Read about Alonzo Bodden on page 6.
THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
March 24-30, 2022
Vol. 88
PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
Inside this Edition...
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No. 34
Kalimba Cobb Edwards
Minneapolis Fire Department Chief Bryan Tyner
All photos by Travis Lee
South Mpls street renamed for city’s first Black fire captain By Cole Miska Contributing Writer
runs between 34th and 43rd parallel to Minnehaha and Hiawatha. Cheatham became ommunity mem- Minneapolis’ first Black firebers celebrated fighter captain in 1899. Minneapolis City Counthe renaming of a street in South cilmember Andrew Johnson Minneapolis on the represents Ward 12, which morning of March 17. The contains the full 10 blocks of former Dight Avenue, now Cheatham Ave. He was one of the new John Cheatham Ave., the local officials leading the
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charge to rename the street. Johnson said community members originally brought the history of the avenue’s namesake—Charles Fremont Dight, a Minneapolis eugenicist—to his attention. “We need to consider our choices of whether individuals like [Dight] should be honored in such a clearly public way,
and he’s not deserving of that honor,” Johnson said. Dight was a Minneapolis physician who founded the Minnesota Eugenics Society in the 1920s. His lobbying efforts got the Minnesota Legislature to pass a law allowing for forced sterilization. The street was originally ■ See CHEATHAM on page 5
Clip Lipson/CBS
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH SALUTE History makers of tomorrow
Northside fire captain noted for physical strength, mental toughness By Julie Gordon Contributing Writer
non-White people in town, let alone the entire county. Despite the typical challenges associated with being Growing up in tiny Wallace, Nebraska—an area known for a minority, Edwards views ranching, railroads, and “Buf- her childhood experience in a falo Bill” Cody—wasn’t for positive light. “I grew up with the faint-of-heart, especially small town values, where for Kalimba Cobb Edwards. ranchers, farmers and their It was the early ’80s, and she kids worked hard,” she said. and her brother were the only ■ See EDWARDS on page 5
CROWN Act to end race-based hair discrimination advances to U.S. Senate
By MSR News Service
“Natural hair should be worn without fear of discrimination,” Rep. Jahana Hayes asserted moments after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act, banning hair-related discrimination. The Connecticut Democrat sounded off to critics of legislation that would allow individuals freedom to express themselves by how they wear their hair. The measure passed in a vote of 235-189 along party lines. Introduced by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-New Jersey), the acronym CROWN stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. The measure outlaws discrimination based on an individual’s texture or style of hair. The bill is co-led by Reps. Ilhan Omar(D-MN-5), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07), Gwen Moore (D-WI-4), and Barbara Lee (D-CA-13) in the U.S. House (and Sen. Cory Booker in the U.S. Senate). “I want my two girls to grow up in a world where they know they will not be discriminated against because of their hair or the way they
authored a CROWN Act bill that passed in the House but stalled in the Senate. The bill that passed on Friday in the U.S. House and now heads to the U.S. Senate states that “Routinely, people of African descent are deprived of educational and employment opportunities” for wearing their hair in natural or protective hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots or Afros. Republicans strongly opposed the measure, and some used race-baiting words in expressing their opposition. “No to the nappy hair act,” Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Green railed. But civil rights groups applauded passage of the measure. “Passage of the CROWN Act by the House of Representatives moves our nation one step closer to federal protection for Black women, men and children from discrimination across the Photo courtesy of MGN country simply because of their natural hair or hairstyle,” stated Damon Hewitt, A similar version of the bill, president and executive director of the look,” tweeted Rep. Omar before cel- of pride, not something to hide,” ebrating the bill’s passage in the U.S. added Omar in a statement. “I am authored by Rep. Esther Agbaje ( Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights proud to have worked on this bill DFL-59B), passed on Feb. 28, 2022, Under Law. House. “I am thrilled to see the passage with Rep. Watson Coleman and my with bipartisan support in the Min“We urge the Senate to quickly take of this very important legislation. colleagues to end race-based hair nesota House of Representatives. In up this important legislation, which 2020, Rep. Rena Moran (DFL-65A) It’s time that natural hair is a point discrimination.” ■ See CROWN on page 5
Racist double standards common practice worldwide—including in U.S. News Analysis By Mary Turck Contributing Writer From the beginning, U.S. immigration policy has been steeped in racism. In 1751, Benjamin Franklin wrote: “Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs, any more than they can acquire our Complexion?” Franklin’s words, written even before the United States became a country, signaled
the racism that would underlie U.S. immigration policy. A 1790 law required that any immigrants seeking to become citizens must be “free white persons.” In varying forms, racial and gender restrictions on naturalization continued until 1952. Other racist immigration policies included the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; discriminatory national origins quotas favoring northern Europe (1924-1965); and “Operation Wetback” in 1954, removing people of Mexican ancestry
regardless of whether they were U.S. citizens. Read from the vantage point of the 21st century, Franklin’s words also show the fallacy of race as a category. The Germans he wanted to exclude were first discriminated against and then elevated to the privileged construct of Whiteness. The same hap-
pened with other immigrant groups: Irish, Italians, even Eastern Europeans. Racist immigration policies and practices made news again in recent weeks, as more than three million Ukrainian refugees fled the deadly Russian invasion of their country. Neighboring European countries opened their borders
and hearts and homes to the nese refugee trying to enter Ukrainians fleeing war. Poland on the day that Russia At the same time, those attacked Ukraine. Albagir was countries continued to bar ■ See IMMIGRATION on page 5 refugees from Africa and Asia. The New York Times describes the plight of Albagir, a Suda-