January 25, 2018 - MN Spokesman-Recorder

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PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391

THE VOICE OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY SINCE 1934

—See more Crashed Ice on pg. 6

January 25 -31, 2018 Vol. 84 No. 25 www.spokesman-recorder.com

Page family curates African American history exhibit Dwight Hobbes Contributing Writer

F

ormer Minnesota Supreme Court Justice and NFL Hall of Famer Alan Page continues to see justice as more than word, viewing it as

Signs from Lincoln’s funeral

A slave’s shackles

State reports improved spending on businesses owned by people of color Despite progress, ‘We’ve got a long way to go’ By Charles Hallman Staff Writer

Matt Massman, commissioner of administration

a cause requiring ongoing, unstinted commitment to social service. The family is active again with a timely public exhibit of historic artifacts from

million to $2.7 million); Indigenous-owned firms ($73,147 to $141,720), womenowned businesses ($25 million to $47 million) and veteran-owned businesses ($1.8 million to $6.8 million). “This report is encouraging,” said Dayton in a released statement. “But we have much more to do to help all Minnesota business owners find new business opportunities with the State of Minnesota.”

Since 2015, according to a report released by Governor Mark Dayton’s office, State spending with Black, Asian, Latino, Indigenous, veteran and women-owned businesses has significantly increased. The report, released last week, showed signifi- Alice Roberts-Davis, cant spending growth with assistant commissioner Black-owned firms — from Photos courtesy of the State of $135,000 in 2015 to over $1.5 Minnesota million in 2017. During the same periMandatory diversity and od, spending increased with Asian-owned businesses ($11 inclusion training for State million to $16 million); La■ See spending on page 5 tino-owned businesses ($1.1

their private collection. In 1988 he and his wife Diane founded the Page Education Foundation, providing students of color financial and mentoring aid in exchange for a commitment to volunteer in the community, an initiative suggested by daughter Georgi. The foundation was supported by sales from children’s books, Alan and His Perfectly Pointy Impossibly Perpendicular Pinky and The Invisible You, penned by Justice Page and daughter Kamie. Alan, Diane and Georgi have curated “TESTIFY: Americana from Slavery to Today,” drawing from the Diane and Alan Page Collection. Currently exhibited at Hennepin

Diane and Alan Page Photos courtesy of Diane and Alan Page Collection ■ See History on page 5

New Mpls council member takes on ‘big, big responsibility’ By Vickie Evans-Nash Contributing Writer On November 7, 2017 Andrea Jenkins made history by becoming the first African American transgender woman elected to the council of a major city. On January 8, 2018, Jenkins was elected vice president of the Minneapolis City Council. She says her role on the council is just one of many in a continuum of supporting others. She grew up in Chicago, Illinois and moved to Minneapolis in 1979 to go to college. She liked the fact that it was easy to find work, go to school, and find a safe place to live here. However, “It’s still sad that in 2017 Minnesota has been identified as the secondworst state in the country for Black folks to live in. “The level of institutional and systemic racism is so deep that the White progressive liberals can do all their dialogs and talks and studies and feel like they are doing something about the issue,” she says. “But until they actually stop talking and start doing, it’s going to stay the same.” In the past Jenkins has taken a behind-the-scenes approach in her support of others, as an employment counselor for Hennepin County and as a vocational counselor working

to get families back to work. Yet, those experiences left her feeling that social service safety nets were temporary solutions when she wanted people to experience broader, more sustainable results. In 2002 she completed her master’s degree in community economic development and worked as Minneapolis Council Member Robert Lilligren’s aide for three years, when she had an opportunity to see the inner workings of City Hall. “That brought me inside policy work, and I really saw that, yes, this is the place [where] systemic change can happen.” After a stint with Northside Redevelopment Council, she was hired again as an aide, this time for Council Member Elizabeth Glidden. When Glidden announced her retirement, Jenkins said to herself, “I know these neighbors, I know the issues. I know how City Hall works, so the time is right for me to run.” Since its inception, the Minneapolis City Council has only had a few Black members: Van White, Sharon Sayles-Belton, Rev. Brian Herron, Natalie Johnson-Lee, Don Samuels and Ralph Remington; this election cycle brought Jenkins, Phillipe Cunningham and Jeremiah Ellison. “As far as I know, in modern history I’m the first aide to ever serve as an aide, run for of-

Andrea Jenkins fice, and get elected,” says Jenkins. “That’s the first I like to talk about.” What’s the biggest difference between being an aide and a council member? “I’ve got to vote,” Jenkins answers. “As an aide I was dealing with

Photo courtesy Andea Jenkins Jenkins says of the local political machine, “There is just a lot of incentive for people to maintain the status quo. So change comes hard.” An example of this was the $15 minimum wage, which Jenkins says was a battle to even get

“It’s a lot, going up against centuries of White supremacy and systemic oppression.” the constituents, just like Elizabeth was. I would hear the mean comments and have to deal with the angry people. I went to all the meetings. But at the end of the day, I just didn’t have that same pressure that she had, that I will now have, of putting my values down on paper, and that’s a big responsibility.”

before the council for a vote. Yet, “Businesses are making more money now than they ever have in the history of the world. That’s even including slavery when they had no labor cost.” However, Jenkins describes the newly elected ■ See CounCil on page 5

Couple provides safe housing for women in recovery By Jonika Stowes Contributing Writer Community living is becoming popular around the nation, which makes it easier for individuals who have a common purpose to come together to support and strengthen one another. So it is for Central Village Housing (CVH), providing a holistic wellness approach to women in transformation. Bernard Jones and his wife Georgia have owned and operated two sober living houses for women since 2015. Georgia Giles-Jones is a Minnesota native, having attended St. Paul Central High School and then St. Paul College, where she met her husband Bernard, a Michigan native. Together they raised their family in what is now one of their sober houses for women. Having witnessed firsthand the effects of addiction and its negative impact on individuals, families and

communities, the couple is committed to rendering a safe space for women as the Jones grow their business. According to their brochure, Central Village Housing’s mission is to provide a quality sober living environment for women who are ambitious about recovery. Located in St. Paul communities, Central Village House and Fuller House are in the Summit University neighborhood and the Blair House is in the Frogtown neighborhood. The couple says they are focused on St. Paul, as Minneapolis housing rules and regulations are structured differently and they love the community where they met and grew up. With a mother, sister, and other family members falling to the captivities of addition, Georgia and Bernard struggled in a generational addiction that claimed their son. The streets did not provide safety to support their son on

the road to recovery as a teenager in and out of inpatient treatment facilities. Without a criminal record, nothing mandated their son to stay in a recovering facilities. With a criminal record, an individual is often mandated by the court system to get into recovery programs that help them to get off chemical dependency. Georgia said, “So with my son, he didn’t have any criminal activity. It was like if he had charges, they could mandate him or do something more, and it’s like who wants to lie just so he could get the help?” Georgia’s son is now successfully recovering from the effects of chemical dependency. Georgia’s background is in residential and group housing; her sister was a treatment director at NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center in North Minneapolis and mentioned doing a sober home to the Jones. With the idea plant-

ed, the Jones decided to turn their home into a sober house and move their children to another house. The couple’s first house has 12 women, and their second home, Blair House, has eight residents. The Jones employed a former addict as a house manager who lives off site and manages both houses. The Central Village and Blair House provide the same services, and residents need to be very independent in their will to recover. Also, fellow residents are supportive of one another. To live in one of their homes comes down to not having triggers. Residents also follow a curfew that helps them avoid being out in the evening when chances would increase to fall back into addictions. To be housed requires 30 days’ sobriety from chemical use, day-to-day sobriety, baseline urine analysis (UA), 20 hours of Intense Out Patient (IOP), volunteer-

Georgia Giles-Jones, Bernard Jones Photo by Jonika Stowes ing, schooling or working. The houses also require two Narcotics Anonymous (NA) or Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) weekly meetings, a weekly house meeting, and house chores. They have dealt with residents who’ve

had HIV and Hepatitis C, and they speak with the residents about cleaning up after themselves and bleaching down communal living areas. Georgia said, “We don’t ■ See Housing on page 5


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