Federal judge allows immigration raids on houses of worship
Brooklyn Park breaks ground on $10 million Teen Center
By Richard Ooga Mshale
The city of Brooklyn Park hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its new teen center on Monday, April 7 where officials touted new amenities, they believe will improve the quality of life for area youth and young adults.
The new center will be located at the existing Zane Recreation Center on 7100 Zane Avenue North and will feature a tech center by Best Buy, a gymnasium and a game lounge among other amenities. It will also house the offices of the Brooklyn Bridge Alliance for Youth, a partnership between the cities of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center and Hennepin County that supports youth development.
“Every resident in our city of Brooklyn Park matters, their future is incredibly important, and when we say a village, we’re not talking about a village for the folks who are just doing great, doing well, right?” Mayor Hol-
lies Winston said. “We’re talking about folks that maybe are figuring it out, or they’re just on the path to figuring it out, but they need just a little bit of extra resource, or they need something positive for youth to do.”
Winston said the teen center is for the benefit of all the youth in the city and not just those south of 85th Avenue.
“Because there are things that kids below 85th got access to that are not necessarily above 85th, and vice versa,” said Winston.
The project has been in the works since 2018 when city voters passed a $26 million park referendum that allocated $2 million to the teen center. The city council last year approved $7 million of the referendum funds to go towards the center, with the rest coming in the form of grants from Henne- pin County and other sources.
Hennepin County Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde, who was the mayor when voters
passed the referendum, said at the groundbreaking that city leaders – as far back as Mayor Steve Lampi that preceded him –and to the current Winston administration, have always valued the youth and committed to ensuring they feel important.
“We are all united by the simple idea that when we invest in youth, great things can happen,” Lunde said. “I always think the missing ingredient is hope, and where a kid has hope, anything is possible. Nothing is possible for anybody if they don’t have hope.”
Lunde praised the city for earning the distinction of providing the data and analysis to justify the need for the center saying “We track. We can catalog. We can prove the value of this.”
Jon Kainz, president and CEO of Donlar Construction, was on hand for the ground-
P.6
Mayor Hollies Winston delivers third State of the City address
‘Target Fast’ nears end but Black shoppers not coming back
P.9
P.10 Malian singer Amadou Bagayoko dies at 70
Hennepin County Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde and Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston were joined by elected leaders and city staff in the groundbreaking of the new $10 million Brooklyn Park Teen Center on Monday, April 7, 2025. The center is expected to be completed by the end of 2025 Mshale Staff Photo by Richard Oooga
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Guest Commentary by Dr. Julianne Malveaux
President Trump loves the poorly educated
After he won the Nevada Republican caucuses in 2016, the current President crowed his victory. “We won with young. We won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated.” Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) reflected on this comment as he asked Republicans to join Democrats in preserving the Department of Education.
The 47th President loves the poorly educated because he knows how to manipulate them, and because the less you know the more you can be persuaded by false rhetoric. The cuts in education, including cuts in educational services for the differently abled, both physically and intellectually, will likely have a long-term deleterious effect on the condition of education in our country.
The President’s reason for cutting the Department of Education is poor test scores, but the first phase of cuts, separating at least 1300 workers from their jobs, will also likely reduce the amount of educational data that is available. So, we may not learn, from the Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR), which academic areas we need to boost. We are not able to follow graduates over time to analyze career trends. Fewer employees collecting data may impact data accuracy.
Given this President’s anti-DEI stance, we may not measure achievement gaps appropriately. Many of my research colleagues are concerned that this antidetail-oriented President and his motley crew of incompetents prefer aggregate numbers to disaggregated ones. That means they may continue to report an overall unemployment rate, but fail to report changes in Black, Latino, and Asian unemployment.
Data collection costs money, and the President aims to cut budgets. That includes more than $600 million in grants, many of which go to benefit the “least and the left out”. Further, many are concerned that the Office of Civil Rights has reduced effectiveness because of staff cuts. The Office of Civil Rights lost at least 240 employees, including 180 staff attorneys. Regional offices have been closed, making it more difficult for people to file civil rights complaints.
People aren’t taking this action lying down. The National Education Association (NEA), the NAACP, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are all suing the Department of Education to prevent its closure. According to the NEA “If the Education Department is broken apart, the rights of students, particularly
our most vulnerable – to an education that imparts academic lessons, civil rights protections, and prepares them for their future, will be undercut”.
In addition, with fewer workers’ protections, and an indifference to safety net supports, people will be forced into low wage work instead of workforce development activities that will better prepare them for good jobs in the future.
This president loves the poorly educated because they are most easily exploited. We are headed into a dystopian nightmare unless Democrats are willing to take some action.
This President and his allies, assisted by a woman who used to lead Worldwide Wrestling (great preparation to lead the Department of Education) will reorganize or eliminate many critical functions of the Department of Education. Our young people will be the ones to pay.
This year 3.9 million young people are slated to graduate from high school. About 62 percent of them will enroll in either two- or four-year colleges. What will the atmosphere on campuses this fall? Unless some of the lawsuits are successful, lower-income students, differently abled students, and those in need of extra services will be sidelined. DEI programs that offer counseling and solace to some students are likely to be dismantled.
Tens of thousands of students, if not millions, will be disadvantaged by the way the Department of Education is being transformed into the Department of MisEducation.
This is the era of the MisEducation of the Marginalized. Scrubbing our history books of reference to Black, Brown, and other patriots is just a first step to dismantling any notion of critical thinking. This current President and his minions are dedicated to ignorance, and indeed they love the “poorly educated”.
What does this mean for our nation’s future?
Dr. Julianne Malveaux is a DC-based economist and author. Juliannemalveaux.com. She wrote this for the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s BlackPress USA where it first appeared.
‘Target Fast’ boycott nears end as Black shoppers speak Out: ‘I’m done for good’
By Stacy M. Brown BlackPress USA
As the 40-day “Target Fast” draws to a close on Easter Sunday, thousands of Black Americans say the protest has sparked a permanent change in their spending habits—and in their view of corporate accountability. “I’ve been off of Target the last few weeks,” said Wayne Shepherd of Fort Greene, New York. “Planning on making it a forever thing until I see real change. Same with Walmart, Amazon, etc.”
The boycott, organized by faith leaders including Atlanta-based Pastor Jamal Bryant, began March 5 and is meant to protest Target’s decision to scale back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. While framed as a spiritual fast during Lent, many participants say the economic stand has evolved into something much more significant. “Haven’t stepped in a Target since their rollback and don’t intend to,” said Hayden Towns of St. Louis, Missouri. “Also avoiding Walmart, canceled all of my Amazon subscriptions, and weaning myself off of all Zuckerberg apps.”
Organizers launched the movement through TargetFast.org, encouraging Black consumers to redirect their dollars to Black-owned businesses and hold corporations accountable for walking back racial equity commitments. The site has tracked more than 150,000 participants.
wealthiest nation in spending power. “We are strong consumers with astounding brand loyalty. To see companies that we’ve supported heavily—like McDonald’s, Ford Motors, Amazon, Meta, and Walmart—betray our long-standing relationship is beyond disheartening,”
Bryant said Black people spend over $12 million a day at Target stores.
“Let’s just keep spreading awareness in case some folks haven’t got the message,” said Bernard Spain of Temple
Since the boycott began, Target’s stock has dropped over $13 billion in market value, and for the week of March 24, store foot traffic declined 3.8% year-over-year. Bryant noted that Black America stands as the world’s 12th
Bryant declared. “The greatest insult comes from Target, which pledged to spend over $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by the end of 2025, only to find out that Target stopped the program at the start of the year,” he stated.
Hills, Maryland. “I live right near Walmart and still see too many Black folks in and out of there.”
Rachel Strong in Los Angeles has cut ties completely. “A boycott should func-
tion like a strike; making it last a certain amount of time will hinder its effectiveness,” she said. “I’ve permanently cut off Target—switching to local grocery stores and buying fewer things in general. I think we as a people would benefit from consuming a little less.”
However, not everyone agrees on the long-term strategy.
“My question is, if Target is really the second-largest employer of Black people in the country, isn’t hurting them going to potentially hurt us?” asked Theresa Banks of Macon, Georgia. “Doubly so, since the current admin is cutting fed jobs as much as possible.” Still, the pressure continues to mount.
In addition to grassroots action, civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the National Newspaper Publishers Association, have launched their own public education and selective buying campaigns.
The NNPA represents the 198-year-old Black Press of America, which consists of more than 250 African-Americanowned newspapers and media companies.
The Target Fast also includes demands such as restoring DEI initiatives, honoring a $2 billion pledge to Black businesses, investing in HBCUs, and depositing $250 million into Black-owned banks.
As Easter approaches, many say the movement is just getting started. “I’m not fasting,” Wayne Shepherd said. “I’m finished.”
The rebuilt Target store at 2500 East lake Street in Minneapolis that was destroyed during the George Floyd demonstrations. It is across the street from the Third Precinct Minneapolis police station that was set on fire during the riots.
Photo: Mshale File
Photo byTom Gitaa
Civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong speaks during a press conference outside of Target headquarters in downtown Minneapolis on Jan. 30, 2025 calling for a boycott of the retailer.
Photo: KingDemetrius Pendleton/ListenMedia USA Livestream
Brooklyn Park mayor says city has been ‘underfunded and under recognized’ in State of the City address
By Tom Gitaa Mshale
Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston presented the annual State of the City Address on Tuesday, April 8, his third since taking office on Jan. 9, 2023.
He preceded his speech by thanking first responders from the cities of Plymouth, Fridley and Osseo for assisting the Brooklyn Park fire department when U.S. Bank executive Terry Dolan’s singleengine Socata TBM7 plane crashed into a Brooklyn Park home on March 29. Dolan, who died in the crash, was the only occupant of the plane. The home was a total loss but the only occupant at the time was able to escape.
In a 30-minute speech delivered at the city-owned Edinburgh USA, and livestreamed on Facebook, Winston reflected on the mostly positive developments of the past year and laid out a vision that demonstrated “it’s not all doom and gloom.”
“I’m going to speak very plainly, as I normally do. Last year, I told you a long unacknowledged truth, Brooklyn Park has been underfunded and under recognized for far too long.” Winston said.
He pointed to Local Government Aid (LGA), where he said the city has nore-
ceived the level of aid from the state it deserves compared to peer cities like Bloomington. This, he claimed, has resulted in a higher tax burden for city tax payers, especially homeowners.
In existence since 1972, the level of LGA that a city receives is largely driven by its property tax base using what the League of Minnesota Cities describes as a “complex formula.” A city with a large property tax base will receive less compared with cities that do not. The Minnesota Department of Revenue is the body tasked by law the role of certifying the amount of aid a city receives. The
department on its website says what is allocated to each city is “based on current LGA statutes, including any changes enacted during the most recent legislative session.”
See State of the City on Pg. 8
Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston delivers his 2025 State of the City address on Tuesday, April 8, at Edinburgh USA.
Photo: Tom Gitaa/Mshale
Teen Center
Cont’d from Pg. 1
breaking ceremony. His company was in September 23, 2024 awarded a $9.8 million contract by the city for the construction. He said his company has a long history of building projects such as the teen center and has as its mission the goal to “improve people’s lives by building better communities” and that he is committed to ensuring the new center will have state-of-the-art amenities and spaces tailored to the youth.
“We understand that this project belongs to the community, and we are committed to working closely with the city and the stakeholders involved along the way,” Kaiz said. “Donlar prioritizes safety, efficiency, and communication on all our projects, and we will continue to do this throughout the construction process on your new community center.”
“This facility will be a hub of activity,” he continued. “Fostering community connections, and empowering the next generation of leaders.”
The architectural firm Design By Melo did the architectural design for the center. One of its latest projects is the sixstory $66 million Opportunity Crossing project on the corner of Nicollet Avenue and Lake Street in Minneapolis.
Damaris Hollingsworth, Design By Melo’s principal architect in brief remarks at the groundbreaking said “I see this project as something that even before the door is open, even before the amazing staff is doing the work they do, it’s already
doing something.
Parks and Facilities Manager Marcus Hill said that the teen center will help address the number one thing he has heard from young people – that they want food and access to jobs and internships.
“We are set to open our doors right around Christmas of 2025, the building (Zanewood) is closed during construction for eight weeks during the summer” Hill said. “We’re super excited about this
project, two years in the making, and we’re finally here.”
Mshale Editor-in-Chief Tom Gitaa contributed to this story
A rendering of the $10 million Brooklyn Park Teen Center that broke ground on Monday, April 7, 2025. Construction is expected to be completed by December 2025.
Photo: Courtesy City of Brooklyn Park
The revenue department in its most recent report has the total amount of LGA certified for all cities in 2025 at $644,398,012, of which Brooklyn Park will receive $917,834 while Bloomington, Champlin and Maple Grove will receive $0. Neighboring Brooklyn Center which does not have a big property tax base as Brooklyn Park will receive $3,034,626.
“We’ve made great progress, both on the ground, but also with adjusting the state’s perception of us and our role in larger state conversations,” Winston said. “While we may still face gaps in economic development compared to peer cities like Bloomington, people are starting to listen. The legislature is listening. Our regional partners are listening.”
To drive home his point, Winston pointed to the success of the upcoming BioTech Innovation District, which he said was successful because city leadership and state-level elected officials “are increasingly speaking with one very effective and powerful voice.” The district is expected to break ground in 2026 and create an estimated 10,000 jobs. The city was given the authority last year by the Minnesota Legislature to issue bonds.
Winston drew parallels between Destination Medical Center (DMC) in Rochester and his city’s Biotech Innovation District, which he said would place it on the global map.
“That’s why they (Rochester) get to be first in class not just in this country, but in the entire world, Brooklyn Park has a similar recognition now at the state level for biotech, ” Winston said. “We’re going to be known as the city that houses biotech and that is first in class in biotech. That’s important. That vision is also becoming a reality.”
Public safety was a major talking point for Winston during his speech.
“We’ve also expanded our alternate response team, which diverted hundreds of mental health calls from traditional emergency services, lightening the load
on our (police) officers and making sure residents got the care and get the care they needed, ” Winston said. “In fact, mental health-related 911 calls dropped by 15%, which allows our police to focus on more upstream or sometimes more dangerous situations.”
Additionally, Winston mentioned the success of the city’s police crime analysts that were able to link a recent shooting suspect to other crimes in the metro.
Wins by the police department was not the only issue Winston spoke on regarding public safety. What was possibly the most unpredictable part of his speech
was when he addressed the proliferation of group homes in the city. ” We’re leading efforts to change state policy around congregate care facilities, these homes, often called group homes, are a critical part of Minnesota’s care model. They’re necessary, and we very much support them as a city. But in Brooklyn Park, their density has become a public safety concern” Winston said. “While they percentage-wise constitute 1.7% of our homes, nearly one in ten police and fire calls originate from these facilities, costing us $3 million to $4 million annually. But additionally, we have more of these facilities than Minneapolis.”
City residents listen as Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston delivers his State of the City address on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at Edinburgh USA.
Photo: Tom Gitaa/Mshale
Religion Federal judge refuses to block immigration enforcement operations in houses of worship
By Lindsay Whitehurst and Michael Kunzelman Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday, April 11, sided with the Trump administration in allowing immigration agents to conduct enforcement operations at houses of worship for now, despite a lawsuit filed by religious groups over the new policy.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington refused to grant a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs, more than two
“We remain gravely concerned about the impacts of this policy and are committed to protecting foundational rights enshrined in the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” said Corkran, the Supreme Court Director at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy & Protection.
The religious groups argued the policy violated the right to practice their religion. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, attendance has declined significantly, with some areas showing doubledigit percentage drops, they said.
That means that simply reversing the policy on houses of worship wouldn’t necessarily mean immigrants would return to church, she found.
On Jan. 20, his first day back in office, Trump’s administration rescinded a Department of Homeland Security policy limiting where migrant arrests could happen. Its new policy said field agents using “common sense” and “discretion” can conduct immigration enforcement operations at houses of worship without a supervisor’s approval.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys claimed the new
near faith-based sites, such as photographing people in line for food.
The ruling comes as Trump’s immigration crackdown hits courtrooms around the country. On Thursday alone, another judge cleared the way for the administration to require people in the country illegally to register with the government even as the Supreme Court ordered the administration to work to bring back a man mistakenly deported to prison in El Salvador.
There have been at least two other lawsuits over that sensitive locations policy. One Maryland-based judge agreed to
dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans.
She found that the plaintiffs lack standing, or the legal right to sue, since only a handful of immigration enforcement actions have been conducted in or around churches or other houses of worship and that the evidence at this point doesn’t show “that places of worship are being singled out as special targets.”
The plaintiffs are reviewing the decision and assessing their options, said their lead counsel, Kelsi Corkran.
The judge, though, found that the groups had not shown their drops were definitively linked to the church policy specifically, as opposed to broader increased actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other agencies.
“That evidence suggests that congregants are staying home to avoid encountering ICE in their own neighborhoods, not because churches or synagogues are locations of elevated risk,” wrote Friedrich, who was appointed by the Republican president during his first term.
Homeland Security directive departs from the government’s 30-year-old policy against staging immigration enforcement operations in “protected areas” or “sensitive locations.”
The plaintiffs did offer a handful of examples of enforcement or surveillance, according to the judge’s ruling. They cited reports of an immigrant arrested at one Georgia church and of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement search at a Georgia church day care center. The plaintiffs also cited four cases of immigration officers appearing to conduct surveillance
block immigration enforcement operations for some religious faiths, including Quakers.
A judge in Colorado, though, sided with the administration in another lawsuit over the reversal of the part of the policy that had limited immigration arrests at schools.
Despite the immediate setback, the plaintiffs can continue to press their case in the lawsuit.
A sign that prohibits the entrance of ICE or Homeland Security is posted on a door at St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church in New York, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: Seth Wenig/AP
Art & Entertainment
Malian singer Amadou Bagayoko, who has performed in Minnesota, dies at age 70
By Baba Ahmed Asociated Press
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Renowned guitarist and singer Amadou Bagayoko of Mali’s music duo Amadou & Mariam has died. He was 70.
Mali’s Minister of Culture Mamou Daffé paid tribute to the blind musician in a televised broadcast on state TV. He said that Bagayoko died Friday in the city of Bamako, his birthplace, but didn’t give further details. Bagayoko went blind when he was 15 because of a congenital cataract. He studied music at Mali’s Institute for the Young Blind, where he met his future wife, Mariam Doumbia. They formed a band called Mali’s Blind Couple in 1980, making their mark locally and internationally.
Their music, which blends traditional African influences with elements of rock, blues and pop, has won them a global following. They produced over 10 awardwinning albums, including France’s Grammy Awards equivalent, Victoire de la Musique, in 2005, for “Dimanche à Bamako” and again in 2013 for “Folila.” “Dimanche à Bamako” also won them one of the BBC Radio Awards for World Music in 2006.
Their 2008 album “Welcome to Mali” was nominated for Best Contemporary World
Music Album at the Grammys. Bagayoko’s last world-class performance
with Doumbia was at the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. He is survived by his wife and a son, Sam, also a musician.
Blind artists Mariam Doumbia and Amadou Ndiaye perform in Bamako, Mali, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.
Photo: Moustapha Diallo/AP
