July 6, 2023 - MN Spokesman-Recorder

What’s next after Minnesota’s legislative ‘miracle’

By Charles Hallman Staff Contributor

n June, Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan along with other state officials met with senior White House officials in Washington, D.C. to celebrate Minnesota’s recent legislative victories, including paid family and medical leave. The paid family and medical leave program will provide all Minnesotans with partial wage replacement for medical leave, bonding or caring for a family member.

The paid family and medical leave was among nearly 80 “long overdue” bills that were passed in 2023, by the Minnesota legislature, and only the eighth time in 40 years that a special session wasn’t needed to pass the state budget. Many credit that to the fact that the DFL controls the governor’s office, the House, and the Senate.

Before their trip to D.C., Lt. Governor Flanagan spoke with the MSR about this year’s legislative session. “First of all, this session was incredible,” declared the second-term lieu-

tenant governor. A former state legislator (201519), former Minneapolis school board member (2005-09), and long-time Native American activist and community organizer, Flanagan has been an advocate for working-class families and Indigenous communities.

“As someone who’s been doing this work, there’s a really important story to be told about how much work has been done over the last decade to make this happen,” said the St. Louis Park native. She called the 2023 legislative session, the passing of the baton from organizer to organizer, and legislature to legislature.

As an example, she offered Minnesota’s passing of the CROWN Act, which prohibits hair-based discrimination—similar to laws passed in 14 other states. Flanagan credits last year’s election of three Black women—Zaynab Mohammad, Claire Oumou Verbeten, Erin Maye Quade— to the Minnesota Senate in helping pass the law.

Other examples include the establishment of the first Office of Miss-

Some still wary of Blue Line anti-displacement measures

By H. Jiahong Pan Contributing Writer

he committee that oversees construction of the Blue Line light rail extension through the Northside and the northern suburbs voted unanimously on June 8, to adopt recommendations from a University of Minnesota report to curb displacement resulting from construction.

The recommendations, authored by the University of Minnesota Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) and released in early May, call for strengthening tenant power, ensuring diverse Northside communities get priority consideration in building the extension, request that government agencies develop an intentional policy of disposing of surplus land instead of selling it to the highest bidder, as well as incentivizing first-time homebuyers.

In 2021, Metropolitan Council and Hennepin County plan-

ners and engineers decided to build the light rail line extension through North Minneapolis on the way to Robbinsdale, Crystal and Brooklyn Park after they were unable to successfully

negotiate right-of-way with Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). Initially, planners wanted BNSF to share its railroad with Metro Transit’s light-rail

■ See BLUE LINE on page 5

ing and Murdered African American Women and Girls along with a $1.24 annual budget to assist with cases, and the Juneteenth state holiday.

“We have a legislature that looks more and more like Minnesota,” said Flanagan, of the legislative diversity in St. Paul. “So many of us have been working on this together,” she said of legislative bills that restored voting rights for former felons, suspended gun permits for people experiencing a mental health crisis, abortion rights protections, a “trans refuge” law that protects transgender children who travel to Minnesota for medical care, and other bills that some are collectively calling the ‘Minnesota Miracle 2.0’ for its progressiveness.

Nearly a month after the 2023 legislative session concluded, and with new laws now in place, the lieutenant governor emphasized that after the victory lap much work is still

needed. “We absolutely have got to get it right,” especially for communities of color, she noted. “There is a tremendous amount of work that our state agencies have to do. In some cases, they have to hire a lot of new staff to implement the things that we just passed.

“We also have to make sure that we are communicating with community so they know what’s coming. They have to know how to access some of these resources. It’s a big task.

“We can now take the work that we’re doing in Minnesota and to continue to make progress,” said Flanagan. “I think so much of what we got done this session has been long overdue, and now we need to think about how do we maintain those wins but also look forward to the future.”

Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to challman@spokesmanrecorder.com.

DOJ asks for community input ahead of MPD consent decree

By H. Jiahong Pan Contributing Writer

n the social hall of New Beginnings Baptist Ministries, located at the southeast corner of 1st Avenue and 43rd Street in South Minneapolis, Northsider Anita Urvita-Davis, who was born in the U.S., recalled how in the late 1990s a Minneapolis police officer asked her for papers in Spanish.

“The police officer at the corner, waiting to turn, looks at me out his open window and says, ‘Buenos tardes [Good afternoon].’ I looked at him and I said, ‘Buenos tardes,’” recalls Urvina-Davis. The officer then asked, in Spanish, if she spoke English. “Si,” she told the officers. “Then he said ‘Tiene papeles? Do you have papers?’ I was taken aback and I said in English ‘What?’”

Despite Urvita-Davis, who is a member of the Unity Community Mediation Team, being hurt by how she was treated,

she still thinks we need police. She believes they just need to be more sensitive. She joined a committee of eight community members from the African immigrant, African American and Native American communities, all members of the UCMT, who met with the U.S. Department of Justice last Thursday

morning to provide feedback on what a Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) consent decree should address.

During the U.S. Department of Justice’s two-year investigation into the MPD, they found the department engaged in discriminatory, often reckless

■ See DOJ on page 5

Somali community celebrates culture and history

By Abdi Mohamed

Contributing Writer

n July 1, South Minneapolis streets were draped in blue and white to help celebrate the Somali Independence festival, marking 63 years since the country’s rebirth.

According to organizers, the festival is the largest celebration of Somalia’s independence outside of Somalia with an estimated 40,000 attendees, including dozens of vendors, live music, family-friendly activities, and more. The festival took place along a three-block stretch across West Lake Street. This year, the event was organized by Ka Joog along with other groups, and sponsored by Amazon, Xcel Energy, the City

of Minneapolis, Goodyear, and other organizations.

“It gives the kids a chance to learn about their background, their flag, their culture, their food,” said Hafsa Khalif, who along with his wife Musa

Mlshala brought their young family to the festival. “It’s just amazing how we could all just come together,”

Abdi Ahmed and Maryan Omar traveled from Arizona to visit family for Eid, the Muslim

holiday marking the end of Hajj, but extended their trip to attend the festival. Despite there being a sizeable Somali community back home in Arizona, the couple wanted to bring their kids to a large gathering where they could see themselves represented publicly and with passion.

“It’s nice to show the kids that we’re all one and that we’re a big community,” said Omar. She shared that the event gave her a chance to show her children that there’s a depth to their culture that can be experienced through the language, people, and food.

“It’s a change of pace for me. It’s nice to see all these Somali people in one place and even getting the street blocked off— all of this is crazy to me, but we’re enjoying it,” Ahmed said.

Several organizations had booths at the festival, along with many state and local government agencies that had Somali employees who served as

representatives.

Asad Ahmed, a deputy sheriff with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, pointed to

■ See FESTIVAL on page 5

(l-r) Mary LaGarde speaks about Minneapolis policing, joined by Rachel Dionne Thunder and activist Spike Moss. Photos by H. Jiahong Pan

Nelima Sitati-Munene, executive director of the African Career Education and Resource Inc (ACER), speaks at the press conference.

Photo by Chris Juhn

“We have a legislature that looks more and more like Minnesota.”

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan

Photo by Chris Juhn

Senate President Bobby Joe Champion (c) and Senator Zaynab Mohamed (r) celebrate at the festival. Photos by Chris Juhn

Somali Independence festivities

Metro MPS hosts ‘Separate Not Equal’ Hale-Field exhibit

By Cole Miska

Contributing Writer

The Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) district is hosting the “Separate Not Equal: The Hale-Field Pairing” exhibit from the Hennepin History Museum (HHM) at its offices on West Broadway. With the recent Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, the exhibit, created by HHM curator Alyssa Thiede along with members of the Hale and Field school communities, is even more timely as it details the desegregation of the two schools in 1971.

Thiede says HHM has been hosting the exhibit for roughly a year and had planned to take it down soon. As the museum did not have a permanent place to keep it, it would have been disposed of had no other organizations stepped up to host it. MPS Interim Superintendent Rochelle Cox said that when she heard the exhibit was looking for a new sponsor, she immediately knew that MPS would be a good home for the exhibit.

“It’s just so important to understand the past to really disrupt what is happening now and in the future,” Cox said. “That’s why it’s so important for us to have this and our staff, our families, our communities to be a part of understanding it.”

The exhibit details the history of the Hale-Field pairing, where the two South Minneapolis neighborhood schools were desegregated. Both schools had served kindergarten through sixth grade prior to being paired.

Hale’s student body was 99 percent White, while Field’s student body was 60 percent students of color. After the two schools were paired, Hale served all students, regardless of race, from kindergarten to third grade, and Field served all students from fourth to sixth grade. The pairing involved the transfer of older students from Hale to Field, and young students at Field were sent to Hale.

In response to Booker v. Special School Dist. No. 1, a federal lawsuit brought by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) against the state of Minnesota to desegre-

under federal supervision, even though the Hale-Field pairing occurred a year prior to the Booker settlement.

“There was all this bussing, and they had to diversify staff, essentially because what they

“[I] wanted to share the history of some of the practices that are going on here and how we need to correct it and work towards making schools more inclusive,” Francis said.

Lash said there was a difference she noticed “right away” going from Field to Hale. She noted that unlike Field, Hale “felt like being in a castle.” Hale

Franson was a fifth grader and had already been attending Field when the pairing happened. She said she recalls parents from both Hale and Field being apprehensive about the pairing. Thiede said about 70 percent of White parents at Hale opposed the merger.

“It wasn’t an issue for us [kids], whereas the parents

after the pairing and children of all races started mingling, even outside of school hours.

Tucker said a group of White boys from school taught him how to fish with a net at Lake Nokomis. In exchange, Francis and several Black friends introduced their newfound White friends to many of their favorite hangouts.

Thiede said racial violence was a concern throughout the community on the opening day of the pairing, but that the first day went off without a hitch.

“It went beautifully, just great,” Field principal Bradley Bentson told the Minneapolis Tribune the day after the pairing. “We’ve had almost no problems. The only things wrong were a kid not finding his room or a parent not knowing where the bus stop was.”

The “Separate Not Equal: The Hale-Field Pairing” exhibit will be available for viewing

gate schools, the pairing was a pre-emptive move by MPS in

had done was too little too late,” Thiede said.

As part of the exhibit, MPS also hosted a panel on the pairing of the two schools on June 21, which included Thiede, Mike Andrews, who taught at Field during the pairing, and three former students who went to Hale or Field during the pairing— Carole Franson, Francis Tucker and Monica Lash.

had large bathrooms with more than one stall and classrooms with carpeted floors.

were putting up the barriers more.” Franson said.

anticipation of the state losing the lawsuit. The lawsuit was settled in 1972, and put the state’s desegregation efforts

Derek Francis, executive director of equity and school climate at MPS, co-moderated the panel with MPS’ Lori Ledoux, district arts program facilitator. Francis played a key role in bringing the exhibit to MPS.

“I remember getting to Hale and realizing right away what a different place it was compared to where I was,” Lash said. “It was welcoming, the teachers were welcoming. The one thing I remember is it was just so big compared to [Field].”

Francis Tucker was in fourth grade when the pairing happened and ended up attending Field for all seven years of elementary school. He said he and his friends did not play with White children much before the pairing, but that the “color thing was thrown out the window”

at the MPS’s district offices, the Davis Center, on Broadway through the summer. The exhibit will begin rotating between Hale Elementary School and Field Elementary School when the school year begins.

Cole Miska welcomes reader comments at cmiska@spokesmanrecorder.com.

“It’s just so important to understand the past to really disrupt what is happening now and in the future.”

Monica Lash (left) headed to school on the first day of the pairing with neighbor Molly Johnson in 1971.

Photo courtesy of Hennepin History Museum

Panelists (l-r) Hennepin museum director Alyssa Thiede, Mike Andrews (teacher), Francis Tucker, Carole Franson, Monica Lash Photo courtesy of Cole Miska

Photo courtesy of Cole Miska

Parenting Today presented by Minnesota Department of Health

For most of us, childhood memories include outdoor games like tag, capture the flag, and red rover. Even more exciting were the spontaneous games at recess or in someone’s backyard with other neighborhood kids!

Sometimes, our kids need a reminder that outdoor games are strong contenders, if not winners, for fun. Teaching your kids awesome outdoor games they can play on the fly and stocking up on fun game equipment will go a long way in encouraging your kids to get off the couch and out the door!

Check out our list for the best games to play outside with your kids.

Tag Games

Tag is one of the easiest games to understand and can provide hours of fun with a variety of group sizes. If you want to spice up the basic version, try these 10 Fun Ways You Can Transform the Game of Tag!

Obstacle Courses

Setting up an obstacle course in the backyard will have your child striving to be the next American Ninja Warrior! You can use what you have around the house, purchase a kit, or build your own. This collection of 20 Amazing Backyard Obstacle Courses is sure

Health

Off the screen and outside with these fun games

to spark your imagination. Scavenger Hunts Scavenger hunts are a great way to keep kids entertained while on a hike, when you arrive at the campground, or simply on a summer day! You can find a ton of ideas and readyto-print hunts online. Didn’t plan ahead? Make a quick list and send the kids off hunting!

• For younger kids who can’t read yet, these 10 Local Scavenger Hunt Printable Worksheets for Kids are ready to go with cute graphics.

• If you’re off on a camping adventure, here’s a helpful article with 7 Unique Camping Scavenger Hunts.

• Remember how much kids love hunting for Easter eggs? Why not bring out those plastic eggs for an outdoor hunt? Have them paint rocks that can be hidden. Encourage everyone to take turns hiding, and the hunts may go on and on!

Relay Races

Relay races can also range from basic, throw-together ideas

to more complex and original. Here are 20+ Best Relay Race Games that range from potato sacks to a jigsaw puzzle race.

Lawn Games

Lawn games provide entertainment for the whole family! They’re fun to pull out during BBQs, bring to the beach, or play while camping. This list of 20 Outdoor Lawn Games for the Most Fun Backyard Ever includes classics like cornhole and croquet and unique and silly options like Flickin’ Chicken.

Classic Outdoor Games

Classic outdoor games have staying power for a reason! They’re easy to play anytime or anywhere and invoke fun childhood memories. You may remember playing these classic games as a kid but might not remember all the rules. We’ve got you covered!

• Red Light Green Light

• Follow the Leader

• Duck, Duck, Goose

• Capture the Flag

• Ghost in the Graveyard

• Spud Playground Games

These games require a pavement surface or, in some cases, equipment found on the playground, like a basketball net.

• Four Square

• Hopscotch

• Horse

• Jump Rope

• Hand Clapping Games

Important Things to Remember: Pick an age-appropriate game. Younger kids need

games with simple and limited instructions. Older kids prefer games they can be taught and then left to do on their own.

Even when the game has been played before, review the rules.

Be cautious about your surroundings. Remove items that may be dangerous and let everyone know what areas are out of bounds.

Ensure everyone is having a good time by encouraging positive sportsmanship.

As long as there is consen-

sus, creating new rules or variations can help the games stay fresh and fun!

Have some fun outside as the weather gets warmer, and teach your kids some new (or classic!) games!

MSR + Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) share a mission of protecting, maintaining and improving the health of ALL Minnesotans. Our shared vision for health equity in Minnesota, where ALL communities are thriving and ALL people have what they need to be healthy is the foundation of our partnership to bring readers our feature, Parenting Today. Good health starts with family! To view our weekly collection of stories, go to our website or scan the code.

Affirmative action decision won’t stop equal rights progress

By Dr. Gail C. Christopher

The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to end affirmative action in higher education is much more than just a bad ruling; it is an embarrassment on a global scale.

It’s based on the misguided notion that the Constitution, and even our society today, is colorblind. That’s so far from the truth. In reality, what we have is a judicial authority that is in denial, denial of racism, denial of facts, denial of the consequences of this decision, denial of the harm to the people affected, and denial of the hierarchy of human value that this nation was built upon and still reigns supreme in too many minds and institutions today.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts concluded that the approach used by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina violated the 14 Amendment and “cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause.” That is duplicitous - that clause was designed to remedy the harm caused by denying rights and protection to people of color over centuries. For this court to use it to deny educational opportunities to people of color in the 21st century is hypocrisy at best and cruel at worst. Their decision lacks empathy and compassion for millions.

Our Constitution was conceived in an environment of racial hierarchy. It was dedicated to the proposition that some people were not human. Blacks could be enslaved and had no human rights. During the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention, the infamous Three-fifths Compromise relegated enslaved people to be counted as three-fifths of Whites in a state’s population.

That created an inequitable and unfair American society. Harvard Professor Roland G. Fryer, Jr. has quantified the consequences. Relative to

Whites, Blacks earn 24 percent less, live five fewer years, and are six times more likely to be incarcerated on a given day. Hispanics make 25 percent less than Whites and are three times more likely to be incarcerated. At the end of the 1990s, there were one-third more Black men under the corrections system’s jurisdiction than those enrolled in colleges or universities.

Despite improvement by Blacks and Hispanics, there remain stark differences in access to quality education and opportunity that education affords. In a recent NCHE recent paper, Susan Eaton, Director of the Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy at the Heller School for Social Policy at Brandeis University, cited the racial disparity in poverty nationwide. About 24 percent of Native Americans, 20 percent of Blacks, and 17 percent of Latinos live in high-poverty neighborhoods compared to just 4 percent of Whites. Disparities in schools are even more extreme, with 74 percent of Black and Latinos, 70 percent of Native Americans, and just 32 percent of Whites attending schools where at least half of the students qualify for free and reduced lunches.

Clearly, American society remains far from a colorblind state where equity and equality are spread across all communities, rich and poor, Black, White, and Brown. It’s astounding that the Supreme

Court chose to ignore centuries of racism that has created a society where Blacks, Native Americans, and other people of color are forced to confront bias daily in their everyday life, at school, at work, at play, and in their communities.

But there is hope for America. This Supreme Court is not a reflection of the people. This Court represents the opinions of a minority of our population.

That has been demonstrated by the political uprising after the Court’s rejection of a woman’s right to her own reproductive decisions. We may see a similar reaction to this Court decision limiting access to the nation’s top educational institutions to people qualified to attend but who have faced discrimination because of their skin color every day since birth. NCHE has conducted research, which will soon be released, demonstrating that the American people want to put racism and political divisiveness behind us and move forward to create equitable communities.

America made tremendous progress after the murder of George Floyd. A watershed of honesty and sincerity opened up to address the realities of police brutality and the legacy of denial of humanity. Anytime there is a moment creating a seismic wave in society, one representing a transformation from the norm, there will be resistance. In this case, the opposition has a high level of authority and power, but it contradicts the minds and hearts of the majority of America.

The march towards an equitable society will continue.

Dr. Gail C. Christopher is the Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity, Senior Scholar at the Center for Advancement of Well-Being at George Mason University, and former Senior Advisor and Vice President of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

Black Garnet Books

Black Business SPOTLIGHT

By Chris Juhn Staff Contributor

When Dionne Sims (DS) decided to launch Black Garnet Books in the summer of 2020, her life was headed in a totally different direction. “I was working in the tech industry in 2020,” said the 30-year-old Sims of her journey to becoming a Black bookstore owner.

“After the murder of George Floyd, I took a break to focus on community work. I was getting involved in protests, rallies and cleanups—things like that. During that break from work, I realized that’s what I really want to be doing. I wanted to be in community with people and connecting with them face-to-face, versus just sitting in an office in the suburbs working all day.”

Before moving into Black Garnet’s current brick-andmortar space on University Ave. West in St. Paul this past October—where she has four employees—she operated as an online bookstore, occasionally opening at pop-up sites or other locations around the Twin Cities, including sharing space with a local tattoo parlor.

MSR: What inspired you to start your business?

DS: I was looking for a Blackowned bookstore to support, and I realized that there weren’t any in Minnesota. I tweeted that [a Black book-

store] didn’t exist here. That became my dream, to start a Black-owned bookstore here. Everyone was like, ‘Yeah, you should do that.’ And so, it all just kind of snowballed from there.

MSR: What were you doing before the bookstore?

DS: I was a user experience designer. I was working at different tech companies around the Twin Cities.

I didn’t really know how to get into that kind of work I wanted to do. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a professional organizer. I just knew that I wanted to work in the community. At the same time, I was also looking for a way to decompress from how stressful that time was. And for me reading is a big way for me to decompress.

DS: Bookstores are communal hubs. It’s a place where people know that they can come in, where events are being held that are going to be of interest to them, especially with independent bookstores. Since they’re so hyper-local, they can be really specific in catering to the needs of the neighborhood, as well as the needs and desires of [other] people in the city.

For us, we’re a queer space. The majority of our employees are queer. I’m queer. Especially during pride month, but also all months, we like to be able to let people know that this is a safe place to come and get those books that are being banned across the country. It’s just a welcoming space.

MSR: Do you sell anything besides books?

DS: Besides books, we also have stationery, puzzles, home goods like mugs, candles, socks, t-shirts, tote bags—all that kind of stuff. But then we also do events every month. We give people the opportunity to meet authors, both local authors and national authors.

We also do events that are not book-focused. We did speed-dating last month, and we’re going to do that again. We have an art fair that we regularly host and have events that are designed just to bring people into the space so they can be together, and not necessarily focused on selling books.

ing on loans. And it’s really kind of week-to-week. But it’s definitely worth it, to not have that stress of debt hanging over us.

MSR: What has been the most rewarding part of owning your business?

DS: I love being able to see people’s joy in finding a book that they actually feel that they relate to. That’s probably my favorite part.

Our bookstore is different because we only carry books by Black, Indigenous, or other people of color—every single book. If you buy a book here, you’re supporting a person of color no matter what book you buy, which I think is really cool.

We have the freedom to do quirky little art fairs, or partner up with breweries and have adult book fairs, which we’re going to host in August.

We do more than just sell books. We help create spaces where people can come together. So, I want to do a lot more of those kinds of events.

MSR: What advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur?

MSR: How does your business impact the community?

MSR: What’s your bestselling book right now?

DS: “All About Love,” by bell hooks.

MSR: What has been your biggest challenge in owning a business?

DS: I think the biggest challenge is money. I think that there are a lot of people who start businesses either with income that they already have, or because they have networks that are highly funded. I think for Black people—in a state where there is such a large financial gap between White people and Black people—it can be really difficult for us to get the funding that we need. And the kind of funding that’s sustainable.

I think after the initial excitement of the bookstore died down, there’s always that period where you’re like, ‘Okay, I have to figure a way to keep the doors open.’ Luckily, I have connections to the City where I was able to get support and receive a working grant from the City.

But even that wasn’t extremely accessible. And it’s not something that I would consider accessible to most people, because they either don’t know that it exists, or because it’s just so much work to get a grant. You kind of need someone who’s focused on that full time. I think that was probably the hardest part.

MSR: Did you apply for any business loans?

DS: I applied for one bank loan, just a small one. It’s been paid off already. I know that one of the biggest things that causes small businesses to close is debt and not being able to claw your way out once you’re in it.

Those loans seem great upfront, but then a year later you’re like, ‘Oh my God. A big chunk of my income is just going into paying back this initial loan.’ It really sinks a lot of people.

I’ve been really deliberate about trying not to take out any loans. I mean, it’s hard. It’s stressful since you aren’t rely-

Other bookstores, they mostly try and carry books that are on the bestseller lists. We have those big bestsellers too. But here, it’s also a bunch of

DS: Really talk to people. When you’re starting something new and you’re not sure if it’s going to work, there’s a lot of fear involved. That can make you feel like, ‘I’m going to keep this dream or this goal to myself and try to do all the planning and everything behind the scenes, just in case I fail, and it doesn’t work out.’ I was scared the entire time. But it’s easier to be scared out loud and openly than it is to do it internally. Plus, it gives people opportunities to help and support you in ways that you probably weren’t even thinking of. There were a lot of things that I didn’t know I needed help with until someone was like, “I can help you out with this.” Or they offered their services. That kind of stuff won’t happen if you aren’t talking to people and being honest and open. You have to be vulnerable to be open about something. But it’s really the only way to get things done in a good amount of time, and to

local authors of color that you may not have heard of. Here, we have authors that definitely aren’t getting the kind of a big marketing push that maybe White authors are getting. I think that that’s something that’s really special about us. And we can still fill all of our bookshelves, which I think is something that 20 years ago wouldn’t have been possible.

MSR: What’s your vision for your business? What does success look like for you?

DS: I definitely want to do more community-focused events that aren’t just specifically about book selling. People can still buy books at them, which I think is really cool, but it’s also just fun. I want to bring the fun back into bookstores that you don’t really get with places like Barnes and Noble, and that you definitely don’t get with Amazon, since it’s just online.

The joy in having an indie bookstore is that you can do whatever you want with it. It exists to meet the desires and wants of the people who come to it. So, we have that freedom to do things like speed dating.

also get it done in a way that doesn’t like kill you with the stress of it.

MSR: How can people find out about your events?

DS: We have put all of our events on our website. We also put them on social media, on Instagram (@blackgarnetbooks). People can also sign up for our newsletter, either online or through social media.

MSR: What would you like to add that has not been covered?

DS: We are excited to just sell books to folks, and we’re excited to get to know and meet community members here and through our events that we do across the Twin Cities. I hope people come visit or they stop by one of our events.

Black Garnet Bookstore is located at 1319 University Avenue West in Saint Paul. For more information, call (651) 641-7515, or go to www.blackgarnetbooks.com.

Chris Juhn welcomes reader comments at cjuhn@spokesman-recorder.com.

We do more than just sell books. We help create spaces where people can come together.

Dionne Sims

Photos by Chris Juhn

DOJ

Continued from page 1

practices against Blacks and Native Americans and those suffering a mental health crisis.

At the meeting between the Unity Community Mediation Team and the DOJ, members asked that the MPD recruit more officers from the community—officers who they believe will see them with dignity.

“Every day [Lake Street Somali Mall goers] feel discriminated against by the Minneapolis Police Department, especially when it comes to Friday prayers,” says Farhil Khalif, executive director of Voice of East African Women. “They feel like they’ve been harassed or given a ticket on the spot. A lot of people believe they’re being targeted because they’re Black.”

Mary LaGarde, executive director of the Minneapolis American Indian Center, echoed this sentiment. “We want our law enforcement to reflect the community that they’re serving. We want our Native people to be police

BLUE LINE

Continued from page 1

line between Theodore Wirth Park in North Minneapolis and 71st Avenue in Brooklyn Park.

Planners had also tried to route the extension through North Minneapolis once before, by way of Penn Avenue and West Broadway, but abandoned the idea because it would have involved demolishing homes. At the same time, residents began getting priced out of housing as rents increased because landlords were excited about the prospect of such a line going through the community.

Worries about displacement intensified when planners decided to give the heart of North Minneapolis another shot at the Blue Line extension alignment. This time, after hearing from local activists who have been working with communities along the line to address their concerns, planners decided to work with CURA to develop guidelines to mitigate the impacts from building the light-rail extension.

“We heard very clearly from our community residents and businesses their concerns about displacement,” said Hennepin County project manager Cathy Gold at the May meeting of the Blue Line Extension Corridor Management Committee, the committee that is overseeing the project’s construction. “We want to make sure that we are

FESTIVAL

Continued from page 1

the many Somali state and local employees as an example of how far the community had come since arriving to Minnesota in the early 1990s. Many of these organizations, including Ahmed’s, attended the festival in hopes of recruiting more people to the workforce.

“This is integration,” he said.

“Even though this is Somali Independence Day, the people here are Somali American. Every

officers, people that can relate to our community members.”

Even though some may want to abolish the police, and have the money spent investing in resources to build strong communities, Rachel Dionne

Thunder said we still need the police in some cases.

“I believe that we do need law

preparing our community, and we’re going to have things in place for them to survive the construction elements and then thrive into the future.”

The recommendations include:

• Provide basic income for all residents living in neighborhoods affected by the Blue Line extension.

• Landlords who own buildings in neighborhoods affected by the Blue Line extension must provide relocation assistance if they choose to terminate a lease with a tenant.

• Tenants who are displaced from the neighborhood because of the Blue Line extension project should be given priority to return to similar units at the same rent they paid before they were displaced.

• Tenants facing eviction receive the services of a government-funded attorney.

• Tenants who live in neighborhoods affected by the Blue Line extension get first right-ofrefusal for buildings put up for sale by landlords.

• Limit the use of background and credit checks on prospective tenants.

• Empower tenants to organize for better living conditions.

• Implement rent stabilization, which could include rent control.

• Preserve naturally occurring affordable housing, which often consists of older housing stock.

• Require that new multifam-

enforcement, because there are situations that I don’t want to see our community members put in without the proper training and resources and tools that police departments have access to,” says Dionne Thunder. “We need law enforcement to investigate our missing and murdered Indigenous women and rela-

ily housing projects include a percentage of affordable units for low-income renters.

• Zero- to low-interest loans for longtime resident homebuyers who have lived in Blue Line extension neighborhoods, with disincentives for those intend-

tives. We need those resources to come into our community, but we need them to come in a way that’s healthy and helpful, not overbearing and restrictive and abusive.”

Pastor Ian D. Bethel agrees, but also admits it will be difficult for MPD to focus on hiring more officers, which he believes will make Minneapolis safe.

“Remember that movie ‘Ghostbusters’? Who you gonna call? If someone breaks into your home, who you gonna call? You’re gonna immediately dial 911.

“We need the police,” said Bethel. “The numbers in the police department are not there [to keep us safe]. You tell a 10-year-old, ‘Go into policing as a career.’ It’s [a] hard sell. We cannot give up on that.”

The meeting was reportedly among more than a dozen that the DOJ held in Minneapolis last week. The DOJ was reportedly present at the Sabathani Community Center on June 26 and the North Regional Library on June 27, as well as meeting with organizations working with the Native American and

needed to invest in their implementation and suggest it can be funded by a combination of public and private sources, as was done when the Green Line was being built through St. Paul. The recommendations also include developing groups to implement

East African communities.

However, many in the community did not know about

ditional opportunities for input in the coming weeks in this ongoing process.” They invite community members who are interested in attending future sessions or providing their feedback on the consent decree to email community. minneapolis[at]usdoj.gov or call 866-432-0268.

agency in the state is here so if you want to be part of it if you want to get to know them and get information, everything you

ing to flip homes.

• Collective land ownership, similar to the Rondo Community Land Trust.

• Implement regulations limiting corporate-landlord ownership in impacted cities.

• Develop city and county policies to manage disposal of surplus land that does not prioritize profitgenerating sales of properties.

• Provide support for small businesses such as marketing support, grants for lost revenue because of light rail construction, and technical assistance.

• Prioritize BIPOC vendors in building out the Blue Line extension.

• Preserve cultural and physical features that reflect the character of the communities that live along the Blue Line extension.

The recommendations do not address how much money is

them, as well as an agenda to lobby for state funding in the next legislative session. Implementing the recommendations, in addition to realigning the Blue Line through North Minneapolis, could very well increase the $1.536 billion budgeted for the original alignment.

KB Brown, who owns Wolfpack Promotionals on West Broadway, sees the anti-displacement recommendations as a bargaining chip to save the North Side from gentrification. He neither supports nor opposes the project. “By having the Blue Line coming now, you have the anti-displacement measures in place to actually dictate the resources that will come to the community,” said Brown.

“The city and county own more property on Broadway

the meetings, which were organized on short notice. “One thing we mentioned is the need to give the community better notice of outreach meetings. We’ll be working with them on this issue,” said Communities United Against Police Brutality Director Michelle Gross.

A DOJ spokesperson stresses that they plan to have “ad-

than most private business owners. If the light rail doesn’t come through, [Minneapolis and Hennepin County] will just turn around and sell those properties to the large developers that we’re trying to keep out [by selling surplus land to the highest bidder]. Then gentrification will take its toll, and [the Met Council] will come right back and put the Blue Line here, eight years from now.”

Met Council member Reva Chamblis, who represents Brooklyn Park, believes such an investment needs to be substantial. “I know I’ve personally been waiting for over four years for this presentation. It’s much bigger than anti-displacement. It’s making sure that, as has been said, our community benefits. Those investments need to be substantial in order to have a substantial impact,” said Chamblis.

The Blue Line Coalition, the organization that has been organizing local communities around the Blue Line extension project for close to a decade, supports the recommendations.

“We’re advocating for the people-centered development strategy, one that is going to uplift the lives of our community members and prevent them from being displaced. We don’t want to see mistakes from the past repeated,” said Nelima Sitati Munene, executive director of the Brooklyn Park nonprofit African Career Education and Research Inc. Munene added

formation,” said Misky Abshir, a technologist and founder of Noma Capital who sat at the EABA booth. “There is a force when it comes to Somali community with sharing resources, sharing information. When they say representation matters, it really matters here. Because we see other Somalians taking risks—it’s like, if that brother or that sister could do it, so can I.”

Nonetheless, Dionne believes police officers will not fix all of our problems. “There need to be resources that are invested in behavioral health. There need to be task forces for trafficking, for missing and murdered Indigenous women. There need to be resources for addiction and homelessness. There needs to be protection for our children, investment in our future generations,” says Dionne Thunder.

“We can’t expect [police to be] a fix-all. But we can expect them to have integrity, to have trust, to be healthy, and to be accountable for their actions.”

H. Jiahong Pan welcomes reader comments at hpan@spokesman-recorder.com.

that Brooklyn Park has the biggest share of proposed Blue Line extension stations, and with that comes pressure from developers who want to build housing that community members might not be able to afford.

Some of the recommendations may face an uphill battle. Although Mayor Jacob Frey, who serves on the committee, voted to adopt the recommendations, he has gone on record as opposing rent stabilization, which is one of the key recommendations. During his campaign for mayor he said that he supports fostering dialogue on controversial issues such as rent stabilization.

The recommendations don’t necessarily help Northside residents who want to develop the corridor near-term. Some, like Makram El-Amin, are wondering how the light rail would affect the properties that they want to develop. El-Amin’s family owns a building near Penn and West Broadway that they want to redevelop into a commercial kitchen for caterers and small entrepreneurs, with professional offices and small business incubator spaces upstairs.

“If something did get put on that site,” said El-Amin, “if it’s determined that’s where [the light rail is] going to go, then whatever we did would have to come down.”

H. Jiahong Pan welcomes reader comments at hpan@spokesman-recorder.com.

need is right here.”

Amani Radman, CEO and founder of the East African Business Association (EABA), attended the festival to connect with entrepreneurs and invite them to become a part of her association. Radman said that Minnesota has been a great state that has fostered the right environment for entrepreneurship to thrive within the community.

“I think Minnesota is open and is very open to giving other cultures the opportunity and recognize that where I think other states are still not ready to embrace other cultures,” she said.

“Looking within the community, there is a collective effort when it comes to sharing in-

Abdi Mohamed welcomes reader comments at amohamed@spokesman-recorder.com.

“When they say representation matters, it really matters here. Because we see other Somalians taking risks— it’s like, if that brother or that sister could do it, so can I.”

“I believe that we do need law enforcement, because there are situations that I don’t want to see our community members put in without the proper training and resources and tools that police departments have access to.”

Activist Al Flowers at New Beginnings Baptist Ministries meeting with Department of Justice reps.

“We heard very clearly from our community residents and businesses their concerns about displacement.”

Arts & Culture

‘The Space Race’ soars high at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival

FILM REVIEW

By Dwight Brown

They’re heroes. Space-race pioneers. Afronauts. Black folks who powered their way into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program, and blazed a path for others to follow.

The integration of NASA, the U.S. government agency responsible for science and technology for air and space, as with other government agencies and entities—from schools and corporations to sports and politics—started with a few brave souls. Over the course of history, change happened in the space program, and opportunities arose. And while NASA is more diverse now, that wasn’t always the case.

“The Space Race” is a perceptive, enlightening and historically significant documentary from filmmakers Lisa Cortes (“Little Richard: I Am Everything”) and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (“Rulon Gardener Won’t Die”), that explores the role of African Americans in the NASA space program. The documentary archives the courageous forerunners, the resistance they confronted, and the support systems that surrounded them as they built an environment that welcomed others.

The OG in the 60-year-old history of Blacks in the space program is Captain Edward Joseph Dwight. A former captain in the United States Air Force, Dwight was a test pilot.

According to various sources, the National Urban League’s Whitney Young put a bug in President John. F. Kennedy’s ear that for the Blacks to believe they could really achieve in science and aeronautics, they needed a role model. JFK heard him and acted.

The legendary Chuck Yaeger, the first pilot in history to break the sound barrier, led the Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS), an Air Force training program that sent its graduates into the astronaut corps. Yaeger was implored by representatives for then U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy to ac-

The footage in “The Space Race” feels like someone giving a graduate course in Black astronauts, an Afrofuturism masterclass, and a lesson in perseverance.

cept Dwight into his program. To the outside world, Yaeger was an all-American, goodguy hero. According to Dwight, the scuttlebutt he heard was that the ARPS leader plotted against him. Yaeger told his corps: “They’re trying to cram a n****r down our throats.”

Dwight’s entry into ARPS, in the early 1960s, was met with opposition, harassment and ostracization. While he experienced discrimination and degradation in ARPS, he was being

promoted around the country as the first Black astronaut, a beacon of hope and a symbol of change. What he encountered wasn’t as rosy as the smiling family photos, fawning press releases, and magazine cover stories.

His experience is part of a narrative that the African American community recognizes all too well. Whether it’s Jackie Robinson, Barack Obama, or Althea Gibson, the story is always same: Take a hit for the team. Show courage. Survive and hopefully thrive, and others will follow. In that sense, “The Space Race” is not so much about Black astronauts but more about how African Americans experience racial progress.

The footage in “The Space Race” feels like someone giving a graduate course in Black astronauts, an Afrofuturism masterclass, and a lesson in perseverance. Hearing from 89-year-old Dwight, who is still around to tell his story, is a poignant reminder of our history.

Discovering the advances and achievements that sub-

sequent Black space travelers have made is a rare breath of fresh air. Astronauts Guion Bluford (the first Black man in space in 1978), Charles Bolden (four space shuttle missions), and Victor Glover (flight

Glimpses of Nichelle Nichols of TV’s “Star Trek” fame advocating for people of color and women to become part of the space program are equally inspiring. She bridged fantasy with real-life space travel.

as she floats around the International Space Station in April 2022, becoming the first Black woman to complete a longterm NASA mission.

Collectively, their words are thoughtful, measured, heartfelt and precious.

Footage from the 1960s through the present day is illuminating. The interviews are skillfully conducted and rich with personal anecdotes and astute perspectives by some of these NASA veterans. Historical events, from JFK’s assassination to the space shuttle Challenger tragedy and Civil Rights uprisings, are woven into the storytelling that is never less than reflective.

Trailblazers pay a cost is the message, and this uplifting documentary shines a light on those who sacrificed so others could achieve. Audiences will experience a sense of great pride in the accomplishments of these heroes, in African American history, and recognize a country that is still constantly changing as it learns to confront racism.

“The Space Race” should be required viewing for every kid in a STEM program and for anyone interested in aeronautics, Black history, and what it takes to make our best and brightest ready for the future.

“The Space Race” premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival in June. The film will be available exclusively on National Geographic Channels and Disney+. No release date has been announced.

engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 64), have much to say.

Summer watchlist: July 7 - 18

By Nadine Matthews

Contributing Writer

The heat is on, and so are a number of entertaining shows. Below are highlights of upcoming series and movies scheduled to premiere or return to our screens in July that feature notable Black talent.

JULY

July 7

Biosphere - TBD

In the not-too-distant future, the last two men on earth must adapt and evolve to save humanity. Features Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”).

The Out-Laws - Netflix Movie

A straight-laced bank manager is about to marry the love of his life. When his bank is held up by infamous Ghost Bandits during his wedding week, he believes his future in-laws, who just arrived in town, are the infamous Out-Laws. Featuring Lil Rel Howery (“Get Out”).

July 9

Never Say Never with Jeff Jenkins - Nat Geo

Series

Travel journalist Jeff Jenkins didn’t set foot on a plane until he was 20 years old, but once he did, he started living by his mantra, “life begins where your comfort zone ends.” Featuring Jeff Jenkins.

July 12

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part

One - Theatrical Release

Seventh entry in the long-running “Mission: Impossible” series. Featuring Ving Rhames (“Pulp Fiction”), Greg Tarzan Davis (“Top Gun: Maverick”).

July 14

Bird Box Barcelona - Netflix movie

After an entity of mysterious origin annihilates the world’s population causing those who observe it to take their lives, Sebastián and his

The highlight of the documentary is viewing Jessica Watkins, a Ph.D. in geology,

Dwight Brown is the NNPA News Wire film critic. Find more of his work at DwightBrownInk.com.

daughter begin their own great adventure of survival in Barcelona. Featuring Georgina Campbell (“Krypton,” “Black Mirror”).

July 18

Supa Team 4- Netflix series

Animated series follows four teenage girls living in a futuristic version of Lusaka, Zambia, who are recruited by a retired secret agent to save the world. Features John Macmillan (“House of Dragon”), Nancy Sekhokoane (“The Woman King”).

Captain Edward Joseph Dwight (third from right) speaking at the Tribeca Film Festival. Courtesy of Dwight Brown

Astronaut and physicist Dr. Ronald McNair conducted research on satellite-to-satellite space communications. Dr. McNair died in the space shuttle Challenger accident. Courtesy of National Geographic

Overturning Opportunity

By Marian Wright Edelman

In the spring of 1954, like so many Black families, mine waited anxiously for the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. My father and I talked about it and what it would mean for my future and the future of millions of other Black children who were attending segregated but unequal Black schools.

He died the week before Brown was decided. But I and many other children were able, in later years, to walk through the new and heavy doors that Brown slowly and painfully opened.

It was a transforming time that set into motion a spate of other challenges to Jim Crow laws that changed America. But while Brown v. Board cracked open doors of opportunity that had previously been locked shut, the doors to true educational equality were never opened all the way, and never wide enough for millions of American children to enter.

This year many families once again waited anxiously for a Supreme Court decision that might impact their children’s future. But this time many worried that the Supreme Court’s decision striking down race-based affirmative action college admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina would pull doors of opportunity closed—most especially for the millions of children of color who attend schools in the United States today that are still largely segregated and still unequal.

A reminder that racism is not over

By Dr. Russ Wigginton

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yesterday’s landmark Supreme Court decision to reject race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions reminds us that the struggle for racial justice and equality continues and is ever-present. This decision creates serious challenges to bring racial equity to the nation’s institutions of higher education and undermines the decades of work that has been done to address systemic racism in our schools.

The Fourth of July holiday is meant to bring Americans together to celebrate the promise of our Declaration of Independence. This year we are reminded again of the work that still needs to be done to make our nation live up to its ideals.

In the opening to her dissent to the majority’s ruling in favor

falls short of actualizing one of its foundational principles— the ‘self-evident’ truth that all of us are created equal.”

A few sentences later she wrote: “Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) has maintained, both subtly and overtly, that it is unfair for a college’s admissions process to consider race as one factor in a holistic review of its applicants… This contention blinks both history and reality in ways too numerous to count.

“But the response is simple: Our country has never been colorblind. Given the lengthy history of state-sponsored race-based preferences in America, to say that anyone is now victimized if a college considers whether that legacy of discrimination has unequally advantaged its applicants fails to acknowledge the welldocumented ‘intergenerational transmission of inequality’ that still plagues our citizenry.”

In 1954, the Supreme Court struck down state-sanctioned segregation in public schools and found it unconstitutional. And the Civil Rights Act of 1964 went even further to protect the integration of schools and other public places.

It has been almost six decades since the latter decision,

and although schools are not legally segregated today, we continue to see significant disparities throughout our educational system and low representation of Black and Brown students in most higher education institutions.

This recent Supreme Court decision is a poignant reminder

won. You earn it and win it in every generation. That is what we have not taught young people, or older ones for that matter. You do not finally win a state of freedom that is protected forever. It doesn’t work that way.”

Our mission and ongoing work at the National Civil Rights Museum to educate visitors on the American Civil Rights Movement and inspire positive social change is more important than ever. The National Civil Rights Museum will continue to highlight the monumental efforts of generations of civil and human rights leaders and serve as our local and national community’s public square—a place where we all can come together to do the work that must continue to create more diverse, equitable and inclusive opportunities for all.

that the critical work to correct the generational impacts of our country’s long history of systemic racism is not finished.

As Coretta Scott King wisely shared, “Freedom is never really

We invite you to visit www. civilrightsmuseum.org to learn more and join our collective efforts.

A Black community call to action

By Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson

of Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. against the University of North Carolina, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote: “Gulf-sized race-based gaps exist with respect to the health, wealth, and well-being of American citizens. They were created in the distant past, but have indisputably been passed down to the present day through the generations. Every moment these gaps persist is a moment in which this great country

submissions@spokesman-recorder.com

submissions@spokesman-recorder.com

As she proceeded with her detailed dissent outlining this inequality and its potential effects on two hypothetical present-day students, Justice Jackson also wrote: “With letthem-eat-cake obliviousness, today the majority pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat.

“But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life… No one benefits from ignorance. Although formal race-linked legal barriers are gone, race still matters to the lived experiences of all Americans in innumerable ways, and today’s ruling makes things worse, not better.

“The best that can be said of the majority’s perspective is that it proceeds (ostrich-like) from the hope that preventing consideration of race will end racism. But if that is its motivation, the majority proceeds in vain.

“If the colleges of this country are required to ignore a thing that matters, it will not just go away. It will take longer for racism to leave us. And, ultimately, ignoring race just makes it matter more.”

No one benefits from ignorance. Ignorance will not make our children more free or more equal, and “ignoring” race— just like banning books about race or prohibiting school lessons about race—will not benefit any of our children of any color. But those of us who refuse to go backwards are not about to give up now.

Last week, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) placed more obstacles in the path of Black and Brown young people achieving their dreams. But our children, their families, and those of us who stand with them will keep fighting to shape a nation where young people grow up with dignity, hope and joy.

In a disappointing decision, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court gutted affirmative action policies, reversing decades of effort to diversify university campuses and promote economic mobility for Black and Brown families. History has shown that “race-neutral policies” in university admissions are a license to discriminate.

As Justice Jackson notes, “our country has never been colorblind.” Unquestionably, SCOTUS’s decisions will lead us backward to a time when countless qualified students of color were denied access to the gifts of higher education.

Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce determined earlier this year that if the court decided as they did today, selective institutions will be “extremely unlikely to enroll student bodies that come close to mirroring the demographic diversity of the high school class.” Further suppression of Black and Brown students in college admissions threatens our nation’s growth toward a multicultural democracy.

As Justice Sotomayor noted in the dissenting opinion, “the Court stands in the way and rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress.” Affirmative action is one

effort to acknowledge and correct centuries of economic and social policies that have prevented Black families from attaining access and accumulating assets that are critical to America’s promise of economic mobility. With education as the most promising path from poverty to prosperity, a wider college-access gap will further expand Black-White income and wealth disparities.

nizations, faith leaders and community champions, must take affirmative, assertive, and even aggressive action to build a nation where all people can thrive and “let America be America again.’

As partners with educators and institutions of higher education across the country, Children’s Defense Fund invites university leaders who have benefited from more diverse learning environments over the last two generations to hold fast to their commitments to excellence and creatively leverage innovation in the face of this challenge.

We encourage individuals and institutions of resource and access to invest in the infrastructure of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs) whose missions are more important than ever. Their capacity will be tested by an influx of students seeking sanctuary from the world the Court is advancing for their education, formation, and development in critical years.

submissions@spokesman-recorder.com.

As Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote at the end of her own dissent, “Society’s progress toward equality cannot be permanently halted. Diversity is now a fundamental American value, housed in our varied and multicultural

According to CDF’s 2023 State of America’s Children report, the income of White families with children is more than double that of Black families with children. This intentional disregard of the conditions our nation has created itself speaks loudly to the ongoing need for race-based affirmative action policies.

With the increasing diversity of young people in America, “affirmative action” in every facet of public life is more important now than ever. What the Supreme Court has made clear is that the responsibility is ours. We, the community of advocates, activists, orga-

American community that only continues to grow… The opinion today will serve only to highlight the Court’s own impotence in the face of an America whose cries for equality resound.”

Justice Sotomayor closed by citing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech at the end of the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches, “Our God is Marching On”: “As has been the case before in the history

More than anything, we speak on this dark day to the 1,500 college students leading the CDF Freedom Schools program across the country this summer, the 16,000 young scholars in their care, and the most diverse generation of children in our nation’s history whose path to college just got narrower. The Supreme Court may have signaled that you are on your own, but we will organize, advocate, and build the power to ensure that you are never alone.

Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson is president and CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund.

of American democracy, ‘the arc of the moral universe’ will bend towards racial justice.”

Marian Wright Edelman is founder and president emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund.

“If the colleges of this country are required to ignore a thing that matters, it will not just go away. It will take longer for racism to leave us. And, ultimately, ignoring race just makes it matter more.”

Dr. Russ Wigginton is the president of the National Civil Rights Museum.

“Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.”

History has shown that “race-neutral policies” in university admissions are a license to discriminate.

& Legals

SOE

Continued from page 10

warm reception she got from the Lynx faithful. “When I first got to Minnesota, there was a time when I was feeling a little hopeless about the possibility this could happen,” she said as she looked up to the rafters where four WNBA-title banners hang. She smiled when reminded that she was at the beginning of the league’s second dynasty.

“When you return and see what you left [has become] so much greater, that’s the reward for me,” said Wiggins.

GYMNASTICS

Continued from page 10

members are involved day to day recruiting these events, but also executing them.”

Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan told the MSR, “I’m just really excited about what this means for our community and especially for all these young girls who get to see those role

Now a high school coach, Wiggins is proud of her new responsibilities training and influencing the next generation of female hoopsters and future leaders.

“I’m dealing with girls,” she said. “They’re not girls, they’re not women. They’re girls becoming women. You have to foster a foundation of character, and those are the things that I’m instilling.”

Next week’s Lynx great: Taj McWillams-Franklin

Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.

models who look like them, who come from their community. It’s a game changer.”

“I think we’re showcasing our great city, our great state,” said Walz after he talked to reporters. “If we’re going to put on a great event, Minneapolis is the best place to do it.”

to run ONE

Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.

the Court may decide against you and award the Plaintiff everything asked for in the Complaint. If you do not want to contest the claims stated in the Complaint, you do not need to respond. A default judgment can then be entered against you for the relief requested in the Complaint.

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cism for her play and bravado and turned it into NIL gold. She was called “angry” and other stereotypical adjectives often used to describe Black women when they don’t fit so-called normal standards, which ultimately resulted in more NIL deals.

But Keaton quickly warned that what happened for Reese isn’t the usual blueprint for

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other Black women athletes, especially she says, “how we think about Black women’s bodies, the marketability of Black women’s bodies.”

“I think Angel Reese is an interesting case study,” the professor pointed out. “I actually have my doctoral students looking into that matter. This might be an interesting case study on where do all Black women athletes have the freedom to be their authentic selves in the [same] way Angel Reese is being. Right now, I honestly see her as an outlier.”

Keaton also expressed concern that when Black females such as Reese become popular on such social media sites as Instagram and TikTok, their trendsetting ways are open to being “co-opted by White people, and…that hurts [Blacks’] financial opportunity,” she said. “I think NIL is not devoid of all of the different issues of racism we see play out capitalistically in the marketplace.”

“Given the stereotypes that Black women experience in society,” continued Keaton,

referring to NIL deals, “we can’t assume that marketability exists for Black women.” Instead, she says, perceptions of who is desirable continue to persist when it comes to nonWhite folk.

“We can see how particular issues of racism,” said Keaton, were front and center in Reese’s case, referring to the nowjunior LSU forward. Keaton hopes that more Black-owned, Black- women-featured companies, as well as other companies and products really think about how Black women athletes are so unique to a niche area of sports.

Keaton concluded that although NIL is currently a boon for most college athletes, which she supports, there are other concerns.

“What I would like us to see is the humanity of female athletes,” she said, while always keeping in mind the “gender and racism and social institutions that Black female athletes still have to navigate.”

Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.

Stereotypes influence NIL deals for Black women athletes

what she’s seeing.

“We can assume that issues of racism, sexism, and misuse of Black women are still in play,” stressed the professor. She cited a couple of examples: former Miami basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder, who have become NIL darlings.

GREATS

Wiggins now focused on teaching the next generation

0nce name, image and likeness (NIL) became a college sport reality after its acceptance by the NCAA in 2021, NIL deals now are a regular part of the landscape. But are Black women college athletes getting their fair share of the action?

Louisville Assistant Professor Dr. Ajhanai (AJ) Keaton, who studies the intersection of race, gender and organizations, is looking at today’s NIL market and seeing it from a historical perspective. She recently spoke to the MSR about

“I am thinking about the Cavinder twins in Miami, Keaton said. “They are good and talented [WBB players] but were not the best in the country.”

According to On3 that tracks NIL deals, the Cavinder

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The MSR is the only local media member that has covered the Minnesota Lynx from the start of its 25-year existence as the team became the Twin Cities’ most successful pro franchise. Before this season, the team chose its top-25 players in Lynx history and held their 25th anniversary celebration the weekend of June 9-11, where the MSR spoke to several of the honored players. This week: Candice Wiggins (2008-12)

e first met Candice Wiggins a few days after she and her Stanford team lost to Tennessee in the 2008 NCAA championship and she became the third overall pick in that year’s WNBA draft by Minnesota. The 5’11” guard spent five of her eightyear pro career as a Lynx.

“Right now, I’m the women’s basketball director and head coach at SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio,” Wiggins told this reporter during a break from last month’s 25-year celebration weekend. She was on the team’s first WNBA championship club.

The SPIRE women’s basketball program is new and Wiggins is their first coach. Hired in 2022, Wiggins coaches at the international boarding high school and postsecondary program for grades 9-12 located about 44 miles from Cleveland. It provides both education and

sports training in several sports for around 80 students.

“I get to teach them every day,” boasted Wiggins. “I get to encourage them and I get to teach them what it takes stepby-step at the grassroots level, which is really where I feel like I serve best.”

Wiggins was born in Baltimore. Her late father Alan Wiggins was a pro baseball player and played in the 1984 World Series for the San Diego Padres. He moved his family to the San Diego area and sadly died of complications from AIDS when Candice was four years old. Later, as an adult, she would help raise awareness about HIV/AIDS through many causes.

Candice was a two-sport star in high school, a captain in both volleyball and basketball. Her senior year she was listed as the nation’s best shooting guard in the Class of 2004. She earned a scholarship in both sports from Stanford,

Minneapolis becomes ‘Gymnastics City USA’ in 2024

By Charles Hallman Sports Columnist

he Minneapolis Convention Center will be the site of the USA Gymnastics Championships next June, the USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade Show, and the USA Gymnastics for All National Championships and Gymfest.

Organizers are now calling Minneapolis “Gymnastics City USA 2024,” because along with the three scheduled events, the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team trials will also be held over the course of nine days, beginning June 22, 2024, at the downtown basketball arena. The U.S. Olympic national team will also be announced there.

Nearly 8,000 participants and tens of thousands of fans are expected to be in Minneapolis during that time. But will this flock also attract Blacks?

The MSR raised that question during a big June 13 an-

nouncement event that included Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, USA Gymnastics President and CEO Li Li Leung, and others making presentations.

Gymnastics, with few exceptions, has historically been known as a White sport. But according to a 2021 AP report, Black women gymnasts now make up almost 10 percent of NCAA Division I scholarship athletes, up seven percent from 2012. Over 10 percent of USA Gymnastics members claim they are Black.

“First of all, I was a gymnast, and so my little Black girl is super excited,” declared Gabri-

elle Grier, the partnerships and engagement lead person for Minnesota Sports and Events (MNSE). “This is the first time in history where there will be a number of Black gymnasts that will be performing on the national stage. I’m just really excited to be a part of this. I’m really excited to get our community engaged.”

Simone Biles, St. Paul’s Suni Lee, and Jordan Chiles have been key players in the U.S. women’s Olympic delegation. Both Biles and Chiles are Black, and Lee is Hmong.

“Obviously having a person of color as the face of this event, Suni Lee could inspire many of the underserved communities of our areas to believe that they can be part of this event,” noted Meet Minneapolis Executive Director Melvin Tennant. He is one of the highest ranking Blacks who have helped attract large sporting events to Minneapolis in recent years.

where she starred and lettered in both volleyball and basketball, and where she earned a communications degree, graduating in 2008.

As a WNBA player, Wiggins’ career wasn’t as stellar, but had its share of highlights. She made Rookie of the Month for June in her first season (2008), won the league’s Sixth Woman award, and made the All-Rookie team. She also got injured during the season, but returned to finish the campaign.

In her second season, Wiggins became a starter and was a one-time Player of the Week winner. Her third season, Lindsay Whalen’s first as a Lynx, Wiggins resumed coming off the bench, but ruptured her Achilles in a game and was lost for the remainder of the season.

The guard returned in 2011, but never got back to her preinjury form as an aggressive scorer and defender. But she served as a key reserve on Minnesota’s first championship run, which earned Wiggins a spot among the franchise’s top 25 players that wore a Lynx uniform. Wiggins was part of a fiveteam trade in 2013, when she was sent to Tulsa. Los Angeles and New York were her final W clubs before retiring in 2015. “I’m speechless. I’m overwhelmed. I’m so full of gratitude,” said Wiggins of the ■ See SOE on page 9

has earned some recognition

North in the Class AAAA championship game.

Nnaji was named to the alltournament team, earned Metro Player of the Year honors, and chose Arizona over a host of collegiate offers. After averaging 16.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game as a freshman, he declared for the 2019 NBA draft, where the Nuggets selected him with the 22nd first round pick.

These events include the Super Bowl, two All-Star games (MLB and WNBA), and last year’s Women’s Final Four among many others. The Big Ten will hold its annual basketball postseason tournament here next March, the second time for WBB and the first time ever for MBB.

“We’re just really excited to have both of these major events in our community,” stressed Tennant. His organization and MNSE are partners in staging these sporting events. The latter got $6 million in the Explore Minnesota tourism budget passed by the state legislature in May, and the $5 million cost of hosting the Olympic trials will be covered by public and private funds according to published accounts.

“It takes a huge team,” stated Tennant. “We’re working very closely with Minnesota Sports and Events. Many of our team

eke Nnaji has become an NBA champion. The 6’11” forward, who starred at Hopkins High School and the University of Arizona, participated in five playoff games as a member of the Denver Nuggets, helping them capture their first-ever NBA championship.

Usually when a person with local ties accomplishes such a feat, quite a bit is made of it. This hasn’t been the case with Nnaji.

Playing in 53 regular season games, he averaged 5.2 points and 2.6 rebounds while averaging 13.7 minutes of playing time.

The last time I saw Nnaji play an organized game of basketball was Saturday, March 23, 2019, at the Target Center. He scored 14 points while leading Hopkins to a 55-40 victory over Lakeville

It’s not often when someone who honed their prep athletic skills in the Twin Cities metro area earns a championship ring at the professional level.

Nnaji is the latest to accomplish such a feat.

It’s not often when someone who honed their prep athletic skills in the Twin Cities metro area earns a championship ring at the professional level. Nnaji is the latest to accomplish such a feat.

It’s certainly an accomplishment worthy of recognition.

Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader comments at mcdeezy05@gmail.com.

Nnaji

“NIL is not devoid of all of the different issues of racism we see play out capitalistically in the marketplace.”

Dr. Ajhanai Keaton

Submitted photo

Among the Lynx Top 25, Candice Wiggins is in the front row right of center in a silver dress and sandals. Courtesy of MN Lynx

Candice Wiggins Courtesy of Twitter

“This is the first time in history where there will be a number of Black gymnasts that will be performing on the national stage.”

USA Gymnastics President and CEO Li

Li Leung

Gabrielle Grier

Photos by Charles Hallman

Zeke Nnaji Courtesy of nba.com