BEHIND THE STORY | Paying for public servants

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I thought law enforcement officials were supposed to be public servants. Like teachers, police and other law enforcement serve the citizens of a local area and are paid by taxpayer dollars. The latest threat to ten organizers of the December Black Lives Matter protest at the Mall of America, however, purports a different view. By charging these organizers with the cost of riot police and extra security ordered by the Mall of America, Bloomington City Attorney Sandra Johnson shifts our relationship with the police to extreme anarchist libertarianism, where citizens are individually charged for the “use” of these public servants, even when they didn’t request them.Imagine if parents were sent a bill any time their child had to stay after school for detention, or needed extra attention from their teacher. The idea is absurd, of course. Continue Reading

OPINION | Time for law enforcement to listen to criticism

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The recent open letter issued by the police union presidents of Minneapolis and St. Paul (1/4/15) does not indicate a readiness to listen, but to lecture those critical of law enforcement (www.mpdfederation.com/police). Like police union leaders in New York City and elsewhere, their letter seems to make the same spurious claim that protests against police brutality and discrimination may have incited Ismaaiyl Brinsley to murder two NYPD officers.In light of protesters’ just anger over the killing of unarmed Black Americans, even suggesting such a link lacks respect for the communities that law enforcement serves. Protesters are as heartsick over the tragic death of the officers as anyone. We empathize with officers’ families who lost a loved one as we do with the families of Eric Garner or Michael Brown.The institution of policing in this country is being criticized because of its own actions, attitudes and arrogance abetted by politicians who support policing practices that daily disregards the dignity and human rights of communities of color. Continue Reading

Phillips Aquatic Center set to become reality

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It has been another whirlwind month of looking for money everywhere we can to deliver on our promise to bring EQUITY, ACCESS & the OPPORTUNITIES that swimming can bring to all in Minneapolis! Of course, our answer to this seemingly befuddling political riddle is not new committees, or task forces, but rather, to update and enhance the first PUBLIC, indoor pool right here, in the heart of the Phillips Community! The Phillips Aquatics Center is a reality! Swimming lessons in Minneapolis will no longer only be for the more affluent, we are leveling the playing field! Our focus will be on saving our children first, but we will have adult classes as well. Continue Reading

Preventive medicine: police encounters, a discussion for the times

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Preventive medicine is a board-certified specialty of medical practice that focuses on the health of individuals, communities, and defined populations. Its goal is to protect, promote and maintain health and well-being and to prevent disease, disability and death.With that in mind, and considering recent and past events, I have been discussing, in a three-part preventive medicine series, safe and effective ways of dealing with police-citizen encounters. This is something everyone needs to review personally and review with family members and children.This is part three of a three-part series on how to respond during a police encounter. This week I will discuss how to interact with the police when confronted on-foot or if the police knock on your door.The police are here to protect and serve the citizens. Most of the time they do, but like any profession, there can be bad apples.There are also cultural considerations that need to be overcome. For example, if you survey non-African Americans if their parents have ever had a sit-down discussion with them on how to behave if ever approached by the police, the vast majority will say “no.” That is one reason why it is hard for them to relate to past abuses against African Americans by the bad-apple police.This has gone on for decades across the entire country, and it will take a concerted effort by the police and government officials to turn these fears and opinions around. In the meantime, we still need to educate our children on how to behave when approached by police. Continue Reading

Bringing the ‘Model Minority Mutiny’ home

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This fall, in the wake of the shooting death of Michael Brown, and in the face of the mounting Black body count at the hands of law enforcement, ChangeLab put out a call for a Model Minority Mutiny. We called on Asian Americans to stand up against the model minority myth as an act of self-liberation from a humiliating, trivializing, and dehumanizing stereotype that has, for too long, been used as a justification for labeling Black communities as “problem” minorities, and excluding and criminalizing Black people.

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