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Ron's 8 media platforms: listed at the end of each column. All Column Archives, by Year: Changing of the guard with the T-Wolves "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" May 15, 2013 Because of my November 7, 2012 column (“The smartest White team in the NBA: T-Wolves team return to the 1950s?”), we took heat from those who took exception with our prediction that there would be a “day of reckoning” (being fired) if David Kahn’s “smartest White team” strategy didn’t result in at least 45 wins (it was disastrous; they won only 31). As I wrote in that November 7 column: “Play the best players, whether all White, all Black or a combination. To have the best game possible, Commissioner Stern has insisted on ‘color blind’ drafting/signing. So why not the Timberwolves?” Thus, get the fans “the best players playing so their teams have the best chance to win. It is quite clear that owner Glenn Taylor is of the same mind set.” My prediction was the fruit of my being a life-long sports analyst/journalist/fan with a deep sense of the game’s history. Kahn’s great sin: compromising Glenn Taylor’s dreams. Kahn didn’t get it that it isn’t about race or money; it’s about winning, it’s about Taylor’s passion in his love for the game, the fans and his team. For Taylor it is not about making money; he has money. It’s to win. It’s to get rings. In reaching back to Flip Saunders, Taylor overcomes his admitted mistake in firing Flip in 2005, the one who brought the team its greatest successes. Flip knows the game. Flip understands talent. Flip has personal roots here in Minnesota. I’ve known Flip since he first came to town. I know Flip can again lead the Timberwolves organization to success. One of the most important features of franchise success is being able to evaluate available talent. Flip Saunders will display the kind of knowledge and intellect needed on NBA Draft Day. Flip is the best combination of being highly confident but not arrogant about it. Consequently, there will be a greater degree of harmony within the organization that will resonate harmony from ball boys and girls to trainers, to assistant coaches, to the coach, general manager, and as Flip said in the press conference officially introducing him, the most important key to harmony: keep owner Glenn Taylor happy, break the proverbial jinx, and win. Clearly, working closely with the owner and the other integral parts of the franchise, Flip will bring back the level of respect that the Timberwolves organization deserves. My November 7, 2012 column was not personal, only a concern for the future of this historic and once respected franchise. We Minnesotans reserve the right to speak out and to give our point of view. Some tend not to understand that doctrine, and some tend to cloud that doctrine by falsely assuming not all of us bleed red, white and blue. David Kahn never understood the history of professional basketball in Minnesota. He didn’t understand the giants of the game here: George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Vern Mickelson, and Elgin Baylor. Kahn didn’t understand the sacrifices of the first Lakers team owners (Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen) who purchased the Detroit Gems in 1947 and brought them to Minnesota as the Minneapolis Lakers, which was helped by Sid Hartman and General Manager Max Winter; Max later brought the Vikings to Minnesota. Nor did Kahn understand the sacrifices of T-Wolves’ first owners, Marv Wolfenson and Harv Ratner, who brought back professional basketball to Minnesota in 1989, after a 29-year absence. Kahn didn’t understand the enthusiasm when over 1,000,000 attended games at the Metrodome the first year before the opening of the Target Center for season two. He didn’t understand the history of the enthusiastic years of a young Kevin Garnett and a young Flip Saunders, a great player and a great coach, how both enjoyed and respected the game. Flip has great respect for the basketball knowledge of Minnesota fans. And don’t forget the Lynx. I would be remiss in not reminding people of the support that owner Glenn Taylor has given to our own Minnesota professional women’s team. Glenn supported the WNBA during the lean years, and that wasn’t too long ago. I remember listening as a little boy to the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1940’s (before games were on TV) and I was there in the mid-1950’s as George Mikan was wrapping up his great career, and I can fondly remember the talents of future hall of famer from the University of Seattle, Elgin Baylor. I know Sid Hartman remembers those great basketball games. Recall how devastated we were when the Lakers left to relocate to Los Angeles, California when an arena could not be worked out (which is why the NHL team, the North Stars, moved). It always costs more to get a new team. See Star Tribune writer Jay Weiner’s 2000 book, covering 50 years of stadium games, where state legislators and city councilpersons made poor decisions at the expense of fans. The jinx that some talk about has not always been present in professional basketball in Minnesota, and I just feel that Glenn and Flip and the young talent of the future, will end the jinx and bring winning professional basketball back to Minnesota. Stay tuned for a bright Timberwolves future. Posted Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 4:35 a.m. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: City failed to monitor hiring during Twins stadium construction. How many ‘ghosts’ were paid instead of claimed Black workers? May 8, 2013 Time line:
The Civil Rights Complaint that I filed August 3, 2007, spoke to the existence of serious civil rights violations in the construction of Target Field. The MDCR had just accepted a contract from the Ball Park Authority to monitor and authenticate compliance with federal and state statutes regarding hiring minorities. Keep that in minds, my friends. The MDCR agreed to protect the applications of the statutes of the laws of the State of Minnesota. And then didn’t. My filing spoke to a series of law violations, including “pass throughs” (dummy corporations set up identifying either persons of color or White females as minority companies doing business on projects). I also cited the serious abuses of “ghosts.” In the business of “pass throughs,” “ghosts” are identified by the number of skilled and unskilled workers on the job who do not really exist. This practice of “ghosts” is normally guarded against through quarterly payroll reviews, payrolls that are supposed to include the names of the workers and their Social Security numbers. My August 3, 2007, filing identified the pattern of utilizing “ghosts.” On June 12, 2008, 10 months after filing this complaint, I was told it was dismissed because the MDCR suddenly determined it did not have jurisdiction to protect the rights of the affected class and did not have the jurisdiction to protect existing federal and state statutes. That is like announcing the “right” to steal. They took 10 months to say what they could have said in 10 days. Note this: The MDCR did not return the money paid them by the Ball Park Authority, meaning the taxpayers of the State of Minnesota were also fleeced in addition to those jobs going to “ghosts” rather than to actual African Americans. One month after the case was dismissed, on July 18, 2008, in a meeting of the Ball Park Authority, the MDCR directed the then-director of construction compliance, James Patterson, to tell the Ball Park Authority that the Department was too overwhelmed with cases to be able to monitor, recommending Mortenson be allowed to self-report — another recipe for disaster. On Monday, May 3, 2010, I met with the MDCR to ask about certain inconsistencies in the Mortenson participation summaries, and asked if they had reviewed the payroll reports of the MBE (Minority Business Enterprises). I was told they were informed that the MDCR does not review nor check names or Social Security numbers assigned to the payroll records, which is what opens the door for “ghosts,” nonexistent “persons” who receive large sums of money. $37 million is said to have gone to minority firms (that means race), with $71 million going to White female firms, for a total of $108 million, and yet no one can produce the payroll payouts which are tied to the contracts awarded. Mortenson says 2,038,000 hours were worked by racial minorities and White females; yet, as of the writing of this column, no one has been able to produce the pay slips nor the names and Social Security numbers of those who allegedly benefited from $108 million in contracts and payoffs. You can figure it out. Stay tuned. Ron hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm. Formerly head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and Urban League, he continues his “watchdog” role for Minneapolis. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers and “web log” at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Posted Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 4:35 a.m. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: People’s Stadium in trouble! "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" May 1, 2013 How does “the People’s Stadium” stand at this hour? Answer: wobbly, as we see from the fierce and personal debates within the Minnesota legislature regarding how to pay for the “People’s Stadium.” As I have stated unequivocally before, the financial plan to fund the People’s Stadium was ill conceived, rushed without fully vetting the details. As of the writing of this column, the realties are: • The State of Minnesota is significantly short their $348 million contribution by $346 million. • The City of Minneapolis is short $150 million of its $150 million contribution. • State and City interest payments on the debt alone will be close to one billion dollars. • The Minnesota Vikings met their statutory obligation with $50 million they put into an account in June 2012. • Now it is being suggested that the Vikings have to come up with an additional $200 million besides the $477 million that they have already committed themselves to contribute. • The State wishes to drop its contribution to $148 million, which is $2 million less than what the City of Minneapolis is supposed to contribute. • Legislature adjourns May 20. If they haven’t approved a financial package or intimidated the Vikings into paying more, the stadium will be dead on arrival. One of the most important foundations of American law is contract law (I warned of this 10 months ago, when it became quite clear that the stadium finance plan was being done with smoke and mirrors. See columns of May 23, 2012 and June 13, 2012. See also April 11, 2011 Blog entry, Legislative double-cross? Why? But let’s say that the Vikings pretend that they do not understand the Anglo-Saxon doctrine of contract take on $677 million of the $1 billion People’s Stadium.law and Isn’t the flip side that they could then insist that the contract with Mortenson as construction manager be invalidated too, enabling them to select their choice? The Vikings had no vote in the decision to select Mortenson. It was done by five individuals representing, at best, financial minority partners. If contracts don’t count, what else do the state and city plan to invalidate? Wouldn’t the Vikings then have the financial right as prime financial contributor to determine all matters pertaining to design and construction, including replacing Mortenson? I’m sure the Vikings and the NFL are exploring this contingency. The NFL did not become a multi-billion dollar enterprise by not understanding the rules of financial engagement and contract law. No one puts up 70 percent of a billion dollars without gaining control over how their money will be spent and the project runs, of how subcontracts will be rewarded and how profits will be directed. It was no coincidence that, when the NFL approved a $200 million loan to the Vikings, some in the legislature and the business communities began to talk about reducing the State’s contribution by $200 million. Purpose: Take the Vikings to the cleaners. It is troubling that those proposing cutting the State’s contribution seem to believe they don’t have to follow contract law except when they want to. The Vikings understand: When the State’s reduction game was firmly revealed, Les Bagley, Vikings official point man, said, “We can never agree to that because an agreement is an agreement,” clearly stating the Vikings’ and NFL’s legal talking points. The legislative session ends May 20. There are strong vibrations in many quarters that the door has been opened for the Vikings to begin their journey west. The legislature would be wise to review the debacle surrounding the financing and construction of the MLB Marlin’s baseball stadium in Miami, Florida (Google it) [See Marlin links below]: no public vote, mayor recalled, Marlins didn’t meet their obligation, and general negative political fallout. The Vikings stadium deal has cut the mayor’s political career short because he purposefully violated the rules of the city’s charter. In terms of city elections in November, there are clear indications that a lot of city council members may not be returning. Why? Because they ignored the wishes of the voters/taxpayers. Someone has made the decision the Vikings could be played cheap, and that the voters and citizens of Minneapolis could be treated likewise. Big mistake. Agreements are agreements. Contract law is contract law, a strong and irreversible part of the legal doctrine and legal creed that is a strength of America. In the spring of 2012, an agreement was reached by all parties, etched in legislative language. Some think that Minnesota and the federal courts will allow that agreement to be violated. The citizens of the state of Minnesota deserve better. This could become an unparalleled disaster in the history of a professional sports team and its relationship with State and City governments and the taxpayers. Why, Star Tribune, are you so silent in providing the kind of in-depth analysis of what is really happening in the people’s legislature in regards to the future of the People’s Stadium? Stay tuned. EDITOR’S NOTE: Marlin links referred to above: ---Will an Empty Marlins Park Create Backlash Against Sports Stadium dium construction project Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: Terror in Boston? Terror in America! "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" April 24, 2013 Two explosions exposed the fragile state of our precarious social contract at the Boston Marathon, April 15, 2013, as three were killed and 175 or so injured, some badly, some losing arms and legs. As this column was written nine hours after the carnage (and published 8 days later), we don’t know yet if this was by domestic or foreign terrorists. Doesn’t matter. It was mean-spirited premeditation with malice aforethought, killing innocents to get attention and send a message. Recall this paragraph from my March 28, 2007 column: “One of the things a healthy society prides itself on is its commitment and ability to protect the most fragile, the most vulnerable, and the most innocent. Even the animal kingdom seems to understand that the newborn and the very young are to be protected and guarded at any cost.” My March 28, 2007 column was about the violent death of a 41-day old infant. A 1960’s Black activist famously said, "Violence is as American as cherry pie," which would have been more accurate had he said violence is in all societies, which is all the more reason why we need the nonviolence preached by Martin Luther King, Jr. King walked the nonviolence talk through his teaching, preaching and personal behavior. Nonviolence should be a beacon for the followers of the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) that have turned their backs on “love your neighbor” and “turn the other cheek.” The “who is my neighbor?” question was answered for all time: Not just those like “us,” but also those who are “other” in race, creed, color and culture. We don’t yet know what person or group with a glass-is-half-empty attitude is responsible for the well-planned, well-executed attack to intentionally kill and maim. We wait together, around the globe, to learn what sense of divisiveness, division, hatred, despair, failure, sense of being wronged, and/or different vision of the future contributed to this. The bombing: Planned. Premeditated. Despicable. Unjustified. They knew the last mile and finish line was dedicated to the 20 children and six teachers slain in New Town, CT, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. These perpetrators repeat an old and chilling message: Nothing is sacred. They want to show that their terror of us is their order of the day. We need to show that fear of them is not the order of our day. Once again, children are among the casualties at an event participated in by over 100 nations, an event televised and seen around the world. We are leery of continued excuses offered for those who plan and carry out such terrorist acts. At some point, we as a society and we as a world of nations must understand that there are angry people with no qualms about causing maximum harm and injury to others, including the innocent, including children, as we saw throughout the 20th century. It is more than simple ideology, with right and left camps filled with certitude that the other side is guilty, even as both sides do it. Too many of both parties are too eager to attack the president, as seen especially during the previous two presidential elections with attacks based on skin color. We are in dangerous territory when people work to become comfortable accepting a doctrine that allows for fewer rights for some, inferior dreams for others, and distorted visions of success for everyone. There is unjustified fanaticism on both the political left and political right. We need, as a society, as a nation, and as individuals, to confront the cause of the fanaticism of the day and work hard to guarantee that there will not be more violence and senseless acts of brutality. There are people not interested in understanding, just violence. We still need to work to be understood by them and work to get all to sit down to honest, transparent and truthful discussions, with respect for the differences, one to another. This column does not intend to ask anyone to buy into friendly ecumenical messages, for only light can push away darkness, not more darkness. Yet too many answer or want to answer darkness with darkness. The antidote that we need is a little bit more of that old-time religion: giving love and respect, not demanding it. When the emphasis of a society is not to prevent harm to the most innocent of our population, our children, or refrain from punishing those who do, it does not bode well for the future, be it in Boston, Moscow, Beijing, Minneapolis/St. Paul or any other great city on our planet. Our prayers go out to the city of Boston and its citizens during these Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: April 17, 2013 Column #16: Legislature caught whistling in the dark. Financial problems for Viking stadium construction project.
"Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" April 17, 2013 For years I have defined as “ill-conceived” any planning that mostly serves the planners and their agency/bosses and not those they plan for, that too often leave African Americans out of their equations, purposefully failing or refusing to meet both diversity and equity hiring requirements and appropriate funding or financing best practices regarding construction, education, housing, jobs and public safety. I have long written about the perils of such ill-conceived planning regarding the Vikings stadium. The Star Tribune reminded us of these perils in articles last week, April 8 and 9, perils that could lead to a failed stadium project and loss of the Vikings to another city: Dayton puts in a $750M bonding request. Time for a Plan B for Vikings stadium financing? [Editors's note: related books: Public Dollars, Private Stadiums: Sports, Jobs, and Taxes: Both Democrats and Republicans alike admit they could be forced to suspend action regarding construction on the People’s Stadium until the January 2014 legislative session. A scenario with that delay could result in no Minnesota Vikings in existence to play in the Peoples Stadium, as this would delay the opening to Fall of 2017, which the Vikings have stated is unacceptable. The Vikings are not locked in. They can leave for any city, including L.A. When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell came to Minnesota in early 2012, he made it clear in meetings with Governor Mark Dayton and Republican and Democratic leaders of the legislature that if there is no new stadium deal, the Vikings are free to move. Have you noticed there is no lease agreement signed by the Vikings regarding either the new stadium or to play here in 2013? However, because of the language of the NFL Constitution and the printing of the schedule for the upcoming season, the Vikings are past the 2013 last day for move announcements. But they can still play anywhere that will rent them a stadium for Sundays. The Vikings, NFL and $477 million don’t have to stay in Minnesota. This is why the current situation in St. Paul has all of the characteristics of producing one of the most devastating collapses of an anticipated public-works project in the history of the state of Minnesota or of any professional athletic team. Stadium games indeed. Given the fiscal problems, starting with increasing debt that is burdening Minnesota state government in terms of diminishing the quality of education, health care, and access to good housing, Minnesota is no longer financially stable. Come 2014, the new council and new legislature will be overwhelmed with what they will have to deal with if the current council and legislature don’t step up, which would automatically mean the only solution left: more types and amounts of taxes. Clearly, our leadership needs to get really busy and really serious about quickly making a deal. As I’ve noted for a year, the financial plan was ill-conceived. The City of Minneapolis is not even close to having its $150 million portion, as laid out in the legislation. Mayoral candidate Gary Shiff has calculated that it will actually cost nearly $800 million when interest is paid as well. In fact, the City of Minneapolis doesn’t have its $25 million to join with the State’s $25 million and the already-paid-in $50 million of the Vikings in order to guarantee the existence of the $100 million construction trust fund. It is no accident the Star Tribune articles only identified the State’s obligation. About the City’s obligation: Have you noticed? Practically zero discussion since Mayor R.T. Rybak announced he is bailing out as mayor of the City of Minneapolis. Nonetheless, a serious financial crisis looms. The new Minneapolis City Council will be sworn in in January 2014, with five to nine new members. How will these political novices — a new mayor and new council members — deal with this $150 million of City money to save the future of the so-called Peoples’ Vikings Stadium? The chairwoman of the Authority is quoted as saying things can be worked out during the 2014 legislative session. If so, will a year’s postponement trigger a Vikings move? The legislative session of 2014 will overwhelm the newly elected city council. Will they punt and raise taxes? November 2014 is the legislative election for all state senators and representatives. How will angry or provoked voters vote? People need to carefully study Mark Kaplan’s report and Gary Schiff’s projection. When will officials learn to read and understand a spread sheet, including the small print about the assumptions used to generate the numbers for and about state and municipal bonds and other revenue streams? Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: Congratulations, Tubby! "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" April 10, 2013 There is no mystery about the well-designed plan to oust six-year University of Minnesota Gopher men’s basketball Head Coach Tubby Smith. Well designed, but ill-advised and poorly executed, as seen in various Star Tribune headlines Monday, March 25 through Monday, April 1, and ESPN April 2nd [Editors note: article titles in the paper and online versions of the Star Tribune are often different]: 25th: “Firing Smith would be big mistake by Gophers” (Sid Hartman) Have you wondered, as I have, as to why, even when the Gophers were 15-1, the Star Tribune’s little lady from North Carolina [by way of short stints — after graduating from college — at the Boston Globe and the Detroit Free Press] was so hostile in her sports coverage of "U" men's basketball? Sources within the "U" as well as Minneapolis sports scene movers and shakers enable us to connect the dots. The announcement that Tubby found a new job April 1st at Texas Tech was no April Fool’s joke. The fool’s part is the "U" continually stumbling in their handling of coaching. It was from ESPN, not the Star Tribune, that we first learned the "U" VA brain trust first offered the job to Cincinnati Coach Mick Cronin before offering the job to Shaka Smart, VCU’s brilliant young coach. The only reporter who stood tall in this entire episode was Sid Hartman: “Firing Smith would be a big mistake for Gophers,” read his March 26 headline. Dennis Bracken also showed integrity in his “Tubby out” piece, March 26. Brackin cleverly suggests AD Norwood Teague is not the brilliant basketball wizard "U" propaganda promotes (while the Star Tribune reporter who criticized Tubby, even when 15-1, continues to promote Teague as the greatest AD since burnt rice), noting the $6 million in recent buyouts to coaches Munson, Mason, Brewster and Smith. What is so troubling about the Star Tribune, this once great newspaper, is how much it doesn’t get right, including about Flip Saunders, who subsequently also turned the U down. How were Norwood Teague and Mike Ellis so off point that they thought they created the best coaching carousel plan? The decision to attempt to humiliate Tubby Smith by reporting his firing to the news media before extending the courtesy of informing him that he was out as the head coach of the Golden Gophers raises serious questions about the future and integrity of U of M sports’ future under the gentlemen from Virginia and the reporting of their actions by the lady from North Carolina, not to mention those of the Twin Cities press corps who worked hard to make this plan a success. It’s a plan that has gone the way of the Hindenberg: The U could not tie down the coach from Cincinatti, nor coaches from VA Commonwealth, Florida Gulf Course, Marquette, etc. Having developed a Mickey Mouse plan, why didn’t the U just ask Disney to give them Mickey Mouse, as that is what they have turned the image and reputation of the U into during their coach search — a Mickey Mouse plan with Mickey Mouse results? They should have asked for the casting rights before putting this dog-and-pony Mickey Mouse show production on the big circuit. Sid Hartman was on point. Dennis Bracken had the right idea. The rest, from VA and NC, were part of a mean-spirited plan to humiliate and destroy a good and decent human being. Texas Tech, within less than a week, appreciating Tubby’s principles and values and recognizing his ability to uplift a program that had fallen on hard times, as he did in Georgia, Tulsa, Kentucky, and MN, hired him. Texas Tech is getting a man who won a national title, won five Southeastern Conference championships, and established a reputation as a successful program builder. Texas Tech is getting a coach who has had 20 or more wins in 18 of 21 head coaching seasons. Even though we say “shame on you, U,” we still wish you all the best in getting a coach to give you what all schools want: wins. The responsibility for the U’s fix is the "U," You "U" guys won that Oscar. You’ve become a living legend for futility, dishonesty, indecency, and just plain mean-spirited thinking. I hope you make it to the Final Four next year (the top final four, not the bottom final four). God bless you, Tubby Smith. The hand of righteousness is still on your shoulder. We can’t say the same about the "U". Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: Thank you Tubby for an excellent run! "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" April 3, 2013 First things first: we join and support the observations made by our longtime friend Sid Hartman in his columns last week that “Firing Smith would be a big mistake for Gophers.” Once again, the University of Minnesota (1) showed no class; (2) showed no professionalism; and (3) lied, firing Coach Smith just three months after signing him to a three-year extension. They leaked it to the news media before telling Tubby. They tried to cover with “leaks happen” when it kept secret a year it’s extending the contract of its losing women’s basketball coach. The U purposefully attempted to humiliate a great coach, a decent human being, and a recognized high-caliber coach with a national title to his credit. Instead, they humiliated themselves, showed their indecency, and exposed the pettiness of self-centered bureaucrats. No wonder top coaches and athletes shy away from the UM. The university continues to be driven by the politics of cutting the ground out from under coaches in general and Black coaches in particular. After six years of rebuilding, turning around what was a crumbling basketball program, and winning the UM’s first NCAA tournament game in 16 years, Tubby is unceremoniously fired. The tax payers will now pay for the arrogance and incompetence of the athletic department: $2.5 million to Tubby and a total of $6M overall. Imagine: they fired all of his staff. There will be no continuity with coaching staff and players. Disrespect, manipulation, and deviousness oozes out of the UM athletic department. Some say the next coach of the Gopher basketball team will be Flip Saunders, former UM and NBA star and coach. He would be advised to take the offer of Glen Taylor to be VP of Basketball operations for the MN Timberwolves. Flip, I have to say, that’s your best bet. With this administration, how can anyone salvage what the university has done to the Gopher Basketball program? Some, such as former coach Dutcher, saw the chance to plunge the dagger into the back of Tubby Smith. I now have a better understanding of why former UM assistant basketball coach Jimmy Williams was denied the opportunity to go to work with Coach Smith and display his reputation as one of the top recruiters in America. Maybe Jim Dutcher forgot the excellent recruitment that Jimmy Williams did for the Gopher program in the 1980s. Will any new coach be able to move the University to build that new practice facility that was promised Coach Tubby Smith six years ago? Will Norwood, Teague and Gopher alumni really be able do something about making the 82-year-old facility known as the “barn” a more attractive recruitment tool? I was especially saddened, once again, by the silence of Black alumni for not standing up, defending and speaking out on behalf of Coach Smith. They have not spoken out before. When will they? There are now no Black faces in positions of authority and responsibility in the Gopher Athletic Department. Black athletes can entertain us and make money for the University in football, basketball, baseball, and other sports but with few to none being employed by the University. That doctrine seems to be the cornerstone of Minnesota thinking, another reason as to why it is so tough to recruit Black athletes to the University of Minnesota. Does the university want to return to the glory days of Bernie Berman and the White Golden Era of the 1930s? Will they be able to sign young Black players like Tyus Jones to lead them to the promised land of championships? You have to hope that whatever this young man does that he’ll do it some place where his skills and his pedigree will be respected instead of disrespected as done to Coach Tubby Smith. Again, I must applaud Sid Hartman and other Star Tribune writers for not being silent about this big mistake made by the university leadership. Tubby Smith leaves MN with his head held high, his integrity intact and his legacy of greatness forever etched in the annals of collegiate sports. Tubby did it the right way. Best of luck, Tubby. Your six years here should be a lesson on what is important: integrity, respect and love of the game. You exhibited all these. May God give you the strength to stay on the path of continued success. And now, once again, there are no Black Big Ten Head Coaches. That doesn’t fit the statistics of most coaches being former players and half the players being Black. Stay turned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: Will the Vikings stadium be a repeat of Target Field? "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" March 27, 2013 Question: Will the State/City and Vikings/NFL allow the “Blacks need not apply” motto of Twins Field be applied to the Vikings stadium? Recall my columns: Back to the past: August 3, 2007, I filed a civil rights complaint with the Minnesota Department of Civil Rights [MDCR] File # A6392-BS-1F-7, later dismissed due to “lack of jurisdiction.” My May 12, 2010 column: I “vigorously opposed the breaking of employment compliance law” by the Twins Ball Park Authority. Ironically and tragically, at the same time, the MDCR “allowed the Mortenson Construction Company to self-report (like putting the fox in charge of the lock on the hen house door).” What Mortenson and the MDCR did with Twins Field was illegal, immoral and unjust. But companies like Mortenson can’t flout the law or morality or justice without official approval from the State and City, whether granted publicly or behind closed doors, as seen in the columns listed above. Back to the future: For several weeks, serious, fruitful and transparent discussions have developed between the construction-skills-qualified Gentlemen of the Round Table (of Kansas City) and the two owners of the People’s Stadium (the MN Vikings and the MN Sports Authority). But not by Sports Authority staff, as seen when they assigned the task of talking with the Kansas City Group to a representative of the Met Council (Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities). We repeat again: The Met Council has no statutory relationship with the construction, design and operations of the People’s Stadium. It has no contracting authority. Two representatives of the Met Council were earlier hired as contract workers to develop an Equity Plan, which, in the final analysis, leaves out African Americans. As of the writing of this column, they have not acted in the best interest of the Sports Facility Authority, nor of the citizens of the state of Minnesota, nor the African American community. During discussions with the Kansas City group, the Met Council representatives were unyielding and, in fact, bordering on hostile to the Kansas City group and its chief negotiator (who was a general contractor in the State of Minnesota for 23 years). One of the most disturbing positions of Wanda Kirkpatrick, director of equal opportunity for the Met Council, an African American herself, was that she had no intention of yielding on the setting of specific goals for African Americans. She and others had no problem setting a six-percent goal for White females within the 32 percent minority goal (some have said 38 percent). And yet there was fanatical resistance, absolute refusal, to embrace a specific goal for African Americans, all the while knowing that the Kansas City group is positioned and has the workers to fill positions for which there are no African American stadium-qualified workers in the state of Minnesota for work beyond sweeping up and doing manual labor. I have reason to believe this is not the position of the Minnesota Vikings nor the Sports Facility Authority (and specifically not its chairwoman, Michele Kelm-Helgen). So, what about the attempt to use the Target Field’s “no Blacks” game plan for the “People’s Stadium” (hence the resistance to having clear percentages and numerical numbers for Black workers). The People’s Stadium represents a clear and present opportunity for African Americans to move from the back of the bus to a place of equality seated at the table of opportunity. Racism didn’t end with laws allowing public accommodations, public access, and public education. Racism ends when discrimination ends regarding access and participation in work leadership and ownership in private and public sectors. It is not right nor acceptable for African Americans to again be denied participation in the full fruits of prosperity and opportunity. It is troubling and historically dangerous for African Americans to aid and abet the demise of their own people (be they in foundations, nonprofits, government agencies, churches, corporations, etc). In preparation for our next column, we don’t wonder why Mortenson is so silent, for they are known for endorsing and applauding the rebuffing of the dreams of African Americans. Mortenson’s representatives must understand this is not Manchester England of the 1960s and 1970s. This is America, a land of meaningful opportunity. Biases have no place on these beloved shores of the United States of America. Stay tuned. Editors note: (2) See columns of May 9 and Dec. 26, 2007; May 14, 2008; blog entry of Dec. 4, 2007. (3) See forty-six Solution Papers, including: Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" March 20, 2013 Pullquote: Let’s not let our Black and White elites continue to gamble with the lives of future generations. Which legacy for the Vikings Stadium? Only qualified White workers or qualified workers regardless of color? Employment apartheid or inclusiveness? Employment inclusiveness and fairness, or employment apartheid and unfairness? The 100 qualified Gentlemen of the Roundtable of Kansas City, Missouri, journeymen construction workers introduced in a previous column, have since talked with the Vikings. Next: the Sports Facility Authority and the State of Minnesota. Revelations and clarifications were made in the conversation with the Gentlemen of the Roundtable. The Vikings confirmed $1 million is being awarded to White unions in Minnesota to train African Americans and others of color in stadium construction skills. Really? Isn’t the real goal to train White workers, who will come from the White union rolls? There is not enough time for trainees to meet stadium construction industry requirements and still meet the scheduled opening date. As the Gentlemen made clear: The BS has to end. Recall that no provisions are in the legislation that mandates “Minnesota only” residents to be employed on the stadium project. Both White and Black contractors’ associations have said such skilled laborers don’t exist in Minnesota. It is clear the most qualified and experienced workers will come from out of state, just as in the construction of the Metrodome 31 years ago. We still await answers to our questions of who will monitor the equity plans and commitment to end apartheid in the construction industry in Minnesota. The experienced 100 African American Gentlemen of the Roundtable journeymen are in place, ready to exercise their constitutional right to work anywhere in the United States of America. This newspaper has been in the forefront exposing truths, keeping Minnesota’s eye on the prize of Black inclusion. Recall Charles Hallman’s articles in the spring of 2010 (especially “City Confirms Ball Park Minority Goals Met, but Participation by Black Workers Remains Undocumented”). Velma Korbel, Civil Rights Department director, sent an email to City Council Member Elizabeth Glidden on June 7, 2010, at 9:23 am, attacking and falsely accusing both Mr. Hallman and myself of providing inaccurate information (despite the council’s own paid report by NERA of the City’s purposefully submitted inaccurate numbers, as we reported). While Ms. Korbel was misleading the council member, 32-year Civil Rights Department staff member Eddie Caideron had earlier sent a confidential communiqué on May 20, 2010, at 9:41 am, to Mr. Michael J. Rumppe, City Department of Human Resources, in which Mr. Caideron reflected on orders given to Corky Taylor, James Patterson, and himself about the discrepancies Ms. Korbel was denying. All three are no longer with the Civil Rights Department, having been transferred or fired. But the content of Mr. Caideron’s communiqué was forwarded to the NERA group who was conducting the City’s $500,000 disparity study. It speaks to the power of Mortenson and Kraus-Anderson to get the City to say it was monitoring them when, in fact, the City was not doing so. These are the extremely frightening, disturbing, and chilling patterns and practices of the City and its contractors, who purposefully ignore the bedrock principle: “Of the people, by the people, for the people.” These patterns and practices are also seen in the minutes of a meeting presided over by Mr. James C. Burroughs II, regarding documents reviewed by the Minority, Women and Diverse Business Oversight Committee, on which Ms. Korbel was a member. The numbers within the documents that were circulated the morning of March 10, 2011 were worthy of being reviewed by a federal grand jury, as it had outrageous falsehoods regarding Black participation in the school district HQ construction in North Minneapolis. Let’s not play this game. Let’s not ignore these charges. Let’s not be blind to purposeful unfairness. Let’s not let our Black and White elites continue to gamble with the lives of future generations. A million dollars has been given to White trade unions to do something they have never been successful doing — training and qualifying Black Minnesotans for construction work (nor have Black training counterparts been successful in doing so). The questions remain: How say you, Governor Dayton, Minnesota legislature and Sports Authority? How say you, mayor and city council? How say you, Minnesota Vikings and the NFL? A significant number of Black players are on the Minnesota Vikings and all NFL teams. There are also qualified Black American construction workers. We expect farness and opportunity for them as well. So no more B.S.: It is a question of race. (“We can hire minorities without hiring a single Black,” in the infamous words of a former civil rights director). Respect must be for the abilities of all races. Will Minnesota respect Black stadium construction workers or only White ones? Only time will tell. Thank God for the Gentlemen of the Roundtable. God bless Black America. Stay tuned. Editor’s Note: (2) See my columns of May 9 and Dec. 26, 2007; May 14, 2008; blog entry of Dec. 4, 2007; Solution Paper 46 of Nov. 22, 2011). (3) See forty-six Solution Papers, including: Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: Posted Wednesday, March 20, 2013, 4:48 a.m. When will MN’s ‘no Black workers need apply’ policy end? "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" March 13, 2013 My concern is for the ending of the discrimination patterns and practices that prevent access for Black men and women to the opportunities of Minnesota (education, jobs, housing), with discrimination led by White and Black elites (City agencies, nonprofits, foundations, churches, corporations, the NAACP, Urban League). My Solution Paper #46, Disparity and Non-Compliance Record of Not Job Hiring and Contracting with African Americans (purposefully practicing disparity and avoiding compliance), is on my website (www.TheMinneapolisStory.com) lists my columns providing details, enough to launch a dozen lawsuits. [Editors note: todate: 47 solution papers} Minnesota’s discrimination molehills have been easy to sweep under the rug. But the discrimination mountain looming on the horizon, the billion-dollar stadium, will take the “easy” away. The task of continuing these discriminatory patterns and practices falls prominently to Mortenson, one of the most blatantly discriminating companies in Minnesota, as it was picked as the Vikings Peoples’ Stadium construction manager. The discrimination patterns and practices are simple: Redefine any special interest as a “minority” except Black workers. Minnesota keeps letting non-Black races, creeds, orientations, women and other interest groups cut into the head of the line, forcing Black workers to stay at the back of the bus. No mystery. No puzzle. Mortenson has practiced its skill at excluding Black workers and hiding the fact with false figures and failed outside monitoring. It is as clear as the fingers on your hands, as seen in this roll call of Mortenson discrimination for Minneapolis: TCF Stadium, Target Field, Children’s Hospital of the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Public School District Headquarters in North Minneapolis, and now the Vikings “People’s Stadium.” The Minneapolis Civil Rights Department leads the way — “Minneapolis can meet its minority hiring requirements without hiring a single Black worker,” in the words of a former department head. They are followed by the backing of Black and White Minneapolis officials (City agencies, nonprofits, the NAACP, Urban League, foundations, churches, corporations). Thus, it is no accident nor surprise that the equity legislation for the Vikings’ stadium does not specify how the hiring of Black workers will be monitored, documented, authenticated and certified. The complaint filed by Marvin “Corky “Taylor with the federal government and the EEOC that I wrote about last week clearly identified these patterns and practices. I’ve asked at meetings and hearings: How many Black workers will be hired? The stadium legislation carefully has no mandate, only “best effort,” meaning, “Hey, none, but we 'tried.'” State officials, such as Wanda Kirkpatrick of the Metropolitan Council, and the representative of Ryan Construction have made it clear: The universal agreement is that there will be no percentage or numbers assigned in the state of Minnesota to any racial group, and specifically African Americans, who are the most deprived of all. So “minorities” does not mean Blacks. This doctrine of benign neglect includes reporting hours and funds paid to Blacks that actually went to Whites. The April 14, 2009 letter from Lynn Littlejohn of Mortenson to Dick Strasburg of the Minnesota Twins contains a “SWMBE Participation Summary.” One of the firms identified is J.R. Jones, a company that did finishing carpentry. It claimed J.R. Jones received $5,300,000, of which, at page six, it states the subcontractor, Tri-Construction, was paid $795,000. Where did the rest of that money go? In a similar document, $1.4M was on the books as paid to Tri-Construction. But it was not paid to Tri-Construction, even though it was identified as a minority business enterprise. In all, it was reported that over $2,000,000 was paid to Tri-Construction. But it was not. Mr. Taylor and Mr. James Patterson brought this to the attention of the Ball Park Authority. Mr. Patterson was discharged. Mr. Taylor was demoted. Is it coincidence that Tri-Construction had a direct business relationship with Mortenson Construction? In a confidential communiqué to Velma Korbel, Mr. Taylor explained the nature of his illness and the air he had to breath in the closed, dank, basement office they demoted him to, which contributed to his death (“My health issues…prolonged hours in that air”). He reported summaries of the disparity study, the Twins report, Security Update Validation Program (SUVP), the Central Certification (CERT) Program, Section 3/Certification, the Community Planning & Economic Development (CPED) Program. When will the department release his reports? City officials knew that Mr. Taylor was being pushed to the limit of his health, that his condition was perilous. In a word, they were helping to kill him. He was one of five identified to be purged, four of whom are now gone (two have died). Minneapolis makes it clear: Get in our way and we’ll make sure you are dealt with by any means necessary. I did not just stand by and watch. I filed a complaint with the Civil Rights Department against Mortenson and its role in the construction of the Twins stadium. The department denied it. Their power and authority to make things go away is part of Mortenson’s chilling legacy and power. Stay tuned. Editor’s Note: (2) See my columns of May 9 and Dec. 26, 2007; May 14, 2008; blog entry of Dec. 4, 2007; Solution Paper 46 of Nov. 22, 2011). (3) See forty-six Solution Papers, including: Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: Posted Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 4:18 a.m. Gentlemen of the Round Table ready to work on People’s Stadium. "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" March 6, 2013 Pullquote: African Americans will now have a meaningful, productive, and profitable seat at the table of inclusion. This group of 100 Black men in the construction trades, based in Kansas City, Missouri, was formed seven years ago. All are journeymen. Over half own their own businesses. Some are currently officers in their unions. All are prepared to come to work in Minnesota, just as their White stadium construction counterparts do: working anywhere in the USA where their major construction specialties are needed. They meet and exceed the high standards of the industry. Some of these Gentlemen of the Round Table have previously lived in Minnesota. They follow the events of the Twin Cities, know the Minnesota scene, are well versed on Minnesota politics, and are prepared to make up for the lack of skilled African American stadium construction trade journeymen in Minnesota. They are aware that statements by Mortenson that all workers on the stadium project must be residents of Minnesota are legally and constitutionally open to challenge. Given poor workmanship on some major projects, particularly our bridges, everyone should expect — demand — the best, most qualified construction journeymen to work on the Vikings People’s Stadium. We welcome highly qualified artisans, qualified to work and to engage in honest and productive workforce negotiations. The Star Tribune reported that Mortenson told the Sport Authority it will utilize Minneapolis’ Uni-Systems, a leading firm in retractable roofs (they have done five of the last seven for NFL stadiums). The Gentlemen of the Round Table are extremely aware of the philosophy and mechanical reputation of Uni-Systems. Does that mean the Vikings People’s Stadium will have a retractable roof? If so, where is its funding? And where will the workers come from given that Uni-Systems outsources, as it only has 37 permanent employees? This will be an historic marriage of professionals: Mortenson with Uni-Systems, the Gentlemen of the Round Table, the Sports Facilities Authority, the Minnesota Vikings, and the NFL. Ted Mondale, after admitting there was no equity plan for Target Field, asked, "Give us a chance,” meaning a chance to bring meaningful equity hiring diversity for the Vikings stadium. African Americans will now have a meaningful, productive, and profitable seat at the table of inclusion. The Kansas City, MO group, 440 miles down I-35 as the crow flies, is to be commended for having a plan for the inclusion of all. This workforce will enable Minnesota to meet its human rights policy goal of 32 percent participation by minorities and women on such projects. This is huge. As we have reported before, Minnesota contractor associations, Black and White, have stated Minnesota doesn’t have laborers in the construction specialty categories for stadiums. We confirmed this in January when we reported no African American participation in those categories. The Gentlemen of the Round Table, through meaningful and honest negotiations, will bring wonderful change and be on the Vikings People’s Stadium site as part of the 7,500 construction work force. Maybe now it can be completed by July 2016. Problems remain that have nothing to do with workers. Neither retractable roof in Texas (Cowboys, Oilers) works well; they don’t fully close due to mechanical problems. And the Indianapolis (Colts) retractable roof is limited by not being waterproof. These issues would be huge in Minnesota where climate is a monster. Another question: Given how this state was unable to verify racial numbers in past stadiums and arenas, what tracking software will they use to verify that 7,500 workers are from this state? And if hiring only Minnesota workers, what about those in Wisconsin who drive into Minnesota to go to work? And where is the financing for the heating pipes to be put under the Gophers’ playing surface, as directed by the NFL? And where is the financing/funding for a retractable roof and for the Vikings Plaza? The Kansas City group understands the attempts in Minnesota to deny African Americans on major projects. Hence, they have retained legal counsel and are prepared to mount a legal challenge if denied. And if serious questions haven’t been answered by the $100M paid in, do the Vikings spend yet more money? Or do they cut their losses and move to L.A.? Stay tuned. Editor’s Note: (2) See my columns of May 9 and Dec. 26, 2007; May 14, 2008; blog entry of Dec. 4, 2007; Solution Paper 46 of Nov. 22, 2011). (3) See forty-six Solution Papers, including: Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Posted Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 3:50 a.m. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: The legacy of Marvin “Corky” Taylor. "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" February 27, 2013 Marvin “Corky” Taylor was recognized by NERA (National Economic Research Associates) for his contributions to the completion of NERA’s October 21, 2010 report to the City of Minneapolis on the City’s purposeful failure to meet its diversity, equity and affirmative action responsibilities. NERA’s crack global research team of Wainwright, Holt, Kim Stewart and J. Wesley Stewart wrote: “This study would not have been possible without the assistance and perseverance of Mr. Marvin Taylor of the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights.” In Mr. Taylor they found a dedicated and persevering professional refusing to join in the sabotage of the research report. The response of his bosses at the City and its Civil Rights Department was his b. The things that were done to Mr. Taylor after his demotion were calculated to break him. He was put into a dank basement office surrounded by asbestos. Then came terminal cancer. Then death. The department and City were purposely involved in this rendition (polite word for torture) of Mr. Taylor. This bureaucratic rendition helped draw life from his body but not his spirit, nor his courage, nor his commitment to pursuing fairness and justice. He sued. The City fought back. The City lost. On June 27, 2012 the Minneapolis City Attorney’s office notified Corky Taylor’s attorneys that a settlement agreement with the City was reached. A few hours later, Mr. Taylor died. The City, relentless in its anger for its lawlessness exposed, decided to renege on the agreement. His wife, family and lawyers tenaciously kept the faith and fought the good fight until on November 14, 2012 Hennepin County appointed his wife personal representative of his estate. On February 4, 2013 the City of Minneapolis finally agreed to pay the settlement to his heirs. A major legacy of Mr. Taylor is that, unlike his city and his City department, he never took his eyes off the prize. His fight reminds us that our city is for everyone, not just the Black and White elites. The mayor’s office and Velma Korbel’s Civil Rights office should not have been concerned. No one protested that they did nothing about NERA’s findings. The City lost some money, but so what? It was taxpayer dollars, not theirs. Black Minnesotans continue not to be hired. The City continues to support the Mortenson Construction Company, one of the biggest compliance violators identified in the report. The NERA research team declared against the character assassination directed toward Mr. Taylor and against four other members of the department: Mr. Brandon, Mr. Calderone, Ms. Maker, and Ms. Crossland. The City became aware in 2009 and 2010 that the Honest Five had attained information that should have led to criminal investigations and indictments. See my columns of July 27, 2011 (Marvin “Corky” Taylor: latest casualty in the purge of the Mpls Civil Rights Department), and March 16, 2011 (3 Heroes of the Civil Rights Struggle Against Corruption: Lauren Marker, Eddie Calderon, Marvin Taylor). Since 2005, I have written 30 columns on the City’s and Civil Rights Department’s shameful record of violating hiring compliance. All are listed in my website’s solution paper #46:DISPARITY/COMPLIANCE STUDIES: MINNEAPOLIS HAS PRACTICED DISPARITY AND PURPOSEFULLY AND ACTIVELY AVOIDED COMPLIANCE. They were called the Honest Five for refusing to be silent when they uncovered a very troubling system of false information, false figures, and shredding of documents. The NERA project team became very concerned about the validity and authenticity of information and statistical data received from the City. The Honest Five refused to lie; they refused to support the corruption of the City and its department of civil rights. Tragically, two of the five are now deceased; another — threatened by City officials — is considering legal action. One has received a lucrative settlement from the City in exchange for his silence; and the fifth, Ms. Crossland, is slated for late spring termination. From late July 2011 until late April 2012, Mr. Taylor fought his wrongful discharge, finally filing, on May 7, 2012, an employment discrimination charge with the federal government. The filed charges of this courageous American make for interesting reading, laying out his allegations, charges of corruption, and other illegal acts of the City and its Department of Civil Rights. The number of the file with his charges is #444-2012-00970. The unfinished business left is the future of hiring Vikings People’s Stadium’s Black contractors and workers. The stadium authority knows about Mortenson’s history of noncompliance. Ted Mondale admitted it. Ted Mondale askeds, “Give us another chance.” Of course. But will they take it or place more under Minneapolis’ version of rendition? Rest in peace, Black Warrior. Rest in peace. Stay tuned. Stay tuned. Editor’s Note: (1) From February 6, 2013 column: “The Michael Jordan doctrine”: still in place. The former executive director of Minneapolis Civil Rights Department said five years ago that Minneapolis can meet its equity and diversity goals without hiring a single African American. (See my columns of May 9 and Dec. 26, 2007; May 14, 2008; blog entry of Dec. 4, 2007; Solution Paper 46 of Nov. 22, 2011). (2) See: About JOBS: The Corrupt and Racist Construction Contract System, Resulting in Jail not Jobs; The War on Drugs as A War on Black Men: Blacks as Inmates not as Contractors or Workers; Another Example of Black Corruption Selling Out to White Corruption. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2013, 7:31 p.m. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: Will Blacks finally get a fair share of work on this stadium? "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" February 20, 2013 Michele Kelm-Helgen, chairwoman of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA), who oversees design and construction of the Vikings’ “People’s Stadium,” told Minnesota Public Radio, in interview, February 8, 2013, that serious questions have been raised about the Equity Plan implementation passed by the MSFA that same day. Three City-commissioned studies by two separate research groups support Chairwoman Kelm-Helgen’s observations. The last study was issued on May 15, 2012, by NERA (National Economic Research Associates) at a cost to Minneapolis of $500,000. These studies expose the City’s serious and purposeful noncompliance with Minority and Women Business Enterprises (M/WBE) utilization requirements. NERA’s report provided evidence that supports the investigative reporting in this column for a decade. We appreciate Chairwoman Kelm-Helgen’s KARE-TV interview. We welcome her aboard. We also welcome aboard Ted Mondale, who stated to us at a closed meeting October 10, 2012, with the chairwoman that although there was no Equity Plan for Target Field, and that they had no numbers for compliance, it will be different for the Vikings stadium; just give us a chance, Ted Mondale said. NERA’s report will help facilitate preventing future cover-ups and provides an opportunity to stop the misrepresentation of the plight of African Americans in Minneapolis. Pages 205-208 show just how little inclusion there has been for African Americans in the area of utilization in construction and other aspects of economic opportunity: less than one percent. At page 209 of the October 22, 2010 report we see that on City-funded construction projects for the period 2003-2007, African Americans were awarded and ultimately paid less than one percent of the total. It took NERA and the National Research Institute of Washington, D.C. an average of six-to-seven years to get the information, statistics, numbers, etc. due to the City stalling, “losing” data, and sending incomplete and false information from the City’s Civil Rights Department in their attempt to hide their noncompliance. Here are some of many statistics that would have caught the attention of Chairwoman Michele Kelm-Helgen and her research department, especially the astonishingly complete lack of trained African Americans in job category after job category, as listed on pages 210 – 232: • Architectural- and structural-metals manufacturing: 0 Zero in so many categories — this exposes the true nature of so-called Minneapolis job training programs. Only the size of this new stadium project is exposing the true nature of the Minneapolis condition of purposefully not training African American workers and of hiring minorities defined as not Black. I’m often asked by folks who have passed by work sites, whether walking or riding, where are the workers we are told are involved, as they have seen no African Americans, including at highway sites. This is tragically sad and unnecessary. The jokes about "ghost" workers are not funny. People of color need to have the doors of opportunity held open for them, not barricaded shut, to make up for not being allowed to apply. Can something be done? The opportunity and the timing are still here. There is time, especially if attached to university training programs, to train young men and women of color in apprentice and journeymen programs in time to enable Minnesota workers to get jobs building the stadium. Without new, legitimate programs, and without changes to other “business as usual,” including financing the stadium, I have heard it said that the opening could be delayed to 2017 or later. That is unacceptable to the Vikings, the NFL and the fans. But at least the Black and White leaders will have maintained the desired status quo: getting away with getting paid to exclude African Americans. Without African American workers from Minnesota in the stadium employment/contractor mix, there is no hope for the stadium to contribute to getting the African American community back on its feet and once again having a meaningful place at the Minnesota table of economic opportunity. Stay tuned. Editor’s Note: (1) From February 6, 2013 column: “The Michael Jordan doctrine”: still in place. The former executive director of Minneapolis Civil Rights Department said five years ago that Minneapolis can meet its equity and diversity goals without hiring a single African American. (See my columns of May 9 and Dec. 26, 2007; May 14, 2008; blog entry of Dec. 4, 2007; Solution Paper 46 of Nov. 22, 2011). (2) See Solution Paper 46, Disparity/Compliance Studies, November 22, 2012. (3) See: About JOBS: The Corrupt and Racist Construction Contract System, Resulting in Jail not Jobs; The War on Drugs as A War on Black Men: Blacks as Inmates not as Contractors or Workers; Another Example of Black Corruption Selling Out to White Corruption. (4) The Contest of IDEAS, in General and, Specifically, Regarding Young People Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2013, 2:44 a.m. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: President Obama’s visit to discuss gun violence "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" February 13, 2013 Pull quote: It will be of great interest in the coming weeks to see who will receive significant funding in support of the so-called Minneapolis Plan…that identified African American males as the source of many of the criminal problems…”What joy and excitement energized the Black community, individuals and organizations alike, anticipating seeing and meeting the first African American president, Barrack Obama, in North Minneapolis when he was in town Monday, February 4 to make a major speech on guns and violence in America. Although disappointed in what the president’s administration has not done for communities of color, and skipping North Minneapolis as a campaigner, expectations still ran high until they gave way to high disappointment when his visit turned out to be a PR drive-by, as his motorcade sped to and from the well-fortified police academy building at 41st and DuPont in North Minneapolis, leaving many bewildered and upset. The gun and crime statistics didn’t match ours of columns past nor address the concerns Harry Belafonte expressed at the February 1, 2013, NAACP Image Awards show: that Black Americans are the “most incarcerated, most unemployed, and most hunted in America,” nor the question Belafonte asked earlier regarding why contemporary discussions continue “to ignore decades of urban gun violence.” The courtesy and respect denied the community in general spilled over to key leaders such as the Assistant Majority Whip of the Minnesota Senate, Jeff Hayden, who received none of the considerations that should be accorded to a man of his political stature (he stands fifth in the line of succession for governor). All during Black History month. The President and his advisors and local Democrats have sent a disturbing message that could potentially backfire on the Democrats involved. One wonders how many were behind Senator Hayden being so disrespected by his own. Senator Hayden is known within the Black community for his significant expertise and experience. He would have brought a seriousness to the roundtable discussions. But whether old or newly anointed leadership, the group of 15 who met with the president in a pre-speech, closed-door meeting/photo op — including Rev. VJ Smith, the Minneapolis Police Department chaplain and the national leader of Mad Dads — should have included Senator Hayden. New leadership is emerging within the Black ecumenical community of Minneapolis. The leadership of Shiloh International Ministry under the Rev. Dr. Howell is a new and emerging giant according to high-level gossip during the president’s visit. And the presence on the president’s speech dais of former Republican state senator and now Sheriff Richard Stanek, reflects significant new coalition-building between the Obama administration and a rising new star within Minnesota law enforcement. It will be of great interest in the coming weeks to see who will receive significant funding in support of the so-called Minneapolis Plan, the 2009 position paper offered by the outgoing administration of Mayor R.T. Rybak that identified African American males as the source of many of the criminal problems in the city of Minneapolis and in Hennepin County. I call your attention to pages 58 and 59 of that 2009 report, “The State of City Leadership for Children and Families,” published by the National League of Cities, Institute for Youth Education and Families. The comprehensive action plan President Barack Obama made reference to Feb. 4, as well as his reference to the University of Minnesota’s Plan, also raise the question of what will be the role of UROC. These plans will reveal who’s in and who’s out of leadership, who will and who won’t get funded. Will these plans directly address the war on young Black men and what Harry Belafonte called “The consequences of our racial carnage”? Belafonte further asked: “Where is the raised voice of Black America? Why are we mute? Where are our leaders? Our legislators? Where is the church?” Nellie Stone Johnson’s answer remains: education, jobs, housing, community-family. That is what it is all about, isn’t it? Or will the status quo remain, a select few paid to consult on how to leave out the community? Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" February 6, 2013 Vikings People’s-no-new-taxes stadium is unraveling for the African American community. “It’s ours” ballyhoo regarding Minnesota has become “it’s mine” for NFL, the Wizard of Oz behind the Vikings’ curtain. • 32 percent minority participation goals of Minnesota’s State Department of Human Rights Director Kevin Lindsay were pulverized into dust. My estimate of 1-1.5 percent African American participation: too high. Actual and factual: unless there is unanticipated change, less than half of one percent, including employment and contracts. •“Every effort:” the rug under which all promises are swept, as promises are not legally mandatory. • “The Michael Jordan doctrine”: still in place. The former executive director of Minneapolis Civil Rights Department said five years ago that Minneapolis can meet its equity and diversity goals without hiring a single African American. (See my columns of May 9 and Dec. 26, 2007; May 14, 2008; blog entry of Dec. 4, 2007; Solution Paper 46 of Nov. 22, 2011). • Panic began when NFL patience ended in 2012: the NFL Commissioner told our governor and key legislators that if no new stadium is built, the Vikings are free to move in 2013. • Panic result: Minnesota hastily scrambled, putting the construction cart before the finance horse. Our decade of warnings: a decade lost. • Panic result: Neither Minnesota nor Minneapolis committed funds from viable sources. • Panic result: roof still debated. How to finance it? From the beginning Ziggy has been opposed. • Panic result: quick slight of hands exposed, “people’s stadium” for soccer (legislation Section 15), baseball (400 college and high school games scheduled for 2013), and other community events. Vikings want to sacrifice them for 20 feet of Vikings seats for their 8-12 uses a year. • Panic questions: As Vikings want sell outs for seat money, how many will want to sit in cold weather, with no roof? And how will baseball be played without a roof? b • Panic solutions: “Blacks need not apply” doctrine was on display at the January 24, 2013 public hearing in the Halsey Hall Room of the Metrodome. Had the Authority not held the legislation-mandated public hearing, there would have been no “public” discussion. Timeline: We still expect at least a year delay, roof or not, baseball or not, people’s stadium or not people’s stadium. Financing/funding (roof/no roof) quandary: Unless Dallas architects pull architectural rabbits out of their architectural hat, with the state budget shortfall combined with the far lower than expected electronic pull tab revenue, the state won’t meet its financing obligation under stadium legislation Section 19, Article 473J.15 (specifically lines 22.1 through 22.9). Nor will the city meet its $150 million contribution (grows to $800 million over the course of the loan according to City’s own calculations). How will Minneapolis meet its obligations? Answer: Raise taxes again, leading to more delay. People’s Plaza: How long will delays take trying to obtain plaza land, including property owned by Minneapolis Star Tribune? Significant financial issues, serious stress and strain in relationships within the Sports Facility Authority and with the community continue to reduce hope for diversity and inclusion of African Americans and others of color. Stadium legislation, Section 17, 473J.12, “employment,” Subdivision 1, “hiring and recruitment,” states at Line 19.1: “The Authority shall make every effort to employ and cause the NFL team and the construction manager to commit to a good faith effort.” “Effort” means “not mandatory,” so the Jordan doctrine lives enabling Minnesota to continue to be all talk and no walk. Opportunities for Black leadership to develop strategy and protect African American interests are lost. Even their pay-for-leaders-not-for-people scam has failed. It's now Black History Month. This purposefully missed opportunity has become a part of a tragic legacy seen in the subtitle of a 2000 book on Minnesota stadiums, Boondoggles — no real commitment, no real plan, no real strategy except for money-pocketing failure. What a sad day for Minnesota and the dream of full inclusion in both construction and operation of the “People’s-no-new-taxes stadium.” In the name of the People’s-no-new-taxes stadium, God bless the Black people of Minnesota being left behind. Give us strength to muster up at least one percent. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: Let the Games Begin: The Selection of the Construction Manager . Fraser, Davis, and Tomlin: Quota Guys? "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" The Push Black Americans In Football To The Back Of The Bus Games have begun, raising “Blacks need not apply” signs not only for stadium construction jobs but also NFL team Head Coaching jobs. This is not about quotas. It is about statistical probabilities not being met due to intentional skewing out of contention a specific group of people. In this case, Black American Workers, whether on stadiums or on stadium field sidelines. On or about February 1, the Sports Facilities Authority will select Vikings’ Stadium Construction Manager. I’m making two predictions (bets, if you will): there will be at least one-year delay from July 2016 to 2017, and the builder will be Hunt Construction, of Scottsdale, Arizona if a roof is being seriously contemplated, Skanska of Sweden if it is not. My predictions are based on the legislation governing the new stadium construction and the patterns of action on it so far by the Vikings “people’s” “no new taxes” “Stadium Powers” (Minnesota Legislature, Minneapolis City Council, Vikings, NFL and the Minnesota Facilities Sports Authority). I refer you to the stadium legislation, Section 15, Article 473J.11, Lines 14.32 through 17.21. This section clearly enables the 1 to 1.5% Black participation that I discussed in my column last week. This is no surprise to those who wrote or have read the legislation (despite my urgings, few have read it and thus seen how it has been a big freight train of nullification and reversal coming down the tracks to block any meaningful inclusion of African Americans). Other “minorities” yes, African Americans no). Read/re-read Lines 15.34 through 16.11. Analyze Lines 16.28 through 17.6. Two significant committees (think barricades) to an equitable Equity Plan are established: Stadium Equity Oversight Committee, and the Compliance Monitoring and Reporting Committees. . See pages 6-12 of the Equity Plan. Who will explain how this provides the Black community with any voice whatsoever, as no enforceable provisions are contained within the 39-page document? Timing is everything. The schedule timing has enabled the commitment to diversity and equity to be a formula for failure and obstruction of Black community participation. This column will monitor these two barricade committees. Maybe we should create a 3rd committee and call it The Fairy Tale Committee to report to those of us in the Black community as to why we will not have an equitable part of the building of the Peoples’ Stadium. Fraser, Davis, and Tomlin: the Quota Guys? In 2010 there were six African American Head Coaches and two Interim Head Coaches, for a total of 8. One Interim became a Head Coach. With the 2013 season the NFL will have 3 Black Head Coaches. It is clear that the Rooney rule that Black candidates for Head Coach have to be interviewed too is no longer practiced. The owners, many of whom have not hired a Black Head Coach and have no intention of ever hiring one, have destroyed the Rooney rule, have “retired it,” hanging like a banner to the past, high above their stadium fields, as Black NFL Head Coaches are purposely made an endangered species. It raises the question of how many NFL owners were secret contributors to the Super Pac campaign fund raising groups that were obsessed with defeating a Black president and putting Black America back in its place. When winner-candidates are locked out, some teams will remain losers. This is why a Black as President is a scandal to the NFL’s “Blacks aren’t smart or competent enough” crowd. Look at the patterns in Major League Baseball the National Basketball Association, on the court and behind the bench. Well thought out actions and policies rein in Black excellence at all levels. It is still the race elephant in the middle of the NFL living room. “New” NFL and college Head Coaches come from the ranks of existing or fired Head Coaches or Offensive/Defensive Coordinators. With coordinators promoted, continuity is maintained and players don’t have to learn a new play book. If NFL and college teams are serious about equality, they’ll hire African American coordinators. And as most coaches are former players, and teams are half African American, then statistically, a third to half of Head Coaches would be African American. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: Sports Authority 2013 Legislative Report on Vikings Stadium Pull quote: The Back community’s so-called Black leaders only have negotiation skills for their own pockets, not for the people they claim to represent, and they received neither.It is an unintended but very real sad irony of history that on the birth date of Martin Luther King, Jr., January 15, the Vikings, the NFL, and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) sent its first annual report to the state legislature carrying the message that there may be some room in the People’s Stadium construction bus, but only in the back, a Minnesota refrain I’ve steadily warned about since 2005. Our community has not believed. Will they now? Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" January 16, 2013 Will the “Stadium Powers” (Minnesota Legislature, Minneapolis City Council, Vikings, NFL and the Minnesota Facilities Sports Authority that oversees the stadium construction project), all regarding the Vikings (“people’s” “no new taxes”) stadium, stand up for fairness in employment and diversity or hide behind the skirts of a “best effort” calendar? January 15, 2013: Today: The Sports Authority is to file its first annual report to the Minnesota State Legislature’s super-commission. Report only. No public hearing. No public comments. As it is three days before the Equity Plan report and two weeks before the Construction Management Firm selection announcement, what will be the impact on next year’s reporting? Are they saving the “in retrospect” report for next year, to then say they made the required “best effort”? January 18, 2013: Sports Authority meeting. Two of the agenda items are the unveiling (or postponement) of the long-awaited Equity Plan, with its goal of 32 percent minority participation, and beginning the end of the process for selecting the Stadium Construction Management Firm that will coordinate the construction of the nearly $1 billion Vikings stadium (what the Star Tribune labeled as “The People’s Stadium” and “The No New Taxes stadium”). February 1, 2013: when the Sports Authority will announce its formal selection of the Construction Management Firm. Then the real fun or real headaches begin. Is this sequence of dates backwards? Is it for leverage? What did the Sports Authority mean when it told me all bidders have been asked to “embrace” the 32 percent minority hiring goal? Will “embrace” and “best effort” remain goals or be made mandates? Will the 32 percent create a constitutional battle, given that there has never been a time when such a number was imposed on a majority industry in the history of the United States or Minnesota? Will the White Minnesota Association of General Contractors and some specific unions accept the 32 percent minority goal? If not, what kind of delays would result from a legal challenge regarding the constitutionality of the stated goal of 32 percent? Of particular interest, what will be the racial breakdown within the 32 percent “minority” in terms of Black Minnesotans vis-á-vis women and other minorities within the Equity Plan? Will it be “Blacks need not apply” again? On October 10, 2012, (see my October 17 column), Ted Mondale admitted in open session “This is not like the Target Field project. They had no numbers for compliance, nor was there a plan.” He then stated the heartening, “You need to give us a chance.” The Equity Plan offers that chance. As both White and Black contractors have said that Minnesota lacks qualified workers with stadium construction skills, where will those in the skilled stadium worker categories come from, whether African American or White? Where will the money come from if it is decided to finally recruit and train local workers? How did the Metropolitan Council work out answers to these particular questions and goals with the State and City human rights departments on the one hand and the Sports Authority/Minnesota Vikings/NFL on the other hand? Finally where will the money come from to meet the State and City stadium funding commitments? Will the Vikings/NFL have to pick up the City and State shortfalls or will the taxpayers be asked to pay more taxes (see my December 19 column)? • Council Member Gary Schiff (KSTP, May 13, 2012) projected Minneapolis’ $150 million as $675 million. Minnesotans are not enthusiastic about being taxed to raise revenue shortfalls. How will these figures impact on elections? African American leadership offers no substantive recommendations to answer these kinds of questions. They seem happy to be window shopping, looking in at Ted Mondale expressing how happy they are “to get along.” We again invite leadership (Black and White, developers and investors, Vikings and the NFL) to review our planning suggestions (on my website’s Solutions Section, #45). Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: The abuse of Black children in MN’s education system "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" January 9, 2012 Thurgood Marshall wrote: “None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody — a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns — bent down and helped us pick up our boots.” But what if you have no boots? The chilling reality in education is that some Black children are being denied boots in the first place. The only true way out and up for any child, Black or White, is education. But when purposefully denied, the eventual result is no job, and if no job, no housing for family. The treatment of African American school children in Minnesota has too long been frightening and chilling. Far too many educational “leaders” choose to remain silent. The real “bosses” are the tails that wag the dog: the super-sized education bureaucracies spending budgets on themselves and not on students and their education. In late November 2012, rumors began to emerge from Green Central that the school’s very respected and committed LPN, Mrs. Mia Meyers, in her letter of resignation, laid out serious allegations of acts of hostility directed towards her because of her calling attention to Green Central’s refusal to take into account student health. Mrs. Meyers could no longer stand by quietly as the school refused to address the volume and the severity of the students’ medical needs. Terms she used, red flags anywhere else in the civilized free world, include “medical fragileness of students,” “volume and severity of student medical needs,” “to improve the medical condition to facilitate education goals is not her [the principal’s] priority.” The school district’s response? Cover up, suppress the investigation into the allegations, and break Minnesota law by withholding the allegations from the Board of Education. Mrs. Meyers told me of her commitment and passion to both the children and to her professional obligations, which was met with an intimidating atmosphere inside Green Central directed to those who raise questions about fairness and inequality. I was involved in a direct conversation two weeks ago with an assistant superintendent who pretended they had no idea about the resignation, and attempted to convince us that the LPN was still on the premises. Parents at Green Central have no clue as to how their children are being medically dealt with, mistreated, abandoned, and being subjected to a dangerous medical environment. Green Central has gained the reputation, medically, as Minneapolis’ Tuskegee Project of the 1930s. The situation in the Bloomington Public School District is equally frightening and chilling. A Black guardian appointed by the court for a seven-year-old Black child who lives in the city of Bloomington was told two weeks ago that the child is not welcome in the Bloomington Public School District. The Black guardian, a representative of the court, was told that if the child was brought to school on Wednesday, January 2, that the African American child would be arbitrarily suspended and not allowed to cross the doorway. This heartbreaking story reminded me of George Wallace standing in the University of Alabama doorway, saying this child shall not pass. Can you imagine a seven-year-old White child being called a terroristic threat and denied by White educators? This is happening in greater frequency in Minnesota. In the case of this seven-year-old child, the decision has been made that the Bloomington Public Schools will continue to receive state aid that follows every child, but that the Black child, in the tradition of Bilbo, George Wallace and Strom Thurmond, will be denied. This Black guardian is willing to battle the system but needs support. Will Black leadership and Black organizations step up for Black children? The Bloomington Public School District rationale to the student’s guardian and attorney: the [7 yearold] Black child is a "bad seed". Black America has heard that before. What is being said in Bloomington and in Green Central is that Black children are never too young to have their rights violated and their future abused. For legal reasons, neither child nor guardian is being identified yet. We wait to see if any organization or leader, including legislative leadership, has the heart and the guts to support children that are being abused, whose rights are being trampled on and whose futures are no longer guaranteed. God bless Black Minnesota, for we are in a titanic struggle for the life and future of our children, the future of us all. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: The Vikings Stadium: a historic reckoning point in its history regarding the Equity Plan. "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" January 2, 2012 Vikings Stadium legislation called for an equity plan outlining Black participation in construction contracts and workers. Its absence is the story of continued injustice, discrimination, and official sneering at the idea of Black participation. This major story of 2012-2013 will be a 2013-2014 albatross around the necks of the self-appointed and imaginary Twin Cities leaders and journalists who stand silent as the Equity Plan sinks in “best effort” cement boots to a lake bottom. In The People’s Stadium’s two big broken promises — equity plan and “no new taxes” — we see how the “rights culture” of the 1960s has continued too many aspects of the Democratic Party’s White rights Jim Crow culture in American cities, with the purposeful disobeying of the requirement to bring an Equity Plan for seating African Americans at the stadium construction economic table. State legislature mandated an equity plan. City council promised it. Facilities Authority Commission admitted the lack of an equity plan with the Twins Stadium, saying that would not be repeated with the Vikings. Yet all three have let it die. In a week’s time the Facilities Authority, according to their own press releases, will receive bids for the construction, management, and participation in the stadium, doing so without having given bidders equity-plan guidelines or direction. A $753 million contract to be signed January 25, 2013, without an equity plan is the same as posting signs: “Blacks need not apply.” State Human Rights Commissioner Kevin Lindsey called for 32 percent participation. The issue is not about percentage, but about fairness. It’s as simple as that. Both Black and White contractors have said there are few if any qualified stadium construction workers in the Twin Cities. Needed, therefore, is either a plan to train them now or a commitment that construction workers brought in from out of state will also include a fair number of qualified Black construction workers. Realistic equity plans have been a running concern in this column since 2005. The continued silence and lack of public discussion is troubling. The Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights punted the equity plan to the Metropolitan Council. Who is working with Commissioner Lindsay? No one will say. Who will hold to the fire of equity plan accountability the feet of the construction manager, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Minnesota Sports facility? Lindsay’s goals for inclusion of Africa Americans in the construction of the People’s Stadium are ambitious. Korbel’s are treacherous. The City’s duplicitous. What word will fit the governor and legislature? All we see are “leaders” posturing as primetime players in meetings that give cover for the silence. Their concerns are for contracts for their organizations, not jobs for workers. At draft time, professional sports leagues like to say everybody is on the clock. And yet, so far, “everybody” is being defined as “White only.” Is the silence because leadership agreed, in return for lining their personal pockets, to fight neither additional taxes nor excluding Blacks? Think about the timeline once again: Bids are to be received and opened by January 8, with the winning bid announced January 25, 2013. December saw a surge of stories regarding how teams and their owners and political flunkies all have a “sports welfare” safety net, but not the tax payers nor for minority workers (see www.sportsonearth.com/article/40595178, December 12, 2012). Expect more delays in the stadium opening. But there is still hope for change; the stadium legislation decree of an annual report to its Special Legislative Commission (12 members sitting as a kind of super-committee, serving as official hiring fiscal cliff monitors). Without an equity plan, a Black hiring safety net, Blacks again get plunged into the dark pit of noncompliance and noninvolvement. It’s as simple as that. So what will the Sports Facility Authority report to the legislative super committee regarding the legislative intent and expectation of Black participation in the construction of the People’s Stadium? Our final line of defense against exclusion is what our three Black representatives expect and will fight for in terms of full involvement of the African American community. It is now up to them. Leadership has moved on to talking about light rail, another disaster, as they jump ahead to another project to keep meeting money flowing to them but not to workers. We still wait for one single public meeting regarding the future of the African American community in the construction of the People’s Stadium. Has the stadium already gone over the civil rights cliff? Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's investigative reporting media message platforms: A Nation In Pain, A Nation Whose Heart Is Broken Again "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" December 26, 2012 When news began to flash across the airways Friday, December 14, that a tragedy was taking place in Newtown, CT, the magnitude and the heartbreak of this violent and insane action began to sink in. Twenty of the 26 lost lives were six- and seven-year-old children dying from multiple gun shots from an assault/combat rifle. This incident caused me to pause and relook at what to write for this end-of-year/looking-forward-to-the-future column, especially in terms of the tragedies in Minneapolis’ African American communities in terms of education, jobs, housing and getting caught holding the bag to pay for a stadium neither the state nor city can afford. In terms of school shootings, we remember Virginia Tech; Minnesota’s Red Lake Indian Reservation; Springfield, OR; Columbine, CO; Jonesboro, AR; Blacksburg, VA.; and 1927 Michigan: 42 killed, mostly children. Recent school killings have also been in Norway; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Sana’a, Yemen. Fifteen hundred children die in America yearly from abuse and neglect, over 3,000 a year in gun-related deaths, and more than 1,000 killed in auto crashes, not to mention the “death at an early age” mentally of millions of students due to bad schools. Even though rifle-bearing cowards will be judged by a force more powerful than any of us, we are still left with the difficult task of explaining to parents the deaths of their six- and seven-year-olds. In the meantime, the “don’t let a crisis go unexploited” politics unfolds, as right and left square off to discuss gun control and assault/combat rifles, mental health, the NRA, gun registration and who should or should not be armed. The trauma, murder and mayhem of these events and debates will fade in memory. Then, back to business as usual. America, as tribes and nations before it throughout recorded history, carved out and supported doctrines of “by any means necessary,” including taking of land from indigenous people (a history shared by all around the world, including those who did the same to those they in turn had conquered). It is a doctrine of supremacy by force of arms to hold what is assumed an inalienable right of might rather than a shared right of all. As President Barrack Obama pointed out in a memorial service Sunday evening in Newtown, CT, assault/combat rifle availability and dealing with the mentally ill minds who believe this to be an acceptable rite of passage must be dealt with. Once again, it will be extremely difficult for an honest consensus building discussion on the use of guns and violence in America. Parents in Chicago this past summer felt the same sense of frustration, anger and heartbreak as their children died on Chicago streets, as in other highly populated African American cities, though not well covered in the media. We need serious dialogue from those fighting for and against the right to be armed. It is no accident that United States senators — Democrats and Republicans — were slow to speak out or appear on television-interview programs to defend their doctrine of the right to bear arms at any cost. So just how committed is the nation to seek a solution? In many cities and hamlets there are those who have lost a loved one to violence in America, who, for decades, have sought serious discussions. Will contemporary school shootings join the gun battles of the Old West and Prohibition as appropriate for new acts of violence, or be dealt with? Tragedies? The real tragedies on the national level are the 25 percent Black unemployment (50 percent among Black youth), 50 percent Black high school dropout rates, and inner-city substandard housing, as they are reflections of national policies compounded by local ones. We would like to see an emphasis on the greater tragedies of the failure to deal effectively with education, jobs, and housing for African Americans, at the root of which is the state and city refusing to comply with known laws that could help prevent tragedies like shootings. We invite the reader to consider the columns and solution papers on our website, www.TheMinneapolisStory.com, as pathways to dealing with the tragedies of Minneapolis: failing to provide the best in education, jobs, and housing for African Americans, including the added tragedy of letting the “people’s stadium” funding prevent social stabilization and fairness for the people by diverting dollars away from education, jobs and housing, which we’ll address over the coming year. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's media message platforms: City election 2013 candidates face some tough funding issues. Paying for the Vikings stadium is chief among them. "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" December 19, 2012 Pullquote: Minnesotans are neither enthusiastic about the revenue being projected nor about their anticipated and expected involvement in raising that revenue [for the stadium]. The City of Minneapolis is preparing for the elections of 2013. It will, in all probability, be a very contentious election, with a three-term mayor on the political ropes. The key factor that will influence candidates to run and determine how citizens will vote centers on developing intended and unintended consequences of the Vikings stadium funding, which in turn centers on four areas: 1. How the mayor deliberately and knowingly violated the City charter by refusing to let voters decide on any stadium bill over $10 million (the mayor being quite comfortable with having the City absorb the stadium debt); 2. How the actual numbers, with interest, are nearly 10 times the original projection for the City’s costs 3. How neither the City nor the State have the funds to meet their stadium commitments; and 4. What new taxes the candidates will declare in their campaigns as on and off limits to meet the City’s and the State’s commitments. First, let’s look at the potential candidates and then key facts they will have to contend with. Names being discussed include current Mayor R.T. Rybak, Ward 13 Council Member Betsy Hodges, Ward 8 Council Member Elizabeth Glidden, Ward 9 Council Member Gary Schiff, former mayoral challenger Alfred Flowers, former speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Minneapolis’ school board representative Hussein Sametar, and former city council president Jackie Cherryhomes. The City’s endorsement convention, in early 2013, should be as hot as the great Chicago Fire. Next, let’s look at key facts that will significantly impact on the election races: • The Kaplan report, made before the council voted on stadium funding, stated the City would be nearly $50 million short of its $150 million commitment for a Vikings stadium. The report clearly spelled out that there were inconsistencies in the mayor’s and his supporters’ statements that the City of Minneapolis could meet its commitment to Vikings stadium funding. • Eight months ago, Mayor R.T. Rybak dismissed and violated the importance and sanctity of the City Charter, and said if voters didn’t like it they could vote him out of office. • Councilmember Gary Schiff’s projected Minneapolis cost (KSTP, May 13, 2012): $675 million. • The City's actual stadium cost (Star Tribune, May 1, 2012): $890 million. • Cost estimate for city in my May 2012 column taken from Star Tribune stories: $1.170 billion over the next 30 years • Minnesota has just reported it has a $1.1 billion fiscal shortfall. • The State has mis-projected the revenue from electronic pull tabs the State said would cover its funding commitment for the stadium (only 85 of 6,000 bars have electronic pull tabs). The faulty projections reflect what we have said before: Minnesotans are neither enthusiastic about the revenue being projected nor about their anticipated and expected involvement in raising that revenue. These represent political albatrosses that are millstones around the necks of legislators and council members who voted for the stadium. This means that all the contenders and pretenders for the 2013 elections for the offices of mayor and city council members are going to have to explain not only their roles in the added debt being imposed on the voters of the city of Minneapolis, but also what new taxes they will have to impose for Minneapolis to pay its “fair share” of the Peoples’ “no new taxes” stadium. Voters should ask in 2013 for specifics about projection assumptions, and of what other revenue generators they will propose for meeting the City’s stadium payment obligations. Of course, Election 2013 will have other important issues, such as education, jobs, public safety, affordable housing, and those projects such as the downtown casino, which apparently has hit a dead end while Block E continues to die its slow and agonizing death. So get ready, Minneapolis, for Election 2013. For the incumbent mayor, this could be an anxious political run, particularly if the Obama administration decides not to beckon him to join the administration. That means he’ll have to fight vigorously if he is to sustain continued employment as mayor of Minneapolis. It also means that the previously identified contenders and pretenders will have to shape their arguments regarding their plans for a new vision for a new Minneapolis and their plans for paying for it. The City must have a plan to guarantee an economy that will generate jobs and tax revenue if Minneapolis is to survive in the future. Finally, how do those who are opposing growth plan to avoid having Minneapolis become like Detroit? Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's media message platforms: "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" December 12, 2012 The elephant in the middle of the sports living room is back: another round of a decreasing number of Black quarterbacks (irrespective of RGIII, the phenomenal Black quarterback of the Washington Redskins). Sports columnists in this paper periodically hint at it in terms of Minnesota. Time to put it front and center. Vikings Joe Webb and Gopher MarQueis Grey are highly skilled Black quarterbacks with tremendous talents being underutilized. Let’s talk about it. Two years ago, after Bret Favre was injured, Joe Webb and Adrian Peterson carried the Vikings on their backs. Who can forget Webb’s performance in the victory over the Philadelphia Eagles? Then came the NFL draft the following spring. Vikings first-round draft choice: Christian Ponder, an excellent college quarterback from Florida State University. Immediately, White Minnesota sports writers and broadcasters proclaimed him as the second coming of such White wonders as Bret Favre, Fran Tarkington and Johnny Unitas. Joe Webb’s snaps last season were significantly reduced. They did put him in some wildcat packages. And a couple of times they tried to make a wide receiver out of him. A pause to note two things: First, we understand first-rounders and the money they are paid often necessitates playing them before they are ready. The test is over. Ponder isn’t ready. Secondly, always play the best players, regardless of color. This is not a civil rights rant, nor a call for affirmative action, nor a call for some kind of idiotic quota system. Those who accuse me of that haven’t read my books and columns nor heard my radio nor seen my TV show. This is about the fans getting the best players playing so their teams have the best chance to win. As I wrote in my November 7, 2012 column on the Timberwolves, “Play the best players, whether all White, all Black or a combination.” Race only comes in play where “Great White Hope” thinking is in play, the desire to win with Whites, not Blacks. Last year’s Vikings won a total of three games under Ponder. This year, after a 5-2 start the schedule caught up with them, going 1-4 in the last stretch. Has Coach Leslie Frasier been told that no matter how much the Vikings slide, Ponder must be his quarterback of the future? I just hope that after they finish 6-10 with Ponder at quarterback, Leslie Frazier, for whom I have great respect, still has a job. Now let’s talk about how poorly the University of Minnesota is utilizing MarQueis Grey, who UM admits is “one of the most highly regarded dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation.” The unspoken rule: a winning injured quarterback gets his starting job back when he returns. Grey has returned from injury after leading the Gophers to a 4-0 start. So why isn’t he starting again? For three years, the White media in this town, who criticized Joe Webb, equally criticized MarQueis Grey, implying that neither African American had the intellectual skills or a deep enough intellectual knowledge of the game to be a winning quarterback in control of games, despite their obvious records to the contrary. At play, as with the Timberwolves, is Minnesota White sports media thinking about the wrong “w,” thinking White and not Win. And please, let’s dispense with all the fluff about how much they love Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham, and Dante Culpepper. Even at the top of their game there was always some harping criticism of their lacking the intellect, the smarts, and the gifts to control and win games, despite their winning. In the case of Joe Webb, with Ponder the designated future, waive Webb and allow him to catch on with a team that appreciates his intelligence and skills. The Star Tribune famously published a 21-day series on race in Minnesota in June 1990. Key sentences: “The Twins are burdened by a history of racism.” “...the Gopher program has ignored the contributions of the minority community.” “When it comes to the Vikings, a hidden resentment in the minority community boiled over last year…” The cover of Mpls/St.Paul magazine, January 1990: “I’m not racist, but…. ‘Nice’ Minnesotans don’t talk about it, but the ugly fact is that racism is alive — and growing — in the Twin Cities.” Another clue: Most coaches are former players. The majority of players are Black. The vast majority of coaches are White. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's media message platforms: Still waiting for the Equity Plan for the new Vikings’ and Minnesota’s People’s Stadium "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" December 5, 2012 Where is the long awaited/anticipated Equity Plan for the People’s Vikings Stadium, a plan to guarantee inclusiveness (all of “we the people”) in the development, construction and operation of the stadium? Inclusive means diversity (more than just one race). The lack of an Equity Plan mocks “inclusive” and “diversity,” as does stadium legislative language stating all that is required is “a best effort.” If this continues it will be the handwriting-on-the-wall warning of delays to the projected opening of July 2016, suggesting more than slight bumps in the road. The Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights missed the city-council directed deadline for submitting the Equity Plan. The DCR then outsourced it to two individuals who work for the Metropolitan Council, who are doing it on a moonlighting basis as private contractors. These well-compensated employees of the Met Council are thus engaged in open conflict of interest, double dipping by serving two masters (the Wink Wink Doctrine). No one seems to care or talk about it. I care. Was this DCR Director Velma Korbel’s equivalent of fumbling, throwing an interception, poorly executing a poorly designed trick play? Regardless, its effect: to delay the process of guaranteeing the participation of the African American community’s organizations and people in the People’s Viking Stadium. Why this continued Minnesota un-nice antagonism to African American contractors and employees (see my Solution Paper #46, “Disparity/Compliance Studies,” a list of 20 columns, going back to 2005, detailing this ongoing pattern). If all the prime-time players, including the attorney general’s office, are comfortable with this relationship, we will learn a lot about not only their sense of ethics but also their continued commitment to skirt inclusion and diversity, to not honor justice and fairness. You kind of wonder if there are enough hours in the day — and days in the week — to serve and be paid by two masters. “We the people” tax-paying public ask how it is possible to carry out their responsibilities in a timely manner when they serve two masters as paid state employees are also paid private contractors working for the city and a private entity, the Minnesota Vikings. We are glad that there has been a delay in the signing of a general contractor or general manager, for a signed contract without an equity plan would mean that only the “best effort” language of the legislation would prevail, opening up the possibility of eliminating African Americans and causing delaying lawsuits. With the governor’s office and the legislation in the hands of the DFL, we will now see if the party of Hubert H. Humphrey and Nellie Stone Johnson is still the party for justice and equal access/opportunity for all. However, there is more: These personnel are also diversity overseers for light rail going through the city of St. Paul, another tremendous time-consuming responsibility for our moonlighting pair, again raising the question we will again explore in greater depth over the next five weeks: the process of certification that guarantees that companies are not only who they say they are, but that they report what they are actually doing, signing actual MBE/WBE contractors using people of color or signing non-minority contractors employing people of color. As our “Disparity/Compliance Studies” solution paper documents, both Minnesota and Minneapolis have a record of not meeting statutory definitions/requirements/goals regarding MBE (Minority Business Enterprises) and WBE (Women Business Enterprises). The $753 million construction contract for the People’s Stadium represents significant life lines to all, especially our beleaguered and underrepresented African American community. So again I ask: Where is the Equity Plan? What will be available for the African American community as demanded by law and morality? Will the Black community again be the recipient of basically zero in the construction of the People’s Viking Stadium? That will truly be a tragedy and a disgrace to the conscience, ethical reputation and image of Minnesota, exposing the lie of its self-proclaimed social-justice platform, not to mention the cost of the delay by-products. We encourage the special commission created by the Vikings People’s Stadium legislation to ask these questions when the first annual report of the People’s Stadium is made to them in January 2013, as legislated. Finally, ask why the Sports Facility Authority, Vikings, City, and foundations have not taken advantage of the resources regarding planning for inclusion and diversity for hiring as outlined in our Solutions Papers #42-45b. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's media message platforms: In the matter of Susan Rice: Let the president govern. "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" As war rockets explode in Israel and Gaza, there is a great need for American leadership and diplomacy to be there working for peace. The world needs American firmness, clear vision and leadership. To create this, the president — any president — has to be able to govern without unwarranted obstruction, impediments, roadblocks, and the just plain craziness of “gotcha” power politics that threaten our economy and our security, as well as world peace. All of these issues are in play in the controversy surrounding Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, creating speculation that she will be nominated to replace Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State. But it has nothing to do with Rice. It has all to do with ongoing efforts to cripple the president. Ambassador Rice was given a task after the September 11, 2012 tragic events in Benghazi, Libya: to go on the Sunday talk shows to spell out what were the reasons and the circumstances surrounding the attack in Benghazi that led to the death of the American ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans. She was given talking points that said, among other things, that the disturbances were the outgrowth of Muslim anger over a low-budget film made in the USA that Islamists interpreted as disrespectful of their prophet, Mohammed. Later it was determined that instead it was a well-coordinated attack carried out by any number of Al Qaeda-aligned anti-American factions operating in North Africa. Now we find a well-coordinated attack against Ambassador Rice, not surprising given the obsession Republicans have had since 2009 to challenge and defeat the president by undermining his ability to govern. The American way is to find the pragmatic compromises (checks and balances) needed to enable meeting our ideals (equal access and equal opportunity) in ways that are peaceful and prosperous. Ambassador Rice is supremely qualified. Confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations by unanimous consent on January 22, 2009, why is she now “unqualified”? Rice attended Stanford (as did Condoleeza Rice — no relation), was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, earned a master’s and a doctorate degree at Oxford (writing her dissertation on international peacekeeping). Rice served under President Clinton on the National Security Council, served as director for International Organizations and Peacekeeping, and served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs. Given her accomplishments, I can only conclude racism and sexism is involved when Senator McCain vows to fight the nomination using such code words as “not qualified” and guilty of “not being very bright.” Despite the fact that it is the Senate’s role to “advise and consent,” it is two Southern Republican members of the House who lead the petition of nearly 100 Republican representatives to urge the president not to nominate Rice for secretary of state, using the well-known “code” word “incompetent.” We now know that the testimony by Ambassador Rice that she was sent out to give at the U.N. and on talk shows was concocted by a White House national security team. Remember how the same was done to Colin Powell when he was secretary of state: given inconsistent information and intelligence “facts” and sent to testify before the United Nations, helping launch a war that lasted 10 years and a second one still going on? People are dying in the Middle East. Tensions and potential conflict exist all across this planet. It is clear from polls that “we the people” demand the United States show leadership. To do so, we must unite at the ocean’s edge and provide the world with a scene showing all of our respect and honesty for the person chosen by the American people to lead: President Barack Obama. Again, let the man govern. Allow him to work both sides of the aisle to foster respect and civility in developing pragmatic policy for all, not the craziness of “gotcha” politics. As the president recently said, in reflecting on Abraham Lincoln, “He calls on us through the ages to commit ourselves to the unfinished work he so nobly advanced — the work of perfecting our union.” Republicans need to pay heed to what former U.S. Republican Senator and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Henry Cabot Lodge said: “In becoming a Republican, I thought I was joining something affirmative, revolutionary, and idealistic, which demanded sacrifice and generosity — not a party which said no to all proposals for change.” Thus, change “or go down in ruin.” Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's media message platforms: A political ponzi Scheme: The fix was in with 2012 election "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" Shell-shocked Republicans are asking “What happened?” as they lick their wounds and offer recriminations and finger pointing regarding who to blame for losing the election. They include those Republicans who are Bernie Madoff-like Ponz-like schemers ,and those Republicans who feel like Ponzi scheme losers, all asking what happened. If they were suckers, can they get a refund? It was like putting money in a paper bag and passing it to campaign collectors. Consolation for large donors is their getting access to key political players and key statistical data for use in the next election. Big donors like the Koch brothers should ask for a refund. As for the self-described election gurus like Karl Rove, win or lose, they pulled off the equivalent of their own slick Ponzi schemes. Throughout, people were reaching into their billfolds to put up cash to either help the president stay in the White House or to help throw him out. If Rove charged 10 percent of the $300 million awarded to him for the election, he’s a winning Madoff while his donors are Ponzi losers. As they analyze, many tend to forget the depth and breadth of President Obama’s experience and street smarts (Harvard education in law — he taught constitutional law — and community organizing on the streets of Chicago). He and I are students of the teachings of Saul Alinsky (I was in classes taught by Alinsky) and those who helped craft the Alinsky doctrine — to prevail: Face off against the opposition, outthink them, out-plan them. You win by being organized, by maintaining contact, by maintaining organizational structure, and by maintaining positive relationships with the masses. Following the 2008 campaign, Obama left organizers in the key battleground states — the Big Nine — and especially in Ohio, to prepare voters for the 2012 campaign, demonstrating he cared deeply about the 2012 election. However, something was amiss for both sides, as each side received fewer votes than in 2008 (Democrats 7.6 million fewer votes, Republicans 1.3 million fewer votes). And how could the self-proclaimed smartest and brightest pollsters and commentators forecast a Republican victory? Several longtime political commentators (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Peggy Noonan, and Dick Morris) proclaimed Romney would win big. And yet, despite protesting early calls on losing Ohio and Florida, Republican illusions couldn’t prevent their loss. Both sides will be haunted by the question of did they win (or lose) because of super storm Sandy (15 percent said it influenced their vote) or debate moderator comments, or because of what? In politics, perception is reality. Pew Research reports exit polls showed that 53 percent of voters viewed the president favorably, Romney 47 percent. Yet only 43 percent want an activist government (52 percent in 2008) and 49 percent disapproved of “Obama Care” (44 percent approved). Also, “59 percent believe abortion should be legal, 65 percent support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and a plurality support legalizing same-sex marriage in their states.” We are left with several concerns. Winners have to be wary when a game is won in extra innings that could have gone either way. Clearly, there is something amiss when it takes five days to certify an election, as in Florida, and seven days later they are still counting the votes in the state of Arizona (with people of color voter suppression suspected), and with the feds looking into irregularities in Ohio. Our great system of democratic elective government depends on it being unbroken. There will be two grassroots movements competing in the communities and neighborhoods in 2014 and 2016: Alinsky grassroots from the left and Tea Party grassroots from the right. Each has to choose: demonize or be substantive on the issues. In 2014 and 2016, which party, movement, and candidates will advocate for prosperity and growth in minority communities and neighborhoods, especially regarding education, jobs, housing, and Black leadership? I have fought for this for over 50 years (I have a chapter on each of these topics in my book, replicated on my web page). My argument with Saul Alinsky and the Black leadership in Minneapolis has been about the failure to replicate initial successes. We need to concentrate on getting back to the focus and style of Martin Luther King, Jr., who never took his eye off the prize, the prosperous development of our neighborhoods. Will the political parties follow Lincoln’s “house united” approach and heed his warnings about a “house divided?” If not, the African American community will see their own hope and change for their neighborhoods postponed for another four years. Which party will stand for and promote the integrity of the electoral system? God bless America. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, Sundays, 3-3:30 pm, and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's media message platforms: November 14, 2012 Column #46: Obama wins! Historic Second Term. "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" The 2012 Presidential election proves 2008 was not a fluke nor an accident. 2012 demonstrates the peril of all white “dream teams” with mostly white door knockers in the field. When will the Republicans accept “representative democracy” on ballots and in the field as well as in voting booths? It was interesting to watch the red faced and frivolous TV pundits scramble to understand, whether Fox News, CNN, MSNBC or the rest. The Republicans mixed up a special batch of snake oil tonic in the first week of November 2008, after President Barrack Obama won his first term. They should have mixed up a batch of cooperation and compromise: that is The American Way of checks and balances. The attempt by Karl Rove to make it appear we had another Florida in both Florida and Ohio exposed the depths of deceit and deception some Republicans attempted. But that is something for another time and another day. Today is about the tremendous accomplishment of Barrack Obama. We personally offer our congratulations to he and his wife and daughters. At one point late Tuesday and early Wednesday, Romney led in the popular vote. Florida, still counting its votes as I write, will not be center stage. It’s over (as I write, the President is now 4 million votes ahead in the popular vote). Had that held it would have been the fourth time in U.S. history. Doesn’t matter. The Electoral College makes sure every state counts, not just those with the most voters. Why? Inclusion. Two good men fought hard. Their surrogates did the heavy stone throwing. May future campaigns discuss issues more. Regardless of speculation about what President Obama’s strategies will be to get this country up and running and dealing with the many issues, American voters made clear they want his leadership and they want Republicans and the far right to understand they risk going the way of the Whig Party. The heralded Romney strategists and tacticians were defeated at the polls by their lack of understanding race and inclusion. Republicans scared voters to switch to Obama because of the perception that Romney favored undocumented Hispanics “self- deporting”, ending Medicare in ten years, and letting rape victims be victims. No longer will either party win with strategies that exclude and anger voters of color and retireds. Hispanics: 75% for Barrack Obama. African Americans: 98% for Obama. Asians 73% for Obama. Groups by gender, age, and race: more than 50% for Obama. Will Republicans finally get the message that good ‘ol white boys can no longer make decisions without including the rest of America? My 2008 book’s title says it all: “A Seat for Everyone: The Freedom Guide that explores a vision for America:” diversity, education, jobs, housing, and a much better understanding of the political networks that govern and enable the institutions of democracy. There will clearly be a battle within the Republican Party to determine who will now lead the party. Will it be the petty and biased 2012 Republican candidates and political aspirants? Or will they also include rising candidates of color, be they black, brown or yellow? With race now set aside, the key issue for 2012 will be which party advocates education and economic growth minority communities desperately need. Whoever denies them growth on the basis that our economy is too big and wrong will lose. The winning ticket in 2016: whoever outlines an economy that generates jobs and prosperity, including in energy. Our hope and prayer is that President Obama brings the latter to communities of color during the next four years. And lets not forget the young. They realize the ‘ol crazy racial animus of ‘ol Dixie is a losing strategy. Over the last 44 years, Dixiecrats have taken off their donkey ears and put on the tails and ears of the big elephant. Minnesotans are proud that it was the late partner of Nelly Stone Johnson, Hubert H. Humphrey, who sharpened that movement in his 1948 Democratic Party Convention speech in Philadelphia, near the Liberty Bell, in one of the great speeches to put front and center the issue of equality and unity in America. On November 6th, the American voters entrusted that mantle to Barrack Obama. We hope and pray, as Americans, that Democrats and Republicans alike embrace that Humphrey standard to make this a better nation through inclusion. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, Sundays, 3-3:30 pm, and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's media message platforms: The smartest White team in the NBA "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" November 7, 2012 Race controversy swells up once again as seen in the bitter reactions to an October 28, 2012 Star Tribune story (“Timberwolves: Pale in comparison to the rest of the NBA”), about how the T-Wolves are “going White,” with readers opposed to my saying it was not a coincidence but a Timberwolves' calculation, saying I was beating a dead horse. Commenters backed David Kahn (Wolves president of basketball operations), and Rick Adelman (head coach). See also the Star Tribune story’s chart on the NBA’s diversity lineup and its chart on the Facts and figures on race, players and the NBA. I used words like “disturbing,” “raises some real questions,” “calculated.” I paraphrased Martin Luther King, Jr, saying it was a "nullification of diversity and a reversal of history". Did not Coach Rick Adelman say that with his now mostly all-White team, he finally has “a very smart team”? Are White quarterbacks smarter? Or just Whiter? I not only applaud the passion and enthusiasm of the fans seeking a winning team, I agree: Play the best players, whether all White, all Black or a combination. To have the best game possible, Commissioner Stern has insisted on “color blind” drafting/signing. So why not the Timberwolves? My question is this: Are White European players chosen because they are better than Black players or because they are the best of players after excluding Black players? What surprised me the most was most commenters believing racism’s discrimination is over. It isn’t. Read my columns since 2003, and the papers (by number) in the “Solution Paperss” section of my website (www.TheMinneapolisStory.com) on the history of calculated discrimination in Minneapolis that continues today in hiring (#46), education (#40), jobs (#39), housing (#41), sports (#24) and #47), and so-called planning (#42 and #45a). Read Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “A New Sense of Direction” delivered months before his April 4, 1968 assassination. Compare that with the 21-day Star Tribune series in 1991 and with the recent historic analysis two months ago by Walter Russell Mead, “The Last Compromise”. Then read this revealing piece on Kahn, . It appears Mr. Kahn has a history of not being very successful, be it as a sportswriter or basketball executive or attorney. Kahn calls the Trailblazers a poorly run organization, expressing disdain for Trailblazers’ owner Paul Allen. Coach Adelman has been upset since Paul Allen rejected him as general manager. We wonder how much the Minnesota decisions were affected by Kahn and Adelman’s history in Portland. Be clear: Everyone is entitled to their opinion based on their strategy — unless the strategy is to exclude and discriminate on the basis of race. You can see the snake oil David Kahn sells in the comments about his open letter to the fans in 2010, in which he implied that the final pieces for perfection were in place. Well, of course, that wasn’t true. The 2011 season of the Timberwolves was an absolute disaster (thankfully, Kevin McKale had signed Kevin Love before Kahn arrived). For 2011-2012, Kahn brought good buddy Rick Adelman here as head coach. Despite his earlier successes, Adelman has only modest success here, hence the anxiety within the Timberwolves executives. Clearly a calculation was made to blame 2011 and 2012 on the Black players, and then sell to the general public that White guys (primarily European and international), would save the day (postponing their day of reckoning). Therefore, I challenge Tinberwolves owner Glenn Taylor to show that his "smartest" White team in the NBA can provide a minimum of 45-50 victories and be in the playoffs. By the way, how does one explain the success of his primarily Black Lynx team? Is the reason, Glenn, not because they are smart but because they are women? It is the Timberwolves who have played the race card, not me. If not for the injury to Kevin Love, the Minnesota Timberwolves would have opened the 2012-2013 season with an all-White starting five. Kahn and Adelman have returned us to the glory days of the 1950s Minneapolis Lakers, the days of Miken, Pollard, Nickelson, Martin, and Skoog. All great players: all White. True students of the game acknowledge that the NBA was once all White. As recently as 1957: seven percent of players were African American (all time NBA All Star Bill Russell, who refused to play when denied lodging at team hotels in the South, famously said of the 1950s, “you’re allowed to play two Blacks at home, three on the road, and five when you are behind”). Kahn and Adelman have turned back the clock to a time admired by Senators Bilbo and Thurman, and others, of a discredited time long past. You be the judge: Will they get at least 45 wins? Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, Sundays, 3-3:30 pm, and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's media message platforms: An Historical Presidential Election "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
This nation’s voters face a historic decision November 6, 2012: choosing between two Harvard graduates, both good, admirable family men, each with similar visions but clear differences on how to meet them. Given the improvement trend in the economy, does America change horses midstream and risk reversing improvement? Will Americans allow President Obama to complete his mission to help America recover economically and spiritually? In six days, the final votes will determine our future course. I urge America to set aside the issue of race and appreciate the character of President Obama as well as the content of his policy proposals. Will a form of amnesia grip voters in regards to the decisive action President Obama took as he stepped in to continue his predecessor’s bailout programs for American industries (adding auto, banking and investment, and energy, investment industries) that were on the verge of leading us into a depression (not recession but depression)? All presidents are presidents of all the people and need to be given latitude to work with Congress to achieve solutions. Congress has to cooperate to make needed compromises to avoid paralyzing gridlock. Amnesia seems to have set in about the role of the Tea Party and the stifling of the president by Congress (Senate and House), as the president sought to strengthen the country, lift up the middle class, and take action on behalf of the growing number of the poor. Some believe, and I am one of them, that his first initiative should have been jobs and dealing with poverty, which are tied to the economic future of the nation. But we know he has learned from his mistakes and that jobs and poverty will be his first initiatives if re-elected. His staff has let him down. But worse is the mindset that came out of the 2009 meeting of key Republican leaders (including Newt Gingrich, Mitch McConnell, and John Bohner), who stated their number-one purpose was to undermine the Obama administration and any program he attempted in order to prevent his re-election. Both parties do this. Neither party is correct. It hurts the nation. It must stop, regardless of who is elected. The elephant in the middle of the room is the anger of those opposed to having a Black president. That they would risk such collateral damage as the future of this great nation and its citizens is an abomination. How ironic that big money tycoons whose industries the Obama stimulus saved are in the forefront of funneling money to Republican campaigns through Super PACs and by “any other means necessary.” Such conduct and ethics should disturb all Americans. As we write, the polls show the race is tied. The $1 trillion a year spent on poverty needs to be employed in training and job development, not in the care and feeding of an army of bureaucrats (it is disconcerting that President Obama’s opponent talks more about solving poverty). Our foremost concern is that after the election the president, Congress and the 50 states address the plight of unemployed African Americans (ranging across the country from two to four times that of Whites). We are prepared to work with either man and both parties. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s book states “Why We Can’t Wait.” We want the winner to lead Congress in a positive and prosperous direction for all. The winner must be concerned about both his 47 percent of the population and the other guy’s 47 percent. We will see a sign of the winner’s character in how his proposed solutions presented to Congress address “the least of these” (including poor children, seniors, veterans, and the physically and mentally challenged). For four years, President Obama has been committed to unity and respect. We urge all election winners and the citizens who elect them to commit to a house united, not divided, consistent with the great Americans of all colors, philosophies, and ethnic origins that did so before us. November 6: a day of judgment. We want winners to commit to all, to commit to unity (acting to include all races, ethnics, and creeds). Or will we be forced to wait once again? George McGovern died last week. As we prepare to vote, let us remember his life, and especially his 1972 presidential campaign that advocated fostering American greatness through inclusive community bottom-up grassroots citizenship, and his fighting hunger since then. God bless America, and God bless those who will vote. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, Sundays, 3-3:30 pm, and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's media message platforms: "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" Last week there was a lot of surprise and concern in law enforcement circles regarding how this new chapter in Cowboy King’s history could take place: being transferred to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department’s Violent Offender Task Force (VOTF), especially in light of his having taken personal credit for destroying the Black Police Officers Association and destroying the career of fellow officers (see my August 29, 2007 column, August 29, 2007 Column, A profile in courage and integrity—the saga of Lt. Michael Keefe, September 12, 2007 Column, At MPD, retaliation is the order of the day December 14, 2007 blog essay, The Twin Towers of Minneapolis' Nullification and Reversal Begin to Finally Crumble as 5 Black Officers Sue the City for discrimination). With the transfer of Sgt. King, public officials again put fellow officials’ career survival/pensions ahead of their sworn oaths to do their duties in terms of public safety. Sgt. Pat King should minimally be censured, not celebrated. In the court transcript of a couple of months ago (I attended every day of that trial), he slandered a significant number of well-respected officers as “scum of the earth.” Besides the transcript, see my recent 2012 columns of February 22 (MPD Chief Dolan hits back. Attempts by subordinates and the Civil Rights Department to oust him fail.)and May 30 (Tensions within the MPD revealed in the case of Lt. Michael Keefe). In my August 1, 2012 column (Minneapolis Police Department tears itself apart from the inside), I stated: “Lt. Smith and Sgt. King also lied about Black police officers, including Lt. Lee Edwards, Sgt. Charles Adams, Sgt. K.G. Paulis, and later Lt. Art Knight and former patrol officer Mike Roberts, along with White officer Lt. Michael Keefe, saying they were associates and co-conspirators with Minnesota’s Black gangs. “Their testimony did not stop there. They portrayed Assistant Chief Janée Harteau and Deputy Chief Scott Gerlicher as lying, incompetent co-conspirators.” In their phrase, in the court transcript: “scum of the earth.” Note the obvious: This transfer is heightening tension between Black and White officers in local law enforcement. Rumor has it that Sgt. King has stated he is immune to consequences relevant to his conduct, including his lies, deceit, and help in the destruction of the Black Police Officers Association and severe damage to reputations of Black police officers he falsely accused of being criminals in his trial testimony. Why didn’t testimony by current high-ranking Minneapolis Police Department officers as well as representatives of the U.S. Attorney’s office carry weight in this Sgt. King decision? Black officers feel they have been both betrayed and slapped in the face. With this very career enhancing transfer for Sgt. King, it clearly sends a signal to Black law enforcement officers, especially those in Minneapolis, that false allegations can be made against them, with rewards — not sanctions — for those bearing false witness. We hope Sheriff Richard Stanick takes the opportunity to read the trial transcript (“Andy Smith and Pat King vs. the City of Minneapolis and officers of the Minneapolis Command”). Why wasn’t retiring Chief Tim Dolan included in their suit? Troubling about this reward for Sgt. Pat King is his false testimony going unchallenged about highly qualified officers being part of a criminal enterprise. This exposes the lie about departmental “esprit de corps.” What is of great concern today is this: King will feel free to continue spinning his contemptible slanders with impunity that fellow officers are “the scum of the earth.” Ironically, many of these slandered officers were under the command of Captain Richard Stanick when he headed the Minneapolis Police Department Criminal Investigation Division. What powerful forces, political and otherwise, were at play to make the decision to send Sgt. Pat King to another venue after he so slandered fellow officers in trial under oath? We fervently hope that the truth will eventually be taken into account rather than brushed aside, such that all of these very fine and honorable police officers of the Minneapolis Police Department will not only be vindicated but receive apologies. Why didn’t anyone care about how on point the testimony of the U.S. Attorney’s office representative was? What a poorly disguised way for city officials to say that Black police officers have no rights and are not respected. Whether talking about ruining lives or departments with slander, whether slandering the concepts of rights and justice, or whether slandering Black Americans by calling them unqualified and not qualifyable, therefore denying Black contractors and workers jobs on major projects like the new Vikings Stadium, the powers at be are allowing color to trump character. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true. So we are going to stand up…letting the world know we are determined to be free.” Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Saturdays, 3-4:00 pm, Sundays, 3-3:30 pm, and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's media message platforms: "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" October 17, 2012 Pullquote: Ballyhooed training programs, Black and White, haven’t done the job: Both White and Black contractors have stated there are too few or no workers qualified for specialized stadium construction jobs. At a small, special meeting I attended at the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) Wednesday, October 10 that included MSFA Chairwoman Michele Kelm-Helgen and Executive Director Ted Mondale, we discussed the so-far nonexistent equity plan for the Vikings stadium that would include African American contractors and workers. The Met Council people present said there was one, online. We noted that is just not true. During the meeting we were told that 32 percent of the hours in stadium construction in the eventual plan will go to minorities and women. Really? Do the math: $753 million for construction times 32 percent is $240,960,000. If true, this is welcome news indeed. Eventually Ted Mondale stepped up to help reverse decades of public and private lying: “This is not like the Target Field project. They had no numbers for compliance, nor was there a plan.” He then stated the heartening, “You need to give us a chance.” Both Mondale and Kelm-Helgen, during and after the meeting, said they hoped I would work with them, help them, and advise them. This is especially good news in light of the 30 columns listed in my solution paper #46, going back to 2005, recording one of the greatest ongoing betrayals in the history of perceived Minnesota participation. 1. Actual disparity in hiring compliance purposefully practiced by State and City agencies and corporations on nine major projects, 2. Constant lying about nonexistent or not-followed equity plans, and 3. Constant collusion of paid Black leadership with paid White lies, consistently stating I didn’t know what I was talking about as Black leadership gave cover to White discrimination against African Americans. It gets worse. Ballyhooed training programs, Black and White, haven’t done the job. Both White and Black contractors have stated that there are too few or no workers qualified for specialized stadium construction jobs. Doesn’t matter. Precedent: The Metrodome imported African American and White workers from around the country. The Vikings stadium needs to do the same. Will Minneapolis City officials and Black leadership again attempt another equity plan charade, another Velma Korbel disaster, another failure of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department under her stewardship and — let’s be clear — under the mayor’s leadership? Another meeting of note: October 4, hosted by the new and powerful (or so they think) Viking Stadium Consortium (VSC), a newly formed group of primarily White companies working in architectural, engineering and mechanical disciplines. Many were vying for stadium contract dollars as “shared local” dollars for African American firms. But the ruse would continue: African American firms given contracts are to pass it through white workers. The VSC thinks it is positioned to dictate significant involvement in the $753 million construction contract. The Met Council point person stated that all parties were in agreement: 19 percent diversity in hiring (communities of color were told they will have a $7.5 million involvement in the architectural contract and upwards of $100 million in the actual construction of the Vikings stadium, to follow the plan developed by Velma Korbel and the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department that will be monitored by the Met Council, which has oversight authority. Two problems: 1. What plan? When I asked at the meeting for a copy of the equity plan, no one could provide one. 2. I pointed out that the legislation gives no one other than the Sports Facilities Authority oversight authority. I have asked others for a copy of the equity plan — the Mayor’s office, the city council president’s office, the Civil Rights Department, the Metropolitan Council, the MSFA. None have been able to produce a copy. (The equity plan was ordered by the city council, May 12 and signed by Mayor R.T. Ryback May 25, with a deadline for completion of June 29.) Deceit everywhere: offices, restaurants (JD Hoyts, Monte Carlos), and a private suite at the Metrodome during the Vikings’ victory over the SF 49ers three weeks ago, as “players” committed to falsify the numbers and deceive the general public. Hors d'oeuvres and cocktails can be dangerous to the survival of some people’s integrity and commitment to truth. To enable Ted Mondale’s October 10 statement to be realized, and to thus end the pattern and practice of misrepresentation of past projects, plans must first move from making an “effort” to specific “shall” language in both general contracts and subcontracts, and second, have language that defines “minorities” as having a set percentage of African Americans. Only then, as with the Metrodome, will we have a true people’s stadium, ending the betraying and deferring of African American dreams in Minnesota. See last week’s column and stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development.. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Posted Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 8:46 a.m. Ron's media message platforms: Taxation without representation "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" October 10, 2012 Action: $34 million contract awarded September 28, 2012, by the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (FSFA) and the Minnesota Vikings, their largest stadium contract to date, to HKS Sports & Entertainment Group, Dallas, Texas (they did stadiums for the Colts and Cowboys). My concern is not the sucking sound of Minnesota money being deposited in Texas banks: Money follows expertise, not geography, and Minnesota has not kept up. Concern: as of this writing, still no stadium equity plan as called for in stadium legislation. When I talked with HKS people at their exhibit at the Metrodome, September 7, 2012, I asked them if they used minority subcontractors. They said yes. I asked for an example of who and on what project. They could give none. Question: Is the equity plan delay on purpose to give contractors an excuse for not hiring African Americans, as the stadium legislation section 473J.12 only states: “make every effort” to include minorities? Action: Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority’s Resolution 2012-8, in August, listed 34 contractors approved for contract services. Not one is African American. Concern: failure so far to include African Americans as contractors and laborers in stadium construction, including professional, technical and expert service (PTE) contracts. This is not a call for quotas, set-asides or racial featherbedding. It is a call for merit-based non-discriminatory inclusion (whether qualified African Americans are from Minnesota or not). The 21st century Tea Party, as the Boston Tea Partiers of the 18th century, want no taxes without representation. Blacks paying taxes used in Minnesota’s big projects but Blacks not getting hired is discrimination (taxation without representation). Ray of hope: Hometown Source.com reported that HKS has pledged “to work with a local architectural firm for a portion of the design and has committed to hiring 19 percent targeted businesses — 11 percent minority and eight percent women-owned firms for portions of the contract. The $34 million contract for design services includes fees for subcontractors.” At the October VSC meeting, Keith Baker said that the 19 percent came from the Equity Plan. But, there is still no monitoring plan and when asked to see a copy, it could still not be produced. Question: What does “minority” mean? The stadium bill (No. 2958, 2nd (and Final) Engrossment - 87th Legislative Session, 2011-2012) discusses the term “minorities” but doesn’t include “African Americans” (). The African American former head of the city’s Civil Rights Department infamously said Minneapolis could hire “minorities” without hiring a single African American. Goals: 2. That HKS (and the general contractor, when picked), stipulate how many “minorities” will be African American by percentage; 3. That compliance be monitored in real time with real reports, such as uniform collection of award data, uniform collection of subcontracting data, monitoring of actual use and payments, reporting of actual African Americans by name, dates, and hours worked, and 4. That monthly public updates be provided on hiring compliance regarding African Americans. Action: $50 million to be deposited by Minnesota Vikings to stadium construction fund, as designated by stadium legislation, even before the state and city make deposits. Question: Does the city of Minneapolis have its $150 million stadium contribution; is it scheduled and in the pipeline? Question: How will Minneapolis pay for the real cost over 30 years to city taxpayers: $890 million (Star Tribune, May 1, 2012), and who gets all that additional $740 million, including interest money? Question: What part of the distribution of the people’s stadium dollars can African American contractors and laborers expect? Concern: need to place equity plan under contract law instead of under “best effort.” Question: How can one expect African American hiring without placing hiring by contractors under contract law? Question: How can there be African American and other minority contractors of record when the City purposefully delays the mandatory equity plan and the State remains silent about it? Concern: taxation without representation. The Sports Facilities Authority is to report to a special Minnesota legislative commission by January 15 of each year. I don’t know what questions the legislative committee will ask but I do know that under the legislation there was a specific provision, Subsection 9, that “the authority may conduct research studies and programs, collect and analyze data…and conduct all necessary hearings and investigations in connection with its functions.” Question: If it doesn’t get hiring compliance, will it conduct such hearings and investigations? Historic precedent opportunity: the HHH Metrodome put African American hiring in the contracts. Will the authority prevent stadium hiring discrimination against African Americans by also putting African American hiring for the building of the peoples’ stadium in the contracts? Concern: So far the authority has chosen not to do so, while State and City remain silent. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development.. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2012, 1:47 a.m. Ron's media message platforms: School district provides ‘Kindergarten Report’ on HQ construction. "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" October 3, 2012 At the Minneapolis School District (MSD) sub-committee meeting of September 24, a final report was presented — “Minority, Women and Diversity Business Participation Oversight Committee” (MWDB-POC Report) — on the construction of the MSD Headquarters (HQ) building in North Minneapolis, including reporting on minority hiring compliance. I call it a “Kindergarten Report” because the report is long on words, short on numbers, and fanciful with the truth. This is not to put down kindergarten children. They are too honest and innocent to present as truth the fabrications presented in what was more like a Star Chamber-type report, a report in a style children like: fanciful fairy tales. The report stayed true to the traditional Minneapolis pattern and practice of providing fanciful fabrication of project hiring compliance reports (think also Twins ballpark, Gopher’s stadium, U of M Fairview Children’s Hospital, etc.) either not using African Americans, or claiming the use and presence of African Americans in construction projects when they were nearly nonexistent. In my 2002 book, Chapter 8, p. 132 (# 41in my website’s “Solution” section), I reported the 20th century norm (1910-1998) of “a 28% average cost overrun of projects, to keep neighborhoods docile” by providing “extra money for selected developers and community leaders” [Ed note: report was in the July 2000 issue of the Journal of The American Planning Association]). So I again raise the still unanswered question of cost overruns, as I did two years ago, regarding the new MPS HQ building in North Minneapolis. It was announced that it would cost $27 million. It wound up costing $41.2 million. For what and to whom did the $14.2 million cost overrun go? Once again, Minneapolis Civil Rights Director Velma Korbel is in a conflict of interest situation: She is a member of the committee gathering the data while also being the one who signs off on whether the data actually reflects achievement of the stated hiring goals. And now, “here they go again”: Ms. Korbel and her civil rights department have still not provided the report regarding the upcoming Vikings stadium that was due June 29. Even worse, the Black leadership has remained silent, more interested in funds for themselves than jobs for African Americans. An additional fairy tale façade of the MWDB-POC Report alleges that M.A. Mortenson, general contractor, had 759 workers on the project, with 156 “minority” and 50 women. For two years, a group of observers, including this columnist, watched the construction of the District HQ. We had individuals take video shots of the construction and the workforce. Think back to when you passed by that site: For two years, do you recall ever seeing over 200 minorities and women working on the project? We anticipate the old pattern and practice to be attempted with the Viking stadium: Numbers will be provided in the final breakdown of the workforce, but the numbers, again, will not be verifiable. Although the MPS HQ project was nowhere close to being as expensive as the upcoming Viking stadium will be, the principle concern remains. The Vikings need to be made aware of the pattern and practice of misrepresentation of MBE and WBE reports on construction projects in Minnesota so early reports of not meeting it don’t add delays. At the September 25 Minneapolis School Board meeting, I raised another question I asked two years ago: Was it true that the school district did not buy American and that the steel used to construct its HQ building was actually brought from China? Could this be why the Minnesota legislature now requires a majority percentage of the steel to be used to build the “People’s Stadium” come from the people’s state’s taconite mines of Northern Minnesota? This is why I call for a review of the documents of certification of the MPS HQ building, assuming they have not been shredded, to truly certify that the school district supported the American economy and American manufacturers. It is fair and right to ask for and expect to receive these documents for review. Another disappointment: The questions put forth by a reporter for this paper who was promised clarification on the numbers remain unanswered. Will the City again dodge using an agreed-upon audit method to certify and authenticate Vikings stadium numbers? The Minnesota Vikings need to know so they can deal with this legendary pattern and practice of Minnesota and avoid unnecessary delays. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development.. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Posted Wednesday, October 3, 2012, 3:28 p.m Ron's media message platforms: Where is the equity plan for the Viking Stadium? The Minneapolis City Council passed a binding resolution May 10, 2012, directing the Civil Rights Department to report to the June council meeting: “1) Master agreement details, including stadium equity plan; 2) Enforcement and reporting structure relating to Stadium Equity Plan” (see City Council website, www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/ It was approved by Mayor Rybak May 25, 2012. Velma Korbel and her Civil Rights Department has yet to report. Are the State, authority, city council and mayor paying lip service to the stadium legislation or are they serious? No report nor steps to correct reflects “not serious.” The resolution identifies expectations and reporting responsibilities within the city council’s structure, as defined in Article 1, Section 16, of the stadium legislation. The Minneapolis Civil Rights Department is to be a contractor to the Stadium Facility Authority in enforcement participation, employment, and setting goals for construction contracts to be awarded to women and minority-owned businesses. Clearly, the very fact that such a resolution has to be made at all, and once made is not followed at all, shows just how much official and unofficial resistance and lack of concern regarding including African Americans is still present in Minneapolis and its city council and agencies. Other significant areas directed that the City’s Civil Rights Department has failed to execute identified in the City Council Resolution of May 10, 2012 and approved May 25, 2012, include timelines for regular reports to the city council regarding the master agreement and equity plan throughout stadium construction, as well as establishing a joint oversight committee for the equity plan, membership and purpose of the committee, a plan for post-stadium construction, and a workforce plan identifying workforce development, job training and placement. I will deal with additional directives over the coming months. The reality remains: A first report on the master agreement, the equity plan, the creation of oversight committees, etc., was to be made to the council no later than June 29, 2012, three months ago. Why has the “timely manner” requirement been abandoned on reports regarding including African Americans, women and other minorities, while awarding multi-million dollar contracts to others continues uninterrupted? I have been watching closely the activities, decisions and awarding of contracts by the Sports Facility Authority: $100 million in contracts already awarded, and a $50 million contract about to be awarded to an architecture firm, and none to African Americans. At its September 14, 2012 meeting, the Sports Facility Authority approved an internal affirmative action plan. And yet the City continues to ignore the failure to report on the external equity plan and committees, per city council directive. On August 24 and again on September 14, during the public comments time of the Sports Facilities Authority meetings, I asked: “Where is the report on the equity plan and master agreement? Response? Silence. Minnesota Human Rights Director Kevin Lindsey, in a conversation involving the Minnesota Sports Facility Authority staff, indicated in a meeting that he was aware of the city council’s resolution but for political reasons did not want to comment, even privately. It remains troubling that the people’s contracts are being awarded, the people’s money is being allocated, the people’s stadium plan is moving ahead and yet there is no people’s plan that includes the African American community’s people. None will comment on why the June 29, 2012 reporting date came and went without the required report. Clearly, the State, City and authority continue to fail to ensure that the stadium legislation Chapter 299, Article 3, is followed. Once again, African Americans are denied a seat at the table in the construction of the “people’s stadium.” This has nothing to do with the fact that the African American community’s unemployment is three times that of Whites. It is a matter the devastating failure of Velma Korbel and her department to do as directed, as all aid and abet the denial of the African American community to be meaningfully involved in the building of the people’s stadium. Once again, intentional failure is preventing protecting the rights of all of the people and particularly African American people. Shame lies over the house known as the Civil Rights Department and its collaborators: the State, city council, and agencies of the City of Minneapolis. Our dysfunctional institutions, leaders, and policies continue to bar opportunity with bad schools, non-hiring compliance, drugs and incarceration, potentially fostering another round of unrest and violence. Dysfunctional indeed. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development.. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008, is A Seat for Everyone. Posted Wednesday, September 26, 2012 , 1:54 p.m Ron's media message platforms: Chuck Wexler in town, security plan in place "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" September 19, 2012 While Democratic and DFL Party heavy hitters were in Charlotte, NC for the Democratic National Convention, including Mayor R.T. Rybak, the legendary Chuck Wexler, executive director of the powerful Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) was in meetings in Minneapolis (see my September 5 column, “Status quo fixes won’t stop the frightening violence”). Mr. Wexler was here to evaluate and sign off on a new security plan to deal with Minneapolis African Americans (read “youth”). These are not my words. These are words that came out of a number of meetings with Mr. Wexler and his associates. This new security plan includes monitoring and evaluating security conditions within the Somali community that again gives Mr. Wexler the possibility of implementing in other cities around the United States what will be developed here in Minneapolis. As happened some years ago, “Wexler helped develop and implement a comprehensive anti-crime strategy [in Minneapolis] that is now a model for public-private cooperation” (however, as crime still continues unabated, grain is a more reliable export). It is important to note that in the Wexler discussions, no priority was given to African American “leadership”, although elements have been assigned security roles and presence, specifically in downtown Minneapolis, but under the supervision of the Youth Coordinating Board. In a meeting in the Riverside community, there was much discussion with the high-ranking security officials about bringing the “Black problem” (read African American youth) under “control,” that persons trained in security operations and intelligence gathering need to be positioned and on patrol. A troubling aspect remains: the continued claim of Minneapolis African American “leaders,” in confidential communications with their handlers, that they enjoy a significant relationship with Black police officers in the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), and thus should get in on the money. Their claims of having such relationships are not true. The Somali community, on the other hand, has developed a good relationship with African American police officers. Money has been spread around. Thus, Mr. Wexler’s evaluation of the accurateness, authenticity, and effectiveness of African American leaders was found to be negative. The Chamber of Commerce has high expectations for a downturn of the downtown Minneapolis Black problem that will lead to ways of dealing with the African American problem in other parts of the city. These discussions have a heavy flavor of confidentiality, continuing the lack of transparency. Reorganization will soon begin within the MPD, which is consistent any time there is an appointment of a new chief. Mr. Wexler and his organization have been retained to make sure that all the square and round holes are properly filled. The Wexler discussions make clear and put in the open: a lack of confidence in the African American “leadership” that has been awarded millions of dollars over the last decades. The new confidence is in the new peoples on the blocks, the Somalis, the Latinos and the Asians. As I asked in my column two weeks ago (September 5): “What will Chuck Wexler do to contribute to ending the dysfunctional institutions, leadership and policies impacting on our community?” When will a new generation of leaders step up to replace the current group of old-time, self-styled, self-appointed, ineffective African American leaders? Who will respond with more than just requests for more money for themselves? Who will demonstrate they can meet high a level of expectations and be willing to be held accountable? Who can positively contribute to developing and presenting a plan for security? How much longer will the old guard, which has fed at the trough of financial opportunity for two decades, as was said in the Wexler security meetings, continue to try to do so? It’s now time to stand and deliver by whoever will be the African American leadership for the future, to produce or stand down. Homeland security starts with hometown security: equal opportunity in education, jobs, housing. Where is the plan for this? As long as inner-city youth are given sub-prime education and not offered needed training for qualifying for quality jobs, the Black youth problem won’t go away. Contractors, both Black and White, have stated Minneapolis does not have a workforce qualified for stadium construction jobs. Why not? What has been done with all of the training money? The stadium and downtown redevelopment cannot survive a status quo that fosters violence: bad schools, few jobs, drugs, crime. Thus the fix areas remain readily in sight: education, jobs and housing. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development.. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008,8 is A Seat for Everyone. Posted Wednesday, September 19, 2012 , 3:35 a.m Ron's media message platforms: Tone down the rhetoric on Black Museum’s money problems. September 12, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" Who would ever say that the legendary and renowned Dorothy Bridges would be involved in harming her legacy and imprint on a community bank, Franklin National Bank, which has done so much for the African American community under her leadership? Thus we are puzzled by the attacks on Franklin National Bank (“Stalled museum now battles bank,” Star Tribune, September 1, 2012), and, by implication, on Dorothy Bridges, who was CEO of FNB from 1999-2008 and put all of her energy, her soul, and her vision into making Franklin National Bank the best it could be (doubling the bank’s assets to $116 million). She did more for the African American community than any other bank. During her tenure at Franklin National Bank, we heard about the institution’s generosity, sensitivity and openness, a legacy crafted by Ms. Bridges. Ms. Doroty J. Bridges departed to Washington, D.C. and then returned last year to be a Senior VP of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. All signs point to a community bank that stayed the course. Upon her return to Minneapolis, Bridges said her “mission is to support job creation” in the Fed’s ninth district, consisting of Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. So why the attacks when so many of those who are part of the core leadership of the Black community in Minneapolis have borrowed significant amounts of money from Franklin National Bank and then defaulted? We need to stop being silent about the troubling number of Black leaders who have defaulted or who are in the process of defaulting on loan obligations to FNB, often due to their “sharing” loans with friends and family, taking away from their stated mission. The shoe is now on the other foot. People now see how dangerous it is to play the race card when allegations and contentions are not supported by the facts. We must accept that not everyone is a good manager of financial responsibility and accountability, losing focus and failing to improve on a church or expand another Black nonprofit, or in an attempt to save a longtime youth agency as diverted funds sabotage stated dreams and visions. The sad attack on Franklin National Bank is an attack striking out to wound the very institution that has, in fact, made every attempt to help them carry out their agendas. This is the battle we see waged by the Black Historical Museum against Franklin National Bank, the state of Minnesota, and Hennepin County. The fact that negotiations are taking so long reflects the museum’s problems. The museum took a $1.2 million loan from FNB, $1 million from the state of MN, $1.5 million in bonds from the City of Minneapolis, $500,000 from five Minnesota corporations, and $300,000 from other sources. And the museum still can’t open? The museum has failed to meet the condition of the State of Minnesota for granting its monies: that FNB would have first position in a default, or otherwise tax payers of Hennepin County and Minnesota would have to pay. To continue, the museum has to put up new collateral, which it claims it doesn’t have. Clearly, Franklin National Bank is not the villain, is not an evil community bank. It would have been difficult for it to fall in that direction given the nine years of dedicated leadership by a woman who is also chairperson of the NW Area Foundation, a board member of the Minneapolis Foundation, and holds numerous other prestigious directorships and positions. There needs to be a toning down of the rhetoric and attacks, especially by those leaders financially supported with loans from Franklin National Bank. Then all can come together and begin a process of healing and stop playing the race card and confusing all communities, regardless of race, creed, color or national origin. This column carries on the legacy of MSR’s founding publisher Cecil E. Newman (see the documentary “A Black History Chronicle Exclusive — Cecil E. Newman: The Friendship, the Life and the Legacy,” produced by ShenaBarber.com Productions and available on YouTube). Those in the documentary state that if Cecil Newman were alive today, he would still say, “We aren’t working hard enough.” The documentary reported Cecil’s principles that the paper had to be “critical when necessary,” that “we can’t let friendship with individuals or organizations dictate what will or won’t be written.” Cecil was “a watchman.” He “held them accountable.” Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development.. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008,8 is A Seat for Everyone. Posted Wednesday, September 12, 2012 , 6:05 a.m Ron's media message platforms: Status quo fixes won’t stop the frightening violence September 5, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" It is the elephant in the room that people don’t want to talk about: the ongoing street violence affecting so many African Americans in this country due to the dysfunctional institutions, leadership and policies that allow caste-like barriers — bad schools, few jobs, drugs, crime — to remain in place and foster violence. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development.. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008,8 is A Seat for Everyone. Posted Wednesday, September 5, 2012 , 8:16 a.m Ron's media message platforms: Where is Thinh Q.N. Tran? Supposed business associate of Eric Mahmoud disappears with fraud case August 29, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" Pull quote: As New Visions rent money was not applied to the mortgage by the Mahmouds, where did the money go? The cascading unraveling of the schemes of Eric Mahmoud, reported in three recent stories in the Star Tribune (August 10, August 20, and August 22, 2012), began in Atlanta in 2005 and again in Minneapolis in 2010. On April 21, 2010, District Court Judge George F. McGunnigle gaveled his Hennepin County District Courtroom into session and assessed Thinh Q.N. Tran and Eric Mahmoud $313,000 in penalties to be paid to Wells Fargo Bank for defaulting and defrauding regarding the Minneapolis property at 2508 Golden Valley Road. The Court File No.: 27-CV-09-24544. The 3 Star Tribune stories are: Because of the Mahmouds' actions, a small African American family-owned business, New Visions Day Care, which paid the Mahmouds $5,000 per month rent, was forced out of business. But the Mahmouds’ actual loan payment was half of that. And yet the property was allowed to go into default. As New Visions rent money was not applied to the mortgage by the Mahmouds, where did the money go? The New Visions lease agreement signed August 6, 2007, by Eric Mahmoud did not include Mr. Tran, even though Mahmoud told New Visions that Tran owned the property. For nearly five years, New Visions paid nearly half a million dollars in rent, at $5,000 per month, with the lease agreement clearly stating the rent is to increase by $100 per month each year. In the meantime, Mr. Tran was never produced. Court documents obtained by this column reveal the disturbing fact that as early as 2007, the owners of New Visions Day Care were asking for clarification regarding who really owned the building, and who was Mr. Tran and how could he be contacted. This went on from August 2007 until the Hennepin County Court judgment on April 21, 2010. The lease included responsibilities beyond the $5,000 per month rent; all utility payments (water, electric, gas, trash removal), as well as additional responsibilities were to be jointly paid. Mr. Tran became the owner. How? When? And was he really? The court documents of the decision of April 21, 2010 raised serious questions about whether Mr. Tran even exists. Very troubling is that when New Visions Day Care signed this lease agreement August 6, 2007, they had no idea that Mahmoud had been arrested in the state of Georgia for fraud and was to plead guilty in 2010. Had the tenant been privy to this information, they would have had a better understanding of how things played out in Georgia in 2005. When the four African American sisters who owned New Visions Day Care asked community leadership for intervention to help deal with the circumstances and the problems being exposed, leadership in our community turned their backs on the four women of New Visions, with non-leading leaders again causing negative consequences due to conduct unbecoming Black leadership. Recall that many of our “leaders” from 2007-2010 knew of the legendary house flipper Larry Maxwell, but did nothing. He is now in a federal penitentiary. We live in extremely difficult times for the African American community. Eric and Ella Mahmoud and community so-called “leadership” that supports them are not making it better. Make no mistake, this is not about making money. This is about failing to produce the best possible opportunities for the education of our children. Under “leasing premises,” the leasing agreement states that the premises would be used solely for education. This in itself raises serious questions about what is “new and understood,” as New Visions Day Care was not a subsidiary of the Seed Academy, being totally independent of it. Perceptions and understandings changed when New Visions was told that the building had been sold to Mr. Tran. But Mr. Tran was never seen by the owners of New Visions, nor could he ever be reached nor did his representative ever respond to New Visions Day Care’s owners. This column doesn’t know if Mr. Tran even exists. We do see troubling patterns and practices that exist. The owners of New Visions Day Care had no idea of a felony arrest in Georgia in 2005 and subsequent guilty plea in 2010 by Eric Mahmoud. Such patterns and practices are causing other African American dreams to shatter. Many of our leaders now say, in defense of these patterns and practices, that this conduct is acceptable and is the order of the day. In this column, we passionately and emphatically disagree. It is not acceptable nor is it the order of the day for the children of the African American community. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development.. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008,8 is A Seat for Everyone. Posted Wednesday, August 29, 2012 , 6:55 a.m Ron's media message platforms: The commissioner of education did the right thing August 22, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" We and our beloved city are faced with a challenging question: Are we committed to the principles and values of decency, trust, honesty, integrity, and transparency of action, or do we, for the sake of a dollar and a color code, embrace and poison ourselves, with that which is evil, dark and decadent that can not only destroy us as a people, but also destroy the society and institutions we share with Whites and others? We can place no greater hope than on these virtues so as not to get distracted by corruption, misrepresentation, and hypocrisy. And yet many accuse Minnesota’s education commissioner, Dr. Brenda Cassellius, as being somehow irresponsible and a hater for not embracing and advancing the code of Blackness, even for wrongdoing. She would be criticized in this corner had she done anything differently when information and documentation was brought to her attention. What is even more shocking is that this information and evidence has been in the archives of the Minnesota Department of Education since 2001, under a different administration (we first exposed the education crisis in the chapter on education in our 2002 book). Dr. Brenda Cassellius merely accepted the mantel of responsibility by carrying out the duties of her office. The law required it. To even suggest that the due diligence under her supervision should be attacked, maligned and she be removed from office represents the height of hypocrisy, and a continued commitment to the corruption of self-appointed Black leaders that are destroying African American communities across the United States. She did not invent house flipping, fraud, and other charges and allegations that were brought against individuals doing business in the state of Minnesota and other places across the United States. She did not consort in 2005 with persons from Minnetonka, MN or Cleveland, OH, or Atlanta, GA. She had nothing to do with a plea bargain agreed upon in the district courts of the state of Georgia. What would you do, dear reader, when presented with such information and this evidence? Too many who call themselves responsible adults sacrifice our kids for their paychecks (one book has called education Death at an Early Age). Had Dr. Casellius not carried out her responsibility under color of law, she would have been fair game for every politician, elected or appointed, especially on the Republican side of the aisle in the state of Minnesota, giving Governor Mark Dayton no choice but to have asked for her resignation. It is puzzling that those who are identified as having been involved in mismanagement and other questionable conduct have not stepped aside, in good faith, without pay, to await the completion of any and all investigations of allegations laid against them and their organizations. Regardless, the commissioner of education of the State of Minnesota did the right thing; she placed it into the hands of the legislative auditor for the state of Minnesota to give it separation and to avoid allegations of impropriety on her part. The legislative auditor, Jim Nobles, is one of the toughest examiners in the United States. He is a strength of the state. The malice involved is by those being investigated, not the commissioner and the administration. The victims are not those being investigated but the children in their charge and the taxpayers whose money they received. I commend the two Black legislators out of Minneapolis for not caving in to those attempting to destroy a public official who did what the law required, taking action supported with facts and documentation. We have no idea in this corner what documentation the Star Tribune has. But we know what we have. What we have clearly demonstrates that Dr, Cassellius acted with the utmost of integrity and commitment and requirements of law. The attacks on Dr. Cassellius for doing the right thing for our children should bother the African American community. The thoughtless consequences will be bad for our children.[Ed. note: Dr. Caselliuss' motto is "Leading for educational excellence and equity. Every day for every one."] Clearly the one group to benefit is the one we all claim we care about and have great love for, the children of our community, those will be our future and legacy. God accept our prayers for our community during this dark hour. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development.. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008,8 is A Seat for Everyone. Posted Wednesday, August 22, 2012 , 12:25 a.m Ron's media message platforms: Require auditions for stadium construction contracts. August 15, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" If you read legislation closely enough and know how to connect the dots and read both the lines and between the lines, you get a better sense for what is there, what is not there, and what can be interpreted either way later. Some in our community brag they will be successful providing stadium construction hiring diversity and equity. How? Our MSR column of April 5, 2012, “Hiring mandates must be in place for Viking stadium project,” was not about wishful thinking or beating a tired drum. It was a warning about the legislation. The awarding of 34 contracts at the MSFA meeting August 3 discloses a lack of diversity. Is the MSFA content to wink at the spirit of the diversity requirement but not follow it on expediency grounds, due to no plan? The City was supposed to provide a master agreement and a Stadium Equity Plan by June 29, 2012. On May 25, 2012, the city council, backed by the mayor, approved the development of a diversity plan. Even without one, the stadium legislation creating the Sports Facility Authority empowers it to act on its own to make contractors prove past diversity to pass auditioning for contracts. In other words, legislation allows the MSFA to conduct research to examine any and all issues involving MSFA’s mandate and stewardship. That includes seeing whether those auditioning for contracts are qualified by having a positive history of diversity compliance. Five past projects can easily reveal who meets and doesn’t meet the diversity requirement needed to qualify for stadium construction contracts: Twins’ Target Field, Gophers’ TCF Stadium, Fairview Children’s Hospital of the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Board of Education’s new headquarters in North Minneapolis, and light rail, both the Hiawatha Corridor and St. Paul’s University Corridor. Contractors on those five projects have put surrogates into play for the stadium, each maintaining they have the best diversity and equity records in the history of Minnesota. We say: Prove it. Of interest is that M.A. Mortenson, prior to the signing of the stadium legislation by the governor, was contracted to do a mock-up construction budget. The legislation is quite clear: “Sub 9” (under “Powers and Duties of the Authority”): “The authority may conduct research studies and programs, collect and analyze data, prepare reports, and conduct all necessary hearings and investigations in connection with its functions.” Investigating the contractors who worked on those five projects would be in keeping with Director Ted Mondale’s memo of Aug. 3, 2012, directing that the Vikings and all others begin the discussions and commit to a plan for diversity. The best way for the MSFA to ascertain who should be allowed to submit bids is through hearings and by analyzing their past records. The legislation states, “The construction manager or program manager may enter into contracts with contractors for labor, material, supplies and equipment for the construction of the stadium and related infrastructure, through the process of public bidding.” One of the provisions in the legislation that we think is healthy is that the lowest bid does not have to be accepted if, in fact, the Authority and the Vikings have made a joint decision that those desiring to bid have not met the standards set down by the legislation. That means stadium design and construction is to be done only by those able to confirm and prove their past diversity compliance. If not, they can be denied the opportunity to bid (see Section 15, 473j.11 of the legislation). It is as clear as the five separate fingers on your hand that the Vikings stadium legislation offers an opportunity for the most successful implementation of diversity participation in the history of this country, opening up access to the corridors of prosperity for all communities — if the MSFA will follow it. The legislation also calls for 25 percent of the steel used on this great building to come from the ore fields of Northern Minnesota. Clearly the door is open for the opportunity for African Americans to enjoy the benefits reflected in our July 11, 2012 column if “Blacks need not apply signs” are taken down. The legislation is there for any to review. No mystery. Stay tuned Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development.. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008,8 is A Seat for Everyone. Posted Wednesday, August 15, 2012 , 7:08 a.m Ron's media message platforms: Black youth need good educations and jobs, not handholding. August 8, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" Barricades, or containment roundups? That seems to be the false choice offered by the City in dealing with the Black community to provide safe streets for Whites. This columnist, however, stands for safe streets for all, Black and White. As we have written in past columns, the biggest barricade holding back Blacks and keeping them in poverty and enabling crime is the failure to provide quality education (high drop-out rates, poor quality education, low test scores, suspensions) and quality jobs (related to poor quality of education, poor quality job training programs, and the persistence of public policies of noncompliance and discrimination in hiring). Separateness is again repeated with the Minneapolis School District’s plan to give high school students a “gold card” to use to ride public transportation back and forth to school, which will also enable a wider restricting of transportation access. The perception by the Downtown Council and politicians is that the most important issue facing this city is White citizens not feeling safe, whether at night or by day. But the really serious issue is young Black-on-Black crime. The corruption by White cops that led to the demise of such police department units as Safe Streets, Violent Offenders, and the Metro Gang Strike Force units has led to blaming Black officers. Black citizens pay the price. The Police Research Institute has been brought in as a special advisor to the City of Minneapolis, according a Star Tribune blog article (Mayor seeks review of youth violence prevention program, July 30, 2012). So the intense discussion and debate continues within both the public and private sectors of Minneapolis regarding how to handle the “Black youth problem.” [Hence our earlier state of emergency among young Black men.] We agree with the mayor that although the number of youth involved in juvenile crime has declined 59 percent since 2006, “That is not enough.” But we disagree with the City’s “Blueprint for Action” solution “to put a trusted adult in the life of every child.” They don’t need handholding — they need hands-on education and hands-on jobs. The liberal Brookings Institute states that only two percent wind up in poverty if they do three things: finish high school, get a job, and marry before having babies. But the Minneapolis barricades of political correctness and discrimination don’t allow for that. The Police Research Institute of Chuck Wexler, Washington, D.C., will be coordinating the strategy to deal with the “Black problem.” In fact, discussions within the new school district headquarters at 1200 West Broadway and the seats of power downtown, center on a “take no prisoners” strategy as the order of the day. In light of some the troubling history that came out of the corruption trial of police officers Lt. Andrew Smith and Sgt. Patrick King (July 16 through July 26, 2012), this is a department that is clearly in need of a new blueprint for action as well [see more evidence of the need here]. The backup master plan for local containment, military style (roundups), as directed from Washington D.C., is a dangerous, unsafe and unhealthy approach. Instead, we recommend the plans of our website’s “Solutions” section. CRA is gone — no surprise In response, the City’s leadership, including Department of Civil Rights Director Velma Korbel, did not put up a fight to keep the CRA. Even former director Samuel Lee Reid II knew but kept it secret, leaving town immediately for a new job elsewhere when the doors closed. The demise of the CRA, the turning over of the stadium to the new Stadium Authority, and economic and job development for African Americans and others of color reflect how meaningful citizen participation by citizens of color has gone the way of the dinosaur, as more chairs for citizens of color are taken away from the City table. The American Revolution fought to conserve liberties it already had that were proven to be humanly possible. The French Revolution’s “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” reflected its progressive sense that it could create a perfect society and, thus, perfect people. Fighting for humanly impossible liberties, they erected barricade events eight times during their three revolutions. But instead of ushering in American style liberties, when it ended the rule of kings, the French Revolution ushered in The Reign of Terror, the Tyranny of Napoleon, and unresolved diplomatic and economic conflicts that led eventually to two world wars. What will the barricades of Minneapolis lead to? Roundups, or putting chairs back to enable a seat for everyone? A sad day. A sad commentary. Stay tuned. Posted Wednesday, August 8, 2012 , 12:25 a.m Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns and blog, and solution papers for community planning and development.. All are are archived here. His second book, 2008,8 is A Seat for Everyone. Ron's media message platforms: Minneapolis Police Department tears itself apart from the inside "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" August 1, 2012 Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) truth and lies were on display during the trial that began July 16, 2012. Mainstream media reporting is either silent or soft. What I report is what I heard in court. I was there. The betting in many quarters was that Lt. Andrew Smith and Sgt. Patrick King would win their lawsuits against the City for transfers they protested. Then they testified and lied through seven-and-a-half days of testimony, self-describing themselves as innocent and as the best investigators in the free world — legends in their own minds. Lt. Smith and Sgt. King also lied about Black police officers, including Lt. Lee Edwards, Sgt. Charles Adams, Sgt. K.G. Paulis, and later Lt. Art Knight and former patrol officer Mike Roberts, along with White officer Lt. Michael Keefe, saying they were associates and co-conspirators with Minnesota’s Black gangs. Their testimony did not stop there. They portrayed Assistant Chief Janée Harteau and Deputy Chief Scott Gerlicher as lying, incompetent co-conspirators, as scum of the earth. Then it was the turn of the MPD. The wild allegations made by Lt. Smith and Sgt. King were countered with the quiet truth testified to by Assistant Chief Harteau and Deputy Chief Gerlicher. First up was Assistant Chief Janée Harteau, Friday, July 20. She came across as the first person affiliated with the MPD able to tell the truth. Then Tuesday, July 24, around 4 pm, Deputy Chief Scott Gerlicher dropped the bombshell, the sources of the information that led to the transfers Smith and King were suing about: a senior assistant U.S. attorney for the federal district of Minnesota and a senior FBI supervisor attached to the Safe Streets Task Force that Lt. Smith and Sgt. King were members of prior to their February 14, 2011 transfers. The information that is emerging during the trial provides a clear understanding of the depth of real corruption, racial animus, and just plain old mean-spirited disrespect and betrayal by some of the sworn officers of the MPD. Ironically, on Monday, July 23, Tom Lyden of KMSP, Channel 9, was in the courtroom. On his news broadcast that night, he interviewed the attorney representing Lt. Smith and Sgt. King, who claimed he and his clients were “exposing the cancer of corruption” that existed within the MPD. At the time that statement scrolled across the news screen, Mr. Lyden chose to use file footage of Officer Mike Roberts going into the Federal Courthouse in St. Paul, in May of 2009, when he was sentenced in a case, because of Smith and King testimony, that has left deep wounds within the culture of the MPD. Why didn’t Lyden return to court Tuesday to hear the riveting and telling blow delivered by Deputy Chief Gerlicher? Gerlicher testified that it was senior federal law enforcement agents who told him they would no longer accept cases for federal prosecution charges from the Safe Streets Task Force that involved Smith and King. The attempted defense countered on July 23, by Sgt. Kelly O'Rourke, only dug the Smith and King hole deeper. O'Rourke said the federal U.S. attorney, Todd Jones, was soft on gangs, drugs, and weapons. That will not help the relationship between the MPD and its federal partners. None of this was reported by KMSP or the Star Tribune. It can only be found in this column. See my past articles listed at http://www.theminneapolisstory.com/solutionpapers/31minncops.htm. In many respects, the attacks on Black officers, on the Black U.S. attorney for the federal district of Minnesota, and on a courageous lieutenant, who happens to be White, speaks to the depth of the tearing apart of the MPD from the inside. It certainly speaks to its diminishing future effectiveness as a law enforcement institution. We need an effective MPD, not an ineffective one. We don’t know how the judge will rule in this non-jury trial where Lt. Smith is asking for $640,000 in damages and Sgt. Smith is asking around $570,000 in damages. The judge will have significant discretion in making his findings of fact and conclusions of law. Once again, the majority media provides the citizens of Minnesota only a narrow and almost censorship-like journalistic overview of the real corruption and the real cancer that has struck down this department. Assistant Chief Harteau and Deputy Chief Gerlicher should be applauded and recognized along with federal law enforcement for bringing the light of truth to the pursuit of justice for all. Stay tuned. Ron's media message platforms: The policy of retaliation: continuing the story of Courtney Clark July 25, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" When Courtney Clark was told on July 9, 2012, that he had a telephone call coming in from a reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, he had no idea the level of pain this interview would cause him. The Star Tribune was interviewing Mr. Clark about the abuse he had been subjected to since 2005, by the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Whatever the combination of causes, he eventually had a stroke, a heart attack, and wound up in a wheelchair, as his overall health dangerously deteriorated. The key concern that justifies our writing about Mr. Clark is expressed in the title of last week’s column: “Justice for all” means justice for everyone — no exceptions. Yes, Mr. Clark had been convicted of a homicide. His victim was White. Black Americans understand the consequences of that criminal offense. That he was no angel doesn’t excuse the system for being devils. What the system can do to anyone they can do to the rest of us. That is the lesson of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, “…until they came for me.” Mr. Clark, a bright and intelligent 39-year-old African American, was first sent to the reformatory at St. Cloud where he began to learn about experimental medical practices, as he became a target of such practices, leading to serious medical problems by 2008. Nonetheless, on that fateful afternoon of July 9, he stood up for right over wrong, for transparency over cover-up, in his 45-minute telephone interview with Paul McEnroe of the Star Tribune. Besides his story, Mr. Clark also told the story of Robert Mims, a 69-year-old African American, also in a wheelchair, who died the previous evening, July 8. Mr. Mims had been transferred from Pennsylvania to Minnesota (also discussed in last week’s column), as he was considered a troublemaker they couldn’t handle in Pennsylvania. Mr. Clark reported that during his last three weeks, 69-year-old Mr. Mims was denied medication and medical assistance, dying in severe pain. Mr. Clark reported that this is not unusual in Minnesota. Mr. McEnroe had earlier written a chilling story of a young African American who was denied medical assistance at the reformatory at Rush City, MN (Star Tribune, July 9, 2012, Prisoner dies after denial of care). For a number of years, people in the know were aware of this policy and practice of medical experimentation that can only be called a form of genocide. Tuskegee is more than just a memory. And so, within hours of the interview with the Star Tribune’s Mr. McEnroe, Mr. Clark felt the full fury of the State’s anger. His cell was tossed and papers and documents accumulated since 2005 by Mr. Clark were destroyed, documents about his case and which attested to his abuse suffered while in the custody of the Minnesota Department of Corrections, both before and after being transferred to California and back. California found he was not getting his full compliment of medicines and medical care and that the cost of his care was too high. He suffered a stroke and California sent him back. During the course of the search of his cell and the confiscation of his property, Mr. Clark was roughed up and then put in the “hole,” a small cell with nothing in it but a small toilet. Since these latest events, July 9, 10, and 11, his family has attempted to make inquiry regarding his current status and condition. His privileges have been revoked, and what medical attention he had been receiving has been considerably reduced. As in the case with Mr. Mims, and other African Americans in Faribault denied medical assistance, he is in constant pain. Mr. Clark told his parents and loved ones during the previous week that authorities have told him that he won’t survive in Minnesota’s version of what I am saying is similar to Germany’s legendary Dachau concentration camp of medical experimentation. The Minnesota Corrections System has become an example of those institutions that scarred the humanity of Germany, and now, in this case, Minnesota, for, as one corrections official is reported to have said, “Blacks will become an endangered species if we have anything to say about it.” Courtney Clark and far too many other African Americans represent a clear illustration of the fact that in some circles, African Americans are an endangered species, and that they have no rights that the Minnesota Corrections System has any obligation to honor. Welcome to Dachau 2012, Minnesota version. Stay tuned. Columns referenced in this commentary are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, blog, and solution papers for community planning and development, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Ron's media message platforms: “Justice for all” means justice for everyone — no exceptions. July 18, 2012 The American promise of “justice for all” does not exclude any individuals or groups from its embrace. The cases of Courtney Clark and Rita Roberts are important for that reason. Injustice for them means injustice also for their friends and loved ones. Even the criminal justice and court systems suffer when this vital principle is unequally applied. Courtney Clark is incarcerated at the Prison Medical Facility at Faribault, MN. He had been transferred to the California corrections system after he became a whistleblower exposing medical experiments performed on African Americans at St. Cloud State Reformatory. His attempt to acquire justice and redress for his fellow Black inmates led to retaliation. California found the cost of his medical treatments too great and sent him back to Minnesota. As this column is being written, Courtney Clark is at death’s door. The details of Mr. Clark’s case are contained in the public record of his formal complaints against the medical staff at St. Cloud and the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Courtney Clark suffers from excruciating and continuous pain as gangrene and other medical conditions ravage his body. His mother, a public health nurse for 25 years in Illinois and herself in poor health, seeks help in her fight for fairness and justice for her 39-year-old son. Mr. Clark is not an angel, but his character is not the subject of this story. The system is the story. The system does not have the right in this democracy to sign off on retaliation, which has been the case for far too many African Americans in the Minnesota State Corrections facilities That includes the death last week of Robert Mims of Philadelphia, PA, who was transferred to Minnesota and then denied medical assistance. His death is creating political fallout in Philadelphia. The system will fail its attempt to make this go away, as mainstream media will eventually catch up with us. It also happened to Xavius Scullark-Johnson,who died after having a seizure at the Rush City prison in 2010. He was 27 (see Star Tribune piece, 7-9-12, Prisoner dies after denial of care). Rita Roberts is a 42-year-old Asian woman. On April 13, 2010, a police SWAT team knocked on her door. They said they were executing a warrant in search for weapons. Police, court, and medical reports reveal the following when, unarmed and offering no resistance, she opened her door: She was shot in the face with buckshot that hit her in the upper parts of the body, shattering her jaw and disfiguring her face. Doctors have told Ms. Roberts officially, on the record, that she suffered irreversible damage to the nerves and ligaments of one of her arms due to how she was handcuffed and stepped on, she will continue to lose the use of her arm for the remainder of her life, and she will go blind in less than a decade. Rita Roberts admitted and confirmed to me that there was marijuana in her home. Her mistake was to accept advice to plead guilty to a third-degree felony that disqualified her for medical recourse. A well-known local White attorney sat on her case for a year and six months, and then dropped it after her guilty plea was accepted by the court. The system crushed her from all sides, all because of marihuana and their weapons warrant mistake. Courtney Clark. Rita Roberts. Easy to dismiss for some. But we should all care, as these cases raise serious questions about how the system can easily turn the quest for justice against justice itself. Mr. Clark is clearly a recipient of retaliation for protesting medical practices on African American inmates used as medical guinea pigs. Ms. Roberts has received no rationale for why, after complying and opening her door, unarmed and not resisting, she was shot flush in the face with a pellet shotgun, suffering permanent, irreparable damage that will cost her sight and at least one of her limbs. Have we so abandoned the concept of justice that “standards” accepted in non-democratic societies are now acceptable in America? Courtney Clark and Rita Wallace are people of color, one Asian, one African American. Both seek justice and a full review of the circumstances leading to their medical conditions. What will we do to open the door to the hallway of justice so we can close the door to the dark pit of future injustice in the State of Minnesota? Stay tuned. Ron's media message platforms: In Twin Cities, Blacks still need not apply July 11, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" TWIN CITIES STILL WORST IN U.S. FOR BLACK JOBSEEKERS (Star Tribune headline, July 2, 2012). “New report shows little change from 2009 unemployment rates.” – Economic Policy Institute. That is a repeat of the June 18, 2010 report of the Star Tribune of the same Economic Policy Institute report released to Congress showing African Americans 3.1 times more likely than Whites to be unemployed in our metro area (High black unemployment widespread across nation’s metropolitan areas). Since 2005, I have written 24 columns on this “worst” in the country and why, including my April 20, 2005 column, Black share of upcoming $5 billion in construction: Zero, What can be done to reverse “Blacks need not apply” for the coming great construction boom. See also my March 9, 2011 column, “The Plan” revealed: no more jobs for Black Minnesotans in 2011 and beyond. I continue to ask, where are the plans and actions to reverse this “Blacks need not apply” reality? It could not exist if the city’s vision included offering a seat at the table of equal access and equal opportunity to everyone, Black and White. (all 24 columns are listed in my Solution Paper #46, regarding the city's purposeful refusal to be in Disparity Compliance, incvluding The city’s Black leadership in government agencies, churches, corporations, foundations and education continue to not act to ensure equal education, jobs and prosperity. One result is the violence in our city in the shadow of where the new Vikings stadium will be — a stadium project for which local Black workers are not qualified, according to both Black and White contractors. Even three- and five-year-olds are not immune to the violence, killed by bullets fired into homes from the street. Violence is being built ever deeper into the fabric of our city. As I wrote six months ago, “When a city and its institutions lose their commitment to humanity and to equality and diversity for all of its citizens, the city loses another piece of its soul and its future.” Why aren’t liberal-thinking politicians (so-called progressives) and liberal-thinking institutions (so-called think tanks) discussing, developing and enacting a plan of corrective action? Failure to immediately address the 2009 findings of the Economic Policy Institute has caused harm and damage to the African American community. Will there again be inaction? Will harm and damage again prevail? The headlines reflect a dangerous trend, confirming our reporting that far too many African Americans in our community see no future on the horizon for full inclusion and an opportunity at the table of contracts and for economic uplift of jobs for the African American community. Some reading this column will be tempted to suggest we need to be patient, that it will take at least another decade (and miss the stadium). How many will continue to hide behind that fiction? Martin Luther King answered in 1963, almost 50 years ago, with “Why We Can’t Wait.” And yet in 2004, then-Justice Sandra Day O’Connor suggested “another 25 years.” One would think Blacks arrived in Minnesota in the 1970s. We all know better. The Vikings stadium exposes the raw truth: Simple skills are not enough. What will our young men and women do when they are told their “job training” doesn’t qualify them for stadium work? As I’ve asked for a decade: Where is the plan and its enactment to correct this outrageous deficiency in denying African Americans the opportunity to obtain modern skills that will start them on the path to some semblance of parity with their White counterparts in the marketplace? Black civil rights leadership of a time long passed argued for this, champions like Newman, Johnson, Childress, Alsop, Dr. Thomas Johnson, Judge L. Howard Bennett. They were a part of the Great Commitment in the drive and desire for equal opportunity and for an opportunity to enjoy equal footing (education, jobs, housing). Who today fights for equal opportunity, fights for the right of employment, fights for the right to provide for one’s family and provide a future for their children? Where is the vision for their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren? Who today cares that they are in last place and living once again the shameful position of policies that deny them opportunity and equality? Proof of caring is in executing plans. Where are the plans? Where are today’s White champions, the Humphreys, the Floyd B. Olsons, the Kelms (Elmer, Tom), the Wendell Andersons, the Charles Horns, who worked so tirelessly with their Black counterparts mentioned earlier in this column to provide equal opportunity and a sense of meaningful and honest inclusion? Where is that commitment today? What a shameful and dark day in the history of liberalism, particularly amongst the Democratic Farmer Labor Party, compared to what they set out to achieve after the merger of 1944. Stay tuned. Ron's media message platforms: Another child’s death spreads fear and dismay. July 4, 2012 When five-year-old Nizzel Anthony George’s mother laid him down to sleep Tuesday night, June 26, she assumed that her child, her “hero,” as she called him, would enjoy his sleep and have the pleasant dreams of a five-year-old child. Instead, a waking nightmare: “Shot in his sleep, North Side boy dies” (Star Tribune headline, June 26). The headline the next day: “Family angry, police anxious a day after boy’s fatal shooting.” Minneapolis police say an "ongoing dispute" between youth is behind the gunfire, with shots fired into another house two blocks away earlier that night. The family is understandably angry that the police “hinted” (Star Tribune’s word) that not only does the family know who did it, but they won’t tell, and there are others in the neighborhood who know but won’t tell. Mayor Rybak and Police Chief Dolan blame a lack of gun control laws. How can this be when there are over 300 federal and state gun control laws, not to mention all the local ones? The chief, perhaps in a bit of projection (attributing what one believes to others), stated, "The larger public in the United States doesn't really care what happens in the inner city. It's a population that they don't care about." Really? And he cares? Did he condemn that sentiment? No. Did he call for Minneapolis to rise up and show it cares with suggestions for how to do so? No. For a decade I’ve reported how Minneapolis and its police don’t care (see my dozens of columns on discrimination against and uncaring treatment of Black police officers). The Star Tribune reminds us that, six months ago to the day, December 26, 2011, three-year-old Terrell Mayes, Jr. met the same shooting fate: “A bullet that came through the wall struck Terrell in the head… He died the next day. His slaying remains unsolved” (see my January 11, 2012 columm, We still need help here! African American children continue to die, and with them our spirits.). Think about it: Two African American children with a combined age of eight years will not enjoy attending school, marrying, raising a family, planning a future. Something is wrong with this picture. As we said in our January 11column, this is not Kabul or Baghdad or Beirut or Belfast. This is America the Safe, America the Beautiful, an America that should be able to provide a safe future for all her sons and daughters. I attended the vigil Tuesday night along the 4500 block of Bryant Avenue North, and heard young people cry out and ask questions about the future of their loved ones, their friends, themselves, and their dreams for a safe America, a safe Minneapolis — statements reflecting dreams shattering and the disappearance of a safety net. The City administration spent all of its time in the first six months of this year concentrating its energy, strategy and future to acquire passage of legislation for a $1 billion stadium it thinks it can use to take care of its friends and allies. When will it put that kind of effort into education and jobs and employment with diversity? C census data show that only two percent wind up in poverty who “complete high school (at a minimum), work full time and marry before they have children.” This is what is needed, not more gun laws. Ever since the death of Terrel Mayes, Jr., signs and red flags have been forever present, as if we are in a state of war with serious conflicts on the streets of this city and in the metropolitan area. As for those young shooters, you can be sure they understand that they are not written into the equation for the economic uplift of the city. With no better offer, they turn to an alternative lifestyle that provides only the most dangerous consequences for their future and the future of this city. All such violent deaths are in vain. And when a city and its institutions lose their commitment to humanity and to equality and diversity for all of its citizens, the city loses another piece of its soul and its future. All that we can do, once again, is pray for the Spirit of a five-year-old child and hope the rest of us can stay out of the way of the bullets, knives, mayhem and murder. So rest in peace, Minneapolis. God knows you will need His strength to figure out how to have a safe future. Stay tuned. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's media message platforms: A Sports Authority chair who understands the Black struggle. Kelm-Helgen’s family civil rights history is a rich one. June 27, 2012 There are names and families that remain strong in the pantheon of the civil rights struggle for freedom and liberty for all in Minnesota, including such names as Newman, Johnson, Humphrey and Childress. Governor Dayton’s June 15, 2012 announcement of his three Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority members reminds us of another name and family of Minnesota Civil Rights Pantheon, that of Elmer Kelm. The governor has appointed Elmer Kelm’s granddaughter, Michele Kelm-Helgen as Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority Chair (Star Tribune, “New stadium head has deep political roots,” June 16, 2012). Michele Kelm-Helgen’s grandfather, Elmer Kelm, managed Hubert Humphrey’s first successful mayoral campaign, was chairman of the Democratic Party when it merged with the Farmer Labor Party in 1944, had a very long relationship with both Cecil Newman, the founder and publisher of this newspaper, and with Nellie Stone Johnson, one of the great political leaders in the history of this state. Elmer Kelm and Nellie Stone Johnson, with Hubert H. Humphrey’s blessing, were two of the signatories of the Farmer Labor Party/Democratic merger in 1944. Along with encouragement from Minnesota millionaire and longtime political activist Charles Horn, this group of Minnesotans became quite an item for the fight for civil rights in Minnesota. This group of African Americans and Tom Kelm and Charles Horn helped groom a bright new political star by the name of Wendell Anderson. They became a powerful trio helping Anderson to become governor of the State of Minnesota, and later U.S. Senator, and were all active in the fight for full inclusion of African Americans within the Minnesota political arena, championing a place at the table for all groups fighting for full participation and opportunity to enjoy the wealth and finances of a progressive and liberal Minnesota. I still remember another tremendous effort of this hard-hitting and committed group, involved and on task to elect the late Elmer Childress to the office of Minnesota Secretary of State. Kelm, Johnson, Humphrey, Newman, Anderson, Childress and now Kelm-Helgen: great civil rights pedigrees. Through the veins of these individuals flows the understanding of the importance of inclusion of all. With the power that has been invested in Sports Facility Authority Chair Kelm Helgen, and given the rich history of involvement of her family, we find a person who has deep political roots and vision for full participation and opportunity for all, irrespective of race, creed, color, or national origin. Michele Kelm-Helgen has seen and been a part of the great struggles to achieve inclusion and full participation in the economic vitality of Minnesota. She will now oversee its exercise with the construction of the largest pubic works project in the history of the state of Minnesota. That is why it is so important that leaders within the African American community bring forth their plan and recommendations for the authority to consider. The City of Minneapolis is late in submitting drafts of a Master Agreement, including a Stadium Equity Plan (preliminary plans are to be presented to council and appropriate committees no later than June 29, 2012). The least that can be done from our African American community is for a comprehensive plan of expectations and participation, particularly from the organizations named in the stadium legislation, the Urban League and Sabathani. The provisions of the Stadium Bill called these organizations and leadership to arms. All others who claim to speak for the African American community should submit their recommendations as well. With Kelm-Helgen, we know they will all be well considered by the Sports Authority. As a Minnesotan with historic ties providing a unique understanding of and commitment to the struggle of the communities of color, especially the African American, as seen in Kelm-Helgen’s longtime conferring with the great civil rights activist, Josie Johnson, we strongly feel that the discussions they had over the last year rekindled the recollection of those historical moments that started 75 years ago and continue to this day, as she continues the legacy of the great Minnesota civil rights names: Kelm, Johnson, Humphrey, Newman, Childress. She will understand the columns we have written about the Disparity Compliance Studies and the task ahead (Solutionpaper #46, DisparityCompliance.html) and how its fits into the overall struggle of liberty encoded in the history of this country’s Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Stay tuned. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's media message platforms: Segregation again: Black educators are being purged June 20, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" Richard Green was the first Black superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools who later became Chancellor of the New York City Schools. He was an educator’s educator. He earned respect and affection of all involved with education, educators, students and parents. He was honored when Central High School was renamed Richard Green School. Green was a native son, born and raised here. The failure of subsequent superintendents to live up to the standard he set has caused serious consequences for our schools and, thus, for Black teachers and Black students. A high-school education is the first key to success in our society, as it leads to the second key, a job. Richard Green would be saddened, were he still alive, to witness the controversy and education reversals surrounding his namesake school. This controversy was exposed at the Minneapolis School Board meeting June 12, when a delegation of African Americans appeared before the Board of Education to protest new segregation and continued purging of African American educators from the Minneapolis Public Schools. The controversy? The district is not only violating its own policies on teacher tenure, but it has also created an atmosphere of disregard for the African American community itself. The unkindest cuts? Those by Blacks of Blacks. The demonstration caught the MPS Board by surprise. I was not surprised, based on the events between May 24 and May 27 involving Superintendent Johnson’s administration. Even the head of the teachers’ union was shocked by the cover-up and the possibility of being charged with complicity by representatives of the teacher’s union for violating conditions addressing tenure and job security for qualified African American educators. The very respected president of the Minnesota Black Educators Alliance was present and spoke directly to the board and to the superintendent, expressing concern and disappointment with this far-reaching practice to reduce the number of Black educators in the Minneapolis Public Schools. For example, on April 9, 2012, the Latina principal at Richard Green School indicated to a top-rated Black teacher that she had no intention to sign off on her tenure despite her great ratings, credentials (including a master’s degree), the educational development of her students and appreciation of their parents. Why was the board only now stunned by the evidence that principals had been orchestrating these kinds of decisions against African American teachers? How the district deals with this as well will have serious legal implications for future relationships between the board, the superintendent, and the educators and their union, as well as all parties within the African American community. It is no coincidence that in the last two weeks, 21 teachers have requested to be transferred out of Richard Green School, 21 excellent educators concerned with the education of African American children. This situation, under any circumstance, is unacceptable. We are watching a reversal of history, the re-segregation of schools, and the purging of Black educators that taught in them. Only this time, the purging and re-segregating is being done by Blacks, not just by Whites. If this continues it will be a sign that we are truly returning to the period before Brown vs. Board of Education, and if this occurs, God help the children. As Nellie Stone Johnson always said, no education, then no jobs, then no housing. At stake is not just the future of public education in Minneapolis and, by extension, Minnesota. At stake is the principle of a seat at the table for everyone, as that is the first step to turning around the economy of the entire state. And as Minneapolis goes, so goes the state. BULLETIN On Monday, June 11, the brother of Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan was arrested after an altercation involving an individual who is the friend of Chief Dolan’s brother’s ex-wife. Police reports indicate that a knife was involved, but that the appropriate report of the incident cannot be found. Nor has the Star Tribune, as of this writing, reported it, as it again has chosen not to report events immediately that could negatively impact the prominent and elite of our city, putting tremendous pressure on a female acting sergeant of the MPD called to supervise the June 11 alternation. I’m told it was not a pretty picture as police struggled to keep it under control. Stay tuned. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's media message platforms: Requirement that stadium builders ""make every effort" to hire minorities is a cruel joke. June 13, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" On the road to creating the Minnesota Sports Authority, the entity that will control and manage the construction of the Vikings stadium, the Minnesota legislature caused a second violation of the Minneapolis City Charter. The first charter violation, this one by the mayor and city council, was not holding a required referendum on stadium costs of over $10 million to the City. The second violation, this one by the state legislature and unopposed by the City, decrees sole authority to the mayor to appoint the city’s two Minnesota Sports Authority members. The charter purposefully states that Minneapolis city government is to follow a strong council/weak mayor model, a perceived strength and cornerstone of Minneapolis democracy that reduces the chance for one-person boss rule. The State, recognizing that the City already violated its charter, knew the mayor and a simple council majority would not protest this second violation (which raises the specter of a potential lawsuit that would further delay construction). Under the stadium bill, 473J.07: “The Mayor of the City shall appoint two members to the authority,” with the city council having no role, as seen in the clear and precise language under 473J.09: “Powers and Duties of the Authority.” I raised this question with four council members, two who voted for and two who voted against the City’s stadium bill. Council Member Elizabeth Glidden, Democrat, 8th Ward, confirmed that the mayor had sought neither consultation nor recommendations from the six members who opposed the Vikings stadium package. I wait to learn about the winning seven. These alarming and dangerous city charter violation precedents are made more alarming by major media ignoring these violations through a plague of silence, especially the Minneapolis Star Tribune, as major media have so far declined to touch on the significance of these charter violations. Why don’t the mayor and the seven pro-stadium council members mind that the Minneapolis municipality will now be run by the Sports Authority, which will now assume the powers of “a municipality within a municipality,” as spelled out in other provisions of the legislation? As we used to say about the good ‘ol boys down home, and now about the legislature and the mayor-plus-seven, “They went hog wild.” In terms of municipal activities, the legislation crafts the creation of a Stadium Implementation Committee that dictates the City’s timeline: “The City Council shall not impose any unreasonable conditions on the recommendations of the Implementation Committee.” This is clearly a reflection of the new reality: the great reduction of authority and power of the mayor and city council. The legislature went to great lengths to redefine the City’s role as more an advisor than a government. Its role in the decisions and process of the construction and operations of the Vikings stadium and its surrounding development and infrastructure is now toothless. I point out these particular legislative features in order to expose the false declarations that there will be participation/inclusion of the African American community. There is no mandate that will require or position the involvement of the African American community in any aspect of the construction and maintenance and operation of the Vikings stadium. The Minneapolis Civil Rights Department, upon the appointment of the five-member committee of the Sports Authority, will enter into negotiations to monitor that the authority is in compliance with minority hiring employment requirements, but only as a guest advisor of the authority, as set out in 473J.12, where the language states: “The authority shall make every effort to employ and cause the NFL team, the Construction Manager, and other subcontractors vendors, and concessionaires, to employ women and members of the minority community when hiring” (emphasis added). Take “make every effort” to your nearest attorney, and learn it is advisory, not mandatory. If there are none available in Minneapolis, none from Minneapolis will be hired. Here is the cruel joke: Minnesota labor leaders, Black and White, have let both Black and White laborers down. Arguing over the number of workers from Minneapolis or from Minnesota outside Minneapolis is arguing over ghosts, as the State and City don’t have the number of “stadium skill” workers required. Lacking these stadium-related specialty skills, expect more than half of the workers to come from out of state. You’ll be able to tell from the license plates on their cars and trucks at work sites. Instead, how about labor training leaders, Black and White, join together now so Minnesotans can be ready to work on the stadium? Stay tuned. Columns are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's media message platforms: Stenglein takes on task of making downtown safe for all June 6, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" Pull quote:
A May 30 Star Tribune article, Stenglein builds on strengthsannounced Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein becoming CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council. (“…some 300 downtown businesses and large regional companies,” “movers and shakers,” with “a new plan for a vibrant and livable 24/7 downtown that can house double the 34,000 people who now live there.” It “will help forge public-private partnerships at a time of limited government funding”). Stenglein “has the reputation of seeing the importance of investing in the Black communities’ economic growth,” as seen in “his African-American Men Project, an effort to rethink county policy to get more young black men employed and out of trouble.” Unfortunately, the documentation/statistics/lack of jobs shows good intentions were not met, as the African American community gained little financial stimulus. Recall the statement of former Minneapolis Civil Rights Department Director Michael Jordan, about five years ago, that Minneapolis can meet its diversity hiring goals without hiring a single Black person. Reaction? None. Government and corporate Minneapolis silently endorsed a doctrine of intentional neglect of economic uplift for the African American community. What now? There are four actors who will determine Minneapolis’ prosperity or decline: (1) the new Minnesota Sports Authority (the "municipality within a municipality"); (2) the Minneapolis Downtown Business Council; (3) the city council and City departments (especially the Department of Civil Rights); and (4) the Vikings (top developers who are putting up half the stadium money). These four will choose between community common purpose of inclusion and prosperity or community exclusion and continued decline. The future’s focal point: the new Vikings Stadium. We congratulate the Wilf ownership group for exercising extreme patience rather than be intimidated to bolt to Los Angeles by those I listed in my 2003 and 2005 Roll Calls, who, since 1997, have advocated for the Vikings to leave. We are heartened by reports that our Roll Call, our Chapter 15 on the Vikings in our 2002 book, and our columns and solution papers on the Vikings since, have helped influence fence-sitters in both legislature and city council to vote for the stadium deal. So what’s next? The Stenglein piece notes “the nagging perception — true or not — that downtown, especially the Warehouse District, isn't entirely safe.” The big task, Stenglein said, will be "integrating residents into downtown." Over the Memorial Day weekend, a state of near emergency existed downtown. Groups fought. People were shot, stabbed and beaten. Police were almost overrun. White media didn’t tell you. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Police reports confirm what happened. Question #1: Will Minneapolis repeat its 1960s civil uprisings that briefly caught the attention of Big Corporate in Minneapolis until they developed a plan to compromise and eliminate aggressive Black leadership so they could get back to their exclusion business as usual? Question #2: Where did all of the financing go for training programs that were “going to get more Black men employed and out of trouble”? Question #3: Where are the skilled workers these programs were supposed to produce? Question #4: Why was there so little Black participation on the Twins and Gophers stadiums? Question #5: Do Great White Dreamers realize that not allowing for Black dreams as well results in nightmares for both? Question #6: When will silent Minneapolis media stop contributing to our decline by ending their cover-ups and propagandizing? Question #7: Will the “Big 4” heed the diversity/inclusion vision of former Urban League and NAACP leader Nellie Stone Johnson: equal access and equal opportunity in education, jobs and housing for all, Blacks and Whites? Since 2002, in my books, columns and papers, I’ve asked, “Where’s the Plan?” No plan equals no hiring equals more hopelessness among young Blacks. The October 2010 “Diversity Report” stated 2.54 percent availability of and .15 utilization of Black Americans. This is an indictment of the City and of training programs of OIC, the Urban League and others. Diversity/inclusion is possible. I call on the “Big 4” to adopt the prosperity diversity/inclusion model of the Metrodome from 35 years ago. I worked with the head of the Metrodome construction project. He discovered that Minneapolis had a shortage of White skilled workers as well, so he arranged for skilled workers, White and Black, to be brought to Minnesota from around the country in order to complete the Metrodome project, meeting compliance requirements in doing so. We wish you the best, Mark. We look forward to seeing how you “Big 4” get it turned around. Stay tuned. Columns referenced above are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's media message platforms: Tensions within the MPD revealed in the case of Lt. Michael Keefe. May 30, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" Pull Quote: It appears a number of law enforcement officers previously assigned to VOTF are attempting to head off federal prosecution, and to specifically head off having their questionable conduct revealed during the course of the trial involving Lt. Michael Keefe. For months tensions within the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) have been building over internal issues due to actions of the VOTF unit (Violent Offenders Task Force) over the past six years. This column first sounded the alert about VOTF and the conspiracy within the MPD to destroy Black officers and their Black Police Officers Association in 2007. I have written over 60 columns detailing the culture of the MPD since 2007, and over 100 since 2003, including my reporting on the implosion of the VOTF (once the pride of the department), columns detailing the internal corruption and the lawsuits against the department by Black police officers (see my July 14, 2008, Paper #31, updated May 2012, on "....Discrimination in the Minneapolis Police Department"). In December 2007, five African American officers — Arrodondo, Harris, Edwards, Adams, and Hamilton — filed suit in Federal District Court of Minnesota. In May 2009, the City settled for $750,000 for those five officers. Michael Keefe, a White lieutenant and one of the most respected police officers in law enforcement in the State of Minnesota, who broke the case wide open in early 2007, will shortly finally get his day in court. It was Lt. Keefe who had been appointed commander of VOTF, after a distinguished career in the Homicide Unit, who called attention to the very questionable conduct of VOTF officers and of the conspiracy to end the careers of a number of Black officers, which then led to their attempt to end the career of Lt. Michael Keefe as well, in what has become the longest discovery process of a pending case in the Federal District Court of Minnesota. Depositions taken have increased tension within the MPD. One of the examples of that tension took place over two weeks ago, at a going-away ceremony for the outgoing inspector of the First Precinct, who had been promoted to Deputy Chief of Patrol. Sgt. Pat King, one of the alleged ringleaders in VOTF’s undermining of African American officers and Lt. Michael Keefe, made an attempt to approach Lt. Keefe, who was an attendee at this ceremony. Unbeknownst to Sgt. King, it now appears that a surveillance operation was being carried out at the ceremony, which may have included electronic intercepts and the wearing of a wire. It appears that someone within the federal system, with access to a website known as Pacer.com, has been delivering a blow-by-blow description of many activities, courtroom drama, Federal surveillance of law enforcement officers, and the discussion of statements given by former VOTF members. It appears a number of law enforcement officers previously assigned to VOTF are attempting to head off federal prosecution, and to specifically head off having their questionable conduct revealed during the course of the trial involving Lt. Michael Keefe (who, as a result of his reporting, was demoted to sergeant), who is suing the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department. Those providing information to Pacer.com obviously have deep knowledge of surveillance results going back at least to 2005 if not earlier, making for juicy listening, particularly when, according to reliable sources, it provides evidence of the conspiracy developed against African American officers in the department and the African American community in general. This reflects a department out of control, a city administration giving aid and comfort to these actions, many of them illegal according, again, to the information being posted on Pacer.com. This situation has the Star Tribune shuddering, as they await a federal judge’s decision on whether or not to compel their reporter or reporters to reveal their sources of information that led to the destruction of the Black Police Officers Association and to the capping of then Lt. Michael Keefe’s career. Federal sources indicate a decision may be forthcoming within the next 15 days, if not earlier. I am not surprised. In 2007, I filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of the Black officers and on behalf of Lt. Michael Keefe, complaints relevant to the violations of their civil rights by the VOTF, whose officers sabotaged them with malice aforethought. The public has a right to know, especially the Black public, that this dark hallway of racial animus and corruption is still in existence. The public should insist on transparency and full disclosure regarding this dark episode that has seriously jeopardized future fairness regarding African American recruitment, hiring, and promotion within the MPD. Stay tuned. Columns referenced above are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Posted Wednesday, May 30, 2012 , 5:44 a.m Ron's media message platforms: We see a stadium bill — but where’s the inclusion plan? May 23, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" We Await the Diversity Plan from the Civil Rights Department For the Vikings Stadium, Planning, Development, and Construction We saw several things as Minneapolis prepared to pay its $150 million over 30 years for the Vikings Stadium” • We saw the $150 million figure climb to potentially $1.170 billion. Minneapolis tax payers could be out $1.170 billion over the next 30 years. Here’s how: • $338 million: when capital and operations over 30 years are added to the original $150 million (Star Tribune, Minneapolis' slice of stadium funding could jump, May 1, 2012). I again ask: where is the diversity hiring plan outlining how the city and state will ensure rules, statutes and laws on the books are upheld regarding diversity compliance, specifying “African Americans” under the term “minorities”, not just the Vikings stadium bill language to “make every effort.” We have not forgotten the hard fought battle by the African American community in 1967, that catalyzed the creation of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department and Commission. The African American community’s high expectations to be included in the planning and construction of the stadium have not been met. So we again ask the question of Velma Korvel (Director, Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights) and Kevin Lindsay (Commissioner of Minnesota on Human Rights Department): where is the plan. We have heard the Vikings and Governor say the new stadium will guarantee the economic rejuvenation of downtown Minneapolis, with capital improvement and significant investment in all communities, irrespective of race, creed or color. The city’s record, in full view last fall: non-compliance. I see “try” words but no “will do” words, nor words of accountability nor words of sanctions for not being in compliance. My uneasy feeling is because, as of this writing, there is no plan for the full and meaningful inclusion of the African American community, of commitment and the opportunity for diversity that includes race, not just the group catch-all of “minorities”. The only way to ensure compliance is to have the City Council not vote on the city’s financial obligations for the construction of the new stadium until the full costs picture and a diversity plan have been distributed. A diversity plan should be voted on by the Minneapolis City Council, sending a signal to state and team of the city’s tenacious commitment to diversity, a commitment demonstrating Minneapolis knows how to be fair and right. It is time to open, not close doors of opportunity. Once the bill is approved, Minneapolis will be run more by the 5 man authority than the City Council (the power of a municipality within a municipality). The time to put together an inclusion plan for this largest public works project in the history of the state of Minnesota is now. Exclusion would be tantamount to approving the shredding of civil and human rights, and once again not living up to the goals and expectations of inclusion, just publish pretty words with no action, such as the Star Tribune’s three week series on race, June 10 – 24, 1990. Recommendation: that Civil Rights Director Korvel and Commissioner Lindsay be requested to make a joint presentation to Minneapolis City Council, in open session, before any vote on supporting the Vikings construction Bill takes place. It is the right thing to do. It is the honorable thing to do. It is the type of commitment that Hubert and Cecil and Nellie would expect. This is a significant, historical occasion for opportunity and commitment. It will have a lot to say about the peaceful future of race relations in this city and in the state of Minnesota. Stay tuned. Columns referenced above are archived here. Posted Wednesday, May 23, 2012 , 11:39 a.m Ron's media message platforms: Our Vikings appear to be saved. May 16, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" Because of our decade of columns and solution papers on saving the Vikings, especially in the last two years, I have received calls saying my column was instrumental in helping change anti-stadium votes to pro-stadium. Who can say? We are pleased the House and Senate bills for the new stadium are in conference, soon to be sent to the governor to sign into law. But it is not over yet. Credit the Wilfs for doing the real heavy lifting, honorably resisting efforts to kick the Vikings to L.A. (efforts begun in 1997, two ownership groups before them). Still missing is a commitment to diversity (African American inclusion) in the stadium work: planning, constructing, and operating (see our solution paper on line, Diversity and Compliance Studies, detailing our columns on how Minneapolis purposefully practices disparity and avoids compliance). Four conclusions from this stadium process so far: 2. After squandering 17 years available for getting it done, the deal was purposefully done in secrecy with purposeful moves to ensure closed meetings. 3. Minnesota acted in bad faith and dishonorably, trying to get the Vikings to swallow poison pills that could have caused them to move. Will official Minnesota again dishonor its word and attempt pushing Vikings’ costs even higher? 4. State, county and city officials fragrantly omitted the inclusion of minority (African American) contractors and laborers. Construction and other relevant unions fought hard for their White Brothers but not their Black Brothers. Local Black organizations fought for training dollars but have done nothing to ensure “graduates” work on the stadium. We urge the Vikings to insist on inclusion (African Americans) if our elite “leaders,” White and Black, again refuse to do so. We urge the Vikings to stand up for its minority-worker fan base too. We encourage compliance with the law regarding the inclusion of minority contractors and workers, especially African Americans, insisting on training to the level where they actually qualify. Or we urge a plan to import qualified minority contractors and workers if local training efforts fail. To get a deal and be able to stay, the Vikings have reluctantly agreed to: 1. Pay $50 million more than the original agreed upon amount. (Hopefully they’ll get assistance from the NFL.) 2. Accept some user fees on fans and on game day that will cut into the Vikings’ revenue streams. Potential deal breakers taken off the table: 1. Not letting the Vikings have the naming rights revenue. 2. Not letting the Vikings have right of first refusal for a soccer team that would play in the new stadium. 3. More stringent user fees on fans and Vikings. But still out there, with no word on reversing them at the time of this writing, are attempts to get the Vikings to pay more so the State can pay less, and tying tax riders to the bill: 1. Requiring the Vikings to pay a percentage of their NFL shared revenue, the most sacred part of the NFL structure in order to keep teams competitive and profitable through revenue and draft parity. 2. Requiring that the Vikings have to pay all stadium construction cost overruns, which is a license to steal. As we reported in our 2002 book, “the July 2000 issue of the Journal of The American Planning Association reported a study that showed cost overruns have been the norm of the 20th century (1910-1998), …28% [average over run] with transportation 45% over in costs…. Developers and city planners both want opportunities to make significant extra money by doing this with selected developers and community leaders who can keep the neighborhoods docile.” That 28% of $1 billion is $280 million more that the Vikings would have to pay. [Editor’s note: KSTP reported May 13, 2012, that Council Member Gary Schiff has projected the total cost to Minneapolis to be $675 million. On May 1, The Start Tribune reported that if tax revenue is strong, the City's amount will be $890 million. What is still unclear, as of the date of this posting, is who will pay the projected $280 million in cost overruns.] 3. Establishing a slow process that would have the Vikings wait until 2015 or later to operate in a new stadium. 4. Expansion of charitable gambling to help pay the state's share. 5. Making Internet retailers such as Amazon collect state taxes when Minnesota customers buy online. 6. Linkage to tax breaks for the Mall of America. 7. Annual payments of $2.7 million to City of St. Paul for sports facilities. If there are no candy and flowers during courtship, what can be expected after being locked in for 20-30 years? Stay tuned. Posted Wednesday, May 16, 2012 , 3:08 a.m. Columns referenced above are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron's media message platforms: Change at the top in the MPD May 9, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" May Day this year was highlighted by the announcement of the changing of the guard within the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and, thus, the end of the Dolan era. Mayor R.T. Rybak announced that Assistant Chief Jane Harteau will become the new MPD chief, replacing Chief Tim Dolan, just as Dolan earlier replaced Chief William McManus in 2006. Dolan, who had over 30 years with the MPD and 35 years in law enforcement altogether, in turn announced that he would take an early departure at the end of the year, which we were the first to report two months ago. On the surface, it looks like a major change — White male Dolan replaced by Minneapolis’ first female and first Native American chief. Will this new test of leadership bring change or a continuation of the Rybak-Dolan era? Dolan and Rybak worked in tandem. William McManus, who now serves as chief of the San Antonio Police Department, moved on because he did not enjoy the full trust and support of Rybak. What will the new Chief Harteau do? The key is not her gender or ethnicity, but how she will deal with statistics in key categories of crime. The City says crime rates are significantly reduced, but we don’t see that in our neighborhoods and on our streets. We know that incidents that create the numbers and statistics can get “lost,” and we saw with the job hiring compliance numbers that they can also be made up. Know the “secret”: Each morning, Monday through Friday, in the actual Hennepin County courtrooms, we see how the actual number of people coming through the door and appearing before the judges is not consistent with the statistics, be it about plea bargains or trials. Are Minneapolis streets safer now than five or even 10 years ago? The rate of incarceration coming out of Minneapolis — and we are only talking about Minneapolis, not about all of Hennepin County — raises a serious question of the category of crimes being reduced. Let’s look at some examples. Example: drugs. There are more drugs on the street in Minneapolis and in communities of color than at any time in the last decade. This negatively impacts education and jobs. All types of drugs continue to flow through our communities, seemingly with immunity. As we reported in this column five months ago, it is puzzling that Minneapolis may be the only city in the top 50, by population, that does not have a narcotics unit. That is a troubling statistic. Example: assaults. Although down statistically, the number actually processed through Hennepin County’s Court system for assaults and crimes against persons does not match published statistics. Thus, those who live in the neighborhoods with the highest crime rates, who tell of nightly shootings, violence, ongoing assaults and other criminal activity, do not agree. Example: censorship. Major print and broadcast media attempt to condition us to believe things are getting better. How will new Chief Renee Harteau prioritize her agenda for fighting crime and making the city safer? Example: diversity. Citizens conditioned to believe the announced statistics miss that diversity compliance is “demonstrated” with made-up numbers. I have no recollection of the incoming chief showing any strong interest or commitment to improve racial diversity in the department. In fact, some say Harteau is somewhat soft on the importance of diversity and enhancing the presence of officers of color, and thus she does not work to increase the number of Native American and Black police officers. The statistics do not indicate a vigorous commitment to diversity under either the outgoing or the incoming chief, neither of whom have significantly sought to increase diversity in the ranks. One thing she will not have to worry about is pressure from Blacks on this issue. They have apparently received their marching orders from the Rybak administration, and thus have orders that say, “Stand down and stay silent.” We look forward to learning more about what the new incoming Chief Harteau has to say and what her thoughts are on the unprecedented police misconduct against a Black fraternal organization on April 21, 2012. Of course, I have to ask the question if anyone in City government is concerned about what happened inside that fraternal organization’s building. Jane, we wish you all the best; only history will judge your successes and/or failures. Stay tuned. Columns referenced above are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers for community planning and development, “web log,” and archives at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Columns referenced above are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Posted Thursday, May 10, 2012 , 3:35 a.m. Ron's media message platforms: Assault by the MPD on the Ames Elks, May 2, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" Elks lodge web sites state they are “places where neighbors come together, families share meals, and children grow up.” So why, at a time when the issue of excessive force discussions are going on nation wide in the aftermath of the February 26, 2012 Trayvon Martin killing, would 50 police cars and 60 police officers of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) descend on the Ames Elks Lodge of Minneapolis, at 11:40 p.m., CDT, on April 21, 2012, without first checking to see if the 911 calls that shots were being fired and people were endangered was true or false. It was false. Didn’t matter. And why did the police of Chief Dolan knock people down as they attempted to clear the building, and then, on the second floor, have the dozen or so they found, male and female African Americans over 50, get on the floor and then kick, prod and poke them? The lesson we learn is that the racial tensions experienced during the five years I served on the PCRC (Police Community Relations Council) meetings, have continued unabated. No wonder downtown streets are “dead” at night and people wonder where will the customers come from for a rejuvenated Block E and other development to surround a Vikings stadium. People paying attention suggest it was in response to the three Caucasian males shot and killed in North Minneapolis in the last ten months, that the police want to teach our Black community a proper lesson. The most recent White tragedy was a 21-year-old Caucasian male shot and killed along the 3500 block of Fremont Avenue North. So the old lessons prevail: white lives are sacred. And privileged. Blacks’ are not. But it still makes a difference to us how many black citizens are victims of violence in the City of Minneapolis. The actions and deeds of the City, Big Corporate, and White Folks in General, suggest they really don’t care. The false 911 call just before midnight of a shooting and gunfire inside the Ames Lodge must have caused the adrenalin to really flow. Despite no guns or shootings, WCCO and other White media reported gunshots and injuries. Just think: 50 squad cars, 60 officers (although there has been no such police response when Blacks were killed). What most caught our attention, including Elks officials and security personnel, was the level of racial venom, racial animus and racial slurs directed towards both the male and female Blacks on the floor by both white male and female cops standing over them, even after the single suspect in the incident was taken into custody. There were no Black officers among this contingent of Officers kicking, prodding, and poking us, despite the department’s claims to have diversity. They were not kicking gang bangers. They didn’t recognize me. They were “just” kicking and abusing and raining down verbal and physical assaults on African Americans over 50, Question: would white members over 50 of a white fraternal organizations, such as the Shriners, white Elks, Knights of Columbus be subject to such abuse? Answer: I don’t think so. And neither do you. This case is a case that is racially driven, racially motivated, reflecting disturbing pattern of racial animus and hatred against African Americans still residing inside too many of Chief Tim Dolan’s 1,000 member MPD. Not everyone. But even one is too many, especially if he or she is beating, prodding and poking older African Americans on the floor. They are “to protect and serve” all. They don’t want us to remember that this police department was under federal review by the Department of Justice from 2004 – 2008 for racial incidents. What lessons can we assume were learned by the police April 21st regarding how to improve race relations between police and community in this city? Is it Chief Dolan’s inability to stop the calls for change that caused him last week to announce his early retirement? No one, Black or White, disserves the physical and verbal abuse rained down upon us April 21, 2012. Is the police message that the summer of 2012 will be one in which African Americans will be punished and disrespected, that lessons about how to better race relations in this city will continue to be ignored? Certainly for those like me who were there, on the floor, being kicked, cursed and disrespected, that is a fair questions. We await the City’s answer. Stay tuned. Columns referenced above are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Posted Wednesday, May 3, 2012, 4:15 a.m. Ron's media message platforms: Sid Hartman and Star Tribune confirm our stadium analysis. April 25, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" “If Vikings are sold, they could be moved,” blared Sid Hartman’s headline in the April 16 Star Tribune. The dire avalanche of bad-news Star Tribune headlines continued last week. About the legislature: “Vikings stadium plan in doubt after House vote.” About the governor: “Dayton says stadium bill might have to wait until next year.” The league weighed in: “NFL warning of sale. Move adds pressure for stadium deal.” The NFL sub-heading continued: “There's a list of buyers and the Wilfs may be ready to listen with stadium plan stalled.” Sid warned again on April 18: “Pay a little now or pay a lot more later” (to get a replacement team in 10-20 years). Those familiar with this column and my books might think Sid Hartman was finally admitting to reading my book and columns, or maybe using me as his ghost writer. Everything in the first paragraph you’ll find in Chapter 15 of my 2002 book and in over 20 columns since. We welcome Sid confirming the truth of what we wrote in 2002 and since. The final deadline will now be February 15, 2013. Will Minnesota meet it or unlock the doors for the moving vans? And why hasn't Minnesota looked at the "no new taxes" approaches we identified? But today’s column is not about the Vikings and their stadium quest. It is about journalism to inform, not to censor, as censorship and closed doors negatively impact our city. The stadium struggle is an example. Minneapolis is plagued by censorship. My publisher personally delivered a dozen copies of my book to Star Tribune editors and reporters in 2002. When he asked later about his suggestion of a “local author writes book” story and a book review, he was told by then-Star Tribune columnist Doug Grow that the paper’s position was not to acknowledge the book’s existence nor to review the book — that the book was “shelved.” My publisher later personally talked about this with Jim McClatchy, former chairman and publisher of McClatchy Newspapers (owner of the Star Tribune), in his Sacramento office. McClatchy said he wouldn’t tell the Star Tribune what to do but invited him to contact then-Star Tribune editor Anders Gyllenhaal to talk about it. He called Anders, who continued the blackout of my book. Furthering Minneapolis-style censorship, the NAACP expelled me for writing the book, especially Chapter 14 (despite heads nodding in agreement at my hearing that what I wrote was true). When Whites and Blacks censor, the obvious question is what else they have kept quiet about on the issues of our city’s people. Many Minnesota worthies decided over a decade ago (see Star Tribune reporter Jay Weiner’s Univ MN 2000 book, Stadium Games for details; see reviews on Amazon) that the Vikings should leave town. I covered this in my book and later put together, in 2005, a “roll call” of over three dozen influentials who agreed. Since then: silence. If Sid and others are serious, they need to stop jerking the Vikings around and come out clearly for the stadium and repudiate the “roll call” of those who say to the Vikings, “Leave.” Only the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder has had the journalistic integrity to report uncensored. So I ask: What else has the Star Tribune censored besides those wanting the Vikings’ departure? How about in such areas as access and opportunities in education, employment, City hiring compliance violations, housing, development, community-police relations, taxing and spending, etc.? Where are the strategists, tacticians, realists yet visionaries? I said two weeks ago (April 11, 2012, Will the Vikings stadium be in Minnesota or L.A.?) that you can’t expect Zygi Wilf to wait around until 2017 to play in a new stadium. Unlike our city and state, they don’t wait. They take action. They know its importance. When will Minnesota? Hence our March 14, 2012 question: Vikings stadium plan in place??? Consider the solution I proposed a decade ago: (1) bipartisanship from the political parties; (2) corporations stepping up for their “base,” the people of Minnesota; (3) taxpayers being shown clearly how a new stadium can be a year-around benefit and still be done “without new taxes”; (4) adopt the “Save the Vikings” plan of 2005 and again November 9, 2011, Stop the punting of the Vikings! Minnesotans: Unite with a ‘Fan Response Movement’ to keep the team, and in othe past columns; and (5) hold a “family meeting,” which we’d be glad to help facilitate/mediate. It was unfair of Sid to dump everything on Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers when the DFL didn’t meet the stadium problem when they were in the majority. At this point, Minnesotans have to pull the covers back to see how many hands are opening the door to shove our beloved Vikings to Los Angeles. Stay tuned. Columns referenced above are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Column 2012/#17 Posted Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 5:58 a.m. Ron's media message platforms: America is on a racial ‘Razor’s Edge.’ "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" April 18, 2012 The death of Trayvon Martin on February 26 was not just another event in America’s troubled and tainted history of abusing the rights of African Americans. The controversy surrounding his death highlights a pivotal time in the history of our race relations. For every Trayvon there are 50 other Trayvon Martin cases that are never addressed for a variety of reasons: The community is not organized; the community is not aware; the community is frightened and intimidated; the community receives poor and ineffective legal counsel; and our community is often at war with itself. Not enough in Black and White America recognize that where there is a spark there is a potential for a full-fledged inferno that burns away and obstructs the quest for justice. This column has long warned that election year 2012 could become the most dangerous period in race relations in America’s recent history. The events beyond Sanford, Fla. in Tulsa, Okla., Baltimore, Md., Spokane, Wash. and Minneapolis, Minn. are signals of the growing chasm of racial intolerance in this country. The execution-style killing of a young White citizen along the 3500 block of Fremont Ave. N. of this city and other incidents across the country of racial animus and physical confrontation represent a clear and present danger. America refuses to enter into the kinds of discussions about the issues of race and racism that make up the four elephants in the room, the elephants of not only Whites killing Blacks and Blacks killing Whites, but the biggest elephants — Whites killing Whites and Blacks killing Blacks. Male elephants have a history and an extreme effectiveness of creating damage and mayhem if they become irritated, agitated and angry. The strife that has begun to emerge, the polarization that is increasing daily, should not and cannot be dismissed as a momentary thing or something that will pass. One can sense when one is out and about in the communities of America that the patience of Black Americans to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect is beginning to run out. Only a razor-thin margin is holding back a serious and dangerous eruption in America over the issues of race and racism. The solution is what Nellie Stone Johnson long called for: education that leads to jobs that leads to housing. Although it certainly appears that Trayvon is the victim of profiling, the reality is that 90 percent of Blacks killed are killed by Blacks and most Whites who are killed are killed by Whites. Unless both communities come together to work out education, jobs and opportunity for all, this violence will continue with the Black community getting the worst of it. Where are our Black leaders making waves about the 90 percent of our brothers who are killed by brothers? In fact, as a part of the razor-thin condition muting racial animus in America, no president has been so disrespected, insulted, threatened and challenged based not on his actions as president but simply on the color of his skin. Being insulted and challenged happens to all presidents in a country that honors free speech, but now it is heightened due to the issues of race and racism that America refuses to address and resolve. This president has been treated in a hostile manner that is unknown in the history of the United States and the institution of our presidency. And certainly there is a fear in this column that as the conservative right aligns itself for what they consider to be the final push to recapture the Whiteness of the White House, that razor-thin blade will cut us apart even more, risking the dismantling of our democratic institutions that are so important to maintain, and without which opportunity and strength will be denied both Blacks and Whites. These events signal that we are no more than a razor’s edge from tearing this nation apart based on racial hatred and racial agendas. The only workable agenda is an agenda for protecting the rights and opportunities of all. Stay tuned. Columns referenced above are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Column 2012/#16 Posted Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 3:14 a.m. Will the Vikings stadium be in Minnesota or L.A.? "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" April 11, 2012 Los Angeles is ready to save the Vikings’ goose by having it lay its golden eggs in L.A., saying “Y’all come” to one of four sites and get a new stadium. Thus, when National Public Radio’s (NPR) Los Angeles affiliate, KCRW, aired, on April 2, 2012, “Which Way L.A.,” regarding Los Angeles gaining an NFL team, we thought they had been reading our columns. The KCRW program, driven by events we reported last week — the purchase of the L.A. Dodgers for $2.15 billion — explains how the stadium debate could cause the Vikings to move to Los Angeles. L.A. offers four sites: downtown convention center site; Dodger Stadium land near downtown; south of L.A., Industry, CA; and the perennial near-downtown L.A. Coliseum. LA is offering land for a development partnership, whether mixed use, commercial, residential, condo, etc. Minnesota has denied six sites (Anoka, Arden Hills, the Farmer’s Market sports corridor, Linden Ave., Basilica, Metrodome), and offers little for a development partnership. For years we have made the case for how to keep the Vikings in Minnesota: 1. Campaigning to Save the Vikings (January 26, 2005, and November 9, 2011, and December 1, 2011, and March 14, 2012, and April 4, 2012). 2. Pleading with Minnesota influentials to say it’s not true that the Vikings have to leave (January 29, 2005). 3. Listing how to finance a new stadium without raising new taxes. The results so far: Minnesota is starving the goose that lays the NFL Minnesota golden eggs, denying financing, forcing the Vikings to have to consider leaving (January 26, 2005, and April 13, 2011, and May 25, 2011, and March 14, 2012). 4. Calling for the equal opportunity employment compliance on the proposed Vikings stadium (February 15, 2012, and April 4, 2012). We can save the Vikings for Minnesota with a stadium complex plan. The Vikings, investors in L.A., and Minnesota influentials, planners and legislators all know this (October 12, 2011). The participation of former NBA great Irwin “Magic” Johnson as a partner in the group purchasing the L.A. Dodgers, pending approval by MLB owners, indicates time is running out for Minnesota decision-makers. The KCRW report mirrors what we have reported for years. Voters will make clear to Minnesota’s political institutions that there is no cover, only slipping on their own banana peel if Vikings leave. Three key facts from KCRW report: 1. The NFL’s favored spot in L.A. is alongside Dodger Stadium in Chavez ravine, near downtown. 2. The trigger: “an NFL team standing up and saying ‘we cannot get it done in our current city and we have to move,’ and that will be the boulder that starts the avalanche.” 3. The NFL and its owners will offer no resistance to teams who declare they “cannot get it done” in their current locations. Candidate teams are Jacksonville, Buffalo, St. Louis, and Minnesota. The supposed package that would provide the Minnesota Vikings with the necessary stadium dollars — $975 million — is set. The Vikings are prepared to invest about $470 million. A new stadium will spring up if Minnesota does likewise. The Wilf group has been extremely patient, but a key signal is that no lease, short- or long-term, has been signed. Will the Vikings give up 2012 season ticket payments in exchange for tickets sold at “home” games played away at other NFL stadiums whose teams are “away” on Vikings “home” weeks? Aligned now are the NFL, L.A., and teams seeking new stadiums. Where is the alignment of Minnesota movers and shakers in the political leadership and big corporations? Will this stalemate lead to saying goodbye to the Vikings? The NFL has not denied the KCRW report that, in principle, NFL owners will offer no resistance to owners who declare they cannot get it done. Some legislators and some on the governor’s staff are saying if it can’t get done in 2012 it will be done in 2013. Do you think that with the attractive offers of four top-notch sites in L.A. the Vikings would be here for 2013? Aren’t the beat writers concerned for their jobs if the Vikings move? Stay tuned. Columns referenced above are archived at www.theminneapolisstory.com/tocarchives.htm. Posted April 16, 2012, 4:47 a.m. Column 2012/#15 Hiring mandates must be in place for Viking stadium project. "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" April 4, 2012 If job opportunity plans include hiring mandates for Blacks for the Vikings stadium are in place, let’s see them. If they are not, set a date for revealing the mandates of a hiring compliance plan. A week ago, the Rybak Administration announced it had the 7th vote needed to move stadium financing ahead without a referendum before the voters. Hiring Black construction/transportation/planning firms and workers has been a Minneapolis Potemkin Village, a movie set: street facades with few results for Blacks behind the facades. Thus, mandates are needed. In my 2002 book The Minneapolis Story (p. 131), I wrote about what McKinsey & Company (the global $7 billion in revenue firm, ranked 45th largest of the Fortune 500), reporting about Minneapolis planning agencies: nearly $1 billion on housing planning that netted 52 housing units. I also reported (p. 132) the July 2000 Journal of American Planning Association study: “of 258 different projects around the country ….. cost overruns have been the norm for the 20th century (1910-1998).” Don’t’ forget, when public housing began in 1935, it was for whites only. It was only through the efforts of Minneapolis’ Nellie Stone Johnson, the national Negro League of Women, Mary McCloud Bethune, and Eleanor Roosevelt that Blacks were finally mandated in 1941 (p. 134) to be included in public housing. Minneapolis’ foot dragging on Black hiring compliance is a 21st century version of “jim crow.” My April 20, 2005 column noted “zero” for a share for Blacks of the coming $5 Billion construction boom. My updated Nov 22, 2011 paper on “Disparity / Compliance Studies” (#46 on my site’s “Solutions” section) lists over 20 columns going back to 2005, reporting on how Minneapolis purposefully avoids both mandating compliance and enforcing compliance. The Mayor recently held a press conference with Blacks in hard hats, pledging construction jobs for Blacks on the Viking Stadium project (as opposed to the city’s false filings to cover up not being in compliance before). This newspaper has reported the local NAACP President stating that even Black leaders have turned their eyes the other way regarding such compliance issues. The March 27, 2012 Star Tribune headline is misleading: “Higher minority-hiring goal riles Minn. construction industry,” because their concern regarding the lack of qualified Blacks is justified, as training programs for Blacks by both Blacks and whites give out too many certificates of completion without the underlying requisite skills claimed. So, again I ask: when will the plan for minority inclusion be released, a plan that must also indicate dollar amounts in terms of relationships with architects and planning firms ($5-10 million), bonding and insurance underwriting ($20-30 million), developers (Black contractors with 20-30% of the overall general contract partnership with the white developers, which should round out to stimulus for the Black community of over $200 million), and the number of daily workers to be employed (12 – 22% depending on how defined). In other words: I’m talking about a place at the Minnesota table for everyone. New stadiums for California, recent and announced, have had little public money as California is broke, which means finance mechanisms are actually available. We read in a series of L.A. Times articles and in an ESPN/LA article, that 29 Billionaires or near billionaires stepped up to bid on buying the L.A. Dodgers. The winning bid, by a group led by Magic Johnson, was announced last week at $2.15 billion. To ensure we meet the goals of this new day of compliance and cooperation, I again propose that our “Vikings stadium plan” be included in both state and city legislation: 1. That the city hold “a family meeting” to work out implementing compliance goals, through the mechanism of public hearings, including City, County and State agencies, key local foundations and nonprofits, key developers, associations of developers and planners, state legislators and city council members, community and neighborhood organizations. 2. Pledge to include minimum of federal census level percentage of Blacks. 3. Guarantee minimum Black contractor involvement and daily worker hiring levels. 4. Guarantee use of locally certified as qualified skill workers, plans to train such or, failing that, guarantee to import qualified Blacks from other cities. 5. Guarantee minimum number of compliance accountants to keep track in order to ensure pledged compliance. 6. Guarantee minimum penalties and sanctions if provisions are violated, and include them in the legislation. 7. Guarantee that a governor and mayor appointed group examine the plan, weigh the success of what is being proposed by the legislation and have the authority to trigger and implement enforcement when there are compliance violations, and, when the existence of local Black companies and workers falls short, to include Black companies and workers from outside Minnesota. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers for community planning and development, “web log,” and archives at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Posted April 4, 2012, 2:04 a.m. Column 2012/#14 Trayvon Martin murder exposes madness of Stand Your Ground laws "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" March 28, 2012 On February 26, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot to death by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old wannabe cop and self-appointed gun-carrying neighborhood watchman in a gated community, just outside Orlando in Sanford, Florida. (No local or gated community rule authorized such an armed role.) Trayvon was returning from a convenience store three blocks from the home of his dad’s fiancée to get snacks for watching a basketball game. He was essentially shot for SWB (shopping while Black). The 911 tapes (which police withheld until forced to release them by court order) make it easier to understand this latest American tragedy, as it reveals the use of racial hate language. The shooter was told by 911 to stand down and stop trailing the young man. Witnesses say Zimmerman struck Trayvon from behind, then shot him through the heart as he lay on the ground. Other “arrest” factors include the chilling one that Zimmerman was not only allowed to go free but also to keep his weapon. It is these kinds of actions of Zimmerman, the Sanford Police Department, and the state of Florida that brings shivers and fear into the African American community in Florida and other “Stand Your Ground” states. Fifteen states have Stand Your Ground gun laws that essentially expand on the “right” of citizens to claim self-defense in killing other citizens. Florida passed its law in 2005. There are thousands of gun laws, but police are lax in enforcement. And there remains a bias in favor of White gun owners. Zimmerman had been arrested four years ago in an armed assault on a police officer. He is not legally allowed to be issued a permit to carry a gun, and yet he was. Was this an Emmett Till moment? Homicides (purposeful murders) require bureaucratic report writing and investigating. It is so much easier for police departments to label them “accidental” and be done with them. It works because African Americans too often remain silent and don't take the necessary legal steps. You see, the Sanford Police Department refused to launch an investigation; they merely took the word of the assailant that young Mr. Martin represented a threat to Mr. Zimmerman by virtue of his race and appearance. The Martin family is showing the legal procedural way for future victims of such “accidents” to get justice. Florida Representative Corrine Brown was able to bring the Black Congressional Caucus and national figures such as the Rev. Al Sharpton to pressure Florida authorities and the Obama administration to explain why Mr. Zimmerman was let go instead of being charged. It is no wonder that Florida’s passage of Stand Your Ground legislation, combined with lax support of gun laws, caused many Blacks in the state of Florida to argue that this represents a dangerous and immediate threat to African Americans. It could be used as an instrument by White supremacists, vigilantes, and those who simply hate African Americans and others to hide behind the law as a legal shield to threaten and to terminate the lives of African Americans. Too many of the 2012 presidential candidates of the right, and their supporters, seem drawn to talk darkly about marginalizing and dismissing the rights of African Americans and other non-Whites. Despite “it can’t happen here” claims, it clearly does. And now, belatedly, cases are being examined in other American states with Stand Your Ground legislation. Did you know that our sister state of Wisconsin passed such a law and that one is working its way through the Minnesota legislature? Not surprisingly, there have been questionable circumstances where African Americans have lost their lives in, for example, Milwaukee and Beloit, Wisconsin, Texas, Louisiana, and Western states like Idaho, Utah and Arizona. An examination is underway to ascertain how these killings — nay, executions, murders — were handled of African Americans sacrificed on the altar of Stand Your Ground legislation. It’s American character soul-searching time. Only a veto from Governor Mark Dayton will stop it from becoming law in Minnesota. Will Minnesota also adopt Stand Your Ground legislation, adding another clear and present “open season” danger to African Americans in the United States of America? Please stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers for community planning and development, “web log,” and archives at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Posted April 4, 2012, 2:07 a.m. Column 2012/#13 Early Spring Offensive of Violence. "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" March 21, 2012 On the international scene last year, the Arab Spring brought an offensive of hope for positive change in the Middle East, led by the young and unemployed. It also brought an offensive uprising of violence and confrontation by those wanting to dash hope and prevent needed change. Is this what’s in store for Minneapolis? My concern is not what happens with the 21st century Arab Spring but with Minneapolis Spring of 2012 and the disturbing pattern developing violence (drive by shootings, gun battles in the street, white and black youth fighting together and against each other in and through downtown). This is a concern for everyone, not just Blacks, not just Whites. The frustrated and unemployed are sending a very chilling message, asking clear questions about decades of broken promises, which, if continued, risks a Minneapolis Spring and Summer of dangerous discontent. In a six day period, from March 9 through March 14, at least ten individuals were shot and wounded in confrontations raging from Cedar Riverside, east of Downtown Minneapolis, to North Minneapolis in the again under siege 4th precinct. There were also shootings and stabbings in South Minneapolis. But it is that stretch from the West of the city limits in North Minneapolis, through downtown and almost onto the campus of the University of Minnesota that is my focus, as it signals an early and dangerous offensive of violence and threats to all citizens. In downtown Minneapolis, in that six day period, groups of young people disrupted traffic and the sense of security and safety along the Nicolet Mall and in other parts of downtown Minneapolis. Large groups of young people beat and attacked citizens attempting to enjoy activities and the “safety” of downtown Minneapolis. In North Minneapolis, more citizens than officials want to admit to and confirm, are creating safe rooms to protect their children, themselves and their loved ones from what has been an epidemic of activities of shooting into homes, shooting into cars, and shooting into citizens. It is further compounded by the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department and its Director to recommend to the City Council that the Civilian Review Authority be placed under the control of the Minneapolis Police Department and its Internal Affairs unit. All need to be included in the solutions. Exclusions lead to more failure. A disturbing pattern seems to indicate a total disregard for an under siege community and its citizens. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has embraced an interesting policy of a benign cover up of this early uprising of violence. The Star Tribune reports shootings and violence 4 or 5 days after they happen. We call your attention to a story in that paper last Wednesday, which reported on a violent confrontation in which two African Americans, one who had been featured with US Representative Keith Ellison just a month ago, were gunned down in their automobile by unknown shooters in cars working an obviously coordinated drive by. Such gunmen are attempting to take control of the city of Minneapolis. We do not speak or write lightly about this significant increase of violence with guns, knifes, and boots. But we have to again ask: where is the Plan to provide hope to those who send a message to city officials and others, that they see no hope (we offer our suggestions on our web site)? The community feels no one cares, and consequently they act out. That does not make it right nor is it being endorsed in this column. But we ask about all the 100s of millions of dollars and jobs the Mayor’s administration says have been made available over the past ten years to our communities. The data on payouts to traditional hustlers is not encouraging. Needed is adding to the big pay outs like the Vikings stadium by spreading the wealth across the entire playing field, such that everyone can sit and eat at the table of economic equality. Instead, residents of North Minneapolis are being used to generate money for folks living outside of North Minneapolis, as the city has deliberately failed to hold even itself in compliance with hiring laws, as it sows seeds of distrust that could lead to sprouting more violence. The councils insistence that minorities be included in any stadium bill is a welcome first step. Now let the executives and officials throughout the public and private sectors do the same, and develop and publish their plans for upcoming hiring compliance. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “Black Focus V” on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers for community planning and development, “web log,” and archives at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Posted March 28, 2012, 10:52 p.m. Column 2012/#12 Vikings stadium plan in place??? "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" March 14, 2012 The headline of the March 7, 2012 Star Tribune story was very confusing: “: Senator says Target Center is in Vikings stadium bill, 'but it isn’t’.” Did you just hear the euphoria of the previous week’s “deal” whimper away? Maneuvers with strings attached by pro-stadium interests may have jeopardized what seemed to be a clear legislative undertaking. Mayor R.T. Rybak feels compelled to find dollars for the Target Center. Why “all or nothing”? The Star Tribune article of March 7 is self-explanatory, hence our title with three question marks. Three Vikings agreements are still “missing” from the discussions: 1. A lease agreement for the old Metrodome for the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons. 2. A rental agreement for University of Minnesota TCF stadium for the 2015 season. 3. A lease agreement with new stadium authority for the 2016 season and beyond. Governor Dayton’s stadium point man, Ted Mondale, threw sand when he said construction and financial plans would put the Vikings in their new stadium for the 2016 season, even after the Vikings said the extra wait is a deal killer (the Vikings’ owners, not the team, are paying $20 million extra each year on debt service) waiting for the 2004 promise of a new stadium. I am repeating what has been said by the prime-time players. By the time this column goes to press, will the ink also be drying on these three separate agreements? Vikings owner Ziggy Wilf is neither stupid nor naïve. How can it be assumed that the Vikings can be pressured to sign a long-term agreement on the Metrodome before the new Vikings stadium deal is done? Would any good attorney or financial advisor say this is the best deal for either the ownership group or the team itself, especially with Los Angeles shining with the color of gold? I’ve been looking at the NFL constitution. It states that when teams operate in a facility, whether owned, leased or rented, they have to protect the interests of the league, the franchise and the players with insurance. The NFL constitution insists upon a clear and concise legal understanding of who is libel for what. How can they do so without a lease? A year ago the Minnesota Vikings declined to sign an extension of their lease with the Metropolitan Sports Authority. The situation is past rolling things over or extending arrangements and contracts, because right now there are none to extend. My question, then, continues to be this: How is the negotiation going in regards to the Vikings as Metrodome tenants in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and University TCF Stadium tenants in 2015 with a new stadium lease beginning in 2016? The Star Tribune article raised serious funding questions. We ask: How can the Vikings open the exhibition season at the Metrodome in early August without these three leases in place? How can the Minnesota Vikings, the NFL, and the players’ association be expected to play in the Metrodome without a signed and delivered lease agreement and without a new stadium deal? Is this all a part of how the one percent plan to send the Vikings out of town and away from the 99 percent who want to occupy jobs? Will Minnesota “Save the Vikings” or not? Here are the “wave bye-bye” deal-breakers: State deal-breaker (Mondale): if state money goes to remodeling Target Center. City deal-beaker (Rybak): if no money goes for remodeling the Target Center. Vikings’ deal-breaker: Minnesota not keeping 2004 promise to build new stadium. NFL deal-breaker: Minnesota not keeping 2004 promise to build new stadium. Fans’ deal-breaker: legislature treating them as too small to occupy big jobs while “too big to fail” corporations are bailed out and given bonuses. Send the stadium jobs to Los Angeles and fans will see that legislators no longer occupy their seats. Who will call the “family meeting”? In 2000 (Star Tribune, August 10), Dave Jennings, then president of the Chamber of Commerce, said about the future of the Twins and Vikings in Minnesota, “The teams are crying out for somebody to call the family meeting.” The Twins got one. Why not the Vikings? Bottom line: Minneapolis and Minnesota need our need our November 09, 2011, Plan for fans to unite behind a movement to keep the team. The The Vikings have never used Los Angeles as a bluff. Doesn’t matter. High stakes risk: blink or lose, bluff and lose the Vikings. Stay tuned. NOTE: Star Tribune: Council group urges minority hiring for Vikings stadium, February 29, 2012. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm; Hosts Blog Talk radio podcasts: “Black Focus V,” Sundays, 3:00 - 3:30pm, and Thursdays at 7:00 - 8:30 pm; providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers for community planning and development, “web log,” and archives, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 11:28 a.m. Police unions turn to Republicans for help "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" March 7, 2012 One wonders how long it took the Rybak administration to realize the powerful Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis had turned to the Republican majority in the Minnesota legislature. Unlike Black organizations that do nothing when ignored and are thus taken for granted, the Police Officers Federation, ignored by the City, went to the other party. It’s a White thing Blacks need to learn how to do, which won’t happen as long as they stay self-glued to one party. As legislative lobbyists, special-interest advocates, and legislators themselves keep their supporters informed about legislation that will affect them, I wonder why the two Black state legislators for the City of Minneapolis didn’t give our community a heads up? It could have made a difference, and it could have resulted in the federation taking a softer position instead of setting up the demise of the Civilian Review Authority (CRA). I don’t know what it was that caused the Korbel Group in her Department of Civil Rights (DCR) to think they could get in the middle of White folks’ business. They are now suffering pain and retaliation. The police union and the Republicans in the legislature are showing how real politics is played. Of course there are those who say that this is what Mayor R.T. Rybak has wanted all along, as I suggested in this column a couple of years ago: end the MDCR and the CRA. What the police federation did was brilliant. It makes sense. As police union President John Delmonico put it in a February 23, 2012 Star Tribune article "We have worked with the city to do two or three revamps of the Civilian Review Authority. It has fallen on deaf ears" (“Bills would rein in police review board”). When the Rybak administration would not listen, the federation reached out to the Republican majority to seek legislation that will make the Civilian Review Authority disappear, as they believed the DCR and CRA were being dishonest and indifferent. Consequently, according to sources inside the federation, it was necessary to bang the drum, meaning take it to a higher level, and if that meant going to the legislature to get support for eliminating the incompetence, arrogance and indifference of the CRA, then so be it. Understandably, when the federation experienced incompetence and dishonesty in the DCR and its CRA, combined with the administration’s refusal to act, the police federation acted instead. The Republicans have solicited enough support from Democrats that they will be able to override any governor’s veto. Now that is effective politics. This is what happens when Blacks get involved in the middle of White folks business. Blacks must never forget that for any minority group, there is always a double standard. Minorities cannot be as incompetent and dishonest as the majority (in this case, Whites) and still expect to get ahead. This is a disaster for the African American community and other racial groups who fought long and tirelessly for civil rights in 1965 and for the CRA in 1990. As one who was there for both, as one who fought battles then and now, I cannot begin to say to you how disappointing it is to see this level of incompetency at the DCR that has resulted in these steps to eliminate the CRA. Once the police federation began to tell Republican legislators the horrifying stories of incompetency and dishonesty within the Civil Rights Department and the Civilian Review Authority, it was all the Republicans needed to hear (the DFL also knew but would do nothing). Obviously, members of the mayor’s own political party agree the Civilian Review Authority and the Civil Rights Department should pass into American history. So what’s it all about? Simply this: Who will meet the responsibility of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department to administer and investigate cases? Who will meet the responsibility of the Civil Rights Commission to handle the judicial aspects of cases? And who will meet the responsibility of the Civil Review Authority to handle hearings on cases about findings regarding complaints about the police? Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm; Hosts Blog Talk radio podcasts: “Black Focus V,” Sundays, 3:00 - 3:30pm, and Thursdays at 7:00 - 8:30 pm; providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers for community planning and development, “web log,” and archives, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com Posted Wednesday, March 8, 2012, 2:42 a.m. Can Minneapolis taxpayers afford the CRA? "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" February 29, 2012 The Star Tribune story “New names, old pains on Minneapolis police review panel”, February 20, 2012, reported on what we have reported on for a decade: the slow, continued collapse of the Civilian Review Authority (CRA) and, by extension, the collapse of its parent, the Civil Rights Department (CRD). Thus words in the story were not a surprise to us: “ranks depleted, … investigative staff overwhelmed … recommendations routinely ignored,” with the CRA “far weaker” in its investigation “of complaints against the police.” We know that the quality of professional investigation in the CRA leaves a lot to be desired. We understand why the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Tim Dolan thinks the CRA is incompetent. This is one the dark holes that the Rybak administration needs to be concerned about falling into. Taxpayers have every right to expect that their hard earned dollars will provide the best possible service. One of the more revealing features of the Star Tribune’s story was that the CRA has only one investigator, with a second investigator on leave. Now this one working investigator reports to an $80K/year director, which raises the question of a lot of pork barreling. The CRD and, by extension, the CRA, seems to be extremely heavy with the presence of highly paid assistant directors and very few staff to do the work. We see a department that allegedly investigates as many as 300 cases. Yet it has a 3 year backlog of cases waiting to be investigated. The Rybak administration owes the taxpayers an explanation. It is clear that the Chief of the MPD, Tim Dolan, has no confidence whatsoever in the administrative and investigative quality of the CRA and, by extension, the CRD. In fact, it is quite clear that the CRA’s Board didn’t have much confidence in their responsibilities, because they never spoke up about the number of vacancies that existed on the CRA Board. Nine of the eleven positions were unfilled and allowed to let stand unfilled for quite some time, adding to the CRA’s inability to carry out its administrative responsibility, which is to hear the cases. Last year the city paid out $4.7 million of taxpayer money, the second highest total for a single year ever. Now we read that departing members of “the CRA Board are quoted as saying they have no confidence that Chief Dolan and the MPD command staff will ensure discipline for sustained allegations of misconduct.” But lack of confidence is a two way street. The Chief doesn’t believe in the CRA and the CRA doesn’t believe in the Chief. So who are the taxpayers of the City of Minneapolis to believe in and what needs to be done to keep their hard earned tax dollars from going to waste? This is a “luxury” the City of Minneapolis cannot afford. The Mayor is trying to get a stadium for those who can afford to be entertained, but this column feels that priorities are in the wrong place. The commitment of the taxpayers to support an effective and competent government should be a priority over all other things. The taxpayers of Minneapolis cannot afford this impasse. Large payouts. Non-responsiveness. Significant infighting inside City Hall. The Star Tribune piece includes this most compelling statement: that “Kenneth Brown, 2008-2009 Chairman of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission, says Dolan does not believe in citizen scrutiny of police. He says Rybak is partially to blame for failing to appoint enough board members.” Said Brown: “The police chief and the mayor don’t believe they have to be accountable to the citizens of this city who are putting them in office.” Velma Korvelle said there is a plan for corrective action. I assume that that will take place during the confirmation hearings of the 8 new board members that, 3-4 months after the fact, are hearings finally being moved forward. My friends, the taxpayers of the City of Minneapolis cannot afford this kind of irresponsible governance and waste of their hard earned tax dollars. Think of how the city could afford to support a new stadium with the monies that it wastes. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm; Hosts Blog Talk radio podcasts: “Black Focus V,” Sundays, 3:00 - 3:30pm, and Thursdays at 7:00 - 8:30 pm; providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers for community planning and development, “web log,” and archives, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Posted Wednesday, February 29, 2012, 2:22 a.m. MPD Chief Dolan hits back "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" It is clear that Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) Chief Tim Dolan has known that many of the recommendations coming from the Civilian Review Authority (CRA) were based on incompetence and dishonesty. So when an incompetent and dishonest recommendation was made to terminate two officers of color, the chief dug in and not only refused to fire the officers, but also reinstated them to duty. The action of reinstatement has revealed a significant and politically charged rift inside the top command of the MPD, along with an equally serious rift between the chief and his boss, Mayor R.T. Rybak. Contributing to the rift was the act of Assistant Chief Janee Harteau and Deputy Chief Scott Gerlicher when they terminated the two officers of color without proper consultation with the chief. Other actions include the leaking of the fact of the rift as reported in a December 19, 2011 article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Dolan panned on cop discipline). At that time, some in his own command indicated Dolan would be stepping down as chief in January 2012, a full year before his contract was to expire. The chief clearly identified the assistant chief and the deputy chief, as well as members of the Civil Rights Department (CRD) and the CRA staff (which is a part of the Minneapolis CRD), as sources of the leaks. According to reliable sources inside the police department, this was seen in statements by former CRA Chairman Bellfield as he closed out his term as a member of the CRA Board. The rift significantly increased when the chief reversed the actions of Harteau and Gerlicher. This deepening of the rift comes at a difficult time for the Rybak administration and the city council and those attempting to undermine Chief Dolan as head of the department. The lawsuit filed in 2011 by Lt. Andrew Smith and Sgt. Patrick King will go to trial in April of 2012. Chief Dolan became significantly aware of this when one of his favorite deputy chiefs, Rob Allen, was identified as not having properly supervised Lt. Smith and Sgt. King. Apparently, in December 2011 and January 2012 the chief uncovered the sources of numerous rumors and attacks on his administration in the attempts of others to position Assistant Chief Harteau as his successor. This has now led to a new political quagmire involving discussions of bringing in an outside person to succeed Chief Dolan. One person discussed is an African American. At this time, I choose not to disclose the person’s name. The discussions are at a crucial stage inside city hall. Some say Harteau has lost the support and confidence of Council President Barb Johnson, a very powerful player in the process of selecting a new chief. This all comes at a significant time for the Rybak administration in light of pending lawsuits against the City by Lt. Michael Keefe and Lt. Lee Edwards. Having a significant impact on relationships is the Star Tribune declining to report on the conspiracy against Chief Dolan as well as failing to report on the collapse of the CRA as a functional entity. Some maintain that that in itself will strengthen the chief’s hand if he decides to initiate litigation to protect both his tenure as chief and his reputation as a law enforcement officer. This rift has driven an unprecedented wedge into the department, maybe the most significant since the dark days of 2007 and 2008, when Black police officers were the targets of the conspiracy that destroyed the Black Police Officers Association and made them nearly invisible. I will continue to follow this closely over the next weeks. Damage has been done to the effectiveness of this department in certain areas of administration and professional performance. Historically, this kind of bureaucratic infighting over a position bringing out the worst in people is not unusual. The most celebrated example was the decades-later exposure of the identity of “Deep Throat,” whose Watergate leaks led to bringing down the Nixon administration. Deep Throat, as it turned out, was Mark Felton, who attempted to position himself as the successor to FBI head J. Edgar Hoover (as reported in the new book Enemies: A History of the FBI,” by Tim Weiner). As Robert Peale, who created the first modern police department in 1829 London and who later became British Prime Minister, said, “There seems to me to be very few facts, at least ascertainable facts, in politics.” Stay tuned. NOTE: following the 2-16-12 submission of column to the MSR for its 2-22-12 issue, the Minneapolis Star Tribune published a story 2-20-12 discussing these same events: New names, old pains on Mpls. police review panel. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm; hosts “Black Focus” on Blog Talk radio Sundays at 3 pm; and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 4 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers for community planning and development and “web log” at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Posted Wednesday, February 22, 2012, 6:43 p.m. Black jobs promised on Vikings stadium construction. Who will ensure the promises are kept? "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" Mayor R.T. Rybak stated in his February 6 press conference that he was pressing hard for the Minneapolis City Council to support his dream of a Vikings stadium near the Metrodome. (Star Tribune, “Flanked by union workers, Rybak pleads for Vikings stadium”) The mayor’s declaration reminds me of Isabel Wilkerson’s current best seller and Pulitzer Prize winning The Warmth of Other Suns, a moving, well-researched story of the promises made to Negroes of the World War II era that influenced the great racial migration from the South to the North. Their dream: good employment, good education for their kids, and a good future. The Oct. 22, 2010 “Disparity Report” disclosed that the involvement of the African American community in Minneapolis was heretofore nonexistent in the city and the surrounding metropolitan area. Thus, for too long, Minneapolis “Blacks need not apply!” signs replaced promises of full employment on such mega-projects as Twins’ Target Field, Timberwolves’ Target Arena, Gophers’ TCF Bank Stadium, University of Minnesota’s Children’s Hospital, Minneapolis Public Schools’ new headquarters building on West Broadway, Colorplas, Mall of America Phase II, new casinos, new light rail lines, major “destination” development , ancillary projects part of or next to these major projects, and infrastructure development. The statistical data of the $500,000 taxpayer funded October 22, 2010 disparity report, “The State of Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises: Evidence from Minneapolis,” “Program Recommendations Prepared for the City of Minneapolis,” and the report “M/WBE’s Availability in the City of Minneapolis Market Place” affirmed data in the 19 columns of my website’s Solution Paper 49 exposing the purposeful avoidance of hiring compliance discussed in the disparity studies, exposing the dark side of Minnesota political and community leaders Black and White. It is important to recognize that the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department (MCRD) did not contest the October 22, 2010 “Disparity Report” findings, did not conduct appropriate on-site visits, and could not confirm the authenticity of the figures they signed off on. • Include correcting the 31 pages of problems identified in the October 22, 2010 report (pp. 74 – 111). • Include Blacks in the City and County process to acquire the land for stadium. • Include Black architects to design the facility, estimating $9-12 million. When will the Construction Hiring Verification Plan be announced and implemented? When will the plan offering a fair shake and seat at the jobs table be promised to the young men at the press conference? We thank the mayor for his early signal that the economic stimulus plans will include everyone in the city of Minneapolis. We look forward to seeing the Enforcement Plans being developed by the Civil Rights Department. Stay tuned. NOTE: Star Tribune: Council group urges minority hiring for Vikings stadium, February 29, 2012. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and Hosts Blot Talk Radio’s Black Focus V on Sundays, 3-3:30 pm and Thursdays, 7-8:30 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers for community planning and development,“web log,” and archives, at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Posted Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 6:43 a.m.
Now the real battle for 2012 begins "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" February 8, 2012 The ugliness during the Republican primary in Florida provided us a front-row seat in the arena of negative electioneering that has become a hallmark of the 2012 Republican campaign. To say it has been uglier in the past doesn’t excuse it. It will get worse when Republicans vs. Republicans turn their vicious and ugly campaign against Barrack Obama, as Republicans train their sights on just a single target: the president. It began to emerge in Iowa. There was not much in New Hampshire. And then full-throated negative explosions erupted in South Carolina and Florida. Gingrich clearly signals he does not intend to stand back from the abyss he helped create. He has become “The Speaker of the House of Campaign 2012 Negativity.” In 2008, after a very bloody fight in the Democratic primary between Obama and Clinton, both sides were able to hold their noses and still shake hands. There is no indication at this hour that this strategy of cooperative support exists among the Republican contenders. Ron Paul will stay the course (in his attempt to influence the choice of candidate and party planks). Santorum with his emphasis on culture war issues is finally finding out he isn’t the soul of the Republican Party. Gingrich is too much in love with attention and hunting for a big post-campaign lobbying or nonprofit job to think of the Republican Party or put conservative principles first. Super PACS: Both Democrats and Republicans rely on Super PACS (Political Action Committees) while holding to the fiction that their candidates have no contact with them. Funds raised by the Super PAC supporting Romney clearly indicate that big conservative money in America is prepared to underwrite this PAC’s negative, political juggernaut. Negative campaigning An example of this troubling and dangerous pattern of negative campaigning is the call by the Republican Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives, Mitch O’Neal, citing Biblical scripture (Psalm 109), calling for the death of the president. This is not Billy Bob sitting in his basement with a six-pack of beer throwing darts at a picture of Barack Obama. This is a man who presides over the Kansas legislature. Another example is the editorial by the owner of the Atlanta Jewish World News newspaper calling for President Barack Obama to be assassinated by Israeli agents as an option for saving Israel. Later apologies don’t take away the fact that these were serious statements comprised of dangerous rhetoric. Worse, they are statements of belief. It is the kind of rhetoric that drives some (and it doesn’t take many) to take political matters into their own hands. Black America has suffered through the assassinations of Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr., and far too many others, including JFK and RFK. Black America suffered through the pain and the loss of those giants. Far too many political and religious conservatives who enjoy significant positions, prestige and power stand silent on this dangerous rhetoric from the Republican right. Doesn’t matter. Our concern is how the negative campaigns of either party impact what is more important: allowing all African Americans to sit at the education, jobs and housing tables. Blacks continue to unduly suffer due to the purposeful barriers to access and opportunity for African Americans in terms of the “Big 3” areas of Nellie Stone Johnson: good education, jobs and housing (see our columns on purposeful employment non-compliance). This has both victims and victimizers on the downward slope of what Thurgood Marshall called “nullification” and “reversal” of progress made in terms of denied access and opportunity based on race. The source of prosperity for people and the overall economy is jobs. Policies allowing mortgages backed with government guarantees only bring prosperity to banks. Policy should support creating jobs to enable earnings to facilitate home buying, not raising barriers to jobs. Job policies are needed, not new ways to spend money that doesn’t exist for people without jobs and without money to repay loans. Black History Month. It is tragic that this discussion has to take place during Black History Month. Who will stop the right-wing train of nullification and reversal regarding race as it thunders down the tracks away from the notion of the America Dream for all? Stay tuned. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm; hosts “Black Focus” on Blog Talk radio Sundays at 3 pm; and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!” Saturdays at 4 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers for community planning and development and “web log” at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Posted Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 12:41 a.m. Ron's media message platforms: The Road To Re-Election: The President’s State Of The Union Message. February 1, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" The president’s “A Blueprint for an America Built to Last” State of the Union speech, on January 24, 2012, was a brilliant send-off for 2012 voters. The president, well prepared, vision clear, broad and inclusive, offered for discussion to all voters a blueprint for continuing America as “built to last.” The author of the book on corporations the president referenced, “Built to Last,” has since written on why “built to last” didn’t. This is why this blueprint is so important for America, so the oldest constitution in the world lasts. In a word, the president was pitch perfect for the group that will determine the election: independents. Whoever wins in November, regardless of party, will use much of this blueprint. Readers of this column know we personally wish the future of African Americans was included in his blueprint, especially in Black enclaves in inner cities, suburbs, and rural areas. Although we understand the president’s strategy, we haven’t forgotten the statistics and facts showing purposeful, unfair outcomes regarding education, jobs, housing, diversity compliance, etc., as reported for eight years in this column. Key blueprint points for keeping “the American promise” alive:
The president outlined our political parties’ strengths to achieve successful change in education, jobs, job training, energy, housing, manufacturing renewal, immigration, health care, Social Security, Medicare, deficit reduction, entitlement programs for the rich and the poor, college costs, student loan relief, and tax fairness proposals. Changes in technology and globalization will impact policy debates more and faster; they need to catch up, as the USA and the world seek a balance between investments and subsidies strategies. The president said, “I will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum.” But just in case Washington stays “broken,” he’s taking his blueprint to the voters in November. So, just as with the Constitutional Blueprint designed 236 years ago, the American voters will be the final judges in November regarding who will lead 2012’s “Blueprint for an America Built to Last.” Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role in Minneapolis, works to contribute to the discussions on leadership, planning, and the future of Black and White Americans living and working together in Minneapolis. Posted Wednesday, Febdruary 1, 2012, 7:57 a.m. NCAA contenders looked like Black colleges. They were not. Nor do Blacks athletes or Black colleges share in the wealth. January 25, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A week ago, tens of millions of Americans (with millions more around the world) tuned into the NCAA BCS national championship football game, played at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. A big game. And a big revenue generator. A great payday for all White colleges eligible to get their cut of the media and game-day millions. A big payday for White coaches dependent on winning records. Ask, then, with all these millions, why players only receive a room, some books and a blanket? The players, the majority of whom are Black, are the economic engines causing mega-millions to rain down on America’s major White institutions. And its not just football. It’s the same agenda and scenario with college basketball. As we watched the BCS championship game, it was if we were watching two Black traditional colleges, because there were so many superb and excellent Black athletes on display in that game. Surely the winner was the Black college (as it would have been regardless of who won), which would also be an easy mistake to make for those watching around the world. But then I came back to reality: White schools making millions off of Black field hands on America’s collegiate sports plantations. And yet, since the creation of the coach’s poll, the AP poll, and other polls in both football and basketball, a Black college has never been ranked in the top 25. The facts: Black athletes make hundreds of millions of dollars for White institutions in exchange for a room, some books, a blanket, and the NFL dream. Playing for a top-25 college is the doorway to being showcased for playing in the NFL. Only about eight out of every 10,000 high school football players will make the NFL draft. Black athletes play collegiate football and basketball at all levels. There are two national collegiate championships, football and basketball. Doesn’t it seem each year as if they are Black colleges? In the 2012 national BCS championship game, the two White coaches are going to make, in salaries, bonuses and other gratuities, over $4 million between them. Guaranteed. The players? Graduation? Not guaranteed. Studies indicate only 35 percent of Black players will graduate with a degree. Some believe the number is lower. Yes, Blacks have come a long way. When the NFL became integrated in 1946, Alabama and Louisiana State University didn’t allow Blacks to do anything on campus except sweep and clean. After the “integration” of the White schools, their sports riches became even greater for the White schools they now went to. And with the lucrative television contracts starting in the 1980s, America’s White universities hit a gold mine, where the schools got the gold and most Black players got the shaft. And yet, in the tradition of “separate and unequal,” Black colleges in America slip further and further down the ladder of economic opportunity and growth. In the top division of NCAA collegiate football, there is an overwhelming number of Black players yet few Black coaches, few Black athletic directors, and few Black college presidents. Fifteen years ago, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow Coalition drew attention to the disparity confronting Blacks in the sports worlds of America. Then Rev. Jackson got distracted and backed away. We have not. We well remember the meeting held right here in Minneapolis, 15 years ago, at the Hyatt Regency, when White coaches like Joe Paterno, Lou Holtz and others told Blacks in sports to just be patient, as things would improve. Martin Luther King, Jr. decried the “wait and be patient” advice, as do we, for it really means wait patiently in your place at the back of the bus and be thankful to have that place. And so you can understand my confusion and error in the championship game at the Superdome in New Orleans. I was thinking about the dream, the dream deferred, a dream big money says we should not talk about anymore. Kind of like what Joe Paterno told the gathering at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Minneapolis 15 years ago: Just wait and be patient and something good will come your way. Just like his assistant coach and all of those little boys? God bless the American Dream. Think about the future and don’t take your eyes off the prize. Posted Wednesday, January 25, 2011, 12:30 a.m.
Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role in Minneapolis, works to contribute to the discussions on leadership, planning, and the future of Black and White Americans living and working together in Minneapolis. Posted Wednesday, January 25, 2011, 2:15 a.m. A good man departs public service. Fire Chief Alex Jackson to step down February 29, 2012 January 18, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" As I wrote in my April 28, 2010 Column, “All the Star Tribune and City Council Member Gary Schiff (DFL, Ninth Ward) have managed to do as shameless, vocal town criers against the department’s Chief Jackson, Assistant Chief Penn, and Fire Marshall Tyner, all African Americans, is get egg on their faces.” Despite how he has been treated, the good news is that Chief Jackson is leaving for retirement on his own terms, his head unbowed. Due to my long experience as one of the federal court-appointed overseers of the department, I am extremely familiar with the MFD and its demands. It was not always an easy task to convey to the union and the politicians the importance of adhering to the orders of the federal court. In the early 1990s, City officials thought they could skirt the laws. The federal court sanctioned the City to the tune of $1 million in fines. In the case called Carter v. Gallagher, Alex Jackson, John Griffen and Ricky Campbell gave testimony exposing the City’s court order violations. [See my December 30, 2009 Column: Historic Success Story: Integration of the Minneapolis Fire Dept] Alex Jackson has been an outstanding public servant and excellent fire chief. He took a department in budget disarray and low morale and reestablished the department’s strength. I watched Alex Jackson come into the fire department as a recruit. I watched him, Ricky Campbell, and the late Big John Griffen provide a level of leadership that enabled the MFD to become one of the most respected and diversified departments in the United States. [Star Tribune, June 10, 2008: Chief Jackson is the MFD first Black Chief]. And, as I wrote in my column of December 30, 2009, the integration of the MFD is a nationally recognized historic success story. Half the size of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), it has twice the number of Blacks. Chief Alex Jackson has been attentive to the orders of the court and the plan put in place by a committee appointed for the Minneapolis Fire Department and the City of Minneapolis. Throughout his career, he acted as an exemplary professional. But when you are committed to justice, you make enemies. We would like to think that everyone believes in equal access (diversity, opportunity, and that old civil rights term, integration). Unfortunately, too many people in positions of Minneapolis influence don’t. If they had their way, there would never be a Black fire chief and there would never be any Black fire fighters or Black police officers. During this occasion of the celebration of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and coming up on Black History Month, what better time to retool and remember the successful battles that were fought during a time that has moved beyond the current battles of today. Chief Jackson exemplifies what Martin Luther King, Jr. meant when he said that some Blacks may be unqualified, but they are definitely qualifiable. Chief Alex Jackson was both old school (respected the past) and new school (understood the importance of the past for the present and the future). He will be moving on with his life, his career, and will continue to pursue his vision of a better America for all. The loss is the city’s and its public institutions. All of us will lose as another successful warrior, advocate and visionary moves on. We say this to Chief Alex Jackson as he folds his flag of success and moves off the battlefield: Well done, Sir! Well done! And may God keep His hand on your shoulder and those of your family, for yours has been a story of success. You have made proud the many legends that came before you, such as Cecil Newman, Nellie Stone Johnson, and brother Michael Collins, all successful warriors who could not only talk the talk but could walk the talk as well. As Cornell West would put it, “You’ve got to be a thermostat rather than a thermometer. A thermostat shapes the climate of opinion [transformative]; a thermometer just reflects it [runs on polls].Lincoln was a thermostat. Johnson and F.D.R., too.” It’s also the difference between the evidence-based commentary of this column and mere prejudiced judgments that have been directed at Chief Jackson. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role in Minneapolis, works to contribute to the discussions on leadership, planning, and the future of Black and White Americans living and working together in Minneapolis. Posted Wednesday, January 18, 2011, 1:28 a.m. We still need help here! January 11, 2012 On Christmas day, December 25, 2011, three-year-old Terrell Mayes, Jr. enjoyed Christmas and the love and warmth of his family. By the late evening of December 26, Terrell Mayes, Jr. was dead, the victim of the continuous, senseless violence that is tearing at the soul of our city. By Wednesday, December 28, politicians were trying to put a favorable twist on this tragic story. But there is no twist, no mirage, no Madison Avenue-driven theme, no so-called “closure.” Death is irreversible. And at three years of age, this child’s death will haunt family, friends and community for the rest of our lives. Sadly, it is just as plain as the five fingers of your hand that violence, tragedy and death are alive and well in Minneapolis. The picture in the Sunday, January 1 edition of the Star Tribune said it all: a mother with tears running down her cheeks, remembering her youngest child who will never know another Christmas, never again hear the laughter of his loved ones and friends, never attend his first class in school, never know high school graduation, never see the birth of his own child, and never again feel the love and hugs of his mother. These are no longer happy events to be taken for granted about this three-year-old innocent Black child who had nothing to do with his own senseless death, despite the audacity of those who suggest that, based on his race and the circumstances of his life, he and others like him bring such fatalities upon themselves. To read such comments on White blogger websites and in the Star Tribune suggests a mean-spirited doctrine that continues to exist within this city and within this nation, despite pious protests to the contrary. People have been too quick to assume this was a Black-on-Black crime — as of this writing we don’t know that. There are no suspects, no witnesses, as has happened with too many other African American males and females who perished during 2011. Just the heartache of another lost Black life remains. My July 14, 2010 column was Please! We need help here! We are in perilous trouble as a people and a city, standing at a race-relations crossroads. As I talk to and meet a lot of people, I’m hearing far too many African Americans say that downtown, the Man, White folks, and even our own Black leaders don’t give a damn. That’s dangerous, my friends. When one peels back the casualty figures to reveal the number of African Americans, particularly the young, who continue to be the targets and victims of the violence, death, mayhem, heartache and sadness, one realizes that there is legitimacy to the statements made and feelings expressed. But nothing said now or later will bring back the life of three-year-old Terrell Mayes, Jr. How many more tragic ends like this can we afford? None before. None now. None tomorrow. Terrell Maze should not have been a victim in the first place. If we, as a city and as a nation, were committed beyond paying lip service to those things we say we are committed to — the preservation of life and the protection of our citizens, not to mention education, jobs, and most importantly the safety of our children — this would not have happened. Think of it, my friends: This child and his siblings heard gunfire that had become a daily occurrence in their neighborhood and around their home. That daily occurrence was hardly their fault. They were attempting to flee within their home to a place of safety, to a shelter that would protect them. But young Terrell didn’t make it. The bullet was faster. With his death, a little bit of all of us died. At some point in time, you begin to lose just a part of your soul and your spirit. We can’t continue to let our children die, to look the other way, to put our heads in the policy sands and pretend it won’t happen again. The tombstones reflect our looking away from the death of our babies. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the theologian Hitler had killed for standing up for the children of Germany, wrote, “The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role in Minneapolis, works to contribute to the discussions on leadership, planning, and the future of Black and White Americans living and working together in Minneapolis. Posted Wednesday, January 11, 2011, 10:41 p.m. Ron's media message platforms: 2012: a year of decision, a year of danger January 4, 2012 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" 2012 for Black America could be one of the most decisive and dangerous years since the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the turbulent days of the Civil Rights Movement (1950s and 1960s), regardless of which party wins in November. The conservative wing of American politics, so obsessed with defeating Barack Obama, has thrown their normal political caution to the winds. Before, for over 40 years, the left was seen as compulsive, irrational and careless. Danger: Both parties are not cooperating, just as in the period leading up to the Civil War and the period just prior to the Great Depression of 1929. Danger: According to the largest hunger report, “Hunger in America,” nearly 49 million people, one in six of the U.S. population and more than one in five children, were hungry or faced food insecurity at some point during 2010. 2011 statistics will be higher. Danger: When Americans, including military personnel returning from conflicts and wars in foreign lands, can’t find jobs due to the clash of ideologies and philosophies, trouble brews. Danger: Partisan debates regarding unemployment, wage stagnation, education, health care, foreign affairs, and the growing number of the hungry and “food insecure” will only get worse if both political parties don’t act from common ground. America’s citizens want their elected officials to seek creative, honest and successful ideas for answering these challenges that are testing America’s strength and fiber. Danger: The parties seeking secrecy to avoid elections being put under a microscope, whether U.S. Presidential, Senate and House campaigns, campaigns for state governors and city mayors, or for state legislatures and city councils, will only make matters worse. If those inside the beltway won’t work together, it’s up to us outside the beltway to elect those who will. We need to be able to see the lights at the end of the tunnel: jobs, housing, and better education results, showcasing a nation that can compete on the world stage. Danger: If we continue to live off the earnings of our children and grandchildren and not our own, African Americans understand a tilt downward and/or backward is the worst possible thing for the dream of Black America for parity and a future that will finally bring all of Black America into the mainstream. Danger: “Kicking the can down the road” has been the result of both parties spending money for programs each wants when each is in power. We learned in Vietnam and again in Iraq and Afghanistan that we can’t have both guns and butter, cutting taxes while increasing spending. Danger: As I have long stressed, if we do not discuss the slippage in the area of quality of life, if Americans believe that the only way we can compete is by fighting wars in foreign lands and dropping bombs on other people, our goals of hope, equal access and equal opportunity, fairness and justice are at risk. Which model? Exclusive and inclusive? Empty chairs or a seat for everyone? Will we opt for a more empowered and arbitrary centralized Federal government wealth redistribution model that gets ahead of revenue and is not inclusive of all the people? Or will we work toward a decentralized people empowered redistribution model in which the Federal government collaborates with states and municipalities to enable a more pro-growth self-reliant citizenry model adaptable by each level of government and enterprise, making sure everyone is included at the table and allowed to both participate and benefit? Will the 50% of Black Americans left out be invited to the table or will they have to keep fighting for a seat at the American table? Required is leadership. We have been harsh on Black leadership in this column and in Chapter 14 of my book. The old guard used their leadership positions for self-serving ends. The recent awarding of $28 million to a new nexus of leaders reflects this changing of the guard. We will watch them just as closely. It’s not who wears the leadership uniform that counts — it’s the results of leadership in terms of equal access and equal opportunity for all in education, jobs, and housing that count. See our new “solutions” paper on leadership on our web page, which includes a history and roundup of our suggestions regarding leadership and planning since 2002. The decisions of 2012 will determine whether 2012 is a year of danger or a year when all are invited to the table. What direction we go only God knows. It’s time we all came together to give Him a hand. Stay tuned. OUR CONDOLENCES to the family of three-year-old Terrell Mayes, Jr., killed by a stray bullet December 27, 2011. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role in Minneapolis, works to contribute to the discussions on leadership, planning, and the future of Black and White Americans living and working together in Minneapolis. Posted Tuesday, January 4, 2011, 2:22 a.m. Ron's media message platforms: 2011: Preparing for the Election of 2012 December 28, 2012, Column #52 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" If 2012 is an extension of 2011, there could be hell to pay as both political parties continue their Year of Preparation to obtain the prize each seeks: the presidency of the United States. Each will work hard to defeat the other; that is the American way. Don’t get mad at that. I’m just the messenger to remind all about this American genius. It is not devious. It is competing for power without using guns. But race haunts this election. Few will oppose Republicans just because they are White. The question is how many will oppose Barack Obama just because he is Black? And as Black leaders are not up to the task, we must individually carry our own water and vote. We must work to be sure our agenda and needs are part of the planks of both parties. Yes, you heard that right. We need to impact both parties. But if the President loses, we must not stop running the race, and not wait passively. We as a people know everything about survival and how to stand up for our rights. Be prepared to act. Worldwide, passive is out, action is in. “Equality” before the law is bedrock: Declaration of Independence, Constitution’s Bill of Rights. Even though Lincoln brought “equality for all” before the law out of the shadows and had it finally apply to the Negro through his Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address, it was muted for the Negro by Reconstruction and Jim Crow. And even though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed, we still find barriers to the big 3: voting, equal access and equal opportunity. Six separate lists of my columns published in this paper are arranged by topic on my website to provide the evidence that this is still ongoing. See especially the ones documenting failures in the Police Department, hiring non-compliance, and leadership. Another is on the Star Tribune’s silence in covering such stories, which explains why you don’t read about it outside the MSR. 2011 has revealed dangerous indicators about voting. We need to work together to put countermeasures in place to counter acts of sabotage against Black voters in 2012. Recently, Attorney General Eric Holder expressed his concern about election protocols put forward by 30 Republican governors, protocols that, if left unchanged, will make it extremely difficult for significant numbers of African Americans to vote in 2012. I do not oppose protocols, only those that promote unfairness and put barriers preventing Blacks from voting. Attorney General Holder is probably 18 months late and certainly a dollar short in addressing this problem. See chapters three through six and eight of my 2002 book for my detailed discussion. In the Old South, the main barriers were a poll tax and literacy tests. Today’s barrier makers are more sophisticated. We are faced with the failure of the federal government, state governments, and local municipalities to address and support the search of significant numbers of African Americans to find employment. Congress spends too much time dilly dallying and not enough time working to find meaningful approaches that will allow jobs to be created. We need action. Minneapolis is at the top of the list of cities with Blacks as “last hired, first fired,” and most unemployed. We are also among the most over-trained groups graduating without exit jobs. It’s always our fault, even as Blacks are still purposefully denied jobs (the city’s infamous, “we can meet minority hiring compliance laws without hiring a single Black person”). As there has never been an all-Black legislature or government (federal or state), it is always White legislatures and governments that control the purse strings, create legislation, and define laws. After nearly 200 years, Thurgood Marshall became the first African American on the Supreme Court. This has been compounded in this century by Black American leadership no longer being up to the task, due to the money they receive to collaborate with the City and State in their anti-Black statutes and policies. So what will be the big picture for Blacks in 2012? Think of society for Blacks as a movie house with battered seats and tattered screens, but no projectors to project a vision onto the big screen, leaving just the movie’s title: Last Hired, First Fired, Heavily Trained but Barred from Jobs, produced and directed by Whites and their Black collaborators. Think about it. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Tuesday, December 27, 2011, 7:24 a.m. Some in Mpls City Hall are hostile to Blacks December 22, 2012, Column #51 "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" My Minneapolis beat continually exposes me to the fact that Black folks are really not liked nor appreciated in some circles in Minneapolis. The latest focus of City leadership is on our Minneapolis Fire Department because of its successful leadership by a Black man. Some in city government are determined to portray Fire Chief Alex Jackson as a negative example. Yet in my estimation, he has been one of the finest leaders in the history of the Minneapolis Fire Department (MFD). I should know, as I served a decade as one of six citizens presiding over the fire department for the federal court when the MFD was as discriminatory as the police department. Chief Alex Jackson’s stewardship goes beyond race. He has worked brilliantly despite the political and budget decisions of the city council that have caused staff reductions, budget cuts, and, most telling, the removal of responsibilities from the department. Due to my long experience as a representative of the federal court, along with the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, in the case known as Carter v. Gallagher, I am extremely familiar with the demanding responsibilities of being chief of the Minneapolis Fire Department. Chief Jackson fulfills his responsibilities. The problem is that race is again a factor. Even though it seems that Chief Jackson has the seven necessary votes on the council to be reappointed, I remain concerned about unwarranted statements about the department that are far from the truth. Example: It was surprising to recently observe how many current city council members did not know that the department’s policy on sick leave was the City’s policy, not a policy created by the Minneapolis Fire Department. Thus the criticism has to be directed at the City, not the fire department. Example: One of the most egregious offenders is the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department. Some would say you should not compare the 12 or so in the civil rights department against the better than 480 members of the fire department. Doesn’t matter. Proportionally, the civil rights department has one of the worst records of any department. Example: The success of one of the greatest cover-ups is taking place around the issue of overtime in the Minneapolis Police Department under its current chief. In fact, very quietly over the past two years officers have been quietly transferred out of their units to cover up their shenanigans. Example: Three internal auditors hired earlier this year discovered all kinds of abuses of overtime and sick leave in the Minneapolis Police Department. Example: Left out of the Steve Brandt story in the Sunday, December 11 edition of the Star Tribune and left out of the previous Star Tribune editorial is that Chief Alex Jackson will come in under budget. This omission leaves the false impression that Chief Jackson is a failure and a disaster as a department head. Example: Four years ago when the Star Tribune said that they were trying to examine the issue of overtime and sick leave in the Minneapolis Police Department, the department told them to go to hell and the Star Tribune withheld the data from its story. Example: The majority of the city council was serving then as now, and they seem have no problem with restricting the state’s largest newspaper from examining overtime and sick leave in the Minneapolis Police Department. Example: Imagine what would have happened to Chief Jackson if he had decided to be as obstinate in his responsibility to his stewardship as the chief of police has been in his. Most objective observers agree that the leadership of the two departments is different in complexion in more ways than one. Example: The recently unveiled downtown $2 billion development package contained no information regarding any role, plan or participation by Blacks in this promised economic upsurge. Add the examples above to the lists of examples by topic that I’ve posted on my website, the first of five being about (1) the Minneapolis Police Department, (2) the record of Minneapolis’ disparity and avoiding compliance with hiring Black people, (3) planning that meets the needs of White planners but not Black neighborhoods, (4) singling out the Vikings to leave town, and (5) the silence of the Star Tribune in covering the evidence outlined in these columns. These examples clearly support my statement that some key leaders in Minneapolis City Hall just do not like or accept Black folks. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Saturday, December 23, 2011, 6:07 p.m. The three unforgivable sins of Herman Cain December 14, 2011, Column #50 Herman Cain disappeared in the first week of December 2011 as a candidate for the Republican nomination for president. I was not surprised. A little over a month ago, in this column, I said Herman Cain had to stop stepping on the banana peels. There have clearly been more banana peels than Herman Cain could tap dance around. But Herman, my friend, that is what people do for all candidates — look closely at them. This is one reason we all know that the many debates in this year’s series will expose even more candidates in terms of their personal behavior and what they really don’t know. We knew you were a little light on foreign affairs. And although you need a good staff to help guide you around the information banana peels, your discourse on foreign policy in a way that would embarrass a high school student is your fault. (Jerry Ford lost when he said Eastern Europe wasn’t controlled by the USSR.) It is not your staffs’ fault that you have such a lack of understanding and recognition of America’s foreign policy, not to mention ignorance of the real politics of race in this country, saying you neither needed nor used civil rights and affirmative action, the first of three unforgivable sins. So, in the end, Herman, your candidacy was all a game, even the perceived enthusiasm about your candidacy. You gave fuel to the lie that a colored guy could not be on the same stage with the White cream of the presidential GOP crop. The Republicans haven’t been pouring chocolate, nor did they intend to. You helped them in their resolve. That is your second unforgivable sin. The others knew what was going on and easily found where you buried your skeletons. One of the cardinal rules, Herman, is that you forgot that not everyone who pats you on the back, gives you a cigar, and asks you to sing a song really believes in you, respects you, and would vote for you. That was one of the banana peels we were talking about a month ago. The questioning that Black America must ask tonight, irrespective of Barack Obama, current President of the United States, is how much damage Herman Cain has done to future, legitimate Black candidates who will seek political office in America in both parties. I’m not sure what the fallout will be, but we do know that with the suspension of his campaign, Herman Cain has become the new poster child for “don’t believe in any colored candidate.” The one positive is that he showed there are other Blacks aspiring to be president. They will just have to work harder now. Herman Cain’s third unforgivable sin, after denying he needed or used civil rights and affirmative action, was to then pull the race card to invoke all of the clichés of a Black candidate being abused by the White power structure. That type of race card is always the last refuge of the scoundrel, whether Black or White. We hope the lesson is clear. The front-runners for both parties are dedicated family men, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. They don’t have the baggage of personal banana peels. At the age of 15, George Washington made that personal character commitment and lived by it. Our young Black men are being misled by the myths of gangsta rap and disrespect- women-any-way-you-want videos, adding to the false urban myth that no harm can come to Black men acting that way. Thus, I would be personally remiss if I didn’t close this column to admire one of the most principled and courageous persons in this entire episode, Herman Cain’s lovely and courageous wife. She could have easily thrown him under the bus also, but in the tradition of the real strength of the Black family, she stood by her man. That is commendable and a profile in courage and love. We await such a one to run for office. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Blacks wait for jobs as White planners plan planning . December 7, 2011, Column #49 Black unemployment in Minneapolis was 20.7 percent in 2010 (nearly four times that of Whites) and even higher today. For Black youth: 45 percent unemployment. The Minneapolis Foundation, the Blue Ribbon Commission, the Pacific Northwest Foundation, and other enlightened worthies can’t figure out how “one of the most generous, philanthropic states in the nation” can have “one of the worst disparities — education, economic development, housing, imprisonment" in the nation. That’s code for “What’s wrong with Blacks?” It is not a mystery. It’s on purpose. The purposeful policies and actions regarding no jobs for Blacks are not new. Among 20 columns I’ve written on this since 2005, see: You could build a new Vikings stadium for the money spent on subsidizing purposeful employment disparity. In the words of Malcolm X, for both Blacks and now Whites, those chickens are coming home to roost. Look around and see the despair and hopelessness in the state of Minnesota. Where is a Minnesota Jobs Plan that includes Blacks? On March 30 of this year, Governor Mark Dayton, Democrat, held a come-to-Jesus meeting in North Minneapolis. There were lots of statements about getting the big economic engine started to improve economic opportunities for African Americans and others. Four months later, the governor hosted another economic summit in a downtown St. Paul hotel. Over 1,000 participants/experts showed up. That’s eight months of discussions and reflections for planning to plan plans for planning. But there’s been no action on real jobs except for government planners. Do you remember the 2002 McKinsey report of Minneapolis spending over $900 million on planning for low-income housing and winding up with only 55 units? Lots of planning, but little jobs action. Planning without action is not an action plan, is it? Think of the jobs that could have been enabled if this time, money and effort were put into jobs for all? In the meantime, the quality-of-life standards in the African American community continue to plunge at an accelerated rate. Governor Dayton doesn’t seem to have a timetable. President Obama doesn’t seem to have a timetable either, even with his Federal Jobs Plan. All of this raises the old, old question of waiting. The title of one of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s books explains it all: “Why We Can’t Wait.” Waiting is not one of our luxuries. Of course, African Americans don’t have much choice. In November 2012, Black Americans can express their displeasure that we as a nation and we as a state will still be without a jobs creation plan. And that means that we will go through the motions of looking as if we have to reinvent the wheel. Think about it: You’ll have a new Congress, you may have a new president, and at the state level you’ll have the same governor but a new legislature that will still be talking about a plan, 20 months after the economic summit of March 30, 2011. White planners. Black waiters. The statistics are not positive, so I continue to raise the question of why Whites think Black Americans have the luxury of waiting for the jobs patent office to open up again. When I look at the economic and educational deterioration confronting Black Americans, I wonder just how long White America thinks Black America will just stand by while White America keeps recycling their plans that keep access to jobs away from African Americans? Think about it my friends: How much will you accept being asked to bear? How much weight placed upon your shoulders, your souls, and your spirit can you carry and still continue to believe, to have hope, and to have a dream? In his new book Back to Work, Bill Clinton calls for the best of what both parties have to offer to engage the “American Dream growth” style. But does that include offering jobs to Blacks as well? At some point Jesus just can’t help us, and we need to come up with our own plan. We must pursue our survival by any means necessary. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Saturday, December 7, 2011, 4:02 a.m. Tell us something we didn’t already know: November 30, 2011, Column #48 PULL QUOTE: The Star Tribune reporter provided two examples of DBEs, both owned by women, both White. Not one African American was reported. When the Monday, November 21, morning edition of the Star Tribune hit the streets, I was amused by the headline: “Preferred Public Works Contracts Get Scrutiny.” I’ve written 20 columns on this since 2005, identifying corruption and criminal malfeasance that has shut African Americans out of programs that were allegedly created to give the African American community a shot at some of the so-called big dollars, such as the $950 million Light Rail Corridor Project and the Gopher and Twins stadiums. So I welcome the Star Tribune in joining us in scrutinizing the whole issue of how fairness, justice and equality of opportunity for Blacks has been sidestepped by not enforcing disparity/diversity statutes, ignoring them, as politicians and their bureaucratic enablers favor laws/statutes/rules benefiting other groups claiming to be minorities. Had Martha Stewart been a Congress member, she would not have gone to jail for insider trading But, as the former director of the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights infamously said, pointing out how discrimination and exclusion is legal again, “We can meet our minority hiring compliance requirements without hiring a single Black person.” The danger in this kind of investigative reporting is that there are those who attack you for printing the truth, trying to apply pressure to make your column disappear, as they oppose hope and change in order to keep the changeless status quo and their position in it. But God is a good God: Be patient, persevere, and lay out the facts, and the truth will make a difference. I haven’t taken my eyes off the prize: prosperity for all through education that qualifies boys and girls and men and women for jobs, and then facilities equal access to those jobs When the City of Minneapolis released its report last year entitled The State of Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises, October 22, 2010 (DBEs: Disadvantaged Business Enterprise programs), I wrote that it contained the evidence, statistics and data exposing the criminal acts against the interests and the future economic opportunity for African Americans in Minnesota. Think of how much better things could be for everyone if the Star Tribune practiced good journalism all of the time. I am pleased the Star Tribune column of Nov. 21 examines and confirms what this column has long investigated and reported on: the unquestionable and incontrovertible evidence of the efforts against the survival of the African American community. The Star Tribune reporter provided two examples of DBEs, both owned by women, both White. Not one African American was reported (as “minorities” now seems to mean “women” to many, not “African American”). This is a very dangerous signal being sent to the African American communities where violence is on the rise as African Americans are being gunned down in the streets and stabbed to death in downtown Minneapolis. Studies indicate a growing depression about the next cycle of economic prosperity, as, for too many African Americans in Minnesota, they feel they will be left behind. Now that the Council of Black Minnesotan’s executive director was forced out after 23 years, what is left: three human/civil rights departments, Minnesota, Minneapolis, St. Paul. They are either being too passive or too corrupt to enforce the law. Too many African Americans are still in a life-and-death struggle for their economic survival. With no commitment to statutory enforcement on behalf of African Americans, and with the level of despair and mental depression in existence within the African American community, I again ask: Where is the plan to both protect and provide hope to the African American communities of Minnesota, other than the plans to hold more planning meetings? Where is the vision for Black success on the White Horizon of Minneapolis’ future? That’s right: a White Horizon, because most reports done by White think tanks clearly indicate that, absent a corrective plan that is then enforced, African Americans in Minneapolis are an endangered species. Solution Paper #46 in the “Solutions” section of The Minneapolis Story website, Diversity and Compliance Studies: list of 20 columns reporting on Minneapolis purposefully practicing disparity and avoiding diversity compliance, posted 11-22-11). See especially columns of November 17, 2010 (“Disparity study finally released. It took 15 years to tell us what we already knew”) and November 24, 2010 (“Disparity Study reveals City failed to monitor hiring, contracting jobs and income. Result for Blacks: shameful loss of jobs and income”). Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Saturday, November 30, 2011, 5:20 a.m. 16 reasons why JoePa should have done the right thing. November 23, 2011, Column #47 The philosophy in America has always been that one is innocent until proven guilty. Jerry Sandusky and Joe Paterno are clearly poster children for that doctrine or its failure, depending on how you look at it. Penn States seems to have a culture where children are sacrificed, where legality (“I reported.”) trumps morality (“I followed up.”). Leave no doubt in anyone’s mind: This is an ugly situation. There are enough mysteries going around that if Alfred Hitchcock were still alive he could make three movies out of this: a county DA who received the report nearly a decade ago and then disappeared, never to be heard from again; riveting testimony before the grand jury of sexual abuse and failure to apply the law (and in fact failure to even report allegations of sexual abuse; it was a mother who stepped forth, not the men). Penn State stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars due to lawsuits and legal fees. The Big Ten, to demonstrate its moral superiority all of sudden, took Paterno’s name off the championship trophy. And everyone is getting a criminal attorney, which is kind of peculiar when at the same time they call these allegations false, figments of imagination, and by gosh, it just didn’t happen. Now, there are several problems with that. A Grand Jury for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania met for over a year. They heard testimony. The transcript says they heard from some of the victims (who were 10, 11 and 12 years old when this happened 10, 15 years ago), while the perpetrator was allowed to still use football facilities and showers. The ESPN broadcaster urged focus on football, not what was off the field. Really? He was as shallow as the citizen-students on the campus of Penn State (yes, students, whether rioters or not, are citizens first). How do you riot in support of Joe Paterno and totally disregard the heartache, pain and suffering of the victims? You would think that young people spending the hard-earned incomes of their mothers and fathers to get an education in higher learning would have been more intellectually astute figuring out that they were sending the wrong message. We don’t know what motivated Jerry Sandusky. What motivated Paterno? JoePa has 16 grandchildren who we assume he loves dearly, and yet his statement that with hindsight he would have done more stills rings hollow and insensitive. He did nothing for these grandchildren of others. I doubt Paterno would have allowed a grown man to horse around naked in a gang shower with any of his 16 grandchildren. So why these? He seems to have treated interceptions and fumbles with greater concern than he treated information about the potential misconduct of one of his favored assistant coaches. Jerry Sandusky, until his early retirement in 1999 at age 55, was the heir apparent at Penn State when JoePa would step aside. Finally, there are a couple of other things to consider. First, the judge who set a rather questionably low bail of $100,000 “forgot” to reveal that she was a member of the board of directors of the youth organization that Jerry Sandusky was involved with. And then there is the general counsel for Penn State, Mr. Courtney, who “forgot” to mention that in the late 1990s, when he was asked to investigate allegations against Mr. Sandusky, he was also the general counsel for the organization that Jerry Sandusky had founded in 1977. No, my friends, it is not a pretty picture, and it seems now that damage control is late in coming (should have been exercised at the first report of an incident). Now a state university — which means, in the final analysis, the taxpayers of the state of Pennsylvania — will have to foot the bill for the damage that has been done. The problem is a lot greater than simply to say, as JoePa did, that in hindsight he “would have done it differently.” Tell that to the victims and the taxpayers of Pennsylvania. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Saturday, November 26, 2011, 7:20 a.m. U.S. African Command: the return of colonialism to Black Africa? November 16, 2011, Column #46 Eight months ago, just before the outbreak of hostilities in Libya, and with little fanfare or coverage by European or American press, the Obama administration quietly announced General Carter Ham’s appointment as supreme commander for the U.S. African Command, to deal with the increased presence of terrorists in the middle part of Black Africa. The command is now making its presence and authority known in Black Africa from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, through the heart of Black Africa, as American military recon teams stake out territories of involvement. This includes pursuing and destroying the chief rebel band in Central Africa, the Lord’s Resistance Army. Its leader, Joseph Kony, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for acts of terror and murder in Uganda, in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in the Central African Republic. He has been killing and raping fellow Black Africans for 10 years. News reports indicate American Special Forces are providing a broad neck of military presence across Black Africa, including in Chad, Martinique, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal, while keeping an eye on the soon-to-be-oil-rich Liberia. Does this mean lucrative opportunities for White companies or Black companies? When you think about the riches of middle Africa, do you think in terms of helping African economies and African companies to set up their own pan-African OPEC-like union of producers? Or do you think of helping European and American economies get back on their feet through American and European companies with African branches, colonial style? Or will African companies with African branches prevail? I applaud Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade, who, at a 2010 mining conference in Senegal, said to 500 delegates from foreign mining firms, "I never said, enrichissez-vous [enrich yourselves]. I said enrichissons-nous [let's enrich one another].” We see listed as needs in Africa what is also needed in North Minneapolis: “Hire more locals, adhere to stricter environmental rules, [and] build more roads and schools for local communities.” Will the projected oil revenues in the offshore oil fields of Liberia be for Big Western White Oil or for the Black people of Liberia? Is oil production revenue to help develop Liberia or to help stabilize economically paralyzed Europe at Africa’s expense? Is this administration saying Europe is more important than Africa? African riches spans the five major mineral categories: precious metals and minerals; energy minerals; non-ferrous metals and minerals; ferrous minerals; and industrial minerals. Besides oil and coal, the riches of Africa include some of the earth’s largest deposits of phosphates, iron ore, bauxite, copper, platinum, gold, silver, diamonds, uranium, chrome, manganese, zirconium, vanadium and titanium. The U.S. Africa Command has already stated it expects to utilize military resources and assets from Britain, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and, for the first time since 1916, Germany, all in Black Africa again. Is this to stabilize Africa or Europe? Now, one has to assume that there are some military leaders and heads of intelligent agencies in Black African countries raising this question amongst themselves: If the United States doesn’t have respect for the color of the skin of its own leader, how can it care about people of color 8,000 miles away? Happily, the more progressive intelligence agencies, such as in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania, are already asking such questions among themselves. With its recollection of conflict between Blacks and Whites during and after Apartheid, how will South Africa’s experience help answer these tense questions? The question I ask in this column is: Will this be America’s commitment and program for the next 10 years for Africa or Europe? But before White House, State Department, Pentagon, and corporate and think tank experts act to answer that question, it first needs a serious and open discussion among Black Americans, now and through the lead-up to the 2012 election. We want to know. We still remember the significant number of Black Panamanians and Black Granadians laying dead, lining their countries’ highways when we entered them in the 1980s. We well remember how easy it was for American politicians and American media to dismiss the staggering number of Black nationals slain, executed, and killed, often under very questionable circumstances, including the execution of Granada’s Prime Minister Bishop. Whether in America or Africa, it is too easy to look at persons of color as if they are terrorists. Keep an eye on the U.S. African Command. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 5:05 a.m. Stop the punting of the Vikings! November 9, 2011, Column #45 In 2002, I wrote the following in my book The Minneapolis Story, Through My Eyes about for the Vikings:
On December 3, 2003, I published the The Roll Call of all who want the Vikings to leave. No one has denied it. Get rid of the Vikings. It’s what the corporations and the wealthy want, fans be damned. My May 25, 2011 Column, Budget battle threatens Vikings’ future, lists my columns on the leave/stay debate written since 2005. The Star Tribune and local media won’t talk about it: They don’t want you to know the truth, which is why the Star Tribune “shelved” my book (their term) and refused to acknowledge it in 2002. One of their writers, in 2000, in his book Stadium Games, already declared that the “leaders” of the city and state want the Vikings to move. There are two movements abroad in the land, the Tea Party Movement and the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Both are expressing their contempt for the contempt shown them by the political and corporate elites, elites who will make both parties and all the fans the scapegoats. The Metrodome was never the property of the Vikings or Twins or their owners. It is community property of the people, a Commons for all that our taxes built. Remodeled, it can be as good an NFL stadium as any, and do four things: (1) cost less than half of what is now proposed (2) enable the Vikings to earn two to three times more, a profit margin they seek to remain competitive (3) stop the NFL from interfering with Minnesota and stop Cincinnati and Cleveland and Indianapolis and Kansas City, etc. from voting to steal our team (4) enable the NFL to recognize that there is much more money for all 32 teams by expanding in Los Angeles with two new teams, rather than shrinking the pie by taking two teams away from their fans and putting them in the same stadium in L.A. Expansion creates a far greater pie for NFL owners to share. Any who deny any of these 4 points is a liar. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 8:11 a.m. Can it happen: jobs legislation? Can the political parties come together? Can they all get along, despite race? November 2, 2011, Column #44 As the nation contemplates the various national, state, and local campaigns of 2012, reflecting on the unique dynamic of America in all of its democratic voting glory, the obvious question as we follow today’s Republican debates and speeches and actions of the president: What will be the mindset of the American voter by summer 2012, especially about the disparity of Black unemployment? Our power-sharing process stands alone in a world resisting sharing power with “the people.” So why is that resistance still for Blacks in inner cities and rural areas? There are danger signs coming from cities across the world of steep divides, not only between the haves and the have-nots, but between retired elderly on promised benefits and young workers paying for it thinking those benefits won’t be there when they retire. But the biggest divide reveals the contest between the idea of democratic-based welfare with limits and the idea of centralized, imposed welfare with few limits. After nearly 30 years of economic and social progress tilted to Whites, we have hit the inevitable cycle of cracks in the economic and social walls of America, cracks widened by a poor education system in cities for Blacks, government-sanctioned gentrification of disbursing Blacks from inner cities, and the retarding of business innovation and new business starts for Blacks barred from being part of “the people.” The president has tried to deal with this, and in the process has made three mistakes. The first was in not making jobs legislative priority number one. Had he done so, “the people” would be clamoring for his re-election despite slow economic recovery. His second was not directing his Department of Justice to investigate sooner those on Wall Street gambling fast, loose and dangerously with America’s economic stability and, by extension, the world’s. It was an error not to challenge their claims that their initiatives and innovations were scientific and “risk-less.” The most troubling error to me was his not focusing on the reality of the Black-White divide he inherited in education and jobs from the four previous administrations. He had to know we were in big trouble with respect to jobs. He should not have waited so long to change course. Now, the Obama administration is faced with both a hostile Democratic Senate and a hostile Republican House of Representatives. Some would seemingly rather see this nation go up in flames than see President Obama achieve even minimal success in putting all Americans back to work, not unlike those who voiced the same regarding his predecessor getting out of the Iraq War. This is an extremely dangerous situation. Impassioned demonstrations are taking place across the world. The PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) and the rest of Europe are in an economic crisis. Blacks must not be forced again to accept the dimming of their light to save the brightness of the lights of others. This has been an extremely bitter pill for Black Americans to swallow, as they have loved and believed in this president. We understand how treacherous the system can be in this country. Nonetheless, Martin Luther King, Jr. must be more than a giant face on a Mt. Rushmore-like slab of granite with his words etched alongside. The president must, at some point, pull up his own bootstraps and not fear doing battle with the intentional discrimination tolerated and abetted by the Big Three: corporations, state and local governments. He does not have to apologize for putting at the top of his agenda equal access and equal opportunity for all Americans. The problem for Black Americans is that they are not on the agendas for economic consideration and opportunity, as seen in reports issued by research groups and thing tanks. As detailed in these columns, it is more than just Black Americans not finding jobs. It is their being systematically barred from good education that is needed to qualify for good jobs. History will show that this place called Minneapolis is an illustration of opportunity denied African Americans by putting barriers in front of them. People of all colors across this country, including Whites, need jobs, and especially Blacks with two and three times more unemployed. National elections will have great impact on it. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Friday, November 4, 2012, 8:10 a.m. Candidate Herman Cain Polls show that Black Republican presidential contender Herman Cain, a former resident of the Twin Cities, continues to hang on in the race for the Republican prize. We should all be proud that finally it is routine to see Blacks qualified to be President. How great it would be if to see two Blacks vying for the Presidency as representatives of the two major political parties. That would make Martin Luther King smile down from his new Mt. Rushmore likeness on the Mall in Washington, D.C. and it would make Abraham Lincoln smile in his chair as he looks over the Reflecting Pool, staring at Capital Hill. Who would have ever thought it? The question is this: is America ready for even more prime time? I’m not sure, although it’s clearly possible. Look how many of us said a Black man would not be elected President in our lifetime. One of the measuring sticks for a Presidential Campaign is the ability to raise money, where the key color is not white or black or red or brown or yellow. The key color is green. I’m not sure Herman Cain is going to be able to do that over the Long Haul. Key Republican contributors like the Koch brothers will hardly funnel money Cain’s way. But then again, it could happen. But Herman, as all candidates, has to stop stepping on the banana peels, those tossed by his competing Republican candidates and those he tosses on the floor himself. It wasn’t very wise last week to advocate building an electrified fence along the border that would send those who touch it to their death. But he is in good company: too many Republican contenders speak carelessly about not wanting to follow constitutional rights and constitutional guarantees. Herman Cain should know better. In fact, as a young man working for the Pillsbury Company here in the Twin Cities, Herman had a little different view about Muslims, immigrants and civil rights. Yes, I knew Herman Cain then. He was part of the corporate hierarchy that we were all members of (I was in the office of the President of NSP). Most of us have heard the political doctrine that you have to be “a man for all seasons.” The key is not to pick the wrong season and not to get swept away by the media tidal wave, never to be heard from again. One of the banana peels Herman has tossed on the floor and slipped on, as have other prominent Blacks, is the dismissal of the significance and importance of affirmative action to the civil rights movement. When Herman Cain founded the CDH record company in the Twin Cities, Herman didn’t have a problem taking advantage of equal opportunity loans and funding. In fact it was affirmative action and civil rights that placed Herman into Pillsbury in the first place, putting him up on the corporate ladder where he could then have access and opportunity to pursue his success. Sometimes we forget from whence we come and sometimes we don’t have a clue about where we are about to go. One of the worst feelings in life is when you are in a dark room and can’t find your way, and you step off that unseen step and think that you won’t stop falling. Brothers and sisters who benefited from affirmative action should give thanks for it, not pretend as if it didn’t exist, that they did it all on their own. We need more action affirming the value of Blacks to improve education and jobs. If this were October of 2012, two weeks before the national election, I’d say that Herman would be a serious candidate and that history was about to be made again. But instead, this is October 2011, not November 2012. We’ll be watching closely. Will his campaign momentum continue to be positive? Will the Republican rank and file will see him as a viable candidate to carry the Republican Party’s banner in the Presidential campaign of 2012? But candidates, white or Black, that don’t avoid slipping on banana peels, will be nothing more than answers to presidential trivial questions, their moment fleeting, as they join others who stepped up, stumbled, fell back, never to be heard of again. These are serious times in America. We cannot have someone who is viewed as not serious or as a clown entertaining the political masses. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Friday, October 22, 2012, 8:12 p.m. State’s only winning professional team brings joy to the faithfull October 19, 2011, Column #42 Congratulations to the Minnesota Lynx, 2011 World Champions of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)! This WNBA team joins the legendary NBA Minneapolis Lakers of George Miken, Jim Pollard, and Vern Nickleson; the four NFL Minnesota Vikings Super Bowl teams of Alan Page, Jim Marshall, and Big Carl Eller; and the MLB two-time World Series-winning Minnesota Twins of Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew. The Minnesota Lynx brought joy to the Minnesota faithful. Their road to victory provided moments that will not soon be forgotten, particularly their demonstration of what is too often lacking among male athletes: unselfish play and a commitment to and an enthusiasm for the game. This is a team that finished with 34 wins and nine losses overall — 27-8 during the regular season and 7-1 in their phenomenal playoff run. It was a joy to watch these women: Seimone Augustus, the Playoff MVP; Lindsay Whalen; and of course Maya Moore, one of the most energetic players, rookie or veteran, in professional sports, as well as all the others on the team. I call them the Eleven Women of Perfection who brought a championship to Minnesota and to their fans who have proudly supported them. It was refreshing to see over 15,000 spectators line the Victory Parade route as their fans displayed their warmth and respect for their Women of Perfection. Glenn Taylor stayed the course when some suggested it was time to fold up this WNBA franchise. It is clear that this owner is a man who cares and believes, making the fans and supporters of the Minnesota Lynx world champions. What a difference honesty and integrity make in the world of sports. Far too many would have played games with the city, made excuses, and driven away fans. We are thankful that Glenn Taylor has supported and nurtured professional women’s sports in Minnesota. Glenn Taylor brought back to this franchise a little of the good, old-fashioned “I love the game” and “I’ll support it with my money, my passion, and my commitment” attitude and enthusiasm. This is a wonderful change from much of professional sports where it’s usually all about me, me, me and profit, profit, profit. That’s important, but not as important as the fans and the joy a team can bring to the fans and their community. And so we all need to send a shout-out to Glenn Taylor for staying the course, and a shout-out to his beloved Minnesota Lynx, who have rewarded him and us fans with a magnificent championship season by a team of magnificent athletes. They are supported by a magnificent group of fans who felt their dollars were well spent for watching and reporting and cheering this group of professional athletes, who knew what it took to win and won. They did so by being committed, by being unselfish, and by enjoying the game, and in return bringing the joy of winning to professional sports in Minnesota. Here are some famous quotes to help us celebrate the Lynx championship. From Jackie Robinson, first Black MLB player: “I guess you'd call me an independent, since I've never identified myself with one party or another in politics. I always decide my vote by taking as careful a look as I can at the actual candidates and issues themselves, no matter what the party label… The right of every American to first-class citizenship is the most important issue of our time.” Bill Russell, 11-time NBA champion: “What's more important than who's going to be the first Black manager is who's going to be the first Black sports editor of the New York Times. Ron Edwards hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm; hosts “Black Focus” on Blog Talk radio Sundays at 3 pm; and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!” Saturdays at 4 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his solution papers for community planning and development and “web log” at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Friday, October 22, 2012, 8:08 p.m. Mayor Rybak, Minneapolis officials hear private Vikings stadium pitch in Portland, Oregon October 12, 2011, Column #41 When the general manager of the Monaco Hotel in Portland, Oregon received reservation requests from Minneapolis for 90 guests for October 2-4, he may have thought a professional team was coming. Instead, it was the Select 90, the brain trust of Minneapolis’ professional urban design community, led by Mayor R.T. Rybak. They were there to see firsthand Portland’s approach to city planning in general and transportation in particular. They were joined by Les Bagby, who heads the Minnesota Vikings stadium initiative. He hosted a dinner and presentation for the Select 90 at Widmer Brewery on Portland’s East Side. I understand the interest by Minneapolis planners in Portland’s regional master plan. The multiple mode transportation development part includes transit centers, stops for light rail, street cars, trolleys, aerial tram and busses, as well as an extensive bike lane system and extensive parks and open space system with walking paths based on Portland’s Pedestrian Master Plan. Portland engages rather than neglects the city’s two downtown cores, one on each side of the Willamette River that bisects the city. Portland has also successfully thinned out Blacks from its two downtown cores. What I don’t understand is this: What message to the Select 90 did the Vikings deliver in Portland that couldn’t be delivered in Minneapolis? I alerted my publisher, who is in Portland, about the Select 90 being in town and asked him to check it out. He was admitted to the beer tasting and dinner hosted by the Vikings, which gave him a chance to renew old acquaintances with Mayor Rybak and the Pacific Northwest Foundation’s Gary Cunningham. He asked both of them why Minneapolis doesn’t hold a conference on the Planning Initiative Suggestions I have proposed. My planning approach begins with education and jobs, with inclusion and equal access and equal opportunity. He also had a chance to briefly compare stadium funding notes with Les Bagley. When my publisher was later told by organizers that he could not stay for Les’ presentation, he let Les know he wished he could have heard him speak. Les said, “I’ll give you my presentation summary,” and then, as he pounded his fist into his hand, he repeated, “Build the stadium, build the stadium, build the stadium.” What was the Vikings’ message delivered to the Select 90 that it had to be private? Was this a last-ditch stand to get a plan for building a Vikings stadium or else it’s off to Los Angeles? My message since 2002 (see Chapter 15 of my 2002 book, The Minneapolis Story, and follow-up columns, TV and radio shows) has warned of “The Plan” to force the Vikings out. I list in the “Solutions” section of my website the Roll Call of those in Minneapolis who want the team to leave and why. So far, no one has refuted anyone or anything on that roll call. See also the columns listed in my May 25, 2011 Column, Budget battle threatens Vikings’ future. Interestingly, before I met my publisher, he put on his personal website in 2000 what he sent to the governor, legislators and others regarding how to finance a Vikings stadium without new taxes, but no one in the city or state or corporations ever asked him for more. The Vikings told him in 2000 that they didn’t need it as they had a deal with the legislature to provide the funds. Does this mean that the move-not-move question has reached the 11th hour point of no return, such that the Vikings had to go to the extreme of going to Portland, Oregon to deliver a message to make their point to the significant movers and shakers of our metropolitan area? Remember the quick and decisive departure of NFL teams from Baltimore to Indianapolis and from L.A. to St. Louis? It’s happened before. It will happen again. Will our beloved Minnesota Vikings be next, relocating to Los Angeles or another city? It would be better for Minnesotans to be told in an honest manner what was talked about and what decisions may have been proposed in that closed meeting in Portland about the future of our great franchise. By gosh, you’d think the Select 90, traveling on taxpayers’ dollars, would realize they owe an explanation to the taxpayers and hold open meetings. The manager of the Monaco was partially correct — the guests were professional planners and politicians, not athletes. Minneapolis needs to know what was discussed and advocated for professional football in Minnesota and for widening gentrification. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Wednesday, October 12, 2012, 4:10 a.m. Who’s in charge of 807 West Broadway — soon to be 1200 West Broadway? October 5, 2011, Column #40 The headline of this column reflects the soon-to-be-finished headquarters of Special School District #1 of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) and the mystery surrounding its funding. This raises further questions about who will operate the building, who will control other activities in the building, and what other groups are expecting to benefit, perhaps even be housed in the building at public expense. It also raises the question of MPS funding in general due to the discovery of a “deferred” $32 million fund, heretofore unknown to the public, for use in funding the $27 million projected as needed to redesign and expand three elementary schools in South Minneapolis These issues — the new district headquarters at 1200 West Broadway and why the district will not own that building for the next 20 years, and the redesign and expansion of three South Minneapolis elementary schools — were rekindled at the school board meeting last Tuesday, September 27. The school issue was raised in two recent Corey Mitchell stories in the Star Tribune (September 24 in the daily paper and in his online blog of September 27). At Tuesday’s meeting, the board reported it was hiring a consultant — name and amount of contract not stated — to begin redesign of those schools to be expanded. This brings to mind the candidates’ forum at UROC in North Minneapolis on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 where I served as one of the moderators. The candidates were asked about the ownership of the district’s new headquarters. Board member T. Williams was the only candidate to answer: He said that there was a shortfall, and that certain financial arrangements were being made to make up for it with the Ackerberg Group, a commercial real estate firm, who would finance it and hold title for the next 20 years. That was quite a surprise for many in the audience that night. That information from Board Member T. Williams has never been challenged or disputed. I wrote about this in my column of October 20, 2010. Several questions present themselves: Is the $32 million actually in place, or is it part of anticipated revenue that the district expects to acquire through a nine percent tax levy increase at the end of the year? Is the money “deferred” from this intended tax or carried over from some other source, and if so, what source? As the public will not be made aware until December that this increase will be coming, how does it fit into the assurance of the mayor and the Minneapolis City Council to property owners that there will be no increase in property taxes? Also at the Tuesday, October 27 meeting, the board was to have received a report laying out the financial/budgetary plan, a report some say is already four months overdue. The board clearly has the authority, under law, to set its own property tax levy. But for some reason Rick Mills, the deputy superintendent and chief executive officer of the MPS who started July 1, 2011, has not been able to get the proposal in place. Consequently, questions remain regarding whether both the $32 million is in place and whether the surplus some say currently resides in bank accounts of Minneapolis Special School District No. 1 totals $98 million. MPS has earned much suspicion from taxpayers and parents because of past practices. A recent internal evaluation led to the creation of the deputy superintendent/CEO position overseeing the associate superintendents. Clearly this was done to help the superintendent develop her skills and improve her performance in areas cited as weak. These are not our evaluations, but evaluations from internal and external reports consultants have presented. Observers indicated that the board was caught off guard more than once at the school board meeting of September 27 in discussions of fiscal stability and financial planning and analysis. In fact, one of the questions asked internally by the board is how is the redesign of North High School is going. My question is this: Will there be enough money budgeted to make the recommended redesign of North High School a reality? Stay tuned. Ron Edwards is the former head of key civil rights organizations, including the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League. He continues his "watchdog" role for Minneapolis, and his work to contribute to the planning discussions in order to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together in Minneapolis. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Murderopolis continues to flourish September 28, 2011, Column #39 Pullquote: The fact that $33 trillion has been spent on the War on Poverty and North Minneapolis and other inner cities are worse in education and jobs reflects the purposeful policy of discrimination. Newspaper and Internet news headlines: • June 30, 1996, New York Times, “Nice City's Nasty Distinction: Murders Soar in Minneapolis” (cited the city’s “Murderopolis” moniker with 97 murders in 1995). Key number: 61 percent of Minneapolis murders are committed in North Minneapolis, as politicians (Democrats and Republicans), corporations (large and small), and U.S. presidents (Black and White) fail to address the real cures for poverty and crime: education and jobs. According to the 1996 NY Times article, Star Tribune boosters said the Minneapolis “way of life” is "superior to that in most places on earth," raising the question of why this “idyllic city is shattered by violence, with gang turf wars and drive-by shootings on streets where children play games of kick-the-can”? Answer: The North Side is continuously left out of real planning by Black and White “leaders.” September 19, 2011: 16 year old Juwon Osborne, African American teenager, died in a hail of gunfire as African American youth fought amongst themselves in North Minneapolis. Over 300 Black youth gathered at the location the next day. September 20, 2011: According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a community “leader” says there are not enough “resources” to “stop the bleeding.” Question: How many resources do “leaders” need — another million dollars? $2 million? $3 million? The War on Poverty has spent $33 trillion since 1965 in the U.S. Where did it go? Didn’t it go to self-appointed community and political “leaders” who became self-appointed bureaucratic dispensers/distributors of War on Poverty money to their favored agencies, churches, nonprofits, other organizations, leaving North Minneapolis and its education and job situations what they are today? The fact that $33 trillion has been spent on the War on Poverty and North Minneapolis and other inner cities are worse in education and jobs reflects the purposeful policy of discrimination by Minneapolis and other city governments and corporations, and their purposeful lack of accounting. Vast resources have poured into the community through the hands of “leaders” who say they are dealing with the problem. Results? Continued poverty, murder and mayhem. As local NAACP President Booker T Hodges suggested in this newspaper a year ago, it’s time for an audit, time to add up the dollars as well as the casualties due to the resources not being used to properly address the community needs of education, jobs and economic development. Too many “leaders” profit from the labor of others, are neighborly and helpful only if paid, whose pretense of good intentions trumps fiscal audit responsibility, silencing efforts for real peace, prosperity, and equality of access and opportunity. Needed is a passionate commitment to young, old and unemployed African Americans instead of the troubling re-birthing of Murderopolis, resulting in the tragic murders of teenagers like Ray Jon Gomez. There are some within the police department who feel that finding the murderer of Ray Jon Gomez does not deserve attention due to the mistaken belief that this 13-year-old child fired on police officers near 3219 Penn Avenue North on July 25. It was not until Milo Gomez, 18 years of age, was arrested on the 15th of September that police realized that cousins were carrying the same last name, and that the 13-year-old Gomez was not the one terrorizing police officers. Is this why there has been no progress in identifying suspects? The family and the rest of us want and deserve to know. Instead, the family has not been treated with the kind of respect and dignity they deserve. Has “vendetta” by authorities against the Gomez family become a guiding force for police instead of the pursuit of justice? If so, it puts us all in danger, risking a continued escalation of murder and mayhem in Murderopolis. Needed is a fierce passion on the part of all, Blacks and Whites, to be totally and absolutely committed to the preservation of our children and all segments of our communities. My columns and website solutions section offer suggestions for planning that can reduce the terrible effects of a renewed Murderopolis that threatens the stability of the society we all live in. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted September 28, 2011, 6:35 p.m. United States Commission on Civil Rights Was in Town. September 21, 2011, Column #37 When I learned that the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Mid-western Regional Office requested Chairman Martin R. Castro to be in Minneapolis on September 15, 2011, I could see truth to the rumors that the city was going to make an effort to sanitize two very crucial and critical studies of racial disparity (non-compliance) in Minneapolis unemployment and contracts. The purpose would be to protect the image of Mayor RT Rybak and his administration’s Department of Civil Rights by sanitizing its reputation with the Obama administration. Two very in depth examinations of disparity and discrimination were published in April and October of 2010, painting a very unfavorable picture as they exposed the cover up of the City’s continued pattern of purposefully failing to be in compliance with its own as well as federal statues in minority employment and contracts. The announcement said “Community Forum,” yet the agenda showed no intention to allow victims of racial discrimination to give testimony. In fact, some of the individuals on the panels to discuss unemployment disparities and its causes are directly responsible for carrying out the cover up of these barriers barring African Americans. And it is these barriers that contribute to continued poverty and poor education in the Black community. Why would it take the advisory committee to the U.S. Commission On Civil Rights 16 months to decide that this disaster disserved a formal and legal examination, and then make sure that the community was not only not informed but not given an opportunity to offer testimony, counter to the rules of the US Commission on Civil Rights, unless the purpose is cover up, not exposure? The Commission is obviously attempting to sanitize and protect the reputation of liberals, both Black and white. The statements made before the Commission September 15, 2011, at the University of St. Thomas, do not match in purpose what the Commission says on its own web site: “To investigate complaints alleging … fraudulent practices, ….. discrimination or a denial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color” nor “in the administration of justice.” Minneapolis has committed all of these fraudulent practices. If the Commission is not here to verify that it con only be here to cover it up. On September 13, a group of Black “leaders” met at the Urban League with the head of the Minneapolis Health Department to discuss funding for the mental health initiative directed against the African American community. For their troubles they were offered $40,000, which they rejected: they wanted $10 million. On September 14, Mayor Rybak was to present to the national Mayors Institute for City Design, Charleston, SC, his plan for the increased gentrification of African Americans in North Minneapolis (i.e, displacing them). On September 15, the US Civil Rights Commission was asked to sanitize documentation of racial disparity and unemployment in Minneapolis. These three dates will live in infamy as part of the grand plan for the final solution of removing Blacks from Minneapolis. The events of these dates reflect the level of disdain and disrespect white power brokers have of the Negroes, as well as the disdain and disrespect of our community held by their Black lackies. If the Commission is serious about Truth, it will read my February 10, 2010 column that answers, with facts and figures, the question, Where did it all go wrong?and it will read my March 31, 2011 Solution paper, Planning For The Positive Future …..of the African American community, which lists the links to the facts and figures in over 5 dozen columns printed in this paper that the Commission should read, if it is serious. The columns are easily Clicking on the links uncovers the willful and intentional refusal to comply by this city’s administration and its Department of Civil Rights. Even worse is that these tragic circumventions of the law to discriminate against Blacks is being carried out by Black lackies exercising the city’s “pathology and moral dereliction” of exclusion. As I have predicted in past columns, this has truly become the 2011 summer of Black rage, which is being reinforced by Black betrayal in education, jobs and housing. Ron Edwards' platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 1:00 a.m. Lt. Lee Edwards files against MPD September 14, 2011, Column #36 “Lt. Lee Edwards files 2nd suit in police corruption probe” was the Star Tribune headline September 3. It is his second discrimination claim lawsuit against the City; the first came when he was part of the Mill City 5 Black Officers' lawsuit against the City. This second suit charges the City with “retaliation for uncovering racial discrimination within Minneapolis police” in the first suit. The first suit ended in May 2009, with a settlement of the case the Star Tribune reported was about “a 20-year pattern of discrimination against Black police officers.” The Mill City 5 Black officers were Lt. Edwards, Lt. Charles Adams, Lt. Medaria Arradondo, Lt. Don Harris, and Sgt. Dennis Hamilton. Those close to the pattern of discrimination in the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) based on race are not surprised. This was also one of the common themes to come before the federally established PCRC (Police Community Relations Council) of 2004-2008, on which I served. I applaud Lt. Edwards (who is not related to this columnist) for being an African American police officer willing to fight those trying to trample on his constitutional rights. Recall the February 1, 2008 Star Tribune headline “Judge rejects city's motions as officers' bias case opens.” The judge was Federal District Court of Minnesota Chief Judge Michael Davis (see my February 6, 2008 column, Battle Lines Drawn in Federal Court). Layer by layer, the process began for peeling back the layers of corruption and racial bias, discrimination and animus within the MPD directed against officers of color, as well as White officers fighting MPD corruption (as Sgt. Michael Keith: see my column of August 29, 2007, A profile in courage and integrity—the saga of Lt. Michael Keefe), in the battle to drive out corruption in law enforcement in the political home of the legendary Hubert Humphrey. Under no circumstances could the current administrations of the mayor and the MPD chief be confused with the Humphrey legacy, an example of how far this city has fallen. I commend officers like Lt. Edwards and Sgt. Keith for the court actions they are taking to seek justice, not only for themselves but also for their fellow officers. This is different from the lawsuit two White officers filed in order to cover up the earlier corrupt investigation of MPD Black police officers. It is clear that in an email dated Monday, October 6, 2008, 9:17 am, to Capt. Amelia Huffman, head of the Criminal Investigation Division of the MPD, Lt. Andy Smith’s complaints reveal the panic within the MPD about the illegal wiretaps being conducted against Black officers who were involved with litigation against the MPD and the City of Minneapolis. In another example of MPD corruption, documents have “disappeared” that reviewed the requests for wiretaps made during the February 2007 to December 2008 period. It is quite clear that Lt. Edwards and his attorneys have discovered that privileged communication and conversation, specifically between the Mill City 5 and their attorneys, were being intercepted illegally and in violation of the rules of discovery of the federal court. Some suspect that the Mill City 5 attorneys did not want to believe that a government entity, such as the City of Minneapolis, would be involved in such egregious acts and violations of the constitutional rights of their Mill City 5 clients. They didn’t seem to want to believe the City could be so defiant of the federal court authority and the trust the federal court placed in the City to protect of the rights of all the citizens of Minneapolis. And yet it happened. These lawsuits need to go to trial, as even the Star Tribune has stated, as settlements deprive the public of the opportunity to hear the revelations and testimony that must be put forth, under oath, under the protection of the color of law. The pioneers of civil rights and human rights, and those who have stood against discrimination and animus from law enforcement, deserve nothing less than a full review and exposure that can lead to a cleansing of one of the most corrupt departments and cities in the United States of America. For more background, see “On the RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION in the Minneapolis Police Department,” July 10, 2008, updated through September 14, 2011 (lists 60 columns, 31 blog entries, and 12 “solution” papers at: ). The subhead, “Speaking over the silence of the major Twin Cities Dailies,” speaks to the scooping by this newspaper of the major dailies that often refuse to thoroughly report on this topic. Ron Edwards' platforms for communicating with the community: Posted 9-19-11, 3:38 p.m. Minneapolis Streets are the Battle Ground for the Soul of the City. Violence Continues to Spiral Out of Control in Minneapolis September 7, 2011, Column #35 The Rybak administration pretends crime and violence is under control on the streets and in the neighborhoods of Minneapolis. My last column reported 22 shot or stabbed, with 3 deaths. I now add six more stabbings where one died and the firing of gunmen on a Mosque in South Minneapolis celebrating Ramadan, killing a 26 year old Somali. This was the second attack on a religious gathering in Minneapolis in less than seven days. Can you believe that if gunmen fired on white Lutherans and white Roman Catholics I’d even have to point this out? Can you believe the silence of the ecumenical leadership of our city, both Black and white, in light of this sectarian violence? “Leadership,” Black and white, seems to be petrified, as if there are no answers to the violence and terror gripping the neighborhoods and streets of our city. The foundations, churches and interest groups that hold “what shall be done” meetings should check out the solutions offered on this column’s web page. Instead, they ignore who lives here and make promises of safety to visitors that Minneapolis is not a Little Belfast, like to the 10,000 strong American Legion that again came to Minneapolis for their annual convention. Even the Legionnaires, veterans of combat in different theaters of conflict around the world, can read between the lines. They read newspapers. They watch TV in their hotel rooms and wherever else they may be. Although guaranteed safety I question if they understand the level of terror gripping this city. And yet, still, with the exception of this column, silence continues. Here is an example of the muzzling of the 4th Estate in this city: five days ago, snipers in the vicinity of 29th and Morgan in North Minneapolis, fired from ambush on Minneapolis police, the second time in a month and a half that this column has reported this. Minneapolis police are wondering when their superiors will show some concern for the safety of law enforcement officers in our city. When you refuse to discuss the continued acts of violence, as the Rybak Administration and City Council and church communities have chosen to do, democracy and free society become precarious, and could evaporate or go up in flames. Despite the people in our city being shot, knifed, maimed and killed, the silence continues. Silence is not acceptable. Not since the days of Prohibition 80 years ago have Minneapolis police officers been fired on from ambush by snipers. What is the explanation? What are we up against as a city? Is Europe coming to America? Have we now fallen into a period of sectarian violence as Belfast and Londonderry in Northern Ireland in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s? Ask yourselves this: how safe are our 13 and 14 year old children seeing how 13 and 14 year olds are being gunned down on the streets of our city? This city pretends it is not Detroit, Newark, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Memphis, or Baltimore, an honor roll that lives in infamy in terms of violence on the streets of those cities. We act as if we are above those references and identification tags. Either our city officials refuse to address how their policies contribute to this violence or they are afraid to express their views. The violence from guns, knives, feet and fists continue. The dust briefly settles and the Medical Examiner moves on, but the casualty figures continue to increase. The mayor and the city council are doing nothing to enable citizens to feel safer. We must not allow ourselves to become the Belfast or Rio de Janeiro of North America. Minnesotans and Minneapolitans deserve better. Hubert Humphrey would cry tears of humiliation if he saw this violence in his city now. Cecil Newman and Nellie Stone Johnson would pray for the salvation of African Americans. All three of these great patriots would cry over the darkness that has descended over this city during this period of outrageous violence, as our leaders, white and Black, cower fearfully, hoping this American tragedy just goes away. The establishment must act, for around the world, the young are rising up against establishments trying to keep them down. Minneapolis should be leading not retreating our youth. I don’t understand why African American leaders, sitting on $600K for Tornado recovery, are not offering $5K for information that can help apprehend the shooters of the 13 and 14 year olds. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards: platforms for communicating with the community: Posted September 7, 2011, 3:52 a.m. Fifteen shot. Seven stabbed. Three dead. August 31, 2011, Column #34 For six days last week, Minneapolis teetered on the edge of what could be called anarchy. Within a six-day period, 15 people were shot, seven were stabbed, three died, and two, as of the writing of this column, are still fighting for their lives. All were African American. Nineteen males, three females, the oldest 21 years of age, with one pregnant. As of the writing of this column, here is the breakdown:
Every city knows violence. Media usually keep all informed and aware of the level of violence. Except in Minneapolis, where White media often embargo news of the Black community unless Whites are involved too. Without knowledge, citizens are at greater risk and peril. News embargoes undermine the credibility of city leaders. I understand the need not to repel tourists and shoppers, but repelling voters will prove to be worse. Fifteen shootings and seven stabbings in six days is obviously disturbing. Particularly disturbing is the 19-year-old female shot at the corner of Broadway and Lyndale in North Minneapolis as she stood in a prayer circle offering prayers for the safety of the city. Yes, that’s correct: This 19-year-old was gunned down as she and 25 others, Black and White, prayed for the safety of the communities of our city. I repeat what is most frightening about this: The embargo on the publication of the news of these events by the White-controlled Twin Cities media, as if they hope that people being shot and stabbed and killed will go unnoticed. Once again we get a better understanding of how City officials suppress the magnitude of violence so they can proclaim that violent crime is down. They hope we have our heads in the sand, that it will blow over, and that people won’t know how much of the problem is because the MPD is spending more time on internal activity and less on protection and crime prevention. Maybe because of the fact that all 22 victims (and the unborn baby makes for a total of 23 human beings) are Black, White media is telling us that Black people are not important. That is a sad and dangerous commentary. Six days of violence in our American city. This is not Kabul, Baghdad, Tripoli, Rio de Janeiro, Stockholm or London. This is our city, our people, our neighbors, and our loved ones. Think about it my friends: six days of terror for the Black community. Fifteen shot. Seven stabbed. Three dead. An unborn baby fighting for survival. Two African American women in critical condition. All must be part of the shared concern with respect to what is happening in the African American community of Minneapolis. This is the 48th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington “I Have a Dream” speech about poverty, social justice, equality, jobs, education, liberty and hope. The symbol of this is a 30-foot statue of Dr. King, dedicated Sunday, August 28, in the new MLK four-acre National Memorial in Washington, D.C. This is also the 56th anniversary of the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till. Which visions will guide Minneapolis? Peace or violence? Poverty or prosperity? Education and jobs or despair? The MPD is part of that answer. The energy spent by the MPD to harass and try to ruin Black officers needs to be redirected to protecting the community. Too many Whites want us gone, as we see in the continual and inexorable gentrification removing Blacks from Minneapolis. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards: platforms for communicating with the community: Posted August 31, 2011, 2:08 a.m. Without MPD narcotics unit, drugs flow freely in Black community August 24, 2011, Column #33 In very early June of 2011, a community resident by the name of Johnny Turnipseed raised a very serious and profound question at a press conference being held by the tornado recovery team. His question had to do with the aftermath of the tornado and damage to homes: How were the authorities going to deal with the problems of drugs and prostitution? Longtime observers of the drug problem in Minneapolis know and understand that there has never been a truly aggressive effort to deal with illegal drugs, nor to confront those who give protection to those promoting drug activity within the Black community. One example among many is the 923 Club on Washington Avenue in North Minneapolis. For years it was the hub for illegal drug trafficking in the Black community. The club had police protection, which everyone knew and understood. In fact, a number of years later one of the law enforcement officers that gave aid and comfort to drug trafficking became the head of the Minneapolis Police Department’s narcotics unit. That raises another issue: Of the top 100 police departments in the United States, as of the publishing of this column, only the Minneapolis Police Department no longer has a narcotics unit. For reasons no one seems to want to explain, Minneapolis disbanded its narcotics unit, even though the flow of illegal drugs into the neighborhoods of Minneapolis is as acute and intense now as at any time in modern history. And so when citizen Johnny Turnipseed raised the question of drugs and prostitution and was then verbally attacked for doing so, I knew why. I encourage those who maintain they want to be enlightened on saving our youth to examine the National League of Cites report of 2009. And yet, the silence within leadership communities when one talks about drugs continues. Many know that drug trafficking in Black America is extremely beneficial and profitable for a small segment of “leaders” always at the ready to position themselves to make sure that drugs flow freely to their target victims in the African American community. It does not bode well that Johnny Turnipseed was beaten back and dismissed at the press conference on the grounds that drugs and prostitution were not the subject of the event, when drugs, prostitution and crime have been going on hand in hand with everything, including tornado recovery. Why does the City persist in its denial? Stay tuned. Ron Edwards: platforms for communicating with the community: Posted August 24, 2011, 11:30 p.m. Violence flares again in our beloved Shangri La August 17, 2011, Column #32 “Agitation is the marshaling of the conscience of a nation to mold its law,” said Sir Robert Peel, who helped create the modern concept of the police force and twice served as England’s Prime Minister between 1834 and 1846. Minneapolis needs planning that reflects its good conscience and diminishes agitation. Agitation is on the streets of Minneapolis, agitation due to the City’s responses to tornado recovery, economic downturn, furloughed workers, and violence in the streets, all part of 2011’s troubling summer. I reported on the sham that is the tornado recovery planning, the turmoil in the MPD planning and collapse of the Violent Offenders Task Force (VOTF), and City workers either furloughed or reduced to a four-day work week, much due to a lack of political and community leadership. Pitched battles fought weekly between police and young people are mindful of riots now going on in London. The cover-up/non-reporting of Minneapolis violence and instability is mind-boggling and dangerous to the health and future of what is promoted as a safe city. Comparatively speaking, “safe” is the furthest thing from the truth. The eight shootings in three days included a 17-year-old Black youth gunned down while bicycle riding in North Minneapolis, and a young man shot just on the outskirts of the Little Earth Housing Project in South Minneapolis, this time by police. In one night, there were five shootings in North and South Minneapolis. And along Penn Avenue in North Minneapolis, unknown terrorists fired upon police. Most disturbing is that there are no suspects. The internal unraveling of the VOTF is taking a wider toll on the city. But the most egregious and outrageous act of violence was the 26-year-old African American shot from ambush in the middle of the street at 13th and Oliver at 11 pm. Shot in the neck, he is now paralyzed from the neck down. What is so disturbing about this tragedy is that it has received no news coverage other than this column. No press conference. No update. No visit by the mayor or other political leader, and certainly no utterance of concern and condolence from leadership within the African American community. A young man gunned down in the streets, paralyzed from the neck down, with no one expressing concern as our good Samaritans “pass on the other side.” His loved ones and friends desperately seek answers. So far, no answers are to be had. And this doesn’t include the suspicious number of victims of violence and mayhem pulled from the Mississippi River. It makes me think of the1980s “disappeared” era in Buenos Aires, Argentina, or Sao Paolo, Brazil, or in Damascas, Syria today, or somewhere else in the wild Third World that is more forgotten than remembered. But this violence of which I write is happening here, my friends, on the streets of our own beloved city, Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a lot of victims and no suspects. Are the European street battles of agitation in London, Paris, Athens, etc. coming to America? Where is the reporting of the Fourth Estate? Where are the plans for dealing with it? Isn’t the suppression of news supposed to be only in the authoritarian regimes of South America, the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia? Why is it taking place here on the banks of the Mississippi, in our beloved Shangri La? Do not dismiss the agitation of the economic downturn, the lack of jobs, the unequal access and opportunity, and the dark forecasts of our economic future. The violence can only increase, and it is clear the African American community has become a target for the fallout from bad public policy. It is very simple, my friends: If there is no report, there is no investigation, no follow-up, no prosecution, and, in the words spoken too often in history, “We screamed for consideration, but there was no one left to hear our cries.” This is Minneapolis in the year 2011. As you think about the one thing that you have, life, be wise and think about the planning pieces we have written about (and placed on our website), which are also being ignored by the various leaderships and white journalists. Stay tuned. May God bless you. Ron Edwards: platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Wednesday, August 17, 2011, 1:22 a.m. When experience and knowledge truly mean something. June 8, 2011, Column #22 "Let nobody fool you, all the loud noises we hear today Over 60 serious minded people came together at 8 am, May 27, 2011, at the UROC center in North Minneapolis, and again at 3 pm that afternoon, across the street at the Urban League. Purpose? to discuss how to handle the aftermath of the tornado that damaged over 5,000 homes and businesses and caused millions of dollars in damage. The 8 am meeting had been announced by Mayor RT Rybak. It appeared no one was ready with plans other than Lutheran Social Services (LSS), which is the largest statewide private non-profit social service agency in Minnesota. Nancy Beers, the Director of Lutheran Social Services Disaster Services and Camp Noah, demonstrated what calamity preparedness is all about: meet calamity with ready, actionable response plans to assist disaster victims. Why doesn’t the Black Ministerial Group have such plans? The self-proclaimed “leaders” high jacked the morning meeting, announcing they were coordinating the relief effort in North Minneapolis. It was clear they had no such plan for doing anything other than collecting fees for coordinating. What an embarrassment for the Black community. Even more embarrassing was how some of those who receive big salaries to manage agencies within the Black community disrespected organizations that are actually doing real things to help real people (e.g., Lutheran Social Services, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army). We choose at this time not to name names, hoping they’ll get it right, and then work to end the disconnect, and learn how to bring assistance to our community without putting their their hands out. The excellent LLS PowerPoint presentation bore witness to an extraordinary understanding of what to do in a community after disasters like the tornado. Ms. Beers and Lutheran Social Services obviously bring experience and sensitivity to communities in pain. We need Black leaders and ministers with knowledge and who really care? The 3:00 pm meeting in the afternoon at the Urban League, called by the Black organizational leadership was more fake, as they merely had Ms Beers and her Lutheran Social Services team repeat their outstanding PowerPoint presentation. I wondered what we would have discussed without the Lutheran Social Services presentation. When will our Black leadership and churches work to become relevant again, especially in response to disasters? To take advantage of the work and the knowledge of others is not uncommon, but it leaves a sour taste in one’s mouth to know they are drawing excessive and extraordinary salaries and still do so little. This point was made again when I attended another meeting the following Tuesday. A tremendous number of agency heads and other representatives met. This time, Ms Beers and her Lutheran Social Services team was not there. And those who positioned themselves as spokespersons and facilitators for tornado recovery were exposed as being unprepared. With no one’s work to hijack or pirate, incompetency driven by the mentality of hustling for the sake of the hustle was exposed. It breaks my heart to say this. But truth has to be spoken to misused power when so many neighbors are in pain, and all the status quo leaders bring is incompetence and hustling. All could see it. Truth is truth. Facts are facts. When will Black “leaders” trod the only leadership paths that count: education and jobs? Instead, they participate in dumbing down the education of our kids and grand kids, even helping to deny them jobs, even on the biggest construction projects, so they can keep their jobs. “Where there is no vision the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). Lutheran Social Services showed vision. The Black leadership did not. Not all of them, of course, but with too many of them we don’t anticipate positive results on behalf of the black community. Instead we anticipate the same ‘ol same ‘ol: misrepresentation and lies by city officials, agency heads and Black “leaders” who wile their time dancing together at their tax payer funded feast. Much of our community’s confidence and vision of hope for the future have been shattered. Our community will continue to suffer as long as we are given incompetence, inexperience, and indifference. Lets us adopt plans Lutheran Social Services outlines the need: long-term disaster recovery services, such as disaster case management, volunteer coordination, rebuilding assistance, mental health supports, financial counseling, comforting children, and other services as identified. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Thursday, June 9, 2011, 4:30 a.m. Disaster accelerates gentrification of North Minneapolis June 1, 2011, Column #21 The tornado that smashed its way through the northern part of Minneapolis on Sunday, May 22 unleashed what insurance companies call “an act of God.” This gives our dear leaders a chance to unleash Rahm Emanuel’s famously stated “never let a serious crisis go to waste,” using it for plans to line their pockets and hasten North Minneapolis’ gentrification. Instead of our recommended Nellie Stone Johnson Plan (provide education that qualifies for jobs that enables buying and repairing a home), we get the Hollman/Heritage Park Plan (forcing Blacks kept poor out, further reducing Black voters in Minneapolis). Planning for Black exclusion in North Side Minneapolis reconstruction continues what I called in 2003 “a cross between Birth of a Nation and The Wizard of Oz," labeling the racist and classist dispersing of poor Blacks a rainbow. What is the reconstruction plan? Why aren’t Blacks included in paid planning and paid cleanup? Why this Hollman/Heritage Park moment: Blacks colluding with Whites to scatter North Minneapolis’ poor Blacks without a right of return? The tornado changed our neighborhoods, but not the behavior of the elite hustlers and fixers from our churches, community organizations, foundations, other nonprofits and City agencies as they plan continuing gentrification, scattering poor Blacks and reconstructing without Black workers. Star Tribune headline, May 23, 2011: “North Minneapolis tornado toll: $166 million and likely to rise.” Governor Dayton: Minnesota “will offer whatever help north Minneapolis needs to recover, including a special session to consider disaster aid.” But “consider” is not a plan. The Minneapolis City Council: They will “request outside disaster declarations and aid.” But “request” is not a plan. Hennepin County admits to not having a plan for a disaster of “this magnitude.” Not having a plan is a bad plan. City officials: feared the damage to the North Side means “housing options have dwindled.” “Dwindling options” serves gentrification. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency): government assistance only for a percentage of damage. Five thousand homes damaged. “Percentage” means huge boost to gentrification. A list at the May 24 meeting identified MBEs and WBEs (Minority Business Enterprises and Women’s Business Enterprises) already selected and agreed to participate in this criminal enterprise: pass-throughs from nominal minority companies back to major White businesses and construction companies that will do the actual work, all serving gentrification (continuing to do nothing to deal with the steep decline of Black businesses in North Minneapolis). I’ll be blunt: Numbers will be forged; press releases will announce fake numbers, all to show minority business enterprises and Black workers (mostly ghosts) on the job enjoying the benefits of the proposed $166+ million stimulus package for North Minneapolis. I have reported this sham that systematically and purposefully keeps Blacks off big construction projects in the Twin Cities, as no monitoring allows refusing to meet diversity compliance. With past as prologue, Black contractors and Black workers “need not apply.” My most recent reporting on this includes columns of 2009: September 30, November 4. 2010: January 13, April 14, May 5, 12, 19, June 16, August 11, November 17, 24, December 15. 2011: February 9, March 9. All are archived at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Does this mean the final solution of the North Minneapolis “round up” plan of my May 4, 2005 column is being worked out in reverse, using the tornado damage to hasten the dispersal of Blacks, not unlike what happened to the Jews in the 1930s and 1940s? Making African Americans in North Minneapolis an endangered species has long been the plan. Blacks now understand what is in store for them. To believe they will again accept it peacefully is a very risky gamble. [Editor’s note: Consider using, in preparing for such discussions, including with groups of concerned neighbors, these Solution Papers, listed at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com/tocsolutions.htm: #42, Dec 22, 2010: About Planning Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Thursday, June 2, 2011, 12:05 p.m. It’s déjà vu with the MPD as history repeats itself. April 27, 2011, Column #17 One of the rules of investigating corruption is to determine the level of the offense. Overtime is that kind of issue. People steal overtime either by falsifying hours worked or working hours not needed or not assigned. Either way, overtime pay is stolen from the taxpayers. The level of Minneapolis Police Department overtime abuse was so great that it finally caught the attention of City of Minneapolis auditors scrutinizing overtime hours, which led to the investigation of MPD unit commanders by the assistant chief and deputy chief. The lawsuit filed (see April 5, 2011 Star Tribune, “2 Minneapolis officers sue, alleging retaliatory demotions”) caused me to ask in my April 20, 2011 column (“New lawsuit continues old MPD cover-up of White corruption”) what the driving force was for the auditors to provide information that caused the assistant chief and deputy chief to take decisive action to remove Lt. Smith and Sgt. King from duty. A February 14, 2011 letter from Assistant Chief Janae Hartung to Lt. Smith states they were placed on administration leave pursuant to Article 16 of the labor agreement. The letter instructed Lt. Smith to not be on any property of the MPD or the FBI without prior authorization. Thinking back, I remember seeing that kind of statement almost four years earlier, when Sgt. King and others had brought allegations to Chief Dolan against Lt. Keith, then head of the Violent Offender Task Force (VOTF). See my column of August 29, 2007. Consequently, déjà vu. For more déjà vu, see my list of columns of MPD cover-up on my web site. The deeper question and mystery is of how officers of the VOTF unit positioned themselves in the investigation of an assistant Hennepin County attorney, John St. Marie, who had been involved in a Hennepin County prostitution ring almost two years ago (Strib, July 12, 2009). These commanders indicated they had no knowledge of the overtime that was being identified by Lt. Smith, Sgt. King, and others in the VOTF Unit. Now it is not clear, as of the writing of this column, April 20, if these investigative reports will be made available to the public. Of course, under discovery, within the rules of the court, this information will be provided to the city in its defense against the allegations by Lt. King and Sgt. Smith. But the question remains: Where was the chief during this investigation? On page 13 of the complaint filed by Lt. Smith and Sgt. King, at lines 97 through 105, there is a most disturbing discussion between Chief Dolan and Lt. Smith about what Chief Dolan knew, when he knew it, what he saw, and what he asked. The public and a jury will have to determine the truth. At line 102, the chief acknowledged that he “personally reviewed the documents and personally determined that Smith and King had not violated any laws,” but he refused to identify the specific information on which he based that view. I have reason to believe that the chief knew as far back as January 26, 2010, when he wrote the letter praising the outstanding investigative work of Lt. Smith and Sgt. King, that he used it to expose the so-called corruption of Black police officers. It appears that Lt. Smith and Sgt. King knew all about how things were being approached in the investigations, including that by the county attorney’s office. This is why it would be important for the city council to scrutinize all timelines and the issues of overtime as well as the issue of retaliation. And whether in closed or open sessions, it is important that the chief explain to the council who it was he was talking about in his letter of January 26, 2010, as the Chief’s letter states that Smith and King were the targets for retaliation. But by whom? And why, as soon as Assistant Chief Janae Hartung made the federal authorities aware of her actions on Feb 14, 2011, did all federal agencies with personnel in the VOTF unit order their people to withdraw from the unit? Knee jerk reaction? Action due to uncovering significant criminal abuse? Just a desire to distance from it? The public has a right to know the answers to these questions. Will damages be paid out? Will the money go to those with a legal right to receive it, or is this is another scam perpetrated upon the tax payers of Minneapolis? Stay tuned. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 5:34 a.m. New lawsuit continues old MPD cover-up of White corruption April 20, 2011, Column #16 The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported April 5, 2011 (2 Mpls. officers sue, alleging retaliatory demotions) that two ranking Minneapolis police officers, Lt. Andrew Smith and Sgt. Pat King, filed a lawsuit “accusing superior officers of retaliating against them for uncovering corruption within the department.” I wondered why the majority media didn’t ask the following question: Why was Chief Tim Dolan not named as a defendant in the case? After further review of the lawsuit, I saw how clever this entire scenario is turning out to be. Racial tensions within the Minneapolis Police Department is not new news — I write about it regularly (two 2006 columns, seven 2008 columns, and 12 columns in 2009). The Star Tribune finally wrote on it April 28, 2009, FBI joins in probe of Metro Gang Strike Force almost two and a half years later (see my column of May 6, 2009). [Ed note: find URL’s of referenced columns at the end of this post.] I concur with lines 53-61 of the April 28, 2009 editorial: that Had the five African American police officers stayed the course, it would have allowed everyone to learn the truth about racial tensions in the MPD. But, for whatever reason(s), the officers chose to take the money. There has been nothing but silence since. The chief and his two top investigators of the Black police officers have now opened old wounds. In a January 26, 2010 letter to both Lt. Smith and Sgt. King, the chief praises and commends them for their “efforts in the corruption investigation that led to the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer, Michael Roberts.” The chief went on to say, “This letter will formally document that, at my request, you had a significant role in the internal corruption investigation.” As co-chair of the former Police Community Relations Council (PCRC), I am not surprised. After reading the entire letter, one realizes that this was about how to distract from the federal grand jury investigating corruption of White Minneapolis police officers in order to shift attention to Black law enforcement officers. The January 26 letter is very interesting. The chief wrote, “I want to thank you for your courage and willingness to serve the department in such an important effort.” Then, at the very end of the letter, the chief indicates the names of former and current employees with knowledge about this investigation. One of those was Deputy Chief Scott Gerlicher, who is a defendant in the Smith-King suit. This was classic Dolan, setting up Smith and King to be able to sue and thus draw attention away from the police department corruption, especially the White officers of the Gang Task Force. It then makes sense why Lt. Smith and Sgt. King claim they are targets of retaliation and threats. In fact, in the court document, according to Lt. Smith, Chief Dolan told them that “you don’t have an idea of how many people are gunning for you.” That is a rather interesting and transparent signal to them from their chief. The full scope of these legal allegations is seen when both plaintiffs indicate the dangers they were faced with, claiming that investigating Black police officers revealed the betrayal of the public trust by the Black officers. They further allege that the Black officers provided confidential and privileged information to known drug dealers and gang members for the purpose of allowing retaliation against citizens of this city. They claim these are factual allegations and that they put their careers on the line to expose corrupt African American officers in the department. It was interesting how they identified in their brief former officer Michael Roberts and former inspector and now Lt. Lee Edwards for their pubic corruption. My columns since 2006 have reported what they want to cover up: corruption of White police officers. After 14 months of dragging their feet, the city attorney’s office gave the lame assessment that I had no standing to bring this information forward. But of course I did, and do. Lt. Smith and Sgt. King’s obvious effort at reverse discrimination used some of the same arguments, but now they say said it was the Black officers who were the villains. The majority media has shied away from my columns since 2006 that have exposed the cover-up of the real villains: White police officers. In next week’s column I will go deeper into the conspiracy that brought down Black Minneapolis police officers. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 12:22 a.m. ===== Past related columns: May 6, 2009 Column #17: Courageous witness may expose race-based MPD corruption September 26, 2007 Column #20: Minneapolis Black police officers take action against bias. The need for Chapter 149.80: A Time to Act September 12, 2007 Column #19: At MPD, retaliation is the order of the day August 29, 2007 Column #18: A profile in courage and integrity—the saga of Lt. Michael Keefe December 5, 2007 Column #25: 1. The Betrayal of Joan Johnson: A Civil Rights Tragedy 2. Black police officers sue city and chief for discrimination January 2, 2008 Column #1: MPD's scorched-earth policy: 2007 bleeds into 2008 April 30, 2008 Column #15: Targeting the Black police May 28, 2008 Column #19: Cops help bad guys threaten good citizens May 21, 2008 Column #18: History in the making: Police Federation requests criminal investigation of MPD Chief Dolan June 25, 2008 Column #23: The mystery continues: an update on MPD Black police officers July 30, 2008, Column #28: In the matter of Charles F. Adams: The continued saga of Black officers August 6, 2008 Column #29: The death of a settlement, the shame of a city August 20, 2008 Column #31: Flawed journalism misses MPD conspiracy against Black officers October 8, 2008 Column #38: Is The Strib Only Interested In Black Corruption?Why Did It Drop Its MPD Investigation When White Officers Were Implicated? November 5, 2008 Column #42: The shredding of 'Operation Payback' November 5, 2008 Column #42: The shredding of 'Operation Payback' December 24, 2008, Column #49: Time is running out for Police Community Relations Council “The Plan” revealed: no more jobs for Black Minnesotans in 2011 and beyond. March 9, 2011, Column #10 One of the important features of history is date sequences. They identify occasions of events, including place, circumstances and people involved. Here are some recent historical landmarks in the purposeful denial of jobs to Blacks in this city and state. Historic date: April 18, 2008 — Report of Michael Jordan, then director of the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights (DCR), using 20 references to “monitoring,” “compliance with,” and “increased opportunities for MBEs [Minority Business Enterprises].” All untrue. Historic date: August 28, 2009 — MinneapolisStory blog entry with list of 12 columns, 2005-2009, reporting incidents of noncompliance. Historic date: June 18, 2010 — Star Tribune editorial headed, “This is one list we’d rather not top,” about the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) study and testimony released to the U.S. Congress showing African Americans 3.1 times more likely than Whites to be unemployed in the metro area. Historic date: November 3, 2010 — Since those elections, both parties have shouted the clarion call for jobs, jobs, jobs. Where are they? Historic date: October 22, 2010 — “Diversity Study” report to the City, with 17 pages of recommendations, from NERA Economic Consultants. Key statement: “Minneapolis currently does not monitor compliance during performance. Contractor utilization is reviewed at contract closeout. This is too late to correct any deficiencies to ensure M/WBEs are treated fairly on their contracts.” Historic date: October 27, 2010 (five days later) — on page 2A of USA Today, Living Cities Foundation press conference in Detroit announces $16 million granted to each of five cities, including Minneapolis, for the employment of the unemployed, underemployed and hard to employ. Where is it? Where did it get diverted to? Historic date: February 24, 2011 — Publication of the letter of Dr. Samuel L. Myers, Jr. rebutting the October 22, 2011 Minneapolis “Diversity Report.” Had Dr. Meyers read my books, columns, and website, where I have thoroughly documented the purposeful job-denying economic rape of the Black community by the public and private sectors since 2002, he would not have written such an abstract letter devoid of street-level reality. (See my most recent columns, November 18 and 25 and December 8 and 15, 2010, and January 5 and 19 and February 9, 2011, archived at www.MinneapolisStory.com). Dr. Myers’ real goal seems to be to get the grant given to NERA, the Texas firm that conducted the study. But being in Minneapolis is not enough if you are blind to the facts and deaf to what is said by workers. Dr. Myers writes of documents that don’t exist (either shredded or never existing in the first place). Dr. Myers seems to place the blame for defective and incomplete information at the doorstep of NERA. The reason the NERA report contains flawed information and statistics, which they admit, is because the data and information they obtained from the DCR was flawed, with made-up numbers, contract payments, payroll information and Social Security numbers that never existed. Dr. Myers won’t acknowledge the City’s GIGO: garbage in, garbage out. He ignores the City’s refusal to follow its own regulations, and he ignores the former DCR director Michael Jordan’s public comment that major contracts under the legal custody of the DCR could be executed and completed without hiring a single Black person. When Dr. Myers suggests there might be “discrimination against White male-owned firms via existing race-conscious programs,” he shows just how out of touch with reality he is. He joins other so-called Black leaders more focused on their next funding project than on justice and fairness. The continued blocked unemployment of Blacks in the Twin Cities is an albatross of shame around the necks of those purposefully denying employment justice and fairness of law in the workplace. The historical timeline above reveals those in power (and those who elected them) not giving a damn. (For greater detail, see today’s blog entry on my MinneapolisStory.com website). The DCR has moved the discussion in a different direction, away from accurate reporting and following the law. Instead, the department is proposing in its business plan to downsize and remove itself from the active field of investigations by 2014, removing the need to pretend it enforces civil rights law. There it is, “The Plan,” out in the open, plain and simple. More studies are not needed. We already know that any attempt to provide opportunity for meaningful economic inclusion of African Americans in the state of Minnesota is doomed to failure. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Wednesday, March 9, 2011, 8:00 p.m. Governor proposes $1 billion jobs stimulus program for Whites. No Compliance Enforcement Plan for Including African Americans. February 9, 2011, Column #6 Last week, newly elected Democratic Governor Mark Dayton announced a $1 billion jobs stimulus program for Minnesota. It sounds great on paper, but until I see a commitment to reversing the traditional disparities in such projects, it’s just a continuation of employment apartheid in Minnesota. The record shows [reported in this column as Disparity Study, Part I of November 17, 2010, and Part II of November 25, 2010], that no matter where stimulus proposals come from, African Americans are denied jobs. For eight years, this column has been asking for the plan of inclusion in employment, education and housing consistent with the spirit of Cecil Newman, Nellie Stone Johnson, Dr. Thomas Johnson, Frank Alsop, Father Denzel Carty, and other great Black Americans who have passed from this life. They would be heartbroken to hear that not only is there no plan in existence or contemplated, but also no Black or White community leaders have stepped up to oppose this. They want nothing to interfere with their separate gravy trains. This turning of their collective backs on opportunity for African Americans defeats the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., Black history, and the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. History will rightly record these betrayals as acts of cowardice as “leaders” repudiate the dream and legacy of opportunity and freedom for African Americans in Minnesota. A $1 billion jobs stimulus program for Minnesota is absolutely great — if you’re White. It is one of the reasons that leadership of all colors in the Twin Cities have refused to discuss and examine the 2010 Disparity Report of October 21 and 22 (again, see my 2010 columns of Nov 17 and 24, and December 15). What and where is the Plan for 2011? [Thus we offer our own thoughts on planning here.] Only cowards or quislings would turn their backs on the findings and the warnings contained in that half-million-dollar study disclosing one of the things that is absolutely guaranteed in Minnesota: that people of color, and particularly African Americans, will not get a fair shake when it comes to hiring, the awarding of contracts, and other acts denying general areas of economic opportunity. There are many in the Black community who say they have the ear of the governor and of the power merchants of the Democratic Party, and yet none of them has spoken above a whisper regarding how Black Minnesotans will fit into this $1 billion jobs stimulus program. Maybe we have embraced more quickly than I realized what the White governor of Ohio told the Ohio Black Legislative Caucus: that he didn’t need Black people to do anything for him and his administration in regards to the future of African American economic opportunity in Ohio. The only difference between these White governors is that one is Republican and the other a Democrat. At least in Ohio, the Black legislative delegation challenged the governor of that state to ask for the inclusion of all Americans irrespective of race, creed, color or national origin. When will the Blacks of Minnesota stand up? It’s February, Black History Month, and yet no one has the courage to demand the basics that there be a place at the table for all of our citizens, regardless of their race or their color or whoever they may be. Think about it, my friends: a $1 billion jobs stimulus program in which the governor is saying he wants to borrow money to make things better so White Minnesotans feel more comfortable knowing there is success at the end of the great highway of White prosperity. How much longer until Black Minnesotans and others of color are afforded that same courtesy and respect? My oh my oh my oh my. As Bilbo would say, along with Strom Thurmond, happy days are here again for you know who. Let us offer our prayers for the sons and daughters of the African Americans of Minnesota, the victims of nullification and reversal in exchange for a better White Minnesota. Even in the worst of circumstances, we have been the most loyal and faithful to the republic, to this state, and to the Democratic Party. Yet we find ourselves once again oppressed by intentional nullification and reversal of the interests of Black Minnesotans. Nellie Stone Johnson said, “Without education there can be no jobs, and without jobs there can be no housing.” Vikings stadium construction jobs? Was the Vikings team’s stadium left off the construction jobs bill by mistake, as was the African American Museum? The museum has been put back on the list. Will the Vikings be put on the list? If so, will the team stop breaking the compliance rules identified by the Diversity Study? Stay tuned. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted February 13, 2011, 11:22 p.m. The Black Church and the Black Council square off January 19, 2011, Column #4 Pull quote: A failure by either side to explain their actions in favor of facing off in battle denouncing each other will impede justice, especially in education, jobs and housing. Is God dead in Minneapolis? A nation or community destroys itself when powerful political and religious institutions part ways, hurling torrents of invective at each other, heaping scorn on each other’s ideas, and praying to the same God for help in beating each other. Too many think the key is to find moderates to bring the sides together, but moderates (as opposed to “moderation”) by definition are indecisive. Needed is to weave together the best that the Black church leaders and leaders of the Council on Black Minnesotans stand for, not their actions. These two factions’ actions reveal that they are not working together for the betterment of the community. Instead, they display deep-seated divisions and animosity. Only the Council knows why they chose to withdraw the invitation to former state representative Randy Staten to speak at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration. Only the Black churchmen know why they marched into the auditorium of Central High School, almost a 100 strong and dressed in Black, denouncing the Council on Black Minnesotans and threatening to use violence. Members of the Black clergy say there has been inappropriate conduct by the Council on Black Minnesotans in terms of the handling of the tobacco settlement monies entrusted to the Council. For the last couple of years, the Council has awarded grants and awards totaling $250,000 per year. By Minnesota legislative statute, the Council is to regularly provide financial reporting to the legislature. Troubling are comments by the legislative auditor. Also troubling is the invitation to Republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachman (understandable in the legislative/political context). The Rev. Jerry McAfee scolded and repudiated the Council on Black Minnesotans for inviting Congresswoman Bachman (also understandable in light of her attacks on President Barack Obama, her taking personal credit on Monday the 17th for the ouster of former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, and in light of other very unkind and volatile statements she has made against the franchise of the African American). It is as legitimate to ask why the Council and the so-called MLK Commission extended this invitation as it is legitimate to ask why the Rev. McAfee threatened violence. These questions must be addressed. Certainly the legislative committee with oversight of the Council on Black Minnesotans must summon them to explain the various allegations laid against them by the Black Church group and the concerns of the legislative auditor. It is the right thing to do to begin the healing between two political bodies important to the well-being and future of the Black community in Minnesota. This is not the time for organizations to destroy themselves fighting internally in the community. Already we have lost too many organizations. Too many questions are unanswered regarding the collapse of organizations and the disappearance of African American leaders not able to stand in the well and ask the questions of inquiry (not to mention “lost” community monies). A failure by either side to explain their actions in favor of facing off in battle denouncing each other will impede justice, especially in education, jobs and housing. This can cause an unraveling of the fibers of strength that are so fundamentally important to tie the African American community together as one, doom unification, and undermine the future of the African American in Minnesota. President Obama asked in Tucson, "What, beyond prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward?" Let’s start with (1) President Obama’s Tucson speech that “we live up [to the] expectations” of the nine-year-old killed in that city January 8, to work together to make America "as good as she imagined it"; (2) be guided by what many called the greatest piece of wisdom literature, the Sermon on the Mount; and (3) the solutions posted on my website, #42 (on planning) and #18 (on reconciling communities and races). Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted January 26, 2011, 3:36 pm Dec 22, 2010 Column #51: "Safe Streets" or "Street Safe" — take your pick. The fix is in again, and transparency out. "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" During the spring and summer of 2010, there was much discussion throughout the city about a program known as Operation Ceasefire. The entire odyssey was covered in great detail in my August 4, 2010 column in which we reported $2.2 million expected to come into the city, with at least $1 million being allocated to the group identified by Booker T Hodges in his columns over the last eight months. Once the announcement was made that Operation Ceasefire would not be coming to Minneapolis, I wondered what the next move would be. Now we are beginning to see. Federal sources and bloggers in Boston, Massachusetts reported that the weekend of December 10-12 a delegation from Minneapolis arrived in Boston to work on plans to bring a program and monies to Minneapolis. Those monies would be “Safe Street” monies, which, according to the website of the Minneapolis Council of Churches, would be funneled through the organization to a consortium of clergy and civil rights leaders. Bloggers are now reporting a meeting was held here in Minneapolis on December 13, comprised of the key principals in the plan, during which there was an in-depth discussion on how the proceeds would be assigned. During the December 13 discussion, a member of the ecumenical community indicated that his cut would be 43 percent off the top. In addition, the group discussed who would be revealed and who would not be revealed as principal operatives in this “Safe Streets” program. During the discussion it was pointed out that length of service, whatever that means, determines the cut of the pie. Of course, this position led to some philosophical debates, but it was quickly determined that there was nothing to debate, that it was a done deal. And feeling they had no place else to go, they relented. The Black Ministerial Alliance of Boston, of course, is running interference in endorsing the credentials of the Minneapolis group. To the best of our knowledge, the executive director of the Black Ministerial Alliance in Boston has never been in our beloved city to evaluate the environment and current operational programs in existence. But the presentation in Boston was tied to the following: personal relationships, the failed Operation Ceasefire, political endorsements in Minneapolis, and now, how the payouts would take place. An announcement of the date of the arrival of “Safe Streets/Street Safe” was discussed. Of course, with the publishing of this column, dates and timelines will no doubt be changed. In fact, we would expect that the leadership group would say no such meeting took place. The only problem is that inside the group, as of their reading this column, the folks are looking at each other cross-eyed and sideways. At some point, it will be revealed to the planners that they have been under surveillance by federal authorities for quite some time. In fact, they don’t even realize that when they arrived at Boston’s Logan International Airport, they had ghosts walking with them. Why is it important for this story to be written? Because of what Booker T Hodges and others have said for some time: It is way past time for transparency and to truly care for the community at large that these self-proclaimed leaders are supposed to serve, not serve the “leadership community.” The goal should be our safe streets, not their safe bank accounts. For more background, we list earlier columns — from 2010: February 10, June 9, and July 7; from 2006: July 19, August 16, March 1, May 10, July 5, October 11, and November 22. We hope the Minneapolis Council of Churches will do the right thing. Let us hope that consultation is with their conscience and their God, and not with the institutions and members of profit and corruption. We pray for all those involved in this season of the Savior, in the tradition of justice and righteousness. Happy holidays. Vikings en route to California? When the Dome collapsed early Sunday morning on the Mall of America Field, dumping snow onto the field, was the legal door opened for Ziggy Wilf to pull up stakes and take our beloved Vikings to the greater Los Angeles area? We noticed that all of the media in the Twin Cities have stayed away from “breach of contract.” It was no accident that during the Vikings’ 21-3 defeat to the Giants in Detroit, Ziggy Wilf was caught constantly looking up at the roof and all of the other amenities. He probably, this close to Christmas, had delusions of profit dancing in his head. And it must have been tough that because of a breach of contract by the Metropolitan Facilities Commission, Ziggy Wilf had just taken a financial bath in the cold rotunda of Detroit, Michigan, not to mention the cold bath he’ll take in the University of Minnesota’s outdoor TCM Stadium. Sounds confusing, doesn’t it? But thank God for the University of Minnesota. Ziggy is looking for something in his Christmas stocking. Will he get it from Minnesota or Los Angeles? See here and here. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted December 29, 2010,10:20 p.m. Dec 15, 2010 Column #50: Minneapolis Continues its Fairy Tale of Compliance. Only painful sanctions will make these tales come true. by Ron Edwards "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" “There they go again” can be the only statement to make about Minneapolis, as it again demonstrates its fairy tale that it meets its own compliance laws. In reality, it continues to deny African Americans equal access and equal job opportunity in Minneapolis. Despite the April 18, 2010 Diversity Study presented to the City Council on November 4, 2010, the city is essentially still saying: no. (see my earlier columns on the Diversity Study, November 17, 2010 and November 24, 2010). The key conclusion of the Diversity Study was made very clear: “Minneapolis currently does not monitor compliance during performance.” The historic Minneapolis formula: promise to comply, and then don’t. The Diversity Study counter formula recommendation: commit to compliance; monitor to show compliance; pay severe penalties if compliance is not done. No one has made the city do so before. Without sanctions it won’t. The new “Oversight” committee of the School District seems to say that no one but the African American community cares, and who cares about them? The community cares and has stepped up by putting a Community Benefits Agreement for compliance on the table of the committee appointed two months ago to oversee the construction of the new Education Services Center. The irony is that this committee, The Minority, Women and Diverse Business Participation Oversight Committee (MWD-POC), includes, as one of the individuals to continue the tradition of noncompliance, Velma Korvel, Director of the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights. The City’s Director of Diversity and Mortenson’s Director of Community Affairs announced the City’s very ambitious goal: 25% minority participation, with all the traditional googledygook of statements about intent to do right by the community. There were plenty of clues showing they don’t mean it. First clue: making community input hard. Don Allen, another City journalist, and myself made unsuccessful inquiries about when the Oversight Committee would meet. Finally, the District’s Media Relations Pubic Affairs Office sent out on December 2nd, an announcement of an Oversight Committee meeting to receive public input, to be held at the District’s 807 E Broadway building, on December 7, 2010, at 8:30 am, with speakers limited to three minutes each. Second clue: eleven people showed up besides the committee, five being from the community, of whom three spoke. It was as if the Oversight Committee didn’t want community input and were surprised people showed up. The meeting: 90 minutes. Community input: 9 minutes. Third clue: no one who actually lives in North Minneapolis is on the oversight committee. Fourth clue: the shock and dismay on the faces of the committee when Don Allen, a media and communications consultant, presented them with a Community Benefits Agreement that reflected the recommendations of the Diversity Study: sanctions if monitoring shows non-compliance. Proposed on p. 7 of the CBA: put up a $25 million bond before construction, to be forfeited to the African American Educational Trust Fund if the diversity goals are not met on the new MPS Educational Services Building (see my columns of May 5, 2010 and my column of May 26, 2010). The Agreement follows the successful template of the CBA used in Los Angeles on behalf of the community regarding the construction of the LA Airport expansion. The individuals who brought this Community Benefits Agreement have clearly followed the advice of Booker T. Hodges, President of the local branch of the NAACP: cut out the traditional hustlers who purport to be leaders of the African American community but who, in reality, rip it off. Page 17 of the Diversity Study recommendations states: “it is critical that these commitments be monitored and that these sanctions for noncompliance be available.” In other words, there will never be compliance with any goal so long as there are no penalties, sanctions or consequences for not meeting stated goals. As Mr. Hodges pointed out in this paper two weeks ago, if we allow the traditional fixers to be involved, compliance won’t happen. This CBA is the property of the African American community, not the fixers. It should be treated as a national treasure, not to be abused nor betrayed. The community understands and justly demands that penalties and sanctions be in place. White corporate America does this all the time. For example, with foreclosures, banks and lending institutions tell people of color that if they don’t meet their obligations they will lose their homes. We don’t think it should be any different in the quest for construction job compliance in Minneapolis, a city that has become legendary and notorious for noncompliance in supporting the interests and the franchise of the African American. Stay tuned. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Dec 8, 2010 Column #49: Days that will live in infamy. "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" "Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues" A weekly column by Ron Edwards Featured in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder December 7, 1941 is the day then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said “will live in infamy,” the day of Japan’s devastating attack on American military and civilian facilities in Hawaii that ushered the United States into World War II. December 9 and 10, 2010 of this week will go down as continuing the days of infamy in Minneapolis, as once again the Minneapolis City Council and the Office of the Mayor will sign off on continuing the devastating dismantling of economic opportunity for the African American community in Minneapolis. Just as the Japanese warlords planned for the events of December 7, 1941, as seen in later documents that were found that brought to light their devious plan to bring about the demise of the United States of America, so too with new documents found regarding how Minneapolis continues to execute its plans to dismantle African American neighborhoods. When you add the lost lives due to decades of denying equal access to education, jobs and opportunities, and the lost lives due to decades of public policy enabling a culture of drugs and violence in the 69 years since 1941, you have decades of devastation as deadly and consequential as 1941. Two years ago, I uncovered and reported in this column the document outlining the plan to dismantle education, jobs and economic opportunity in the African American community. The plan, dated April 18, 2008, was submitted to the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor R.T. Rybak by the then-director of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department, Michael Jordan. It was a plan to accelerate the economic rape of the Minneapolis African American community. The “Disparity Report” of June 6, 1010 by the National Economic Institute of Washington, D.C. (“The State of Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise: Evidence from Minneapolis”), presented to the city council November 4, 2010, exposes the fraudulent reporting in the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights Contract Compliance Unit Reports going back to April 18, 2008. For two years I have reported this horrendous plan in this column, a plan equivalent to genocide on several levels. Mr. Jordan’s 2008 report pointed out, in an almost cavalier manner, that the City has paid out and awarded the White contractors and vendors $659 million, and alleged that $11 million had gone to MBEs (Minority Business Enterprises). Bad enough even if that were true — only 1.6 percent of the total. But we now know it is not so; the “Disparity Report” reveals even the $11 million figure to be bogus. At least 20 times in his report of April 18, 2008 Mr. Jordan makes reference to “monitoring,” “compliance with,” and “increased opportunities for MBE’s.” The “Disparity Report” proves all of this information was also a contrivance, part of the grand scheme, all part of a giant policy ponzi scheme. How much longer will the African American community invest its support in the Democratic Party’s broken promises of equal access and equal opportunity in education and jobs? We get promises followed by sneak attacks on our community. The African American community has believed in and with great loyalty committed itself to the support of the Democratic Party and its agenda, because we are always on the agenda — an agenda that is then not followed. History shows that just before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Imperial Japan and the United States considered themselves to be friends and allies. It has been no different in the relationship in this city between the African American community under siege and a Democratic Party that takes its relationship with the African American community for granted. The documentation of proof is in place. The many articles I’ve written about it for years that have been dismissed by the City and African American “leaders” dependent on the City are now shown, in the “Disparity Study,” to be true (see my past two columns of November 17 and 24). Just as there were agents of deceit and betrayal seated in Tokyo in 1940, agents are also in the conference rooms and hallways of Minneapolis City Hall still today. Their deceit shall also live forever in infamy as we remember both April 18, 2008, and December 9 and 10, 2010. Let the world pray for the salvation and survival of the African American in Minnesota. Last week in this paper (December 2), Minneapolis Branch NAACP President Booker T Hodges wrote of so-called leaders in our community who cooperate with the City in the devastation of our community. Does this mean the NAACP is ready to wake up and smell the truth, and work to forgive, reconcile, and act together to put our community first? Stay tuned. Ron Edwards' journalist platforms for communicating with the community: Posted Wednesday, December 8, 2010, 2:44 a.m. Read More 2010 Column Entries » February 10, 2010 Column #6: Where did it all go wrong? Jordan’s dismissal one more nail in the civil rights coffin EXCERPTS: 2-18-09: nine past columns are listed, reporting how Blacks have been systematically shut out of construction contracts and jobs. Thus, Michael Jordan (the sixth director in eight years) carried the noncompliance water for the mayor and council and yet is the only department head not reappointed. They will find another future scapegoat willing to continue to put nails into the coffin of a once-great dream.
About my new book: A Seat for Everyone We are all part of a great country that still has what Lincoln called "unfinished business," about which Martin Luther King, Jr. said we can no longer wait to have it completed. Thanks to all who have offered congratulations and asked questions. You can order the book on my publisher's website, www.beacononthehill.com. It is subtitled "The Freedom Guide that Explores a Vision for America." The sad part is that this is a book that should have been written by the NAACP, the Urban League, the leadership forum, or the ministers association. They have remained silent. Worse: acquiescent silence. The Urban League tossed Nellie Stone Johnson and me out a while back, and five years ago the NAACP national expelled me for writing my first book. So much for the First Amendment. I will not be silent. I will not lie down. Sadly, our once young and energetic civil rights leaders have atrophied and become keepers of the status quo they once fought against. They have brought the Civil Rights Movement to a standstill in the inner city. My hope is that, win or lose, the candidacy of Barack Obama rejuvenates the Civil Rights Movement with its lost energy and enables it to again refocus its eye on the prize, a seat for everyone, not just for the self-appointed leaders who now serve the mastuh. They have their seats at the table. I say there must be a seat for everyone. You won't read about what is in my book in the Star Tribune and mainstream media. They don't want you to read all the news, only the news they want you to read. Only the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder provides you with the news they won't. A Seat for Everyone: The Freedom Guide that Explores a Vision for America discusses the major status quo areas that have shown little or no progress: inner-city education, jobs, housing and public safety. I also reference key past columns and where to find them on my Minneapolis Story website. Also discussed in detail are the two historic lawsuits against the Minneapolis Police Department brought by Black officers. The conditions resulting in this litigation have had a profound impact on public safety in our city and in the City/MPD's treatment of its Black officers. The outcome will also have significant impacts. Minneapolis is so delusional that it has defined "minorities" to include so many "diverse" groups that it proudly boasts it can now comply with minority hiring without having to hire Blacks. My book discusses this insult as well. Why is everyone else silent about this? A unique feature is that the book "marries" the online world with that of traditional book publishing. I present my argument in less than 100 pages. This slim volume (literally, as it is easy to put it in your pocket and carry around for easy reference) includes five columns and one blog essay and lists additional columns that can easily be found at: www.TheMinneapolisStory.com/tocarchives.htm. The book presents a beacon of hope for the current lows in inner-city education, jobs, housing, and public safety. We need to work together to stand up for Black youth and stop waiting for the city government and its teachers unions as they continue to lie down also, rather than stand up for our kids in our schools. It all starts with education. As Nellie always stated, "No education, no jobs, no housing." Senator Obama would add, "No hope." My book brings hope back to the discussion. A note from my publisher From Beacon on the Hill: "Thank you, Mr. Edwards, for allowing us space to announce more details about the publication last week of your new book, A Seat for Everyone: The Freedom Guide that Explores a Vision for America. We want your readers know that they can not only learn more about it on our website, www.BeaconOnTheHill.com, they can also order the book on that site. "Mr. Edwards presents his arguments and vision in just 55 pages. The rest of this slim volume (easy to put it in your pocket and carry around for easy reference) lists specific columns that can be found in the archive at: www.TheMinneapolisStory.com/tocarchives.htm. He combines the printed word with the new online world of the Internet in a small package that packs a giant wallop. "In addition to covering major Minneapolis civil rights events, Mr. Edwards shares with his readers the background to the historical lawsuit by the Black police officers of Dec. 3, 2007, against the city and the department."
Formerly head of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League, he continues his “watchdog” role for Minneapolis. Order Ron's books at Beacon on the Hill Press. Hear his voice, read his solution papers, and read his between columns “web log” on this site, www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. Permission is granted to reproduce The Minneapolis Story columns, blog entires and solution papers. Please cite the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder and www.TheMinneapolisStory.com for the columns. Please cite www.TheMinneapolisStory.com for blog entries and solution papers. Ron's media message platforms: Column Archives | Blog Archives | Solution Papers | |
BLOG SIDE "Tracking the Gaps,” "Connecting the Dots" of "The Key 7": Education, Jobs, Housing, Public Safety (& the war on young Black men), Safe Environment, Governing, and "ubuntu" Moral/Ethical Stances (access & opportunity, fairness & justice, liberty & freedom, rights & responsibility), in the on-going contest over ideas. Also see key suggestions for Black organizations here, here and here. May 16, 2013. Questions for polioe on shooting death of Franklin and motorcycle death of . When will print and broadcast media abegin to ask questions?
Posted Thursday, May 16, 2013, 6:24 p.m. May 2, 2013, 2:45 pm. TV announces Timberwolves terminate David Kahn and hire Flip Saunders. I predicted this "day of reckoning" in my colume of November 07, 2012 Column: The "smartest" White team in the NBA. Timber Wolves team return to the 1950s? May 3, 2013, 10:43 am: Star Tribune: Kahn out, Saunders in as Timberwolves president. Posted Mon, May 6, 2013, 11:473 p.m. SUMMARY OF LISTS OF COLUMNS ON KEY TOPICS SINCE 2003: Vikings Stadium Legislature double-cross? Why? To make them move to L.A. or to distort more money from them and the NFL? Can't just be confusion. April 11, 2013 When you break a deal or try to, you lose both credibility and trust. Recent proposed legislation, whether passed or not, has broken the credibility and trust developed with the Vikings. As Yogi Berra said, “Déjà vu all over again.” Is this another inning or quarter in Minnesota’s perennial Stadium Games (2000 book by Star Tribune sports writer Jay Weiner, with subtitle, Fifty Years of Big League Greed and Bush League Boondoggles). From Minnesota nice to Minnesota nasty: what the legislators are proposing to do, from the Star Tribune, KMSP-TV, and NFL links: --Legislator asks for larger Vikings commitment to stadium The Proposed Doublecross as taken from the preceding links: 1. For Minnesota to slash $200 million from its $348 million commitment, proposed out of panic as the electronic pull tabs that were to pay the state’s portion is only bringing in 5% of what was projected. Consequences of the Proposed Doublecross Revenue realities behind the Proposed Doublecross 1. Owner of Atlanta, GA NFL Falcons to pay $800 million of the proposed $1 billion retractable-roof stadium, with the remaining $200 million public contribution to be paid by a city hotel-motel tax. But the Falcons owner is a billionaire; the Vikings owner is only a millionaire. 2. Owners of MLB team in San Francisco paid for their stadium: but this is not San Francisco 3. The public contribution to the San Francisco 49ers new stadium of $800 million will be covered by seat and suite sales (if the latter don’t cover it the team will make up the difference but at current rate of sales in post-Super Bowl fever, they expect to make more that the $800 million. Here is a big difference: “The 49ers team loaned Santa Clara $400 million, the NFL loaned out $200 million.” … “The first team to draw from the so-called "new stadium fund" that came out of the league's new collective bargaining agreement.” Never the less, they are LOANS. But Minnesota has no Silicon Valley, and no longer has 19 Fortune 500 companies in the region with their highly paid employees able to buy expensive seats. And the 49ers took years to work it out; Minnesota kept avoiding real negoatiations and then did it hastily. 4. Racino proposed as answer for Vikings stadium and budgetwould not get tribal approval. Solutions: Begin with My Solution Paper #47: SAVE THE VIKINGS! OR DO THEY MOVE? Includes key columns since 2000, my 2002 chapter on the Vikings, my 2003 roll call of those opposed to the Vikings staying in Minnesota. I proposed answers to key solution questions as proposed to the State, City and the Vikings, all ignored, including: 1. My December 11, 2011, Stadium Solution Paper #47 (and updated since) 2. My 2002 book, The Minneapolis Story: Through My Eyes. 3. January 29, 2005, Solution Paper #24, The Roll Call Of Those Calling for the Vikings to Move 4. And references to outside proposed solutions submitted to the Vikings in 2000 and again in 2004: (here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). 5. KEY QUESTION from my 12-11-11 Solution Paper #47: Save the Vikings or do they move? “Why haven’t the elected (Govenors, Legislators, City Council) and/or their staffs or the Vikings ever asked for a ‘how?’ conversation/demonstration when given documents regarding how to build a new stadium without raising new taxes (here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here)?” That “no new taxes” solution presented in 2000 and 2004, if followed, would have yielded another $1 billion for the Vikings since then, the amount of the proposed stadium today. Posted Thursday, April 18, 2013, 4:27 a.m. October 23, 2012: Timberwolves: Pale in comparison to the rest of the NBA (Star Tribune,October 28, 2012). The T-Wolves racism (white talent hunting) in a world where talent and character are to trump color is just racism by another name. Online comments to the article accuse me of reverse racism. These commenters obviously have not read my columns which stand only for fairness and justice, advocating for equal access and equal opportunity in education, jobs and housing: give me those and let the color and race chips fall where they may. I am not beating a dead horse (it is very much alive; see examples here). Read my full Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder column of November 14. Here is a key statement, a question, and a challenge to Glenn Taylor from the Nov. 14 column: Statement: "I agree: play the best players, whether all white, all black or a combination. To have the best game possible, Commissioner Stern has insisted on “color blind” drafting/signing. So why not the Timberwolves? Posted November 5, 2012, 11:58 a.m. October 10, 2012: CONGRATULATIONS TED MONDALE, for being the first official, white or black, for being willing to break the silence and point out that there was no Equity Plan for Target Field, that they had no numbers for compliance, but that it will be different for Vikings Stadium. The lonely exception to this has been this web site and its columns and solution papers (see my 30 columns, listed in my Solution Paper 46, DISPARITY/COMPLIANCE STUDIES). He made his statement at at a small meeting October 10, 2012, that included MSFA Chairwoman Michele Kelm-Helgen, and several others (I had the opportunity to work with Chairwoman Kelm-Helgen’s father in civil rights activities when she was a little gir (see my June 27, 2012 Column: A Sports Authority chair who understands the Black struggle, Kelm-Helgen’s family civil rights history is a rich one. This statement, this opportunity for a new dawn in fairness and justice in Minnesota, came about in the discussion when others in the meeting, echoing the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department and others, lied again, saying there was an equity plan, and that it was available on the Internet. We showed that this was a continuatiin of an old falsehood. Mr. Mondale has broken the logjam of unfairness and injustice that has too long denied jobs to African Americans, often denying African Americans by defining “minorities” as other than African Americans (white women, white gays, etc.). The African American former head of the Minnesota Civil Rights Department infamously said that the city could meet it minority hiring compliance without hiring any African Americans. This has been aided and abetted by the so-called Black “leadership,” who have maneuvered contracts to see that they get theirs but not African American contractors and workers. I look forward to working with the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority and the Vikings to develop contract language and participation so that the inclusion is actual and real and not just “best efforts, we tried.” Actual and factual will be the best for Minnesota in both the short term and long term. Posted October 12, 2012, 7:50 pm October 7, 2012. But Baker made no mention of a monitoring plan (Equity Plans without monitoring plans are like hen houses in a foxes den without any locks on the door). I asked for a copy: Baker had none with him. I asked when the Equity Plan was completed and when it was issued. Baker could not answer the questions. Baker also incorrectly stated that the Met Council would be involved in overseeing the stadium and its hiring compliance. I had to correct them: only two entities have the authority and standing to make decisions about what is to happen and when and by who: the Stadium Facilities Authority and the Vikings, as clearly stated in the stadium legislation. So neither the Met Council nor the VSC have “oversee” roles. As I have read the legislation, I can only conclude that, clearly, some have not read the legislation, or have read it but don’t understand it, or have read and don’t believe they have to follow it, or regardless of whether or not they have read it are being used as conduits for giving misleading information to others. Posted October 9, 2012, 2:55 pm 10-2-12 Posted October 2, 2012, 5:18 pm. STADIUM CONSTRUCTION MONITOR/WATCH/SCORECARD Concerns that will impact on the Black Community: TUESDAY, August 4, 2012. FRIDAY, August 3, 2012 Seeking justice for Courtney Clark’s mother. No “declarations” or “conventions” of humah rights allow for retaliation, reduction or elimination of meds, official “tossing” of one’s cell (taking of personal materials and case research), nor being dumped into the “hole” (as especially egregious form of solitary confinement). All the while, he is in a wheel chair. This has happened to Courtney Clark. He blew the whistle on experiments being conducted in Faribault on Black prisoners at the Faribault Reformatory. For that he was shipped off to the California Corrections System which, upon seeing how ill he was and that he ahd been denied his meds, sent him back. Others have died from such treatment (as happened to Robert Mims last week: …Mims dies in prison, at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Faribault. Here is more Mims background from the Philadelphia Inquirer). Courtney Clark is near death. Read more about it in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Star Tribune, and Spokesman-Recorder. Never forget: what “they” can do to “them,” “they” can do to “us.” In Memorium: 5 year old Nizzel Anthony George, shot in his sleep from shots from outside the home, was taken to his final rest today, July 3, 2012,following a beautiful service, in a beautiful white casket pulled on a breautiful horse-drawn funeral caisson, heading for the beautiful Chrystal Cemetery, very fitting resting place for the latest fallen soldier in Minneapolis' on-going "street justice" war between young Blacks deprived of equal acess and equal opporunty in education and jobs, fueled by white refusal to bring equality to education opportunit,y a refusal to bring equal access to job training and jobs of any kind any where for Black young people, the result of a refusal to honor diversity in employment, whether white collar or blue collar. Having paid professionals continue to schedule planing meetings with other paid professional won't meet he simple need: equal education, equal access to all job training and jobs.. Posted Tuesay, July 3, 2012, 3:20 p.m. In Memorium: The legendary Marvin “Corky” Taylor, died at 60, June 28, 2012. Corky was Deputy Director of the City Department of Civil Rights, 35 year employee of the City of Minneapolis, and winner of a national award for his work in Affirmative Action. Corky was the a 6’9” power forward and member of the University of Minnesota “Fab 7” 1972 Big Ten Title Basketball Team basketball team with Ron Behagen, Jim Brewer, Clyde Turner, Keith Young, Bob Nix, and the legendary Dave Winfield. A proud Minnesotan. A proud Gopher. A proud African American contributor to our community. He will be sorely missed. 1. Record of city's purposeful and intentional practice in list of 20 columns posted 11-22-11: Disparity and Non-Compliance: how Minneapolis purposefully avoids compliance and sets barriers to diversity. Background to the serious violations is reported in the Disparity Study that found Minneapolis, current and past, is not and has not been in compliance. See columns on the Disparity Study, Part I November 17, 2010, and Part II November 25, 2010. See also the list of 12 additional columns written since 2005 on the disparities (web log entry of August 28, 2009). 2. Re Planning for education, jobs, housing, and economic development: Lists of columns and book chapters regarding plans and planning for all citizens in all of our communities, Black and white, at this link, Solution Paper #42: Planning, with suggestions for use in resolving the issues of unequal access and unequal opportunity in education, jobs, and housing. Also see here and here and here, and here: "Disaster accelerates gentrification of North Minneapolis. Reconstruction proceeds without Black workers." Another list of columns, blog entries, solution papers." Our Vikings appear to be saved. But did legislators still leave the exit door to L.A. open? May 16, 2012 Sid Hartman and Star Tribune confirm our stadium analysis, April 25, 2012. Will the Vikings stadium be in Minnesota or L.A.?, April 11, 2012. Vikings stadium plan in place??? March 14, 2012 Black jobs promised on Vikings stadium construction. Who will ensure the promises are kept? February 15, 2012 Column.
Our revised November 09, 2011 Column: Stop the punting of the Vikings! Minnesotans: Unite with a ‘Fan Response Movement’ to keep the team May 25, 2011 Column: Budget battle threatens Vikings’ future. Lists columns on leave/stay since 2005. April 13, 2011 Column #15: Can Minnesota afford another stadium? Difficult times force difficult choices GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS OPPOSED TO THE VIKINGS STAYING: 4.Key Minnesota leaders' "The Plan": have the Vikings leave town, 2002. 5. Stadium and arena promises were broken to Bob Short, Norm Green, and Red McCombs. Are theWilfs next. Original set of 3 posted January 19, 2011 column. 3. Re Black Leadership: Still open for consideration: local NAACP December 12, 2010 assertion in this paper that “Its time for leaders [who] put personal agendas ahead of community interests to go." In othert words, there are too many ministerial, government, corporate, foundation and other non-profits) not leading. See here for what, who, when, where, why. List of columns coming soon. 4. “Minneapolis POLICE Department Racism and Discrimination.” See list of July 10, 2008, updated through September 14, 2011 column (lists 60 columns, 31 blog entries, and 12 “solution” papers. The subhead, “Speaking over the silence of the major Twin Cities Dailies,” speaks to the scooping by this newspaper of the major dailies that often refuse to thoroughly report on this topic. 5. Ending the Journalism SILENCE by the Star Tribune about discrimination will help end discrimination. Lists columns and blog entries posted since 2003. 6. Re Planning for education, jobs, housing, and economic development: Lists of columns and book chapters regarding plans and planning for all citizens in all of our communities, Black and white, at this link, Solution Paper #42: Planning, with suggestions for use in resolving the issues of unequal access and unequal opportunity in education, jobs, and housing. Also see here and here and here, and June 01, 2011 Column:"Disaster accelerates gentrification of North Minneapolis. Reconstruction proceeds without Black workers." Another list of columns, blog entries, solution papers." August 2, 2011 There are two developments troubling to the Black community in the debt ceiling battle. The first is the one as seen by the Vice President and many others who refer to Tea Party Republicans as “terrorists” (which is also what King George called the colonists dumping tea in Boston harbor who wanted to break free of his centralized rule). The second troubling development is the attempt to establish a centralized ruling council within centralized rule. The Super Congress is now creating an unconstitutional Super Imperial Congress of 12 individuals, abdicating its power to this committee of “the 12” (note the Biblical ring) of 6 Senators and 6 Representatives, who are to determine how revenues are to be raised and spent. They will give cover to what both really want: tax money for their districts/states so they can be reelected, doing so at the expense of the Black community. In other words, our job as citizens is to get between the politicians and their access to public money. The battle for empowering (e.g., the civil rights movement) and the powering over others (such as political elites, whether white or Black) has come to a head with the debt limit battle. We can't afford both any more. This battle has shown that we have too few people acting as thoughtful adults. As St. Paul in the Bible’s “love chapter” (I Coriinthians 13) put it, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” The rhetoric of calling each side terrorists does not bode well for answers to the question of “who decides” and what they in turn decide should be done and how. Blacks are citizens who should be allowed to be in that debate. The deplorable state of our cities’ in terms of jobs, education, and housing for Blacks shows just how much Blacks have been left out of the actual power discussions (Black Mayors of cities without money or jobs is not being among the powerful). During slave days, it was a capital crime to learn to read. They didn’t want slaves reading maps and road signs and figuring out themselves where they wanted to be, where they wanted to go. That continued during Jim Crow days as it does today in America’s Black bureaucrat run ghettoes, examples of how the Republicans and Democrats continue to conspire to keep young Black people, especially young Black men, from a good education, from training, and from jobs. Blacks understand the white rule: last hired, first fired. The wealthy and government workers/unions (including education) have all carved out entitlements regarding jobs, pay, retirement and other benefits for themselves, but not for the Black community. We are not opposed to folks getting together to carve up the pie (that’s been going on since at least ancient Rome). What we oppose to is not letting everyone have a seat at the table to participate in that carving up of the pie. How will this super group of 12 provide equal protection (access and opportunity) to the poor and uneducated, precisely continuing government policies espoused by Congress, Republican and Democrat, that purposefully and intentionally attempt to keep Blacks poor and uneducated? By providing 12, six from the Senate and six from the House of Representative, they will falsely claim that it is equal as all will get cuts and all will have to suffer together. Really? Cutting ten percent from a man with a $100 is far more severe than cutting 10% from a man with a million dollars. The white factions will begrudgingly allow the women’s faction and the Hispanic faction and other approved “victim” factions to join them, while Blacks will cointinue to pushed to the back of the line, or, using an older phrase, assigned to the back of the bus, to sit there while the buss is parked outside while the rest have gone into the roadside restaurant to sit at the table and divvy up the pie. A Super Imperial Congress indeed. In the days of Rome, they too elected a small number of their elite to make decisions for the whole. We all know how that worked out. Black congresspersons who represents the Black community, not Black elite leaders, need to be one of the 12. Needed is not more government stimulus but private-sector stimulus programs involving not government outlays but instead getting government out of the way of investors and entrepreneurs, as even Nancy Pelosi championed at a hearing in December 2010. We urge Congress to use the criteria of a calculus of meaning and a calculus of pain, as I have written about in my books. The Black community knows all about being on the wrong end of economic pain and given secondary status as meaning. Let all leaders stop calling names like “terrorists” and start brining all people to the same table to reconcile differences. If South Africa could do it after apartheid, the United States can do it too after its own economic earthquake. As guidelines for how the Committee of 12, and any federal, state, or city legislative body should go forward, see the section following on Planning as applied to America's Black Americans, as well as other suggestions and solutions in the "solutions" section of this web site. 1-12-12: Remember this: the current model of taking money from the young to give to the retired no longer will work as there are fewer workers and more retired (10,000 baby boomers a day going on Social Security and Medicare). The robbing the young to pay the oldmodel has run its course. Needed is a model that facilitates real investment, life long, that will cover retirement income and appropriate (not all) health care costs. Blacks and all minorities need to be part of that discussion and negotiation. Posted Tuesday, August 2, 2011, 9:21 a.m. ----BREAKING NEWS FOR SOME---- The City Inc.’s board voted Monday, January 3, to close their school today, Friday, January 7. So far, none of their kids have been placed/accepted in other schools.
Posted January 7, 2011, 6:57 a.m. --CONTINUOUSLY BREAKING NEWS FOR 15 YEARS IS FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGED-- The columns of 11-24-10 and 11-17-10 not only report 15 years late what we have known for 15 years, that there has been a tremendous disparity in hiring and wages between whites and Blacks, the Disparity Report also cries out for an answer to the question of why neither the Civil Rights Commission nor the City Council have called for hearings about it now that the shameful Disparity Report has finally been released. Hearins need to be held to investigate why Minneapolis "does not monitor compliance during performance in contracts and employment". The Civil Rights Commission has the authority, by statute to call such hearings (I know, as I was a member from 1968-1983, including being Chairman, and in those days we called such hearings). The Commission must call public hearings and take testimony on this Disparity Stud that details the denial of jobs to African Americans and, thus, the economic rape of African American economic opportunities and, thus, the denial of its access to the wealth of this city. Half the Commision is appointed by the Council, half by the Mayor. Are they blocking hearings? There must be public hearings to hear from the Civil Rights Department, from citizens, and from the Council as to why this has been allowed to happen. For more information, see my blog entry of August 28, 2009, in which I list 12 of the columns I’ve written on this subject since 2005. --BREAKING NEWS-- Posted Monday, November 1, 2010, 3:00 p.m. --BREAKING NEWS OF 2006 IN MS-P IN STRIB 2010- 2006: Minnesota Spokesman Recorder had it right in The Wrongful Death of Dominic Felter: 2010, Oct 25: The Star Tribune finally is forced to come clean, 4 years later, when the jury spoke: Family of man killed by Mpls. police awarded $1.8M. — B R E A K I N G N E W S — AGAIN — B R E A K I N G N E W S — AGAIN STAR TRIBUNE: NORTH HIGH TO CLOSE Posted October 12, 2010, 5:30 am; edited 9:15 p.m. 07-30-10 #3: This is a call to Council President Barb Johnson to empanel an ethics committee, as authorized by the city’s charter, to review the relationships between Mayor R.T. Rybak and Councilman Don Samuels in regards to their obvious conflicts of interest regarding the program "Ceasefire." My concerns: the $2.2 million funding allocations, program content, and program execution of the crime program Ceasefire Chicago, and the recipient organiations affiliated with the Mayor’s administrative aide and the Councilman’s wife: Mad Dads, The Peace Foundation, and Shiloh International Ministries. "Ceasefire" is a program, from Chicago, for dealing with crime, being recommended for Minneapolis. Many want to know what is behind this Ceasefire program in terms of who receives the monies in terms of both administrators and those delivering the program on the street, the plans to be approved, who approves the plans, who executes the plans, and why Ceasefire. The values that ensure political and economic progress and fairness are universal, not ethnic nor racial, yet Ceasefire came to town this week in the embodiment of all white people with a program for Black people, with no discernable Black input, as if crime was a Black problem, not a universal problem, black, white, yellow, brown. The founders of the DFL, a Black woman and a white man (Nellie Stone Johnson and Hubert H. Humphrey) would both ask, why aren't the top two "crime preventors" engaged: (1) reforming education so that it actually educates for working and jobs, and (2) inclusive economic development that creates jobs for non-whites as well? Where are the Nellie Stone Johnsons and Hubert H. Humphreys of today? Thank goodness their spirit lives on in the newspaper of their friend Cecil B. Newman: The Minneapolis Spokesman-Recorder). Cecil introduced Nellie and Hubert. And, along with their friend Charlie Horn, a key white businessman of the day, the four of them (Nellie and Hubert, Cecil and Charlie) liked to refer to themselves as "The Four Horsemen". So where are our four horsemen of today? Who of the new generation will step up and again carry the banner: “Eyes On The Prize,” and fight for freedom's prize, equal access and equal opportunity, especially in education and jobs? Let the ethics investigation begin. Posted Saturday, July 31, 2010, 11:57 am 3-18-10, #2: Alert: Is our lack of plans and their execution drawing us to a plan to execute in Mexico? 01-07-10 #1: Alert: Police: aiding and abetting, just incompetent, or ran out of cover ups? Different standards for white citizens than Black citizens? It is all over the TV today, January 7: Minneapolis Police Officer Tim Carson, a 3 year veteran and Iraq vet, was arrested for robbing a dozen stores and banks, raising the obvious questions: (1) how many other police officers are taking advantage of their positions? These are not questions I take lightly. Nor am I surprised as I raised these issues with the MPD while serving on the PCRC (Police Community Relations Council); we especially asked about background checks and rumors of white police officers out of control, being involved in drug dealings and thefts. The MPD would not answer; would not cooperate. Our concern was that questionable white candidates were passed while qualified Blacks were not, raising another question regarding whether the tests were rigged toward whites or just scored that way. Certainly we ask, "How did Officer Carson pass his profile tests?" And, we suggest, the city must lean to the best candidates, regardless of their color, and recognize the value to the city of having qualified Black officers rather than unqualified white ones. And how is it that when things happen to whites, nothing is said to the white "community" about "coming forth", but when it happens to people of color, they are asked to cooperate and come forward with information. This is currently going on regarding the 3 Somalis gunned down (some say executed). How can the community come forward when it doesn’t feel safe? The MPD terror investigation last year in the Somali community regarding killings that are essentially not street crimes as defined but political killings, have left Somalis feeling unsafe and unprotected. The mayor, broadcasters, and others follow the cue of the FBI and make the community the problem, not the public safety system. Many young Somalis are survivors of the Civil War in Somalia, and are here seeking a peaceful chance at life, something made more difficult with police like Tim Carson, whose precinct locker revealed guns and money. Carson reflects a department still out of control, which is what led to the establishment of the PCRC in the first place. The MPD continues to cover up the Metro Gang Squad, recently disbanded for their own law breaking. Public safety is more important than any Governor's race. We want to know how many others are like Tim Carson there are but who are more clever in avoiding getting caught, and why, if the MPD leaders claim to know all that's going on, why they let it ride and don’t act on it? Some have said it is because they are in on it. Others have said it is because they would rather have poor white recruits that excellent Black ones and thus have to admit more candidates of color to a department they'd prefer was all white. Stay tuned. Posted January 7, 2010, 11:30 pm, CST 9-17-09, #11: The demise of the Minneapolis Urban League. At 5:15 p.m., today, Thursday, 9-17-09, Minneapolis Urban League Branch President Scott Gray announced, in closed session, the new austerity: 10% salary reduction across the board; termination of ten employees within 30 days; and an indication that the staff of the Urban League Street Academy would go on part time employee status (thus loosing their benefits). Ever since the sell outs kicked Nellie Stone Johnson and me out 20 years ago, when I was the President of the Urban League with 118 employees, they have cannibalized the organization, reducing it from the 118 employees then to what will be less than 20 employees now. We show how this got started in Chapter 14 of The Minneapolis Story. Posted 9-18-09, 1:32 a.m. 8-30-09, #10: Who is our neighbor and how do we "do unto them"? 8-29-09, #9: Minneapolis Police Training Chickens Come Home to Roost. The key for police seeking to achieve public safety is the same for people of color seeking to achieve jobs: training. 8-28-09, #8: Trainers or plunderers? Demonstrating for jobs for people or money for selves? Yesterday we applauded the demonstration to draw attention to the plight of minority jobs and the efforts of those who train African Americans for jobs to obtain funding for jobs. We support the battle seeking the end of discrimination in economic development, especially that by the city and its contractors who openly violate City compliance laws by not hiring minority workers and contractors. Oh oh. It turns out their concern was money for their budgets that paid them, not jobs for those they trained. It turns out that money set aside for them has not been released by the State of Minnesota, and if not released by September 1, it goes back to the general treasury where, as one observe has put it, these hustlers can't plunder it. To "send a message" to the Department of Transportation in an effort to get it released, the demonstrators blocked traffic. We believe they would have a better chance if they admitted the truth reported in the columlns listed at the end of this blog entry and started there. In May of this year, Insight published a story about Louis King of OIC saying he had federal funds to create 1,000 jobs in the African American community. Last week Louis King had to admit he did not have the funds, that they had not been released. And so the demonstration was held about the funds for the leaders, not funds for jobs. As listed below, we will continue to advocate for jobs for workers, not funds for "leaders". This is what happens when the Governor of Minnesota and the Department of Transportation get tired of playing the games of the Mayor of Minneapolis and his allies that want to use government funding for themselves but not for the community. The state understandably doesn't want to take the blame for that. What is not understood is why the city and its minions think they can get away with their posturing. Our "leaders" spend much time training African Americans for jobs but little in standing up for their being hired to use their newly acquired skills. A lot of young men were expecting to get jobs. They will be disappointed, at the hands of Black "leaders." As seen below, we have written about the economic stimulus and its potential to help our community. It is the right cause with the wrong people in charge, as they plunder and tear asunder. We first published about this in The Corrupt and Racist Construction Contract System, Chapter 9 of our book, The Minneapolis Story, Through My Eyes, in 2002. We have continued updating this shame in our columns since then. Why haven't the "leaders" used the facts in the book and columns to plead their case for jobs? That is the best way to get funds for their organizations. We first published a roundup of columns in the Minnenapolis Spokesman Recorder in our Blog entry #21 of July 31, 2008 (Star Tribune...Denying Discrimination and Disinforming About the Black Community). That list is reproduced and updated below. It is with these that we urge Black leaders today, and those interested in "planning" for the communities of color, to start: advocating for jobs rather than seeking funds to plunderor or to recycle among nonprofits, neither of which profit the community. Here is that updated list of selected columns, 2005-2009: 4-20-2005: Black share of $5 billion construction: Zero. What can be done to reverse "Blacks need not apply" for the coming great construction boom? 7-13-2005: Where is The Plan for Black's share of jobs, development? 6-07-2006: Hallelujah! Good Times Are Here Again! "Best Effort". False alarm. 5-09-2007: Blacks remain barred from big-money projects 7-04-2007: Where's The Jobs Plan? Minneapolis Kremlin initiates retaliation 8-08-2007: Where is the jobs plan for Blacks for the bridge cleanup and re-construction? 1-23-08: Who will challenge discrimination in this city? 3-5-08: Response to a Challenge Baseball Authority Responds 6-4-08: Stadiums go up while compliance system breaks down 2-18-09: Where's the plan to ensure Blacks benefit from economic stimulus? Now's the time to ask your representatives. 2-25-09: With stimulus funds coming, where's the plan for inclusion? 7-15-09: Mismanagement forced re-bid of Marquette and 2nd Avenue Project. Cover-up keeps city council in the dark. We urge the Black leadership of the Twin Cities to begin with these columns if they are to be truly successful in obtaining jobs for our community and, in the process, funding for their organizations. Right now they have it backwards. We suggest they turn around and get it right. Posted 8-28-09, 11:10 p.m. 08-27-09, #7: In Minneapolis, training doesn't equal jobs for the trained, only the trainers (we are a city of over employed trainers with an "army" of underemployed, underutilized trained workers). 06-26-09, Blog #6: The Role of Black Organizations in the Minneapolis Story... 06-06-09, Blog #5: Welcome NNPA (National Convention of the National Newspaper Publishers Association) 06-06-09, Blog #4: Thanks for thrilling us 04-10-09, Blog #3: Minneapolis settles law suit with the Mill City Five, causing more questions to be raised than answered. 04-05-09, Blog #2: "Why, in an information age, they attempt such cover-ups, mystifies us. The truth will out." 03-31-09, Blog #1: The revealing of the truth: nearly three years in the making. EXCERPT FROM: July 31 2008 Blog Entry #21 Check out our columns of 2005, 2006, and 2007, when we raised the question: "When will Blacks be included in the billions worth of jobs in construction for stadiums, bridges, and other big money projects?" Here are six examples:
Posted July 31, 2008, 3:55 p.m. Read the Complete July 2008 Blog Entry » Ron hosts “Black Focus” on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm. Formerly head of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission and the Urban League, he continues his “watchdog” role for Minneapolis. Order his book, hear his voice, read his solution papers, and read his between columns “web log” at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. About This Blog | Blog Archives | Column Archives | Solution Papers | Order the Book | Back to Top |
