Read more about growing up with Prince on page 6.
THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
April 21 - 27, 2022
Vol. 88
PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
Inside this Edition...
www.spokesman-recorder.com
No. 38
BLACK SUICIDE SURGE CONTINUES Agape applies unconditional Taking one’s own life is no longer ‘a White thing’ (if it ever was) BOOTS ON THE GROUND
love to the wounds of violence
This is the second in an ongoing series featuring organizations working on the front lines to de-escalate street violence and serve as a bridge between community members and law enforcement. By James L. Stroud, Jr. Contributing Writer
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ong before the violent unrest and turmoil in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of former police officer Derek Chauvin, Steve Floyd (no relation to George Floyd) had been a staple in the lives of former gang members in Minneapolis. Some 40 years ago, Steve started Agape to help transform lives. It started with Agape Assembles and then Champions of Agape, with gang members bettering their lives through life skills training offered by the organizations. The murder of George Floyd gave rise to a new model, but the organization’s mission to transform lives remains the same. In fact, says Steve, “That is one of our mottos, ‘Transforming street energy into community
Pexels
By Jon Jeter Contributing Writer
Bridgette Stewart (l) and Steve Floyd Photo by James L Stroud, Jr. energy,’ and another is ‘Putting Agape, including Steve Floyd, the neighbor back in the hood.’” chief advisor and co-founder The MSR recently caught of Agape; Bridgette Stewart, up with a few members of ■ See AGAPE on page 5
Roderick Johnson first contemplated suicide after a White male school nurse molested him when he was eight. When he tried to share his despair with his mother, a devout Jehovah’s Witness, she simply would not entertain such a notion and told him, in no uncertain terms, to never speak of his anguish again. He did as he was told for the next 34 years, learning to suffer in silence and attempting suicide four times over that span, most recently in 2017 follow-
ing the unexpected death of a friend and a health scare. “I simply never developed the emotional resources to cope with crises,” Johnson, who asked that his real name not be disclosed, told the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (MSR) in a telephone interview. “So my response to anything going wrong was ‘I have to kill myself.’” Therapy, treatment and family have helped put Johnson, now 46, on the road to recovery. But his former preoccupation with death reflects a startling trend in American public life: While the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention reported a slight drop in the nationwide suicide rate overall, from 14.2 per 100,000 people in 2018 to 13.9 in 2019—representing the first year-over-year decrease in 20 years—the suicide rate for Blacks ballooned by 30% between 2014 and 2019, from 5.7 to 7.4 percent per 100,000. Moreover, preliminary research suggests that the pandemic has only accelerated the trend. Paul Nestadt, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University and co-director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic and ■ See SUICIDE on page 5
Report: Air pollution contributes to health inequities By Feven Gerezgiher Contributing Writer
Earth Day 2022: “The burden of air pollution falls heavier on some communities within our cities than on others.”
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earlier reports from 2019 and 2015. Pollution decreased between 2008 and 2015 According to state agencies, communities in the Twin Cities—fine facing structural ineq- particles (PM2.5) polluuities across Minne- tion improved by 30% and sota face greater health ozone pollution by nearly impacts from air pollu- 10% —yet it is still a cause tion, even as overall air for concern. Researchers estimated quality in Minnesota has air pollution played a part improved. The Minnesota in 10% of all Twin CitPollution Control ies deaths and between Agency (MPCA) and Min- 8-10% of deaths in Greater nesota Department of Minnesota in 2015. This Health (MDH) recently is higher than the number released the two-part of deaths caused by accireport, “Life and Breath,” dents, which make up 6% examining how air pol- of all deaths. lution affected health in Air pollutants were also 2015 in the Twin Cities behind nearly 500 hospimetro area and three talizations and emergency Greater Minnesota cities room visits for heart and (Duluth, Rochester and lung conditions in the ■ See POLLUTION on page 5 St. Cloud). It updates
Black lives also matter in the Russia-Ukraine war By Stacy M. Brown Contributing Writer Black Americans have enjoyed an enduring bond with Africa and their brothers and sisters living on the Continent, with many U.S.-based civil rights agencies, clergy members, and African American organizations taking a keen interest in the welfare of citizens in the 55-nation motherland. While the world watched Russia invade Ukraine on Thursday, February 24, some expressed concern about the tens of thousands of international students studying in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, and other cities throughout that Eastern European nation. Many of those students come from Africa. “Many of them do not have paperwork to enter Europe,” wrote Terrell J. Starr, host of the Black Diplomats Podcast that focuses on the intersection of race and foreign policy. Starr is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, focusing on Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, and nuclear non-proliferation issues. He noted the especially perilous
While multiple reports suggest continued. Starr added that his friend, lower end of the totem pole of racial Ukraine has never championed divera Black Ukrainian, shared that, while oppression,” Starr concluded. “Yes, in America Ukrainians are White. sity or an acceptance of Black people, she is proud to be Black, she feels the trauma of the Kremlin’s aggression as But over here, many of my Ukrainian Russia has been especially harsh toward individuals of darker hues. In a country of 144 million people, just 70,000 Russian residents identify as Black. The SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, a Moscow-based advocacy organization, revealed that Africans and those who descend from the Continent face widespread hostility and racism that routinely goes unpunished. “We would note one racist action on the territory of Moscow State University of Civil Engineering,” SOVA Center officials wrote in January. “In a video circulated online, young people can be seen harassing Black students, throwing snowballs at them, ‘awarding’ them NNPA bananas as ‘gifts’ and insulting them generally.” In 2021, the SOVA Center reported friends tell me Putin and Russians who much as any White Ukrainian. thousands,” Starr wrote. “Like America, Russia is a settler-colo- think like him view them as White trash. at least 63 victims of ideologically moti“It is impossible to know without data, but it is not uncommon to see Black nial state, and we as Black folks need to So many Ukrainians very much see vated violence; three of them died, and folks walking around Kyiv speaking flu- understand how leaders of such states themselves through the lens of race the others were injured or beaten; five ent Russian or Ukrainian and walking operate because we aren’t that far when it comes to Putin’s revisionism of people received serious death threats. with their White family members,” he behind when it comes to being on the their shared history.” ■ See UKRAINE on page 5
position facing African students and Black Ukrainians in an op-ed. “There is no census data on their numbers, but figures range from thousands to tens of