Neighbors angry at Park Board design for Phillips

By |

Community members reacted angrily to the Park Board’s revised proposal for a new East Phillips community center, presented at a March 23 community meeting. This meeting came after months of wrangling between the Park Board, which hired LHB architects and produced a plan without a gym, and the neighborhood-based East Phillips Community Design Team (EPCDT), which hired another architect in February to provide an alternative to the Park Board proposal. Commissioner Scott Vreeland introduced the meeting. “We need to build the best building we can with the amount of funds available,” Vreeland said. He said that though there had been some controversy in the past, he hoped that the community could come together and go forward. Continue Reading

Empowered Muslim women

By |

What does it mean to be a feminist? What does it mean to be a Muslim woman in Minnesota? The challenges and experiences of two local Muslim women give us an inside look into the complex identities of this growing Minnesota population. What does it mean to be a feminist? What does it mean to be a Muslim woman in Minnesota? Continue Reading

Wearing faith on their sleeves

By |

A few years ago, Twin Cities resident AbdulAziz Al-Salim was looking for a witty, Muslim-themed t-shirt but all he could find were fairly unimaginative creations. So the 23-year-old started his own company to design and sell shirts with a Muslim point of view. Thus began his first business venture, Muslim Tees, a small company with a big message. Full Transcript:
A few years ago, Twin Cities resident AbdulAziz Al-Salim was looking for a witty, Muslim-themed t-shirt but all he could find were fairly unimaginative creations. So the 23-year-old started his own company to design and sell shirts with a Muslim point of view. Continue Reading

Faith in hip-hop

By |

Figures like Lil Wayne, 50-Cent, and Chingy have become the voices of modern Hip Hop. But Minnesota is home to a more spiritual musical movement that struggles to escape the flashy jewelry, degrading imagery, and violence associated with popular Hip Hop culture. Socially conscious artists in Minnesota who search for purpose in what they see as an increasingly corrupt industry. Full Transcript:
Figures like Lil Wayne, 50-Cent, and Chingy have become the voices of modern Hip Hop. But Minnesota is home to a more spiritual musical movement that struggles to escape the flashy jewelry, degrading imagery, and violence associated with popular Hip Hop culture. Continue Reading

WorkForce Centers respond to unemployment

By |

Mae Thao was born in Thailand and grew up in St. Paul. She is a young member of the workforce with two particularly valuable skills. She speaks Hmong and she knows how to navigate the unemployment insurance system. Her coworker Jose Koehler, a Spanish speaker, has an MBA and a Masters of Public Administration with considerably more professional experience than Thao. Continue Reading

Rita Apaloo gets African women to network (and bowl)

By |

Like most kids, Rita Apaloo’s daughter has watched her mother closely. She sees enough value in her mother’s monthly African Women Connect meetings to give her parents some advice. “Dad should start an African Men Connect group,” she told them. “No, no,” her father laughed. “I don’t need to connect with other men. Continue Reading

Communities of color left in the dark on DTV?

By |

Representatives from more than a dozen Twin Cities ethnic, community, and mainstream media outlets gathered on Wednesday to discuss the impending switch from analog to digital television (DTV). The organizers of the meeting–The Mainstreet Project, New America Media, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights–hoped to spread the word to communities of color about the switch to DTV. For more information about converter boxes and coupons, see Don’t let your box go blank. And, for another perspective, see My 85-year-old dad has rabbit ears. The change to DTV is scheduled for February 17, 2009, but the Obama transition team has been pressuring Congress to delay the switch. Continue Reading