September 14, 2023 - MN Spokesman-Recorder

Racism takes a toll

The challenges to African American longevity

By Niara Savage

Contributing Writer

he lifespan of the average American is declining. And although the downward trend is impacting people of all races, Black people continue to face steeper declines and live considerably shorter lives than Whites and Asians.

Though the wave of COVID deaths accelerated the downward trend from 2019 to 2021, the decline in life expectancy from 2014 to 2017 ignited concern that far predates the pandemic. For decades, Americans enjoyed general increases in life expectancy. But now public health experts are tracking ongoing trends that continue to shave off years from American lives.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data, based on deaths through 2021, places projected life expectancy at birth for Whites at 76.4 years. For Blacks that figure is 70.8. Analyzing the data in the context of gender reveals a more complicated story: life expectancy for Black women is 74.8, and 66.7 for Black men.

Even in Minnesota, where life expectancy is the third-longest in the nation, Black Minnesotans don’t enjoy the same projected outcomes as White residents in the state.

“Minnesotans of color, Native American elders, certainly do not fare as well as White older adults in terms of life expectancy,” said Kari Benson, director of the Minnesota Department of Health Services Aging and Adult Services Division.

Rise in ‘deaths of despair’

The decline in life expectancy is due both to the loss of life across young and middle age populations and to chronic conditions in older adults that chip away at lifespans in later years. In some cases, the same tragedies commanding national attention that claim young lives — drug overdoses and suicides, which have been deemed “deaths of despair” by Princeton economists — are affecting older adults.

“In terms of suicide we do see that it is really impacting older adult males,” Benson said. “It’s alarming.”

The suicide rate for Black Americans increased by 19 percent between 2018 and 2021. In that same time period, the suicide rate for White Americans fell by 3.9 percent. For adults over 75, White men have the highest suicide rates compared to other groups. Nationally, older adults make up 12 percent of the population, but 18 percent of suicides. Risk factors

Corrections to give Stillwater prisoners bottled water

By H. Jiahong Pan

Contributing Writer

he Minnesota Department of Corrections (MnDOC) plans to commission further testing of water at the Stillwater prison and is issuing bottled water to prisoners in light of recent complaints during the standoff over water quality at the prison, an ongoing issue with inmates for years.

In a press release issued on Saturday evening, September 9, MnDOC stated it plans to commission a new round of water testing by the Minnesota Department of Health and a third-party lab this coming week to determine what sediments are in the water supply. That testing includes water that inmates use in their prison cells. Until the testing is complete, MnDOC plans to issue prisoners seven bottles of water per day.

Although organizations and Black-owned water suppliers have offered to donate bottled water to Stillwater inmates, the DOC is refusing the offer for now. “We appreciate the

Families protesting prison conditions at Stillwater Photos by H. Jiahong Pan

offer, but it’s more efficient for us to secure it ourselves,” said spokesperson Andy Skoogman.

include social isolation, loss of independence and illness.

Black Americans face challenging odds from two directions when it comes to mental health. On one hand there’s exposure to stress— inequality, discrimination and trauma can exacerbate mental health concerns. On the flip side, barriers to mental health care include socioeconomic and healthcare disparities and a lack of Black psychologists, psychiatrists and other providers.

Some people resort to using substances to deal with mental health disorders. In one 2015 study involving people in treatment for prescription opioid dependency, over 94 percent of participants reported using opioids to self-medicate negative affective states like anxiety, depression and anger.

■ See TOLL on page 5

Met Council details

Blue Line extension funding plan

By H. Jiahong Pan Contributing Writer

Ahead of the Met Council members’ vote on September 14, to decide whether or not to accept funding to move forward with the Blue Line extension project, the Met Council staff detailed a structure that they developed to ensure fu-

nepin County on August 22, as well as to postpone allowing a contractor to draft more engineering drawings for the Blue Line extension, because some members say they did not have time to understand what the agreement comprised.

Some members were upset that they were not consulted by staff as they negotiated a

By Hazel Trice Edney TriceEdneyWire.com

Dr. Valda Crowder, director

Center in Harrisburg, Penn

sylvania, witnesses the carnage up close on a regular basis. And

Nonetheless, the news is welcome for activists and

■ See STILLWATER on page 5

ture project partners pay their fair share.

The recent meeting was in response to the Met Council’s vote to postpone the acceptance of $75 million from Hen-

funding agreement to patch a $272 million deficit in the $2.8 billion Southwest light rail project to Eden Prairie. The Southwest light rail agreement reached by staff with Hen-

nepin County calls for Metro Transit to use 65 percent of the capital funds it receives from the federal government to close 45 percent of the deficit. Hennepin County will make up the difference using its existing transportation sales tax revenue. They hope this means construction costs, including cost overruns, will be covered. Met Council Chair Charlie Zelle said such an agreement was a miracle in its own right, in part because it helps the

■ See BLX PLAN on page 5

Plan for community safety

Crowder said in an interview.

“So many now have armed guards as a result of the increased threats. Many also have machines and metal detectors that you have to go through just like at the airport.

now have armed guards because there have been threats against emergency medical physicians, nurses, and hospitals. There have been actual shootings where emergency medical physicians were killed,”

Patients are sometimes wanded. Those things never used to occur 20 or 25 years ago.

I think people should realize that any person or entity that anyone could get mad at is a

potential victim.”

Crowder is one of those struggling to end the carnage. Among her list of unique initiatives to end gun violence are the following:

• Crowder recalls how the historic photo of the mutilated body of Emmett Till, published in Jet magazine, stunned the world and has been credited with sparking the civil rights movement. Crowder believes

that same kind of stunning moment could work again by placing on display bodies that have been mutilated by gun violence.

“In 1955, the open-casket funeral of Emmett Till drew international attention to the savagery of Jim Crow, spurring a national civil rights movement,” Crowder wrote in an op-ed early this year. “Now

■ See VIOLENCE on page 5

A Child Should Be Seen and Heard

By Marisa C. Williams

If I could travel back in time and speak to my Girl Scout self, a nervous seven-year-old who always knew she was a little different, she probably wouldn’t have believed she’d one day grow up to become a Girl Scout council CEO. Because as much as I enjoyed my time as a Brownie selling cookies, making friends, and engaging in healthy competition, I didn’t always get the sense that Girl Scouts was a place designed for kids like me.

110 years. This work has made a lasting impact on communities large and small across the nation and around the world.

Yet during its history, the organization has sometimes fallen short on achieving its goal of empowering every girl regardless of their background.

From the early days of Girl Scouting to now, significant progress has been made in expanding both membership and programming while intentionally working to advance a greater sense of belonging.

the country gathered to vote on adding explicit anti-racism language to our bylaws, ce-

racist movement that positions every girl for success in their current and future endeavors. And make no mistake, the Girl Scout difference is significant. Girl Scouting, as shown in study after study, makes a measurable difference in building girls who are more likely to demonstrate positive values and feel a strong sense of self, in addition to seeking challenges, developing healthy relationships, and exhibiting community problem-solving skills. These kids are also statistically more likely to attain excellent grades, pursue future careers in STEM, and generally feel a sense of hopefulness about their futures— something all children could use a little more of.

experiences—yes, absolutely.

But perhaps more importantly, Girl Scouting is about the cultivation of a whole person, from finding their voice to choosing their own path.

Today, I am proud to work on behalf of a council full of individuals who are leading in this space. Our everchanging program menu has grown to include offerings like Hmong day camp, Anishinaabe beading, and a personal favorite this past summer, Little Mermaid cinema parties—all reflecting the cultural diversity of our evolving member base.

Nationally, Girl Scouts River Valleys is recognized among our network of 111 councils as a leader in areas like racial justice,

engaging in the civic process. Further, the River Valleys council has helped spearhead regional work groups of folks who are intentionally advancing inclusion and belonging through greater cultural recognition, competence and celebration.

As our council, organization, and larger Girl Scout community continues to step into its ambitious goal of advancing anti-racist principles within our sphere of influence, I find myself moved by the progress I’ve seen for our girls. So many incredible strides have been made since my Girl Scouting days of the 80s, at a time when grownups would still repeat problematic phrases like “Children should be seen and not heard.”

As the new CEO of River Valleys, I’ve made it my personal mission to empower Girl Scouts across our council to be seen and heard as they unapologetically celebrate their most authentic selves. I invite you and your girl or gender-expansive child to join me in this mission by visiting us online at girlscoutsrv.org/join.

Girl Scouts of the USA, our national organization, has been doing great work to build girls of courage, confidence and character for more than

Girl Scouting has been made available to more and more girls thanks to trailblazers like Josephine Holloway, the woman who broke the color barrier for Girl Scouts in the Jim Crow South, and many others throughout the organization’s history.

Even this past summer, Girl Scout delegates from across

menting the national organization’s goal of becoming an anti-

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When young people find their voices, their

CEO Marisa C. Williams of Girl Scouts River Valleys

How the 4 Main Parenting Styles Affect Children and Adults

vital skills for adulthood

Permissive – Low Demanding, High Responsiveness

Uninvolved – Low Demanding, Low Responsiveness

It seems like every generation has a new style of parenting, and every family does things a bit differently. While no parenting style is perfect, some clearly have more benefits than others. At their core, parenting styles explain what role adults see for themselves and their children in the relationship and home.

The Four Main Styles

Most parenting styles can be grouped into four different quadrants. On the vertical axis is responsiveness—how much a parent responds to the child’s needs and desires. On the horizontal axis is demandingness – how much a parent expects from the child. While many parents will move around the grid and hover closer to the center, it’s useful to look at each of the four quadrants to understand the role parents and children play in each approach.

These parents know that “kids will be kids” and want a fun, friendly relationship. Permissive parents have few expectations beyond what is absolutely essential, and they often don’t enforce the rules they do have. They tend to spend time relating as equals, offering emotional support but not guidance.

Pros

• Children feel comfortable sharing successes and failures with their parents

• Parents model empathy and respect Cons

• Lack of parental model for assessing risk, problem-solving, or dealing with conflict

• Easier to develop poor behaviors in personal health, school and responsibility due to a lack of rules and enforcement

• Little practice setting, enforcing, or respecting boundaries

These parents are not active in much of their children’s daily life. They put distance between themselves and the decisions and consequences their children face. Children can make most of their choices and face little punishment.

Pros

• Children can develop strong selfsufficiency and basic adult life skills

Cons

• Children can blame themselves for lack of parental involvement (“I’m not worth it”), even when the reality could be parental demands elsewhere or lack of parental confidence in child rearing

• Children tend to do poorly in school due to little structure at home

• Lack of interpersonal skill development necessary in adulthood

Authoritarian – High Demanding, Low Responsiveness

This model requires direction from parents and adherence from children. Parents offer clear expectations and guidelines and consequences when rules are broken. Children independently learn how to meet (or avoid) expectations.

Pros

• Rule-following at home often leads to rule-following at school and work

• Parents can set goals and expect children to follow through

• Children know what to expect

Cons

• Children who cannot or will not meet expectations often prioritize lying to avoid punishment

• Lack of space to express negative emotions and develop coping skills

• “Because I said so” does not model problem-solving or empathy

• Motivation is all external, so many children have trouble being internally motivated adults

Authoritative – High Demanding, High Responsiveness

In this model, parents consider their children’s feelings during decision-making, but the ultimate authority rests with the adults. Parents offer confident leadership during times of calm as well as stress. Authoritative parents have guidelines and expectations for their children and offer support while children learn how to meet these goals. Standards for both children and parents are clear and reinforce the reciprocal and positive nature of the parent-child relationship.

Pros

• Collaborative, “let’s talk about it” approach can help children develop

• Parents model flexibility, problem-solving, assertiveness, empathy, and responsibility

• Can solidify home as a “safe space” to take risks, fail, and learn how to adapt

• Strong bonds that can grow and adapt as the child ages, making it easier to address the needs of toddlers through young adulthood

• Evidence-supported style for healthiest parents and children

Cons

• High level of intention and energy from parents can lead to burnout; being self-aware is key

• Challenging to implement when children have multiple primary caregivers; consistency is key with this model, and the realities of a busy life can get in the way

It’s important to remember that no parent is perfect, and one bad day doesn’t undo a lifetime of consistent parenting effort. You can always change and improve your parenting style until you feel confident about your relationship with your children.

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.

Darris Group LLC

Black Business SPOTLIGHT

By Chris Juhn Staff Contributor

By the time Elizer Darris launched his consulting group in 2016, after spending more than 15 years in prison, the inspiration had been years in the making.

“I dreamed up the Darris Group while incarcerated,” said 39-year-old Darris. “I wanted to be able to create a vehicle that could allow me and my family to have independence, while also having an impact in the areas that I cared about the most. I decided to use the Darris Group as a consultancy to do that. I knew before getting out of prison that the Darris Group was going to be a thing.”

In addition to his consulting firm, Darris has been involved in the racial justice movement. For nearly three years, Darris was the executive director of the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a multi-million-dollar fund that pays criminal bail and immigration bonds for those who otherwise cannot afford it. In 2021, Darris was appointed by Governor Walz to the State Board of Public Defense, becoming the first formerly incarcerated person to ever serve on the board.

MSR: What does your business do?

Elizer: We do consulting and motivational presentations for

both the private and public sector, nonprofit organizations, governmental entities, and even sports teams. Oftentimes it’s centered around motivational presentations. Also, we help organizations and governments learn how to interface better with community.

MSR: What was the spark, the moment that made you want to start the Darris Group?

Elizer: I don’t know if there was a moment. I think that it was a continuation of my thinking in terms of creating something that would allow me to have independence, while also having an impact. And so it was just the studying that I had been doing.

In terms of personal empowerment, leadership development, community organizing, even while in prison really led me to understand that I needed to create an entity that would allow me to have a voice and allow me to have an impact.

I named it probably five years prior to getting out. Initially, I named it Amani Global, which was going to be my first son’s name. But I decided to switch it to Darris Group so that I could pull in more of my family under a banner and so that the impact would hit harder with them saying their own name.

prison to community change agent

Some of those ventures are going to be communications. We’re going to have seminar productions, motivational presentations, and things of that nature. Other ventures that we’re going to continue are the consulting inside of government spaces. Some other things we are going to continue with is canvassing inside community spaces.

MSR: How does your business impact the community?

Elizer: It allows community to be present in spaces and places where we typically would never be invited. I oftentimes hire community members that canvass in their own communities around election issues, census, and voter registration.

Sometimes we work on behalf of specific candidates to make sure that their voices are heard, to make sure that people know about them, and to make sure that the issues that community have are brought from community and into the ears of the people who sit in the halls of power. And so Darris Group is centered squarely inside of community.

Everything that I have done with the Darris Group has been community-oriented. Even

when I go in and speak to sports teams like the Minnesota Vikings, I’ll bring community with me. I’ll bring the individuals who helped to train me, those who helped to teach and educate me inside of prison, to make sure that they’re part of the presentation. And so, yeah, community is squarely rooted inside of everything that the Darris Group does.

There’s a theme that I have continuously spoken about within the Darris Group: ‘Nothing about us without us is for us.’ And so, any engagement that the Darris Group does always brings in the most impacted community members to be at the table. They are to be the voices that are going to be communicating the issues to the community.

MSR: What do you consider the main service that the Darris Group is hired to do?

Elizer: Probably the service that is most in demand is the government side with the consulting that I do, in which I attempt to make sure that community perspective is present inside of the spaces where decisions are being made by government officials on behalf of community. I go in as a consultant to make sure that a different perspective is brought in their decision making.

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

Elizer: The biggest challenge in the business is making sure that I select the right opportunities for us to engage in, because all that glitters isn’t gold. I’ve turned down a number of opportunities that I didn’t feel were in the best interests of

the community or in the best interests of the Darris Group.

It has to feel right. I have to believe in it. And it has to have a positive impact. I’ve turned down a lot of bags that I thought were dirty bags, harmful bags, bags that would hurt the community.

Ultimately, what I really want to do is elevate a few levels and hire individuals to run some of the sub-ventures and really manage the individuals that manage the projects. That allows me to multiply my efforts and be more effective.

Right now I’m managing all of the different venture opportunities single-handedly, while at the same time trying to maintain a vision for where we can go. You know, when you are involved in an operation at the same time that you are involved in strategy, it’s really difficult to see the forest for the trees.

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

Elizer: Knowing that we have made real, tangible, measurable impacts that have benefited the community, especially after a long campaign or a long consultancy. The most rewarding part is the end when I can see we’ve made a difference.

And so really making sure that I use discernment to figure out how we grow in a way that’s organic, but also in a way that is protective of our organization and protective of the community. Using discernment in terms of what to do and what not to do.

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

Elizer: I eventually want to be able to bring more consultants and more impacted people on board and to really elevate Darris Group so that it’s managing multiple sub-businesses. So really getting more into the space of management of ventures is really where I want Darris Group to go.

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

Elizer: Surround yourself with a solid team. Trust the team. And be open to taking what you’re trying to do in the direction that leads it to grow organically. So sometimes we attempt to control the enterprise to such an extent that we strangle our creativity, and ultimately it dies anyway.

For more information, visit www.darrisgroup.com, or call 612-385-5664.

Chris Juhn welcomes reader comments at cjuhn@spokesmanrecorder.com.

It has to feel right. I have to believe in it. And it has to have a positive impact.

Darris Consulting Founder and CEO Elizer Darris

Photo by Chris Juhn

TOLL

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Alley Carey, director of programs with the Steve Rummler HOPE Network spoke with the MSR earlier this year about the disparate impact of opioid use on Black communities.

“African American or Black residents in our state face three times the risk of fatal overdose deaths that White Minnesotans do,” Carey said. That’s despite the fact that research shows “the actual use of these types of substances is really pretty level across demographic groups,” she added.

Racial disparities in health

In Minnesota, substance abuse is a growing problem for older adults. “As the baby boomer generation ages. We are see-

STILLWATER

Continued from page 1

ing more and more substance use and potential substance misuse or abuse,” Benson said. Management of illness and injury through medication

and do suffer from the same potential to get addicted to those pain medications,” Benson said. “We definitely are seeing an increase in situations of overdose and addiction to opioids as well.”

Another key contributor to the downward trend in life expectancy and associated racial disparities is the devastating impact of chronic conditions.

significant disparities because of systemic restrictions and the inability to access those aspects of life.”

Chronic conditions can also hasten the loss of independence and reduce quality of life in aging populations. Unlike

offered to help older adults remain healthy and independent.

The Minnesota Board on Aging supports family and friend caregivers by providing skills classes, grants and consulting to people regularly caring for aging adults. Older adults

around exercise, fall prevention, and managing chronic health conditions through a partnership between the Department of Health and the Minnesota Board on Aging.

could be at least partially responsible for the rise. “As older adults experience chronic conditions, experience falls and the injuries that result, they often are prescribed opioids

family members of those incarcerated at Stillwater, who have described the prison living conditions as inhuman.

“People say, ‘Do the crime, do the time.’ But it would behoove you to actually inform [the Department of Corrections] that [doing] the time doesn’t involve being treated like an animal, or being treated like you’re at the Como Zoo,” said activist Toussiant Morrison. The press conference convened in front of a building that houses the offices of the Ombudsman for the Department of Corrections and the Department of Human Rights on Fairview Avenue in St. Paul last Friday, September 8.

At the press conference, activists demanding both agencies investigate conditions at Stillwater prison also unveiled a photograph taken two years ago of a toilet with brown water to underscore how pervasive water quality issues have been at the prison. Former prisoners also spoke about the water conditions and how it may have affected their health at an earlier press conference on September 4.

BLX PLAN

Continued from page 1

agency better negotiate future agreements. “It’s a very good deal because it’s a one-time cost. Hennepin County’s position was zero [dollars], and we had no existing law or financial agreement that would give them any responsibility to pay [for the shortfall],” said Zelle.

Deputy General Manager Nick Thompson said the agreement provides a framework for how funding agreements should be structured on projects moving forward, such as with the Blue Line extension.

They also talked about why the Met Council and Hennepin County were more interested in building the light rail to the northern suburbs in the form of a Blue Line extension than a rapid-transit bus route. They prefer the light rail despite

VIOLENCE

Continued from page 1

almost 68 years later, we must ‘do something’ to stop the gun violence. Opening the casket of someone who was shot by an assault rifle in a mass shooting may be the shock the nation needs. It may be the photograph that launches a bigger, broader movement overwhelming the clout of gun manufacturers and other entrenched influences.”

• U. S. Rep. Bobby Scott, who held a “Gun Violence Prevention Roundtable” in 2019 following an incident in which 13 people were killed in a mass shooting, listed a string of Virginia killings and gun injuries. “We have evidence available to show that effective policies can reduce these shootings,”

Social determinants of health across a lifespan, including access to good nutrition, quality health care, housing and education, as well as economic stability influence a person’s susceptibility to chronic conditions like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

“It really is about the structural racism built into really every aspect of our society. And I think in Minnesota, we exhibit and experience pretty

Activists also unveiled a recording of a prisoner who reported on the conditions of the Stillwater prison since inmates at the B East unit took action on September 3. The prisoner, who spoke with the Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation and retribution, reported 30 people involved were placed in segregation for supposedly taking corrections staff hostage after demanding air conditioning and clean water, despite prisoners saying through local advocacy organizations that staff were free to come and go as they please.

other parts of the country, Minnesota tops many other states in the support and services

can also access healthy aging programs including group and individual classes centered

Minnesota also boasts one of the highest rates of volunteerism for older adults in the nation. “That means a lot in terms of keeping any one of us, as we grow older, connected to our communities, engaged, feeling that we are making meaningful contributions to our communities,” Benson said.

“Research shows that has a huge impact on rates of depression, rates of suicide, overall physical health, and that is really something to lift up, that Minnesota continues to do well.”

Niara Savage welcomes reader comments at nsavage@ spokesman-recorder.com.

of those incarcerated at Stillwater, including those related to two of the people reportedly in solitary confinement because of their role in the standoff on September 3, say they have not been able to hear from their loved ones since then. Administrative staff at the Stillwater prison are also reportedly giving them the runaround.

“He has not been led out [for a] call,” said Tori Newton, the wife of Domenico Newton, one of those involved with the Sunday standoff. “I’ve tried to call the prison many times and only get told what I’m saying isn’t true, and have even gotten hung up on.” Newton adds that those in solitary have not been able to have a change of clothing and have only been given cold cereal as food.

The MnDOC disputes the figure, saying seven prisoners from B East were remanded to segregation units for their role in the standoff last Sunday.

“We believe they are the organizers of the protest,”

not knowing how potential ridership has been affected because of the pandemic and opposition that is brewing in the northern suburbs.

Tony Richardson, a Robbinsdale resident, is part of a group called Stop Light Rail on County Road 81. Richardson is concerned about how the Blue Line extension would split the communities along Bottineau Boulevard, where County Road 81 runs, and how it would disrupt traffic.

Richardson would rather have express bus transit instead of light rail on Bottineau Boulevard. “It would be less invasive as far as the construction and everything like that,” said Richardson. “It would cost a lot less.”

At the Met Council meeting, Thompson discussed why the project team chose the light rail. They are worried that building and running an express bus rapid transit line—

Scott says. “When they are implemented, background checks work.

Every day, background checks stop nearly 250 dangerous individuals from being handed a firearm. However, these same people can go to a gun show and purchase a firearm without any background check. Virginia laws are among the worst in the country,” he said, describing the state as the “gun-running capital of the world.”

• Scott says an assault weapons ban must be insti-

in this case, planners envision building something that allows buses to run on a dedicated roadway, unlike the C and D lines—would not be worth the time and expense compared to building and running a light rail line.

said Skoogman, adding that they will be there for 30 days and have due process rights.

At the press conference, family members

have the same or more impacts to the right-of-way. Same or more impacts to traffic. We’d have a slower mode of travel and need several more vehicles and more operators than LRT,” said Thompson.

In that case, Richardson

it’s a one-time cost. Hennepin County’s position was zero dollars and we had no existing law or financial agreement that would give them any responsibility to pay for the shortfall.”

And if the agency were to build something similar to the C and D lines to replace the proposed Blue Line extension, the counties would not pay for it. “If we were to build a guideway [bus rapid transit] on the current alignment, based on what we’re proposing for the LRT [light rail transit], we’d

tuted because “the only thing that assault weapons are good for is killing many people quickly.” He said there is also need for sizeable gun magazine limitations. There are actually limitations on the size of a gun magazine to protect ducks, but no limits on the size of gun magazines to protect people, he said.

wants to see light rail moved off of Bottineau Boulevard and onto the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad corridor just to the west, as was originally envisioned. Unfortunately, Met Council staff tried unsuccessfully for three years to get BNSF to negotiate use of that corridor.

The Department of Human Rights did not say whether they plan to investigate the DOC at press time. Margaret Zadra, the ombudsman for the Department of Corrections, could not be reached for comment. A request to the Department of Corrections to tour the Stillwater prison remains pending.

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

Questions about the Blue Line extension project remain, including how many people will ride it and how much the project will ultimately cost. The $75 million the county is offering will fund the bevy of engineers, planners, finance managers, and environmental specialists needed to figure that out over the next year. It will also fund the people who will ultimately knock on the doors of those who own the properties along the corridor the agency wants to acquire for the project.

Still, Met Councilmember Susan Vento, who represents parts of Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties, is not sure having the agency assume building out the projects for counties is a good idea. “[The counties are] the ones that designed these plans. They spent years. They said they were committed, and we’ve become the big bad recipients,” said

Vento to Chair Zelle during the meeting.

Met Councilmembers will vote on the $75 million from Hennepin County on September 13 at their regularly scheduled meeting in St. Paul. The Blue Line Extension Corridor Management Committee (CMC), which is made up of community members and elected officials representing cities along the proposed Blue Line extension route, will vote on the recommended alignment on September 14 at Metro Transit headquarters in Minneapolis.

If the CMC supports the recommended alignment, this will allow the agency to move ahead with determining ridership numbers, as well as estimating how much the project will cost.

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

• After a rash of mass shootings, including the racist killings of 10 people at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store by a 19-year-old White man, the

U.S. House and Senate finally passed a historic bipartisan gun bill that was signed into law by President Joe Biden last year. The first significant gun legislation in more than 30 years, it includes enhanced restrictions on gun ownership by people convicted of certain violent crimes, including domestic abuse. But it still fails to include restrictions on large bullet magazines. In fact, a similar racist killing of three Black people in Jacksonville, Florida, on August 26 was committed by a 21-year-old White man who reportedly bought the AR-15style rifle legally. Biden said he didn’t get all that he wanted in the new law, but he vowed to keep trying.

Conflict resolution

Still, good old-fashioned

home training that instills nonviolent morals and values is the best way to deter violence, said Bailey.

“The respect for life, how your parents raised you, matters. If you believe human beings are valuable, you wouldn’t shoot someone at all, let alone shoot them for a nonviolent offense,” Bailey said. “But in many shootings now that are not self-defense or life or death, people are said to have “beef” over something that’s nonviolent and the person escalates it to violence by grabbing a gun and shooting someone.”

Parents, teachers and school officials could be in on this conflict resolution training, Bailey says. “Children are on the playground bumping into each other all the time. How teachers and counselors handle it goes a long way in teaching a little kid

that it’s normal to jump around and bump into each other. But it’s not normal to bump into each other and knock them down and not try to help them up or offer assistance.

“Those are the kinds of things that start the process,” Bailey said. “You can also role play how to defuse arguments so that young people recognize what you should and should not say in the middle of an argument. Young men [involved in violent conflicts] are often 18, 19 and 20 years old. They can drive and move around. They just may not know how to handle conflict. We should be very involved in this process.”

The suicide rate for Black Americans increased by 19 percent between 2018 and 2021. In that same timeperiod, the suicide rate for White Americans fell by 3.9 percent.

Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee’s David Boehnke at Stillwater

“People say, ‘Do the crime, do the time.’ But doing the time doesn’t involve being treated like an animal, or being treated like you’re at the Como Zoo.”

“It’s a very good deal because

Hazel Trice Edney, president and CEO of Trice Edney Communications, and former editor-inchief of the NNPA News Service.

“If you believe human beings are valuable, you wouldn’t shoot someone at all, let alone shoot them for a nonviolent offense.”

Arts & Culture

Black comic book company making money moves in the Midwest

Basi Affia’s Sensi’il Studios is Iowa’s first African American comics publisher

By Stephani Maari Booker

Contributing Writer

Des Moines, Iowa, resident

Basi Affia founded Sensi’il Studios in 2022 as a multimedia publisher of comics that center characters of African descent and “Pan-African Storytelling” in science fiction and fantasy, as the company’s website calls it.

Besides print comic books, Sensi’il Studios has a motion comic (a comic in the form of a video with limited animation) for free viewing on its website and YouTube channel.

Affia’s groundbreaking company has been covered in media ranging from local Iowa television to the national

magazine Black Enterprise, so this reporter sought to have Affia (BA), the father of two children, talk on a deeper level about himself, his company, and his vision.

MSR: Beyond the usual and valid answers (we need Black representation, etc.), is there a specific personal reason why you started this company?

BA: One of the personal reasons is professionalizing my

who, “Yeah, I write stories and it’s fun, it’s a hobby” [to] “I was the first Black comic company”— That’s professionalizing…

Another thing is that…the main character of my main comic series was named after my daughter… It’s very objective when you say, “Kids read this,” but it personalizes this a lot when my kids are going to be reading this.

They’re going to see themselves in this and be represented in this…and to be an example for my kids as well, to say, “Hey, you can do whatever you want to do.”

work by BIPOC creators]. And they will read it just because it’s like, “Oh, this is [from] an underrepresented [group]; let me see what this is like. I want to know what they can do.”

It’s interesting to see—because I get reports on who buys stuff and who donates to our Kickstarter—there’s definitely a lot of support from the European American populace in the city and the state.

MSR: Talk about your pen name, Basi Affia.

BA: “Sensi’il” is an Ethiopian storytelling art… The storyteller would draw pictures on folded pieces of paper, which is basically the earliest form of a comic book by our modern understanding. With that, Sensi’il Studios, first of all, had a nice ring to it, but it also feeds into that Africanization of a craft. The Japanese have mangas; in America we have comic books.

MSR: Let’s talk about the online comic, “Lost with All Hands.” I read that, and I also saw that the online comic and the motion comic are about providing something for our youth who may not have the

MSR: As a born-and-raised Des Moines resident, is some of your motivation wanting to create something very Brown, very Black, in a predominately European American city?

BA: My target audience is Black people, and then a wider target is just minorities in general, but one thing that I didn’t think about is…there’s a lot of allies. There’s a lot of European Americans that love [reading

BA: My legal name is Aniekanabasi. It is a Nigerian name of the Ibibio language, so “Basi” was derived from that. My last name is White, which basically translated to the same language as my first name. and so white in Ibibio is “affia.” So “Basi Affia,” I liked that; it has a nice ring to it. So, it was kind of a reclamation of my identity.

MSR: Talk about the name of your company, Sensi’il Studios.

Stanley Nelson’s doc ‘Sound of the Police’ dissects police in Black communities

By

Contributing Writer

The tragic killings by police of Amir Locke, George Floyd and Jamar Clark serve as the emotional core of the documentary “Sound of the Police,” now airing on Hulu. It tries to

answer the question of why, when it comes to the Black community, the police so often fail to serve and protect.

Renowned documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson, along with director Valerie Scoon, bring together TV writer David Simon (“The Wire”);

to try to answer this question.

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Through interviews with insightful commentators and riveting archival photos and video, “Sound of the Police” analyzes the relationship between the Black community and law enforcement through the prisms of history, the media, and social norms to illustrate the systemic nature of law enforcement’s apparent disproportionate hostility toward African Americans.

“Sound of the Police” starts at the very beginning: slave patrols of the South. The only real law enforcement of that era, their main focus was capturing escaped enslaved people and suppressing slave revolts.

It also illustrates that although slavery did not exist in

the North at that time, Blacks were still “othered” as secondclass citizens. Modern law enforcement across the nation reflects this.

In response to the passage of laws after the Civil War to protect the constitutional rights of African Americans, police unions were allowed to grow increasingly more powerful. Their contracts virtually guaranteed that they wouldn’t be held accountable for misconduct against Blacks.

During the Jim Crow era, police were either participants or looked the other way as Blacks were lynched. Sadly, footage of contemporary interactions with the likes of

Rodney King, George Floyd, and others indicates those attitudes have not changed.

Cobb, paraphrasing James Baldwin, gets to the heart of the matter when he comments, “The police are mainly there to prevent Black people from spilling out of the areas in which they’d been corralled into areas where White people were.”

A White former police officer also appears, frankly admitting that the culture bred in the police force, as he experienced it, was “us against them.” He revealed officers were taught to fear, rather than feel obliged to protect, the Black communities in

Sensi’il Studios logo

I’m cutting out my slice of the pie in the comic industry to be the Black comic company for the Midwest.

The cover of Aaru En Duat: Ascension (Part 1) Photos courtesy of Sensi’il Studios

Basi Affia

Nadine Matthews

Dean of Columbia Journalism School Jelani Cobb; historian Sally Anne Scott; activist Rev. Al Sharpton; former police officers; Twin Cities’ civil rights advocates like Nekima Levy Armstrong; family members; and many others

Courtesy of Hulu/ABC

The cover of Lost with All Hands

■ See SENSI’IL on page

SENSI’IL

Continued from page 6

money to buy some expensive graphic novel.

BA: The different barriers that the African American community faces already, it doesn’t really jibe with me to have a financial barrier to be able to consume content that is edifying. It’s like gatekeeping

Continued from page 6

which they worked. This conditioning did not extend to White communities or individuals.

The advent of mass media further empowered law enforcement, with media representation burnishing a onedimensional image of them as heroes, devoid of complexity in their relationships with people in the Black communities they were ostensibly serving.

A writer from the popular series “Dragnet” reveals that the scripts were approved by LAPD personnel. These types of shows have proliferated parallel with the de jure increase in civil rights and social advancement for Blacks and other minorities.

Many of the commentators in “Sound of the Police” qualify their statements about police brutality with the phrase “In America…” because the production aims to highlight the issue

good things… So, I do make stuff that is free to enjoy… Also, that gets them invested in the company as well…

It really builds that sense of community, which is needed especially in Iowa where there’s not as many of us [African Americans], and generally in the Midwest… There are different industries that can rally us together… I’m cutting out my slice of the pie in the comic

industry to be the Black comic company for the Midwest.

Basi Affia and Sensi’il Studios will have a booth at Twin Cities Con, to be held Nov. 3-5 at the Minneapolis Convention Center; for more information, go to www.twincitiescon.com.

Stephani Maari Booker welcomes reader comments at rbooker@hotmail.com.

outgrowth of slave patrols in the U.S. seems relevant but incidental and suggests the solution—if there is one— would have to be rooted in a global application.

saying, “It’s not simply a question of the prejudices of the police, it’s an issue of the society that the police function in.” However, the discussion isn’t as expansive as it should be.

hint of a threat to their claim on those resources. As Sharpton articulated, “Clearly, what law enforcement became was the enforcers of White supremacy.”

So, the answer to the question “Sound of the Police” poses, is that with regard to Black people, in America and globally, police aren’t actually failing to “serve and protect” Blacks (and in fact, other nonEuropean indigenous people). That was never law enforcement’s job in the first place.

within the context of the U.S. However, Black people across the globe share the same relationship with law enforcement.

In an article in the periodical “The Atlantic” about policing in majority-Black South Africa, Eve Fairbanks pointed out, “Like America, South Africa was gripped for a long time

by the idea that White people are entitled to government service while Black people require government control.”

The same issues of police brutality against Blacks make headlines in England, France— anywhere with a significant Black population. So the fact that policing in America is an

Fred Athen “Paco” Lee

Sunrise, December 14, 1978—Sunset, September 15, 1998

A nother year and you are missed even more

My heart aches when I think of you and I wonder what your life would be

I still cry when I see pictures of you

I think if only that fatal day didn’t happen

Love, Mom (Becki Hardeman)

The issue is not about the police force itself, but about who created them in the first place, and their perpetual mandate. Cobb hints at this

That “society” Cobb refers to, is the owners of capital and resources (usually unjustly acquired) who use police to defend themselves against any

“Sound of the Police” is now streaming on Hulu at bit.ly/ SoundofthePolice.

Nadine Matthews welcomes reader comments at nmatthews@spokesman-recorder.com.

“It’s not simply a question of the prejudices of the police, it’s an issue of the society that the police function in.”

Karen Wells, mother of Amir Locke (inset) speaks at a press conference addressing her son’s police killing.

Photo by H. Jiahong Pan

Saving the planet matters enough to measure honestly

By Ben Jealous

Draw the Circle Wide

By Marian Wright Edelman

My dear friend Rev. Dr. Shannon Daley-Harris recently preached a sermon at Princeton University Chapel titled “Draw the Circle Wide.” She opened by sharing memories from time she spent living and working in Belfast in the late 1980s, as the troubles between Protestant Unionists and loyalists and Catholic Republicans and nationalists had segmented Northern Ireland’s capital city by the Peace Wall, “a lovely name for a hideous structure: concrete blocks, bricks, steel, barbed wire, a physical representation and enforcement of a divided community.”

She described life by that dividing line. “Armed soldiers in Kevlar vests and armored vehicles patrolled both sides, representatives of the ruling Protestant Unionists. When patrolling the Catholic Republican side of the wall, disenfranchised young men from that side of the community would hurl petrol bombs…

“I taught at a school on the Catholic side of the Wall up the Falls Road. Seared into my memory is the image of a small child leaving the school and approaching a fatigue-clad soldier, crouched by the Wall a few yards away. He was clutching his weapon. She was clutching a crayon drawing and held it out, wanting to show him what she drew.

“He looked at it, offered admiring words—he must have been someone’s dad or uncle— and then as the small child climbed aboard the school van, he turned to his fellow soldier and said, gesturing at the whole situation, ‘I can’t bloody stand this.’”

Rev. Daley-Harris explained that as an American visitor, she had unusual freedom to cross the city and an outsider’s sense of perspective: “Several days a week I would take an IRArun Black Taxi to travel up the Falls Road to tutor unemployed Catholic adults and work in an after-school program. Other days I would take a city bus–what the Protestants used—to tutor young men who had been incarcerated for Protestant paramilitary offenses.

There’s a phrase you hear from business schools to board rooms that comes from John Doerr, a legendary investor who backed Google, Amazon and Intuit: Measure what matters. Those words certainly jumped to mind this summer as leaders from Washington to London sent signals that protecting a safe, livable planet hardly matters because it’s not worth accounting for accurately and honestly.

ing firms like PWC and McKinsey that have found huge majorities want to do business with and work at companies that lead on ESG, or that consumer products tied to those factors are outgrowing those that don’t.

This kind of shortsightedness isn’t new. Our economy always has been built on ignoring people and places deemed disposable.

“As someone who came into Belfast as an outsider, with abstract knowledge but no lived experience of either side of the community and their history and hurts, present and pain, future and fears, it was in some ways easier to see the tragedy— and in a sense absurdity—of all the invisible lines as well as those that were visible.

Children who would never meet and play and learn together. Adults who read different newspapers, took different transportation, frequented different pubs, even played different instruments. Couples who faced threats for marrying across the lines. Lines that created and maintained suspicions, stereotypes, fears, and hatred.”

She then had a question: “I wonder, what tragic and even absurd invisible lines and walls do you think someone coming from the outside to the U.S.

would see? Do you think they’d see dividing lines of race and ethnicity, dividing lines of income and education, dividing lines of gender identity and geography, dividing lines of sexuality and social media and news sources, and, yes, dividing lines of political party and religious faith? I wonder, what lines do you think they would see?”

Rev. Daley-Harris’s message that morning was that we are all called to do the work of dismantling our divisions and instead to see each other and every child as beloved, precious children of God. Instead of drawing lines, we are called to draw wider circles.

She added: “When we know that truth, really know that truth, I wonder how we will find ourselves called to recreate this world, to challenge systems and structures, stereotypes and segregation, politics and policies that deny the humanity and beloved preciousness of anyone. Will we live it out as we support and protect trans children seeking gender affirming care and stand against book banning and for AP courses that tell the truth of our history?

“Will it change how we act with and for immigrant families held back by lines of buoys in Texas or offloaded by buses in New York? Will that truth call us to advocate for the millions of children pushed back under the poverty line when the expanded child tax credit expired?”

Drawing wider circles that welcome others in is a mandate and responsibility that will make us richer.

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

On Capitol Hill, the House committee that oversees financial markets held a hearing on “how mandates like ESG distort markets and drive up costs.” ESG is an abbreviation for environmental, social and corporate governance. The idea that performance on those factors should be part of investment decisions has been gaining momentum for more than 15 years. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is asking companies to report more about ESG, which prompted the hearing.

The event had an Alice in Wonderland feel as it happened when homeowners in places like Florida, California and Louisiana were learning of insurers raising already high rates or leaving the states altogether because of climatedriven risks. The financial implications of climate change couldn’t have been clearer.

The House Republicans who called the hearing made no mention of studies by consult-

Across the Atlantic, the Reuters news service reported that global bankers want to divorce themselves from accountability for two thirds of the carbon pollution that comes from the stock and bond sales their banks underwrite. Those who profit from dirty fuels rely on those stocks and bond sales to expand.

Measure what

matters – people in frontline communities flooded by more intense storms, choked by industrial pollution, and scorched by wildfires have no choice. They must take that measure all the time, and they always come out on the short end.

Since 2016, almost half of the financing from top U.S. banks to fossil fuel companies came from those kinds of sales and not direct loans, for example. Without those investments, carbon emissions would decline as fossil fuel production and processing was starved of that money.

Measure what matters— people in frontline communities flooded by more intense storms, choked by industrial pollution, and scorched by wildfires have no choice. Their property loss and health problems are the metrics we use. They must take that measure all the time, and they always come out on the short end.

For his part, John Doerr has placed his bets. He’s been investing in zero carbon technologies since 2006. Last year, he and his wife gave Stanford University more than $1 billion to launch a sustainability school.

Doerr’s most recent book calls itself “an action plan to solve the climate crisis.” He notes that the Greek root for the word crisis means “to choose.” The good news is we’ve never had more opportunity to make the right choices. From less costly renewable energy to the availability of affordable electric vehicles, we have options to end our addiction to fossil fuels.

Making the right choices means making informed choices. We can’t permit the powerful to withhold what we need to decide what’s best for us and for the planet.

Ben Jealous is executive director of the Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization.

Call for Reparations

By NNPA Newswire

Mr. President, the call for justice in America is at a historic high. This current call for justice is founded squarely on the issue of reparations. This is an American call for justice— not only has it been identified as the major issue by Black Americans via a 2021 Congressional Black Caucus poll, but in a recent USA Today poll, 83 percent of Americans said racism is a problem facing the U.S.

This explains why an array of Americans has enthusiastically joined this call for reparatory justice—allied ethnic groups, many of the largest social justice organizations in the country, a diversity of religious orders, America’s most prestigious universities, major U.S. corporations, some of the largest philanthropies in America, and of immense importance, following Evanston, Illinois— numerous municipalities and states. This is proof that much of America wants to see this issue addressed and resolved now!

In the last Congress, leaders within the Democratic Party demonstrated their political will for a Reparations Commission. Two hundred seventeen confirmed yes votes in the House and half of the Senate committee chairs, along with the Senate leader, and many of their colleagues, signed on to the Senate bill.

However, as you are aware, Mr. President, the bipartisanship that is needed to pass the bill in the Senate does not exist. Thus, the only way to move this issue forward, which much of America is demanding, is through an executive order.

This must be done immediately as the next presidential election is approaching. On one side of this issue are those calling for “No Reparations, No Vote” in their attempt to drive Black voters to the Republican Party. On the other side are those of us who fully understand the significance of the Black vote for a Democratic Party win.

Statistics have shown that since 1960—except for 1964— the Black vote was the deciding factor in each of the Democratic Party’s wins in presidential elections. In essence, the Black vote gave America the following presidents: Kennedy, Carter, Clinton, Obama, and you Mr. Biden.

In the last Congress, leaders within the Democratic Party demonstrated their political will for a Reparations Commission.

A growing number of major publications have recognized the dependence of the Democratic Party on the Black vote.

Immediately after your election, Vox reported, “The Black Vote is key to Democratic success,” arguing that you “could not have been competitive without it.” At this same time, the New York Magazine shouted, “Joe Biden Owes It All to African American Voters.”

In April of this year, Time Magazine wrote, “Black Voters Gave Biden the White House. They May Determine Whether He Stays There.” The writer concluded, “Put plainly: you

can’t win the nomination or the White House as a Democrat without the Black vote. And finally, just last month, the Washington Post echoed the Time magazine writer, saying the Black vote “will be crucial in a Biden bid for reelection.”

We are 20 percent of your base, Mr. President, more than all other people of color combined. When we come out and vote, Democrats win! Certainly, Mr. Biden, the Republicans are fully aware of this as they have directed enormous resources to suppress the Black vote by spending nearly $1 billion in the last election and introducing over 900 pieces of legislation, according to Marc Morial of the National Urban League.

The Democratic Party needs to both counter these efforts by Republicans and address the low enthusiasm for the Democratic Party in the Black community. This counter-offensive must be an immediate statement announcing the implementation of an HR 40-like Reparations Commission via executive order by the President of the United States of America. This, and only this, will generate the turnout in the Black community necessary for a Democratic Party victory in 2024.

The Democratic Party can no longer waffle on this issue of reparations. We need a Reparations Commission now! You, Mr. President, need a Reparations Commission now for any hope of a 2024 victory.

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) is a trade association of the more than 200 African Americanowned community newspapers from around the United States.

“Instead of drawing lines, we are called to draw wider circles.”

Gauff celebrates U.S. Open victory becoming this year’s only American Grand Slam winner

By MSR News Online

As the old saying goes, it’s not how you start, but how you finish. Tennis phenom Cori “Coco” Gauff embodied this adage by pulling off a thrilling and gutsy comeback victory against Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

This is Gauff’s first U.S. Open win and Grand Slam title. At 19, she becomes the youngest American Grand Slam Champion since Serena Williams in 1999, and the first American to win the U.S. Women’s Singles Championship since Sloane Stephens in 2017.

Seemingly overwhelmed by the Belarusian power-hitter in the first set, Gauff fought her way back by relentlessly chasing down Sabalenka’s shots and matching her point for point. As former tennis great and U.S. Open commentator Chris Evert noted, Sabalenka is accustomed to dominating her opponents in the first couple of points but is prone to unforced errors during longer rallies.

Gauff hung in there, building momentum in the second set with the help of an adoring crowd that included filmmaker Spike Lee, basketball star Kevin Durant, actors Nicole Kidman and Leon Robinson, and a host of others. With poise and determination, Gauff began to go on the offense, hitting winners of her own.

By the third set, she was fully in her stride, and with a backhand winner down the line to seal the deal, she fell on the court and cried as the roaring crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium stood to its feet.

An emotional Gauff walked into the stands and found her dad and former coach Corey Gauff, and the two engaged in a tearful embrace. “Today was the first time I ever saw my dad cry,” Gauff told the crowd during the trophy ceremony. She recounted how her dad always believed in her

and credited him as the reason for her winning the match.

Gauff was awarded $3 million for her win, which was presented to her by tennis icon Billie Jean King. This year, the U.S. Open celebrated the 50th anniversary of equal prize money for men and women, a battle that King fought for and won in 1973.

“Thank you, Billie, for fighting,” a radiant Gauff said as the crowd laughed.

With her U.S. Open win, Gauff will now become the numberthree-ranked player in the world, serving notice that her time has just begun.

“Honestly, thank you to the people that didn’t believe in me,” Gauff told the crowd. “Those who thought you were putting water on my fire, you were really putting gas on it, and I’m burning so bright right now.”

MIAC

Continued from page 12

portsnetwork.com/), as well as most streaming apps for television and mobile devices.

VIEW

the MIAC Sports Network, the official streaming home of all MIAC events and championships. The digital streaming service is now available on the web (https://miacs-

The app can be found and installed free-of-charge by searching MIAC Sports Network. It is just one of several MIAC-specific opportunities for fans and others. The

conference is partnering with Game One for its online apparel and merchandise store, which is open year-round by visiting https://miacathletics. com/shop.

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

SOE

Continued from page 12

Guard Kayla McBride is an integral part in the Lynx’s success thus far. Last week, the team announced that the 5’10” ten-year veteran who is in her third season in Minnesota has been signed to a multi-year contract extension.

Last Friday, McBride and

Reeve spoke to reporters, including the MSR, via Zoom.

“It feels like home,” noted McBride, who played with San Antonio and Las Vegas before signing as a free agent in 2021. “I know this was a place I wanted to come.”

Asked how she has fit into a community that has been through a lot, Reeve told the MSR, “One of the things KMac talked about in our first conversation was about be-

ing in the community… being aware of what’s happening in the community. She wants to pitch in wherever she can. [With] her awareness of what’s happening on the national scene and what’s happening here in Minnesota, she’s out and visible and cares about the community.”

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

in an MSR interview. “We want to use our platform to help raise awareness of the incredible opportunities HBCUs provide.”

Fans who attended last Fri-

PREP

Continued from page 12

Continued from page 12 after a one-year absence.

goal and two extra point conversions in a loss to Stillwater.

Davonte White-Sledge, 6’1”, 160 pounds, Minneapolis Patrick Henry

The senior quarterback scored on four rushing touchdowns in a victory over Como Park for the undefeated Patriots.

day’s Twins-New York Mets contest received an HBCU tee-shirt designed by a Black college alum. The first pitch was thrown out by Medtronic exec and HBCU graduate Keisha Houston.

“It’s about showcasing HBCU pride at Target Field,” said Hodson. “[It’s about]

Ke’Tavion Colton, 5’11”, 176 pounds, Minneapolis Patrick Henry

The junior running back rushed for three touchdowns against Como Park.

Juriad Hughes Jr., 6’0”, 185 pounds, Irondale

The senior wide receiver, one of the top long jumpers in the country and state champion in the event in 2023, has

growing awareness and building community. Our hope is that this night adds another layer of community-building and togetherness.”

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

caught a touchdown pass in each of his first two games.

Jamarion Sanders, 5’9”, 180 pounds, Minneapolis North

After two games the sophomore wide receiver has had a touchdown catch in each contest with a total of 12 receptions for 113 yards.

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

“Those who thought you were putting water on my fire, you were really putting gas on it, and I’m burning so bright right now.”

U.S. Open Women’s Champion Coco Gauff Courtesy of Facebook/U.S. Open Tennis

Looking back at the Spokesman-Recorder

s part of our celebration leading up to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder’s 90 years of continuous publication, over the next several months the MSR will be republishing notable stories from our extensive archives of weekly issues, chronicling the history of African Americans in Minnesota. That history began when the founder, Cecil E. Newman, published two weekly newspapers— the Minneapolis Spokesman and the St. Paul Recorder—on August 10, 1934. Although the separate weeklies had similar content, it wasn’t until 2000 that the two papers merged, becoming the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

Many of our readers will rec-

ognize friends, family and neighbors from the distant and not-sodistant past. In the year leading up to the anniversary in 2024, we invite readers to share their memories of the Spokesman-Recorder as we mark milestones in the newspaper and Minnesota’s Black history.

The Purple Cross Nurses were featured in the June 15, 1951, edition of the “Minneapolis Spokesman.” According to the story, the “Purple Cross Nurses of Minnehaha Temple No. 129, the Daughters of Elks are shown in uniform ready to serve the weary and the ill at the annual convention of the Midwest Elks Association, which convenes in St. Paul July 1.” The group was organized in 1949 and had been taking a review course in first aid.

3. YOU MUST RESPOND TO EACH CLAIM. The Answer is your written response to the Plaintiff’s Complaint. In your Answer you must state whether you agree or disagree with each paragraph of the Complaint. If you believe the Plaintiff should not be given everything asked for in the Complaint, you must say so in your Answer.

4. YOU WILL LOSE YOUR CASE IF YOU DO NOT SEND A WRITTEN RESPONSE TO THE COMPLAINT TO THE PERSON WHO SIGNED THIS SUMMONS. If you do not Answer within 20 days, you will lose this case.You will not get to tell your side of the story, and 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.

5. LEGAL ASSISTANCE. You may wish to get legal help from a lawyer. If you do not have a lawyer, the Court Administrator may have information about places where you can get legal assistance. Even if you cannot get legal help, you must still provide a written Answer to protect your rights or you may lose the case.

6. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION. The parties may agree to or be ordered to participate in an alternative dispute resolution process under Rule 114 of the Minnesota General Rules of Practice. You must still send your written response to the Complaint even if you expect to use alternative means of resolving this dispute.

school pov. law exp., housing law, or clinical exper. pref’d. Spanish or Somali language a plus. Staff

Seated (l-r): Claudia Chatham, secretary; Lenora Adair, chaplain; Lucille Woodard, president; Lola Gattling, Minnesota Purple Cross director and organizer, and Queenie Thompson. Standing (l-r): Dorothy Jones, vice-president; Louva Turner, Gertrude Mitchell, Minnie Hudley, Venus Daniels, and Marie Warren, treasurer.

MSR File photo

Employment & Legals

STATE OF MINNESOTA IN DISTRICT COURT

COUNTY OF HENNEPIN FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT Case Type: Condemnation Court File No.: 27-CV-23-12843

State of Minnesota, by its Commissioner of Transportation, Petitioner, vs. Kraus-Anderson, Inc.

Respondents. IN THE MATTER OF THE CONDEMNATION OF CERTAIN LANDS FOR TRUNK HIGHWAY PURPOSES NOTICE

To the Respondents hereinabove named:

You, and each of you, are hereby notified that on December 8, 2023, at 1:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as counsel can be heard, before Judge Patrick D. Robben, in the Courthouse at Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, via remote hearing, the Petitioner will present a Petition now on file herein for the condemnation of certain lands for trunk highway purposes.

This hearing will not be in person at the courthouse. The hearing in this matter will be held remotely via a Zoom call. You must contact Court staff to receive the Zoom link or call-in number in order to appear at this hearing.

The hearing before yours may run long. You may be placed on hold in the “waiting room” before Court staff is ready to begin the hearing. Please remain on the line until Court staff permits you to enter the hearing.

Each party MUST: · Contact Court staff a minimum of 3 days before the hearing date to receive the link or call-in number to appear at this hearing and provide a valid telephone number and email. The Court’s contact information is below.

· Notify the Court if your address, email, or phone number changes.

· Be fully prepared for the remote hearing.

· Contact the Court if you have concerns about the format for this remote hearing. Visit the Court’s website at www.mncourts.gov/Remote-Hearings for more information on remote hearings.

Court contact information: · Phone: 612-348-0198

· Email: 4thJudgeRobbenChambers@courts.state.mn.us”

A copy of the Petition is attached hereto and incorporated herein.

YOU, AND EACH OF YOU, ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED, that Petitioner will also move the court for an order transferring title and possession to Petitioner of the parcels described in the Petition in accordance with Minn. Stat. §117.042, as of January 12, 2024.

YOU, AND EACH OF YOU, ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED, that all persons occupying the property described in the petition must VACATE THE AREA BEING ACQUIRED AND MOVE ALL OF YOUR PERSONAL PROPERTY FROM THE AREA BEING ACQUIRED ON OR BEFORE JANUARY 12, 2024. All advertising signs or devices located in the area being acquired must be removed by January 12, 2024.

YOU, AND EACH OF YOU, ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED, that (1) a party wishing to challenge the public use or public purpose, necessity, or authority for a taking must appear at the court hearing and state the objection or must appeal within 60 days of a court order; and (2) a court order approving the public use or public purpose, necessity, and authority for the taking is final unless an appeal is brought within 60 days after service of the order on the party.

Dated: August 31, 2023

KEITH ELLISON

Block Enterprises LLC, Panda Express, Inc., Party City Corporation, Petco Animal Supplies Stores, Inc., Restwell Mattress Company, Salon Oriana, LLC, Sally Beauty Supply, LLC, Schuler Shoes, Incorporated, Starbucks Coffee Company, also known as Starbucks Corporation, Ly, Inc., doing business as Southtown Nails, DC Group Professional Corporation, Taher, Inc., The TJX Companies, Inc., Market Square Travel LLC, Lucky 13 of Minnesota, LLC, Acer America Corporation, Bala Rajagopala, Christopher & Banks, Inc., Apple Minnesota LLC, Thomas M. Meyer Enterprises, Inc, doing business as Home Energy Center, Southtown Office Park L.L.P., also all other persons unknown claiming any right, title, estate, interest or lien in the real estate described in the Petition herein, Respondents.

- - - - -

IN THE MATTER OF THE CONDEMNATION OF CERTAIN LANDS FOR TRUNK HIGHWAY PURPOSES - - - -PETITION - - - - -

To the District Court above named the State of Minnesota brings this Petition and respectfully states and alleges:

I.

That Trunk Highway Legislative Routes numbered 394 and 393, which have been renumbered 35W and 494, respectively, and which has been located according to law

and designated as a controlled access highways, pass over the lands herein described.

That it are duly covered by Right of Way Plat Order numbered 99920; Designation Orders numbered 28880 and 29050; Definite Location Order numbered 28000; Width Order numbered 99952; and Temporary Order numbered 100027.

II.

That the Commissioner of Transportation deems it necessary that the State of Minnesota for trunk highway purposes obtain an easement as to Parcel 322F, together with the following rights: to acquire all trees, shrubs, grass and herbage within the right of way herein to be taken, and to keep and have the exclusive control of the same, to acquire from the owners whose lands front thereon any existing right of access to said highway in those cases which are herein particularly mentioned, and to keep and have the exclusive control of all access to said highway in accordance with the law governing controlled access highways, and to acquire a temporary easement in those cases which are herein particularly mentioned.

It is the intention of the above-named Petitioner to move the court for an order authorizing the Court Administrator to accept and deposit payments, in an interestbearing account, from the Petitioner to the court pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 117.042.

Further, it is the intention of the above-named Petitioner to move the court for an order transferring title and possession of the parcels herein described, prior to the filing of an award by the court appointed commissioners, pursuant to Minn. Stat. §117.042. Further, it is the intention of the above-named Petitioner to move the court for an order requiring the parties to exchange any appraisals at least 14 days prior to a commissioners’ hearing, pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 117.036.

The Petitioner reserves its right to recover costs of clean up and testing and all other damages arising from the presence of pollutants, contaminants, or hazardous materials on the property described herein, from all potential responsible parties, including respondents herein where appropriate, in a separate legal action to the extent permitted by law.

III.

That the following described lands in these proceedings taken are situated in Hennepin County, Minnesota; that the names of all persons appearing of record or known to your Petitioner to be the owners of said lands or interested therein, including all whom your Petitioner has been able by investigation and inquiry to discover, together with the nature of the ownership of each, as nearly as can be ascertained, are as follows:

All of the following:

Parcel 205 C.S. 2782 (35W=394) 913

S.P. 2785-424RW

All right of access to Lot 1, Block 1, WALSER 2ND ADDITION, as shown by the access control symbol(s) as Parcel 205 on Minnesota Department of Transportation Right of Way Plat Numbered 27-242 as the same is on file and of record in the office of the Registrar of Titles in and for Hennepin County, Minnesota; the title thereto being registered as evidenced by Certificate of Title No. 1422354; together with other rights as set forth below, forming and being part of said Parcel

205:

Temporary Easement:

A temporary easement for highway purposes as shown on said plat as to said Parcel 205 by the temporary easement symbol, said easement shall cease on December 1, 2028, or on such earlier date upon which the Commissioner of Transportation determines by formal order that it is no longer needed for highway purposes.

Names of parties interested in the above-described land and nature of interest:

UAG Minneapolis B1, LLC Fee

BMW Financial Services NA, LLC Mortgage and Financing Statement

County of Hennepin Taxes

All of the following:

Parcel 501

C.S. 2785 (494=393) 903

S.P. 2785-424RW

All right of access to Lot 1, Block 1, FORD LEASING DEVELOPMENT COMPANY ADDITION, as shown by the access control symbol(s) as Parcel 501 on Minnesota Department of Transportation Right of Way Plat Numbered 27-242 as the same is on file and of record in the office of the Registrar of Titles in and for Hennepin County, Minnesota; the title thereto being registered as evidenced by Certificate of Title No. 1188584; together with other rights as set forth below, forming and being part of said Parcel

501:

Temporary Easement:

A temporary easement for highway purposes as shown on said plat as to said Parcel 501 by the temporary easement symbol, said easement shall cease on December 1, 2028, or on such earlier date upon which the Commissioner of Transportation determines by formal order that it is no longer needed for highway purposes.

Names of parties interested in the above-described land and nature of interest:

Bloomington Lincoln Mercury Real Estate, LLC Fee Bloomington Lincoln Mercury, Inc. Lessee Ford Leasing Development Company LLC Lessee County of Hennepin Taxes and Special Assessments

Parcel 224 C.S. 2785 (494=393) 904 S.P. 2785-424RW

The right to use that part of Tract A described below for highway purposes, which right shall cease on December 1, 2028 , or on such earlier date upon which the Commissioner of Transportation determines by formal order that it is no longer needed for highway purposes:

Tract A. Lot 1, Block 1, SOUTHTOWN SHOPPING CENTER 3RD ADDITION, according to the plat thereof on file and of record in the office of the County Recorder in and for Hennepin County, Minnesota; which lies westerly, northerly and easterly of the following described line:

Beginning at the intersection of the north line of Lot 1, Block 1, said SOUTHTOWN SHOPPING CENTER 3RD ADDITION, and a line run parallel with and distant 40 feet easterly of the east line of Lot 1, Block 1, SAM & ESTELLE ROSENBURG 1ST ADDITION, according to the plat thereof on file and of record in the office of the County Recorder in and for said Hennepin County; thence southerly parallel with said east line and its southerly extension for 100 feet; thence westerly at a right angle to an intersection with the southerly extension of said east line; thence southerly along said southerly extension to an intersection with a line run parallel with and distant 45 feet southerly of the south line of said Lot 1, Block 1, SAM & ESTELLE ROSENBURG 1ST ADDITION; thence westerly at a right angle for 55 feet; thence northerly at a right angle for 40 feet; thence westerly parallel with said south line to an intersection with the southerly extension of the westerly line of said Lot 1, Block 1, SAM & ESTELLE ROSENBURG 1ST ADDITION; thence northerly for 5 feet to the southwest corner of said Lot 1, Block 1, SAM & ESTELLE ROSENBURG 1ST ADDITION, and there terminating; containing 7756 square feet, more or less. Names of parties interested in the above-described

parallel with the easterly line of said Lot 1 for 185 feet; thence northeasterly to a point on said easterly line, distant 220 feet north of said southeast corner and there terminating; containing 1418 square feet, more or less; also a right to use the following described strip for highway purposes, which right shall cease on December 1, 2028, or on such earlier date upon which the Commissioner of Transportation determines by formal order that it is no longer needed for highway purposes:

A strip being that part of Tract A hereinbefore described, adjoining, westerly and northerly of the above described strip, which lies easterly of a line run parallel with and distant 12 feet westerly of the easterly line of said Tract A; containing 5750 square feet, more or less.

Names of parties interested in the above-described land and nature of interest: Southtown Office Park L.L.P. Fee County of Hennepin Taxes and Special Assessments WHEREFORE, Your Petitioner prays that commissioners be appointed to appraise the damages which may be occasioned by such taking, and that such proceedings may be had herein as are provided by law.

Dated: August 11, 2023

KEITH ELLISON Attorney General State of Minnesota

s/Mathew Ferche

MATHEW FERCHE

Assistant Attorney General Atty. Reg. No. 0391282 445 Minnesota Street, Suite 1800 St. Paul, Minnesota 55101-2134 (651) 757-1457 (Voice) (651) 297-4077 (Fax) mathew.ferche@ag.state.mn.us

ATTORNEY FOR PETITIONER 100939 MINN. STAT. § 549.211

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The party or parties on whose behalf the attached document is served acknowledge through their undersigned counsel that sanctions may be imposed pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 549.211.

Dated: July 25, 2023 KEITH ELLISON Attorney General State of Minnesota

s/Mathew Ferche MATHEW FERCHE Assistant Attorney General Atty. Reg. No. 0391282 445 Minnesota Street, Suite 1800 St. Paul, Minnesota 55101-2134 (651) 757-1457 (Voice) (651) 297-4077 (Fax) mathew.ferche@ag.state.mn.us

ATTORNEY

eion Sanders is now in Colorado after two years at Jackson State, where he came in like a tornado and made an unforgettable impact on both the school and the SWAC before he suddenly left for a Power 5 head coaching job last winter. His move, as well as his time at the HBCU, was both praised and panned.

Sanders was the main topic at a panel discussion at the 2023 NABJ Convention in Birmingham, Alabama in August.

The three panelists—“Sports Illustrated” reporter Wilton Jackson; Carron Phillips, senior writer at Deadspin; and HBCU GO TV Associate Producer Jason K. Ingram—discussed the “post AD (after Deion) era.” All agreed that the SWAC existed

Black college football post-Deion Sanders

critical of how mainstream media “suddenly” discovered Black colleges simply because of Sanders. “It seems like every decade, White people discover us. And Black people brag about their cousins who went there. We’ve seen this phenomenon before. It wasn’t just a person.”

that has been well-known for decades for its halftime shows and colorful marching bands and cheerleaders.

“All HBCU conferences have their own flavor,” noted Jackson.

“We’re going to showcase our stories,” added Ingram.

before Sanders and will survive now that he’s gone. But lessons must be learned about the experience going forward.

“We understand he was here. We understand, we appreciate what he tried to do. And what he didn’t do,” noted Jackson.

Phillips, who was more critical of Sanders, pointed out that HBCUs must avoid hiring “celebrity” coaches such as Sanders, a former college and pro football star. He was also

When Jackson State hired Sanders in 2020, the move was described by one publication as a “god move.” The new coach took that and ran with it. He spoke out boldly that his school and other HBCUs must upgrade their athletic facilities if they are to attract four- and five-star athletes away from PWIs. He often said he was there for the long haul, committed to seeing that change.

Mainly because of his presence, ESPN brought its “College Gameday” show to campus, only the second time at a Black school. Reportedly Sanders’ presence helped generate $185 million in advertising value and exposure to JSU. Black college football didn’t just start during the pandemic, which coincided with Sanders’ arrival at Jackson State. The SWAC was formed in 1920 with six Black colleges in Texas. It’s now a 12-school league

Hamline’s Jones claims season’s first individual MIAC award

By Charles Hallman

Sports Columnist

very week during each sport’s season, the MIAC announces individual and team awards based on nominations by the schools’ sports information directors and selected by the league staff. Hamline junior Jevon Jones of Woodbury was the conference’s first Football Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 5).

The six-foot, 200 pound linebacker led the Pipers with nine tackles, eight solo and one tackle for loss, forced two fumbles, and snatched an interception in his team’s 4513 season-opening win over Crown on Sept. 2.

A St. Agnes graduate, Jones was an all-conference player and his team’s defensive MVP. He also played basketball, made the Dean’s List, and is a National Honor Society member. But he told the MSR that his nerves almost got the best of him when he arrived on campus.

“When I came in as a freshman,” recalled Jones, “I was really nervous.” Such nervousness forced his brother to offer some needed advice: “My

brother came up to me and said I was just trying so hard,” said the junior.

Jones took the advice to heart and saw things get better for him on the field: “I kept overextending myself. Coach [Chip Taylor] told me to fix that. I’m gonna fix this.”

Jones played nine games as a freshman in 2021, finishing with 34 tackles, including twice registering a seasonhigh six tackles. Next season, as a sophomore, he played in all 10 games for Hamline, finishing third on the team with 71 total tackles (40 solo), including a season-high 15 tackles, two of which resulted in loss yardage against Carlton.

When we first met last month after a preseason practice, Jones pointed out that he used the off-season to improve in several areas. “I was working all summer to study my playbook, studying my plays, watching more film and breaking it down.”

“There’s still so many issues and things going on in the SWAC that we need to address and tackle,” continued Phillips of the first fall of the post-AD era. “We are seeing in real-time how college athletics are changing. Maybe there should be some HBCU super conference. I don’t know, but these are all conversations we should have.

“You’ve got to figure a way to build off of it for the future, so they can be sustainable,” said Phillips of the SWAC and other Black college conferences. “It just isn’t feasible to think that our institutions are going to immediately change overnight.”

HBCU pride at Target Field

There isn’t a Black college

or university in Minnesota. The closest is Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, and even though it is not an official member of historically Black colleges, Chicago State University in Illinois is sometimes seen as an HBCU. But last Friday, the Minnesota Twins held the team’s first-ever HBCU Night.

“We don’t have an HBCU here in Minnesota,” stated Twins Business Communications Director Matt Hodson

■ See VIEW on page 9

Smith proving himself a top wide receiver

NCAA competition.

In his first game, a victory over Northwestern-St. Paul, the junior caught seven passes for 119 yards and one touchdown. Last season, he had 51 receptions for 611 yards and six touchdowns while helping the Auggies to a 6-4 record.

His best season came in 2021, when he had 69 receptions for 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns.

After winning the league’s first individual award of the fall season, both Jones and Hamline are off to a great start, now 2-0 after last Saturday’s 49-28 win over Minnesota Morris.

“We had two solid opponents and I am excited about the start,” Coach Taylor told us after the win. “We have a lot to clean up before we play in the MIAC.”

The Pipers head coach is proud of Jones, “We knew this kid very well,” recalled Taylor since he also recruited his older brother. “He does a great job on and off the field.”

“The progression for me is I always get one percent better every day,” said Jones. “Thank God for that and my family. It’s amazing to be here.”

MIAC news

In August, the MIAC launched

ominic Smith, a 6’3”, 185-pound junior wide receiver for Augsburg University, who also excelled in basketball and baseball at the school during his pre-career at White Bear Lake, has blossomed into one of the top wide receivers not only in Division III, but at all levels of

OUTSTANDING PREP PERFORMERS

Allan Lankfard Jr., 6’1”, 200 pounds, St. Paul Central

The junior quarterback/ strong safety, who also starts as a point guard for the boys basketball team, rushed for 200 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Bloomington Kennedy, and 100 yards and a 67-yard touchdown pass in a loss to Mahtomedi.

Quentin Cobb-Butler, 5’9”, 155 pounds, Woodbury

The senior all-purpose player, who plays basketball as well, had two kickoff returns for touchdowns and a reception for another score in a win over Roseville. He contributed a field

■ See PREP on page 9

The Shock deserve more attention

he Detroit Shock (1998-2009)—the forgotten three-time WNBA champions whose run came between the league’s two dynasties, Houston and Minnesota—made history during their dozen-year existence, before being sold and relocated to Tulsa (2010-2015). Since 2016, the team moved again and became the Dallas Wings.

“There’s history there, but not talked about enough,” said Elaine Powell, who the Shock traded for midway through the 2002 season. She played on all three championship teams (2003, 2006, 2008) and for four conference titles (2003, 2006, 2007, 2008).

A fourth-round draft pick by Orlando in 1999, after two previous seasons in the ABL, Powell began her coaching career at Grambling in 2008,

where she worked for four seasons. She was then head coach at Langston, as well as assistant coaching stints at Ohio University, Alabama

A&M and Georgia Southern. In April, the Lynx hired her as an assistant coach, her first position in the league.

When recently asked to reflect on her place in history, the 2002-2003 WNBA Community Assist Award winner couldn’t help but smile. “For me it was fun,” said Powell. Her Shock teammates included four future Hall of Famers (Swin Cash, Katie Smith, Lynette Woodard and Nancy Lieberman), two All-Rookie players (Kara Broxton and Shavonte Zellous), and eight All-

Stars including Deanna Nolan, better known as Tweety. Nolan was a 2001 firstround pick by Detroit whose vertical jump was unreal and

unstoppable in her time. The 5’10” shooting guard was named to the WNBA 20th Anniversary Team (2016). “It’s not too many females that could bounce and rise like a guy,” Powell said of Nolan’s impact on the game. “She’d bouncebounce-rise then shoot.”

After the 2002 season, Detroit virtually gutted its roster when the team finished dead last. After that, the Shock dominated the eastern conference. In front of the largest crowd in WNBA history, they knocked off the defending two-time champion Los Angeles Sparks, who were favored to repeat— the first ever “worst to first” historic run to win their first championship.

Two more titles would follow before the franchise was sold and relocated to Tulsa, again dismantling the squad,

coaches and front office staff, including then-general manager Cheryl Reeve, who was hired to coach Minnesota.

“I think what made it special was that we got along well, even off the court,” continued Powell, who added that no player saw themselves better than the others, even the stars. “We were all together.”

The Detroit Shock, three times a champion, should be talked about more, said Powell. “You should talk about a team that won even one championship. People that know basketball know about Detroit. The real basketball knowledge people, they know about Detroit.”

K-Mac ready to pitch in

The 2023 WNBA playoffs began this week. After an 0-6 start, Minnesota is in the postseason

“All HBCU conferences have their own flavor.”

“People that know basketball know about Detroit. The real basketball knowledge people, they know about Detroit.”

“I always get one percent better every day.”

Jevon Jones (42) in game action

Courtesy of Hamline Athletics

Dominic Smith Courtesy Augsburg University

Carron Phillips

All photos by Charles Hallman

Jason K. Ingram Wilton Jackson

Elaine Powell

Photo by Charles Hallman Courtesy of X