Community Voices is an op-ed, letters to the editor and neighborhood news section for community members to submit articles between 400 to 1,000 words in length. To submit your post, email editor@tcdailyplanet.net with “Community Voices Submission” in the subject line. Twin Cities Daily Planet does not pay for Community Voices submissions.
Twin Cities Daily Planet will only publish pieces that fit our mission to amplify and connect marginalized voices. Community Voices pieces should be original, Minnesota-focused content not published on other media sites, though on a blog you own yourself is acceptable.
On May 9, Minneapolis’ Farview Park hosted its 2nd annual Hmong flag football tournament. Eight teams and 300 people came to the tournament. Last year, a brand new turf football field was built at Farview Park, Farview staff wanted to increase and diversify the people coming to Farview Park, and worked with several North Minneapolis Hmong football team to officially open the field with a Hmong flag football tournament. Players had so much fun they turned it into an annual event. This year the tournament was even bigger, with 8 teams and over 200 players. Termination X and Do or Die were the home teams from Minneapolis: FSU, Chosen Disciples, Explosive, and We Dem Boyz came from Saint Paul: Avengers came from Brooklyn Park: and Warriors came from Blaine. The Farview flag football tournament was geared towards high school aged players. Continue Reading
Is it really cheaper to permit the Met Council plan than to reroute the existing sewer and replace the pipe in situ? What is Coldwater worth? And why are environmental and police institutions routinely operating outside the law? Continue Reading
Minnesota has made some progress since the U.S. Department of Education published data in 2012, which ranked our state as the worst and near-worst in the achievement gap and HS graduation rates of disadvantaged children. The 2014 performance of these Minnesota students has improved and the achievement gap has been reduced. But we still have a long way to go to ensure equal opportunity for all children. One initiative that is likely to make a difference is the Early Learning Scholarship program, for which the Legislature appropriated $46 million dollars for 2013 and 2014, $4.6m for 2015 and $9.7m for 2016-17. The scholarships help thousands of children reap the benefits of high-quality preschool. Continue Reading
Well, the Minnesota Legislature is entering its last week, with a great deal of mischief in the pipeline and not much to feel good about. Most Minnesotans seem to have little real idea what’s going on and how their interests are threatened. How would they know? Who would tell them? I’m subscribed to the email newsletters of maybe six Senators and Representatives. Not one tells constituents what’s really going on. Even a casual visit to the Capital makes painfully clear that most legislators’ primary relationships are with each other, regardless of party, and with lobbyists, not with citizens. Let’s envision a discussion in a House Committee. Rep. Jean Wagenius points out that climate change is a serious threat to Minnesota and further steps need to be taken to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. She and her colleagues say the Republican plan to roll back energy efficiency and “green” energy quotas is irresponsible. Committee Chair Pat Garofolo, also Minnesota co-chair of ALEC, the Koch Machine, in Minnesota, responds: “Reputable scientists have established that the earth is really flat and the moon is largely made of green cheese.” One of his fellow Republicans responds “Definitely cheese, but possibly not *green* cheese; the flatness question needs further investigation.” A DFL member says: “This is silly, American astronauts collected rocks on the moon and brought them home. The moon is made of rock.” Garofolo interjects: “I wish my liberal friends would use a little common sense. You would not deny that both cheese and rocks are found on the surface of the earth, and the moon is an offshoot of the earth, so it follows that both cheese and rocks are also on the moon.”
A long discussion ensues, a hearing is scheduled, and the next day the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports “Legislators differ on how to protect Minnesota cheese makers from unfair competition.”
At the hearing, a lobbyist from the Farmers Union expresses concern about unfair competition from Mooncheese. He admits that none has yet been seen in Minnesota, but claims local producers need protection against such a serious threat. A lobbyist for the Farm Bureau says the highest authority on Earth, Monsanto, says Mooncheese is safe and healthy because any harmful organisms would be zapped by intergalactic radiation. And, each container of cheese can be dipped in Roundup [glyphosate] to ensure that no lunar superweeds sneak in. Committee members nod approvingly. Continue Reading
Barbara Arnwine has played a key role in advancing justice in the arena of civil rights. Arnwine has served as the President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law for over 26 years. Within this leadership role, her stance has been strong and her commitment has been unwavering to secure through rule of law, equal justice under the law. One such example is her determination to protect one of our most fundamental rights— voting. She has waged war against the direct assault of democracy as evidenced by laws and policies which restrict access to the ballot box. Continue Reading
You go to a community gathering; you believe that the speaker, a white male, will listen and take you, a white woman, and your friends in: black and white men, black and white women. And he does, for a moment, but he seems to be crouching there, waiting to spring with his response. To give him credit, he lets us talk and even nods his head and affirms us. Yet he dominates the room. I wanted a circle, I wanted him to end the cyclic way his words came back and back and back to integration as the only solution to educational reform. Continue Reading
“It’s important to make an example out of these organizers, so that this never happens again.” This message was sent to the managers of the Mall of America by Sandra Johnson, the City Attorney of Bloomington, Minnesota, where the Mall is located. The “organizers,” whom she also refers to as “criminals,” assailants” and “ringleaders” were involved in one way or another with a peaceful, multi-generational, multiracial rally held in the Mall’s rotunda to draw attention to racist police brutality. Such events are what “must never happen again.”
Johnson’s over-the-top push make the defendants pay for the police overreaction has raised eyebrows in legal and business circles and alarmed civil libertarians. The Mall had earlier rebuffed her proposal to punish Mall employees for showing sympathy with the rally, citing “the potential for further press.” “Further press” is what the City Attorney appears determined to deliver. Continue Reading
Late last week, scores of immigrants filled the seats of the dimly lit conference room in the Minneapolis Brian Coyle Center as a group of lawyers addressed the crowd about their legal rights when it comes to police interactions. Local leaders of the North American Somali Bar Association brought their second educational event since its launch in January to the immigrant-populated Cedar-Riverside neighborhood to educate the community about their constitutional rights and responsibilities when dealing with authorities. Among the presenters was Amran Farah, a Minneapolis attorney and an NASBA member, who spoke to a crowd of more than 50 people about possible scenarios of a legal encounter with law enforcement. If an officer pulls over a driver, Farah explained to the crowd, that driver is being seized under the Fourth Amendment. “It’s a seizure when a police officer has flashing lights on, and in that way, you feel like you’re duty bound to submit to that authority.”
She added: But “you’re not seized when an officer merely approaches you in a public place. If an officer just walks up to you and starts a conversation, you’re not seized.”
At a time when a deep distrust exists between many police departments and many communities of color nationwide, Farah accentuated that an officer cannot legally stop someone because of the person’s skin color. Continue Reading
In the dock are eleven Black Lives Matter activists fingered by police as the “ringleaders” of a peaceful rally at the Mall of America last Continue Reading
Attorney, Jeff Hassan is Executive Director to the African American Leadership Forum. The mission of AALF’s Executive Director is to create full employment, build wealth, close the achievement gap, affect legislative policy and promote healthy living in the Twin Cities African American Community. To accomplish these tasks, Mr. Hassan must first address an age old issue that affect the thought process of every day Minnesotans, especially those who read the Star Tribune. These thought processes could very well inadvertently affect legislation and funding crucial to change necessary in the African American community. As a father is to his child and as a leader is to his tribe —Mr. Hassan is the Alpha Male, and he is very protective of African American leaders and passionately demonstrates this in his open letter to the Star Tribune today. Continue Reading
