A version of this article originally appeared in MinnPostOn August 28, 1963, 250,000 Americans bravely descended on our nation’s capital to participate in The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The peaceful protesters poured in from all over the country to urge America to make good on her promise of “liberty and justice for all.”The March on Washington occurred during a tumultuous time in American history in which African Americans experienced racial segregation, barriers to education, employment, voting, and housing. They also faced discrimination in many of our nation’s institutions and private establishments. Indeed, just nine years prior to the March on Washington, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. the Board of Education that racially segregated schools for blacks and whites were inherently unequal and in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.Although the High Court’s decision in 1954 was significant and represented a legal and moral victory for African Americans, the nation continued to struggle with issues of racial justice. Continue Reading
From “Please publish this information about my organization’s fundraiser” to “I want that story taken down!” to “You spelled my name wrong,” we hear from lots of people who want us to do — or undo — something. Some of the questions come up over and over, so here’s a short list of three things we do and three things we don’t do. ONE: We DO publish news and opinion, including your news and opinions. What we publish come from three places:1) original reported articles, assigned and edited by the Daily Planet;2) articles republished from media partners; and3) your unedited contributions — Community Voices articles, blog entries, Neighborhood Notes, comments.Yes — we really do want your stories and we publish a lot of articles, blog posts and comments that you send us every week. Tonight we have a beautiful slide show of the Japanese Lantern Lighting at Como Park contributed by Saibal Ghosh. Continue Reading
In recent weeks, a devastating incident occurred on the Eastside of St. Paul where several teens allegedly beat a passerby until he was unconscious. This is a circumstance that no person should have to endure. One of the notable pieces of information that has surfaced is the fact that the passerby was white and the teens were African American. Although some within the broader community argue that the attack was based on race, the reality is that in light of the circumstances under which the attack occurred, the victim could arguably have been any individual who was within the vicinity of the young people in question. Actually, a similar severe beating of an innocent Black man, Edwin Daniel, by five young Somali men occurred on the Eastside just a few years prior to this most recent incident.The factors that contribute to these types of horrific episodes, including shootings by young people against other young people, may revolve around underlying issues at the intersection of race and poverty that are pervasive on the East Side of St. Continue Reading
Nancy Nelson (in by professional broadcaster’s opinion – Minnesota’s best talk radio host/interviewer) leaves AM950 radio after she signs off at 6 p.m. on Friday August 16. That’s only two shows left from the time I post this sad note. For more than three years, Nancy Nelson has provided most of the local juice for the only progressive/liberal radio station in the Twin Cities. Nancy has engaged nearly all of the progressive leaders, politicians and thinkers in the state; provided quality air time for Minnesota and national lefties, candidates, activists and opinion makers in a medium that has been harnessed by corporate media for right wing paranoia mongers and the under informed. Nancy has been professional, impassioned and always prepared – always knowledgeable about the subject in hand. I have been blessed to have Nancy Nelson pinch-hit host “Democratic Visions,” the cable TV and Internet program I produce through DFL Senate District 48. She is a force of nature sparked not by her own ego, but by the people who share with her their perspectives, emotions, hopes, anger and humor. Nancy Nelson has liberated political talk radio from both the bloviators and the limp, journalistic poseurs on local public and commercial broadcasting. CALL TO ACTION –Every DFLer, independent, progressive Republican, environmental, gay rights, gun control, health care and good government advocat and listener — Contact AM950 now and tell it to figure out a way to keep Nancy Nelson on the air. AM950 station phone 952-946-8885Nancy Nelson Show call-In Line: 952-946-6205, 5 pm to 6 pmMatt McNeill Show call-in-line: 952-946-6205. 6 am to 8 am Nancy’s email – nancy@am950radio.com I am not certain why Nancy is leaving, but heard her talk briefly about her departure on her Tuesday drive time show. I did not hear any of the “whys.” I only heard Nancy conversationally announce in here normally sunny and effervescent precise manner, that she was leaving AM950 on Friday and was very sad about having to leave her AM950 radio listener family and studio crew. A Message from Nancy Nelson’s Website – www.nancynelson.com/ “Thank you for stopping by. I’m truly sad about not being on the air at AM950 any longer. I have felt it a privilege every single day of the past three plus years, being able to talk to you and with you about the political matters that are so important in our daily lives. I don’t know what is next, but I’d be happy to keep in touch with whatever that is, so if you want to leave me a message and your email address, that would be lovely. Just click on the CONTACT US link. Hope to be with you again sometime. So browse…. Continue Reading
Love them or hate them, cell phones increasingly permeate every aspect of American life. At the bus stop, in people’s cars, at work, at home, at restaurants, coffeeshops, and even at the park, people are check, check checking their phones. They’re checking their text messages or email, they’re posting to Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, or what’s the new one? Vine? Snapchat? Continue Reading
We live in an age of the fishbowl. We write about details of our lives on social networking sites, post pictures of ourselves and our family members, and document what we see, hear and experience. We’ve heard the horror stories of embarrassing Tweets or Facebook posts that have gotten people into trouble, but what about when you get someone else in trouble? What if you post a picture that inadvertently gets someone in hot water at work or with their family or friends? Or tweet what someone said when they didn’t know they were speaking “on the record?” Continue Reading
In 2011, Minnesota state representative Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake) and former state senator Doug Magnus(R-Slayton) introduced an “ag gag” law that would criminalize videotaping and photographing farms without the owner’s or manager’s permission. Continue Reading
Q: People tell me my small business should be on Twitter, but honestly I don’t care about finding out what everyone ate for lunch and I’ve heard that’s all Twitter is for. Why is Twitter worth my time?
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” – Matthew 25:40We are a nation divided.Nothing illustrates that more than the cascading protests, rallies, and ardent cries for justice in the aftermath of the “not guilty” verdict in the George Zimmerman trial. Those outcries and the concurrent spirit of indifference on the part of many privileged Americans tell us all we need to know about how far we still have to go before we see each other the way God would expect.Indeed, the murder of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teenager, painfully reminds African Americans as a community that in spite of possessing the unsurpassable worth granted by Christ, black life is without value to the broader society.While many of us expected to hear words of comfort, hope, and a renewed call for love and justice in our respective houses of worship, instead most of us encountered a resounding immoral silence. Although this silence has been most pronounced and identifiable recently, it is not new. It has been a hallmark of our hasty acceptance of a supposedly post-racial nation, and has contributed to the suffering of the most vulnerable, and “the least of these” within our society.Poor people in general suffer from limited opportunity and access to basic necessities. However, poor boys and men of color – especially African Americans – not only suffer in ways that degrade their humanity, but they are systematically excluded from equitable participation within our society, are denied access to equal opportunity, and are blamed for conditions that have been constructed to disadvantage them.These young men are often feared, viewed with suspicion, criminalized, harassed, and treated with contempt. Continue Reading
