PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
Inside this Edition...
W.E.B. Du Bois
THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
February 17-23, 2022
Booker T. Washington
Read more about Black history on page 3.
Vol. 88
www.spokesman-recorder.com
No. 29
Booker Hodges named as new MSR selected for Bloomington police chief
By Travis Lee Contributing Writer
B
ooker T. Hodges will become the first person of color to lead the Bloomington Police Department (BPD). City officials announced his selection last week. As BPD police chief, Hodges will lead an authorized staff of 123 sworn officers and a total staff of 157 providing public safety and law enforcement services to the community. He will replace Interim Police Chief Mike Hartley, who is retiring at the end of March. “I am looking forward to working with the women and men of the Bloomington Police Department as we continue to build a department that will be the beacon on the hill as far as how we interact with the public and each other,” Hodges said in a press release. Hodges is currently an assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) where he oversees the Minnesota Patrol, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and Alcohol ■ See HODGES on page 5 Booker Hodges poses with T.C. Bear
T
Submitted photo
he Minnesota SpokesmanRecorder (MSR), along with 14 other Black and Latino news outlets across the nation, has been selected to take part in the Google News Initiative. The four-month project aims to help minority-owned publications in the United States and Canada advance their advertising strategies and grow digital revenue. In addition to the MSR, the participating publications of the GNI Ad Transformation Lab include Al Día, Diario Las Américas, El Informador, El Tiempo Latino, La Prensa de Houston, Rolling Out, The Atlanta Voice, the Baltimore Times and the Annapolis Times, The Charlotte Post Publishing Company, the Dallas Weekly, the New York Carib News, The Skanner, The Washington Informer, and Westside Gazette. “The 15 organizations participating in the 2022 GNI Ad Transformation Lab represent the best of the best,” said Ben Monnie, director of Global Partnerships Solutions, News. “I am
excited to see the evolution of this Lab as we work to maximize impact for each participating publisher, and I look forward to sharing our learnings more broadly through GNI’s Digital Growth Program.” “Following our rebranding last year as part of Deluxe’s ‘Small Business Revolution’ TV series, I’m thrilled that the MSR has been selected for the Google News Initiative,” said MSR publisher and CEO Tracey WilliamsDillard. “I hope the program will help us continue to thrive and find new opportunities to generate ad revenue.” The 2022 GNI Ad Transformation Lab builds upon the 2021 initiative, where, on average, participating publishers experienced a 25% increase in programmatic revenue, a 10% increase in traffic, and a 30% improvement in PageSpeed scores. The 2022 Lab will split participants into two groups. The first has begun a four-month training program ■ See GOOGLE on page 5
State’s leading healthcare execs discuss solutions for disparities
By Abdi Mohamed Contributing Writer
to Rise” digital workshop series by the Center for Economic Inclusion, a St. Paul organization dedicated to closing Executives from leading health orga- the racial employment, income, and nizations in the Twin Cities recently wealth gaps by creating inclusive and gathered to discuss the role employers equitable regional economies. Launched in Jan 2021, the series can play in creating equitable solutions works to foster an online space for Minfor the state’s Black community. The event, titled “Reckoning for nesota’s employers, business owners, Equity, Health, and Wellness,” was held and community members to highlight on Feb. 10 as part of the “Reckoning how racism and economic exclusion
Stella Whitney-West
Thomas Harris Jr
has created economic disparities for Black Minnesotans compared to their White counterparts. These talks have reached more than 15,000 people in the last year and aim to help industry leaders reimagine what an economy that works for everyone might look like. This year the Center aims to tackle health inequities in more of their conversations. The COVID-19 pandemic
Tawanna A. Black
New grand jury probe in 2018 death of Hardel Sherrell
by Niara Savage Contributing Writer
A federal grand jury is now investigating the 2018 death of Beltrami County inmate Hardel Sherrell, signaling possible criminal charges in a case that placed scrutiny on standards of medical and mental health care for people in custody. Sherrell died on the floor of his cell after his pleas for medical help were refused for days. The doctor responsible for medical care in the jail has been suspended by the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice. Sherrell’s mother Del Shea Perry is calling on Attorney General Keith Ellison to prosecute the case at the state level, too. “We don’t need to wait for the FBI,” Perry said. “The state needs to move forward.” There’s enough video evidence and medical
records to pursue criminal charges against jail staff now, without waiting on the federal investigation, Perry said. Sherrell, 27, walked into the Beltrami County jail on Aug. 24, 2018 without any apparent problems, surveillance camera footage shows. He died days later on Sept. 2 after his health deteriorated rapidly while he suffered the effects of Guillain-Barre, an autoimmune disease. As he grew increasingly ill, eventually losing the ability to walk, Sherrell begged jail staffers and medical providers for help but they accused him of faking his symptoms to orchestrate an escape. Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare condition but patients usually survive and live normal lives if provided timely medical treatment. MEnD Correctional
Care employees provided medical services to Sherrell and thousands of other inmates in jails across the state under the supervision of company president and physician Todd Leonard. Leonard’s controversial company has been linked to
several other jail deaths. Last month, the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice suspended Leonard’s license indefinitely, finding that he “demonstrated a careless disregard for the health, wealth or safety” of Sherrell. ■ See SHERRELL on page 5
has exacerbated the underlying health disparities Black Minnesotans faced and brought these issues to the forefront of the state’s public health response. Known for having some of the nation’s largest inequities, Minnesota also has some of the largest gaps in health between Black and White residents despite being the home to many of the nation’s leading healthcare systems. The discussion last Thursday covered
Vayong Moua
these inequities and the ways in which Minnesota’s leading health organizations were working to spearhead changes. Led by the Center’s founder and CEO, Tawanna A. Black, the online workshop had four executives from leading health organizations: Children’s Minnesota’s Chief Equity & Inclusion Officer James C. Burroughs II, Executive Vice President and ■ See HEALTHCARE on page 5
James C Burroughs, II
Department of Safety settles with journalists
Journalists cannot be arrested or interfered with unless they’re committing a crime Henry Pan Contributing Writer
Hardel Sherrell
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, settled a lawsuit last Tuesday stemming from the Minnesota State Patrol’s treatment of the press during the unrest days after George Floyd’s murder and Daunte Wright’s killing. The settlement extends for six years an injunction that prohibits state troopers from dispersing, detaining, arresting, and assaulting journalists unless they committed a crime, and at that point, a
supervisor would need to be notified immediately. They are also not allowed to seize equipment or tell journalists what they can and cannot photograph. Any violation of this settlement requires an internal investigation and immediate notification of a trooper’s superior, and possibly notice to the Peace Officers Standards and Training board if they pass a model policy requiring it. The lawsuit was filed by several independent journalists who were assaulted by officers while covering periods of unrest. At least six journalists were briefly trapped in an ■ See JOURNALISTS on page 5