 2009, Levell remained active in his community, founding the popular bid whist group at Sabathani Community Center in 2016. He was a provider, protector, and friend to many. His wisdom, generosity, and unwavering support touched countless lives.
He is survived by his wife, Laura; his children; grandchildren; and a host of extended family and friends who will carry forward his legacy of love and resilience.
Levell’s celebration of life takes place on Friday, August 15, 2025, at Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, located at 2600 E. 38th St, Minneapolis, MN 55406.
• Viewing: 10:00 AM CST
• Funeral Service: 11:00 AM CST
• Graveside Service: Immediately following at Lakewood Cemetery 3600 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55408
• Repast: Friendship Hall at the church
We welcome all to share memories and celebrate Levell’s enduring legacy.
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder August 14, 2025
By Jasmine McBride Associate Editor
Entrepreneurship often starts with a passion, and for Ciara Flowers, the journey to owning Cici’s Cupcakes began with a love for baking. The 27-year-old Minneapolis native says she has always been drawn to the kitchen. But it was one memorable birthday party that sparked the idea to turn her baking hobby into a full-fledged business.
“I made banana pudding cupcakes for a friend’s birthday party, and people just raved about them,” Ciara says. “They told me I should start a business, and it kind of took off from there.”
Thus was Cici’s Cupcakes born in October 2023.
From passion to profession
Starting a business has been a rewarding yet challenging journey for Ciara.
Over the past two years, she’s learned the ins and outs of managing customer orders, balancing her time between baking and running the business, and figuring out how to connect with her customers through personalized, made-
to-order cupcakes.
“It’s been a learning process,” she admits. “There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes — organizing orders, communicating with customers, and testing new flavors. I’ve had to figure out how to balance everything from baking to marketing.”
Despite the challenges, Ciara has thrived, building a loyal customer base who eagerly await her flavorful, unique cupcakes. She focuses on two things: flavor and presentation.
“For me, the flavor is the most important thing. If it doesn’t taste good, then it doesn’t matter how it looks,”
Top flavors While Cici’s Cupcakes offers a variety of flavors, two standouts have won the hearts of many: the Cookie Butter Biscoff and Strawberry Crunch cupcakes. “Cookie butter is my personal favorite, and it’s definitely a crowd favorite too. Every time people try it, they say, ‘Wow, what is this? It’s amazing!’” Ciara shared. Customers also rave about her signature banana pudding flavor, which started it all. But as Ciara continues to evolve her menu, she’s always experimenting and open to new flavor ideas. Her focus is on creating the best possible flavor profile for every cupcake she bakes.
Customized orders:
she says. “I want my cupcakes to bring joy to people — whether they’re looking for something visually appealing or craving a flavor that stands out.”
One of the key elements that sets Cici’s Cupcakes apart is Ciara’s commitment to customized orders. “In the beginning, I would bake batches of specific flavors for the week, but I quickly realized people wanted more variety. Now, I make everything to order,” she says. “Whether it’s a birthday, a special event, or just because… I’m happy to create custom flavors for each customer.”
Cici’s Cupcakes offers a flexible, two-day turnaround time
for orders, giving her ample time to ensure each batch is perfect. This personalized service has been a major selling point for many loyal customers who appreciate the extra care she puts into every order.
Getting to know Ciara
When she’s not baking, Ci-
ara enjoys spending time with her friends and family, exploring new restaurants, and indulging in her love for video games. She’s also a self-proclaimed foodie who loves to try new dishes at different eateries around the Twin Cities.
Despite the long hours of running a business, Ciara is
committed to building something meaningful with Cici’s Cupcakes, something that not only brings joy to people’s taste buds but also represents the hard work and dedication she’s put into her craft.
If you’re looking for a tasty treat for a special occasion, don’t hesitate to reach out! Cici’s cupcakes are a perfect addition to any birthday, party, or event, and she’s always happy to customize an order to meet your needs.
Pricing and ordering
Cici’s Cupcakes offers affordable pricing for high-quality, custom cupcakes. Currently, the pricing is as follows: Single cupcake $3. Half dozen (6) $18 Full dozen (12) $30. For larger orders, customers can get in touch with Ciara directly via Facebook Messenger or Instagram. She is also happy to dis-
By Jerry Freeman Senior Editor
ne summer day in 1998 I drove to the office of the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder at 38th Street and 4th Avenue in South Minneapolis, known then as the Minneapolis Spokesman and the St. Paul Recorder, and went inside to meet one of its publishers, Wallace “Jack” Jackman, about a volunteer opportunity. I was between jobs and the paper needed a proofreader.
Jack and his sister Norma were the papers’ co-publishers at the time. Jack was friendly and enthusiastic, a nononsense businessman who shared a great sense of humor with his sister, a stand-up comedian in her own right. Unfortunately I came too late to meet the papers’ founder, Cecil Newman, who had passed away two years earlier. His widow, Launa Newman, continued as publisher.
Jack put me to work proofreading the Classifieds. In those pre-Craig’s List days, classified ads of all kinds could take up a full 6-8 pages. It was an important source of revenue for the paper, so mistakes could be costly. I’d come in late afternoon on go-to-print Tuesdays and spend several hours poring over ads after business hours.
Gayle Anderson was the editor then. While I worked on ads, Gayle labored over last-minute copy and his own wry column. Jack‘s wife Linda stood at a sloped drafting table cutting and pasting the content from typed copy
onto blank dummy pages — this after working in a bank all day. Once all pages were laid out and proofed we rushed them by courier to a printer in Shakopee, Minnesota, sometimes not until the wee dark hours.
Often things did not go as planned and we were still at it after midnight pulling all the pieces together. But the paper never missed an issue — not then, not in the preceding 60 years, and not in the 30 years since. That itself is something to be proud of considering the countless obstacles to overcome week after week, month after month over those 91 years.
The publishers brought the papers from the old days of lead typesetting in the back room into the modern world of computers, emails, scanners, printers. The old IBM Selectrics went out the back door as the new IBM PCs came in the front. They remodeled the original building to accommodate a growing staff. I went from proofreading ads to proofing other copy, then to writing and editing.
What I recall most vividly from my near-30 years with what is now one paper, the Minnesota SpokesmanRecorder, are the many wonderful, remarkable, talented people it was my great good fortune to meet and work with. Foremost, of course, the publishers, always generous with their praise, forgiving of shortcomings and tolerant of stubborn ways. I hesitate to even begin naming the others because there are so many and some must get left out.
I salute up front Tracey WilliamsDillard, the paper’s current publisher and CEO, for accepting the torch from her grandmother and carrying on the newspaper’s tradition in the spirit intended by its founder, as befits its Black Press heritage. But as Tracey knows, what keeps the newspaper useful and relevant are its contributors — the reporters, assigning editors, columnists, photographers, graphic designers, wordsmiths, storytellers, advisers, secret sources and latenight informants — all the amazing contributors who make a newspaper something people want to read.
And who greatly enriched my life along the way.
Hundreds of voices have found thousands of readers on these pages. These are just a few of the contributors I most appreciated hearing and learning from: Kwame and Mary and Mitchell P. McDonald, Matthew Little, Ron Edwards, Gayle Anderson, Charles Hallman, Pat Crutchfield and much later Dr. Charles Crutchfield III, Shannon Gibney, Booker T. Hodges, Dwight Hobbes, Sheletta Brundidge, Robin James, James L. Stroud, Isaac Peterson, Abdel Shakur, Lucky Rosenbloom, Mother Atum, Emmett Timmons, Raymond Boyd, Travis Lee, Tony Kiene, Michael Deal, Vickie Evans-Nash, Paige Elliott, Stephanie Booker, Mel Reeves, Tom McNellis, Ken Foxworth, Spike Moss, Mary Turk, Stephenetta Harmon, Jennifer Jackman, Al Brown, Larry Fitzgerald, Christopher Harrison, Laura Pohlman, Merle “Buster” Cooper…and
oh so many more.
Now at last I find myself back where I began, having come full circle over a quarter century of work on behalf of the MSR. I like the symmetry of it. Once again I proofread stories and pages every week, not so much classifieds now but plenty of good writing, helping create something fine and clean and error-free the whole community can be proud of. Helping make Cecil and Launa, Jack and Norma proud of their legacy.
For that matter, helping make Minnesota a better place for everyone. The MSR mattered then and it matters now. The Spokesman-Recorder seems to me well positioned to lead this generation’s Black Press just in time to speak harsh truths to power as we face the greatest threats to Black civil rights in my lifetime since those ugly Barry Goldwater and George Wallace days.
When so much is at stake, the Black Press has always been in the forefront of the struggle. I am proud to see our work and sacrifices over the years have not been in vain, and the MSR still stands in the vanguard of resistance to oppression and injustice under the guidance of its current editor, Jasmine McBride, clearly a rising star.
Now whenever I think of the MSR I recall all these names, see all these faces, remember our adventures in journalism together, the stories we told and the ones that got away, and above all else I give thanks for the privilege of having made your acquaintance.
By Vickie Evans-Nash Contributing Writer
James Garrett, Jr. made the long trek to becoming an architect in an industry that presents barriers for people of color. He credits his family for supporting him in completing the journey. As a Bush fellow, he is looking for new ideas to create spaces that meet the needs of people of color.
As a 2025 Bush fellow, he is utilizing his opportunity to explore the intersection between affordable housing and climate change. He plans to travel to SolarLab in Denmark to learn about photovoltaic cladding, a building material they’ve developed to use as windows, roofing and siding that also generates solar energy.
Garrett knew he wanted to be an architect by the time he was five. It began by building Legos.
“My parents did a great job of nurturing my brother and I and the interest that we had,” he says. “There were a few architects in the community here, and they knew them.”
Garrett had the chance to talk to architects like Robert Morgan and Jay Tyson. This level of involvement with Black architects during his youth made entering the industry a realistic goal for him as an adult.
“That was powerful for me,” he says. “It’s something that we’re trying to do with our kids, making sure that what ever their hopes and dreams are, we are able to bring them around to people who look like us [and] be able to sort of have those role models around and available to them.”
These early interactions didn’t break down the existing barriers for aspiring architects of color. He experienced this first during high school when he was told that he couldn’t take an architecture class. In structors led him to machine part drafting, which they told him was a more realistic path.
They eventually agreed to let him take the architecture class if he finished the ma chine part drafting courses first. After a couple of years, Garrett realized that he would
graduate before he could complete all the classes and move on to architecture.
“It was the ‘Minnesota nice’ way of telling me no,” he says. “I doubt that any of the people who took the architecture class even went to architecture school.”
During the summer of his freshman year at the University of California, Berkeley, Garrett learned that architecture was not new to his family. While visiting his grandparents, his grandmother sent him to the basement to look for something.
“I started to notice that the columns in the basement that were supporting the ceiling were not typical wood-frame structural elements,” he says.
“They were metal posts, and they had these nice details and connections.”
He had been studying wood-framed housing structures at Berkeley, but these were different from what he’d seen. He asked his grandmother if an architect had designed the house.
“My grandpa looked up from his newspaper and he goes, ‘My Uncle Cap designed this house… Cap Wigington.’” He showed Garrett the blueprints for the house by the famous Minnesota Black architect who designed Roy Wilkins
Auditorium and the Harriet Island Pavilion.
The typical road to being an architect includes completing undergraduate and graduate school, followed by three to five years to complete the prerequisites for an internship. It takes an additional 3-5 years to pass the exams.
“We’re talking about an 18 to 20-year commitment to be an architect. It pushes a lot of people away [and] into other fields,” explains Garrett. “There’s a reason why there are only so many
Black architects, and we’re almost 15% of the population.”
Garrett is co-owner of 4RM+ULA (form plus urban landscape articulation) with his business partners. Their work includes public spaces like the Rondo Commemorative Plaza and the Philando Castile Memorial, and art centers Juxtaposition Arts in Minneapolis and Springboard for the Arts in St. Paul.
“We are most known for our transit work,” says Garrett, “the light rail stations along the green line [and] Target Field sta-
tion.” They also designed a bus transit station for the city of Rochester and the Mayo Clinic.
In 2021, Nathan Johnson, Garrett’s business partner, applied and was awarded a Bush Fellowship. Garrett observed the effect the opportunity had on Johnson. “The discoveries that he made, the travel that he did, a lot of ideas opened up, and the business started flourishing from that period,” explains Garrett.
“There’s
are self-determining what our communities, what our building, what our public spaces, what our streets…look like?’”
While Black communities typically inherit buildings already in existence, he says, “We deserve to have the opportunity to mold, shape and create the types of places and spaces that serve us as people of color.
a reason why there are only so many Black architects, and we’re almost 15 percent of the population.”
This past year, Garrett says, “I felt like the time was right and I wanted to throw my hat in the ring and submit for the fellowship.” He is looking to push the passion that he puts into his work forward.
“This work that we do, it comes from my heart, from my soul,” he says.” “We are interested in saying, ‘What does it look like, what does it feel like, what are the possibilities if we
“That’s very rewarding work, but it’s very difficult work,” he continues. “A lot of times it requires quite a bit of educating, handholding, and sort of walking people through very complex processes that we’ve kind of been shut out of for many generations.”
Find out more about 4RM+ULA at https://4rmula.com/.
Vickie Nash welcomes reader responses at vickie.evans2019@gmail.com.
By Jasmine McBride Associate Editor
On August 6, 2025, the McKnight Foundation named Carolyn Holbrook the recipient of its prestigious Distinguished Artist Award, honoring the writer, educator, and literary activist for her decades-long impact on Minnesota’s cultural and artistic landscape. Known for her deep commitment to nurturing marginalized voices and creating spaces of healing through storytell
ing, Holbrook’s recognition is a testament to the power of literature as a vehicle for jus
tice, self-discovery, and com
munity transformation.
Holbrook describes this award as an affirmation, one of a woman who has built literary communities from the ground up, mentored hundreds of writers, and chronicled the pain and beauty of Black life in Minnesota with the honesty of a griot and the heart of a mother.
“If I must say anything, I want people to know that it’s never too late to start. I didn’t publish my first book until I was in my 50s. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s too late.”
Born in Ann Arbor, MI, but long home to the Twin Cities, Holbrook’s path into writing was anything but easy. Be-
coming a single mother of five by the time she was in her mid-thirties, she rebuilt her life after leaving a violent marriage, raising her children while discovering the transformative power of writing. That writing would later become a lifeline, not just for her, but for countless others.
“I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I just knew I had stories in me. I started writing to understand my own life, to heal, and somehow it became a calling.”
Holbrook’s writing is richly personal and politically potent.
Her 2020 memoir, “Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify,” is both an elegy and a testimony. The book weaves together stories of trauma, racism, family and healing with the clarity of someone who has lived many lives. It went on to win the 2021 Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction, cementing Holbrook’s place as a leading literary voice in the Midwest. “Storytelling saved me, and it saves others, too. When you write your truth, you liberate yourself and give others permission to do the same.”
This belief has guided her founding of three organizations: The Whittier Writers’ Workshop in 1981, SASE: The Write Place in 1993, and More Than a Single Story in 2016.
Born out of frustration with the tokenism she witnessed in literary spaces, Holbrook’s vision was simple but radical: create spaces where writers of color could talk to each other without being framed by whiteness. “We needed spaces to speak to one another, to be whole and multifaceted.”
Since its founding, More Than a Single Story has blossomed into a beloved institution, hosting panels, workshops, and mentoring programs. In partnerships with libraries, The Givens Collection, In Black Ink and others, emerging and established writers of color are encouraged to share not only their work, but also their wisdom, struggles and dreams. Holbrook, ever the quiet anchor, has remained at the center, guiding with a gentle but unwavering hand.
“We are more than what the dominant narratives say we are. I wanted to build something that showed our fullness, our brilliance, and especially… excellence.”
The McKnight Foundation echoed this in its announce-
ment, noting Holbrook’s unique ability to cultivate community and foster creativity among underrepresented writers. Their recognition acknowledges her as a bridge between generations, between genres, and between art and activism.
Holbrook’s reach is expansive and persisting. Her impact reverberates through generations. She has taught creative writing at Hamline University, Minneapolis College, and The Loft Literary Center as well as in community venues.
nesota Book Awards Kay Sexton Award and the MN Book Award in Memoir and Creative Nonfiction, Holbrook says the Distinguished Artist Award is not one she ever expected to receive. She said that after spending so much of her literary life lifting others up rather than promoting her own work, she grew comfortable as a vessel behind the scenes.
However well deserved the award, she says for the first time she will get to experience both restorative and creative rest, removed from
“If I can do anything, it’s to make sure the door stays open for those coming behind me. That’s what I’ve always wanted.”
“When I teach young people, I’m not just teaching writing. I’m offering a mirror. I want them to see their own worth and their own power through their own stories.”
In her 80s now, Holbrook remains unwavering in her commitment to transformation through words. When asked what this award means to her at this stage in her life, she said, “It feels like a blessing.
“Not just for me, but for every person who’s ever been told their voice doesn’t matter. This award tells us it does,” she exclaimed. “The literary world has not been kind to Black women… We’ve had to carve our own paths. And we still do.”
Despite her many accolades, which include the Min-
demand and rooted in intention, a pause she shared she’s longed for.
“If I can do anything, it’s to make sure the door stays open for those coming behind me,” she says. “That’s what I’ve always wanted.”
As Minnesota celebrates Carolyn Holbrook’s legacy, the reverberations of her work continue to unfold in classrooms, on bookshelves, in community spaces, and in the lives of those who have found healing through her voice.
For more information, visit www.carolynleeholbrook.com.
Jasmine McBride welcomes reader responses at jmcbride@ spokesman-recorder.com.
By Laura Onyeneho
On July 9, five African leaders arrived at the White House for a summit with President Donald Trump, expecting to discuss trade and opportunity. Instead, they were met with a performance of American ignorance and condescension.
“We want to work with the United States in peace and security within the region because we are committed to that and we just want to thank you so much for this opportunity,” Liberian President Joseph Boakai said.
countries” during a closed-door immigration meeting, sparking global outrage and accusations of racism.
In 2017, he praised the health care system of “Nambia,” a country that doesn’t exist, at a UN luncheon with African leaders. The White House later claimed he meant Namibia, but the damage was done. The moment captured Trump’s habitual lack of basic geopolitical knowledge.
for failing to reach those in need. These are the many challenges these African leaders should address instead of being puppets to Western leaders.
By Mustafa Ali
There are moments in history when silence is not neutral. When pretending not to know is the most violent thing a nation can do. We are standing at such a moment now.
I was there in 2009, when the Environmental Protection Agency issued a formal declaration grounded in science, shaped by decades of research, and echoed by communities who’d been breathing injustice for generations. It’s called the Endangerment Finding.
It simply states that greenhouse gases — like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — threaten the health and welfare of current and future generations. With that one declaration, the government admitted something our ancestors already knew deep in their lungs: Pollution kills, and climate change is no accident — it’s policy, profit and power playing god with our survival.
It will not be the politicians or polluters who pay the price. It will be the rest of us.
That declaration gave the EPA the legal authority — and moral obligation — to act. To regulate emissions. To stand between Big Oil and the bodies of children with asthma. To recognize that melting glaciers and flooded streets are not random weather, but human consequences.
It gave us hope that science would be more than a footnote in a political debate. Now, that hope is under assault.
In 2025, America continues to see a scorched-earth approach to science and truth by the Trump administration. They are now
placing a crosshair on the Endangerment Finding itself. This administration’s current set of actions isn’t just about dismantling environmental regulations.
It’s about denying reality, unwriting the future, and silencing the warning bells of our time. In its place, they offer lies dressed as liberty, deregulation disguised as freedom, and fossil fuel profits parading as patriotism.
brown communities. Tribal nations. Immigrants. Those without generational wealth who cannot move to higher ground or buy filters for the air. If the Endangerment Finding is rescinded, these communities will suffer first and suffer worst.
Who benefits?
Make no mistake: Reversing the Endangerment Finding would be the equivalent of yanking out the foundation of the house while claiming you’re remodeling. It would erase the federal government’s obligation to regulate the very emissions causing this crisis. And in that vacuum, corporate pollution would flourish while human life withers — especially in communities already pushed to the margins.
Who gets hurt?
It’s not the CEOs sitting in air-conditioned boardrooms. It’s not the politicians whose families will evacuate by private jet when the next superstorm hits. It’s the mother in South Phoenix whose son can’t sleep through the night without wheezing.
It’s the elder in Appalachia whose well water tastes like diesel. It’s the Black child in Louisiana who thinks smoke in the sky is just part of what it means to grow up.
These are the communities that have always borne the brunt of environmental injustice. Poor communities. Black and
Follow the money: Oil companies. Coal barons. Gas conglomerates. They win by weakening science and strengthening silence. They win when no one is watching. They win when the people’s voices are buried beneath lobbying dollars and propaganda.
But there’s another cost beyond the moral one. The economic cost of inaction will bankrupt us. Climate-related disasters in the U.S. alone cost more than $165 billion in 2022, and the numbers are only rising. Fires, floods, hurricanes, droughts — each one a result of neglect. Each one is a tax on our denial.
The more we ignore, the more we pay. And it’s not just money — it’s public health. It’s premature births, cardiovascular disease, mental trauma, food insecurity, displaced families, and poisoned air.
And then there’s the cost we cannot measure yet — the debt we are writing into the lungs of our children and their children. A future where summers become death sentences. Where crops fail more than they feed. Where water is more scarce than clean.
Reversing the Endangerment
Finding isn’t just a policy shift — it’s a betrayal. A betrayal of the next generation, and the ones after that. We’re not handing them a planet — we’re giving them a problem so monstrous we didn’t have the courage to face it ourselves.
But here’s the thing about tipping points: They go both ways. We are still — barely — on the edge where we can choose a different path.
The science is more precise than ever. The technology exists. The solutions are ready. What we need is the political will and the moral clarity to say enough. Enough denial. Enough delay. Enough pretending this house isn’t on fire.
If we hold the Endangerment Finding as sacred — not just as a legal document but as a promise — then we can still build a future from its foundation. But if we let it fall, the silence that follows will be deafening.
And it will not be the politicians or polluters who pay the price. It will be the rest of us, coughing in the rubble, wondering why we let them turn off the alarm.
President Trump responded: “Thank you. And such good English. Such beautiful. Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated? Where?”
When Boakai answered that he learned the language in Liberia, Trump responded: “That’s very interesting. Beautiful English! I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”
Instead of challenging the insult, Boakai nodded politely and said, “Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.”
It doesn’t surprise me that Trump has not one drop of shame as a representative of the United States to be this uneducated about the people whom he invited to the White House. I also expected more from African leaders to speak up to Trump’s ignorance. This is why learning history is important.
English is the official language of Liberia, a West African country founded in 1822 by the American Colonization Society to resettle freed slaves and declare independence in 1847.
Trump’s latest comments are just another chapter in his history of publicly disrespecting Black nations. In 2018, he notoriously referred to Haiti and African countries as “shithole
In 2025, the pattern continues. While discussing migration, Trump claimed the Congo was sending prisoners to the U.S. and added, “I don’t know what the Congo is.”
He also dismissed Lesotho during a congressional speech, saying, “No one’s ever heard of it,” while smearing U.S. HIV/ AIDS aid to the country as a tool to “promote the LGBTQIA+ agenda.”
In his second term, he has championed white nationalist talking points, spreading false claims of “white genocide” in South Africa, granting refugee privileges to white Afrikaners while imposing new travel restrictions that disproportionately target majority-Black African nations.
He’s also gutted humanitarian assistance to the continent.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), once a critical source of funding for food, health and infrastructure programs, has been dismantled under Trump’s leadership. Millions of Africans now face lifethreatening consequences because of it.
Humanitarian aid in Africa is often criticized for its ineffectiveness due to factors like corruption, dependency, and market distortions, which can undermine local economies and create dependency cycles, and
To many, these moves reflect Trump’s apparent disregard for the continent. But Africa’s importance to the global future is undeniable. A January 2025 Brookings Institution paper noted, “Africa is increasingly recognized as the next frontier for global economic growth. Its potential is vast, characterized by diverse natural resources, a burgeoning youth population, and untapped innovation.” Yet, African leaders, Boakai among them, continue to treat Trump with deference. The July 9 summit was framed as a shift “from aid to trade,” but Trump’s simultaneous imposition of tariffs on African nations like Algeria and Libya made the optics clear that the U.S. talks partnership while practicing punishment. Too many African leaders have become too comfortable being patronized in exchange for handshakes, photo ops, and vague promises.
But the era of quiet diplomacy in the face of disrespect must end. Africa is no one’s charity case. It is a continent of leverage, resources, talent and vision. The West, especially the U.S., should no longer be treated as the only game in town.
Black nations must stop showing up at the table just to be insulted. Sovereignty doesn’t mean silence. It means knowing when to say no, even to a superpower. If America won’t raise its level of engagement, Africa must raise its standards.
This piece was originally published in the Defender Network. For more information, visit www. defender’network.com.
By Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter
The Voting Rights Act was under attack from the moment of its 1965 inception to the present day. Today, some 4 million Americans are unable to vote due to a felony conviction. These disenfranchised citizens live in a nation with yearly elections, and yet they are barred from casting a ballot and electing candidates of their choice.
Barring citizens who have served their time isn’t about making communities safer, nor is it about forcing persons who have made mistakes to atone for those misgivings. Such is part of a broader strategy to limit who can vote.
The pattern of taking steps to limit the electorate continued in the 2000s. The June 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby v. Holder meant that Sections 4 and 5 of the landmark legislation were no longer available for civil rights litigants to use. It also meant that states with histories of discrimination no longer had to get federal preclearance for voting rights changes.
The High Court’s decision opened the floodgates in terms of restrictive voting legislation, which has had the cumulative impact of denying and abridging the right to vote for millions. For instance, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU found in 2023 that after the Shelby County decision,
“at least 29 states passed 94 restrictive voting laws. While a few of these have been blocked by courts or repealed, most are still in effect.”
As monumental as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was, our nation needs something more.
Sixty years after its passage, we should be asking ourselves what the next iteration of pro-voting policies entails. We should be advocating for policies that offer repair for decades of harm. We should also be asking what tools are at our disposal to protect the ballot today and for future generations.
Due to circumstances, we often get stuck in a cycle of defense rather than ideating on what future generations might need. If ever there was a time to do both defense and offense, that time is now.
As we mark the 60th anniversary of the VRA, we must recognize the active attacks on democracy and continued voter suppression tactics — felony disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, limited polling place resources in predominantly Black communities, polling place closures, reductions in early voting, Sunday voting, etc. When you add to this combination of coordinated voter suppression tactics the active resistance to the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill, the fragility of our voting rights and democracy is ever clear. Laws designed to silence
dissent have spread fear and anxiety, even as our nation has historically built upon responding to injustice through protests. That doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. In fact, hope is more important now than ever.
This moment calls for creativity, coordination, and intergenerational learning. Most of all, it calls for hope. If we believe that our best days are behind us, we are less likely to organize and struggle for the future.
Our votes are our voice. Sixty years after its passage, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is both bedrock and a target requiring vigilance and renewed commitment to defending and ensuring voting rights for all Americans. Today, we uplift and venerate the legacy of all of the courageous people who marched from Selma to Montgomery and remind ourselves that democracy belongs to every citizen, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, background, or zip code.
We must be prudent enough to remember that democracy requires voice, and our votes are our voice. Therefore, a threat to voting rights anywhere is a threat to voters everywhere.
This piece was originally published in Word in Black and has been edited for length. For the original version or
NOTICE OF INFORMAL PROBATE OF WILL AND APPOINTMENT OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Howard are Heisman Trophy winners. “Jim Brown was my hero,” admitted Griffin, the only two-time winner. “I wished I had the opportunity to know Sam Lacy. That man did a lot of work really pushing for the Black athlete to get the recognition that they deserved.” Said Howard, “To be able to do it in front of my family in the place that made me who I am, it couldn’t get any better than this.”
Barbara Turner missed last Friday’s MinnesotaWashington WNBA game to attend the Lacy’s — she is a Mystics assistant coach. She was a high school All-American, played on back-to-back
UConn championship teams, and was a first-round WNBA draft pick who played overseas before moving into coaching. “I can’t say how much this is an honor just to be recognized, especially in my city,” Turner pointed out. Hill is a four-decades-plus journalist, educator, mentor and longtime voice of Black journalists. Kennedy was the first Black woman to win Miss Ohio USA in 1970 and the first Black woman to be a sportscaster on a national NFL broadcast as co-anchor on CBS’s “The NFL Today.”
“I love sports and I know a lot about sports,” Hill said.
Next week: More on Jayne Kennedy’s groundbreaking career.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.
FOR BILLING INQUIRIES & TEARSHEETS
PLEASE CONTACT
ACCOUNTING DEPT
Notice is given that an application for informal probate of the Decedent’s will dated April 30, 2020, (“Will”), has been filed with the Registrar. The application has been granted.
BILLING@SPOKESMAN-RECORDER.COM
PROBATE 2 WEEK RUN FLAT RATE $215.00 PREPAID
Notice is also given that the Registrar has informally appointed George Anderson whose address is 22 Malcolm Ave SE, #219, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414 as personal representative of the Estate of the Decedent. Any heir, devisee or other interested person may be entitled to appointment as personal representative or may object to the appointment of the personal representative. Unless objections are filed with the Court (pursuant to Minnesota Statutes section 524.3-607) and the Court otherwise orders, the personal representative has full power to administer the Estate, including, after 30 days from the date of issuance of letters, the power to sell, encumber, lease or distribute real estate.
Please Note: New email address for all future ads is ads@spokesman-recorder.com
Any objections to the probate of the Will or appointment of the Personal Representative must be filed with this Court and will be heard by the Court after the filing of an appropriate petition and proper notice of hearing.
The MSR handles billing digitally. This means you will get e-tears and e-mailed invoices unless you specifically request a hard copy.
Notice is also given that (subject to Minnesota Statutes section 524.3-801) all credi-
tors having claims against the Estate are required to present the claims to the personal representative or to the Court Administrator within four months after the date of this Notice or the claims will be barred.
A charitable beneficiary may request notice of the probate proceedings be given to the Attorney General pursuant to Minnesota Statutes section
Continued from page 10
he’s my good friend,” said longtime Timberwolves Analyst Jim Petersen. The onair chemistry between him and Grady came together so quickly it seems that they have been together much longer than the actual two seasons they have been paired.
“We’ve just become so close over these years,” stressed Petersen. “He’s deserved this opportunity… to be working on a national stage that’s going to give him a bigger platform.”
“To be in this position right now, it’s not lost on me and I don’t take these opportunities for granted.”
Furthermore, Grady is the only Black play-by-play on the NBC-Peacock broadcast team. Brad Daugherty, Derek Fisher and Austin Rivers recently were named game
analysts and will join Grady as the only Blacks on the rotating broadcasting team.
“To be in this position right now,” surmised Grady, “it’s not lost on me and I don’t take these opportunities for granted. If I can inspire anybody…to inspire more diverse voices is meaningful as well. That’s important to me. That’s significant to me.”
Needed: Black and female media
Two recent articles stress the importance of Black and female voices in sports media. First and Pen’s Yussuf Khan on July 21 called out the new Fox SportsBarstool Sports deal mainly because Barstool founder Dave Portnoy in recent years has been accused of making racist, sexist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks. Khan said, “That’s why Black media, especially independent Black media, is needed now more than ever. And to be even more specific, credible, professional, and knowledgeable Black media.”
California-based communications, marketing and sports media consultant Tonya McKnight a day later wrote in Sports Are Sexy. com July 22, “A new crop of
Continued from page 10
in the MIAC. Christine Hester in the late 1990s was the first Black woman AD when she was hired at Bethel.
Located in the shadow of the larger University of Minnesota in the CedarRiverside area, Augsburg boasts over 400 studentathletes and 22 varsity sports. Cooper, who reports directly to the school president, is now responsible to help ensure, along with the coaches, that the Auggies male and female players receive the kind of athletic and academic experience they sought when they decided to attend the school.
“I’m a product of South Minneapolis and went to Minneapolis Public Schools,” stressed Cooper. “I walked the same streets that our Augsburg student athletes walk. I played soccer in the dome here at Augsburg growing up.”
And now, as AU’s first Black head of athletics, she said, “It’s exciting to be here because I didn’t have people that looked like me necessarily to look up to. It’s about representation. What I love about Augsburg is that they are growing and growing their number of BIPOC students. I think we’re at
58% here, which is definitely the top private school diversity rate in the state.”
“There is so much opportunity here for us to partner with the community, and that’s what I’m really looking forward to doing. Less than two miles from here, we have the YWCA. We’ve got South High School in this community. We’ve got Phillips Community Center.
“There is so much opportunity here for us to partner with the community, and that’s what I’m really looking forward to doing.”
“My hope is — and I know our athletic program here has done a lot of good work in the past — I want to continue with that and build more partnerships so that our student athletes can be mentors to these students in Minneapolis like me when I was young,” said Cooper.
“I’m looking forward to our students going out there in the community and being visible for these kids in our community, too,” she concluded.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.
bold, brilliant, and unapologetically feminine sports content creators are running point, calling plays and giving the game a glow-up.” She listed Siera Santos and Mariah Rose among them: “These women aren’t asking for a seat at the table — they’re building their own platforms, bringing fresh perspectives, fan-girl energy, and no-nonsense analysis to every play, pitch, and press conference.” Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.
LEVELAND— It wouldn’t be NABJ (National Association of Black Journalists) for me if I didn’t attend the annual Sam Lacey Pioneer Awards.
Over the years I have had the opportunity to not only listen to the winners’ speeches, but also talk with them afterwards: Joe Frazier, John Chaney, Sonny Hill and Donald Hunt in Philadelphia (2011); Maritza Correia, Doug Williams and Lee Roy Selmon in Tampa (2009); Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and James Harris in New Orleans (2017); Spencer Haywood and Willie Horton in my hometown Detroit (2018); Don King, Regina Miller and Reggie Theus in Las Vegas (2007); and Ferguson Jenkins and Dorothy Gaters in Chicago last August.
At last Friday’s event at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Cleveland, the third-
floor large meeting room was packed with not only the honorees, their families and friends, but also Black sports journalists, both seasoned and aspiring college students.
NBA star LeBron James was among the seven Pioneer Awards — fifth-grader Zaire Williamson, a student at one of the several schools James has supported over the years, accepted on his behalf. Archie Griffin, Desmond Howard, Dr. Madeline Manning Mims, Renee Powell and Barbara Turner were the other winners.
Two received Lifetime Achievement Awards — Justice Hill and Jayne Kennedy.
All award winners have Cleveland or Ohio area ties, including the late Jim Brown. His wife Monique accepted for the NFL icon when he played for the Cleveland Browns in the 1960s before he walked away from football
to pursue acting. He also convened the “Cleveland Summit” in 1967 where he and other Black athletes gathered to support Muhammad Ali’s protest against the Vietnam War. Mrs. Brown was among several Lacy Pioneer winners
innesota Timberwolves Play-by-Play Voice
Michael Grady has joined NBC and Peacock’s NBA regular season and playoffs telecasts for the 2025-26 season.
Grady is among the few Black voices calling NBA games — Minnesota hired him in 2022. He was a sideline reporter for the Brooklyn Nets before that.
Since joining the Wolves, Grady’s talent has drawn attention. Sirius XM Radio nicknamed him “the Lou Rawls of play-by-play guys” for his baritone voice that’s like the late singer, and ESPN last season put him in their rotation of lead play-by-play’s for NBA games. He also has called WNBA games — Grady was on the mic for this year’s Commissioner Cup game in Minnesota last month.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to do this,” said Grady humbly. “I’m not somebody who just decided late in life” to become a broadcaster, he pointed out. “But there’s been a lot of hard work, there’s been a lot of dreaming. There’s been a lot of things behind the scenes that people don’t see going through this journey.
aying homage to local athletes making the Twin Cities proud, this columnist gives shoutouts to: Kendall Blue , the former University of St. Thomas and Eastridge standout, who will spend his final year on the men’s basketball team at the University of Nebraska. Blue averaged
“It was starting off as a kid watching NBA games, not only the action on the court, but the announcers calling the games. That’s a big part of my journey,” he said.
Grady is following a path similar to Kevin Harlen’s, who called Timberwolves games for the team’s first nine seasons (1989-1998), then late in his Wolves stint began working split time locally and doing national games for CBS and
Turner Sports, before leaving the team for good to do both NBA and NFL games in the late 1990s. Grady will be doing a reduced schedule of Wolves games this season, but because of his torrid rise he, like Harlen, will be out of here soon.
“It makes me sad that he’s not doing as many games, but I’m just so happy for him and I’m so proud of him because
who spoke to the MSR after the 90-minute dinner program: “Being a pioneer not only in film, in television, in sports as an activist, there was a lot more and you can’t really sum it up in three minutes,” she stressed.
“There are so many things that he did… A lot of people don’t know that Jim discovered Earth, Wind and Fire and got them their first recording contract,” she pointed out.
“He just touched so many lives as a catalyst for change,”
Mrs. Brown said proudly. “Jim took great pride in being an American citizen.”
Dr. Madeline Manning Mims was the first American woman to win Olympic gold in the 800 meters in 1968, a record that held for 53 years. She ran in four Olympics (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980). “This is such a unique opportunity to say thank you to many of these Black journalists that I had met during my time,” she stressed.
“This is such a unique opportunity to say thank you to many of these Black journalists that I had met during my time.”
“The Black journalists have been the ones that have been keeping doors open and breaking down barriers,” added Renee Powell, the second of only eight Black women to compete on the LPGA Tour, competing in over 250 tournaments. Powell’s father was the first Black to build, own and operate a golf course in the U.S., the Clearview Golf Club that her family still operates today.
Archie Griffin and Desmond
■ See VIEW on page 9
By Charles Hallman Sports Columnist
my Cooper continues to make history: She was named Augsburg University’s new athletic director earlier this spring and assumed her new duties June 1 as the school’s first Black AD.
Cooper, a Minneapolis native, helped the University of St. Thomas through its transition from Division III to DI as senior associate athletics director. “I think everything in my career has led me to be prepared for this,” she told the MSR shortly after assuming the AU position.
Among her first tasks was to hire KiJuan Ware as the school’s first Black head football coach. She recently hired Christa Burgess as senior associate AD, who brings more than eight years of leadership experience in athletic administration, most recently as Trinity Washington (D.C.) University athletic director.
Reflecting on her time at UST, “There’s so many things at St. Thomas” she was responsible for, Cooper pointed out. “I was over the finances, compliance, and reclassification, so all of that was just a huge learning process.
“The reclassification project was very unique, something I had not done before. We grew the [athletics] budget
about five times what it was in Division III. St. Thomas had never done [athletic] financial aid awards.” Cooper, who grew up in South Minneapolis, played multiple sports at Washburn before going off to Howard University and playing soccer at the only HBCU women’s soccer program at the time.
South Carolina State, Southwest Minnesota State, and Prairie View A&M before setting down for an athletic administration career. Along the way, she kept making history.
“My coaching experience I think makes me a unique candidate for this position,” she continued. “Having coached at the Division I, II and III
There she became the first Black college female player to earn all-conference honors. She later was an associate athletics director at HU, then Trinity University AD. Cooper also coached at
levels, I think that gives me a unique perspective when it comes to [her job].”
Cooper joins St. Scholastica AD Jessica Cherry as the only Black female athletic directors
■ See COOPER on page 9
continues
athlete
12.3 points per game for UST last season. The Minneapolis North Flag football team for capturing the first-ever City Conference championship. They finished with an 8-2 record.
Tyler Johnson, the former Minneapolis North and University of Minnesota receiver who recently signed with the NFL New York Jets. Omar Brown , the former Minneapolis North, University of Northern Iowa, and University of Nebraska defensive back who is currently on the NFL Green Bay Packers.
Crystal Flint, the former University of Minnesota Women’s basketball standout and former girls basketball coach at Minneapolis North and Cretin Derham Hall for continuing to create opportunities for female student athletes.
Lea B Olsen, the former University of Minnesota Women’s basketball and Minneapolis South player as she continues to be one of the nation’s top basketball broadcasters.
Brianna Edwards, the former Providence College and Minneapolis North student
Allan
mcdeezy05@gmail.com.