January 13, 2023 - MN Spokesman-Recorder

Martin Luther King’s legacy under siege

By Mary Turck Contributing Writer

changes in state voting laws, eviscerating a critical component of the Voting Rights Act.

Free from oversight, states began implementing restrictions on voting rights designed to diminish the electoral power of voters of color. That movement has accelerated in the past few years under the pretense of preventing election fraud.

strength. These bills, many of which have become state laws, include decreasing the number of polling sites, especially in poor and Black neighborhoods; restricting opportunities for early or absentee voting; and imposing new conditions and restrictions on voter registration.

The

In 2021, another Supreme Court decision (Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee) further weakened the Voting Rights Act. Republicans in Congress repeatedly stymied efforts to pass new protections for voting rights.

Since the 2020 election, Republicans in statehouses across the country have introduced hundreds of bills restricting voting rights and gerrymandering election districts to dilute Black voter

Florida banned bringing food or water to voters standing in line. Because of other restrictions in voting, Florida voters sometimes spend upwards of four, five, six, or more hours waiting in line at polling sites.

Is the Dream Still Alive?

At a time of social change and upheaval, how do we make sense of Dr. King’s legacy?

CA:

By Evette Porter Managing Editor

Since its recognition as a federal holiday in 1983, the Martin Luther King Jr. Day has served as a celebration not only of Dr. King’s legacy and history, but as a benchmark by which we mark our own progress. The MLK Day holiday affords us an opportunity to reflect on past achievements, consider where we have fallen short, and continue to push forward the work of racial, social and economic justice. It also begs the question, “Is the ‘Dream’ still alive?”

In 2023, have we reached a point where Dr. King’s strategies of nonviolence, civil disobedience, and collective activism no longer generate the kind of social change of the Civil Rights Movement, in a post-George Floyd, pandemic-weary, social media-obsessed world? Protests and boycotts are now waged on Twitter and Facebook (Meta), WeChat and TikTok, not on “Bloody Sunday” marches from Selma to Montgomery.

The Minnesota SpokesmanRecorder (MSR)

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MSR: The theme for this year’s

is “Keep Moving Forward,” inspired by MLK’s leadership and lessons

applied to the pressing social issues of today. What do you see as today’s “pressing” social issues, and how are you and your partners working towards addressing them?

LMK: There are still so many pressing social issues facing us today that have been exacerbated by the events of 2020—George Floyd’s murder, the pandemic, racial and civil unrest, economic and educational disparities. We recognize that some progress has been made, but so much more work still needs to be done.

UNCF, along with many other corporations and community organizations, partnered with the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity (MBCRE) to address issues and concerns that are ensuring Minnesota communities are strong and thriving.

UNCF has long been an active partner in lobbying the federal government—the largest source of funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)—to increase the financial commitment to HBCUs. The adverse impact of the pandemic on the economy and

the ongoing effects of systemic racism through police shootings and civil unrest, and the need within the Black community have made UNCF’s advocacy an even more urgent priority.

As a direct result of this advocacy, UNCF’s engagement helped direct $5 billion in federal funds to HBCUs, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), and minority-serving institutions (MSIs).

lift up

help change the trajectory of systemic racism in our communities. We are a part of the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity, alongside 80 Minnesota-based corporations and community partners, aiming to help drive meaningful change around racial and social justice in our hometown.

Through this partnership with our corporate peers, local and state government, community leaders, and others, we will take bold and leading actions needed to combat racial and social inequity and ensure our community is a place where we all can flourish.

MSR: Civil rights and voting rights— hallmarks of MLK’s legacy—are seemingly under attack by the courts and politicians in many states. How have these challenges—restrictive voting laws and gerrymandering

Documentary follows North High’s Polars

By Charles Hallman Contributing Writer

As a longtime Northside resident, I am as sensitive to negative talk about my neighborhood as I am for my hometown Detroit. Therefore, I approached the new short documentary film on Minneapolis North’s football team with great apprehension.

“Boys In Blue” is a four-part docuseries that follows the Polars through their 2021 season. Peter Berg directed and executive produced the Showtime piece, and featured among others the team’s most gifted player and quarterback Deshaun Hill, Jr.

Head Coach Charles Adams and his assistants—Adams’ father Charles Sr., Rickey Plunkett and Tim Lawrence— were all four at the time also Minneapolis Police Department officers.

“I drove the crew all over North Minneapolis,” recalled Adams Sr., “and they’re just looking at the neighborhood. This is North Minneapolis. It’s just pockets of problem spots that we’re still trying to address, that we’re going to address.”

I’ve lived on the Northside for the bulk of my transplanted life in Minnesota since the 1980s. If it was as bad as people purport, I wouldn’t be living here.

No spoiler alerts here—North lost in the 2021 semifinals, and the gifted D. Hill, then

a sophomore, was tragically shot and killed outside a neighborhood store just a few weeks after the season ended.

“I think our time with Minneapolis North provides an opportunity for folks who might never get to go into a community like [North] Minne-

apolis,” stated Berg, “to go into that community and see beauty and love and nuance, in a community like this.”

Berg is a Minnesota native who executive produced the “Friday Night Lights” television series that was adapted from the movie of the same name.

As “Friday Nights Lights” was all about football and relationships intertwined in a Texas town, “Boys” is much more than a football movie in multiple acts.

“When someone like me comes in and says, ‘Hey, can I spend time with you [and] captures [it] on film?” explained Berg. “It’s always a risk… I tried my very best and my crew to respect that. I’m very appreciative of that opportunity.”

The Hill death wasn’t in the film proposal. “One of the producers just broke down crying… We know the kid was a good kid,” said Adams of D. Hill.

“When we were asked what kid do we have to worry about getting in trouble if something happened, we all said we’re not worried about D. Hill. That was like a week before this happens.” Said Berg, “Our crew and myself were

spoke to organizers of the annual MLK Holiday Break

fast, General Mills Vice President Courtney Andersen (CA), and United Negro College Fund (UNCF) Development Director Laverne McCartney Knighton (LMK) about this year’s theme and keynote speaker, Valerie Jarrett, and the significance of Martin Luther King’s legacy and impact.

event

In 2020, General Mills banded together with companies from across the state of Minnesota to do more— support efforts,

and

Martin Luther King’s legacy is under attack as civil rights laws are being challenged in the courts and state legislatures, and attempts to suppress and rewrite America’s history of racism and the long struggle against it are being challenged by school boards across the country.

past 10 years have seen repeated attacks on the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a crucial part of Dr. King’s legacy. In 2013, the Supreme Court ended preclearance for

The new Jim Crow

Senator Raphael Warnock, who is the pastor of Dr. King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, calls these laws “Jim Crow in new clothes.” In the tradition of the Civil Rights Movement and the legacy of Dr.

“ I don’t know that you ever can make sense of such a senseless killing.”

The late Deshaun Hill, Jr.

Photo courtesy of Showtime

Laverne McCartney Knighton

Courtney Andersen

DFL lawmakers, advocates commit to legalizing adult-use cannabis

By MSR News Online

Seizing their collective power, DFL lawmakers from the Minnesota Senate and House, as well as cannabis advocates, held a press conference Thursday, January 5, to introduce legislation that would legalize adult-use cannabis.

“Minnesotans are ready, and I believe that 2023 is the year that we will legalize adult-use cannabis in Minnesota,” said Rep. Zack Stephenson (DFLCoon Rapids), who authored bill HF100. “That process starts today as we introduce a bill on the House floor.”

Stephenson said the bill will

create a “safe, well-regulated, legal marketplace” where Minnesotans can grow, sell and buy cannabis. He also said the bill could help right the wrongs of

the criminal justice system.

“It includes best practices for consumer protection, health, and public safety, ” said Stephenson. “Critically, it includes

a robust expungement program so that people—and we should be very clear that it’s been disproportionately people of color—who have been caught in the criminal justice system due to cannabis offenses are able to move on with their lives.”

Angela Dawson of 40 Acre Co-op speaks at the Jan. 5 press conference. Courtesy of Senate Media Services

Rep. Stephenson noted that last year, then-Majority House Leader Rep. Ryan Winkler took the cannabis bill through 14 committees, and it passed in the House with a bi-partisan majority. He expects the same results this year, starting with the Commerce Finance and Policy Committee hearing on Wednesday, January 11.

The difference now is Dem-

ocrats control the House, Senate, and governor’s office. Gov. Tim Walz signaled his support for the bill with a Facebook post on Thursday: “It’s time to legalize adult-use cannabis and expunge cannabis convictions in Minnesota. I’m ready to sign it into law.”

The press conference was also attended by Sen. Lindsey

Port, who authored the Senate bill; House Speaker Melissa Hortman; Rep. Jess Hanson; Rep. Aisha Gomez; Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten; Angela Dawson of 40 Acre Co-op, the Great Rise; Michael Ford of MN NORML; and Olivia Morawiecki of Kursiv Organics. Dawson, president, and

By Laura Poehlman Contributing Writer

“Move away from our comfort zone. Don’t be afraid of the unfamiliar. Tell our desire to wake up and live out loud.” —Ella Chapman, MsEllaInspires

Sister Spokesman started off 2023 living out loud at University of MN’s Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) on Saturday, January 7, 2023. Instead of a panel of experts, event founder Tracey Williams-Dillard invited a guest to help attendees bring their dreams to life.

After a welcome, lunch, and lively games and prizes, guest speaker Ms. Ella (Ella Chapman of MsEllaInspires.com) was introduced, and the workshop to “Visualize the Inner You.” began.

Using magazine imagery and slogans, Ms. Ella walked attendees through the idea of

manifesting their desires by journaling and creating a “vision frame.” The frame serves as a tool to allow participants to imagine the future and help cultivate dreams that creatively bring the participant’s vision to life.

Joy and creativity crackled in the air while

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Ms. Ella walked through the room guiding participants as they created their frames. She reminded attendees that each journey has highs and lows, and when you have a dream, “it requires nurturing every day.”

The activity continued through the rest of

the event as KMOJ’s Walter “Q-Bear” Banks set the mood playing soulful music all day; there were additional drawings and prizes won.

In an exciting moment of serendipity, the winner of the Sister Sugar Bowl (which has a cash prize) revealed she put financial growth in her frame, showing everyone that you never know how quickly a goal might manifest itself when you focus on it.

In the words of Ms. Ella, “What do you see? It’s who you’re becoming, Sis!”

Sister Spokesman’s next event “Learn Your Love Language” takes place on Feb. 11 from 12-3 pm at LifeSource, 2225 W River Road N. in Northeast Minneapolis. Visit @SisterSpokesman on Facebook for the latest. All photos from Steve Floyd. Find more photos on spokesman-recorder.com.

Laura Poehlman welcomes reader responses to lpoehlman@spokesman-recorder.com.

goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal. ” MLK

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

“ ”

MLK Jr.

MGN ■ See Cannabis on page 6

Sister Spokesman helps attendees imagine a bright future

documentary Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II

Access “means going from underserved to unstoppable”

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Health

Numbers don’t lie: Get vaccinated to protect your family.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But, through the polio vaccine, the U.S. was able to get rid of polio in the 1970s.

Then, during the summer of 2022, a man in Rockland County, New York—a county that has low polio vaccination rates—tested positive for polio and suffered paralysis as a result. Yes, polio cases like this one are extremely rare. But it should serve as a wake-up call for families as vaccination rates for preventable diseases have declined since the Covid pandemic.

By Dr. Andrew Kiragu Guest Contributor

Recently, news stories warning of a so-called “tridemic” have made headlines to alert families about a combination of influenza (flu), Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and Covid-19 striking communities at once and overwhelming hospital systems nationwide.

In Minnesota, hospitals endured a surge of RSV and flu cases in November and December last year. During that time—and also as we enter 2023— Covid remains a public health threat.

As a pediatric critical care physician, I see firsthand the pain, trauma, and emotional toll children with RSV, flu, Covid, and other preventable diseases endure.

Think about this for a moment: In the late 1940s, the polio outbreak disabled more than 35,000 people annually in the United States, according to the

Last July, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the pandemic has fueled the largest continued backslide in vaccinations in three decades, and 25 million infants worldwide recently have missed out on life saving vaccines, according to the organization. At the largest pediatric health system in the state, Children’s Minnesota, we have seen these numbers decline firsthand in our communities.

This decline in vaccinations is unfortunate, given the enormous impact immunizations have had on children’s health. Indeed, disease prevention by vaccination is one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

Sadly, however, accepting vaccines has been increasingly challenged by individuals and groups who question their benefits. More people are requesting alternative vaccination schedules, postponing or declining vaccination altogether.

Vaccine hesitancy

The term vaccine hesitancy has emerged to express the spectrum of parental attitudes toward vaccines. Fortunately, most vaccine-hesitant parents are responsive to vaccine information, consider vaccinating their children, and are not opposed to all vaccines.

Parents must understand that vaccine development is a long and arduous process, often lasting many years and involving a combination of public and private partnerships. The current system for developing, testing and regulating vaccines requires that the vaccines demonstrate safety and efficacy before licensure, and that long-term safety is monitored.

As science and technology

have advanced, the speed of vaccine development has increased. Nowhere has this been more clear than in the development of vaccines against Covid-19. What has stayed the same, though, is the strict regulation and adherence to safety.

There is, however, a disturbing trend that has reared its ugly head—the deliberate spreading of misinformation about vaccines by those opposed to vaccination. This is often targeted at specific populations.

I saw this firsthand during the measles outbreak in Minnesota in 2017 when the Somali population was deliberately targeted. Once again, misinformation has erupted during the pandemic with an explosion of disinformation about Covid and the Covid vaccines.

Curbing Covid-19

Recent Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) data show about 10% of the state’s entire Black population are upto-date on their Covid vaccines compared to more than 20% of White Minnesotans.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends all eligible children ages six months and older get the Covid vaccine. According to MDH public data, just an average of 8% of children ages six months through 17 across Minnesota are up-todate on their Covid vaccines. As a pediatrician, I only have one question about this alarmingly low vaccination rate: How is this possible?

Misinformation, rumors, and outright lies have circulated about Covid and its vaccine since the onset of the pandemic nearly three years ago. At the same time, justified concerns

based on the atrocities of the Tuskegee experiment, longstanding inequities in health care, and centuries-long racism have sown further doubts about the Covid vaccine.

Nevertheless, the Covid vaccine and boosters are the most powerful tools to protect our children against this virus. In addition, it is proven safe and effective at helping prevent deaths and reducing serious illness from Covid for eligible children and adults.

Every family can do their part. An excellent first step is to go on the State’s Covid response website and check out its vaccine connector tool to get started.

flu shot for the first time need two doses given a month apart. Remember, it takes about two weeks after the shot to build immunity.

The CDC says this year’s flu vaccine formulation is a good match to the circulating viruses causing the flu. If your kids still need their flu shots, MDH has convenient resources online to help find authorized vaccination locations and free or low-cost vaccines for children.

Kick off a healthy new year January 2023 can be a fresh start to a healthy year for families across Minnesota. This is a great time to get your child upto-date on their vaccines.

Schedule the flu or Covid shot. If you haven’t already, schedule a well-child visit and ask your child’s pediatrician about the right shots to protect your children and family.

Talk to your family and friends who may be hesitant about vaccination to protect more people in our community. Let’s join together and help ensure our kids stay protected from preventable diseases—one vaccine shot at a time.

Fighting the flu

In one week alone in the United States in December 2022, nine children died from the flu.

At least 30 kids have died nationwide so far during this most recent flu season.

Numbers don’t lie. Data shows 80% of children who die from the flu were not fully vaccinated. This is why everyone older than six months should get a flu shot every year. Kids ages eight and younger who get the

Dr. Kiragu is the associate chief of critical care at Children’s Minnesota and an associate of the Children’s Respiratory and Critical Care Specialist’s group. He provides pediatric critical care at Children’s Minnesota and Gillette Children’s Hospital. Dr. Kiragu is a passionate advocate for children and is immediatepast president of the MN Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a past president of the Minnesota Association of Black Physicians. He is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota.

Courtesy of the CDC

Misinformation, rumors, and outright lies have circulated about Covid and its vaccine since the onset of the pandemic nearly three years ago.

King, Senator Warnock writes: “A vote is sacred. It avows the worth of every human being. It is, in essence, a prayer for the kind of world we desire for ourselves and our children.”

Hard-won civil rights battles waged by Dr. King and other civil rights activists outlawed racial discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment. These laws were passed and upheld and are the foundation for civil rights advocacy for other oppressed groups.

Today, attacks jeopardize those civil rights laws.

Multiple lawsuits claim that the religious liberty of business owners allows businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people. In one of those lawsuits, a wedding cake baker claimed that her business should not have to bake cakes for gay

Dream

couples because of her religious belief that gay marriage is wrong.

designed to undercut certain voting blocs—impacted Dr. King’s legacy?

Has it informed the theme for this year’s event “Keep Moving Forward,” and if so, how?

LMK: This year’s theme, ‘Keep Moving Forward,’ is a phrase Dr. King spoke about with hope and encouragement during a speech he delivered at Spelman College in 1960. Dr. King said: “If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

CA: Over our more than 150-year history, General Mills has a long record of and commitment to supporting voting access and participation. A strong democracy, at its most basic, is providing citizens full and unfettered access to voting.

MSR: The MLK Holiday Breakfast has been held for more than 30 years to honor Dr. King’s words and legacy. How has the focus and efforts to honor Dr. King’s legacy— through partnerships and programs— evolved over time?

LMK: The MLK Breakfast is one of the largest MLK events held in the country. It is a much-anticipated event that brings the community together

PoL ars

Continued from page 1

floored. It really was like getting run over by a freight train for us. It was

It doesn’t take much imagination to see the same claim being applied to baking a wedding

and is always a sold-out event. We have been successful in bringing in other corporate partners as sponsors who are committed to Dr. King’s legacy and dream for a more united world. This partnership has also evolved in that UNCF is able to provide scholarships to deserving Minnesota students of color through our fundraising efforts.

cake for an interracial couple. One of those lawsuits will come before the Supreme Court this term, raising the specter of legalized discrimination.

Revisionist history

Across the country, rightwing legislators and organizers are trying to selectively rewrite history. Ruby Bridges wrote a children’s book— “Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story”—about her experiences as a six-year-old Black child integrating her all-White elementary school in New Orleans. Texas lawmakers put that book on a list targeted for investigation and banning. Books by and about Black people have been removed from schools and libraries across the country. Other Black authors targeted by conservatives include Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and Ibrahim X Kendi.

In Florida, the Individual Freedom Act, popularly known as the “Stop Woke Act,” bans teaching about race and history or anything that will make White students feel guilty

Barack Obama and CEO of his foundation. How does the choice of Ms. Jarrett as keynote align with the theme “Keep Moving Forward,” and what insights will she bring to the breakfast conversation?

LMK: We selected Valerie Jarrett as our keynote speaker because we were interested in the perspective that she would bring to our event,

about racism. From elementary schools to universities, the law threatens education and teachers. For some, the law and the fear it brings have ended teaching about race and racism, even leading to the cancellation of college courses.

Attacks on Dr. King’s legacy will not prevail. Resolute

Luther King described what he saw: “The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around.” Despite a troubling outlook, Dr. King found hope in that moment:

MSR:

shocking and awful and brutal.

“And when something like that happens, there’s no playbook. No one really knew exactly how to make sense of it. I don’t know that you ever can make sense of such a senseless killing.”

The movie also shows the rela-

given her work supporting inclusion, diversity and reform across government, nonprofit and corporate spaces. Her experience is global— working

tionship of the North players with their coaches/police officers, especially in the post-George Floyd world. Plunkett told us that he was worried about that—he hadn’t yet seen “Boys” when we talked last week.

“I didn’t want to be a part of it,” he admitted. “I don’t want to be a part

defenders of voting rights meet voter suppression with one court challenge after another. Despite Republican opposition, staunch civil rights advocates in Congress and state legislatures fight for continuing and even expanded legal protection for civil rights. More lawsuits challenge restrictions on teaching and book banning.

In his last speech, Dr. Martin

across every dimension of diversity. She knows how to do the tough work of culture change, and we look forward to her sharing her inspiring journey and message with us.

She has been an advocate for initiatives at the heart of this year’s theme, ‘Keep Moving Forward,’ and relentless in her pursuit of progress in the face of challenging headwinds in areas from higher education to criminal justice reform, to equity and

MSR: Although this year’s MLK Day Breakfast is also virtual, why was it important to have this year’s event in person?

CA: This year’s breakfast will be unique, as they all are, in that we will be both in-person and also virtual. We still need to be vigilant with our health and safety and want to accommodate attendees as best as we can.

For those who are comfortable and ready to be in person, we look forward to your energy and support; and for those who prefer to enjoy the event in the comfort of their home or office, we appreciate your support and welcome you too.

MSR: General Mills has partnered

of none of that” if he wasn’t shown as genuine.

Berg said that after screening the film to Hill’s parents, the North players and coaches, school staff and other community folk before its January 6 premiere, “We’ve received unanimous support from everyone

“And another reason that I’m happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we’re going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demand didn’t force them to do it… Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation.”

From student textbooks to state legislatures to Congress and the Supreme Court, the beloved community continues to protect and build upon the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Mary Turck welcomes reader responses to mturck@ spokesman-recorder.com.

with UNCF (United Negro College Fund) in supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). How has that partnership benefitted local students?

LMK: For the seventh year, the breakfast is an official fundraiser, with net proceeds from tickets going to the UNCF to provide scholarships to deserving Twin Cities students, supporting them in their dreams to attain college degrees. Scholarships are awarded on a need-basis to students entering or planning to enroll as freshmen at any UNCF member institution, other HBCU, or an accredited four-year institution.

Last year, over $500k was raised to benefit UNCF in providing fouryear scholarships to deserving local Twin Cities scholars, and operating support to 37 member HBCUs. Our goal this year is to exceed pre-pandemic dollars raised.

CA: The event continues to inspire change in the world and honor those individuals whose footprints uplift the community. Following the breakfast, members of the Twin Cities community can engage through a variety of learning and volunteer opportunities organized by Hands on Twin Cities. Learn more at https://wwwhandsontwincities.org/ mlkday2023.

Evette Porter welcomes reader responses to eporter@spokesmanrecorder.com.

who’s seen it from the community… which makes me feel as though we’ve done something to the community accurately.”

Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to challman@spokesmanrecorder.com.

FOOTNOTES

Episode 1, season 1 of “Boys in Blue,” was released on Showtime on January 6; episode 2 will air on January 13; episode 3 will air on January 20; and episode 4 will air on January 27. The first episode is available now on Sho.com, Showtime.com, as well as across multiple Showtime partner platforms including YouTube through February 28.

On January 10, the Minneapolis school board is expected to vote on a $500,000 settlement between the school district and Deshaun Hill (D. Hill) Jr’s family. The trial of Cody Fohrenkam, who is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Deshaun Hill, is scheduled to begin on January 17.

This year’s MLK Holiday Breakfast guest is Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to former President

“We have an opportunity to make America a better nation.”

“If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

Photos courtesy of Showtime

Hy-Vee to host minority, women-owned business summit

By Sheletta Brundidge Contributing Writer

Chances are good that in the next year you will be able to dig into Sweet Peaches Cobblers, soon to be available at Hy-Vee. “During the pandemic, we wanted comfort food,” said Denisha Jones of Kansas City, Mo. “I kept thinking about my grandma’s peach cobbler. There was nothing like that in the freezer section at the store, so I started dabbling until I made one that mimicked hers.”

The experiment to recreate Grandma’s dumpling-style Southern cobbler turned Denisha into an entrepreneur. After friends raved over her recipe, she formed a business with her husband and began turning out cobblers from a commercial kitchen. Soon they were featured at the famous Kansas City BBQ Festival, where she sold 20,000 servings to enthusiastic attendees.

That success prompted Jones to sign up to pitch at HyVee’s OpportUNITY Inclusive Business Summit in Kansas City last fall. A panel of judges awarded her the grand prize of $30,000 to further develop her line of products.

“With that investment, we can scale up,” said Denisha. “We will be in over 150 stores all over the Midwest within a year. Without Hy-Vee, we wouldn’t be positioned for any of that.”

Now Minnesota’s minority and women-owned businesses

can try to replicate what Jones accomplished in Kansas City. Hy-Vee is hosting a Twin Cities OpportUNITY Inclusive Busi-

day will be the pitch competition, where local business owners can showcase their goods and services. A panel of judges

product or service.

This gives us an opportunity to elevate upcoming entrepreneurs with unique products and services,” said Buzynski. “We’re interested in businesses that are game-changers, and we love things that come with an interesting backstory.”

Tameka Jones, the owner of the beauty brand Lip Esteem, has already signed up to pitch in the health, wellness, and beauty category.

Tameka had a long career as a makeup artist. When she started her business, she created lipsticks herself. Now she works with a custom formulator who produces the plantbased, cruelty-free cosmetic line she sells at her storefront in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul.

ness

“It’s a full day when we bring small business owners together,” said Dawn Buzynski, Hy-Vee as-

sistant vice president. “We will have breakout sessions, panel discussions, and most of all, networking sessions. Making connections can really further the goals of small businesses,” One of the highlights of the

will award one grand-prize winner of $30,000. In addition, one first-place $5,000 prize will be awarded to a winner from each category.

Categories for submission include food and beverage;

product innovation and technology; and health, wellness, and beauty. Additional cash investments may be awarded, and select finalists may be invited to participate in further discussions regarding their

Tameka dreams about winning the grand prize of a $30,000 investment. “The response from my customers has been amazing. It’s locally popular, but I want to be a national or international brand,” said Tameka.

“I’ve been bootstrapping and putting my money back into the business. I could use a team and a plan to help with marketing to get my name out there and take me to the next level.” Even if she doesn’t win the prize, Tameka anticipates the event will help her connect to and network with other Minnesota entrepreneurs of color.

“I look forward to letting peo-

ple know about my products,” she said. “I’m a social enterprise, so community is very important. This is more than a paycheck. I want to be around other people who have a wider view of what a business can be.”

Business owners have until January 12 to apply for the pitch competition at www.hyveeopportunitysummit.com. There is no cost to apply.

Hy-Vee’s OpportUNITY Inclu-

To register for the summit, go to www.hy-veeopportunitysummit. com/summit/minnesota. The deadline to sign up is Feb. 3.

ties of color but also for rural farmers.

CEO of the 40 Acre Co-op, introduced herself as a fourthgeneration Minnesota farmer who lives in Pine County, MN. Through 40 Acre Coop, Dawson said she assists “people who have been socially disadvantaged and historically underrepresented” due to a lack of access to opportunities within the hemp and cannabis industry.

Dawson said the passage of the bill would help to address egregious public health outcomes between White and non-White Minnesotans due to a lack of equitable access to quality-of-life measures. She also stressed the economic opportunities that exist not only in communi-

“In the county that I live in, the health and food access and poverty measures are similar to that of Hennepin County, but we get half of the resources,” said Dawson.

“People are looking for jobs in rural Minnesota, and they see cannabis as a clear opportunity and something that we’re really good at, especially in organized and sustainable practices,” she said.

The conference was rounded out by Olivia Morawiecki of Kursiv Organics who said she founded her business after using CBD and THC oil to relieve debilitating digestive issues.

“After this experience, I understood the healing power of cannabis and its effectiveness in helping people recover from everyday ailments and a natu-

ral way to cope with illness.”

Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten (DFL-St. Paul), who became one of the first Black women elected to the Minnesota Senate during last year’s midterms, called legalizing cannabis, including expungement, a “racial justice issue.”

Oumou Verbeten reiterated the lawmakers’ commitment to passing the legislation. “We just got through a historic election where we now have Black women serving in the Minnesota Senate for the very first time, and I’m really proud to be one of those women along with my sister Zaynab Mohamed. We’re going to get this done in 2023, and we’re going to make sure it includes expungement and that we right these wrongs,” she said.

Summit on Thursday, February 9 at US Bank StadiumPolaris Club in space provided by the Minnesota Vikings.

sive Business Summit takes place on Feb. 9 from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, at U.S. Bank Stadium, Polaris Club, located at 401 Chicago Ave. in Minneapolis.

Sheletta Brundidge welcomes reader responses to sbrundidge@ spokesman-recorder.com.

We’re interested in businesses that are game-changers.

Lip Esteem’s Tameka Jones works on a client.

Denisha Jones of Sweet Peaches Cobblers Submitted photos

Some never tire of abusing Dr. King

Recent research validates his reliance on nonviolence

By Tom H. Hastings

During the fight over the new House Speaker election, Congress Member Chip Roy (RTX), who voted against the anti-lynching act last March, had the immoral temerity to quote Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He did so as he explained how he was positioning himself to the hardliner right of rightwing Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).

“We do not seek to judge people by the color of their skin but rather the content of their character,” said Roy.

From the dept. of irony

How fitting, then, or misfitting, that Roy should oppose McCarthy, who himself has a long history of misapplying MLK quotes. Of course, that is true for many other Republicans as well, to the point where African American public intellectual Ernest Owens finally wrote an outraged and richly sourced commentary titled “Republicans, Keep Dr. King’s Name Out of Your Mouths.”

Yes, we have the First Amendment; anyone can quote Dr. King, the devil can quote the Bible, and the public discourse can be obscured by gaslight. One comparison of Republican leadership quoting Dr. King and yet voting against legislation that would actually further or protect MLK’s legacy reveals a read of the MLK quotes Tweeted by Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, Ron Johnson, Lindsey Graham, and other Republican leaders—all of whom voted against various voting rights and civil rights bills.

But Dr. King is the only American for whom we celebrate a national holiday. Therefore his commitments, his actual moral authority, and the meaning of what he said and wrote should be honored with accuracy and without the cynical misapplication of his words to claim he would advocate for the opposite of what he actually believed, what he lived for, and ultimately what he died for.

The misattribution of Dr. King’s meaning is mostly, but not entirely, committed by right-wing politicians who vote against supporting health equity, funding help for houseless people, or against basic civil rights and even human rights.

ing about riots in 1966, always coming to this conclusion: Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.

MLK knew that, even given his track record of leading successful nonviolent struggles in the South that resulted in historic gains, his message of nonviolence was less accepted by Black people in northern and western cities who didn’t care much about desegregation and who already had relatively decent voting rights— but knew they lacked other rights.

King knew that the next phase of the struggle had to address the structural economic conditions that kept so many African Americans in dire poverty with poor educational, housing, healthcare and career opportunities.

Grinding poverty along with a police force that felt more like an occupying army in many larger cities tended to produce a complete failure of patience and a simmering rage that could be triggered into riots by just one more outrage.

Our faith in common cause can keep America indivisible

By Ben Jealous

It strikes me that the days we’re living through represent a metaphor for our national dilemma. January 6th and the weight of history that date carries are in the rearview mirror, at least on the calendar. Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream still is on the horizon.

America’s existential challenge is to put the former behind us permanently so we can finally achieve the latter and be what we pledge allegiance to— one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. After the attack on the Capitol, I sat down to figure out how we might finally do that, and my answers filled a book.

As my mother’s family has for four centuries, I live south of the Mason-Dixon Line close to the Chesapeake Bay, which was a literal superhighway for slavery. Casual conversations about the likelihood of another Civil War are frequent at my favorite waterside bar.

Combine that with the political fault lines running through many families and friendships (including my own) and we feel more divided than indivisible. It’s clear why so many fear for our republic’s survival.

I have always been an optimist about America. Even for me, witnessing a failed coup shook my usually hopeful outlook.

Like many whose Southern roots run deep, I often turn to the past for answers. What I

discovered in questioning our current differences revived my faith that the United States always will overcome our troubles and emerge even stronger on the other side.

In the 1880s, formerly enslaved men and former Confederate soldiers in Virginia— home to the Confederacy’s capital—banded together to fight for the future of their children. They built a political party called the Readjusters.

ment eventually was attacked violently by White supremacists and defeated politically by wealthy special interests spreading vile disinformation; their party is all but erased from history books.

Still, they defined the future of Virginia and our nation by planting early seeds for FDR’s New Deal coalition and by creating a bold legacy in public education that endures to this day.

Moreover, their example reminds us that the spirit that moved Dr. King to dream hopefully about Black and White children has always run deep in our nation, and always will. When we lose faith in our neighbors, that hope reminds us that the path to a stronger nation is to remember we still have more in common than we don’t and to act on the beliefs we share.

Their demand was simple: Readjust the terms of Civil War debt so that we can maintain free public schools for all.

Not only did they win that victory, but they also won control of the state’s government and achieved several more: They abolished the poll tax, they abolished the public whipping post, they created the first public Black college in the South, and they expanded Virginia Tech to make it the working person’s rival to the University of Virginia.

The Readjusters’ short-lived multiracial populist move-

If men who had been enslaved could find common cause with men who fought to keep them enslaved to build a better future for all their children, we should never lose faith that we can unite for the sake of ours.

Ben Jealous is the incoming executive director of the Sierra Club, America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization; former national president of the NAACP; and professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania. His new book “Never Forget Our People Were Always Free” was just published.

Prison medical care is not humane, especially for African Americans

By Stephan Holmes

From the dept. of deep fakes Leftwing spokespeople also quote MLK to justify violence in the streets, riots, and even looting. MLK was quite clear that he felt that, while all that is understandable when people are oppressed and kept in poverty and prison and killed by police, he also felt it was a very ineffective way to seek change.

King began publicly speak-

Again and again, King acknowledged the heart and commitment of those who resorted to violent insurgency, in the U.S. and abroad, when that insurgency was fighting injustice. Yet he always qualified that admiration for those taking risks using violence with his belief that nonviolence is a far more effective and just path toward liberation.

Of course, MLK offered his analysis based on experience, not empirical research, since virtually no quantitative research had ever been done on the relative effectiveness of violent vs nonviolent uprisings until literally 40 years after his death.

In the end, his ground-truthing and analysis were borne out by the outstanding research done by Drs. Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan. Their findings and those of subsequent researchers include:

• Nonviolent insurgencies succeed about twice as often as violent insurgencies. Riots are understandable yet much less likely to produce positive results than mass disciplined nonviolent struggle.

• Nonviolent revolutions are, on average, much faster than violent revolutions.

• Violent campaigns result in far more mortalities than unarmed campaigns.

• Nonviolence has ousted very brutal dictators; violence has failed against relatively less autocratic regimes.

• Both nonviolence and violence can succeed and both can fail, but nonviolence succeeds more often with fewer costs.

Reading Dr. King and re-

I am located at MCF Oak Park Heights in the Transitional Care Unit. I am wheelchairbound and have a rare medical condition called cauda equina, which causes me to have chronic nerve pain and spazzing in my lower back spinal cord area and right leg.

I have experienced excessive force due to my medical condition. I was left sleeping in my wheelchair for 39 days because I couldn’t physically transfer myself due to my medical issues. While left in my wheelchair for 39 days, my medical conditions got worse. Both of my feet and legs swelled up turning green and reddish.

Also, my hands started curling up and I couldn’t really move them. It was hard to eat or even hold my toothbrush or anything really. I was seen

viewing his speeches will give anyone a rounded picture of him that can allow us to truly cast our comments about him in the light of truth and of what he would likely approve. To read what he wrote in the 1950s and then ’60s—his books and his speeches—reveals a prophetic voice, one taken from us far too early, taken by violence, taken by racism.

Reading those books alongside accurate history of those times can help a person see his spiritual and strategic evolution and growth at breathtaking speed, almost as if he were indeed racing against the racist bullet that ended his life before age 40.

Those who have not gone

by two different doctors who didn’t even acknowledge my worsening and new medical conditions. They failed to put in their reports about my new and worsening conditions, but instead put in their report that I was fine and looked good.

the doctors finally came to the conclusion that my new medical condition was from being left in my wheelchair for 39 days, the Department of Corrections pulled me out of the hospital.

I would like to see the officers and nurses and doctors held accountable for all the pain and suffering they cause.

I have been in TCU for almost two months now and noticed that they try to move African Americans out quickly no matter their medical condition.

I didn’t get any help until a physical therapist saw me and I showed him my condition and that I had been sleeping in my wheelchair. He called down to the central office and moved me a few days later to the medical unit. After an hour of being there, I was sent to Regions because of how bad of shape I was in.

I stayed at Regions for 10 days undergoing tests. When

deeply into a study of this man—this extraordinary human—do not deserve to pronounce on him or on his likely current thinking were he still alive, and they shame themselves when they make false claims about him.

Another canard from the left is that King was not a leader of the people because he grew up middle class. What these traducers fail to acknowledge is the constant barrage of offers King got from northern universities and churches to come work for them as an intellectual, offers of safety and much greater income that he ruefully declined in favor of his commitment to the movement that ultimately cost him his life.

I would like to see the Department of Corrections give African Americans equal care and everyone the basic care they need as human beings.

If the prisons can’t treat people like human beings and give them basic medical care, maybe it’s time to rethink prisons.

So many have said we live in a post-truth world. Can we turn that around and show respect for the facts? Dr. King, said some, was a modern Jesus and died for our sins. But his truth should live unencumbered by those willfully twisting into lies what he said, what he did, and what he believed.

May we have a happy MLK Day. May it be one of reflection on some deep truths.

Dr. Tom H. Hastings is the coördinator of conflict resolution BA/BS degree programs and certificates at Portland State University, PeaceVoice senior editor, and on occasion an expert witness for the defense of civil resisters in court.

Stephan Holmes is in MCF Oak Park Heights in the Transitional Care Unit.

The spirit that moved Dr. King to dream hopefully about Black and White children has always run deep in our nation, and always will.

I was left sleeping in my wheelchair for 39 days.

Those who have not gone deeply into a study of this man do not deserve to pronounce on him.

Celebrating MLK

THIS YEAR’S EVENTS IN HONOR OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING,

JR. OFFER SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

from music that evokes the pain, inspiration and triumph of the Civil Rights Movement to youth talent shows and opportunities to serve the community. Below we’ve highlighted a few of the happenings in the Twin Cities and beyond.

January 13

“Sounds of Blackness: Music for Martin”

7:30 pm @

Billed

For more info, visit bit.ly/OrdwayMLK

January 14

MLK NOW 2023: The Impact of Gentrification on Rondo

10

BOB

This

For more info, go to mlknow2023.com

Edify

2-4:30

January 15

After a two-year break, Sweet Potato Comfort Pie returns with its 9th annual event aimed at demonstrating love and unity through the sharing of pies. A pre-program will begin promptly at 1 pm with the unveiling of seven new honorees of the “Character Values: Upholding Our Beloved Community” Photo Exhibit. Following the unveiling, the program will begin with the procession of 94 pies led by community members to honor Dr. King. There will be presentations, awards, and critical racial dialogues among participants. This is a free, hybrid event.

For more info, go to bit.ly/SweetPotatoComfort2023

3-4:30

This

intermixing the words of

with musical performances from U of M students and the greater Twin Cities community. U of M School of Music alumnus G. Phillip Shoultz, III, of VocalEssence, serves as curator and host. This is a free event. Registration is not required.

For more info, visit bit.ly/UofMMLKTribute

Come to the Table: An MLK Celebration

6-7:30 pm @ The Urban Refuge Church, 5501 Chicago Ave., Mpls

This event promises an evening of heart-stirring spirituals and worship featuring Gospel artist Tommy Wesley. Pastors Laurel Bunker, David Myles, and Andy Gray will offer spiritual insight and explore improved ways to come to the table, cultivate healthy, diverse communities, and mutually strengthen each other.

For more info, visit bit.ly/CometoTableMLK

Fred Steele Presents The Dream Lives: Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. 7:30 pm @ The Dunsmore Jazz Room, Crooner’s, 6161 Hwy 65 N.E., Mpls.

In honor of Dr. King, noted composer, arranger, and producer Fred Steele will offer a collection of sounds from the Civil Rights Movement, including songs from Gospel great Mahalia Jackson, the voice of that time period. The concert features Jhadiya Steele, Brian Z, Kenyari Jackson, Jonathan Bekure, and Spencer Christianson. $20-30.

For more info, visit bit.ly/FredSteeleMLKCrooners

January 16

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast for the Northeast Suburbs 6:45-9:30 am @ United Church of Christ, 3737 Bellaire Ave., White Bear Lake

Enjoy a day full of inspiration, starting with a continental breakfast at 6:45 am, followed by a keynote address at 7:25 am by Dr. Hedy Lemar Walls, executive vice president of social responsibility for the YMCA of the North. The vocal ensemble Cantus will provide music.

Attendees will then watch a televised broadcast of UNCF’s 33rd Annual MLK Holiday Breakfast keynote speaker Valerie Jarrett. This event is free, but registration is required.

For more info, visit bit.ly/MLKNortheastSuburbs

The Ordway, 345 Washington St., St. Paul

as a multimedia tribute, Grammy award-winning ensemble the Sounds of Blackness offer stylized arrangements of the music that helped power the Civil Rights Movement, complete with narration, audio-visual elements, and excerpts from some of Dr. King’s greatest speeches. $24-$52.

am – 10 pm @ Wilder Conference Center, 451 Lexington Pkwy N., St. Paul

Rewards Club’s MLK 2nd annual celebration once again features a host of vendors and keynote speakers that include Karen Wells, mother of Amir Locke, and activist “Mechee X” - Michelle Kulczyk of The Black Agenda Movement in Atlanta, GA.

year’s event explores the topic of gentrification in St. Paul’s historic Black Rondo neighborhood and what it means economically for the community. The event concludes with a fundraiser mixer and concert featuring the Johnnie Brown Experience. The forum is free; the concert is $35.

with Sweet Potato Comfort Pie: A Piece of Unity in Action

pm @ Breck School, 123 Ottawa Ave., N., Golden Valley

42nd Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Concert

pm @ Ted Mann Concert Hall, 2128 Fourth St. S., Mpls.

year’s annual tribute, sponsored by the Office for Equity and Diversity and the School of Music, will be in-person and virtual. The concert is a multidisciplinary celebration

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Celebrating MLK

2023 MLK Holiday Tribute Events in the Twin Ports

7 am – 1:30 pm | Various

locations

The Duluth NAACP’s MLK celebrations return with in-person events throughout the MLK holiday. The festivities kick off with a community breakfast at 7 am, a brief local program, and a broadcast of UNCF’s MLK Holiday Breakfast keynote address. The breakfast takes place at First United Methodist Church, located at 230 E Skyline Parkway in Duluth.

Following the march, a gathering will take place from 10-11:45 am in the Washington Center gym, located at 310 N 1st Ave. W. The celebration continues with a rally from 12-1:30 pm that features a keynote presentation by Anthony Galloway, the pastor of St. Mark AME Church in Duluth and a principal with the Dendros group. This is a free event.

For more info, go to duluthnaacp.org/mlk

33rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast

7:15 am – 9:30 am @ Mpls Convention Center Ballroom, 1301 Second Ave. S., Mpls

With the theme of “Keep Moving Forward,” Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Barack Obama Foundation, will headline this year’s annual breakfast sponsored by General Mills and UNCF.

Entertainment will be provided by the musical group Nunnabove and TKO Drumline and KnockOut Dance Team. Attorney, legal and political analyst Abou B. Amara will serve as host.

In-person tickets are sold out, but virtual tickets are available for $30 per individual household. Proceeds go towards the UNCF Twin Cities MLK Legacy Scholarship Fund, which helps local students go to college.

For more info, visit www.mlkbreakfast.com

37th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration

9:15 am – 1 pm @ Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul

Minnesotans of all ages are invited to attend this program that is centered on “Building Black Wealth” and sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). This in-person event is free and open to the public. A live stream of the event can be found at tpt.org/mlk2023.

For more info, visit bit.ly/MNMLK2023

25th

11 am- 2 pm @ Powderhorn Park, 3400 15th Ave. S., Mpls.

This all-ages event offers performances, art

For

For

The MLK Day Criminal Justice Reform Legislative Preview

6-8 pm @ Sabathani Community Center, 310 38th St. E., Mpls.

Hear from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten, DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell, and more at this roundtable discussion of criminal justice reform sponsored by the MN Justice Research Center. The forum will offer Minnesotans a preview of what to expect from the legislative session and how to engage and support transformative changes to the criminal legal system. The event is free, but registration is requested.

For more info and to register, visit www.mnjrc.org/events

MPRB Annual King Holiday Celebration

6:30-8 pm @ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rec. Center, 4055 Nicollet Ave. S., Mpls.

Featuring emcee Chad Jackson of the Minnesota Twins, this year’s Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) event features author, educator, and coach Larry McKenzie as the keynote speaker. Mary Merrill, the superintendent emeritus of MPRB’s MLK Park Legacy Council, serves as guest speaker. Musical performances include soulful crooner Ray Covington and a spoken word performance by Jamyah Trueblood. The MPRB will also present its 2023 “Living the Dream” award to The Sanneh Foundation.

For more info, visit www.minneapolisparks.org/MLK

Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration

activities, lunch, giveaways for kids, and more. The celebration will showcase local artists whose performances are dedicated to the ideals of King’s “Beloved Community” like housing and environmental justice, and the elimination of race-based disparities in honor of Dr. King’s legacy. The event features appearances by Diver VanAvery, Commissioner Angela Conley, Zhané Jackson, Kashimana Ahua, and the Brass Solidarity Band. This is a free event.

www.ppna.org/mlkcelebration

Woke Coach, Seena

Tracy

Martin Luther King Day Reparations 101 Brunch 2-5 pm @ Indigenous Roots Cultural Center, 788 7th St. E., St. Paul Celebrate the MLK Holiday with a brunch in solidarity with reparations for Native Black Americans, the abolishment of poverty, the end of police brutality, and the endless wars at home and abroad.

BBB 3rd Annual MLK Black Youth Talent Showcase 3:30 pm @ ECMN building- The Gathering Space, 1101 W Broadway Ave., Mpls. Black, Bold and Brilliant’s (BBB) third annual event calls on Black youth to tap into and express their creative talents using the seven principles of Kwanzaa as inspiration. In addition to dance, poetry, and visual art, African American youth will recite part of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Mountain Top” speech or deliver a speech on the plight of social justice. This is a free event.

more info, visit bit.ly/BBBTalentShowcase

Celebrating MLK

mlK EvEnts

MLK Day Celebration with Jearlyn Steele

7

January 19

Building CommUNITY: Uplift, Heal, and Empower for Radical Inclusion

11 am-1 pm @ Great Hall, 403 Maria Ave., St. Paul

This year’s Metro State University MLK celebration offers a chance for participants to pay it forward by helping pack snack bags and personal hygiene items for the school’s food pantry, the Student Parent and Resource Center and external community locations. This event is free and open to the public. Pizza lunch will be provided.

For more info, visit bit.ly/BuildingCommUNITY

Personifying Beloved Community Virtual Event

11 am @

Virtual Event

Minneapolis College’s virtual celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King seeks to encourage reflection on the civil rights leader’s dedication to equality and the Civil Rights Movement. The event will showcase winning scholarship entries from students’ essays on King’s work and legacy.

For more info, visit minneapolis.edu/mlk

Honorable mentions:

“I Am Not You. You Are Not Me” Exhibit

Another great way to commemorate Dr. King’s fight against injustice is to visit the new George Floyd “rememory exhibit” now on display at Methodist Hospital.

Made possible through a partnership between the George Floyd Global Memorial and the Park Nicollet Foundation, the exhibit features artwork, artifacts, and expressions left by visitors at Floyd’s memorial on 38th and Chicago. The exhibit opened on Jan. 6 and runs until March 3. It’s free and open to the public. Methodist Hospital is located at 6500 Excelsior Blvd. in St. Louis Park.

For more info, visit www.georgefloydglobalmemorial.org/art-justice/exhibits

Hamlin

tionalism, they responded with compassion and care. They avoided speculating about Hamlin’s condition and ultimately appealed to the NFL to suspend the game, with Aikman asking, “How do you, as a member of the Buffalo Bills or the Cincinnati Bengals, continue on to play football?”

As The Washington Post noted, “The broadcast was measured, informative and emotional.” From the studio, former NFL players Booger McFarland and Ryan Clark offered their perspectives on what it might feel like to be a player on the field at that moment. They reminded the audience that players are first and foremost people.

Clark, who himself was hospitalized for a splenic infarction in 2007 shortly after playing a game for the Pittsburgh Steelers, acknowledged that part of living an NFL dream is “putting your life at risk.”

“Tonight, we got to see a side of football that is extremely ugly, a side of football that no one ever wants to see or never wants to admit exists,” he said.

The gravity of the situation was reflected in ESPN curtailing all commercials for more than an hour to provide uninterrupted coverage. In doing so, the network stressed the importance of a player’s life over the game or profit motive.

When the media misfires When disaster strikes on a live sports broadcast, it’s easy to say something wrong, especially in an age

where words can be distributed widely, dissected, and criticized on social media.

Just ask controversial ESPN commentator Skip Bayless, who wasn’t even on the air, but nonetheless went viral for all the wrong reasons after tweeting: “No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game—but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant.”

Bayless may have had a point—the NFL must now work out how to address the outcome of this game and the implications for the postseason—but his tone and timing led to much criticism.

Bayless is far from the only broadcaster to be accused of insensitively following the death or serious injury of sports stars.

The 2020 death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna was a model for what can go wrong, with TMZ breaking the news before their family was notified. ESPN relegated the news to ESPN2 so as not to interrupt Pro Bowl coverage. In their rush to break details from the story, some reporters also trafficked in misinformation.

Sports media was perhaps never more criticized for incident coverage than it was in 2020 when Danish soccer player Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest on the field. BBC cameras showed not only medical professionals performing chest compressions as Eriksen struggled for life, but also his crying life partner and traumatized teammates. Cameras

lingered for a full 15 minutes before cutting to the studio hosts.

Prioritizing mourning over moneymaking

From the tragic deaths of basketball players Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis, to the deaths of auto racers Dan Weldon and Dale Earnhardt and to Chuck Hughes who, in 1971, became the first and only NFL football player to die in a game, it is the media’s responsibility to navigate a tragedy on behalf of the public.

Research has shown that the media is often responsible for modeling appropriate public displays of emotion when traumatic or tragic events occur, be it respect for victims and their families or public mourning. It can be argued that the media—especially in the digital age—is a key conduit to community connection amid a tragedy when people seek to show their support and share their grief.

There is a fine line when it comes to sports and catastrophe, for much of what people love about football is its warlike nature. Players are depicted like gladiators in a coliseum. Media quote athletes saying they will die for their teammates.

But when life and death become all too real, the athlete’s well-being takes precedence over wins and losses. At that point, the media, in my view, has one main job: help remind viewers of the player’s humanity.

As “SportsCenter” host Scott Van Pelt put it: “Sports is important. And suddenly it’s not.”

“1 City, 2 Realities” Exhibit

Billed as the first truly virtual exhibition space highlighting racial inequalities in the nation, this exhibit uses photos, videos, audio clips, and data visualizations to get beyond the “Minnesota Nice” façade and into the place of reality to address systemic inequality head-on. Running from Jan. 1322, the free, virtual exhibition is available for anyone with internet access from their own home or workplace.

For more info, visit bit.ly/1City2Realities2023

Nicole Kraft is an associate professor of clinical communication at Ohio State University.

Damar Hamlin being evacuated from Paycor Stadium MGN

pm @ The Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.

Savor the legacy of Dr. King with the soulful sounds of Jearlyn Steele of the famed Steele family. Brother Billy Steele joins Jearlyn on piano/keyboard, with Eric Yates on bass, Kenyari Jackson on drums, and Kenni Holmen on horns. $25-35.

For more info, visit www.dakotacooks.com/event/mlk-day-celebration

Five college ADs who are shifting the landscape

The MEAC’s female directors of athletics

By Ed Hill, Jr. Contributing Writer

n a day and time of change, with women taking more prominent roles in the world of college athletics, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) has become a national leader and trendsetter. When Sonja O. Stills was appointed the first female commissioner of the MEAC, it was unprecedented.

But that was only the beginning.

“The MEAC is clearly showing that female leaders are the norm and that given the opportunity, we will rise to the occasion,” Stills said. “What

The conference, made up of eight Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), currently has five women serving as athletic directors: Tara A. Owens (Maryland Eastern Shore); Alecia Shields-Gadson (Delaware State); Melody Webb (Norfolk State); Dena Freeman-Patton (Morgan State) and Keshia Campbell

MSU women’s coach: ‘Representation matters’

itting on the Minnesota State women’s basketball team bench, Janay Morton can’t be missed. The Brooklyn Park native is in her second season as the second assistant coach.

“I think just being more patient and a little less result-oriented,” said Morton of her strategy after her team’s Dec. 31 victory at Concordia St. Paul. Her family and friends also were there to see her and her team.

Morton became a coach a few years ago after a college playing career at Eastern Michigan (three seasons) and a season at Nebraska where she finished with 1,486 points, 400 rebounds, 255 assists, 243 steals and 234 made three pointers, as well as a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Coaching later became a natural progression for Morton, always a student of the game. She was the head of player development with the guards and managed the team operations at the University of Jamestown women’s basketball team for two seasons before being hired by MSU Head Coach Emilee Thiesse. “I work for an incredible staff,” continued Morton. “Emilee Thiesse and [assistant] Amy Sander—they’re vets. They have so much bas-

ketball knowledge and wisdom, and so I just try to soak it all in, then go and do my part as well.”

Morton is a proud Black woman, a Black coach at a PWI program in Mankato. She admitted it’s a blessing to be where she is.

“You just got to be yourself,” stressed Morton, “when you are the minority. If you try to

■ See SOE on page 11

(South Carolina State).

“There is no excuse why an organization or institution cannot find a diverse pool of talented and experienced women of color who can lead in a male-dominated field,” Stills said. “I am extremely proud to be surrounded by such wonderful women who

Coquese back in town

By Charles Hallman Sports Columnist

oquese Washington returns January 12 to Williams Arena for the first time since 2019 when she was the Penn State head coach (2007-19), where she won three Big Ten titles.

Washington this year brings her Rutgers squad to The Barn. She and Wisconsin’s Marisa Moseley are the conference’s only Black female coaches; Moseley’s Badgers will visit later this season. Rutgers boasts the Big Ten’s only all Black coaching staff as well.

“We certainly have had some movement in the last couple years” said Washington on the hiring of Black coaches. “We’ve had some good hires. There’s still a lot of work to be done in that area.

“It’s up to our administrators to cast a broad and wide net when they have hiring opportunities to ensure that our

head coaching ranks are reflective of what our players look like and where they’re from and the diversity with that respect,” surmised Washington, who Rutgers hired last May.

What the sports media got right (and wrong) in covering Damar Hamlin’s injury

player and team.

By Nicole Kraft

njuries are an unfortunate part of any sport—none more so than in the NFL, where players can be felled in front of a TV audience in the tens of millions.

Typically, when a player suffers an injury, the media cuts to commercial and returns with replays of the injury— sometimes running it over and over, using every available camera angle, while analyzing what might have happened and the ramifications for the

But in the case of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who collapsed to the ground after a tackle during the “Monday Night Football” game between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, it quickly became apparent that this was no broken arm or torn ACL. This was a matter of life and death.

Paramedics worked to keep him alive on the field before he was transported to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. He has since shown remarkable signs of im-

provement.

When crisis strikes sports, it is left to the media to report in, around, about, and through the moment. Some do it well and some fail miserably.

ESPN’s measured, restrained response

ESPN’s broadcasting duo of Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, along with sideline reporter Lisa Salters, relayed the scene as it unfolded. But instead of filling the live airtime with rambling commentary and

Gophers fall to Badgers in Madison

By Charles Hallman Sports Columnist

adison, Wisconsin —

A young club, no matter what level they are, can be both entertaining and frustrating, sometimes both, for fans and coaches. Their in-game effort, perseverance through tough times and hopefully, in time, their individual and team improvement will translate into more wins than losses.

ter in the last 16 seasons, with a true freshman and a redshirt frosh in its starting lineup.

Sunday’s contest, which featured 17 lead changes and 8 ties, didn’t have the feeling of two bottom feeders. Instead, the two clubs played without giving up an inch to the other.

“Being increasingly proud is an understatement,” declared UW Coach Marisa Moseley to reporters, including the MSR, after her squad’s 81-77 victory, their first this season in Big Ten play. “A great team win. Every single person [contributed].”

Last Sunday afternoon two of the nation’s youngest teams faced each other at the Kohl Center. The visiting Minnesota Gophers boast four freshmen and a starting lineup with three true freshmen, a redshirt frosh and a sophomore. The host Badgers have the youngest ros-

This included St. Paul Como Park grad and first-year guard Ronnie Porter, who played almost seven and a half minutes on Sunday and went 3-for-3, including a made three pointer and a steal, finishing with seven points to lead the Badgers reserves.

“You have to be ready when your number is called,” said Moseley of Porter, a two-time all-state player. “I mentioned

to Ronnie a couple of weeks ago, ‘You have been doing a great job.’ Ronnie continues to work her butt off. She embraces her role in everything we do,” said her coach.

Minnesota Coach Lindsay Whalen told the MSR, the only Minnesota media in attendance at Sunday’s game, “Unfortunately [there were] some miscues and execution

of some plays that we would like to have back. We battled.

“We were scratching and clawing for every inch,” noted the Gopher coach after the game. Her squad’s 19 turnovers, which UW converted into 27 points, overcame Minnesota’s 48-38 advantage on the boards.

“We got to keep working,” said Whalen.

Both coaches—Moseley in her second year in Madison and Whalen in her fifth season at her alma mater—talked about their respective clubs’ downs and ups this season, especially thus far in conference play.

“We kept saying we are due for a win,” admitted Moseley. “We’ve lost a bunch of close games by single digits.”

Still seeking their second 2022-23 Big Ten victory, Whalen pointed out, “We had a lot of growth, and there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

The Gophers, now 1-4, hope to get their second con-

ference win when they host Rutgers Thursday, Jan. 12 at Williams Arena. The Scarlet Knights, like Minnesota and Wisconsin, are looking to improve their 1-4 league mark.

“Coquese [Washington] is a good coach, a three-time coach of the year,” noted Whalen of the first-year Rutgers coach. “It’s great to have her back in the conference.”

an amazing way to show the progress of Title IX during its 50th anniversary.”

(l-r) Melody Webb, NSU; Keshia Campbell, SCSU; Dena Freeman-Patton, MSU; Tara Owens, UMES; Alecia Shields-Gadson, DSU Courtesy of MEAC ■

“It is certainly something to celebrate. Not just because we are women in this position, but because we are Black women.”

Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.

Coquese Washington

Photo by Charles Hallman

Janay Morton Photo by Charles Hallman

“I try to hold myself to the highest character always.”

Mitchell P. McDonald’s Prep Scene will return next week.

Marisa Moseley

Photo by Charles Hallman

“We were

Damar Hamlin (with parents), holds up a heart sign to well-wishers. His remarkable recovery has inspired the nation. Courtesy of Instagram/ Damar Hamlin