The first ever Minneapolis Transgender Equity Summit was held on Sept. 25 at the Humphrey Center for Public Policy. The Summit was organized by the Minneapolis Transgender Issues Workgroup, an initiative begun by Andrea Jenkins. At the summit, members of the transgender community and friends met with city of Minneapolis officials, staff, and others to raise issues of concern and need.Entertainer and entrepreneur Angelica Ross spoke about her experiences and lessons learned in the event’s keynote speech. She was joined at the podium by Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, City Council Members Barbara Johnson and Andrew Johnson, and others. Continue Reading
Local trans youth can now officially turn to their peers for help in navigating a system they say doesn’t accommodate their needs.On July 1, Trans Youth Support Network transitioned into a completely youth-led organization. Jahleel Princeton Arcani, TayvonCaples, La’Niya Dixon and Jakob Rumble took over the organization, replacing TYSN’s previous adult leaders Katie Burgess and Roxanne Anderson. Officials say the transition will allow TYSN to better support trans youth in the Twin Cities.“We don’t just want to be serving youth,”Jakob Rumble said. “We want to be leading by example.”Rumble took over as financial director, and said it’s important for young trans people to support other young trans people when it comes to navigating societal and governmental systems.Trans youth face higher rates of poverty, higher drop-out rates, and more homelessness, he said, and they’re often forced into it.Some of TYSN’s support services include learning how to acquire jobs properly, and offering advice on how to pass as cis-gender in order to apply for a name change.Jahleel Princeton Arcani took over as the development and sustainability director, and said the group is excited about the change. The organization has always been youth-led since their board members must be under 30, he said, but this transition is the final push to a fully youth-led nonprofit.“It’s been a dream of the people who started TYSN for it to be youth led,”Arcani said, noting the two top leaders weren’t youth. Continue Reading
Minneapolis residents who received energy assistance from the nonprofit Community Action of Minneapolis were told this week that they will now be receiving their services through Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin. According to an article from the Star Tribune this week, the office of Community Action of Minneapolis was raided by employees of the Department of Commerce and the Department of Human Services and its employees laid off. This followed a state audit that showed several discrepancies in the organization’s funding and governance practices, as well as expenses for things like spa trips, golf outings, and a car loan. In the days following the raid, all of the organization’s contracts were distributed to the Community Action Partnership of Southern Hennepin (CAPSH). “The Energy Assistance Program provides a vital safety net to thousands of low-income individuals and families and allows them to maintain affordable, continuous, and safe home energy” said CAPSH’s executive director Scott Zemke in a press release. Continue Reading
Zeam Porter just wants to play basketball. A trans youth who is a junior in high school, Porter played for the women’s team last year, and was constantly misgendered and called the wrong name. Porter won Most Improved Player, but today feels the trophy was a lie.“My love for basketball last year made me believe I could handle being on the wrong team,” Porter said. “I love basketball. Do not take basketball away from me. Continue Reading
When Sal Kravik became a vegan 12 years ago, she didn’t eat the way she does now.”When I first changed my diet … there were so few options,” Kravik said. “Vegan cheesecake was not a thing.”Now Kravik volunteers for Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA) and wants people to understand that living the vegan lifestyle doesn’t mean eating bad tasting food. And the word is spreading.The nonprofit, which advocates empathy for animals and a move towards plant-based diets, held their third annual Twin Cities Veg Fest on Sept. 28 at the University of Minnesota with record high attendance. About 2,300 people attended the festival, which hosted a variety of vegetarian and vegan vendors.The Herbivorous Butcher, which creates vegan substitute meat, made their debut at Veg Fest this year. Continue Reading
“Greenway yog ab tsi?”, or “What is a greenway?” in the Hmong language, is a question that has been asked more than 100 times of North Minneapolis community members in and near Hmong International Academy by middle school students of color in the YMCA Beacons Minneapolis program at Hmong International Academy (HIA) – a Minneapolis Public School in the Jordan Neighborhood of North Minneapolis.This is a Community Voices submission and is moderated but not edited. The opinions expressed by Community Voices contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the TC Daily Planet.From April to June of 2014, Hmong American Partnership, in collaboration with Hana Media & Development, provided an after-school media arts, service-learning project called In Focus: N. MPLS Greenway (or simply In Focus) for a group of mostly Hmong middle school students at the HIA, to assist the City of Minneapolis share information about the potential North Minneapolis Greenway and collect feedback from the community, especially from Asian Americans in the area who had not been a part of the city’s first round of engagement regarding the possible greenway.The participants in the In Focus project learned about video production skills, the City of Minneapolis’ greenway concepts, and community outreach techniques. Through the guidance of program facilitators, the youth helped to create Hmong and English Public Service Announcement (PSA) videos, and conducted surveys of HIA friends, families, and faculty, as well as other community members in the area. One Hmong student in the project remarked, “It’s great that we are make videos to help share this info with other Hmong in the community.”Through the PSAs and conversations about the project, community members learned that a greenway is a park-like trail that people can use for biking, walking, transportation, and recreation, and that the city is currently considering Humboldt Avenue North, from the Victory Neighborhood to the Near North or Harrison Neighborhood of North Minneapolis, as a possible route for the North Minneapolis Greenway. Continue Reading
Huddled around a bonfire in Como Park, eating s’mores, 14 college students sat and told each other a different kind of horror story — the story of the state’s achievement gap.The Minnesota Student Power Network’s “MN Fire Up” bonfire invited Minnesota students of color to come talk about the issues affecting their success at school and in the workplace.The student network was created to address issues affecting young students of color in Minnesota, and provide participants with resources and information to help increase their chances of success. The group held their first meeting on Sept. 27 at Como Park in St. Paul in partnership with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change and NAACP St. Paul Youth.“Our goals are to connect, support and empower young organizers in Minnesota, focusing on marginalized groups of students,” said Minnesota Student Power Network leader Dua Saleh. Continue Reading
The Minnesota Child Protection League, an anti-LGBT group that opposes LGBT inclusion in the state’s public schools, bought an ad in the Sunday Star Tribune. The ad says, “A male wants to shower beside your 14 year old daughter. Are you okay with that?”The ad is part of a push by MNCPL to stop the Minnesota State High School League from passing a policy that would provide inclusion for transgender athletes. The Catholic Church and the religious right have mounted a campaign to block it. In the process, they’ve perpetuated false stereotypes about transgender people, including the myth that transgender students will prey on fellow students in locker rooms, showers, restrooms and hotel rooms. According to many law enforcement, civil rights and sexual assault prevention organizations, the idea that transgender inclusion will put anyone at risk is unfounded.Related article: State athletics league mulls transgender inclusion in sportsThe Minnesota State High School League is “a voluntary, nonprofit association of public and private schools with a history of service to Minnesota’s high school youth since 1916.” The MSHSL oversees much of the athletics in the state.According to the proposed policy, transgender high school students can play on the team of their choice (male or female) but must have a physician’s documentation and in some cases must have begun hormone therapy to “preserve competitive equity.” The MSHSL policy also provides transgender students avenues for corrective action if a school district does not comply.The MSHSL will meet on Wednesday, Oct. 1, and Thursday, Oct. Continue Reading
A new study this week from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows that more than a third of Minnesota’s workforce still lacks access to paid sick days.The study, which gathered and analyzed data from government surveys like the 2012 National Health Interview Survey and the 2012 American Community Survey, revealed that 41 percent of Minnesota’s workers lack access to paid sick days. According to the report, low-income workers, part-timer workers, Hispanic workers and service industry workers have the lowest access to paid sick leave in the state.“Sixty percent [of] Hispanic workers lacked access to paid sick days versus the 41 percent for the state average,” said the report’s lead author Jessica Milli. “That’s a huge disparity right there.”Milli said the data they analyzed revealed large disparities between different occupations and categories, with service industry workers having the lowest rate of access.According to the study, only 35 percent of service industry workers in Minnesota have paid sick day benefits, while 84 percent of workers in computer, engineering and science fields have access to paid sick days. The management, business and financial fields also share high rates of access with 80 percent of those workers having paid sick leave benefits.Service industry jobs include ones like food industry, daycares, and personal service and accommodation jobs, Milli said, which is particularly problematic when it comes to lacking paid sick leave benefits since those workers are the most likely to spread illness.“Not only do 40 percent of workers in general lack access [to paid sick leave],” she said. “But those workers who lack access are predominately workers in service occupations with frequent contact with the public.”It’s common that service industry workers come into the workplace sick, she said, because they can’t afford to take the day off, and it puts their customers and other employees at risk of getting sick too.The study also shows disparities between different income levels. Continue Reading
