Saturday, May 2nd is Beer Pong Day, Bladder Cancer Awareness Day, National Play Your Ukulele Day and World Naked Gardening Day. It’s also the first-ever National Independent Bookstore Day – and it’s party time in the stacks as Twin Cities booksellers go all out to celebrate, with everything from F. Scott Fitzgerald Bingo (noon at Common Good Books, Saint Paul), dancing around a Maypole (1:30 PM, Birchbark Books, Minneapolis), and The Easiest Scavenger Hunt Ever (all day, Red Balloon Books, St. Paul). If you’re a night owl, stop in at Boneshaker Books – the volunteer-run south Minneapolis shop will be open ‘round the clock on May 2 to celebrate. Early risers can visit Moon Palace Books’ pop-up tent at the Midtown Farmer’s Market (open at 8 AM). Continue Reading
On Saturday May 2nd, the Minneapolis branch of the NAACP is set to hold a special election, the second of its kind in two years. The hope is that the elections will lead to a revitalization and reorganization of the chapter, which has faced some challenges in recent history. “Minneapolis’s branch has had different issues from different people who have not been forthcoming to work on issues for the people, [among] other issues,” W.C. Jordan told the Twin Cities Daily Planet by phone. Jordan is the NAACP’s Minnesota/Dakotas Area State Conference President. “Minneapolis has the largest contingency of people of color in the state…we’re looking for bigger things from Minneapolis.”
According to NAACP bylaws, the current election cycle was to have taken place in November of 2014 for the January 2015-December 2016 term. Continue Reading
About a thousand people marched peacefully through the streets of downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday evening to send positivity to protesters in Baltimore. The event, organized by Black Lives Matter, came two days after riots erupted in Baltimore following the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray — a man who died of a spinal cord injury while in police custody earlier this month. Some University of Minnesota students joined swaths of people across the nation calling for an end to police abuse and oppression. “It’s not just an issue of Freddie Gray,” said Christopher Getowicz, a member of Students for a Democratic Society. “There’s a lot of social and economic issues that go into it. Continue Reading
Police body cameras made national news when Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton told an audience at Columbia University that they should be mandatory for all police departments. Currently, the use of these devices is spotty, with no state or federal mandate requiring local police to adopt their use. According to an ACLU study, about 25% of U.S. policing agencies are using the pager-sized devices, and 80% are studying them. Closer to home, police experts, local elected officials and citizen leaders shared their views on body cameras on April 29 at a panel discussion hosted by the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Policy & Affairs. Billed as a conversation about data privacy, the three separate panel discussions provided insight into a variety of issues around body cameras – including how much discretion, if any, officers should have in turning them on and off. Continue Reading
Judge Peter A. Cahill denied a motion for a pre-trial gag order at a hearing Friday for the defendants in the case about the Christmas protest at the Mall of America. The hearing set the dates for the upcoming pre-trials and trials of the individuals charged with a range of misdemeanors that include trespassing, unlawful assembly, etc. Around 30 total defendants set dates for either their trials or pre-trials, to take place next fall (with one exception, where a defendant requested a speedy trial, set for July). They were charged after a protest that occurred in December of last year, over police treatment of people of color, held at the Mall of America. “The defendants have first amendment rights,” Cahill said. Continue Reading
How do you create a soundtrack for a neighborhood? Would the sounds be from early morning? Late in the day? Who are the people that would sing, play instruments or speak for that neighborhood? These are the questions Mankwe Ndosi asked herself when she took on a massive public art project called Soundtrack of Phillips. Continue Reading
Politics, dueling agendas and passionate pleas were all part of a recent meeting at the Brian Coyle community center, where more than 250 tenants from the Cedar Riverside Towers showed up to complain about living conditions there. Council member Abdi Warsame invited heads of city departments including the office of civil rights, health and safety, regulatory services and State Senator Kari Dziedzic (DFL), who represents the Cedar Riverside area, to be part of a listening session where residents of the iconic Cedar Riverside towers, complained about broken elevators, lack of parking, and a lack of respect and cultural competency on the part of Sherman Associates and the employees who manage the complex. No representative from Sherman Associates, the company who owns the towers were at the table listening alongside city employees. Nor was any representative from the Riverside Plaza Tenants Association. Organizers say it was about gathering the community and listening to the residents.”This is all about empowering the residents and hearing their concerns,” said Mohamed Mohamed of West Bank Community Coalition. His organization helped organize the listening session. Residents sometimes became emotional about issues they have been experiencing with Sherman Associates. Continue Reading
Today is Good Friday, the day Christians around the world commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion.I did not grow up Catholic, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to its iconography, its saints and the pageantry of holy days and feasts. I have a Saint Martin de Porres statue in my house. And sometimes, despite, my lack of religious devotion, I pray.My family was also not religious. In fact, my grandmother and great grandmother, both Salinan Indians from the central coast of California, viewed the Catholic church and all its Missions with a healthy dose of distrust. But, it was part of their lives…floating from background to foreground at any given time. Continue Reading
Award winning writer Louise Erdrich is best known for her prolific novels such as the Plague of Doves, Love Medicine and The Round House, but she’s also a visual artist. Asynchronous Reading, a new show curated by Heid E. Erdrich at Bockley gallery is the first time her works will be on view. Asynchronous Reading presents Erdrich’s paintings, collage boxes, and found-object constructions along with poetic text and audio works to create an experience to be viewed, read, and heard. Aza Erdrich and Pallas Erdrich, Louise’s two daughter, contributed key images and media works to an installation curated by Heid E. Erdrich, who also collaborated on parts of the exhibit.It all started when Louise wondered to herself, “Why am I drawing these lines?” Heid remembered saying to her, “You’re abstracting the process of writing.”Heid also remembered seeing Louise make small boxes filled with curiosities.“I always felt that her house was a Cornell box,” she says referring to the American artist and sculptor Joseph Cornell, who was known for his assemblage.Viewers at Bockley gallery will be encouraged to pick up a phone to hear advice, a story about two people stuck on the roof of a hotel, and a message to a secret agent. Asynchronous Reading also features paintings by Aza Erdrich, one of which viewers will recognize from the cover of Louise’s novel The Round House. Continue Reading
A group of residents at the Cedar Riverside Towers in Minneapolis’ West Bank neighborhood claim their cars have been ticketed and towed without a reason, have gone long periods of time without a working elevator and are treated with disrespect by Sherman Associates, the company that owns the property. These claims, say representatives and workers from the company are without merit and instead, countered that many making the complaints don’t actually live there.On a recent Friday, more than fifty women stood outside of building A on the Riverside Towers campus holding signs saying, ‘Housing is a Basic Right,’ and ‘We Want Respect.’ Around 2pm, right after Friday prayers finished they began chanting calls for change in both English and Somali as cars passed by with honks and cheers of support.Their complaints were broken elevators (one tenant said the elevator in her building had been broken for nearly three weeks), disrespect on the part of management and…parking. Nearly every woman I spoke with at this Friday protest complained about the lack of parking, the extra fees they pay for their space and the number of times they had been towed. One woman said that while unloading groceries, she came back to find her car gone.A letter dated January 6thwritten by Mohamud Noor from the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota laid out the group’s complaints: discrimination based on race and religion, tenants vehicles being towed out of assigned spots, laundry machines not functioning properly, no parking for visitors, and tenants being charged for repairs.At the end of the letter, Noor asked to have a meeting with management to resolve these issues. Noor said he was contacted by residents who had these concerns and wants to, “bridge the communication gap” between residents and the property management company.“When people don’t talk to one another, you end up having problems,” said Noor when I asked about how residents came to this point of protesting in the street.Valerie Doleman, director of marketing & communications from Sherman Associates, the company that owns Riverside Towers, sees the situation quite differently. Continue Reading
