October 27, 2022 - MN Spokesman-Recorder

U.S. government has failed Black farmers

Class action lawsuit demands billions for broken promises

By Stacy M. Brown

America’s “Black Attorney General,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump, announced on October 12 a class action suit against the United States government on behalf of the National Black Farmers Associa tion.

The lawsuit comes amid findings that Black farmers lost about $326 billion of land in America because of discrimina tion during the 20th century.

During the announcement

of the suit on the National Mall in Washington, Crump and the farmers claimed the federal government breached its contract with socially dis advantaged farmers under the American Rescue Plan Act.

Farmers contend that the law included provisions to pay off USDA loans held by 15,000 African Americans, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, Asian Americans, Pacific Island ers, and Hispanics and Latinos in the farming industry.

By Cole Miska Contributing Writer

On Thursday, Oct.

20, the Minne apolis City Council voted 9-4 against a proposal to suspend further evictions of unhoused encamp ments within the city, with

some council members saying the issue was outside the scope of the council’s control.

The council passed two measures that require the City to report on the past five years of health and safety inspec tions and the total cost of encampment enclosures in the past five years.

The latest action from the city council follows the evic tion of four unhoused encamp ments in Minneapolis, which prompted protesters to set up tent encampments on the steps of city hall on Sunday, Oct. 9.

Andy (who declined to give a last name but works with Sanc

tuary Supply Depot) organized the encampment as a message to the City and Mayor Frey: “Stop the sweeps. We’re not trash, you can’t sweep us away.”

After a night of having Sanctuary Supply Depot crew trailed by Minneapolis police, who Andy alleges immediately

DEMOCRACY IMPERILED

What Minnesota voters most need to know about election threats

News Analysis

By Mary Turck Contributing Writer

MSR’s “Elections Under Attack” series examined in depth four threats to our elections growing out of the Big Lie that the former president won the 2020 election. Here the author provides a summary of these threats that Minnesota voters should keep foremost in mind when casting their ballots on November 8 or earlier and what to look for after the election.

Georgia celebrated a record first-day early vot ing turnout of more than 131,000 on October 17. In contrast, armed and masked vigilantes intimi dated voters at ballot drop boxes in Arizona.

Georgia’s turnout represents the best of U.S. democracy. Arizona represents the dark future if election deniers and proponents of the Big Lie win.

Here’s a quick round-up of some of the ongo ing attacks on elections, including recent actions by election deniers propagating the Big Lie.

The Big Lie about U.S. elections has two parts: first, that the former president actu ally won the election, and second, that wide spread election fraud stole the election from

him. “Big Lie” is a term that originated with the Nazis in Germany. The term means that if you tell a big enough lie and repeat it often enough, people will believe it.

The truth: The former president lost the election and no significant election fraud has been found anywhere. Even Republican inves tigators, hired by Republican legislatures, have not found fraud.

Big Lie candidates running in November

Election deniers are running for office across the country. The Washington Post analyzed the public statements of 569 Republican can didates for the House, Senate, and statewide offices More than half refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

In 1898, White Democrats in Wilmington, NC overthrew the legitimately elected gov

Three down, one to go

By Henry Pan Contributing Writer

ernment, which included some Black Repub licans. Like them, many of today’s Big Liars refuse to accept any election results that do not give them victory.

Among them is Kim Crockett, who is run ning for Secretary of State in Minnesota. Crockett has repeatedly refused to say that she will accept the results of the election if she loses the race against Secretary of State Steve Simon.

Sabotaging the election process

Some attacks on the election process are direct. In Michigan, Macomb County officials hired an election denier to recruit and train poll workers. Genevieve Peters marched on the Capitol on January 6, and has posted many photographs of herself with Proud Boys at various marches. Now she is in charge of of ficial election workers.

Ongoing efforts to sabotage the election process include vicious, deceptive advertising by dark money groups that hide the identities of their donors. Many outright lies in politi cal advertising also sabotage elections. Dark money ads targeting Minnesota Attorney

A third officer involved in George Floyd’s death pleads guilty; the last stands trial

The state trial of one of the offi cers involved in killing George Floyd began this week as another officer involved accepted a plea deal.

According to MPR News, former Minneapolis police officer J. Alex ander Kueng agreed to a plea deal where he admitted to aiding and abetting the second-degree man slaughter of Floyd. As part of the agreement, prosecutors will dismiss the murder charge. He will also face no more than 42 months in state prison.

“J. Alexander Kueng is now the [third] officer involved in Floyd’s death to accept responsibility through a guilty plea,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison in a statement. “That acknowledgment hopefully can bring comfort to Floyd’s family and

bring our communities closer to a new era of accountability and justice.”

Kueng will not be sentenced for at

least 90 days, pending the outcome of former officer Tou Thao’s trial. Thao and his attorneys requested a

bench trial, which would not involve a jury, on the aiding and abetting manslaughter charge.

Attorneys on both sides are to get closing arguments to Judge Peter Cahill, who is presiding over the case, by the end of the week, with evidence to court by Novem ber 17. Thao will waive his right to testify and to cross-examine wit nesses.

Judge Peter Cahill will then have 90 days to evaluate the evidence and decide on a verdict. If he con victs Thao, the attorney general will withdraw the aiding and abet ting murder charge and not seek an upward departure sentence. Thao would then face around 48 months in prison.

“We look forward to a swift resolu tion of Tou Thao’s stipulated bench trial,” said Ellison in a statement.

MPR also reports Thao request

ed to serve his time in Hennepin County, with the understanding that he will most likely be in solitary con finement.

Both Thao and Kueng are also serving federal sentences for vio lating Floyd’s civil rights. Thao is assigned to a minimum-security prison in Lexington, Kentucky, while Kueng is assigned to a minimumsecurity prison in Elkton, Ohio, 42 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

“We must never forget the horror of what we all saw in that 9-min ute video, and that there rightfully should be both accountability for all involved as well as deep lessons learned for police officers and com munities everywhere,” said Floyd’s legal team in a statement.

Henry Pan welcomes reader responses to hpan@spokesmanrecorder.com.

(l-r) John Wesley Boyd, Jr., founder of the National Black Farmer’s Association, and Attorney Ben Crump

Courtesy of NNPA

Former

Photo by Henry Pan

Homeless tents outside of city hall

Photo by Cole Miska

Mothers and sons celebrate at the Positive Image Gala

By Travis Lee Contributing Writer

On an unseasonably warm fall Sunday afternoon, close to 400 well-dressed mothers marched together with their well-groomed sons to celebrate a bond like no other at the 8th Annual Positive Image Gala. By twos, threes, and even fours, they came to be recognized and honor the love that mothers and sons share at the Earle Brown Heritage Center.

There was a live DJ play ing music, vendors, exqui site table settings, and a delicious buffet meal. Com munity activist and radio personality Lisa Jones em ceed the lively evening.

Darren Hayes offered a covenant reading. He was ac companied by his mother, for mer Minneapolis Civil Rights Director Van Owen Hayes.

A leadership award cer emony honored the com munity contributions of Acooa Ellis, Nerita Hughes, Tawanna Black, and Jessica Rodgers—all mothers in at tendance. Positive Image also recognized its chosen scholar awardees: Juriad Hughes, Jr, Israel Moses V, Brian Banks and Todd Wright, Jr.

The evening included many touching speeches and moments, perhaps the most being when Pamela Weems was awarded the

Survivor Award for being a cancer survivor. Weems was surrounded by close to a dozen of her close friends who all wore pink wigs and dressed in beautiful pink and white outfits in a show of support.

When asked about his vision for the annual event, Positive Image’s Terry Aus tin spoke passionately.

“After sponsoring the Fa ther-Daughter Gala, I was approached by a communi ty of mothers who wanted to celebrate their bond and relationship with their sons.

“The goal of the event is to celebrate family, uplift strong family relationships between mothers and sons. I also want to bring aware ness to breast cancer—one of the leading causes of death among African Amer ican women.”

Overall, it was a delight ful evening, capped off with a ballroom of mothers gleefully dancing with their sons. “We have started this important tradition of go ing to the mother-son ball because it’s an opportu nity for us to dress our best, bond, and show apprecia tion for our relationship as mother and son,” said Nake sha Caldwell.

Travis Lee welcomes read er responses to tlee@spokes man-recorder.com.

Ready to go from

Photo of the Week

Seasonal lights delight

The Jack-o-Lantern Spec tacular at the Minnesota Zoo is more impressive in person than in photos. It’s worth a trip to Apple Valley and a hike

to see thousands of

artisti cally

Photo and text by Kai Conrath

submissions@spokes

Nakesha Caldwell dances with son Messiyah Sir Charles Lewis

Photos by Tim Austin

By Zeke J. McKinney, MD, MHI, MPH Guest Contributor

Your

The

a

are not

which will happen when you don’t use them or when you’re injured, they be come tight. If we let the mus cles stay tight, that’s when we will develop those “knots” ev eryone has sometimes, which is just a muscle spasm.

Daily stretching helps maintain healthy muscles

tant thing to remember is that your goal is simply to try to stretch it out comfortably, no matter how far you are able to do it right now.

The more you stretch a muscle now, the more you will be able to stretch it every time you do it if you keep up with it. It is completely safe to stretch muscles many times per day, as long as it isn’t giving you pain at the time or later on.

Strength and endurance

After making sure your muscles are flexible, then we can start building strength, which is where you use heavier weight or resistance to actually try to build more muscle cells over time. Strength training will involve lower repetitions, and you want to make sure to give your body time to rest to actually build that muscle.

A simple rule is to give mus cles a day off between each time you do some strength training. Then, to build en durance for your muscles, use lighter weights than for strength training and do more

cles need to respond, this can lead to injury because of them being overstretched without expecting it.

In that case, your muscles weren’t prepared for that stress to happen, like if you catch a heavy object falling unexpectedly. On the other hand, if we don’t use our muscles enough, then they become tight and they aren’t ready to do what we need them to do when we need them to do it. All of this means that we all benefit from regu lar exercise, and a simple thing everyone can do is to stretch a few times a day.

Develop routines

The best way to stretch is to slowly bend a part of your body, whether your waist, your neck, your ankle, and you can do this just by moving your muscles in that direction. Sometimes you can help stretch an area using your hands, a piece of furniture, or some other type of device to assist you, like a resistance band.

If you’re feeling an area stretch, you will feel a pull ing sensation, but it won’t be painful. If you’ve gotten to the point where you are get ting some sharp pain, you are likely overstretching a muscle, and that can risk injuring it.

For healthy muscles, you can probably stretch them pretty far before it starts to get painful, but for an injured muscle it may only be a small amount of stretching before it gets to that point. The impor

repetitions to train your mus cles to be able to stretch and use your strength for longer periods of time. Your muscles also can gain endurance from longer exercises such as run ning, swimming or biking.

Avoiding injury

Injuries happen when peo ple either use their muscles too much, too hard, or not enough, leading to the mus cles being overstretched (a strain) or possibly even torn. Using muscles too often will make them tired, and the risk of overloading the muscles will increase.

You can also overuse a muscle in a single episode, such as lifting much more than your muscles can handle, and this can result in an injury too. When something hap pens suddenly and your mus

If you work in a job where you are doing heavy lifting all day long, a healthy stretching regimen will make your mus cles prepared to handle load after load. If you’re working in an office, getting up and stretching is an easy way to keep your muscles flexible and to avoid developing un healthy posture that can be very hard to correct later.

If your job isn’t encourag ing you to take these kind of breaks, you should talk to your supervisor and let them know that people will perform better and be less likely to be injured with some short exer cise breaks.

There are great resources online, including videos, to show you short exercise and stretching routines that can be done in just a few minutes. You can also get some training

from a personal trainer, physi cal therapist, or other health professional.

Once you get into stretch ing regularly it will be easier to maintain, like any other habit. And your body will thank you for it later.

Dr. Zeke McKinney grew up and lives in Minneapolis. He prac tices clinical occupational and en vironmental medicine (OEM) in St. Louis Park, MN, and he is one of few clinicians in Minnesota who evaluates work and communityrelated environmental toxicologic

exposures. He is also a researcher for the HealthPartners Institute, including on a COVID-19 vac cine trial, and in helping to set up a barbershop vaccine clinic in North Minneapolis. He focuses on health equity and environ mental justice for all communities.

The best way to stretch is to slowly bend a part of your body.

Arts & Culture

‘Till’ a poignant portrayal of courage in the face of tragedy

times and locations.

By Dwight Brown

“Hardly a moment goes by when I don’t think about Em mett and the lessons a son can teach a mother.”

Mamie Till-Mobley

mmett Till, a Black teen, was murdered by racists in Money, Mis sissippi on April 28 in 1955. Writer-director Chinonye Chukwu (“Clemency”) and cow riters Michael Reilly and Keith Beauchamp (doc filmmaker of the award-winning “The Untold Story of Emmett Till”) recount this brutal crime largely from the mother’s point of view.

A mom whose quest for accountability and justice sparked a new age in the Civil Rights Movement. A crusade that became a blueprint for other Black moms forced into the same situation by heinous acts of violence. Till-Mobley passed away in 2003, but her fighting spirit lives on in this very enlightening and deeply emotional bio/drama.

In 1955, Mamie (Danielle Deadwyler, “The Harder They Fall”), a young single mom and widow, has a very respected office job with the Air Force in Chicago. With great trepidation and egged on by her mother Alma (Whoopi Goldberg), she sends her 14-year-old son Emmett (Jalyn Hall, “Bruiser”)

South to Mississippi for the summer to stay with relatives.

Before his departure, Ma mie dutifully and prophetically warns her affable son that he must tone down his vibrant behavior, recognize the evils of racism and be on his guard. Hanging with his cousins out side a grocery store, Emmett whistles at and offends Carol Bryant (Haley Bennett), a White woman whose family owns the shop.

Several nights later, Bry ant’s irate husband, his halfbrother and others barged into Emmett’s granduncle’s house, abduct, mutilate and shoot the vulnerable boy dead.

News of the teen’s disap pearance and subsequent kill ing reaches Chicago. Mamie’s worst fears turn into agony and grief. She’s shocked into

action, seeking the truth, ac countability and a reckoning. Courageously she stands up to Southern racism during her son’s killers’ trial: “Hate is like a virus in the blood of Mississippi.”

Meticulously, with the re fined brushstrokes of an artist, the wisdom of a shaman, and the spirit of a fighter, Chukwu retells Mamie’s history-mak ing story. Feelings of sadness, anger, and ultimately inspira tion emerge in ways that will enlighten and move audiences.

Ingeniously, as her illumi nating bio/crime/drama con fronts treacherous bigotry, the film becomes more and more riveting. Wisely, the vio lence surrounding Till’s hor rific death is kept off-camera and never exploited.

The family life is endearing, the courtroom drama intense (a la “To Kill a Mockingbird”), and the smart strategies used to keep this tragedy in the public eye are on view. When Till-Mo bley demands an open casket so the world will see what they did to her baby, her savvy becomes awe-inspiring. You feel the mis ery, but you also see an indomi table spirit put into action.

The footage is eye-catching, and the sounds pierce through the crises. Every color (art di rectors Carlton Lee, Jr., Chris topher Tandon), thread (cos tume designer Marci Rodgers), set (production designer Curt Beech), and prop (Cassaundra Marie) works to reproduce the

Outdoor recreation grants to help MN kids stay healthy

By Mike Moen

Health experts say soaking up nature and taking up out door activities can keep kids on a healthier path as they grow. But not all of them have equal access to resources, prompt ing Minnesota officials to of fer community-level grants.

The Department of Natural Re sources just started taking ap plications for its latest round of No Child Left Inside funding.

give some young people a bet ter chance to be outside when it’s cold. “Some cases, they’ve given clothes or had clothes available for wintertime activ ities,” Ledermann noted. “Be cause these kids don’t come with clothes that they need to get out. So, boots and hats and things like that”

Elsewhere, in the Perham area, there is a program to helps kids with autism connect with nature. The state legisla ture began funding the grants

He stressed boost ing opportunities among younger populations cre ates more awareness, too.

“When kids are young—that spent a lot of time in nature— are more concerned about the outdoors in nature and more likely to take care of it,” Leder mann asserted. “Which, of course, coming from the DNR is really important to us.”

Ledermann explained the past couple of years provided a boost to license purchases

The proceedings are cap tured in luminescent cinema tography (Bobby Bukowski, “The Messenger”) and inten sified by a pulsating score with evocative acapella voic es (Abel Korzeniowski). All scenes and sequences are carefully assembled into an increasingly intense string of images (editor Ron Pantane).

The accomplished cast in cludes Frankie Faison as gran dad, Sean Patrick Thomas as

approach to her characteriza tion, making the matriarch even more believable. Jalyn Hall’s interpretation of Em mett is so vibrant and likable it makes the teen’s tragic death even more devastating.

Deadwyler’s angst-filled and gutsy performance pulls you into Mamie’s full range of emotions. Happy protective mother. Fearful parent. En raged guardian. Fierce advo cate. When Emmett’s casket is taken off a train, she cries and

display of sorrow is so deep and expressive it deserves an Academy Award.

Sometimes the love be tween a mother and son is so strong it doesn’t die, even after death. That’s what audiences will see here. That’s what they will take away. A love and strength that endures.

“Till” opened in theaters on Oc tober 14, with a wide distribution set for October 28; check local list ings for show times.

and skills team supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said the grants are geared for lo cal nonprofits and schools to boost outdoor recreation op portunities.

For example, he pointed out it already helped the Min neapolis Nature Preschool

in 2019. The current phase covers $450,000 for local proj ects. The current application period runs through Dec. 7.

Ledermann emphasized there is a body of research linking healthier outcomes with outdoor recreation, add ing it became much more ap parent during the pandemic.

for activities like hunting and fishing but are returning to pre-pandemic norms of softer demand. The funding comes in mini-grants of less than $5,000 or larger grants up to $25,000.

Mike Moen writes for the Minnesota News Connection.

Mamie’s future husband Gene Mobley, and John Douglas Thompson in the pivotal role as the uncle who must live with haunting regrets. Gold berg, as Grandma Alma Car than, takes a very understated

moans in ways so primal it will touch your soul.

At a funeral home, when Mamie views her son’s body, touches his mangled corpse, and screams in pain it will break your heart. Deadwyler’s

Fit in. Stand out.

Saint Paul College is an inclusive campus for ALL learners. We see, respect, and connect to your story. We welcome you to be your most authentic self while finding those who share your passions, goals, and background.

Join us to learn more about our programs! Sign up and view more sessions at saintpaul.edu/InfoSession.

For more info, about the New York Film Festival go to: filmlinc.org/nyff2022.

Visit NNPA News Wire film critic Dwight Brown at Dwight BrownInk.com.

Danielle Deadwyler shines in “Till”.

Sometimes the love between a mother and son is so strong it doesn’t die, even after death. That’s what audiences will see here.

(l-r) Jalyn Hall and Danielle Deadwyler

Photos courtesy of United Artists

Jeff Ledermann, education

Evictions

Continued

seized tents handed out by the supply team, Andy called up other organiza tions to gather as many unhoused people as possible at city hall.

Five tents were set up the first night, growing to seven tents by the next day.

Volunteers were cooking meals for the unhoused folks living outside city hall on the afternoon of Oct. 10, call ing out to light rail passengers to join them in solidarity. One resident, Mela nie Groves, said the group planned to continue staying overnight until they

FarmErs

Continued

In August, Congress repealed section 1005 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which provided funding and authoriza tion for the federal government to pay up to 120% of direct and guaranteed loan outstanding balances as of January 1, 2021, for socially disadvantaged farm ers and ranchers, breaking the government’s promise and leav ing farmers in foreclosure.

Black farmers said they relied on the federal government to keep its promise to fund $5 bil lion to the farmers when it passed the American Rescue Plan Act. “Black and other farmers of color did exactly what the government asked them to do. They main tained or expanded their opera tions to strengthen America’s food supply during the COV ID-19 crisis,” Crump asserted.

“They believed the U.S. gov ernment’s promises, he contin ued. “They took Congress and the administration at their word, expecting that the government

were forcibly removed.

The encampment moved across the street to the plaza of the Hen nepin County Government Center on Oct. 11 and was abandoned on Oct. 14 after Metro Transit police officers put pressure on the residents of the encampment to leave.

“I have nowhere to be,” Groves said. “I can’t set [my tent] up legally any where. So, what am I supposed to do?”

Groves has been unhoused for a lit tle over a year and has spent almost as long on the list to be placed in afford able housing. Groves was unable to pay rent when her partner unexpect edly ended up in a nursing home.

Andy, who is currently unhoused but temporarily living with a friend,

would pay off their debt, as the USDA promised in writing.

“Instead, it was 40 acres and a mule all over again, 150 years later—broken promises that doomed generations of Black farmers to become sharecroppers and robbed Black families of billions in intergenerational wealth.”

With Crump at the helm, Black farmers across the coun try said they’re prepared to fight for the money promised. “I’m very disappointed in this legisla tive action,” said John Wesley Boyd, Jr., founder and president of the National Black Farmer’s Association, a nonprofit repre senting African American farm ers and their families.

“I’m prepared to fight for debt relief for Black, Native American, and other farm ers of color all the way to the Supreme Court. I’m not going to stop fighting this.”

A 2019 report highlighted how many federal agencies have systemically discrimi nated against Black farmers, including the USDA.

“Through discriminatory loan denials and deliberate delays in financial aid, the USDA system

says homelessness can happen to any one, noting a 2017 study saying most Americans could not handle a $500 emergency.

“Where are we supposed to go if we are not allowed to be anywhere?” Andy said. “We’re not allowed to have an encampment where we try to selfcontain and run ourselves. We’re not allowed to [camp] by ourselves. We don’t evaporate into thin air just because you take all of our stuff and burn things and chase us around and arrest us.”

The shelter system run by Hennepin County is a free resource often utilized by people experiencing homelessness, but it does not always have the capac ity to provide a bed to everyone seek ing shelter on a given night.

atically blocked Black farmers from accessing critical federal funds,” the report authors noted.

“If you are Black and you’re born south of the Mason-Dix on Line, and you tried to farm, you’ve been discriminated against,” said Lloyd Wright, director of the USDA Office of Civil Rights under former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and a Black

Virginia farmer, in the report.

The report noted that the debts Black farmers “conse quently accrued cost them millions of acres, which white buyers then snapped up.”

In 1920, Black farmers peaked at nearly one million, constituting 14% of all farmers. But between 1910 and 1997, they lost 90% of their property. By contrast, White farmers lost only 2% in the same period.

As of 2017, there were just 35,470 Black-owned farms, representing 1.7% of all farms.

Black farmers lost some 16 million acres, conserva

Vote early.

Activists estimate that over 200 people have been evicted from encampments so far in October, and the county has estimated an average of 70 daily open beds at shelters in the summer. Andy described the system as “underfunded and inadequate.”

Groves previously tried the shelter system in September but has been living at encampments after a shelter in down town Minneapolis had her and her part ner Mike sleep on a gym mat on the floor of a church. Groves also says the shelter had no COVID protection in place.

Groves has also been dissatisfied with City outreach to encampments, saying outreach workers arrived only about once a month to the camps she has lived in. Groves was unhappy about

tively estimated to be worth between $250 billion and $350 billion in current dollars.

Lawrence Lucas, president emeritus of the USDA Coali tion of Minority Employees and representative of the Jus tice for Black Farmers Group, said USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack had done nothing to help Black farmers.

“The amount of wealth loss could be in the trillions of dollars,” Lucas remarked. “We’ve had administration after administra tion, president after president, and Congress after Congress does nothing. Secretary Vilsack was a disaster even when he worked under President Obama, who wasn’t good to us.”

In a letter to the agriculture secretary, Lucas expressed his disappointment. “We have watched with disbelief and discouragement as a sequence of events played out in a self-fulfilling prophesy: a Vilsack agriculture transition team member declared that what we wanted, debt relief for Black farmers, was uncon stitutional,” Lucas wrote.

“We contend that there was an unnecessary length of time

spent on Senator Warnock’s two bills, voted into the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the decision by a Florida judge to issue a temporary restrain ing order against you, which stopped relief for Black farmers.”

“We contend that you slow-walked the processing of these claims with a process that went beyond 100 days. With the stroke of your pen, we are fully aware that you could have removed the debt these farmers have suffered because of USDA’s long his tory of discrimination, not a process but debt relief.

“Instead, we have White privilege that continues to be a part of the USDA landscape at the pain and suffering of Black farmers and others,” Lucas continued.

“[Former President Donald] Trump paid out $16 billion in allotments to White farmers quickly, and Black farmers received only a small fraction of those funds. Why for them and not us?”

Stacy M. Brown is an NNPA Newswire senior national correspondent.

City oversight of unhoused encamp ments allegedly being moved by Mayor Frey from under the umbrella of health and human services to regulatory ser vices. The office of Mayor Frey had not responded to a request for comment.

Andy’s primary concern in the coming months is the cooling temper atures, saying that requests to Sanctu ary Supply Depot change in the final months of the year are almost exclu sively requests for propane to burn to keep warm.

“Winter is coming for these people, and winter kills people,” Andy said.

Cole Miska welcomes reader responses to cmiska@spokesmanrecorder.com.

ElEctions

from page

General Keith Ellison, for example, even go further than the 1988 race-baiting Willie Horton ads, which were widely condemned at that time.

State officials, including gover nor and lieutenant governor, at torney general, secretary of state, and state auditor in Minnesota, play a crucial role in safeguarding elections. If election deniers win these positions, in Minnesota or elsewhere in the country, they are positioned to sabotage and under mine future elections.

Threats to election officials

Vigilantism by election deniers con tinues and will persist beyond Novem ber 8. Intimidation of election officials already threatens the electoral process. Nevada has seen an exodus of state and county election officials since 2020. Threats and harass ment drove the registrar of voters in the second-largest county out of office, fearing for her family’s safety. Pennsylvania, South Carolina and

page 7

Find out how and where

Your

by mail or in person

Early voting is open now. Your mail-in absentee ballot must be returned by Election Day, November 8.

hennepin.us/elections

Your vote counts here.

vote counts here.

“Why for them and not us?”

Opinion

This November, unite to defend the Black vote

By Ben Jealous

Right before our last na tional elections in 2020, thou sands of Black voters in De troit got a call from someone posing as a woman named “Tamika Taylor.” She warned them that if they voted, the government would collect their personal information and come after them for credit card debt, outstanding warrants, even forced vacci nations.

this year.

Our initiative, Defend the Black Vote, will reach out to Black men in 15 states who are registered but skipped two out of three of the last elections. Our focus will be men because they still don’t vote in the high percentages Black women do.

Our message will be simple: Vote this November. Vote be

cided by 12,000 votes. The Black men who voted in Geor gia made a historic difference, and the numbers prove it. We know there’s one more way today’s Far Right and their predecessors—the Klan, the White League, and all the oth er terrorists like them—have tried to suppress Black votes, and it’s the ugliest: intimida tion and threats of violence.

White House convenes hunger conference 53 years after the first

By Marian Wright Edelman

“In every country in the world and in every state in this country, no matter what else divides us, if a parent cannot feed a child there’s nothing else that matters for that par ent. If you look at your child and you can’t feed your child, what the hell else matters?”

In his remarks at the Sep tember 28 White House Con ference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, President Biden summed up the heart of the matter for any family that has ever struggled to put food on the table. This event was the first time the White House had convened a conference on hunger in more than 50 years.

The first one, held in De cember 1969, led to the begin ning of a series of expansions of the federal food safety net programs that so many tens of millions depend on today. But there is a critical need to do more right now.

The 2022 conference em phasized once again that hun ger, along with disparities in access to healthy food and health outcomes linked to nu trition, is preventable—and we have the ability to do some thing about it.

The Children’s Defense Fund joined other organiza tions urging the White House to hold this conference, sign ing a letter earlier this year that read in part: “We can end hunger in America, and a pub lic commitment to a White House Conference, with end ing hunger as a key priority, is an essential step in accom plishing this goal… “The 1969 Conference led

to an expansion of the Supple mental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Na tional School Lunch Program, as well as the establishment of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

The Conference created the meaningful and necessary conversations to address hunger and food insecurity in America at the time. Now, more than half a century later, conversations on how we will finally put an end to hunger in America are long overdue.”

The White House respond ed, and in this new confer ence reinforced its goal of ending hunger and increasing

rural areas, people who are differently-abled, older adults, LGBTQI+ people, military families, and military veterans.

Lack of access to healthy, safe and affordable food and to safe outdoor spaces contributes to hunger, dietrelated diseases, and health disparities. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these challenges further. We cannot wait to act. And we aren’t.”

The action plan is a Nation al Strategy centered on five pillars:

1. improving food access and affordability, including by advancing economic security, increasing access to free and nourishing school meals, and expanding SNAP eligibility;

2. integrating nutrition and health, which involves priori tizing the role of nutrition and food security in overall health, including disease prevention and management;

3. empowering all consum ers to make and have access to healthy choices;

4. supporting physical activ ity for all, in part by ensuring that everyone has access to safe spaces to be active; and

The calls were a voter sup pression scam, and the two White guys behind it were prosecuted. But we’ll never know how many people were nervous enough to avoid vot ing that year.

Dirty tricks like this make me sick. And as we get closer to this year’s midterms, civil rights leaders are warning that we’re likely to see more of them. The Far Right is wag ing a war on Black voters, and disinformation is among its fa vorite weapons.

Another one is passing laws to make it harder for Black citizens to vote. The Brennan Center at NYU keeps track of these efforts. The legal schol ars there report that since 2020, lawmakers in 49 states have introduced more than 400 bills that would make it harder to vote.

This midterm election is the first nationwide election since that massive voter suppres sion campaign started, and we have one way to fight it: mas sive voter mobilization.

Getting our friends and neighbors to vote so we can have a say in issues that affect our daily lives is a calling for all of us. I am fortunate to lead an organization that will make Black male voters the focus of our Get Out the Vote efforts

This is the first nationwide election since the Far Right’s massive voter suppression cam paign started in 2020, and we have one way to fight it: massive voter mobilization.

cause your vote is your voice and your power. Vote because of everything that is on the line in these elections: jobs, reproductive rights, mass in carceration, who sits on our courts, education for our kids, health care, pollution in the environment where our fami lies live.

Vote because we need to Ban the Box. Vote because Black Lives Matter. Vote be cause you have a dream of en trepreneurship. Vote because your mental health, and your family’s mental health, mat ters. Vote because the White supremacists don’t want you to, and are doing everything they can to stop you, and that tells you how important it is.

I know that some folks don’t vote because they be lieve their vote doesn’t mat ter. History shows that it does. The best example I can think of is what happened in Geor gia in 2020, the first year we ran our Defend the Black Vote campaign. We motivated over 200,000 additional Black men in Georgia to vote that year— a year when the presidential election in the state was de

healthy eating and physical activity by 2030. As they put it: “Millions of Americans are afflicted with food insecurity and diet-related diseases—in cluding heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes—which are some of the leading causes of death and disability in the U.S.

The toll of hunger and these diseases is not distribut ed equally, disproportionately impacting underserved com munities, including communi ties of color, people living in

5. enhancing nutrition and food security research, espe cially to learn more about eq uity, access, and disparities.

For each of the five pillars there are roles for local and federal governments, the pri vate sector, researchers and academia, and nonprofit and community groups to help our nation meet these goals.

President Biden singled out the Child Tax Credit expansion enacted during the pandemic as just one key example of an effective anti-hunger policy that is critically needed. Con gress must make the Child Tax Credit expansion permanent immediately.

As President Biden also emphasized, just as fighting hunger was a bipartisan ef fort during the last confer ence convened by the Nixon administration, it should be a bipartisan effort today. “This should be an organizing ele ment of how we start to talk to one another again… In America, no child should go to bed hungry. No parent should die of a disease that can be prevented.

“This has always been a country where, when we’re at our best, we think big… There is nothing—nothing, noth ing— I really mean it—there’s nothing beyond our capacity when we work together, so let’s work together.”

Amen!

Marian

of

Our ancestors faced a real risk of being attacked or mur dered for registering to vote or voting. Today the intimida tion might be more high-tech: Is your name in the system? Will you be accused of an il legal vote? Florida’s arrests of returning citizens who voted— after being issued new voter registration cards by the state itself—are especially cruel. They were meant to scare people, and they probably did. So, vote because we refuse to be intimidated. Because those who went before us put their lives on the line to cast a ballot. And if you are a man who doesn’t have a plan to vote, or you have a father, brother, uncle or son who doesn’t have a plan, it’s not too late to make one now. We need you.

Ben Jealous serves as presi dent of People For the American Way and professor of the prac tice at the University of Penn sylvania. A New York Times bestselling author, his next book “Never Forget Our People Were Always Free” will be published by Harper Collins in January 2023.

Voting— don’t take it for granted

By Cheryl Smith

Well, if you were planning on voting and you haven’t checked to make sure all your paperwork is in order, you could find yourself stuck and out of luck, especially if you are among the many who have been stricken from lists across the country.

Should you be concerned? Maybe. Should you care? Heck yes! But I understand. We don’t realize how painful a situ ation can be until we stub our toe or hit our funny bone. Ain’t a darned thing funny then!

quences and repercussions for every action and inaction. You go out to the polls and cast a vote because of the way someone looks, talks, or be cause of their party affiliation. And let’s not forget voting for someone because they played a sport.

Makes me think about those folks who walk among us today and are confronted by reminders of the racist acts of their ancestors. What goes through their heads? Are they embarrassed, apologetic, or do they try to silence the mes sengers?

Will the families of vicious racists feel the same, once confronted with the evil acts of those whose blood flows through their veins?

Let’s come a little closer and think about your descen dants. Will you be trying to stop stories from being told in the classrooms of your grands and great grands because you don’t want them to find out that your actions were just as detrimental, if not more, than the Ku Klux Klan or others who savagely enacted their own laws or forms of justice to eventually find themselves in a position where the oppressed and downtrodden and disen franchised became their big gest allies in the battle?

Well, millions of dollars are being spent to either get you to vote a certain way or stay at home. Instead of waiting in a line to vote, you can go fishing, to a party, or go shopping. You say you don’t want to have to choose between the “lesser of two evils.” Well, some might say that considering what is at stake, those who opt out of voting are the biggest evil.

Which brings me to my truth.

Too much is at stake. This year’s midterm election is about more than one issue, one individual or one com munity. Every election is im portant and there are conse

As we prepare to view the movie “Till,” how do the descendants of Carolyn Bry ant feel? How does she feel about the actions that led to the brutal murder of young Emmett? When I visited with Mamie Till Mobley during her three-day visit to Dallas in 1995, we talked extensively about her son and the events 40 years prior.

To her credit, this beauti ful, smart, resourceful and focused woman was not filled with hate. Instead, she had a spirit of love and compassion, and so did other family mem bers I talked to then and later.

In other words, you’ll have some explaining to do, and just like everyone didn’t march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., everyone didn’t get up and exercise that basic right because they weren’t us ing the ballot or anything else. Whatever the case, we have to salute the Transformative Justice Coalition, the National Newspaper Publishers As sociation and others who are working on Get Out the Vote campaigns.

We have come too far to Black down!

Cheryl Smith is the publisher of I Messenger Media. This com mentary was republished with permission from Texas Metro News.

“Conversations on how we will finally put an end to hunger in America are long overdue.”

Some might say that considering

ElEctions

Continued from page 5

Texas have seen massive res ignations of election officials since 2020. A Kansas elec tion official described the actions of election deniers who became poll workers as “terrifying.”

Attacking voting rights

The biggest threats to voting rights lie ahead, in the possibility of hostile takeovers of state offices and legislatures. In Minne sota, candidate Kim Crockett questions whether people

with disabilities and nonEnglish speakers should be allowed to vote. She is ap parently unaware that as far back as 1896 Minnesota ballots were printed in nine languages.

Denial of equal voting rights continues, with Flor ida Governor Ron DeSantis at the forefront. In the wake of Hurricane Ian, DeSantis signed an emergency order making voting easier for three hard-hit counties with Republican majorities. At the same time, he refused requests to give the same accommodations to other hurricane-hit counties that usually vote Democratic.

The best response to attacks on our elections? Like the early voters in Georgia, you can fight back against the Big Lie and the attacks on our democracy. Get out there and vote!

If you haven’t voted yet, election day is November 8. In Minnesota, you can register at your polling place on election day. Below is the Secretary of State website with all the in formation you need.

For more voting information, go to www.sos.state.mn.us/elec tions-voting/election-day-voting.

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

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Obituary

Willis M. “Willie” Haddix

Sunrise, November 26, 1926 — Sunset, October 20, 2022

Willis M. Haddix, age 95, of Mason City passed away Thursday, October 20, 2022 at his daughter’s home in Minneapolis.

Willis was born November 26, 1926 in Bokchito, Oklahoma to Henry Haddix, a full-blooded Indian in his nineties, and Esme Bennett, an African American in her sixties. The family soon moved to Texas. His father sadly died when Willis was only four years old and his mother when he was six. He then went to live with his mother’s sister, his Aunt Georgia, and her husband Jim Floyd, who were sharecroppers. He helped to pick cotton in Texas.

Willis is survived by his daughter, Ruth Ann James (Jack); his grandson, Larry (Carrie); great grandchildren Tim Brown, Gabrielle Brown and Brayden Brown; great great grandchildren Boston, Hayes, and Embry; nephews Larry Clardy ( Lemetrie) and Kelly Price; nieces Marilyn Brown and Linda Bell; great-nephew Wayne Brown; as well as many other nieces and nephews, cousins, and a host of extended family and friends.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Esme; his beloved wife Ruby

Obituary

Thomas Lyle

Christopher Thomas Lyle, age 33, passed away on September 29th, 2022. Christopher, graduate of Mpls. Col lege of Art & Design, was a freelance artist and photograapher, and worked several years as designer for the Urban Spect rum Theatre.

Preceded in death by his father, Marcus Lyle, he is survived by his mother, Judy Coo per Lyle, sister Melinda Morvari (Drake), niece Sofia Morvari, and many uncles, cousins, and friends—all are heartbroken.

A memorial service will take place on November 7, 2022, at 2 pm, at Columbia Park Event Centre, located at 3300 Central Ave. N.E., Minneapolis.

Haddix; brothers James Haddix and Boots Haddix; sisters-in-law Mary Clardy, Doris Jones, Delores Price and Ruth Haddix; aunts Georgia Filmer (Floyd) and Lorene McGruder; niece Ruby Elaine Price; nephew Craig Jones

A Celebration of Life will be held 11 am Friday, November 4, 2022 at Hogan Bremer Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 3rd St. NE, Mason City. Interment will follow in Elmwood St. Joseph Cemetery, Mason City.

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Legacy

Contunued from page 9

others also made a similar trek to the South this past summer.

During the recent Big Ten basketball media days in Minneapolis earlier this month, the MSR asked Com missioner Kevin Warren of any plans that the confer ence is planning to connect with an HBCU conference.

“We’ve had some discus sions about seeing what we can do to create some of these legacy series games,” Warren responded. “But

from a long-term standpoint, that’s the beautiful thing about having UCLA and USC join us [in 2024]. There are some things we are working on now to continually afford our student athletes the op portunity to play against His torically Black Colleges and Universities.

“That’s part of the many things on the table as we’re looking through schedul ing and expansion, what we can do from a unique stand point,” concluded Warren.

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stream media prognostica tions are published, rarely are HBCUs included, men or women. “It is a confer ence that people recognize as being an up-and-coming conference,” said BethuneCookman MBB Coach Reg gie Theus on the SWAC.

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On the men’s side, Texas Southern was picked tops in the SWAC this upcom ing season, followed by Alcorn State, Southern, Prairie View A&M and Flor ida A&M. Texas Southern Coach Johnny Jones said on the preseason predic tion, “We just want to con tinue to get these guys bet ter each and every day.”

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“We have a group of guys coming back,” added Alcorn State HC Landon Bussie. “They’ve been through the battle and are looking for ward to having another suc cessful season.” His Braves, who won the SWAC regular season last season, will play at Minnesota Dec. 29.

Part of this is the annu al “guarantee games” most Black schools are financially forced to play—being the road club at a larger Divi sion I school. “We’re trying to win some of those nonconference games that we play,” admitted Alcorn State WBB Coach Nate Kilbert.

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McCullen stressed, “We are trying to bring nine new players into the fold and we know the challeng es that lie ahead [in the] non-conference as well as another exciting challeng ing SWAC season.”

Defending her confer ence, Alabama State’s Freda Freeman-Jackson, who be ginning her 25th season is considered the dean of SWAC’s women’s hoops, “We’ve always had great players … coaches with their knowledge and expertise. I think we are really headed in the right direction, and I’m really excited about be ing a part of this.”

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can coach in this league. The teams are good.”

the country by Sports Illustrat ed,” said the Maryland Eastern Shore men’s coach, now in his fourth season, “ranking every body in the country from Gon zaga number one to Maryland Eastern Shore last.” His Hawks this season are picked to fin ish sixth in the MEAC.

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“Now it’s about making that next step,” he pointed out. “We brought back some good talent.”

He pointed out that until the typical basketball folk cor rectly see the league through non-elitist eyes, especially when NCAA selections are made, he afraid nothing will change “until the MEAC gets someone at the table,” said Davis, “sitting at the table in that room when they’re mak ing the seedings.”

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Not unlike other all-Black conferences, the MEAC is an afterthought by non-HB CU folk. But don’t tell this to the proud coaches and their fans across the league.

“It’s a testament to the coaches that we have in the league that are bringing in great talent,” continued Crafton. “You get a nice new crop of young coaches that have come in to lead. So, it’s an infusion of new coaches that are bringing some new energy in terms of racing the pedigree of the league.”

The MEAC is “way bet ter than advertised,” said Ed Davis, Jr., the Morgan State WBB HC. “[The] coaches

South Carolina State is picked at the bottom of the conference [men’s] or near the bottom [women’s]. The two Bulldogs squads also have new coaches at the helm this season.

“What we want to do is make sure we build culture,” said WBB Coach Tim Eatman. MBB Coach Erik Martin added, “I’m just trying to lay down the foundation for my program, and I want to build culture. I want to be someone that no matter who we play, we’re gonna learn to play hard and we’re gonna compete.”

“We’re excited for the season,” said Coppin State Men’s Coach Juan Dixon.

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

October is the season of HBCU hoops

Player talent strong in SWAC league

ootball is king at most HBCUs, but college hoops is a very close sec ond in all-Black conferences. As a result, October for bas ketball coaches and players is a time brimming with optimism.

“Anytime you get started for a new season,” said Flor ida A&M Men’s Basketball Coach Robert McCullen, “it’s always a time of optimism and excitement.”

“There’s no excuses.

You have to be tough. You have to be ready to play.

You have to be physical; you have to be aggressive.”

The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) 2022-23 men’s and women’s basketball regular season is just days away.

Jackson State was tagged as the favorite to win the SWAC women’s title, followed by Alabama State, Southern, Ala bama A&M and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Ten of the 12 WBB head

coaches are Black females.

“I’m extremely excited about this group,” exclaimed JSU Coach Tomekia Reed. “We have a really strong recruiting class that we brought in. My staff did a good job of bring ing in a really strong class.

“This year’s team may be the most skilled and the most tal ented team I’ve ever coached here at Jackson State,” con tinued the coach. “I’m really excited about what this team brings to the floor.”

Alabama A&M’s Margaret Richards said, “There’s no ex cuses. You have to be tough. You have to be ready to play. You have to be physical; you have to be aggressive. Again, no excuses.”

“Prairie View is a very elite institution academically,” said Coach Sandy Pugh proudly. “It’s not easy to get in school here. So, we have to be ex tremely selective of the qual ity of student athletes that we bring here. It’s important to know that they’re representa tive of that institution.”

“We’re excited for the up coming season,” said Freddie Murray, Grambling State.

Kimberly Anderson, Missis sippi Valley State, said, “Hope fully I’ll be able to run up and down the court.”

“We are really excited about the team that we have put to gether this year,” noted Arkan sas-Pine Bluff’s Dawn Thorn ton. “We’re right on target to

New coaches bring new energy to MEAC league

ll but one of the 16 MidEastern Athletic Confer ence (MEAC) men’s and women’s basketball clubs will open their 2022-23 season No vember 7. South Carolina State women will open on November 8.

The league announced last Thursday during its virtual me dia day, attended by the MSR, its preseason best player, 1st2nd-3rd all-MEAC teams and predicted order of finish for both MBB and WBB, voted by the conference head coaches and sports information directors.

Howard (WBB) and Nor folk State (MBB) are picked to finish first, respectively.

The Howard women’s team made history earlier this year by advancing in the NCAAs for the first time in school history, a four-point victory over Incarnate Word before losing big to eventual cham pions South Carolina (79-21).

HC Tiesha “Ty” Grace, hired in 2015, led HU to its first MEAC Tournament title since 2001.

Grace was named to the 2022 Achieving Coaching Ex cellence (ACE) College Bas ketball Honor Roll as well as the tournament’s most out standing coach in the inaugu

Student-athletes’ civil rights tour leads to HBCU/Power Five pact

By Charles Hallman Sports Columnist

he first-of-its-kind pact between the Power Five and HBCU leagues was announced last Septem ber with its aim to create both a forum for competition as well as promotion and educa tion around anti-racism and social justice issues.

The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and the Pac-12 will debut the Pac-12/ SWAC Legacy Series in Novem ber, featuring six men’s games and six women’s games over the course of several weeks in November and December.

Men’s games

Florida A&M at Oregon (Nov. 7), Alabama State at USC (Nov. 10), Southern at Arizona

(Nov. 11), Colorado at Gram bling St. (Nov. 11), Arizona State at Texas Southern (Nov. 13), and Washington State at Prairie View A&M (Nov. 15).

Having three SWAC teams hosting a Pac-12 team is even more special. “To be at home and just be able to feel the environment early for a bigtime home game,” said Gram bling State’s Freddie Murray.

“I think it’s important that we be able to have these types of games to create environments and create ticket sales for our fans and be able to create dif ferent revenue opportunities… more people, more eyes. So I’m excited about it.”

Texas Southern HC Johnny Jones added, “We’re excited about what (SWAC Commis sioner) Charles McClellan has been able to do to bring

Fab Four photos

This week’s column features four pictures. Two were captured during the start of the NBA sea son, another was one of a Hall of Fame columnist receiving yet an other honor, and the final photo is of a volleyball player who led her team to victory.

Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader responses to mcdeezy05@gmail.com.

ral First Four last spring. “The next step will be to win the next [NCAA] game,” admitted Grace. “Once you make it, you want to continue to propel, get to the next step.”

“I want to be someone that no matter who we play, we’re gonna learn to play hard and we’re gonna

For Jason Crafton it’s about receiving respect from the socalled basketball experts. “Last year we were picked dead last in

Minnesota Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell (0) drives on Okla homa City Thunder guard Shai GilgeousAlexander (2) and center Mike Muscala during a 118-115 NBA season-opening victory Wednesday, October 19 at Tar get Center, Minneapolis.

together a program like (Ari zona State) from the Pac-12, to have them in a situation where they will play home and away games over a two-year period.”

Women’s games

Grambling State at Arizona State (Nov. 11), Prairie View A&M at Washington State (Nov. 13), Oregon at Southern (Nov. 14), Utah at Mississippi Valley State (Dec. 1), Texas Southern at Arizona (Dec. 14), and Flori da A&M at California (Dec. 18).

“I think it’s gonna be wonderful for the kids,” said Kimberly An derson of Mississippi Valley State.

Said Alabama State HC Fre da Freeman-Jackson, “[This] is great exposure for us and also for [the Pac-12] to be re ally interested in HBCUs, and the impact that we have on student athletes is extremely

great. Anytime you can bring any of those types of schools to your campus, that’s going to be a great support for our fan base. I think it is great all the way around.”

Legacy Series

The Legacy Series was born out of this summer’s Pac-12 ImPACt experience in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama when conference student ath letes journeyed “to the center of the Civil Rights Movement,” said a SWAC press release. A large group of Big Ten stu dent-athletes, staffers and

During halftime of a collegiate football game between Hamline University and Augsburg Univer sity, MIAC Commissioner Dan McKane presents Hall of Fame MSR columnist Charles Hallman with the Mike Augustine Award is sued annually by the conference’s sports information directors, on Saturday, October 22 at Hamline University, St. Paul.

Commissioner Kevin Warren

Photo by Charles Hallman

Florida A&M Men’s Basket ball Coach Robert McCullen Credit FAM

JSU Coach Tomekia Reed Courtesy JSU

Howard Head Basketball Coaches

Ty Grace (left) and Kevin Blakeney Courtesy of Howard

Maryland Eastern Shore WBB Coach Jason Crafton Courtesy of MES

“I think it’s gonna be wonderful for the kids.”

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns drives against Utah Jazz forward Jarred Vanderbilt during a 132-126 overtime loss Friday, October 21 in NBA action at the Tar get Center, Minneapolis.

University of Minnesota senior Taylor Landfair serves during the Gophers’ 3-1 Big Ten vic tory over Purdue University on Saturday, October 22 at Maturi Pavilion, Minneapolis. She led the Gophers with 21 kills.

A journalist sought to amplify the voices of Minnesota’s communities of color

A journalist sought to amplify the voices of Minnesota’s communities of color

That’s why Mukhtar M. Ibrahim launched Journal, important to immigrant and other underserved communities.

That’s why Mukhtar M. Ibrahim launched Sahan Journal, a nonprofit dedicated to covering issues important to immigrant and other underserved communities.

After participating in Google’s earned revenue program, the news site grew advertising revenue more than 830%. And now, with additional support, Sahan Journal is leading a collaborative effort to reach a wider audience with news in Spanish, Somali, and Hmong.

That’s why Mukhtar M. Ibrahim launched Sahan Journal, a nonprofit dedicated to covering issues important to immigrant and other underserved communities.

After participating in Google’s earned revenue program, the news site grew advertising revenue more than 830%. And now, with additional support, Sahan Journal is leading a collaborative effort to reach a wider audience with news in Spanish, Somali, and Hmong.

After participating in Google’s earned revenue program, the news site grew advertising revenue more than 830%. And now, with additional support, Sahan Journal is leading a collaborative effort to reach a wider audience with news in Spanish, Somali, and Hmong.

Learn more about how Google supports local news g.co/supportingnews/local

Learn more about how Google supports local news g.co/supportingnews/local

A journalist sought to amplify the voices of Minnesota’s communities of color