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THE VOICE OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY SINCE 1934 May 6-May 12, 2021, Vol. 87 No. 40
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Deluxe supports small Blackowned businesses through Hulu TV series The MSR is one of six selected for this season
By MSR News Services Deluxe Company has announced the six businesses that will be featured in season six of its acclaimed television series “Small Business Revolution,” available at www.sbr.org, on Hulu and Prime Video. The businesses selected for this season are all Black-owned and based in Minneapolis and St. Paul. All will receive business advice and financial guidance plus marketing and renovation updates from Deluxe.
Deluxe helps with websites, payment solutions, online reviews and anything needed to promote the actual business. They even help with packaging and branding. For more than 100 years, Deluxe has been a champion of small business. Over the past five years, Deluxe has chosen a community to spotlight through the Small Business Revolution program, helping the community succeed through its small businesses. This year, community leaders from Minneapolis and
St. Paul helped nominate nearly 100 small businesses from six distinct neighborhoods—Rondo, East St. Paul, Frogtown/Midway, South Minneapolis, Lake Street and West Broadway—to be part of the Small Business Revolution television program. “It’s a passion project we love doing this,” explained Amanda Brinkman, Deluxe chief brand and content officer and the creator and co-host of the series. “The message is look how vital these small businesses are to their communities. The more we
support small businesses the ripple effect is felt within the neighborhoods and the community. It’s really a celebration of how important small businesses are to our country to our economy and our neighborhoods” Business owners had two weeks to submit applications, answer questions about what inspired them to start their businesses, what they love most about their neighborhoods, and where they experience challenges running the business. ■ See DeLuxe on page 5
St. Paul mayor, city council clash over proposed development At issue is gentrification versus deeply affordable housing
By Mel Reeves Community editor Apparently St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter is willing to risk his reputation and the well-being of his former Rondo neighborhood on the likelihood that the developers of a proposed 288unit $57 million primarily market-rate project will voluntary add deeply affordable housing. The city council voted April 7 to deny Alatus LLC its Lexington Station development proposal to be built on land adjacent to the Wilder Foundation headquarters at 451 Lexington Parkway. “The planning commission found that [the project] was inconsistent with our zoning plans,” said St. Paul City Council
Member Dai Thao at a press conference last week denouncing Carter’s decision to override the council’s vote. “Every political leader in this city has talked about the destruction of this community and how generations of poverty were created as a result,” said Thao. “We have an opportunity to change that, but we are doing exactly what they did in the 1960s. $1,100 for a studio is too much for this community.” According to housing experts, state law and the city zoning codes declare that the city council and not the mayor is empowered to make decisions about zoning and housing developments. The St. Paul City Council has asked the Minnesota Attorney General to
(l-r) Frances Murphy Draper, publisher of Baltimore’s AfroAmerican newspaper, with Tracey Williams Dillard, publisher of the MSR, standing before a portrait of late MSR publisher Launa Newman Photo by Julie Gordon
Pretext traffic stops under fire By Khalifa Uchiche Contributing writer
Artist rendering of proposed Lexington Station pletely with the zoning. Our goal is to always invest in our community and to make sure Mayor weighs in “I don’t think it’s an all- there is a place for families, or-nothing proposal,” said for the business leaders. Carter. “It’s consistent com■ See Clash on page 5
weigh in on the issue.
“It’s about saving lives,” said Minnesota Rep. Cedrick Frazier (DFL- 45A) calling for limitations on pretext police stops. “I think of whether Daunte [Wright] could still be here if the cops hadn’t engaged him on that day initially for an expired tab.” In a pretext traffic stop, a police officer stops someone for a minor traffic offense so that they can investigate them for a worse offense that they don't yet have evidence for. These stops allow police officers to conduct criminal investigations under the guise of low-level traffic code violations. With Rep. Kelly Moller (DFL42A) and Rep Jamie Becker-Finn
lence. In 1996, the United States Supreme Court unanimously decided that pretext stops were constitutional in Whren v. United States. The driver, James L. Brown, and the passenger, Michael Whren, were driving in a “high drug area” of Washington, D.C. After sitting at a stop sign for about 20 seconds, they sped off without signaling. The prolonged stop and speedy turn caught the attention of two plain-clothed police officers in an unmarked car, causing them to stop the vehicle. Once the officers approached the vehicle, they noticed two bags of crack cocaine in Whren’s hands, and there was also marijuana laced with PCP in plain sight. Whren and Brown were charged with intent to distribute
Protesters demand murder charges for Daunte Wright’s killer Prosecutor under pressure to reconsider his choice
By Mel Reeves Community editor “Indict, convict, send the killer cops to jail. The whole damn system is guilty as hell,” is just one of the chants that filled the air under overcast skies in Brooklyn Center on Sunday, May 2. Several hundred took to the streets led by family members of Daunte Wright demanding that his killer, former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, be charged with second- and third-degree murder. “The day’s gonna come when I won’t march no more. The day’s gonna come when I won’t march no more,” the crowd sang along with local artist Jayanthi Kyle at the beginning of the march. “But while my sister ain’t equal and my brother can’t breathe, hand in hand with my family we will fill these streets.” The march began near the corner of 63rd Avenue North and Kathrene Drive in Brooklyn Center where Wright was killed by Potter on April 11. It ended at the Brooklyn Center police station. “He had so much life ahead of him,” said Katie Wright, the victim’s mother. “We are at a loss, all because of a racist police
Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels
Katie Wright and family members are flanked by supporters as several hundred people marched Sunday demanding murder charges be brought against Kim Potter. Photo by King Demetrius Pendleton Until then we will continue to speak out. We will continue to say his name. We will continue to protest. We want one officer who wanted to take said to cheers from the crowd. hundred percent accountabil“She needs to be charged ity, and that means charging his life for a minor traffic stop. They are charging her with with second-degree murder, this case correctly.” Toshira Garraway of Famisecond-degree manslaughter. third-degree murder, and We are not OK with that,” she second-degree manslaughter. lies Supporting Families ■ See Protest on page 5
(DFL- 42B), Rep. Frazier created a proposal inside a nowapproved public safety bill calling for limiting pretext stops among several other policing changes in response to the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. The bill allows law enforcement to continue to pull people over for speeding or equipment violations that create dangerous driving conditions. However, it would limit pretext stops and the further investigation of a serious crime. The bill has received bipartisan support. Traffic stops are the most frequent interactions between police and citizens. In 2020, 120 people in the U.S. were killed during a routine traffic stop, according to Mapping Police Vio-
50 grams of crack cocaine, and because they were pulled over in a school zone, the federal charges were much harsher. This case went to the Supreme Court because the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens against unreasonable and unusually harmful search and seizures, was in question. The unanimous decision concluded that the subsequent investigation was reasonable even if the officers had other motivations for pulling the vehicle over because a traffic violation had occurred. “The temporary detention of a motorist upon probable cause to believe that he has violated the traffic laws ■ See Pretext on page 5