Vol. 90
No. 23
Minneapolis 2024: the mayor’s progressive agenda NEWS
Inside this Edition... Read about actress Greta Oglesby on page 6.
THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
January 4 - 10, 2024
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MPD launches new public-safety survey tool By Evette Porter Managing Editor
By MSR News Service ith the Minneapolis City Council’s unanimous approval of Mayor Frey’s $1.8 billion 2024 budget in December, the city has charted a course that attempts to tackle some of its most difficult issues year-in, and year-out—homelessness, affordable housing, economic development and inclusion, police reform and public safety. “2023 has been one for the books—literally the record books,” said Mayor Jacob Frey in his end-of-year wrap up. “We are doing nation-leading work when it comes to our affordable housing production, we have tripled our funding in local climate action, and we Mayor Jacob Frey at DOJ press conference are the first city ever to allow a Photos by Chris Juhn public call to prayer,” he added. highest number of affordable projects that are estimated to housing units under construc- eventually provide 2,221 units On affordable housing and tion in any given year—ever. for families and individuals homelessness Last year, the city had the In 2023, the city funded 23 ■ See MINNEAPOLIS 2024 on page 5
with Zencity, appears on mobile devices as a digital ad. The survey tool will enable n December, the Minne- the MPD to better understand apolis Police Department neighborhood safety issues and (MPD) launched a new enhance MPD’s responsiveness public survey tool and began to community priorities. In October, the Minneapolis gathering responses from city residents to better understand City Council approved a threetheir concerns and attitudes year contract with Zencity, a about police officers. The sur- global technology company vey, launched in partnership that uses online channels and
surveys for community engagement and public safety and has worked with hundreds of cities, including Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle, Tulsa, Louisville, Greensboro, N.C., and San Diego. “We are always open to deploying tools that will help us better understand the needs and the concerns of the communities we ■ See MPD SURVEY on page 5
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St. Paul’s guaranteed income program yields positive results By MSR News Service he results of St. Paul’s pilot program, using public dollars to provide families with a guaranteed monthly income, indicate positive trends in employment, physical and mental health, and other indicators of wellbeing and quality of life. In 2020, Mayor Melvin Carter and the City of Saint Paul launched the People’s Prosperity Pilot during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Courtesy of the City of St. Paul using funds from the CARES Act, along with state and pri- $500 a month for 18 months. During that time, more than household goods, and hygiene vate funding. The pilot program The pilot operated between half of the funds were used to products. Nearly half of the provided 150 St. Paul families October 2020 and April 2022. purchase items such as food, participants were of mixed
background with 27 percent allowing them to save money identifying as White, 24 per- and minimize income volatility. cent as African American, and There was a seven percent in13 percent as Latino. Roughly crease in participants transitionnine out of 10 participants ing to better housing during the were women. guaranteed income program. Researchers at the Center Recipients showed few for Guaranteed Income Re- symptoms of anxiety or desearch (CGIR) at the Univer- pression and had favorable sity of Pennsylvania found levels of health and well-being, that during the program, the physical limits, and physical number of people employed functioning. When payments increased from 49 percent at stopped there was a decrease the beginning of the pilot to in average level of general 63 percent six months after health. The percentage of parthe program ended. ticipants reporting feelings While receiving monthly of high hope progressively guaranteed income payments, increased during and beyond families also maintained or im■ See GUARANTEED proved their financial stability, INCOME on page 5
Biden pardons nonviolent offenders in effort to eliminate racial disparities in sentencing By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Senior Correspondent
terms for nonviolent drug offenses. Among the notable cases receiving commutations n what the White House are Darryl Allen Winkfield of called a decisive move Augusta, Ga., Leroy Lymons echoing the core tenet of of Pensacola, Fla.; and Earlie equal justice under law, Presi- Deacon Barber of Dothan, Ala., dent Joe Biden announced a each of whom was sentenced set of substantial clemency ac- to life in prison. Winkfield was convicted in tions in late December, aimed at addressing glaring dispari- 1998 of conspiracy to distribties within the U.S. criminal ute and possess cocaine. Biden justice system. The president, commuted the sentence, leavunderscoring bipartisan con- ing intact a 10-year probation sensus on the need for a fair when Winkfield is released in and unbiased legal framework, April 2024. In 2012, Lymons was sendeclared a series of important measures toward realizing the tenced to life for conspiracy promise of equal justice in to distribute and possess with American communities. intent to distribute five kilo“I am announcing additional grams or more of a mixture and steps I am taking to make the substance containing a detectpromise of equal justice a able amount of cocaine. The reality,” Biden declared, em- commutation clears Lymons for phasizing that equal justice is release after 27 years. In 2009, Barber was sena “foundational principle on which America was built.” tenced in Alabama for conspirThe first measure involves acy to distribute and possess commuting sentences for 11 with intent to distribute five individuals serving extended kilograms of a mixture and sub-
stance containing cocaine base. He will now be released in April 2024, with a remaining 10 years of supervised probation. In the president’s words,
these individuals “would have been eligible for reduced sentences” under current standards. Pexels MGN He said the move underscores his administration’s commit-
ment to rectifying outdated and unjust sentencing practices. Drawing attention to the crack-to-powder sentencing disparity, Biden noted that he
supports initiatives to eliminate the sentencing difference, asserting that it “does not advance public safety.” He said the ■ See BIDEN PARDONS on page 5