Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/category/youth-policy/page/2/)
Nearly 1 million more children are homeless in our country than in 2010, according to a new report called “America’s Youngest Outcasts,” by the American Institutes for Research and The National Center on Family Homelessness. One in 30 children in the nation is experiencing homelessness. The report is based on recently released 2012-2013 data. Continue Reading
Despite a media narrative that LGBT issues are not a campaign issue in 2014, those issues have come up multiple times in debates across the state.
With the November election days away, many Minneapolis residents are wondering which candidates to support for the open spots on the city’s school board.
Enter the new Voter Guide, from the non-partisan Coalition for Quality Public Schools. Continue Reading
Eshay Brantley didn’t know what to expect walking into the Theatre I class at Washburn High School in Minneapolis. But, having felt as though she hadn’t found her niche in school yet, she went in with an open mind.Two years later, Brantley’s a senior, and identifies as a spoken word artist and has competed in the spoken word competition Brave New Voices through Tru Art Speaks, performed at locations including Macalester College, and received an award for her role as a youth educator at the Twin Cities Social Justice Education Fair.“We save lives here every single day, just by having students get on stage and actually speak from their heart,” Brantley said.Theatre I is just one of five classes now being taught at Washburn through their Black Box Acting Program. The series, which started in 2008, provides three levels of theater classes, as well as a spoken word class and one aimed at students with developmental disabilities. The program is meant to help students further explore social justice issues, and teach them skills to help them better advocate their needs and beliefs.Brantley said she came from a family that didn’t talk about social justice issues, so the theater classes provided her with an outlet to explore social issues like marginalized communities and systematic oppression. The classes also helped her figure out her role in those issues and within her community, she said.“[It] made me think less about myself and more about the people around me and what I see is affecting the people around me,” Brantley said.Brantley’s experience with the program is not an anomaly. Continue Reading
Will a seat, or two, on the Minneapolis school board be sold to the highest bidder?The amount of money flowing into the 2014 Minneapolis school board race is enormous, according to the campaign finance reports that were submitted by candidates and various advocacy groups.Of the four at-large candidates running for the two open citywide seats on the school board, Don Samuels has raised the most money, with a total of $65, 103. Next up is Iris Altamirano, who shares the DFL endorsement with incumbent Rebecca Gagnon. Altamirano’s report shows that she has raised over $41,000, which is more than twice as much as Gagnon’s totals. Candidate Ira Jourdain has raised just over $3,000.What may be more interesting is the amount of money from outside of Minnesota that is flowing into the race, through groups such as the 50CAN Action Fund, the Students for Education Reform Action Fund, and a group calling itself the Minneapolis Progressive Education Fund (MPEF).While the most recent totals for both the 50CAN Action Fund, which is the advocacy arm of the education reform group MinnCAN, and the Students for Education Reform Action Fund are under $40,000, the MPEF has amassed a huge war chest, to the tune of more than $200,000, according to a campaign finance report filed on Oct. 28.Looking at the reports, the money MPEF has raised is mostly coming from a handful of billionaires and millionaires from outside of Minnesota. Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, for example, gave the MPEF $100,000, while California billionaire Arthur Rock gave $90,000.Daniel Sellers, who is the director of MinnCAN and its 501c4 advocacy group, the 50CAN Action Fund, is also the chair of the MPEF. Continue Reading
The November election is less than two weeks away, and for the four at-large candidates for the Minneapolis school board, it’s candidate forum time.This past week, on Oct. 20 and Oct. 24, candidates Iris Altimarno, Rebecca Gagnon, Ira Jourdain, and Don Samuels appeared at forums where all of the questions asked came directly from the audience, on the spot, and were not pre-determined.The Oct. 20 forum was sponsored by a handful of southwest Minneapolis neighborhood associations, such as Fulton, Kingfield, and Lyndale, and held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park. Minneapolis City Council member Elizabeth Glidden hosted the Oct. Continue Reading
Sarah Lahm’s conspiracy piece about “billionaire and TFA” money flooding in to support Don Samuels in the Minneapolis School Board race went national last week. Washington Post columnist Valerie Strauss (a staunch opponent of ed reform) reprinted Lahm’s original piece from “In These Times.” 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.A few days later, some Minneapolis voters woke up to find Lahm’s article tucked inside their screen doors with this helpful note, “I noticed a Don Samuels lawn sign in your yard. This may be information you need to make a more informed decision.”Key word here is “informed.”Which is sort of funny because Lahm’s piece is so loaded with factual errors, omissions and conspiracy theories, I scarcely know where to begin. It mirrors the stuff we progressives roll our eyes about when we hear it coming from Fox News.Related story: Don Samuels calls cops over hotdog giveawayHere are four things wrong with the piece:1) Lahm says that a California “billionaire” gave the Don Samuels campaign $10,000. This is false because: a) the individual legal limit for an at-large school board candidate is $1,000 per person, so no one can give $10,000 to anyone’s campaign; b) the alleged billionaire didn’t give any money to the Samuels campaign period.2) Lahm seems to be confused about personal contributions to a candidate’s individual campaign and contributions and in-kind services given by political groups.The big money tends to be in this latter category. And since Sarah Lahm is focussing on the latter……… Continue Reading
It’s October, so this is a good month to talk about the things and people that have scared us or tried to scare us over the years. Some of those fears were justified, and many were not. For those of us with roots in Laos and other parts of Southeast Asia who escaped the wars, this is an interesting question. 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
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