The editors of Time magazine needed almost 6 years to pay attention to my article published in Twin Cities Daily Planet on September 8, 2008, in which I stated that Cold War Two had started (see Time of July 23, 2014). And the US government officials still do not really get it.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.Then, Vladimir Putin had just confronted the US by invading Georgia. Now, he has spread the new proxy war to Syria and Ukraine with more places to come. And the US foreign policy apparatus is as much to blame as Putin. Continue Reading
Twin Cities residents continue to feel the reverberations from the early-August shooting of an unarmed Black teenager by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. with local activists calling for more tools, training, transparency and accountability within local law enforcement in order to curb racial injustices within the criminal justice system.
The man in a recently released cellphone video who was tasered and arrested by St. Paul police officers after refusing to give up his name has stepped forward on Wednesday, Aug. 27 after posting the video online. St. Paul police dropped charges on July 31. Continue Reading
UPDATE: Christopher Lollie, the man identified in the video claims charges against him were dropped. Read more here.A video showing the arrest of a black St. Paul man for allegedly sitting in a public space and refusing to give up his name surfaced yesterday, Aug. 26 — only weeks after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Missouri re-sparked the national debate on race and police profiling.The video, shot by the man’s cellphone, shows his interaction with officers as he attempts to pick up his children from New Horizon Academy in downtown St. Paul. Continue Reading
Four Minnesota schools were recently placed on the annual 2014 CampusPride top-50 list of LGBT-friendly colleges and universities. Augsburg College, Macalester College, and both University of Minnesota campuses in Duluth and the Twin Cities, were all ranked as 5-star schools. Schools listed are recognized for their efforts to improve the campus environment for students, particularly in terms of academics and social safety. Augsburg College provides advising and advocacy for students who identify as LGBTQ, such as opportunities for student leadership, and a handful of all-gender bathrooms, amongst other work. “We’re grateful for this type of recognition, but a lot of credit belongs to our students for leading boldly…individually and as groups,” said Stephanie Weiss, a spokesperson for Augsburg College. Continue Reading
Minnesota Democrats are trying to turn a comment about steel from Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Mike McFadden into a major campaign issue to unite Iron Range residents against him — something that could help the DFL in other races as well.
It was completely dark by the time Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud arrived at Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus on Aug. 9. But the lack of light didn’t stop protesters, many of whom had been demonstrating for hours, from rushing to the curb and chanting “Down, Hassan, down!” as the president arrived.President Mohamud’s visit to the Twin Cities is part of his attempt to build relationships with the strong Somali population in Minnesota, but his reception was met with mixed feelings. More than 100 protesters showed up among the several hundred attendees at the event, attacking the president for his current policies, which protesters say lack adequate security improvements and fail to keep promises.“Somalis back in Somalia, they have been in civil war for 24 years and they don’t have a voice,” said protest organizer Abdirizak Jama. “President [Mohamud] is ignoring the federal system, the federal constitution.”Back in May more than 100 Somali lawmakers asked the president to resign for failing to deliver more tangible change, like improving security in a nation struggling to rebuild after two decades of war.President Mohamud’s support also doesn’t accurately represent the Somali-American community in Minnesota, Jama said, which he estimates at more than 25,000.The U.S. Census Bureau estimates about one in three of the 85,700 people with Somali ancestry in the United States live in Minnesota, according to their most recent data.Said Mohamed said he’s frustrated by the lack of government funds used to educate the people of Somalia about the dangers of the extremist ideology perpetrated by terrorist groups like Al-Shabab.President Mohamud is responsible for the death of Somali parliament member Saado Cali Warsame, who was killed last month in a drive-by shooting in Mogadishu, Mohamed said. Continue Reading
President Barack Obama is expected to sign a bill that supports a large community in Minnesota. Thanks to the Money Remittances Improvement Act, which was recently approved by the U.S. House and Senate, Somali-Americans will have more freedom to send money overseas to their loved ones. Continue Reading
The Anti-War Committee of Minnesota continued their protests this week. This time, the group set their sights on another Minnesota lawmaker and the mainstream media for what the protesters call a complacency over the ongoing violence between Israel and Palestine.
A new bill offered in the U.S. House and Senate would allow adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBT people, according to national LGBT groups. Rep. Michele Bachmann is the sole member of the Minnesota delegation in Congress sponsoring the bill.
