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Welcome to Minnesota: A Conversation about Immigration and Human Rights

May

25

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Cynthia Boyd

About me

Cynthia Boyd writes Community Sketchbook for MinnPost.

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Feeding the poor: But is it healthy food?

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

For people in crisis, salad on the table likely isn’t first on their list of necessities. So it’s good to hear there are people seriously concerned about the menus at homeless shelters and meal programs feeding the poor.MORE »

Bemidji incorporates Ojibwe into city's signs and daily life

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Tourists visiting Bemidji this summer may pick up a few words of a “foreign” language.

That’s because the first city on the Mississippi River way north in Minnesota may be the only town off a reservation trying to incorporate the area’s indigenous Ojibwe language into daily life.MORE »

Farming programs help immigrants get out of poverty

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

He was born in mountainous Cambodia and dreamed of owning a farm. She was born to the far-reaching plains of the Midwest and flourished in an urban setting of coffee shops and poetry readings.MORE »

U of M students hope documentary prompts debate over apology to Native Americans

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.

An old saying, it came to mind as University of Minnesota lecturer Carter Meland talked to me about a thought-provoking video project of the 60 students in his introductory “American Indians in Minnesota” class.MORE »

Big welfare cuts stripped from human services legislation

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Advocates for the poor are relieved following passage by Minnesota lawmakers of legislation approving $18 million in funding for the state’s Health and Human Services program.

Most significantly, financial support for the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) to low-income families with children will not be cut.MORE »

Givens Black Books program brings African-American literature into homes

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

When her daughter was 13, way back in the ‘70s, Nothando Zulu wanted her to read the work of a respected black author writing about an African-American girl dealing with the challenges of life.

She wanted her to prize black literature for both its beauty and its lessons.

So she special-ordered books written by Rosa Guy, one of the founders of The Harlem Writers’ Guild.MORE »

Trayvon Martin case puts focus on citizen crime-prevention programs

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

A computer programmer for Wells Fargo, John Bartholomew doesn’t own a gun; in fact he says he’s never even shot one and certainly wouldn’t carry one, even though for going-on 18 years he’s been a Neighborhood Watch captain in White Bear Township.MORE »

Identifying who's poor in Minnesota and why

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Angela Baerthel wants off of public assistance, but that’s proved difficult. She was laid off her job in 2010 and even a small business effort hasn’t worked out. “I don’t want my kids to be on welfare,’’ she says.MORE »

St. Paul conference ponders provocative questions about poverty

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Here’s a thought for pondering as we travel through our days: Do we consciously or unconsciously choose paths that take us away from the very sight of the poor in our communities?

And if they’re out of sight, are they out of mind? And if the poor are out of mind, where is the will to end poverty?MORE »

University of Minnesota's Chicano Studies department turns 40

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

You might say Louis Mendoza tells a higher-education story of birth, survival and hope.

What he’s describing is the establishment 40 years ago of the Chicano Studies Department at the University of Minnesota, its efforts to hold steady against cold economic winds and its hope for the future.MORE »