January 20, 2022 - MN Spokesman-Recorder

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THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934

January 20-26, 2022

Vol. 88

www.spokesman-recorder.com

No. 25

Sen. Smith assails ‘fundamentally undemocratic’ filibuster Vows not to give up the fight for voting rights

By Charles Hallman Contributing Writer

down this week on the currently stalled voting rights legislation.

“The Democrats are going to enator Tina Smith hold the Senate floor all day on (D-Minn.) said the Sen- Wednesday to talk about voting ate will hold a show- rights, to hold another series of

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votes to pass voting rights legislation,” Smith told the MSR on Monday.

Senate Democrats who hold the majority want to merge The Freedom to Vote Act, which

overhauls federal elections and campaign finance laws, with the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would strengthen the 1965 Voting Rights Act that the U.S. House

of Representatives has passed.

Republicans in the past have voted against the new voting laws, and Smith expects a repeat performance.

“I fear it will be a day of frustration and discouragement because every single member of the Republican caucus in the Senate, 50 people, are expected to vote no on passing these voting rights. And two members of the Democratic caucus, by all accounts, will be voting no on effects to change the rules so that we can pass these laws by simple majority.”

Both Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), despite meetings with fellow Democrats and Democrat President Joe Biden, have said that they are against changing the 60-vote legislative filibuster.

“It is a moment of great frustration for me,” said Smith on Manchin’s and Sinema’s defection.

The filibuster, which has long existed in the Senate, allows a senator or group of senators to prolong, delay or block a vote on a bill. The Senate in 1917

adopted a rule that allowed a two-thirds majority to end a filibuster (called “cloture”), and in 1975 the body reduced it to three-fifths, or 60 members needed to end a filibuster.

The filibuster historically

Sen. Tina Smith Submitted photo has been used to block such legislation as voting rights, most notably in the early 1960s.

“This is just fundamentally undemocratic,” explained Smith. “Every city council and state legislature, county board and the U.S. House of Representatives all function at the ■ See SMITH on page 5

Black advocacy at the State level

The Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage prepares for a new legislative session R.B. King Contributing Writer If you’re African American and you are concerned about being able to wear your hair in whatever style you prefer, the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage (CMAH) has you covered.

They have been pushing forward a bill called the CROWN Act, which seeks an end to hair discrimination on the basis of racial preferences.

If this passes, it will become illegal for employers to discriminate against employees simply for having Black hairstyles.

This act is far from the only thing on the council’s plate. CMAH is also pushing for the African-American Family Preservation Act, which seeks to reform racial disparities in the MN foster care system.

Additionally, they are looking into legislation to encourage diversity in the state’s public education system, advising legislators to route funding to African heritage communities, and working to push forward police accountability measures. They have also looked into the effects and challenges of COVID-19 on the Black community.

In the past they have advised lawmakers on specific challenges within the African American community.

This includes working in corrections, lending support to a bill that ended juvenile life-without-release sentencing within the state, and advocating for getting George Floyd’s case out of the county attorney’s hands and into the attorney general’s.

The council works mostly behind the scenes.

CMAH is different from other councils in that it does not seek to start or support programs necessarily, but instead is solely focused on advising and encouraging the governor and other legislators to lend their support to bills that are in the best interest of the African and African American communities.

They also advise legislators on how to ensure the community has access to public resources and services. This limited purview means that CMAH is technically only accountable to the governor. But Dr. Nerita Hughes, council chair, believes that they are also accountable to their ■ See CMAH on page 5

REVITALIZING a historical Black presence The 38th Street Corridor includes George Floyd Square CONCLUSION OF A THREE-PART STORY

By Abdi Mohamed Contributing Writer This story concludes our look at the 38th Street Corridor, one of the ‘cultural districts’ city leaders hope can help restore what was lost in the destruction following the police murder of George Floyd.

Dr. Nerita Hughes, council chair, CMAH Submitted photo

S

am Willis Jr. is a co-owner of Just Turkey, a restaurant near 38th and Chicago, with his business partner Cedric Steele. He shared his frustration at the financial support that’s been offered to him and other business owners since the street closures at the start of the 2020 civil unrest.

“We weren’t able to get the things that our tax dollars paid for,” he said referring to the lack of police and emergency service vehicles coming through the square due to blockades enforced ■ See DISTRICTS on page 5

Pioneering firefighter credits family of firsts to lots of hard work

By Ivan Phifer Contributing Writer In 2005, the film “Animal” starting Ving Rhames as Animal and Terrence Howard as his son Darius was released. Darius fell into gang life while his father was incarcerated, as if to carry on the family tradition.

This movie displayed how without proper guidance from the parent, or willingness to obtain an education, the cycle of poverty and social disenfranchisement will continue. The Black community is especially vulnerable to this generational cycle of dysfunction.

“You only do what you see,” said Darick Rhodes, a prominent 20-year veteran firefighter, chief and captain for the Bloomington Fire Department who recently retired.

The Minneapolis native, raised on Chicago and Franklin avenues, actually had another career in mind before becoming a fireman. His first career choice was to join law enforcement like other members of his family.

“I actually come from a long line of law enforcement. My grandfather [Walter Rhodes] was the first Black [Minneapolis police officer]. My uncles were cops,” he said while also noting that his cousins [the Howells] own Shiloh Temple International Ministries, a staple on the city’s North Side.

Additionally, Rhodes’ cousin Tyler Howell was the first Black mailman in the City of Minneapolis in 1945 after returning from the war as an army sergeant. His grandfather on his mother’s side, James Hughes, was the first Black foreman (supervisor and director) of St Paul’s Twin Cities Assembly Plant in 1968.

Another cousin, Jennifer Albright Foster, was the first Black woman officer at the Brooklyn Park Police Department. His uncle, Frank Foster (father of Jennfer Alright Foster), developed and started the Harley Davidson motorcycle division of St. Paul and was also head of security for the Minnesota Vikings.

■ See FIREFIGHTER on page 5

(Left and above) Darick Rhodes (Right) A photo of Minneapolis mailman Tyler Howell in 1945.

Photos courtesy of Darick Rhodes

2 January 20-26, 2022

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Get out, bundle up and show winter what Minnesotans are made of. You could win big!

Opinion

January 20-26, 2022

3

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

New quarantine rules sacrifice frontline workers

By Mary C. Turner

let us not forget our security and cleaners and many more My name is Mary Turner, who have risked their health and for the past 22 months I and safety by making sure that have been on the frontlines the world keeps functioning of this pandemic working as a despite the madness around them.

COVID ICU nurse.

I have cared for and been I have also been the voice demanding proper protection at the deathbed of some for the healthcare workers of these workers who have when we had no protection. sacrificed so much!

Now, instead of honoring I speak of the early days acknowledging our when supplies of PPE were and nonexistent and the CDC was sacrifices, we are being asked trying to convince us that it to GET BACK TO WORK. The was OK to reuse masks and CDC now states that five days is all you need to quarantine isolation gowns, etc.

I have also played another if exposed to COVID and you role as a labor leader and have are asymptomatic.

It doesn’t matter if that test stood with other frontline workers, maybe not always is negative after five days—healthcare workers, but you still may be carrying the workers who have been no COVID virus. I’ve seen where the first test isn’t always less valuable to our society.

I speak of the frontline accurate. There is a reason When I studied the workers in our transportation why quarantine periods have leadership of legal nonprofits, industry, education, food been 10 to 15 days!

But here’s the reality, folks: I found that 60% of CEOs and services, meat packers, home our employers want us back care, childcare industries.

And 51% of board members were women in 2020.

Even with so many women LETTER TO THE EDITOR calling the shots, however, men still hold most of the sector’s highest-paid jobs.

That’s because they are more likely than women to lead the largest nonprofits, including continually grabbed her gun

By Frank Erickson charities. instead of her Taser and, For two decades now, the after each time it happened, Boosting diversity I study racial homophily— U.S. government has been it was excused away as a the tendency of people to blowing up innocent people “tragic mistake.”

Explain how Potter does associate with others who in the Middle East, and every share their racial and ethnic time it happens it is excused not get one single “tragic backgrounds.

It affects away as a “tragic mistake” and mistake” at her disposal to set her free, but our government everything in America, no one is disciplined.

The probability of this has an endless supply of “traffic including nonprofits.

Americans tend to form being a legitimate non- mistakes” that always set it free.

What gives the same relationships with people murderous process is equal to of similar racial and ethnic Kim Potter killing thousands recurring “tragic mistake” the backgrounds. That is why I of citizens as a police officer power to override truth, logic believe it makes sense for year after year because she and justice? As far as I can tell, nonprofit leaders to go out of their way to mentor and hire other leaders from different racial and ethnic groups, and to recruit board members outside of their networks. that has been successfully used They can follow diversity, By Melinda Burrell in other countries experiencing equity and inclusion best On December 31, as I toxic polarization. practices, such as setting a With this approach, a goal that a nonprofit’s leaders uncorked champagne with my reflect the demographics of family, my stomach suddenly local organization or group the population the group clutched with dread. For the first of organizations, credible serves and become aware of time, I feared the turning of the to both parties, reaches new year. Other new years I’ve out to all candidates in an their own implicit bias.

I also believe it’s worth anticipated with joy or at least election and invites them it for nonprofits to hire curiosity. But 2022 looms darkly. publicly to pledge not to 2022 brings midterms, and use inflammatory or divisive recruitment agencies capable of identifying prospective elections can be triggers for rhetoric on the campaign trail.

The organization and the hires outside their networks serious conflict. Given our who might be a good fit. current polarization, I suspect candidates design the elements White nonprofit leaders can the anger and division will Our anger towards become better at increasing accelerate as November nears.

But I’m hoping this can diversity within their ranks each other reveals if they endeavor to develop be stemmed. We’re hearing how much each of professional, if not personal, more about our “exhausted us cares about our relationships with individuals majority”—the two-thirds of of different races to address Americans who are tired of country and its future. the polarization and anger racial homophily.

Nonprofits should also that surround us, are flexible of the pledge together, then consider limiting how long in their attitudes, and want a have a joint, public signing ceremony. The ceremony gives someone can serve on their way out of the divide.

Perhaps proving that the candidates yet another boards, since shorter term dozens of much-desired opportunity for limits make it possible to research, increase board diversity at a organizations have sprung press coverage. It also enables up to help Americans talk local media and civil society to faster pace.

Based on my interviews across our political divides. launch a process of monitoring with 81 nonprofit CEOs and Braver Angels, Living Room candidates’ in-person as well board members between Conversations, and Urban- as online speech.

There are many empowering 2017 and 2020, I feel Rural Action are just a few, confident that the nonprofit fueled by volunteers driven by aspects of this approach. Most fundamentally, at a time sector can reject racial a strong sense of civic duty.

These organizations help when competing campaigns homophily and increase racial and ethnic diversity. Many build skills necessary for a can separate a community, of these nonprofit leaders democracy, such as engaging creating a pledge brings people are taking best practices in curious conversations and together. Candidates and into account in hiring and fostering relationships not other community members recruiting new executives and bound by polarized stereotypes. join to discuss what they feel Perhaps this means we can is and is not acceptable speech board members.

But there is still much work flip the 2022 elections from a in their community.

Campaign pledges also are source of conflict to a means to be done. of community empowerment a chance for communities to Atinuke Adediran is an and enrichment. One possible articulate their expectations associate professor of law at approach is the development of of their leaders’ discourse and campaign pledges, something behavior. Finally, such campaign Fordham University.

Racial diversity lacking among nonprofit leaders

By Atinuke Adediran About 87% of nonprofit CEOs in the U.S. were White in 2019, down from 90% in 2016. Similarly, roughly 78% of nonprofit board members were White in 2019, down from 84% in 2016, according to Board Source, a nonprofit that tracks this information.

In a country where Black and Latino individuals and other people of color make up about 40% of the population, this lack of diversity among nonprofit leaders could interfere with both the work that nonprofits do and their influence in the communities they serve, for several reasons.

Consequences According to Board Source’s most recent data, just 6% of nonprofit board chairs identified as Black, 5% as Latino and 2% as Asian or

mission is aimed at promoting race equity.

That mismatch can undercut trust among the communities nonprofits serve, since a lack of diversity can interfere with communication and hamper efforts to address racial inequality. Diversity can also influence institutional decision-making by bringing unique perspectives that shape how the nonprofit approaches its mission in more inclusive ways.

Research has shown that specific racial groups perceive race relations and racial inequality differently.

For example, Black people are far more likely to point to racial discrimination as an impediment to Black progress, while White people are more likely to point to family instability as a major obstacle for Black people.

A lack of diversity can interfere with communication and hamper efforts to address racial inequality.

Pacific Islander. Only 5% of nonprofit CEOs were Black, 3% Hispanic and 2% Asian or Pacific Islander.

This lack of diversity is a major concern for nonprofits that provide services or advocacy primarily to communities of color, and among those groups whose

The role of women The picture regarding gender equity, to be sure, is strikingly different. Board Source found that nearly three in four nonprofit CEOs in 2019 were women, as were more than half of all nonprofit board chairs and board members.

to work. Too many industries are being inconvenienced and losing profits because too many of us are getting the virus.

It was one thing when it just hit our grandparents, my own father included, but now it’s hitting the bottom line.

God forbid we stand in the way of making money for our employers.

So back to frontline work we go. I do worry about you not having enough PPE, or having wages and benefits enough for you to sustain your families.

I worry that I will be caring for more of you in my ICU, but most of all, I worry that we have become expendable.

It sure doesn’t look like our employers or the government care as long as we GET BACK TO WORK! Mary C. Turner, MN Nurses Organization

Hold U.S. to same standard as Potter: ‘tragic mistakes’ not allowed the power comes from nothing more than public apathy.

If the public showed indifference and apathy to the murder of George Floyd, you can guarantee it would have been simply excused away as a “tragic mistake” and quickly forgotten, as are all the innocent people murdered by the U.S. government in the Middle East.

Frank Erickson, Minneapolis resident

Candidates, keep it clean!

Campaign pledges can help reduce the divisive rhetoric pledges reset standards of public speech, reorienting them towards norms of respect and thoughtful inquiry rather than knee-jerk accusations and insults.

In this way, campaign pledges normalize nonviolence and rule of law as the modes of interaction in a democracy.

This has long-term, positive effects. Recent research shows that it is norms and leadership which are key to maintaining peaceful societies.

Of course, there are complications to any such community dialogue process.

As school board conversations around critical race theory have shown, even the act of creating a pledge could have contentious aspects.

Enlisting the aid of experienced facilitators can ensure that the conversation is inclusive and constructive.

Community mediation or dispute resolution centers can help with this, as could some of the dialogue organizations noted above.

In some ways, our anger towards each other reveals how much each of us cares about our country and its future. As we start the new year, let’s try new approaches to strengthen the norms of our democracy in 2022 and beyond.

Melinda Burrell, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a humanitarian aid worker who studies polarization and trains on the neuroscience of communication and conflict. She is on the board of the National Association for Community Mediation, which offers resources on cross-divide engagement.

4 January 20-26, 2022

Health & Wellness

Five things to do this winter to decrease sore throat with our saliva, our ability to swallow foods, turn our necks, speak and breathe. We may also develop ear pain that is referred from the throat. Often the ear pain is the breaking point at which someone seeks medical attention because of a sore throat, especially if sore throats are something they experience frequently.

Here are five tips to help minimize your chances of developing a sore throat:

By Dr. Inell Rosario Guest Contributor The cold weather of winter brings not just icicles and snowflakes forming but also suspension and freezing of viruses and bacteria in the air, making it much more likely for us to inhale them and become infected as we walk through the suspended particles exhaled by persons around us.

These preserved bacteria or viruses then reactivate and multiply once inhaled, causing infections in our respiratory tract and throat. The COVID-19 infection joins and currently tops the list of all the inhaled infectious particles that we inhale, with subsequent onset of many symptoms including decrease in sense of smell and a sore throat.

Respiratory tract infections can cause one to get a sore throat by the particles directly affecting the tonsils, especially the palatine and nasopharyngeal tonsils or adenoids. Both of these tonsils in particular trap some of the inhaled particles and try to envelop them as a part of our immune defense.

In doing so, depending on the bacterial or viral load, we may get a very significant sore throat that interferes

load, but also the salts in the saline spray can be deadly to some infectious agents. Reducing their numbers allows your body to more effectively fight and overcome the smaller particle load.

4. Adequate rest, multivitamins, hydration Without adequate sleep our bodies simply do not function well and have a much harder time recovering from any infection. While adequate sleep may vary to 1. Avoid close contact if at all some degree night to night possible. and from person to person, Being in close contact means ideally 7-8 hours of sleep you are breathing in a higher should be the goal, especially concentration of exhaled, pos- if there are any signs of pendsibly infectious particles from ing infection. those around you. Staying six A liquid multivitamin in feet apart or further is helpful particular is ideal in being in allowing these droplets to more bioavailable. Certainly fall closer to the ground so that taking it even further would they do not end up in your re- be to add honey with or withspiratory tract. out added lemon to further coat and soothe the throat.

2. Wear a mask.

I understand that for some 5. Get vaccinated. of you this is getting to be a Many of the inhaled parbroken record. It has shown ticles or viruses, including the to be effective in decreas- flu and COVID-19 viruses, are ing the spread of infections, less symptomatic for those which I am sure many of you who are immunized. Our may have experienced over chances of getting ill dethe past two years noticing crease, as well as in general the significant decrease in si- our ability to deal with the innusitis and tonsillitis. fection itself is improved, as Please note that even we have existing antibodies when wearing a mask, if that can immediately swing you must sneeze, still try to into action and start attackaim into an elbow or down ing the infection. towards the ground away from others to minimize your I encourage you to follow droplets becoming airborne. these five simple actions to a healthier respiratory tract 3. Saline rinses and/or neti pot and throat this winter!

Rinsing your nose and hand washing are excellent Dr. Inell Rosario is a board topical ways of decreasing certified ENT and sleep physithe amount of infectious cian practicing at Andros ENT load that your body must on & Sleep Center in Inver Grove an ongoing basis try to over- Heights, Minnesota. She has come. Trying not to touch many times been recognized as your face in addition to a Top Doctor and Best Doctor washing your hands is helpful. in various Minnesota magaUsing saline sprays in your zines and can be reached at drnose will help to not only de- rosario@androsent-sleep.com crease the amount of particle or 651-888-7800.

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“Respiratory tract infections can cause one to get a sore throat by the particles directly affecting the tonsils .”

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January 20-26, 2022

Smith Continued from page 1

end of the day, after full debate, by a majority [or] a simple majority deciding whether or not we move forward or not.”

“To see it used in this way again in 2022 is just deeply disheartening,” continued Smith.

“Today in the U.S. Senate you don’t even have to hold the floor, you don’t even have to talk.

You can just say you’re going to block the legislation and then go home for dinner.

“We have been discussing in the Senate at the very least those who oppose the voting rights legislation or any legislation to talk and to explain why rather than just blocking it and going home for the night,” she added.

“We’ve gotten rid of the filibuster for most federal presidential nominees. We don’t have the filibuster for passing budget and tax laws. Why do we have to have a filibuster?

Why do we allow a minority to block progress on voting rights?

“We could carve out voting rights just like we’ve made other carve outs, [but] my two

Districts Continued from page 1

by local activists. “By them barricading the area, it put an economic strain on our businesses.”

As a Southside native, Willis had always wanted to open up a business in his neighborhood. When he finally got the chance to see that dream come to fruition, the pandemic had shattered his hopes. Just Turkey was set to open in the spring of 2020, but state inspectors were unable to certify the business because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Willis.

Once regulations began to ease, former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd just yards away from his business, causing a global outcry for justice. The civil unrest that followed Floyd’s murder further delayed the opening until October of 2020.

George Floyd Square neglected Councilmember Jenkins led a virtual summit on the 38th St. Cultural District this past October to highlight the programs and resources available to local businesses and property owners.

Some of the programs provided free resources such as business technical assistance and facade improvement matching grants, but also forgivable and small interest loans.

The summit also highlighted financial support from the Comcast Rise Grant, which recently awarded 100 businesses with $10,000 grants.

Among the recipients listed are businesses located around the Twin Cities metro area in counties such as Anoka, Dakota, Carver and Hennepin.

The grant’s title stands for Representation, Investment, Strength and Empowerment. It aims to provide businesses with technological makeovers and marketing services.

“While we know that no single organization can solve historic and systemic inequities overnight, we are

CMAH Continued from page 1

“stakeholders,” meaning those in the Black community.

In the past, CMAH was known as the Council for Black Minnesotans. This was changed to accommodate the state’s growing African immigrant population. The council was established in 1980, and its mission, according to a State audit conducted in 2002, is “to provide

Firefighter Continued from page 1 Darick’s father Maurice Rhodes graduated from the University of Minnesota and worked as a supervisor for an electric company. “Watching my dad wake up at five in the morning and not get home until five at night, seeing my grandparents get up and go to work as they took care of me after my mother died,” Rhodes recalled, “that’s what I saw growing up—all the men in my family were hard workers.”

Ironically, just as he was about

redistricting and she forecasted, “I have great Democratic members of the about caucus, Sens. Manchin and gerrymandering, which some confidence that our elections Sinema, have said that they states use as a political tool are going to be fair and that don’t support any of these to manipulate the outcome of every vote will be counted.”

President Biden’s Build Back solutions. That’s why we are elections. This is not the case in Better agenda will be acted on Minnesota, she said with pride. stymied.”

“Our districts are drawn fairly by the Senate this year, Smith The ACLU reported last year that over 400 anti-voter by a nonpartisan court rather predicted. “We have not given bills have been introduced than by political parties or by a up. We will pass a version of Build in 48 states, including strict partisan legislature,” said Smith. Back Better, which is going to voter ID laws, cuts to early “What we’re trying to do with the help lower prescription drug costs, voting, and mass purges Voting Rights Act is to make it so make child care more affordable, of voter rolls and systemic that people all over the country [and] make universal preschool disenfranchisement.

These have the same strong voting available. These are significant measures disproportionately protections that we have here pieces of progress” in the same fashion as Biden’s infrastructure affect Blacks and other people in Minnesota.

“For Minnesota voters who bill was passed last year. of color, students, elderly, and “The Infrastructure and are wondering what the election people with disabilities.

When asked, Smith talked is going to be like in 2022,” Jobs Act is the biggest

committed to taking tangible actions that can drive long-term impact and change,” said Kalyn Hove, regional senior vice president of Comcast Twin Cities. “Comcast RISE and the Comcast RISE Investment Fund offer the opportunity for small businesses owned by people of color to help grow their businesses, create jobs, and play a vital role in supporting our communities.”

The George Floyd Community Benevolence Fund was also mentioned as a resource and is awarding grants of up to $25,000 for business owners to take part in. Many nonprofit organizations have been tasked with allocating millions of dollars to communities of color whose neighborhoods have been impacted by the civil unrest.

Alicia D. Smith is the executive director of the Corcoran Neighborhood Organization and a memberelect of the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board At-large. She has been an advocate for the businesses in the square and shares Willis’ frustration at the lack of direct support to those in the immediate vicinity of where Floyd was killed.

“What I know is that the business owners over in the square have been left out of the conversation,” she said.

“Even when you talk about the recovery in Minneapolis, there is literally no mention of 38th and Chicago, which is asinine.”

The City provided business owners and nonprofits in the square with $50,000 interest-free, forgivable loans as an effort to address their unique challenges on the condition that their business or organization stayed open for another year. Willis measured this support as “pennies on the dollar” compared to what he and others in the square need.

Smith highlighted that these businesses had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and this loan was just a drop in the bucket. “That’s maybe what they pick up in cutlery supplies or togo containers,” she explained. “It was a

nice gesture, but it also needs to continue to flow to help those businesses stay on track to keep their doors open.”

Carmen Means, executive director of the Central and Bryant Neighborhood Organizations and a board member of Sabathani Community Center, shared Smith’s frustration with the lack of support for business owners on 38th. “We have not seen the same resources, even the same conversation, even the same guidance as around Lake Street,” she said.

“We are unfortunately as Black folks always in the middle of what we consider the oppression Olympics.” Means and Smith created the 38th St. Collective, which was an effort to drive support for businesses and community centers impacted by the civil unrest.

Although Means supported the calls for justice through protests and demonstrations, she emphasized that

Village, Karmel Mall, and Mercado Central. “They all have their own place to call home as far as business is concerned. Where is the space for Black people?”

Taylor echoed Means’s point about developing a business center for Black people to congregate and leverage culture as an asset. “These communities move in and use culture as an asset to build an economically vital community,” he said. “That is the same thing Black people did in the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s in the Northern states.”

Building consensus The first efforts to revitalize this corridor date back to 2015 as former Ward 8 Council Member Elizabeth Glidden hosted a series of events titled “The Future of East 38th Street.”

She focused on the efforts to identify development opportunities along the corridor and bring the district’s histori-

(l-r) Sam Willis and Cedric Steele there should be a desire for economic change like there has been for judicial change. “If there is not an economic uprising, we still lose,” she said.

Means frames this economic justice in the creation of economic hubs, business centers in which Minneapolis’s Black communities can share resources and become self-sustaining.

She calls for a business center specific to the Black community like Hmong

Photo by Ashley Lauren

5

transformational piece of legislation to improve roads and bridges to repair, and get rid of lead pipes that have been poisoning our communities, especially poor communities and communities of color,” Smith said, adding that the bill includes making broadband affordable and accessible to all.

In spite of the current discord in Washington, “We cannot just wallow in our discouragement,” Smith insisted. “We have to figure out how to move forward.”

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

historical significance to Minneapolis’ Black community. “I think the main thing about cultural districts is, you don’t create them,” Jenkins, city council vice president, said. “They sort of organically create themselves.”

The next stage is set to take place in early 2022 and is focused on engaging the residents, business owners, and community stakeholders along the corridor in reaching a consensus as to what they’d like to see in the district.

Jenkins said that she’s in discussion with Lisa Tabor of Culture Brokers to help the City with their efforts to engage residents and business owners around their cultural district planning.

Having some familiarity with the framework and THRIVE’s short-term goals, Tabor said that a plan this complex needs to be broken down into smaller steps. “I think it’s probably safe to say that because that plan is so complex, there are so many different strategic improvement areas in that plan, that I think the strategy will likely be teasing those things apart and addressing each one of those focus areas,” she said.

Tabor suggested that it’s also important to step back and identify the parts that intersect and influence one another to know how well it’s coming together. She has worked with neighborhood development organizations like Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Council and cultural groups like the Asian Economic Development Organization, who she helped form the Little Mekong Business and Cultural District.

“Minneapolis is a different animal from Saint Paul in the respect of the cultural districts,” she explained. “In Minneapolis, they’re really kind of coming from the top-down, which is not a bad thing, but it just is a whole different circumstance that tries to get people to work together from the outside.”

cally Black roots to the forefront.

The ward’s current representative, Andrea Jenkins, was involved in that work as Glidden’s policy aide and reignited that initiative in 2019 by creating THRIVE, a strategic development plan by the community in collaboration with the City.

It was an obvious decision for Jen- Abdi Mohamed welcomes reader kins to incorporate the 38th St. Cor- responses to amohamed@spokesmanridor as a cultural district due to its recorder.com.

the commissioners of the various State agencies to come in and share what they’re doing. How they’re impacting African heritage.” She added that the council also invites State agencies to the meetings in order to share what they are doing well to support those of African heritage, and what they need help with.

CMAH has a budget this year of about $544,000, which goes mostly towards salaries, according to the council chair.

A 2020 MN government report estimates that the council

advises on matters impacting roughly 541,116 people of African heritage, about 8% of the state’s total population.

The council has attempted in the past to raise awareness of themselves in the communities they serve. “We were trying to show up in either places or in spaces where there were going to be events or anything that we would want to hear from our community members,” said Dr. Hughes.

She specifically mentioned Juneteenth gatherings and hosting a “Day on the Hill” for

those of African heritage. Unfortunately, these have not happened in two years due to the pandemic. But CMAH has tried to adapt.

“We get a series around having what we would call subject matter experts to come in and talk about health care, come in and talk about economic development, come in and talk about education as well and the impact that it’s had on our African heritage or Black folks in the workforce,” explained Dr. Hughes.

The council chair is looking forward to this upcoming legislative session. While CMAH is

not necessarily looking to push forward new bills, Dr. Hughes at least is optimistic that those they are working on currently will pass. These include the CROWN Act as well as the African American Family Preservation Act, as well as certain police reforms such as ending qualified immunity and pretextual traffic stops.

to enter the Minneapolis police said, “They didn’t have any force himself, a violent turn of brothas in the department then. events occurred in the city—the I was the only one for 10 years,” September 25, 1992 killing of he chuckled in recollection.

Rhodes said his father 30-year police veteran Jerry Haaf, who was shot in the back at a always instilled in him that “selfaccountability is number one.” I pizza shack on Lake Street.

With intense racial tensions come in an hour before work between civilians and cops every day,” Rhodes said. “It similar to current conditions, it gives me more time to prepare was reported that the Vice Lords so everything is already done gang shot Haaf in retaliation for before work starts.”

He carried this work ethic an incident between cops and a blind Black man on Metro Transit. with him as he continued training “I was like, ‘Oh no, I gotta for his fire courses. “I didn’t go to pick something else,’” Rhodes college; I took courses through decided. He recalled his uncle the fire department. I just felt like then advising him to look into it wasn’t for me,” Rhodes said.

One of the key rules Rhodes the firefighter field.

Joining the Bloomington Fire lived by while doing his job was Department in 2001, Rhodes “It’s never about color, just skills

and hard work. No matter what community I’m in. You don’t pick and choose whose life you want to save.”

Rhodes recalled that one of the most notable moments of his firefighter career was working 96 hours during the George Floyd riots in May of 2020. “Seeing the devastation, I cried when I seen what they were doing to my city,” Rhodes remembered. “Being on the fire department, I know everybody in the city, and I don’t know none of y’all! These weren’t our people [causing the destruction in the city],” he said.

Another notable moments: the I-35W bridge collapse on August 1, 2007, and even more so Hurricane Katrina

that devastated New Orleans, Louisiana, in August of 2005.

“We were flown in by Youthside with the Minneapolis task force,” Rhodes said. “We were the fighters who stayed in their fire stations while the hometown firefighters went home because they didn’t have any homes, so they had to go handle their stuff.”

He noted that the experience was a “game-changer” in his firefighting career and raised awareness of social discrepancies. “That’s when I seen America really didn’t care about us at all, bruh. They didn’t help any of the families at all!”

Rhodes said he still visits friends in Louisiana.

Another notable moment for Rhodes was a more teachable one. “I was doing fire prevention in Minneapolis, and I took a picture of the cabin and a few other items. I asked the children, `Who do you think owns this?’”

He said the kids gave answers such as basketball players and drug dealers. “The look on their faces when I told them a fireman owns this!” Rhodes recalled.

“We never set out to be the first Black of anything,” Rhodes said. “We were just hard workers.

Dedicated with hard work.”

all individuals of African descent with equal access to state services and programs and to relate the needs of these individuals to the Legislature.” The council is one of three such “ethnic counsels,” the others being Latinx and Asian and Pacific Islanders.

“When I first took over as chair of the board,” said Dr. Hughes, “the one thing that I did do is I changed how our agenda and how our meetings were [conducted]. And what we started to do was we started to invite special guests.

“What we did is we invited

R.B. King welcomes reader responses to rking@spokesmanrecorder.com.

Ivan Phifer welcomes reader response to ipfifer@spokesmanrecorder.com.

6 January 20-26, 2022

Metropolis

Reeves honored

Celebration of Life

By Marquis Taylor Contributing Writer

Outpourings of love, respect, admiration and gratitude were on full display during the January 13 memorial service for Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (MSR) stalwart, journalist, and activist Mel Reeves.

Held at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in the heart of North Minneapolis, the Celebration of Life was also streamed online, allowing people to pay their respects from near and afar.

Earlier in the day, Reeves, who passed away suddenly on January 6, was honored

by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as he declared January 13 “Mel Reeves Day,” crediting the late writer for his commitment to activism and justice.

Presiding over Thursday’s service was Senior Pastor Brian Herron of Zion Baptist Church, who also served as Reeves’ longtime pastor and friend. Thandisizwe JacksonNisan, who described Reeves as legendary, iconic and honorable, recited a rendition of one of his favorite poems.

Biblical scriptures from the Old and New Testament were read respectively by Deacon Andre Marshall of Zion Baptist Church and Matthew McGlory while Jamelia Pettiford delivered a passionate rendition of “Eyes on the Sparrow.”

MSR photographer and writer Travis Lee, a close friend of Reeves since the ’90s, spoke on behalf of the publication and its publisher, Tracey Williams-Dillard, by recounting Reeves’ last story at the paper and reflecting on the love he had for his son.

“Mel was so dedicated that even in his worst times and in dire sickness in the hospital, he called for his laptop to be brought to him,” Lee reflected.

Lee likened Reeves to a “smoke detector” for injustice.

“I would say a fire detector, but by the time the fire gets here, it’s too late. So when the lightest stench of injustice was in any process, Mel would smell it. Because you know, where there is smoke there’s fire, and there was Mel Reeves,” Lee said to applause.

Longtime friends George Hoffman, Greg and Janet Nelson, and Rose McGee, creator of Sweet Potato Comfort Pie, offered further remarks, as did grandson David Johnson, Pastor Herron, who offered the eulogy, and son Kellen Reeves, who spoke at length about his father’s work in activism and the love he had for his grandchildren.

Days after Thursday’s Celebration of Life, Kellen spoke with the MSR where he offered additional recollections about his father and what he wants people to understand about him.

“There are two things I want

people to know about my father,” said Kellen. “He was motivated in power to do his work because of his faith and his belief in God. He read the Bible and really believed that it was calling him to do the work of justice and to care and stand up for people. He was operating on a call from God, and I believed this as well.

“I also want people to know that he was a loving father. I talk about him a lot as a loving grandfather because that’s the stage we’re in now, but he was a loving, present father.”

Reeves paused before reflecting on his own legacy.

“When you grow up the son of a revolutionary,” he said, “you have revolutionary Kellen Reeves speaks at the funeral for his father Mel Reeves. tendencies, so I take that with me. At the end of the day I am my father’s son, and his legacy will always be with me. It’s an honor to be his son.”

Marquis Taylor welcomes reader responses to taylormade734@gmail.com.

This story was edited for length.

Visit spokesmanrecorder.com for the full story.

WHEREAS:

Mel Reeves was a longtime human rights activist, journalist, and community leader who used his voice and platform to pursue justice and center the voices of the African American community and other communities of color; and

WHEREAS:

Born in Miami, Florida, Mel Reeves made Minneapolis his home after college and became an integral part of the Twin Cities journalism field for more than twenty years, serving most recently as the community editor for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder; and

WHEREAS:

Even while hospitalized with COVID-19, Mel Reeves continued to write and publish news stories for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder and encourage others to get vaccinated; and

WHEREAS:

Mel Reeves lost his battle with COVID-19 on Thursday, January 6, 2022; and

WHEREAS:

The state of Minnesota is better for Mel Reeves’s voice and work, and he will be greatly missed.

WHEREAS:

A memorial service for Mel Reeves will be held on Thursday, January 13, 2022, honoring his life and legacy; and

NOW, THEREFORE, I, TIM WALZ, Governor of Minnesota, do hereby proclaim Thursday, January 13, 2022 as:

MEL REEVES DAY in the State of Minnesota.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Minnesota to be affixed at the State Capitol this 11th day of January.

GOVERNOR

SECRETARY OF STATE

The Reeves family poses for a photo after the homegoing.

Henry Pan

SUBSCRIBE TO THE MSR TODAY by going to spokesman-recorder.com or call 612-827-4021.

Chris Juhn

January 20-26, 2022

Arts & Culture

7

R&B piano prodigy Billy Preston could have been the fifth Beatle

By Nadine Matthews Contributing Writer “We’d always got on very well with him,” Beatles band member Paul McCartney remembers in 2000’s “The Beatles Anthology.” “He showed up in London and we said, ‘Oh, Bill! Great— let’s have him play on a few things.’”

So he sat in on the sessions, because he was an old mate really.”

But the new Disney+ docuseries “Get Back,” which premiered on Thanksgiving weekend, shows that R&B musician and pianist Preston was more than just an “old mate.” Preston was a talented keyboardist who had the respect of the legendary music group, and whose addition clearly improved the quality of songs on which he played. He also came very close to being the only Black Beatle.

The three-episode, sevenplus-hours-long series is derived from over 60 hours of never-before-seen-or-heard film and 150 hours of audio, footage from the Beatles’

practice, rehearsal, and recording sessions. Held over 22 days in January1969, they culminated in the band’s first live performance in two years and the albums “Let It Be” and “Abbey Road.”

Directed by Peter Jackson (“Lord of the Rings” trilogy), “Get Back” chronicles the legendary group as they mostly joyfully, sometimes painfully, create the music that would be part of the soundtrack of the lives of multiple generations.

The series also debunks the pervasive myth that Preston, a child prodigy who never took a piano lesson, was just invited to the sessions in order to keep the peace among the Beatles, who were going through much conflict at the time.

First, the Beatles knew plenty of people, musicians and non-musicians alike.

Their rehearsals were regularly attended by an assortment of people they knew.

It’s more likely Preston would have been at the bottom of the list of people brought in

merely to “keep the peace.”

Further, Preston was already a highly respected, thriving musician when the Beatles were just growing in popularity. The group, composed of McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, met Preston in 1962 because they were the opening act for Little Richard in Hamburg, Germany, when Preston was the then-superstar’s pianist.

Because the tour manager insisted on providing meals only for the main act, Preston used to order extra food so that the British rockers could also eat. It was an act of kindness they always remembered.

Still, by the time Preston serendipitously dropped in around day 13 of the “Get Back” sessions, as shown in Jackson’s docuseries, he was playing with Ray Charles, the Rolling Stones, and other venerable acts.

“Get Back” shows Preston was the first person they thought of when they realized they needed someone

Billy Preston in footage for “Get Back” to play piano to enhance the sound of some of the songs they were creating. Lennon then invited him to play on the album.

Preston agreed, seamlessly joining in. The delighted looks on the band members’ faces after Preston joins say it all. Lennon was moved to declare, “You’re in the group!” immediately upon finishing.

He continued playing with them for the “Get Back” sessions, in between his own prior professional commitments. Preston became only one of two people credited

on a Beatles album, and they signed him to their Apple Records label.

Later, Lennon stated, “I’d just like him in our band, actually. I’d like a fifth Beatle.”

Harrison replied, “We can do that as well.” Lennon repeats this entreaty, but was met with opposition from McCartney who posits that they have a hard enough time with just the four of them.

In actuality, the amiable Preston didn’t become the fifth Beatle not because he was just there to “keep the peace,” but because the band

billypreston.net

was experiencing irreconcilable differences. McCartney saw the writing on the wall and figured it would do no good to bring someone else in. Indeed, the iconic group broke up within a year.

Preston was inducted by Starr into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November 2021.

Watch the “Get Back” docuseries on Disney+.

Nadine Matthews welcomes reader responses to nadine@ deeniemedia.com.

Intergenerational households: We can make this work

By Juliet Mitchell Contributing Writer

Looking back over our collective history, intergenerational households are not new. Examples exist in Biblical stories: Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel. Noah, his wife, their sons, and sons’ wives all boarded the Ark together.

There have been periods in history, especially American history, where autonomy and independent living was the goal of most young people reaching the age of 18 years. Many a child would say, “When I’m 18, I’m outta here!” Many a parent would say, “When you turn 18, or finish high school, you’re on your own!”

College, military, or work and get your own place— those options were the order of the day. As the world changed, being out on your own and having your own place became a rite of passage and a mark of “maturity.”

We began to frown upon living with your parents. God forbid a man should be discovered living at home with his mother. I’ve heard many women say, “Girl, you don’t want to date him. He’s living in his momma’s basement,” followed by a snicker.

Photos courtesy of iStock Now here we are in 2022 with a resurgence in intergenerational households. According to the Generations United 2021 Family Matters report, in America, intergenerational living quadrupled from 2011 to 2021, a 271% increase.

Further, the trend is not likely to decrease anytime soon. There are several factors contributing to this phenomenon. Based on my “informal research,” these are the top three: • Lack of affordable housing based on family size Aging adults • Lack of affordable child care • Notice that these top three contributors to the in-

crease in intergenerational households are, in some way, related to economics, i.e., affordability. Many aging adults need daily care and support, and they want to receive that care and support from loving family members.

Very few choose to go into a care facility, even if their needs require aroundthe-clock-care, and even if they can afford the best facilities. They want to be in their own homes among family members.

If they were wary before COVID-19, they are downright scared now. We all know the impact that COVID-19 had on the elderly, especially those in nursing homes and

care facilities.

Flip to the other end of the spectrum: Unemployment, under-employment, and inadequate wages have made it nearly impossible for young people to move out, to be in their own apartment or purchase a home. They face the choice of either having five roommates or living with their parents.

Over the past year, several friends and relatives have raised the issue of intergenerational households and the challenge of such living arrangements. Several years ago, baby boomers were called the sandwich generation—still raising children and caring for aging parents.

Now, we have a triple decker—World War II and Post War cohorts, Boomers, GenXers, Millennials, and Gen Zers. That’s a lot to deal with, and intergenerational households are a lot to live with. I’ve heard stories.

This could be a book all by itself, but for the sake of this limited space, I’m approaching this from an etiquette perspective. What are some of the common challenges of intergenerational living and how do we overcome those challenges in ways that are kind, courteous, civil and respectful? In other words, “What’s the etiquette thing to do?”

I went to the source, the people who are in intergenerational living situations right now, including me, and this is what they (we) have to offer.

How do we make it work?

The bottom line came from one of the young people I spoke with. She said, “It’s hard for adults to live together because everyone has their own way of doing things.” We are often critical and judgmental of others and believe our way is the best way.

Here are some tips to make the arrangement work: • Create a financial agreement and pay your share when it is due. Don’t be going out to dinner and getting

personal care services if you have not paid your share of the bills.

• If you mess up, clean up. By the way, cleaning the kitchen goes beyond washing the dishes.

• If you are not working and you are in good health, then your job is to contribute to the household in other ways—wash a few more dishes, vacuum, or do other chores without being asked.

• Family first. Be as helpful and available to your family as you are to your friends.

You might be inconvenienced at times, but that’s life. If grandpa has a doctor’s appointment, take him. If dad’s car breaks down, offer to take him to work. If your daughter

needs a sitter for a job interview, offer to help.

• Speaking of sitters, older adults (parents and grandparents) are not built-in babysitters.

• Whoever is watching the program first is in charge of the remote control until that program is over. If the person is not working, sorry, you don’t get to control the remote control all your waking hours.

• If you do laundry, finish it.

You can’t just leave your laundry in the washer or dryer all the time.

• Have you heard the expression “talking under your breath”? Don’t do that.

• If you use someone else’s

vehicle, gas it up, clean it up, and treat it as if it’s your own—maybe better.

You may have heard my motto: Put your best foot forward and claim your seat at the table. When you are at the table, you are better positioned for success. Well, y’all, if you want to have a successful intergenerational living arrangement, then bring the family to the table.

Literally, come to the table for regular family meetings.

Set some guidelines for how you will engage and interact— first agree that there will be no yelling, screaming, fussing or cussing.

Consider a family counselor or mediator. Better

still, use the circle approach.

Agree to use respectful language, listen, share, agree on a plan and a way to move forward together.

Families can live together in a healthy and respectful way—a way that shows respect for self, respect for others, and respect for the household. Will there be breakdowns, upset and grievances? Of course, that’s being human. Extend grace and recommit.

Put your best foot forward and claim your seat at the table!

Juliet Mitchell welcomes reader responses to jmitchell@ spokesman-recorder.com.

8 January 20-26, 2022

Lovejoy’s Bloody Mary Mix Black Business SPOTLIGHT

By Ashley Lauren Contributing Writer Entrepreneurship runs in the Lovejoy family. Local entrepreneur Charles Lovejoy launched Lovejoy’s Bloody Mary Mix (LBMM) in 2018.

He told us, “My sister [Susanne Lovejoy] is my business manager, my main motivator— she is a serial entrepreneur.”

Together, they ensure the business runs smoothly.

A native of the St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, Lovejoy said he “started in the restaurant business when I was 18. So, about almost 30 years ago.”

The road to success wasn’t easy. “I started off as a dishwasher and eventually, a couple years later, a bar manager,” Lovejoy said. He successfully

them [to] some of the families experiencing homelessness.”

As a result of his experience, he wanted to figure out a way to keep giving back.

Lovejoy elaborated, “Cocktails don’t really flow in a homeless shelter,” so he made gift baskets that were used to raise money in the auctions. “I do different cocktail mixes; I did a few Bloody Mary mixes— so I’d put them in a basket,” he said. The baskets were a big success.

The LBMM business values social responsibility. “We’re a for-profit company, Lovejoy explained, “but we have a SBC [Specific Benefit Corporation]…so we donate to charities that are trying to help our community right now,” Lovejoy said.

The product line is infused

worked his way up in the restaurant industry.

“I fell in love with cooking,” Lovejoy said. “I cooked for a long time. Then I got an opportunity to get behind the bar and fell in love with making cocktails.” He added, “It became my passion for a long time.”

Lovejoy has invested much time perfecting his product line.

“I’ve been a bar manager and bartender for the last 15-20 [years], and that’s kind of where I developed my recipes for the Bloody Mary mix and the cocktails I make now,” he said.

“My mother ran a nonprofit for years and years in St. Paul called The Family Place,” he recalled, “and I used to volunteer down there. We’d do Christmas dinners—and serve

with unique ingredients. “We have our original Bloody Mary mix, we have a Thai Basil, and then a Burn Yo Face Hot Sauce and a Rim Seasoning,” Lovejoy said.

The process of formulating his products required time, passion and patience. Lovejoy explained, “It’s all trial and error. I worked at a bar called the Happy Gnome in St. Paul for 10 years, and I was the bar manager and bartender there.” He received helpful and “honest feedback” from patrons, he said.

“I love putting different flavors together, and using different flavors from different cultures. I worked in a Thai restaurant for years, so I took some of those influences.”

He added, “I’m still

Business ‘Best thing I’ve ever done,’ says businessman of his cocktail mixes developing some. I have many ideas to come, but for now we have those three or four that we’re offering.” The price range is $8-$14.

Although Lovejoy said business is good, there have been challenges along the way. “It took some start-up [money], not a ton, but when I was starting I found it difficult to find any answers anywhere, 2017-2018.” Despite obstacles he remained focused on bringing his dream to fruition.

He said, “I met with one inspector, and he basically told me not to do it. It took some time, a lot of research and phone calls.” Luckily, his supportive sister assisted him in Charles Lovejoy the process of launching the business.

To his surprise, “Since I started the business, I’ve found lots of resources for people to start food businesses especially. A lot of the places that offer these services aren’t great at advertising.”

He added, “I would strongly encourage anybody out there that’s interested in starting a food business to contact me if you want. I think that it’s very important to knock down those initial barriers, because that was very discouraging in the beginning.”

The flavorful Lovejoy Bloody Mary Mix products can be found in “35 different retailers, 15 restaurants— we’re in liquor stores and gift shops,” Lovejoy said. The business will be expanding in the future because they now have a distributor.

Lovejoy offered advice for young and upcoming entrepreneurs: “There are resources out there. The State has resources, and they are free.

Make sure you use them—I’ll help you.”

He added, “Know that it’s hard work, but it’s super rewarding. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s a great journey.

I highly recommend it. Get your own.”

For more information visit www.lovejoysbrand.com or 651-829-9950.

Ashley Lauren welcomes reader responses to alauren@ spokesman-recorder.com.

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Smith Contunued from page 10

of getting drafted into the WNBA, and that approximately 13% of draft-eligible players are from the Power Five conferences. There are only 36 draft slots annually.

Apparently, these odds are even greater for Black college players.

“I have no problem with [a player] going to training camp, and if you don’t fit, that’s fine,” said Hoffman.

“Two things that can happen—if you give someone an opportunity, we’re either going to take the ball and run with it, or they’re just going to drop the ball.”

He pointed out eight HBCU players either still in school or out that should get a shot at making a WNBA roster: Angel Golden, Bethune-Cookman; Daisa Harris, Livingstone; Chanette Hicks, Norfolk State; Kyaja Williams, Bowie State; Ay’Anna Bey, Benedict; Ameshya Williams, Jackson State; Shareka McNeill, Virginia Union/North Carolina A&T; and Shakyla Hill, Grambling State, now playing overseas.

Hoffman said he’s impressed with the feedback his January 12 article has generated. “I didn’t know what the reaction was going to be,” he said, adding that he wanted to create a discussion on the subject of no HBCU players in the WNBA.

nio and Washington before heading overseas. Winfield played in three preseason games for Utah before being waived.

Asheika Alexander last spring became first Case: Rowellthe v Woods HBCU player62-DA-FA-21-1420 to sign with Size: 3.4167 the Minnesota Lynx,x 4.5 but she Ad Run: 1/20/22 didn’t make it through trainAd Options: -ing camp.

“There are a ton of women’s basketball players in the HBCU community either still in college or are recent graduates that are more than qualified for a shot to play in the WNBA,” Jarrett Hoffman recently wrote for HBCU Sports. He told the MSR last week he finds it puzzling that a women’s pro basketball league, whose majority players are Black, have such a dismal record in HBCU players being drafted or playing in the W. “I love the WNBA and I want better for the WNBA,” admitted Hoffman. “I don’t think there’s a single sports league that better covers race, politics…human decency. But having said that, how was it…there’s only two women [from HBCUs] that have even stepped on the court, neither started nor played big minutes.”

The NCAA in 2020 said Charles Hallman welcomes that Division I women basreader responses to challman@ ketball players have a less spokesman-recorder.com. than three percent chance

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Richardson, present Client: GPN - GOVT PUBLIC NOTICE -whose CNSB-Frontier days consist of being a Size: 3.4167 x 4.5 primary caregiver for his Run Date: 1/20/22 Contunued 10 Ad Options:from For page an additional $150 with print, can get online wife, who is you bedridden after Without print $300 a series of surgeries. He seasons in the W wasn’t also has nearly 20 horses Richardson’s best work and other animals on his “even though they are the Arkansas ranch—and of hardest workers over the course watches basketball boys,” he stressed. “I didn’t as much as he can. think I could last a year. I got Arkansas, the school that at least a year and 11 games” fired him, in the last couple of before resigning midway years renamed the basketball through his second season, court and a campus street and in essence retiring from after Richardson. A school and recreation center in his coaching as well.

If he came back to coaching hometown of El Paso, Texas women, Richardson said, “I is named for him as well. now could do a better job “There’s some things I am because I understand the proud of that I accomplished,” players. I enjoy women’s said Richardson. “I faced a basketball. I used to never lot of things in my lifetime,” including the deaths of watch the women’s game.” two children, his wife’s Richardson also coached illness, and racism and the Panama national team discrimination all the way as (2005-07) and the Mexican well, he added. national team (2007) in “I hope I don’t leave this earth international competition.

Mike Anderson, now the regretting that when I had a St. John’s MBB HC, is platform, I [didn’t] use it to among his former players or help our people to become assistant coaches that make better,” he said. “That’s the up Richardson’s coaching bottom line to me. tree, something that White “I’ve had great things happen coaches seemingly are more to me that make me feel good.” known for than Black HCs. “I didn’t care to please everybody because of Charles Hallman welcomes the way I coach or the reader responses to challman@ way I thought,” admitted spokesman-recorder.com.

iStock

SOE Contunued from page 10 amazing sport, and we’re just trying to do things to improve upon it and make it possible for more people to enjoy it and to find how it can actually contribute to our lives. It was my father’s first love.”

She also is the co-founder of the Herbert H. Carnegie Future Aces Foundation, established in 1987, and served as executive director for 17 years. “My father was on the verge of losing his eyesight, so I was the one who actually got the foundation up and running,” said Bernice. “We ended up influencing the lives of more than a million kids.

“We had a scholarship initiative that went with it.

We gave out about a million dollars in scholarships to young people all across Canada,” she recalled.

Bernice told the MSR last week that the two-day summit on January 17-18 was McBride’s brainchild.

Besides the speakers, the event provided an open forum for discussing change in hockey in both the United States and Canada.

“He’s just like my dad,” she said proudly of McBide.

“He’s got big ideas.”

McBride, who played college hockey in the 1980s before going into business, was the NHL’s first Black executive as vice-president of business

development. “We’ve got to break through these barriers,” he said, that too often exist in the predominantly White sport.

“When I got to the National Hockey League many years ago, there were three players of color. We got 40 [now].

“The real reality is how do we get to 10 times over the next 10 years,” he continued. “We’ve made some progress, a step forward, two steps back, five steps back. We need to do more.”

He emphasized that this year’s summit was not a one-off. “We’re going to do an event every year where we gather everyone and we call out and solve these problems,” predicted McBride.

“My father’s story is about how he initially had to navigate around racism” as a Black hockey player whose career began in 1938 and ran through the mid-1950s, said Carnegie.

“It started with a hockey initiative…but it turned out to be a humanitarian initiative.”

Note: In our hour-long video interview, Bernice Carnegie talked about her dad, Herb Carnegie. His story will be featured in a future MSR column.

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

Writers invited to join the Spokesman-Recorder The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, weekly African American community newspaper (print and online), welcomes inquiries from freelance writers interested in writing compelling news stories and features.

Looking for writers intimately familiar with the African American experience, interested in telling its stories.

Experience in journalistic writing preferred. Payment is per article and is commensurate with experience.

Send inquiries to Mel Reeves (Community editor), at mreeves@spokesman-recorder.com.

10 January 20-26, 2022

Sports

Smith gets back on the field

By Charles Hallman Sports Columnist inneapolis-born Elerson Smith’s first NFL season was an abbreviated one.

The South High and Northern Iowa grad spent the first eight weeks of the 2021 season on the injured list with a bad hamstring injury.

The 6’-7” Smith, a fourth-round pick of the New York Giants, finally made his debut in week nine on special teams, but he eventually got to play defense as a pass rusher. He finished his rookie year with two solo tackles, assisted on five others and one forced fumble.

“I was able to get out on the field and get to play football again,” said Smith during a recent MSR phone interview. “There’s a lot of fun for me and I enjoyed that.”

His rookie year wasn’t void of adjustments, he pointed out. The NFL is “a different game” Elerson Smith

Courtesy Youtube from college: “In the NFL versus college, it’s The 23-year-old Smith wants to get better. much more a thoughtful process, more of a thinking man’s game…because everyone at “I have put in so much work to be good at this game, to get better every day.” this level is a great athlete,” explained Smith.

Playing and living in the Big Apple was a No HBCU players in the WNBA There have been only five HBCU players “Everyone at this level drafted by the WNBA in its 25-year existence: is a great athlete.”

Denique Graves (1997), Karen Wilkins (1998), Andrea Gardner, Amba Kongolo and Jaclyn rush as well, he continued. “I like it. There’s Winfield (all 2002). Gardner, the 27th pick in a lot of fun. Playing in front of the sold-out 2002, had brief stints with Seattle, San Anto■ See SMITH on page 9 crowds and all that stuff is fun.”

Breaking through hockey’s race barriers he nonprofit Carnegie Initiative (CI)’s goal is to advance change in hockey and its culture at all levels. Its first-ever summit was held earlier this week in Boston.

Among the scheduled speakers were scholar and author Ibram X. Kendi; former NHL players Grant Fehr, Anson Carter and Sheldon Kennedy; and a video appearance by Willie O’Ree, Bryant McBride Bernice Carnegie who broke the NHL’s color Photos courtesy of Carnegie Initiative barrier in the late 1950s.

“Hockey is the most important sport in the world for people of color to play.”

work to ensure that hockey is inclusive, supportive, and welcoming at all levels. Since it is an independent initiative, it also hopes to tackle the large diversity issues that historically faced hockey, Named for the late Herb as well as address specific Carnegie, a Canadiancommunity issues that the Jamaican who started a NHL and other entities aren’t hockey school for Blacks and other youth of color in able to.

“Hockey is the most important Toronto to teach hockey skills, sport in the world for people the CI is an extension of that

of color to play,” stated CI cofounder Bryant McBride, a longtime businessman and former NHL executive. He also co-produced “Willie,” a documentary on O’Ree. “I made the argument all the time to my friends, and they looked at me like I’m crazy,” he added.

CI co-founder Bernice Carnegie, Herb’s daughter, concurred. “Hockey is an

■ See SOE on page 9

Fab Five Photos

his week’s Fab Five photos include one of the state’s top guards from South St. Paul (Alonzo Dodd), St. Paul Johnson’s leading scorer (Ishmeal David), St. Paul Central’s promising freshman point guard St. Paul Johnson senior guard Ishmeal David (Allan Langford Jr.), Columbia Heights’ leading scorer (Terrence Brown), and a graduate student from North Carolina A&T University who is contributing to the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team (Deja Winters).

St. Paul Central freshman guard Allan Langford Jr.

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

All photos by Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald

South St. Paul senior guard Alonzo Dodd

University of Minnesota graduate student Deja Winters

Columbia Heights senior guard Terrence Brown

Nolan Richardson’s bottom line ‘helping our people to become better’

Conclusion of a series olan Richardson once told ESPN that he wasn’t angry anymore.

Looking back on his illustrious

Hall of Fame career, one might say that Richardson’s anger is justified: He often faced discrimination as a youngster.

Later, after he coached Arkansas to its first national basketball title in 1994, he was fired in 2002 for being too outspoken about salary disparities between himself and the White football coach.

His racial bias lawsuit against the school was dismissed by a federal judge a couple of years later.

Some might say Richardson was Whiteballed, as he never again coached a college game. Nolan Richardson

He didn’t leave coaching altogether, however— Richardson coached a college all-star team to victory at the 2009 Final Four in Detroit, where the MSR was the only reporter to speak with him afterward.

He remembered me several years later as the head coach and general manager of the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock. He invited me to watch his team prepare for a contest against Minnesota and explained Courtesy Wikipedia his strategy for playing

the Lynx the following night.

“I drafted her,” Richardson recalled of his selection of Liz Cambage, a young 6’-8” player from Australia.

“We had the second pick

“As the season developed, she was getting better,” continued the coach on Cambage, now an unrestricted free agent who has played five years in the WNBA, last season

“I didn’t care to please everybody.” and Maya Moore was the number-one pick [of Minnesota]. I got the big girl, knowing she was just a kid… She had a ways to go.

at Las Vegas. “You could see that the talent was there,” he marveled.

But his one-and-a-half

■ See VIEW on page 9