After more than 30 arrests, Steve Clemens honored with Peace and Justice Award

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CORRECTED 10/17 (see below) | Arrests might not seem like a badge of honor to most people, but Steve Clemens noted that he had been arrested with at least ten previous honorees of the Vincent L. Hawkinson Foundation for Peace and Justice.  The Hawkinson Foundation’s annual award is given to individuals who have made a long and significant contribution to the cause of peace and social justice.  More than 120 people came to honor Clemens and five young scholars for their peace and justice work on Sunday, October 14, at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Roseville.“This award is an encouragement to keep on doing this work, not to sit on one’s laurels,” said Clemens. “This award is a community effort rather than an individual accomplishment.”  As a peacemaker and activist for more than 35 years, Clemens has risked numerous arrests and gone to prison for his anti-war efforts.Along with many others he tried to block the White Train carrying nuclear warheads to a submarine base off the Georgia coast in 1985.  He was part of the protests of weapons manufacturer Alliant Techsystem, with arrests in 1997, 2003, and 2004. He traveled to Iraq, before the United States went to war, as part of the Iraq Peace Team and spoke to 65 groups after his trip.  He is active in the Iraq and American Reconciliation Project and traveled to Afghanistan in 2011 as part of an international peace delegation.  He is planning on returning to Iraq soon.Clemens was born in Pennsylvania of Mennonite heritage. Continue Reading

“Have a magical night and a titillating tomorrow”: Uptown’s favorite liquor cashier, Beck DeRobertis of Lowry Hill Liquors, sells booze and a movie

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There are many things to like about Lowry Hill Liquors. First, it’s one of the cheapest places to buy alcohol in the Twin Cities. Second, they give away a bag of free ice with every purchase. Finally, if you’re lucky, you’ll be rung up by cashier and burgeoning filmmaker Beck DeRobertis, who always has a funny catchphrase to say as he rings you up—and if you’re a football fan, will likely commiserate with your team’s success or failure of the week. Currently, you can also purchase a copy of his comedic short film, Wingman, which the MCAD grad wrote, directed and starred, for $5 at the counter.DeRobertis is hard to miss. Continue Reading

Minneapolis Somalis celebrate Somali president, elections

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Updated, 9/25: When nearly a thousand Minnesota Somalis gathered at the Minneapolis Convention Center September 22 in celebration of their newly elected president and parliament speaker, three things were prevalent: blue, white and music.The blue and white colors, which comprise the Somali flag, adorned the auditorium, while Somali singers and musicians entertained the audience and commented on current social issues in Somalia through their song lyrics.About a dozen of Minnesota’s finest Somali singers took the stage to convey a message of hope as they inspired the audience to stay positive and hopeful about the country’s conditions, despite the 22 years of turmoil.While terror attacks, perpetuated by the Somali’s al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabaab, continue to kill people in Mogadishu, event participants were hopeful that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Parliament Speaker Mahamed Osman Jawaari would make a difference.“This president is unlike others who held office in the past,” said Abdikadir Elmi, a Somali community member who was a student of President Mohamud seven years ago when he studied at Simad University in Mogadishu. “He can bring stability to the country. He’s well-educated, innovative and honest.”For Elmi, the event had a personal connection. It wasn’t just a celebration for a new Somali president, but rather a celebration of the success of a teacher and mentor.Nearly a thousand Minnesota Somalis gathered to celebrate the election.In a secret ballot two weeks ago, political newcomer Mohamud unexpectedly won the election against outgoing President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed by the legislative vote of 190 to 70.“I urge you to stand up and support the president,” Sheikh Abdirahman Sharif, Imam of Masjid Darul Hijra of Minneapolis, told the people at the event. “And we ask him to share his visions and plans for the government with us. Continue Reading

2012 Ivey Awards: Judy! Judy! Shanan!

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It was a good night to be Judy on September 24 at the State Theatre, as two different actresses garnered Ivey Awards for their portrayals of Judy Garland in two different shows: Tracie Bennett in the Guthrie Theater’s End of the Rainbow and Jody Briskey in Beyond the Rainbow at the History Theatre. In emotional speeches, both women cited Garland’s Minnesota roots.The eighth annual Iveys had a bit more of an indie air than usual, with Brave New Workshop vet Shanan Custer playing desperate and starstruck as host. The Emerging Artist Award, one of the most important recognitions each year, went to Fringe Festival sensation Isabel Nelson, whose revival of Ballad of the Pale Fisherman—originally a 2010 Fringe entry—at Illusion Theater won an Ivey for “emotional impact.”Presenters seemed to have worked out a comfortable independence from the teleprompter; introducing the Emerging Artist category, 2011 winner Anna Sundberg noted that the award had previously gone to a list of acclaimed actresses and “some other bitch” (meaning herself). When TigerLion Arts’ flying dragon had finished singing—in one of the evening’s several musical interludes—Custer took the stage and exclaimed, “Jesus!”Rick Shiomi, founder of Mu Performing Arts, won the Lifetime Achievement Award and invited anyone in the house who had ever worked with Mu to take the stage with him and share the credit.There was also a political charge to the night, with multiple people—including Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak—expressing hope that attendees would vote no on November’s ballot questions. In a statement recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the Actors’ Equity Association, there was also a pointed reference to the fact that the AEA has fought for marriage equality.Joseph Scrimshaw and John Middleton, who managed to work the names of all the awards’ many sponsors into a one-scene drama between two fighting brothers, may have achieved the evening’s greatest emotional impact. Continue Reading

Faculty of color find community in writing

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UPDATED 9/12/2012For J.B. Mayo, writing is like running.He tries to set aside a little time for it every day, and he’s found it’s easier to stay motivated when working alongside others.This wasn’t always the case. Mayo, an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, spent his first years as a faculty member writing alone. But when he heard about the Faculty of Color writers group, everything changed.The group brings together junior faculty of color — who can often feel isolated in the university community — to work on writing projects, learn techniques for improving their writing and meet other faculty who are at a similar stage in their career.The writers group, which is part of Office of Equity and Diversity’s Institute for Diversity, Equity and Advocacy, is one of a “constellation” of programs that help with recruitment and retention efforts for faculty of color at the University, said Louis Mendoza, OED’s Associate Vice Provost.Catherine Squires, an OED faculty fellow, implemented the group last summer, after she attended the 2010 Keeping Our Faculties of Color symposium, which is organized by OED.One of the presentations at the symposium, given by faculty from the University of Washington, discussed the effectiveness of support systems, including writing groups, in alleviating concerns often expressed by faculty of color — namely, not having enough time to write, feeling isolated in their departments and struggling to find mentoring.“Faculty do often get together and create their own writing groups,” Mendoza said. “What was important about this one was that it was an effort to institutionalize it.”The group is meant specifically for junior faculty — associate and assistant professors — because they often find it difficult not just to find time to write but also to admit when they’re struggling.“This way, they could have sort of a safe space to talk about their anxieties and to get strategies from people who are a little bit more experienced than them,” Mendoza said.These struggles can be particularly acute for junior faculty of color, he said.Faculty of color — particularly African-Americans, Latinos and Native Americans — are “severely underrepresented in the academy,” Mendoza said.In 2011, people of color made up about 17 percent of the University’s total faculty, according to the Office of Institutional Research.What’s more, Mendoza said, many of the faculty members were also first-generation college students.“They’re coming in with a certain amount of anxiety about performance — ‘Can I do this? Can I survive? Continue Reading

Guerrilla Girls billboard opposing marriage amendment likely to stir controversy in Minneapolis in October

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CORRECTED 10/3/2012: Joan Vorderbruggen, who founded Artists in Storefronts, a project that turns empty storefronts into works of art, was seething one day about the upcoming election and the two amendments that aim to limit marriage to only heterosexual couples and to require voters to show government-issued photo IDs. She began thinking about public art and its role in creating change. Then, she hit on an inspiration: the Guerrilla Girls, she thought. They would be the ultimate public art activists to speak to these issues we’re facing. (Disclosure: I have been an artist in Artists in Storefronts, and I donated to the Guerrilla Girls campaign.)Vorderbruggen sent the Guerrilla Girls an email through their website describing the two amendments we are facing this November. Continue Reading