PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
— See more Issa Rae on pg. 6
THE VOICE OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY SINCE 1934 March 8-14, 2018 Vol. 84 No. 31 www.spokesman-recorder.com
Women of color want ‘equal representation of our own’
Celebrants and supporters join in a toast with the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the inauguration of Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton in 1994. Foto by Flashman ly 1,900 women state legislators in office nationwide today, 24 percent are women of color, and of the eight women Second of a two-part story of color who are now serving as mayors in the nation’s 100 This story concludes last largest cities, five are Black week’s “Who’s at the table when women. Participants in a redecisions are made?” cent symposium say the time utgers University’s for that to change is overdue. Center for American “I do think it makes a differWomen and Politics ence for African Americans, La(CAWP) tells us that of near- tinos, Asians or Native Ameri-
By Charles Hallman Senior Staff Writer
R
cans to have the opportunity to be able to be in elected office, to speak authentically on issues that their communities uniquely experience,” former Minneapolis mayor Sharon Sayles Belton told the MSR during the February 23 all-day symposium. “It doesn’t mean that you’re the African American mayor or just the Latino mayor.” The event, named in her honor, was held at the University of
Minnesota and hosted by Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Participants included Mary Parham-Copelan, one among a handful of newly elected Black female mayors and the first woman to be mayor in her city of Milledgeville, Georgia; and Melisa Franzen, one of five Latino state lawmakers, currently serving her second term in the Minnesota State Senate. Sayles Belton and Copelan described their experiences as mayor. Said Parham-Copelan, who defeated the incumbent mayor, “They said I won by six votes, but they took the sixth vote back — I’m OK with that. That five is fine with me.” Franzen, who represents Bloomington, Eden Prairie, Edina and Minnetonka, added that she was an unknown when she first ran for state office in 2012. The DFLer won her seat in what has traditionally been a Republican-leaning district. “I didn’t run as a Latina, but as a young woman,” said the Puerto Rican native who was reelected in 2016. Parham-Copelan said she got into the mayor’s race about two months before last fall’s election. “I had prayed about it when I came into this race. There were
Facing up to untreated trauma
Some say it and other mental ills have been ignored too long how took away from your been through much untreatBlackness; it was these stigmas ed trauma dating all the way that the panel directly and in- back to when Africans were On February 27, Hope and snatched out of their homes directly addressed. Healing Counseling Servic“It’s past time that we begin and countries. es (HHCS) hosted a conversaRev. Herron, who trains and to talk about this to break the tion entitled “Mental Health: stigma around mental health provides mental health first aid, Breaking the Stigma.” The in our community,” said Arm- took a moment to connect the event was moderated by Rev. dots surrounding the trauma strong. Nekima Levy-Pounds and featured panelists Marques Armstrong, owner of HHCS; Dr. Peggy Elliot, author and counselor; and Rev. Dr. Brian Herron Sr. of Zion Baptist Church. Most of the discussion focused on the theme of trauma and the effects of trauma to individuals as well as to the community when trauma goes untreated. The panelists wasted no time getting to the point, saying the first step to breaking the mental health stigma is simply acknowledging it. In the Black community, Rev. Nekima Levy-Pounds and featured panelist mental health has traditionalMarques Armstrong ly been viewed and referred to Photo by Olivia Crutchfield negatively and associated with To address the stigma, the experienced by the Black comweakness. Such mental disorpanelists also added historical munity. Some of the traumatic ders such as depression, hearcontext pertaining to the Afri- events referenced were being ing voices, and untreated recan American community. The captured, coming to a foreign tardation remained well-kept panelists agreed that the Afri- land in the bowels of the ship secrets and were ignored. To can American community has stacked on top of each othhave a mental disorder some-
By Khymyle Mims Contributing Writer
er, living in filth, families torn apart and sold off from each other, and always being on the brink of freedom and having fair shot only to have the rug pulled from under their feet. Two prominent questions that really stuck out during the discussion were whether there is a “post-traumatic slave syndrome” and whether racism is a mental disorder. One conclusion that seemed mutually accepted by all is that in the field of psychology, African Americans must create and establish their own evaluation scales and tools. Both panelists and audience members made the case that tools used to evaluate sanity were created by the oppressors for use on the oppressed. One audience member, a member of the Association of Black Psychologists, spoke on the scale of normalcy and how at its base are the essential necessities of life such as food, shelter and safety. He then raised the question of how someone can apply such ■ See trauma on page 5
Cardiologist and churches join on heart-felt mission African American women most at risk
Brewer is an assistant professor at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine’s department of cardiovascular medicine. She began her training in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and completed the cardiology training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Her focus is preventative cardiology and women’s heart health. Her research focused on risk factor modification in underserved populations. That research led to her interest in making sure underserved populations would become aware of high-risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. Dr. LaPrincess Brewer These factors place African Americans at a higher risk for heart disease. “My passion is to develop interventions that can help By Brandi Phillips people overcome the risk factor,” she says. Contributing Writer Brewer oversees the FAITH program February was National Healthy Heart (Fostering African American Improvement Month, and thanks to Dr. LaPrincess Brewer to Total Health), which collaborates with and local church leaders in Rochester, Mincommunity churches to improve particinesota, the FAITH Program promoted heart pant health. FAITH was originally creathealth one heart at a time.
ed as part of Brewer’s public health studies at John Hopkins, where the students were challenged to come up with a community intervention to help prevent chronic disease. “We thought about where we should go that was the center of the African American community. As a group working on the project, we decided that was the Black church,” Brewer said, adding, “The program was created with church leaders.” The church is a long-standing cornerstone of the African American community. “We initially wanted to focus on healthy eating and how to prevent chronic disease by way of healthier eating patterns in the African American community,” said Brewer. The program offered healthy cooking classes and advice from guest speakers about hypertension, how to read nutrition labels, and how to prevent diabetes. Said Brewer, “It was really a great success. We had a really good time.” ■ See Heart-felt on page 5
some challenges I did face on the campaign trail” as a female candidate, but she believes voters found her “more personable” than her opponent. Both women disclosed that some people discouraged them from running for office. Franzen reportedly was told that her first foray into politics shouldn’t be for a state senate seat, and Parham-Copelan’s background as a realtor, an educator, and pastor of her church was questioned as she lacked the business and professional experience held by her predecessors. “It was a lot
of challenges for me,” she added. “We never stopped [campaigning] until the very last minute.” Now in office, both women say they still must reassure their constituents. “I represent my district first and foremost,” Franzen said. “I’m also [a] state senator and have to represent my state.” Parham-Copelan stressed, “I have found that most [of the residents] have warmed up to me.” She said in response to a question, “It is very important to have a person of color in office, ■ See WOC on page 5
Parham-Copelan being sworn in as first woman mayor in Milledgeville, GA Photo courtesy of Facebook
Teens prepped as fuTure enTrepreneurs By Dwight Hobbes Contributing Writer As class lets out, North Minneapolis’ Patrick Henry High’s hallways, like any school’s, teem wall to wall with chaotic vitality, the boisterous signature of spirited teenagers. It isn’t just any school, though, not one that meets the mainstream notion of wholesome boys and girls being boys and girls, which makes all the difference in the world.
write.” There is a poster announcing an upcoming event at nearby Webber Park with Mahmoud El-Kati and Lissa Jones. One practical, richly promising means of empowerment that enables budding entrepreneurs is the newly instituted Junior Achievement and Metropolitan Economic Development Association initiative, known as the JAMEDA Fellows Program. Pilot program mentor Christopher Fleming, the Black male
(l-r) Gerald Woods and Christopher Fleming Photo by Dwight Hobbes Society doesn’t readily see these brightly animated adolescents as fresh-faced, flowering youth in whom the proverbial sap rises because they’re not suburbanites who are automatically accorded a Norman Rockwell quality of innocence. When these kids hit the streets, they’re subject to a biased lens, no longer protected from the conferred status as living, breathing, walking, talking problems. They are potential threats to the peace. And on graduation, leaving for either college or the workplace, they stand to be viewed on sight as less-than. While the world and how it views and treats them is not going to change, Patrick Henry empowers them to meet those challenges and more. The spirit of encouragement is right there on the walls. Excerpts from passages by Frederick Douglass, a James Baldwin quote: “Read, read, read. Never stop reading. And when you can’t read anymore...
achievement coordinator, appreciates that first and foremost, to reach and resonate with youth (five young women out of the 18 students), they need to feel you respect their minds. “I’m in a place to push the agenda forward to them. As an educator [for] the past 10 years, I’ve seen that students have the desire in them to succeed. We want to make sure our scholars get the tools they need.” That includes particulars like product and market research. As well, Patrick Henry High provides iPads to aid in the technology of starting and owning a business. Fleming adds, “Sometimes there will be gaps [in their skill set] because of the unfortunate system. A lot of our students aren’t afforded the [right] opportunities. We have to be about fostering that.” Fleming insisted on the involvement of entrepreneurs of ■ See teens on page 5